Sorry for being late.
The Capital City of the Kingdom Part 13
Translators: Frostfire10, Skythewood
"Now."
Sebas faced the heavy steel door near where he picked up Tsuare. It was made of wood sheathed in metal plates, making it both thick and heavy. It was immediately apparent that an ordinary human being would have a lot of trouble breaking this door down without tools.
Sebas grabbed the doorknob and turned.
It stopped halfway through its turn. Naturally, the door to an underground enterprise like this would be locked.
"I am not adept at opening locks. However… It can't be helped. I'll do it my way."
Sebas muttered to himself in frustration, and turned the knob again. If there was an observer, they would think that he simple turned the knob. That was how gentle he was. There was no way he used an unnatural level of force.
However, the power in the turn.
How much would it be if measured? It would probably be outside the realm of human possibility.
The sound of metal being twisted rang in the room, the knob could not bear the pressure, deformed, and broke. Sebas then opened the door. He was not finished with the door, and put more force into it.
The hinges shrieked as they were torn from the wall.
A thick metal door with a large weight— A door made with the intention of protection, was pulled apart with nonsensical strength.
"What… the hell…?"
Behind the door was a straight path, and a bearded and muscular man who poked his head out of the inner door was at a loss for words.
That was natural.
If there was an old man holding a thick metal door with a single hand, everyone would make that expression. Especially those who knew how much it weighed.
"The door was rusty, so I had to use a bit of force to open it. For the customers, you should probably oil the hinges."
As Sebas spoke to the man, he threw the door behind him. The door that seemed like paper in Sebas' hands returned to its original weight in midair and created a large clamour as it hit the floor.
The man was completely frozen in shock.
Sebas used that time to continue to proceed inside the room.
"—Oi, what was that?"
"—The hell was that noise?!"
More male voices came from behind the first one.
However, the man facing Sebas did not bother about them. Instead, he addressed Sebas.
"…Er… W-welcome?"
Completely baffled, the man stood stock still as Sebas walked up to him. The people working here were used to violence. However, the scene before him far exceeded what he had encountered in his accumulated experiences.
The man smiled to Sebas in an ingratiating manner, ignoring the shouted queries of his colleagues from behind him. His survival instinct told him that the best choice here was to get into Sebas' good graces.
Or no, perhaps he had reacted like this because he had deceived himself into thinking Sebas was the butler of one of the customers here.
The sight of a big, bearded man trying to keep a twitching smile on his face was quite hard to bear.
That was true even for Sebas.
Sebas smiled.
That smile was gentle and compassionate.
Yet, there was no trace of goodwill in his eyes.
"Could I trouble you to let me pass?"
Thump.
Or rather, it was more of a splat.
A human flew, and the sound made on top of that.
He was a muscular man in armor. He weighed 85 kilograms at the very least.
He now spun through the air like some kind of joke, flying to the side at speeds invisible to the naked eye. His body savagely impacted the nearby wall with a wet splattering sound.
The entire building shook violently, as though a giant's fist had struck it.
Since the obstructing man was gone, Sebas entered from the open door. Closing the door behind him, he looked across the room in a graceful manner.
It felt more like he was walking through an empty house than invading an enemy base.
There were two men within.
Their attentions were stolen by the crimson flower splattered across the wall. The smell of blood told of what it was.
The smell of cheap alcohol hung in the air, a scent which one would never find in Nazarick.
Sebas went over the information he had obtained from Tsuare and the assassin, then tried to figure out the building's structure. Her memories were spotty and she had not recalled anything important, but she had told Sebas that the actual establishment was located underground.
He looked to the ground. However, the trapdoor leading underground was cunningly concealed, and Sebas could not find it.
Still, if he could not find it, then all he had to do was ask someone who knew where it was.
Sebas did such a natural thing.
"Excuse me. I'd like to ask you a question?"
"Aiiiiieee!"
The man he addressed immediately responded with a hoarse scream. It would seem that he had no intention of putting up a fight.
One man entered. Basically the strongest man amongst the three of them was killed by this old man.
