Chapter 108

I picked up the bottle that looked the strongest among the ones I had placed on the floor and sniffed it.

The intense smell of alcohol stabbed my nose. If I kept sniffing, I might get drunk just from the scent.

Hmm. This should be enough.

“Johan, Johan… Yeah. I’m going to ask you some questions now. If you lie, you’ll get a special baptism. Got it?”

“Baptism…?”

Maybe he didn’t understand. Johan’s pupils trembled left and right. I tilted the bottle slightly and wet his hair a bit.

“Yeah. Baptism. You know, like the Church Order does sometimes? Pouring oil or holy water on the head to forgive sins.”

When I flicked the lit cigarette in front of him, Johan, who finally understood, trembled violently. Freide, who was watching my antics, laughed as if it was ridiculous.

“I-I’ll talk! I won’t lie!”

“Good, I like your attitude. Let’s start then… First, how many people are in your village?”

“W-well…”

Johan hesitated and rolled his eyes. Was he trying to buy time? Or was he planning to lie from the first question?

Seems like advice without pain is meaningless after all.

“Taking a long time to answer, huh? I thought you understood me. Oh well.”

I grabbed another bottle and held Johan’s arm. His body twitched like a fish on a cutting board.

“Eeek! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!! Just give me a second, I can’t think…!”

Such a drama queen. I wasn’t even planning to burn him yet.

“Oh? Well, that’s possible… or maybe not. Maybe you’re trying to buy time against us. Something like that.”

Maybe he really can’t think, but that’s not my problem.

“N-no! Just a little, just a little! It’s…!”

As expected, he’s not answering right away. Everyone’s like that at first.

“Sorry I can’t trust you. But our relationship is too short for trust, so what can I do?”

I smiled down at Johan, who was sweating buckets.

“Thanks for understanding. It’s okay. I’ve got it all figured out, just trust me. Men usually build strong trust after playing together, right?”

Freide snorted at the mention of “men.”

“P-playing…?”

“Yeah. The so-called wheel game. Rolling a round wheel and walking with it.”

I laid his arm flat on the table and called Freide.

“Cover his mouth. It’s going to get loud.”

“You’ve done this more than once, huh?”

I’ve done it a few times before.

Freide brought a piece of cloth and stuffed it into Johan’s mouth. I firmly held his arm with my left hand and gently placed the bottle in my right hand on his hand.

Johan’s body trembled. As if he sensed the future.

“So, what are you trying to do?”

“Something like this.”

– Squeak.

Slowly, I rolled the bottle. From his fingertips to his wrist, then up to his elbow. Like a press roller. Very slowly, smoothly.

“Ugh! Ughhh!! Ughhh!!!”

Johan’s arm became as thin as paper.

“Wow. You’re so strong, you can do anything like a monster.”

Freide watched in admiration. While stomping on Johan’s convulsing body to keep him down.

Johan’s legs spasmed and hit the table. His eyes were half-rolled back, and a foul smell came from between his legs.

I stopped the bottle when his elbow was halfway crushed. Didn’t want him to pass out completely.

I waited, taking a drag from my cigarette, letting Johan calm down a bit. His screams turned to groans, and I removed the cloth from his mouth.

“Ready to talk now…?”

“Eighty-two! Eighty-two people!! Please stop…!”

See, it’s effective. The answer came out before the question even ended.

By the way, around 80 people? No big deal.

No need to ask about their skills. These guys doing this kind of stuff can’t possibly be a threat to us.

“Good. Now we’ve built some trust, right? Can’t we call each other friends now?”

I patted Johan’s cheek.

“Ughhh…”

Johan started crying. What’s he crying about? I didn’t even hit him that hard.

“Johan, my friend Johan. Friends shouldn’t hide things from each other, right? Next question. How many years have you been doing this?”

“Fifty years! I heard it’s been about fifty years!”

Wow, such a long-standing tradition. They’ve managed to keep it hidden all this time.

“Good job. Keep it up. So, what did you do with the women? Not the ones you killed or sold. You must’ve locked them up somewhere.”

“There’s a chapel next to the village cemetery! We kept them in the basement!!”

Next to the cemetery, huh.

Well, that’s efficient. No outsiders would come to the cemetery, and if a captured woman died, they could just bury her right there.

And of all places, the chapel basement…

God must’ve been weeping.

