Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

52 – A Nuisance

≪Displaying the location of the “Sun”‘s proxy.≫

≪Displaying also, the location of the enemy.≫

A status window materializing out of thin air before me, I slapped a hand to my forehead.

The dizziness that hit me was instantaneous.

Not even bothering to ask if I was willing, the whole thing just unfolded.

The nature of the reward was also a complete mystery.

And to top it off, there was an enemy, someone I didn’t even know.

The sheer difficulty made me naturally frown,

and as if sensing my mood, the text on the status window shifted constantly.

≪”Sun” is begging you, with such sincerity.≫

≪Due to “Sun”‘s request, the rank of the reward is increasing.≫

≪”Observation” has been added to ???.≫

“…Observation?”

≪”Sun” says that he can give you any information you want, if you so desire.≫

“Isn’t that just a basic function of any status window in a web novel?”

≪”Sun” says that’s the most he can give you without expending causality.≫

“…Damn, is causality really that precious?”

≪”Sun” says that causality is what constitutes his existence…≫

Saving his own hide while casually messing with someone else’s life, the nerve of him.

I cursed him with every fiber of my being while looking at the Saintess’s location as indicated in the status window.

Thinking that if I didn’t like the reward, I’d be paying him another visit.

But something was off.

Unless I was seeing things, the Saintess was still within the Order’s walls.

If she was inside, there’s no way someone hadn’t already found her.

The entire Order grounds had already been scoured by countless believers.

Still, just in case, I went to investigate, but as expected, the Saintess wasn’t there.

And on top of that, unlike before, it seemed as though another enemy had appeared beside the Saintess.

Before she knew it, two blinking crimson orbs hovered beside her.

“I need more information. Give me more.”

≪”The Sun” advises that further information would disrupt causality—≫

“I don’t need to know that.

And if you delay any longer, your Saintess will be in even greater danger.”

≪”The Sun” hesitates, finally expressing its agreement.≫

≪The agent’s location is displayed with greater detail.≫

The moment the alerts filling her status window ceased,

the location information appeared far more precisely than before.

If previously it was merely points plotted on a map,

now it revealed three-dimensional structures, even the route to get there.

Moreover, unlike a moment ago, points indicating enemies dotted the map everywhere.

Showing the weaponry each of them possessed, no less.

Seeing them scattered throughout the Order, and not focused solely on the Saintess,

it was clear these b*stards had come with a plan.

A small mercy, perhaps, that so few were clustered around the Saintess herself.

One of the two who seemed to be in the same space as her was also moving away.

Now, only two men wielding knives and

one individual plastered unnervingly close to her remained near her.

She couldn’t fathom what they were doing to her at that proximity, but

if they were the kind of people who would attempt a kidnapping, they were undoubtedly up to something foul.

Considering her quite striking beauty,

it was all too obvious that she would ignite the lust of many men.

That thought alone made her legs move faster.

Her breathing grew ragged, and her heart pounded rapidly.

Realizing it, she was already running.

She didn’t know why.

It wasn’t because she took a liking to the Saintess.

She even considered her a bit of a nuisance.

She doubted there were many who’d take kindly to someone who constantly lectured them on doctrine and chided their every action.

So then, why was she running like this?

*

“Where will God hear you?! Hahaha!”

Even from outside the door, she could hear the Saintess’s wailing and a voice she recognized.

It was Bishop Rignil, the one who promised to take them to heaven.

She threw the door open, letting light flicker across their figures.

Blinded by the sudden intrusion, their gazes snapped towards her.

“Wh-who are you?! Where did the others outside go?!”

“H…huh…?”

The sight that greeted me upon opening the door was nothing short of a spectacle.

A saint, half-naked and weeping, sprawled upon the floor, and Bishop Lignil attempting to violate her.

Circumstantially, he appeared to be the traitor who facilitated her abduction.

Perhaps he hadn’t considered anyone would find this place, for his face was a mask of utter dismay, while the saint’s held a fragile blend of shock and relief.

Forcing myself past the disgust, I moved closer, the scene sharpening into grim detail.

Her garments were shredded, no longer serving their purpose, and he, a porcine figure, seemed enraged at the interruption of his trouser-lowering.

Her beautiful face was streaked with tears and mucus, her skin marred with the dried, white residue of saliva.

Her expression, too, teetered between raw humiliation, on the verge of eruption, and the hope that rescue might finally have arrived.

I stood there, finding nowhere to avert my gaze, and moved slowly towards her, intending to offer some covering, when Lignil blocked my path, slamming a fist against the wall to command my attention.