If they normally met him, they would not be in fear. However, facing a monster that could easily blow away a man and make mincemeat of him using a wall, a 60 centimetre weapon could not give them the courage to face him. No, that would not be courage but stupidity.
The fact that Sebas was a simple old man with a great bearing only increased their fear. If he were a monster even in appearance, they would think ah that's how it is, so the fact that he seemed human only served to increase the strangeness.
As the men trembled, they stuck to the wall, doing their utmost best to move away from Sebas.
"I have business downstairs, so could you please tell me how to get there?"
"…That, that's…"
This would be betrayal. It would not be strange for them to turn into targets themselves.
The man was still hesitating over whether or not to speak when Sebas cut through his reluctance with his next words.
"There are two of you."
The man's forehead broke out in oily sweat, and his back shuddered.
Since there were two, one was unnecessary. The monster in front of him made its decision.
"Ah, ah."
"There! There is a hidden door!"
Due to fear, one of the men could not speak, and in that time, the other man shouted in a large voice. The man who could not speak began glaring daggers at the other man. They were eyes of a man who knew that he lost the chance to survive to another person.
On the other hand, the man who spoke had eyes of superiority.
"So it's there."
If one knew about it and looked, they could indeed see the seams in the floor.
"I see, you have my gratitude."
Sebas had a happy smile on his face, giving the man he spoke to hope.
He would run away with all his might, and when dawn broke he would leave the capital. He would clean up his act so as to not meet with another man like him. He had some savings. While surviving on that he would look for a job.
He regretted his life until now, and made a promise to a god he did not believe in until now that he would live a new life. If one made of ranking of belief of those in the capital, this man would be quite high in the rankings.
However, in the end, his life until now was filled with dirt.
"Your usefulness to me is now at an end."
Sebas smiled, and the man realised would happen to him after those words. His face turned gray and he trembled uncontrollably. Still, he clung to a faint hope and cried.
"Please, please don't, don't kill me!"
"No."
The room froze. The men's eyes opened wide. As if they heard words they could not believe.
Sebas turned his head. The joints of his neck grinded together.
"But I told you, didn't I? Please, I'll do anything, just spare me!"
"Indeed you did. However…" Sebas sighed deeply and shook his head. "I cannot."
"Are… are you kidding me?"
"You can take it as a jest if you wish. However, the outcome will still be the same, no?"
"…Oh… god…"
Sebas recalled the tragic state of Tsuare when he had rescued her, and he narrowed his eyes.
What right did villains have to beg the gods for aid? More to the point, Sebas' gods were the 41 Supreme Beings. The man's plea was like an insult to them.
"You reap what you sow."
Those words, as cold and hard as steel, slashed through all hope and made the man painfully aware of his own demise.
Would he choose to fight, or would he choose flight? Given only an instant to decide, the man chose immediately—
He chose flight.
They could see the result of fighting such a monster. In that case, they might as well flee. Doing so would grant them a faint possibility of survival. They was correct to think that way.
Several seconds, no, for one second, they extended their lives.
The men ran towards the door. Sebas caught up with them in an instant, and their body whirled. A swift wind blew across the men's head, and their bodies collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Two balls hit the wall and slid to the ground, trailing blood in its wake.
A moment later, the men's headless bodies spewed a geyser of blood from its neck, covering the ground in gore.
"….If you thought about the things you did until now, it should be obvious what happens to you right?" Sebas gazed into midair. "I pray that you do not turn into that….Now."
Sebas slowly walked, avoiding the blood splatter. The feat of decapitating someone with a roundhouse kick would have required incredible strength and speed, but the most impressive thing was that Sebas' shoes had not been stained at all.
Sebas kicked in the hidden door in the floor.
First, there was the sound of metal components breaking. Then, there was a large hole in the ground. The smashed door slid down the stairs below with a resonant crash.
◆
It was a small room.
The only furniture in this almost-empty room was a cabinet and a bed.
The mattress was not a simple mass of straw bedding, but an actual cotton-stuffed mattress. It was well made, of the sort that noble homes might use. However, this mattress was designed for functionality and so it looked plain, without any decorating and would not be used by nobles.
