"Do it."
Bill issued an ice-cold command.
The next second, the members of Class A swung their weapons in unison, striking the vital points of the death-row inmates.
After a period of harsh training and multiple live executions, they had gradually developed a psychological indifference toward taking human life.
Seeing that everyone had executed his orders without hesitation, Bill finally felt a trace of comfort in his cold heart.
'Very good.'
'Next time will be actual combat out in the field.'
"Good work, Noah. You don't have to come back down here this afternoon. Whether you want to rest or busy yourself with other things, you can arrange it yourself."
Having spent so much time together, Noah had come to understand this old man much better.
It seemed the researcher was in a genuinely good mood today.
Especially since the clumsy Remus surprisingly hadn't angered him, that was practically a miracle around here.
Taking off his sterile white coat, Noah changed into a set of ordinary clothes.
He hadn't returned to the Leiden residence recently, but the servants from the Leiden family had come by the lab a few times, delivering fresh food, clean clothing, and daily necessities here for him.
Leaving the underground Science Division, Noah planned to buy some gifts to take back to the estate as a thank-you.
He arrived at a local specialty shop in the bustling castle town of the Imperial Capital.
This entire street felt like this world's version of a Chinatown, filled with architectural elements from Eastern countries.
The shop Noah chose looked to have a very authentic Eastern atmosphere, there was even a character for 'Fortune' hung on the front door, and the clay jars and wooden chairs inside possessed a certain rustic charm.
There were also many calligraphy works and ink paintings here, but the prices weren't very high.
Perhaps due to strict cultural differences, the people of the Empire had no way of appreciating the subtle charm of Eastern ink wash paintings.
Laims's personal bookshelf was more luxurious than a typical Capital bookstore or even a library, but it lacked this kind of foreign collection.
If Noah were to explain the history a bit, he might be able to spark the noble's interest in it.
At this moment, a girl who seemed to be the shopkeeper walked over.
She was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl with a hairstyle resembling ox horns (odango buns), perfectly symmetrical on both sides of her head.
Seeing Noah, the girl's first reaction was—'whose lost child is this?'
"Hehe, hello there, little brother. Are you looking for your parents?" the girl leaned in with a playful, teasing smile.
From hearing how she addressed him to looking at her expression, although Noah felt a bit dissatisfied internally, he didn't take it too seriously or let it show on his face.
Humans are visual creatures and always judge others by their superficial appearance, a fact that frequently troubled him since arriving in this younger body.
"Hello," Noah said politely. "I'd like to pick out a traditional painting as a gift for someone who has taken good care of me."
"Eh?"
The girl blanked for a moment.
Seeing the girl frozen, Noah raised his eyebrows slightly.
He couldn't help but wonder to himself if the specific term was incorrect here in this dimension.
"Ah, sorry, did you just say painting? You're really knowledgeable, to even know academic terms from the distant East." Because of her merchant father, the girl had once worked on massive trade ships.
In the Empire, "Traditional painting (Danqing)" wasn't even considered a common vocabulary word.
Even if it were written out on a sign, there was almost no one who knew how to read the characters.
She hadn't expected that a boy who looked several years younger than herself would actually come here to buy this, and he seemed to know a lot about the art, too.
"Well, I know a little."
"Uh, that means you're an actual customer! I am so sorry! I was far too rude to you!"
After bowing and apologizing, the girl hurriedly trotted over to the counter and poured still-warm tea into a delicate teacup.
This was the strict etiquette for greeting paying customers that her father had taught her.
"Please enjoy, it's something to drink while you browse."
"Oh." Noah took the tea.
Before he even drank it, he smelled a refreshing and relaxing fragrance wafting from the cup.
Surprised, he asked, "Is this green tea?"
Hearing him say this, the girl marveled once again. "You really are knowledgeable. The uneducated people of the Empire all think this is just boiled weeds!"
Huuu—
Taking a small sip, Noah felt a warm current flow through his body, yet his mind felt a burst of refreshing coolness.
It calmed his spirit and focused his thoughts.
'Good tea. It's superior to the commercial tea leaves I drank in modern society. Is it a mutated variety unique to this world?'
"Are you originally from an Eastern country?" Noah asked.
"Ah, no, I'm not. My father and I used to work under a high-ranking official out in the East. I absorbed the culture from what I saw and heard, which is how we eventually opened this shop. By the way, just call me Mei."
'Mm. I see.'