“You cur! Are you deaf to my words?”

“Ah, apologies. What did you say?”

“I asked what you did with the men outside, you fool…”

His words ceased abruptly.

For I had just tossed him the contents of my right hand.

Two objects rolled to a stop before him.

Even for Lignil, a man unversed in combat, the scent emanating from them was unmistakable.

Fresh, vibrant blood, as though spilled just moments ago.

It poured forth from those two things, filling the room.

“Ugh…what is th…!”

“Weaker than I’d expected. Hardly adequate as guards.”

“You…you! Who sent you?! The Pontiff again?!”

“The Pontiff did send me, yes.”

Muttering ‘again, again, again’ under his breath, the mass of blubber was shoved aside, and I draped a robe around the shoulders of the saint, who remained huddled on the floor, staring up at me.

“Oh…ah…!!”

“I saw nothing.”

As if only then realizing the state she was in, she clutched the robe hastily to cover herself.

My words, meant to reassure, seemed to have the opposite effect, coloring her face a deeper shade of crimson.

Just then, a hammer’s shape hurtled towards my face.

I narrowly dodged it, but where I had been standing, a gaping hole now existed in the wall.

A blow that, had it connected, would have been instantly fatal.

The source of the attack was Bishop Lignil, still muttering to himself.

“Again…again…you are better than me…!!”

“…”

“Dieeee!!!!”

Lignil continued unleashing the same attacks as before.

First, I subtly shifted my position to keep the Saintess out of harm’s way.

He’s only after me, anyway.

Those I couldn’t dodge, I deflected with a glancing blow of my dagger.

Those I could, I evaded by rolling away however I could.

He calls himself a Bishop, yet that’s the best he can do with divine power?

Seems like he lacks combat experience, for a clergyman.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let me close the distance so easily.

He didn’t expect me to be this fast, it seems.

The composure vanished from his face as he mumbled something.

Seeing me suddenly right in front of him, he reflexively tried to back away.

In that instant, I conjured a blade beneath the sole of my shoe, bringing it down on his instep.

I felt the grinding vibration as it crushed the muscle and grazed the bones in his foot.

“Ggh…aaargh!!!”

“Stop yelling, you’re being loud.”

“Uh…Uuhhh!”

A man who would inflict such torment on a girl young enough to be his daughter

It was quite displeasing to see him scream like that over a mere crushed instep.

Not just to silence him, but to drown out all sound, I didn’t merely cover his mouth.

Instead, I shoved my hand inside.

“Uuhhbuuh!”

And with my free hand, I slowly probed the rest of his immobilized body.

Not that I would allow him to die easily.

A shallow stab at the location of his liver.

A grazing cut across his arteries.

Severing his tendons, one by one, to render him utterly helpless.

So he could experience his own powerlessness, with every fiber of his being.

And I made arrangements for him to taste death, slowly, as it came.

Just as I was about to thinly slice his spleen, someone grabbed my arm from behind.

“T-This…is too much…”

“…”

It was the Saintess, having regained her senses at some point.

But what is she saying right now?

Too much?

Is she suggesting we show this man mercy?

Naive.

Far too naive.

Her mind is a field of wildflowers, it seems.

Or perhaps she’s simply oblivious to the dangers around her?

Neither option sits well with me.

I roughly pull the saintess’s hand off my arm,

and seize her arm in turn, pushing her against the wall.

“Agh… Why…?”

“…”

The saintess looks at me with a gaze laced with fear.

I tighten my grip on her arm.

She whimpers from the pain, but

my hold shows no sign of loosening.

“Saintess, I don’t know what convictions you hold.”

“..Huh?”

“What conviction could possibly lead you to spare even the pig who tried to rape you?

I don’t understand it.”

“….”

“But don’t assume your convictions will apply to everyone else.

There are definitely people in this world who deserve to die.”

“…”

“Will you continue to stand in their way every time?

Claiming they can all be reformed?”

“….”

“If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you.

But I think cultivating your own strength should come first. Frankly…it’s a nuisance.”

The saintess, unable to respond to my barrage of words, lowers her head.

The fact that she bit her lip suggests that she is unwilling to acknowledge my words.

But seeing her release her lip a moment later,

it seems she has, to some extent, accepted what I said in her heart.

I release my grip on the saintess’s arm, and

her wrist is now stained a red like a pomegranate.

Now that I believe she’s finally understood,

I approach Rignil, who is somehow crawling towards the door,

and as if to stop my progress, a large explosion erupts from above,

and the water droplet that falls on my nose from the shock of the explosion is filled with a strong smell of blood.