Chapter 43: Buffalo Dungeon (6)

Before entering the dungeon, I had made a secret request to Chloe.

“Chloe, if we encounter that checkpoint employee inside the dungeon, kill him.”

Of course, Chloe accepted my request without questioning it. Although I’m not particularly skilled at manipulating people, there’s no law prohibiting me from taking advantage of her unwavering trust in me.

There were two reasons for asking Chloe specifically.

First, Chloe is an assassin from the Auditore family.

Although regular students cannot attack others, members of her family can as long as they have a valid reason to justify it.

Second, I was convinced that employee was connected to what happened.

I couldn’t just kill him outright, at least not until I obtained the information I needed. Once he talked, it would be a different story.

If I handled it myself, I probably would’ve just cut off his head in one blow.

That’s why I decided it was better to leave him in a state where he could be interrogated.

The possibility that he wasn’t involved never crossed my mind.

My instincts told me that man was hiding something.

Thanks to the Blessing of the Sword God, my intuition had become much sharper, and I had no doubt he was involved.

Anyway.

Thud!

Chloe kicked the employee in the stomach, the same employee who already had a katana embedded in his leg. Crying and snot running down his face, the man writhed on the ground.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

“Shut up!”

Press.

Chloe pressed her foot onto the katana stuck in his leg. The man screamed even louder, shredding his throat with the pain.

Thud!

Seeing that he wouldn’t stop, Chloe landed a low kick to his side. The employee curled up like a shrimp, sobbing and stammering:

“W-what’s wrong with you brats? W-what did I do to deserve this?”

I smiled calmly as I crouched in front of him.

“That’s what I’m about to find out.”

When our eyes met, his body stiffened. From behind, SpeedWeapon, pale-faced, asked:

“What the hell is going on?”

“I asked Chloe to do this earlier.”

I shrugged and continued speaking.

“Speedweapon, Saki, think about it. Do you really believe it’s a coincidence that the buffaloes went berserk and the stone door was open?”

“…Well, no. Now that you mention it, all of that was pretty strange.”

Speedweapon frowned at the employee before letting out a deep sigh.

“But there’s no proof that this guy is the culprit.”

“We’ll find out now.”

“Kang Geom-Ma, you’re really…”

Speedweapon ran a hand over his forehead, clearly irritated. On the other hand, Saki Ryozo, unwrapping a yokan, agreed with me.

“Kang Geom-Ma is right. Honestly, the fact that this employee showed up just in time is suspicious. There aren’t cameras inside the dungeon to alert him, are there? Besides, did you see the weapon he’s holding? That’s a weapon meant for fighting people, not monsters. Why would he bring that here?”

While biting off a large piece of yokan, Saki broke down the case, trying to make SpeedWeapon understand the situation.

‘…How can she eat a yokan in this situation?’

Saki Ryozo brushed her hair behind her ear as she approached me. Her skirt, torn at one side, revealed her leg. In a calm yet cold voice, she addressed the employee.

“Who’s backing you?”

Despite her gentle tone, there was a chilling sharpness to her question.

It wasn’t a threat, but rather an assessment of her enemy.

“That… that I…”

The man’s face showed desperation. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to speak. Meanwhile, his leg continued to bleed.

Saki sighed, shaking her head as she watched him.

She bit another piece of yokan before turning to me.

“He doesn’t seem willing to talk. What do we do?”

“…”

Saki shrugged while looking at me. I appreciated her composure in a situation where losing one’s cool was easy.

Though Chloe’s merciless handling had even made Saki frown, she didn’t question it. As for SpeedWeapon, he averted his gaze in horror.

Apparently, he was more sensitive than I thought, considering he was the only other guy in the group. Meanwhile, the employee kept trembling, unable to form words.

However, something about his hesitant gaze revealed much more.

It was clear he feared whoever gave him the orders more than he feared us.

If that was the case, there was only one path: I had to make him more afraid of us than of them. I moved a little closer, scratching my brow.

“If you don’t tell us who’s behind all this…”

“…!”

I gestured to Chloe, who nodded without hesitation.

With a sinister shing, Chloe unsheathed her katana and slowly approached the man. Her presence radiated pure killing intent.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

The employee shouted, his voice trembling. Chloe looked at me, awaiting my signal.

I gave her a slight nod.

The man licked his dry lips before starting to speak.

From his leg, not only blood but also a yellowish liquid dripped onto the ground.

***

“…So, you’re telling me that a few days ago, someone who appeared to be an instructor from Joaquin Academy handed you a magic stone and specifically mentioned Kang Geom-Ma?”

Speedweapon, frowning, murmured in disbelief.

He bit his lips, confusion evident on his face.

“Yes, that’s right. I was shocked too at the time. I was furious, wondering how someone in education could do such a thing to a cadet!”

“What the hell.”