“A chapel? So the priest is in on it too?”

Freide, who had been watching with interest, chimed in.

“N-no, we killed the priest and buried him… Ugh!”

Freide kicked him in the side. She’s not particularly religious, just felt like kicking him.

Looks like you wanted to.

“It’s okay, Johan. We’re almost there. Just hang in a little longer. So, last question… How old do you guys usually go for?”

It was the most important question.

I clenched my fist to make sure he couldn’t lie.

It was the question that would decide where to draw the line.

“Uh, well… Once they grow up a bit, we take them in as initiates…”

Initiates, my foot. What a bunch of nonsense.

In short, there’s no set age. This is getting annoying.

“How much is ‘a bit’? Is there any standard?”

I grabbed the bottle again.

Johan let out a strange groan.

“Hair! Hair! Whether it’s facial hair or down there! If there’s hair, we take them!”

Isn’t that usually around fifteen years old…?

What a mess. In the original, they didn’t mess with kids, but now that it’s reality, it’s come to this.

It was more disgusting than I thought.

Well, I’ve heard enough. Time to wrap this up.

“Freide, cover his mouth again.”

“What?! I’m not lying! It’s true!!”

Johan desperately pleaded.

Tears, drool, and cold sweat were dripping everywhere. Disgusting.

“Of course, I believe you. It’s not that I doubt you, but it’s time for us to part ways. Where there’s a meeting, there’s a parting. You understand, right, friend?”

“What are you…?! No, honestly, you said you’d spare me…!”

I never said that.

“Freide, did I say that?”

“Probably not?”

Freide shrugged, teasing Johan.

“Right. I said I wouldn’t eat you. But that doesn’t mean I’d let you live, does it?”

If you had a conscience, you wouldn’t think of surviving.

But since you don’t, you’re stuck doing this crap.

“What?! You son of a…!”

Johan’s mouth was covered again as he tried to curse.

“Swearing at a friend, huh? Seems like you’re lacking in fun.”

Facing my laughter, Johan shook his head wildly.

—-

It didn’t take long for his limbs to flatten out like a tablecloth.

Repeatedly passing out from the pain and waking up to more, Johan finally evolved into a mollusk.

You did well, Johan. Evolution is supposed to be painful.

“Easier than I thought?”

Freide poked at the thin limbs with curiosity.

“These guys wouldn’t have much grit. We should’ve put in more effort, but it worked out.”

Eyes fine, ears fine, torso fine…

Even the stinky lower parts are still intact.

“So, what now?”

“What else? We’ll destroy the village and rescue the captured women. The villagers will probably miss the eight who left first, but with about eighty left, it should be manageable.”

It’ll take an hour.

Maybe two if it drags on.

“How about the division of labor?”

“Mil and I will handle the village, so you and Damien head to the chapel.”

Four of us attacking the village would be faster, but who knows what the chapel guys might do in the meantime.

They might take hostages or kill the women in desperation. They’d do anything.

“Hmm. Tactically sound, but… I don’t think Milia is cut out for this.”

Freide tilted her head slightly and commented.

A valid point.

Since we’d have to hunt down the fleeing ones, it made sense for Milia, who can shoot arrows, and me to attack the village.

The problem is whether Milia, who was shocked after killing just two, can handle shooting dozens…

“She’ll have to get used to it. It’s less traumatic than seeing the women being bred.”

Sending her to the chapel would probably give her a trauma-induced seizure.

Better to let her experience hunting human-kobolds.

“Fair point. So, what about this guy?”

Johan was already half-gone, weakly groaning.

“First, let’s get ready to leave. Then, we’ll absolve his sins.”

I shook the bottle in my hand, showing it off to Freide.

The poison inside sloshed around.

“You know that’s blasphemy, right?”

“So what? Priests do similar things sometimes.”

Laughing with Freide, we left the waiting room, leaving Johan behind.

I went back to the room where Milia was waiting to gear up.

Freide went downstairs to inform Damien about the next steps.

—-

“I’m back. Everything okay, Milia?”

“Yeah. No one came this way.”

Milia nodded.

She seemed better than before…

Maybe she can handle this.

“Alright, get ready. We need to clear out a village. They’re all in it together.”

“Huh? Clear out? You mean kill them all…?”

Milia stammered, clearly flustered.