The Imperial Hunter

There was a world of difference between malnourished wild dogs and well-trained hunting dogs. My army, which would accompany me on the Imperial Hunt, swiftly subdued the self-proclaimed elite warrior idiots. Kyung-tae confirmed that no one died in the process. It was to surpass the request from the casino owner. He hoped to get through this without killing anyone.

As I entered the warehouse, the eyes of the nineteen-year-old whose life was tied to a chair focused on me. The mouths gagged with gags were silent. It was a tense silence. The only one not tied up was the woman, the troublemaker of this job. She stood trembling among the masked armed personnel.

I was also wearing a mask. However, the prey seemed to sense from the atmosphere alone that I was the owner of the hunting dogs.

My subordinates had spread a thick plastic sheet on the floor. From now on, people would be slaughtered here, and it was not a job where blood could be splattered in all directions like a regular slaughterhouse.

In the midst of this, there was one guy whose erection wouldn’t subside. It was the officer who had been wriggling with the woman until the last moment. I pierced through his dilated pupils, beyond his eyes filled with fear.

Did he take some kind of drug?

Even if it wasn’t clairvoyance, anyone who recognized the person from the facial expressions, or the unnaturally reddened complexion, could figure it out. People who had never seen something like Viagra would naturally not know. Facing the guy who had pitched a tent in his crotch and seeing his face flushed abnormally made me feel quite uncomfortable.

“…I want to cut him.”

The guy remained pensive at my words. I had spoken in English.

“Should I cut him?”

Kyung-tae’s indifferent suggestion. The order was a mess, but if we cut him and interrogated him, we would have enough time for the interrogation. However, I shook my head.

“We should deal with the girl first.”

This time, the woman became pensive.

“P-please spare me! I won’t tell anyone about what I saw here! I promise!”

Tears flowed from her frightened eyes.

“Calm down.”

I tried to soothe her calmly, but it was futile.

“If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”

Her crying suddenly stopped. This seemed to work better. However, she started sobbing. While the sobbing continued, I gave the woman, who was flushed with embarrassment, a glimmer of hope.

“Our mission lies with these mongrels tied up here. You’re an unexpected variable. Killing innocent civilians just to erase evidence isn’t something we appreciate either.”

“T-then…”

“If you cooperate, there’s a chance we might let you go.”

The woman who accepted the glimmer of hope had a completely different expression on her face.

“I’ll do it! H-hic, I’ll never tell anyone, hic, what happened here!”

“That may not be enough.”

The woman, who was cautious, asked.

“W-what can I do, then?”

“Can you lend me your hand for a moment?”

“Huh?”

Staring at her, the woman hesitantly offered me one of her hands. I grabbed her hand, and with my other hand, I drew a gun from the holster inside my coat. Although she reflexively pulled her body away when she saw the metal shine, the hand I held didn’t move a bit. I handed her the grip of the gun.

“Grab it properly with both hands. Keep the muzzle down. It’s better not to move it too much.”

The woman swallowed her dry saliva and slowly wrapped her fingers around the grip. It was slightly shaky, but she managed to hold it steady. I finally let go of her hand.

“What’s your name?”

“Karen… Karen William, hic, Williams.”

A smile that seemed like she was trying to flatter me appeared on her tear-stained face. Her trembling lips seemed desperate. Apart from the flashy makeup, she had a decent face. Flawless white skin, blue eyes, and naturally blond hair with a bright complexion. The neo-Nazis who were tied up would definitely go crazy.

‘That’s why it’s even more difficult to kill her.’

As valuable as she was, the client probably wouldn’t want to waste her. Once Karen disappeared, she would definitely not stay quiet. I would mobilize all my resources to track down the White Guard.

There was a way to eliminate her. First, send her out and then, while tailing her, disguise myself as an accident or a robbery at a suitable distance and kill her. However…

“Miss Williams.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Let’s be accomplices for just today.”

There were milder ways, and there was no need to kill her if we didn’t have to.

Karen Williams was a woman who caught on quickly. She immediately glanced at the tied-up neo-Nazis as soon as she heard my words. Judging by her expression, it was clear she had figured it out. The index finger on the hand holding the gun was also stiff and hesitant as if she didn’t want to put her finger on the trigger by mistake.

I approached a table that had been pushed aside while unwrapping the plastic. The table, whose last cleaning was unknown, had poker cards with handprints, traces of drug use, unopened bags of drugs, dollar bills rolled up like straws, empty glass jars, and finally, a bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Good liquor that didn’t suit low-level thugs. I chose a glass that looked clean with no lip marks and filled it about a third full.

Returning to my spot, I offered the glass to Karen.

“Now, drink it all.”

She hesitated for a moment, then obediently brought the glass to her lips. Surprisingly, she seemed inexperienced with alcohol, and after finishing it, she made a small gulp sound and wrinkled her forehead. Her arms didn’t have any injection marks either.

I tossed the empty glass to my subordinate.

Due to the strong alcohol, Williams’ hiccups lessened.

“Um…”

“Speak.”

“…Are you really sparing my life?”

Still cautious, but her trembling had reduced compared to before. In response to her question, I nodded.

“I don’t have a hobby of playing pranks on someone I’m about to kill.”

“…”

“The gun is very quiet. Close your eyes, pull the trigger, turn around, open your eyes, and then leave. Your memory won’t have any sounds, screams, or bloodstains.”