A naked man sat on the mattress.
He was well into his middle years, and gluttony had made his frame flabby.
His looks had originally been average at best, but putting on the pounds had made him that much uglier. He looked like a pig from every angle. Even though he was a pig, he did not have a shard of a pig's intelligence, and was one in the sense of an insult.
His name was Bloom Havish.
He raised his fist— and punched down onto the mattress.
The sound of flesh striking flesh rang forth.
A look of delight blossomed on Bloom's face. The sensation of smashing flesh travelled up his arm, and his body shivered even as goosebumps of pleasure sprouted on him.
Bloom was pressing down a naked woman.
Her face was swollen and bruised, and the skin was flecked with spots of blood. Her nose was broken and the blood leaking from it had clotted on her skin. Her lips and eyelids were similarly swollen, completely distorting her originally beautiful face, There were bruises on the rest of her body, but the damage was worst on her face.
She had been trying to protect her face with her hands until just now, but now her arms lay limp on the bed. Her hair spread out messily on the mattress, like it was floating in water.
The woman seemed to be unconscious.
The sheets around them were stained with old, dried blood.
"Oi, what's with you? Tired already? Huh?!"
Bloom raised his fist and punched downwards.
With a thud, his fist connected with her cheekbone, and pain surged up Bloom's hand.
His face twisted.
"Cheh. That hurt, you bitch!"
He angrily punched her again.
The mattress creaked in time with the thud of flesh striking flesh. Her swollen skin split, staining his knuckles with blood. Said blood splattered stickily onto the mattress, dying it with carmine spots.
"……Uuuu."
The woman no longer struggled despite the beating. Non-stop bludgeoning like this could end up killing someone. However, the woman had survived, but not because Bloom had been merciful. Rather, it was because the woman's death did not concern him. All that was needed was to pay to dispose of the problem.
The woman clung to life because the mattress had dissipated the force of the blows. Had she been beaten while lying on a harder bed, she might well be dead by now.
In truth, Bloom had beaten several women to death in this place.
wever, he had to pay for the cleanup every time he killed someone, which strained his wallet. Thus, he unconsciously went easy on them.
As he looked down at the woman's unmoving face, Bloom licked his lips.
This brothel was perfect for satisfying unique sexual fetishes. Normal bordellos would not permit their customers to do such things. No, they might, but it would be expensive. If it were a noble with territory, they could use a reason and take a commoner to do it.
However, he could not do that.
Bloom used to be a commoner.
He was simply picked by his noble master, and was chosen. Thus even if he were given money, he could not gain territory.
Life was good when slavery had been permitted.
Slaves were a form of property, and people who manhandled them had been scorned. It was just like how others would roll their eyes at people who threw their money around.
However, slaves had been the only way for someone like Bloom, with his special sexual preferences, to satisfy his desires.
On top of that being stolen, to Bloom, he had no other place to release. If he did not know about this place, what would he do?
It was correct for him to agree to work with his noble master.
Normally, Bloom did not have the status to enter this shop, and entered due to his authority and faked an identity.
"Thank you— my master."
A look of calm came over Bloom's eyes. It was hard to imagine that he could be so grateful to his liege given his personality and his sexual proclivities.
However—
The embers of a flame blazed up in the depths of his belly— the flames of wrath.
This emotion was directed at the woman who had deprived him of slaves with which to satisfy his lusts.
"—That bitch!"
His face turned red with anger, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He imagined the face of the Royal whom he should have been serving, the Princess, on the body of the woman beneath him. Bloom gathered the anger within himself into his fist, and laid into the helpless woman.
Fresh blood flew with every blow he struck.
"If only, if only I could smash that face of hers! How good would that feel!"
He rained punch after punch into the woman's face.
His fist struck her cheek, and a surprising quantity of blood spurted from between the woman's swollen lips. Perhaps she had cut the inside of her mouth on her teeth.
The woman's sole response to this beating was to tremble slightly.
"—Huu… huu…"
After a few more strikes, Bloom was panting as his shoulders rose and fell. His body and forehead were slick with sweat.