'After all, this world even had cruise ships, so trading across the oceans wasn't anything surprising.'
It was just that the countries were too far apart, and because they were all very closed off to each other, there wasn't much cultural interaction.
Perhaps because of this massive distance, there were no global wars between the countries separated by the vast oceans, they simply entrenched themselves on their respective continental plates and fought for bloody hegemony locally.
Unlike the layout of seven continents and eight oceans on Earth, in this world, the continent where the Empire was located was the most expansive landmass.
Precisely because of this, thousands of years ago, there were five or six different countries constantly fighting for supremacy on this landmass before the First Emperor conquered them all.
The Empire, whether in terms of population, sheer territory, or military strength, could easily be called the strongest country in the world.
Yet such a powerful Empire actually faced the immediate crisis of being overthrown due to internal strife and rot.
"Customer, you said you wanted a traditional painting. May I ask what style you are looking for?" Mei asked, rubbing her hands together.
"Style? Then something peaceful. Like landscapes, or pines and cranes."
"Understood."
Mei nodded, turned around, and walked near the back door to select from the dusty picture scrolls.
Noah sipped his tea while waiting, feeling very refreshed.
At the same time, another girl walked into the shop. As soon as she entered, she greeted Mei, and the two looked very close.
After a brief conversation, Mei made an apologetic gesture and said, "Sorry, Sheele, I'm a bit busy with a customer right now. Could you wait for me inside for a moment?"
The girl named Sheele was about the same age as Mei, and equally graceful and slender.
She was wearing a tailored cheongsam, the color an orchid purple that closely matched her long hair and pupils.
Wearing round glasses, she looked very quiet and gentle.
Noah watched her sit down on the chair at the table next to his, placing the woven basket she was carrying onto the wood.
Without needing to look closely, from the lifted corner of the covering cloth, he could see it was filled with pastries like sweet bread and baked cookies.
It seemed the two were close friends, and they had arranged this meeting in advance today.
Noah waited quietly, occasionally taking a sip of his green tea.
"Um..."
Suddenly, the quiet, purple-haired girl shyly offered him two pieces of dried fruit cookies wrapped in wax paper, holding them out with both hands.
"If you don't mind, please have some." Sheele blinked.
Seeing Noah looking at her, she seemed to blank out for a second, then quickly added, "This... goes well with the tea."
"Uh."
Noah reached out and took the cookie from Sheele's hand.
Appraisal activated naturally.
[Sheele's Handmade Pastry]
Description: Baked cookies that the clumsy Sheele finally managed to make successfully after much effort and burnt pans.
Ingredients: Butter, cake flour, eggs, sugar...
Errors: Excess salt, unevenly whisked batter, oven temperature too low, heating time exceeded...
Overall Rating: 42 (The taste is barely passable. It's dry and will rob the mouth of its moisture. Best paired with a hot drink to relieve the greasiness.)
'Well, it isn't poisonous, at least. She was just giving it to me out of pure kindness.'
Speaking of which, the appraisal seems to be strict when it comes to scoring food!
He felt the pastry smelled alright, yet it actually only scored a 42.
This was out of a hundred, meaning it didn't even get a passing grade.
Could it be that the baseline culinary standards of this world were actually higher than modern society? How strange.
"Thank you," Noah thanked her with a smile, taking a bite.
But Sheele hurriedly waved her hands and shook her head, blushing. "N-no need to thank me."
With hot tea and pastries, Noah actually felt a bit of rare coziness here for a moment.
But over by Mei, who was selecting picture scrolls, a massive shadow suddenly enveloped her.
She raised her head somewhat in surprise, just about to politely say hello, but realized the person standing in front of her was actually her violent ex-boyfriend, who had been pestering her relentlessly.
"You?"
The girl's expression shifted to one of sheer terror.
Her heart grew tense, and her feet unconsciously took half a step back.
The man noticed this as well.
"Mei... finally... found you."
The arrival was a man, tall—even a hair taller than the doorframe of the souvenir shop.
Standing in front of him, Mei couldn't even reach his chest.
"H-How do you know about this place... uh?"
The man's eyes were hollow.
Even though he was staring right at Mei, his gaze didn't seem focused.
Before Mei could react, the man suddenly reached out his hands, viciously choking her neck, and lifted her up off the floor through gritted teeth.
Suspended in mid-air by her neck, Mei's feet couldn't touch the ground.
She could only tightly grip his thick arms and struggle against his grip.
