Chapter 8

"Alright, that's enough... Let's take a little time to negotiate, shall we?"

The bald, large man called out to Lamber in a womanly tone. Lamber deduced that this large man was probably the leader of the bandit gang.

"Why should I surrender for them?"

When Lamber spoke coldly, the hostages, with tears in their eyes, desperately shook their heads, pleading with Lamber.

"Pretending won't do you any good. Didn't you come here to save these people? Don't worry, I hadn't touched them yet because I intended to personally train them."

"Hmm..."

Lamber, upon hearing the bandit's words, recalled what the village girl had told him.

"Just the other day, some adventurers came because they were suspicious about the village's lack of communication... but they were all captured right away. You should leave before you get involved..."

Then he looked back at the hostages. All three were around eighteen years old and seemed to have some physical training. Compared to the other villagers, they didn't appear to be particularly emaciated, suggesting they had been captured recently.

"Besides... I won't kill you. Just cut off your wrist. I'll release these three and let you go."

After saying this, the leader brought the skull he was holding to his mouth, as if sipping from it.

It seemed the skull was a cup, filled with clay on the inside to prevent water from leaking. The skull itself was painted, giving it a glossy surface.

When Lamber looked at the cup, the bandit leader smiled with a blank expression and licked his lips with a short, thick, purplish-red tongue.

"Oh, does this bother you? This is a wine cup made from the head of a young village girl. Well, I didn't make it myself; I had her father make it. Isn't that interesting?"

As the leader spoke, his subordinates burst into laughter.

"Hey, if you're scared to do it yourself, I can do it for you."

"Are you scared despite your big build? Come on, cut it off quickly. And... you should be grateful to the boss for this. If he really wanted to, he could capture you, torture you, and show you the hell on earth... Unfortunately, because you've been killing people, we can't risk any more casualties."

"Even if you survive, I don't know if you'll be safe. You don't even know who we're backed by. You've made a big mistake...!"

The subordinates mocked Lamber.

(Should I listen to them a bit more...? No, it's not necessary. I just need to leave one alive to talk.)

Lamber confirmed the faces of the bandits one by one and drew his sword.

The bandits thought Lamber was going to cut off his own wrist. This village was supposed to have no strong swordsmen, so the sudden appearance of a skilled swordsman at this moment was unexpected.

"I can't just let these young people of the Regios Kingdom die. Besides, I don't really mind losing an arm in this body. It might be an attractive offer, but..."

At that point, he released a powerful aura of malice.

"Sorry, but I'll have to decline. I don't think you'd be satisfied even if I did."

The bandits, suddenly exposed to the intense aura, were paralyzed with fear. In that instant, Lamber stood between the two bandits holding the hostages and with a single stroke, decapitated them both.

"What!?"

"What happened!?"

The bandits were now completely confused, staring in shock. The leader's expression changed dramatically.

"You'll see hell!"

He shouted, his excitement causing him to crush the skull cup in his hand.

"You think you can handle this many people...!"

One of the bandits stood in front of Lamber, trying to mask his fear with a loud voice. But before he could finish his sentence, his body was split in two.

"Kill him! He's just one person! Kill him!"

Four more red fruits exploded. None of the bandits had the skill to see the sword's path. They couldn't react, let alone dodge or escape. In the end, the bandits were turned into gruesome corpses without even getting a chance to swing their swords.

"Th-this... This is impossible...!"

The only one left standing was the leader. Lamber glanced at the skull cup on the ground and glared at the leader.

"Alright, I have a lot of questions for you. We can't show the villagers too much filth... Let's move to an empty house."

"Are you going to torture me? Do I look that weak to you...?"

The leader squatted down, picked up the large axe he had given to a subordinate, and glared back at Lamber with bloodshot eyes.

"You... Do you think you're the most cruel person in the world?"

"What do you mean...?"

"I know many worse people. The torturer Ordain, called the vampire of the Berfis Kingdom... The plunderer Hernicos of the Maderak Kingdom... The worst alchemist Gailof of the Argolos Kingdom. And the magician and great sinner Domicione of our Regios Kingdom... If you had seen even one of their atrocities, you wouldn't be able to sleep again."

"Who are you talking about!?"

"They're all people I killed in the past."

Lamber said this while dropping his sword to the ground.

"You... You're making no sense and it's creepy...!"

The leader let out a rough cry and attacked Lamber. Lamber dodged the axe and struck the leader's lowered shoulder with his armored arm, shattering the joint with a sickening crunch.

"Aaaah... Aaaah...!?"

The leader's mouth opened wide, and saliva and tears streamed down his face from the intense pain. Lamber immediately struck the other shoulder and both knees, destroying them through the armor.

"How does it feel? To have all your limbs rendered useless in an instant. You will live only to suffer. But I'm not a demon. I don't have the same tastes as Ordain or Gailof. That's fortunate for you. I can kill you at any time."

Lamber grabbed the leader's shattered knees and dragged him roughly. The leader, in fear and pain, was leaking all bodily fluids. His mouth was covered in vomit.

"Help... Help... Help..."

The leader looked at the hostages, pleading for help, like an abused puppy.

The hostages, who had forgotten their own suffering, felt pity for him. It was hard to believe that the intimidating, emotionless large man and the man being dragged, covered in mud and vomit, were the same person. He even seemed to have shrunk in height.

But they were bound and gagged, unable to do anything. The leader was dragged further away. Eventually, Lamber knocked on a house and opened the door.

"Hmm, this one seems to be empty."

"Aa... Aa..."

The leader's body trembled violently as he looked at the hostages, still pleading for help. The door slammed shut, and that was the last time the hostages saw the leader.