Bloom looked at the woman he had pinned underneath him. Her condition could only be described as "tragic", and she was close to death at this point. What lay there was a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Bloom swallowed audibly.
Nothing pleased him more than to rape a battered and bloody woman. The prettier she had originally been, the better. There was no better way to satisfy his sadistic desires than to destroy something beautiful.
"If only I could fuck that woman like this…"
Bloom thought of the haughty features which belonged to the young lady of the house which he had just visited. She was as beautiful as the Princess, who was herself known as the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom.
Of course, Bloom was very clear that he would not have the chance to abuse such a high-class lady. The only people Bloom could indulge his fetishes with were the dregs of humanity who had been dumped into this brothel, to be used and then discarded.
Such a beautiful woman would surely be bought up by a wealthy and powerful noble for a huge sum. Of course, Bloom had to move so that that will happen.
"How I wish I could beat up a woman like that, beat her to death."
How happy and satisfied would he be if he could do that?
Of course, that was nothing more than a madman's ravings.
Bloom looked down at the woman crushed beneath him. Her bare bosom was moving slightly. He smiled lewdly as he confirmed that fact.
Bloom reached down to grab the woman's breasts, deforming the soft flesh between his fingers. There was no kindness, and only had force. There was only pain.
The woman did not react at all. She was on the verge of death and could not respond to such trivial pain. The woman Bloom was squeezing differed from a doll only in the softness of her body.
However, Bloom was somewhat dissatisfied by her lack of resistance.
Save me.
Spare me.
I'm sorry.
Please stop.
The woman's cries echoed in Bloom's mind.
Should he have fucked her while she still had the strength left to scream?
Bloom continued squeezing her breasts, a vague sense of regret in his heart.
Most of the women who had been sent to this brothel were no longer in a right state of mind. They had chosen to run away from reality. When one took that into consideration, the woman chosen to serve Bloom today had been better off than most.
"Was that woman like this too?"
The woman who escaped appeared in Bloom's mind. There were several problems, but as an external member he did not know much. He had no interest in what happened to the brothel employee who had let her go.
However, when he thought of the butler he had encountered during his visit, Bloom could not suppress the mocking laughter in his heart.
That thing had coupled with countless men, and even with female or nonhuman partners. There was no point in protecting her at all. And yet that old butler had said he was willing to pay hundreds of gold coins for her. It was a miracle he had not laughed out loud on the spot.
Did she have such a worth?
"Ah, the woman who ran away screamed very well too."
He searched through his memories and recalled her wails. She had been fairly normal by the standards of the girl sent to this brothel.
Bloom smiled lewdly, and began to slake his bestial lust. He seized one of the pinned woman's bare legs and spread it wide. Her emaciated, slender leg was thin enough that he could encircle it with one hand.
Bloom pressed himself between the woman's legs.
As he grasped his tool, now turgid from the burning desire that consumed his body—
—The door behind him clicked, and slowly opened.
"Ah!"
Bloom hurriedly turned back, and a vaguely familiar old man appeared within his field of view. Then, he remembered who that old man was.
It was the butler he had met at that mansion.
The soles of the old man's, Sebas' shoes clicked neatly as he walked into the room. Bloom was speechless in the face of his casual, natural movements.
What was that house's butler doing here? Why had he come to this room? Bloom's mind went blank in the face of this inexplicable situation.
Sebas walked up to Bloom. Then, he saw the woman crushed beneath Bloom's bulk and directed an incomparably frigid glare at him.
"You like to beat people, do you?"
"Ah!"
The strange mood in the air drove Bloom to rise as he went for his clothes.
However, Sebas moved faster than him.
A thwap resounded in Bloom's ears, and then his vision shook wildly.
A beat later, Bloom's right cheek caught fire as burning, stinging heat radiated out from it.
He had been struck— no, in this case it would be more appropriate to say he had been slapped. It took a while for Bloom to realize that.
"What!"
Faster than he could say anything, his cheek rang out with a slap. It did not stop there.
Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right—
"Stahp!"
