△
A short while earlier, I had arrived at the White Foot Pavilion with Eve.
The girl was being shouted at and intimidated by the mistress.
Eve, furious, struck the woman.
She even kicked her.
Eve took the girl and left the shop.
She would probably meet up with Seras.
If handled well, we might have been able to take the girl without anyone knowing who had kidnapped her.
But the enraged Eve had stormed in and beaten the mistress.
Well, I could understand the feeling.
Besides—
"…"
There was also my own issue.
▽
"Huh? You're saying I wouldn't keep my promise…?"
Right now, the mistress of the White Foot Pavilion was sitting on her backside in front of me.
I stepped closer and looked down at her.
"If the duke asks, you'll spill the truth right away. In the long run, which side is more profitable to side with? The leopard person who hit you and then disappeared? Or Duke Zuan, who will likely remain a 'valued customer' in the future?"
"Guh."
"And you're not the loyal type. You're the kind of person who wraps herself around whoever has the longer stick right now—how about it? Bull's-eye, right?"
"Nngh… guh… anyway, who the hell are you!? What are you!?"
The mistress was trying to find a way out.
She was trying to buy time with conversation and look for an escape route.
A route that did not exist.
"What am I? Obviously I'm an overwhelmingly good person. I just rescued a girl who was being treated horribly by you, didn't I? I'm the champion of justice, obviously."
The mistress's veins bulged.
She understood it was a mocking answer.
"You—! Do you really think you can get away with something like this!? That girl was supposed to be taken in by Duke Zuan! In other words, you went against that man! You two are finished! That filthy beast too! Buhyahyahya! Serves you right! But well, if you hand the girl back to me right now and leave the royal capital with that beast, I'll keep quiet about your existence!"
"I knew right away from the girl's reaction."
"Huh…? What are you talking about?"
"When you shout at someone, you like to slam something nearby to make a loud noise, right?"
"…"
"And you do it suddenly, without any warning. To scare the other person."
"…"
"When that keeps happening, the person on the receiving end becomes extremely sensitive to loud noises… every time there's a sound, the memory of being shouted at flashes back. They start worrying that they did something wrong again."
First they flinch at the sound and shrink back.
Right after, they start reading the faces of the people around them.
I know it well.
Because I was the same.
Yes—this woman felt familiar.
She was similar to "them."
To my real parents.
"I saw that reaction and understood exactly how you've been treating that girl. When I compare it with your behavior before and after, it's almost certainly correct."
"Shut up, shut up, shut uuuuup! So what!? It has nothing to do with you!"
"I just don't like it."
"What?"
"After doing all that to the girl, the thought of you continuing to live your life as if nothing happened… I really don't like that."
"Nngh… guh… so what are you saying!? I'm telling you that you two are finished! Like I said, the only one who can save you from that terrifying duke is me! Come on, come on!? Make it clear whether you're going to beg me for forgiveness or not!"
I let out a breath.
"It's already clear."
"Huh?"
"The one who's finished is you."
The mistress looked around the shop frantically.
She realized negotiation with the man in front of her would not work.
Her face showed she had understood.
The mistress opened her mouth wide.
"Gyyyaaaa—"
"Paralyze."
"—Ah, guh… ah…?"
I paralyzed the mistress just as she tried to scream.
Next,
"Dark."
"Huh? What… is this…? Everything in front of me… is dark…?"
And then, with non-lethal settings,
"Poison."
Stacking these three was possible.
"Ah, guh… guh… ah… it… hurts…"
There were no customers.
There was no sign of any other people.
Right now, only the mistress and I were inside the White Foot Pavilion.
"Did you think you could call for help from someone outside?"
She must have been able to tell the position of my face from where my voice came from.
Her bulging eyes glared up at me.
Sometimes eyes speak emotions more clearly than words.
A jumble of emotions.
Confusion.
Impatience.
Terror.
"Mo… monster…!"
"That goes for both of us."
I turned and looked at the door.
"I'd love to torture you to death, but… unfortunately, I don't have that much time."
I drew the short sword from my waist.
It was originally for gathering materials.
I pressed the blade against the mistress's throat.
She twitched in reaction.
She understood what had been placed against her throat.
"It won't make for much of a disguise, but I'll make it look like a robbery."
The mistress began to shake violently.
In complete darkness, the threat of death was closing in…
I knew that terror.
I had learned it inside the Ruined Ruins.
"It's terrifying, isn't it… not being able to see, not knowing when you'll be killed."
"Gu… gi… giii… doing something like this… you'll… go to the gates of hell… you know…?"
"…"
"But… if you spare me… you can… go to the gates of heaven…"
The gates of hell.
The gates of heaven.
Something like heaven and hell in this world.
In the end she had brought up the afterlife.
She was desperate to survive no matter what.
But,
"You idiot."
After doing whatever she wanted,
Not choosing her means to achieve her goals,
Dragging others into her personal revenge,
Trampling over everything according to her own judgment.
The negotiation this woman was making now was meaningless.
My resolve was already set.
I did not know if the concepts of heaven and hell were the same as in my previous world, but—
"You're definitely going to hell."
Yes,
"Both you and me."
▽
After finishing what needed to be done, I left the White Foot Pavilion.