However, photos and videos as insurance would remain.

“Now, look at me and smile.”

Karen hesitated, her shoulders trembling. Her gaze shifted toward my subordinate, who was recording the video.

“It’s practice. Even if it looks forced, it’s awkward.”

She tried to follow my instructions but wasn’t doing well. Like her forced smile earlier, her desperation made it seem unnatural. I spoke calmly.

“Don’t think too hard about it. Isn’t this what you used to do?”

“Wh-what did I used to do?”

“That’s right. Smiling at bad men. I’d like you to smile at me at least once.”

Karen’s expression changed. Her smile mixed with tears was better than earlier. I quietly commented while looking at her face.

“It might be better to remove some of the makeup. It’s too thick.”

“…I have cleansing wipes in my bag.”

“Where’s your bag?”

“In the office, hic, over there.”

“Bring it.”

One of my subordinates ran lightly to retrieve her handbag from the office in the warehouse. Karen tried to reach for the bag, but I extended my hand to stop her. She had forgotten what she was holding in her hand. It was only when she saw my fixed gaze on the gun that she realized. Her trembling finger was close to the trigger.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“No need.”

Ironically, she was the one who was dangerous. The surrounding subordinates lowered their guns.

I had started to get annoyed by the time wasted, but nagging her would only waste more time. A subordinate brought her bag, which was covered in dust and had been haphazardly left among the miscellaneous items. I took a cleansing wipe from it and personally wiped Karen’s face.

Hmm. It wasn’t coming off as well as I thought.

“Uh, sir…”

“Stay still. Even if I’m not good at it, try to understand.”

Now, even the back-and-forth with the gun seems tedious. And in such a situation, maintaining a gentlemanly attitude was important.

As Karen lowered the gun and hesitantly held her face for me to clean, she cautiously said. 

“…Sir, you don’t seem, um, you don’t seem like such a bad person.”

That’s right. I was waiting for this kind of reaction.

It might be a foolish response, but oppressive situations naturally limit a person’s thinking. After all, were the new recruits in the military known for their brilliance from the start?

This woman was desperately trying to gain favor with me, the one holding the power of life and death. Desperate flattery, at least in the moment of speaking, seemed genuinely sincere.

Polite responses in situations like this were the prerequisites for Stockholm Syndrome to take hold. Judging by her reaction, spending another week here might result in nearly perfect brainwashing. However, it wasn’t worth putting in that much effort. I held Karen’s chin and turned it from side to side. While observing her reaction, I pulled out another cleansing wipe and said,

“I am objectively a bad person.”

“Ah…”

“But still, compared to the scum in here, I must seem like a better person. You do know what kind of people they are, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes! They’re very bad, garbage people!”

Karen nodded vigorously, forming a connection with me. She seemed to have no personal feelings for the customers. After tossing the used wipe on the floor, I let go of Karen’s chin and slapped the cheek of the skinhead closest to me.

Smack!

“Where are you looking at with those eyes?”

Blood and teeth splattered. Thanks to my enhanced strength and magic reinforcement, the sound of the impact resembled leather tearing. The man who had been eyeing Karen was hit, and instinctively, he lowered his head. His head wobbled as if his bones were rattling.

Wiping the moisturizer-covered gloves, I calmly spoke to the shocked Karen, 

“The reason I’m here is that these people committed crimes and never faced punishment.”

“If they’re criminals, what kind of…”

“They killed people. People like you, innocent and kind.”

“Ah.”

Calling herself innocent and kind was sugarcoated. This woman probably wasn’t any different.

“For example, look at this guy.”

I grabbed the head of the guy I had slapped and forced him to raise his head.

“The teardrop tattoo near his eye is a symbol that he killed someone. There are seven teardrops, so he probably killed seven people.”

It might not be true at all. It was likely just bravado. In reality, it might be the opposite.

However, the truth wasn’t important here. The guy whose head I held acted like he was innocent and cried out loudly. He writhed in pain as if his muscles were about to burst, screaming behind the gag. My subordinates, who had seen my signal, covered his head with a hood and administered a truth serum. The muffled cries became even more frustrating.

I asked. 

“Tell me, Miss Williams. Don’t you think something is seriously wrong with the fact that these serial killers are freely walking the streets?”

“Yes, I completely agree with you, Sir!”

“To me, the old man who asked for revenge represents the people who have lost their families and neighbors. I hope the suffering of these murderers can provide some comfort to them.”

“You are truly magnificent.”

Karen nodded enthusiastically, empathizing and fully immersing herself in her role. It was a strategy to ensure her survival.

On the other hand, the justification I had provided seemed to resonate well with the local sentiment in this area. It was a country where there was a peculiar admiration for vigilantes. Perhaps there were many people who took justice into their own hands here, especially among former soldiers or professional fighters, who might have taken it seriously.

I had probably gone far enough. After removing my mask and brushing my hair back, I looked directly into Karen’s round eyes and said.

“Miss Williams, that gun is very quiet.”

Karen’s shoulders stiffened.

Disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction! While it may incorporate elements inspired by our "real" historical world, including historical events, settings, and cultures, it is important to note that the story and characters are entirely products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work should be enjoyed and interpreted as a work of fiction and not as a representation of historical facts or reality.

Also, if you find some error in translation please do let me know by tagging me (@_dawn24) in our Discord server. Since this series is kinda hard to translate. But I'll try my best to make it at least readable :)

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