Bloom had always been the one who hit others. Nobody had ever hit him.These few blows left him in tears.
He raised his hand to protect his face as he stumbled back in retreat.
His cheeks throbbed with pain, as though they had been scalded.
"Dah, dahh hyu! Howh dahhe hyu do hiss hoo meeeh!"
His swollen, reddened cheeks hurt whenever he spoke.
"Is there a problem?"
"Orhhh courrhh herr ihh! Ihiot! Hoo oo hyuu hink hai ahhm?!"
"Just another moron."
Sebas closed in on the retreating Bloom and with a thwap! he dealt out yet another resounding slap.
"Staph!"
Bloom covered his face like a child being struck by his parents.
He liked using violence, but he had always used it on those weaker than him. Bloom could not do anything do those who would resist and hit back.
Even if Sebas appeared to be just another old man, Bloom would not dare raise his hand to him. He had no guarantee that he would not resist.
Perhaps he had sensed Bloom's craven nature, but Sebas lost interest in him and looked back to the girl.
"How tragic…"
Bloom ran past Sebas as he stood over the girl.
"Youh ihiot!"
Bloom fumed. What a foolish old man.
He was going to gather everyone in this place to teach this old man a painful lesson. How dare he strike someone like himself! He would not go easy on the old man. Bloom would make sure he had his fill of pain and fear.
The image of the butler's mistress, the angelic-seeming girl, appeared in Bloom's mind.
The mistress would have to take responsibility for her servant's mistakes. He would have her bear the burden of the pain that the old man had caused him. Bloom would teach that old man exactly who he had hit.
As those dark thoughts went through his mind, Bloom charged out the door as his beer belly jiggled violently.
"Homeone! Homeone help meehh!"
He shouted.
Surely an employee would come to check on him if he called for help.
However, his hopes were dashed the moment he stepped into the hallway.
The passage was silent.
It was as though nobody was around.
Bloom looked around nervously, still naked.
The bizarre silence of the hallway filled him with fear.
At a glance, there were several doors on both sides of him. It was only natural that nobody would answer him. This place catered to clients with exotic tastes, dangerous ones, in fact. Thus the rooms were all soundproofed.
However, there was no way the employees would not have heard.
He had seen several of them when he had been brought to his room just now. Each of them was a burly man with bulging muscles. How could an old man like Sebas compare?
"Why'h hobodyh homingh?!"
"—They are all dead."
He replied to Bloom's cries in a soft voice.
When he turned around in a panic, he saw Sebas.
"There are some inside…. But most are dead."
"Thah.. thah impohhible! Howh mahy peoperh do hyu hink arhe herhe ahywahy?!"
"…There were three who looked like employees on top and ten more down below. There were seven others like you."
"…….."
What nonsense are you babbling?! Sebas looked incredulously at Sebas.
"Of course, some are alive. However they will not come to help you. I have broken their limbs after all."
"!"
"Alright, I do not think there is a need to spare your life. That being the case, please die here."
Sebas did not draw a sword or ready any sort of weapon. He simply walked up to Bloom in silence, like it was the most natural thing in the world. That nonchalance only served to frighten Bloom, because he knew Sebas truly wanted him dead.
"Wahe! Wahe!! Aih khen gihe hyu… uh… Aih khen gihe hyuu ha hot ohhh muhnehh!"
It was a lie. He did not have such things. He just wanted to buy himself time. However Sebas paid him no mind.
"I have no interest."
"Than fhy phare you woing phis!"
There was no reason to do this. Why did he have to kill him. Bloom's thoughts finally reached Sebas.
"…Do you not know, even after searching your heart?"
"?"
Bloom tried to recall. What did he do wrong?
Seeing the emotions on Bloom's face, that nothing resembling guilt came up, Sebas sighed.
"…Really now?"
As he said that, Sebas savagely kicked Bloom in the gut and sent him flying.
"So that is what they mean when they say that something is not worth keeping alive."
Several of Bloom's organs broke, and Sebas spat out those words to him who had died from the pain. Sebas then proceeded inside, towards were there were still people.