"Wh-What are you doing..." Mei choked out painfully.
But the man, aside from a face full of madness, only had drool constantly spilling from the corners of his mouth.
In short, no matter how you looked at it, something wasn't right with him. He had probably used some sort of combat drug that messed with his mind.
"L-Let go!" Mei struggled in agony.
The commotion they made disrupted Noah's rest and Sheele's waiting.
The two peeked over, and Sheele immediately jumped up, knocking her chair over in the process.
She anxiously wanted to do something to help, but didn't know what to do.
She could only frantically look around the room for a weapon to stop the man.
"H-Help!" Mei felt the man in front of her truly intended to kill her, and her terror peaked.
At this moment, Sheele hurriedly grabbed a pair of sharp metal scissors from the counter.
Gripping them tightly, she pointed them at the figure several times taller than herself.
"Let Mei go!" She also recognized that dangerous man.
"RAAGHHHHHH!"
The man let out a roar that didn't sound human.
He exerted even more force with his hands, strangling Mei's throat until it looked as if the girl's eyeballs were going to pop out.
Seeing this scene, Sheele suddenly became calm—completely out of character for her.
Her friend's pained expression was tossed to the back of her mind.
In her purple eyes, there was only the man's exposed artery and full of fatal openings.
'Killing intent?'
Noah felt the astonishing killing intent radiating from the quiet girl.
He couldn't see the slightest foundation of martial arts in her stance, but at this moment, the girl's control over her body had reached an unprecedented efficiency.
This was a natural talent.
He had no doubt that the girl would plunge those scissors deep into the man's neck in the next split second.
Seeing the situation escalating so rapidly, he could no longer watch from the sidelines.
He instantly stepped forward and pinned Sheele's wrist down, which snapped Sheele—who had just flipped some kind of dangerous internal switch—back to her senses.
"Leave it to me."
Noah didn't want to just watch the girl murder the man in a public shop, nor did he want to watch the man strangle Mei to death like this.
He charged straight at the man, simultaneously attacking his arm with Mind Drill Spike.
Even if he had fallen into a state of mental derangement due to drugs, the man still shrieked in sudden pain.
He released the hands choking Mei and clutched his head with both hands, his eyes turn bloodshot.
"Cough, cough cough cough... it hurts," the girl slumped to the ground, panting heavily, holding her bruised throat.
Seeing the man's reaction, Noah thought to himself that this wasn't some physical pain inflicted on the mind or cranial nerves, but a much deeper agony.
Even a person whose physical body lacked a sense of pain couldn't escape this kind of suffering.
Because it was direct damage to the soul!
Noah rushed forward and struck the man in the abdomen with his palm.
The blow, reinforced with magic power, amplified his attack.
The force passed through the man's body, rustling the New Year prints hanging on the wall behind him.
At the same time, the man let out a muffled groan, his eyes rolling back.
The muscles across his entire body trembled as if they were spasming. He dropped to his knees, drool and snot spilling all over the floor.
Veins bulged across his forehead as he swung one thick arm toward Noah.
With his upper Level 2 ability values and magic reinforcement, Noah easily caught the man's arm. With a slight twist, he snapped it.
"Gaaah!"
The man fled in agony.
When he reached the doorway, he grabbed the doorframe with his other hand and actually crushed cracks into it.
Noticing that detail, Noah immediately frowned.
That monstrous strength.
And that mental state.
No way…
"Cough… cough, cough. Thank you, young man. You're really strong. But don't be reckless. He's my ex-boyfriend. We broke up almost a month ago. He threatened me back then, but I didn't take it seriously. I never thought he'd actually come looking for me."
"I really thought he was going to kill me just now."
Mei touched the red marks still lingering on her neck, shaken by the close call.
At that moment, Sheele suddenly ran toward the door and shouted, "I'll go call the city guard right away!"
Whoosh!
Bang!
A fierce gust of wind howled past the girl and slammed into the wall, shattering into pieces.
Sheele stood frozen in place.
Nervously, she turned her head and discovered that it was actually the shop's door.
It had clearly been extremely heavy, yet the man had torn it off with one hand and thrown it.
"Ugh… ughh… aaah…"
The man seemed to be trying to say something, but aside from spraying out a mouthful of saliva, he could not utter even half a coherent word.
'Hoh. He looks like a beast, yet he still stopped that girl?'
Noah thoughtfully studied the man before him.
He had never expected that he would run into such an unexpected situation just by coming here to buy a gift.