Speedweapon’s frustration boiled over, and he cursed loudly.

“What did this instructor look like?”

“…That.”

The employee hesitated, rolling his eyes nervously, until Chloe, tapping his shoulder with the flat of her katana, urged him to answer.

“She was a woman with purple hair and eyes. Quite tall too.”

The employee hugged himself, trembling visibly. Chloe watched him silently while SpeedWeapon let out a long sigh.

“Does that ring any bells, Speedweapon?”

“Hmm… no, I don’t know all the instructors at the Academy. There are quite a few, and at least in the Dragon Class I belong to, there’s no one with that description.”

Speedweapon scratched his head, visibly frustrated. At that moment, Saki Ryozo, chewing on a candy, interjected.

“I think that woman is our assistant instructor.”

“You? But you barely attend class, Saki.”

“I have a good memory for faces.”

Saki shrugged again and popped another candy from her pocket into her mouth.

“Also, his eyes were particularly striking.”

“…I see.”

Speedweapon stroked his chin with a serious expression, organizing his thoughts.

Suddenly, his face lit up as if something had clicked.

“Then, don’t you think she might also be behind what happened during the exam?”

“What happened during the exam?”

Saki Ryozo responded with a question, looking in my direction.

Speedweapon glanced at me for confirmation, and I nodded. Since we were all involved in this incident, hiding it wouldn’t serve any purpose.

“Well… during the exam, we unexpectedly encountered a demon siren.”

“What? Is that why Leon was hospitalized after the exam? Did he fight a demon?”

Saki’s eyes widened, while SpeedWeapon shook his head with a grimace.

“The siren was also taken down by this guy, Kang Geom-Ma.”

“Ah…”

Speedweapon pointed his thumb at me, and after a moment of reflection, Saki seemed to understand.

At this point, using my name to explain any situation seemed sufficient. I let out a dry laugh.

“Well, it’s best to discuss this in more detail later.”

“Yeah, no point in overthinking it here. For now, let’s head back.”

The incident seemed to have reached its conclusion, and even the employee, who had been on the verge of collapse moments before, was beginning to regain some color in his face.

Speedweapon furrowed his brows and glanced at the man, his curiosity apparently piqued.

“But why did you agree to that instructor’s request in the first place?”

“…”

The employee’s expression changed abruptly. His lips twitched slightly in an unsettling way.

‘He’s hiding something.’

It was obvious he wasn’t planning to answer. That, however, was an easy problem to solve. I gestured to Chloe.

Without hesitation, Chloe pressed her boot into the employee’s injured leg, forcing him to speak.

“Aaaahhhh! I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Please stop!”

“Then speak.”

“I-it’s… I had gambling debts. I had no choice.”

“What the hell? This guy’s nothing but scum! We can’t just let him off like this!”

Speedweapon’s face twisted in anger as he unleashed a string of curses. The employee shuddered under his gaze.

“But… please, don’t call me scum…”

“Excuse me? You should apologize to the dogs, you bastard! Selling out students for money? Not even animals would do that!”

Speedweapon clicked his tongue in disgust, shaking his head furiously. I patted him on the shoulder, attempting to calm him down.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning to let this guy go so easily.”

“What are you planning to do with him?”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and showed him the recording.

“We already have everything we need. With the sealed state of this dungeon and the evidence from the incident, it’s enough to ensure he disappears without a trace.”

“W-wait, no!”

The employee’s face turned pale as he stammered, his jaw trembling uncontrollably. He looked at me with wide, desperate eyes.

“You won’t, will you!”

I met his gaze directly, a cold smile spreading across my lips, and turned to Chloe.

“Chloe.”

“Yes, Kang Geom-Ma!”

Chloe responded instantly, her voice bright and filled with determination.

Her boots, stained with blood, didn’t waver in the slightest.

“I’ll leave it to your judgment as an assassin.”

My request had been for her to extract a confession. What came next would be entirely her decision as a member of the Auditore family.

Chloe nodded without hesitation, her posture straightening as any trace of emotion disappeared from her face.

“I’ll execute him.”

Even her eyes seemed to glaze over, her entire demeanor shifting to a terrifying calm.

“N-no, please… wait!”

The dramatic change in Chloe’s attitude drained all color from the employee’s face, leaving him ashen with terror.

Chloe tilted her head slightly, then took a step forward.

Slash!

The blade of her katana cut cleanly through his neck, severing it in one swift motion.

Thud.

His head hit the ground and rolled to the side, a spray of blood painting the floor.

Speedweapon covered his mouth, visibly shaken by the scene.

Without sparing the fallen employee another glance, I turned and made my way to the other corpse that lay nearby.

I cast a sidelong glance at the man’s decapitated body and murmured under my breath.

“Worse than trash, lower than an animal.”

I grabbed my saw and walked toward the King Bull.

No matter how angry I was, I still had work to do.