“I guess lunch is cancelled,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, how intriguing. Going to help the damsel in distress?”
“Of course. I can’t pretend like I didn’t see that.”
“If you’ve made up your mind, you’ll hear no complaints from me. But be on your guard. That man has the eyes of a murderer. Mercy has no place in a confrontation with an enemy like that—one who has killed in cold blood.”
“I…understand.”
I had killed before. Even though it had been a bandit who had broken into the castle, taking his life had brought me no pleasure. I would never forget that bandit’s glare in the moments of his death.
But I didn’t regret it, either. If I’d let that bandit go, Roxy would have been in all sorts of trouble with the other holy knights. I’d heard their power struggles were fierce. I wanted to do what I could to circumvent anything that might force a person like Roxy off her road to success. She was a person who cared for the citizens.
If a piece of trash like me had to get his hands dirty to help her, I was only too happy to do so. I was never going to be a hero, or one of the good guys, or a beacon of justice. That was impossible. But if people were suffering in front of me, I wanted to help. It was simple, really.
My mind made up, I tailed the man and the girl from a safe distance. After a time, they stopped at a series of warehouses clustered together in the Merchant District. These were where goods from outside the kingdom were delivered and stored. The man hustled the girl into what looked like an abandoned warehouse with worn-out, faded walls.
“Is that his base of operations?”
“Perhaps. It could be he’s meeting someone who means to buy the girl, or it could simply be a place where he intends to work his cruelty.”
“Sick either way. Let’s hurry.”
I gripped the black sword and closed in on the warehouse. Nobody else was around. I peeked inside through the broken windows set in the old walls.
The man snapped a steel collar around the girl’s neck. A rusty chain connected her to a pillar, like a dog. No doubting it now. The girl had been kidnapped. She was petrified into wide-eyed silence, and the man sneered at her.
“A little pain and you kids forget how to speak, huh? Oh, this work really is child’s play. You get it? Ha!”
The man slapped the girl across the face, hard. The smack echoed through the warehouse.
“Orphans like you…nobody cares where you go. At the end of the day, your parents abandoned you because you’re worthless. Well, am I right?”
The girl’s face went pale.
“Ha! Bullseye. I knew it. Go on, tell me what useless skill you were saddled with. What? I can’t hear you!”
The girl stared at the ground as tears slid down her cheeks. Even then, fear wouldn’t let a single word escape her lips.
This girl was one of the forsaken. She was no different from the me of just a few days ago, despondent and powerless, stuck trying to endure it. Truly, kidnapped for reasons she didn’t know, this girl had it harder than I did. I held back my urge to rush in and save her, and waited for the right chance.
Meanwhile, the man relentlessly showered the girl in further abuse.
“Rejoice! Even garbage like you has a place in this world! Your new life as a plaything for a great, revered holy knight is about to begin! I’d say that’s a reason to celebrate, don’t you think?”
The girl shook her head, tears flowing down her face. The man clicked his tongue in annoyance and slapped her again.
“Looks like someone’s not listening to reason. Let me tell you what happens to little girls like that: they end up dead, quick. Why, the little one before you didn’t even last a week. It’s good business for me, though; with each girl they throw out, I get a request for another.”
The man kicked the girl in the stomach. The shock of the blow brought her to her knees. I couldn’t stand to watch any longer.
I gripped Greed to unleash him from his scabbard, but he stopped me.
“Wait, Fate! Patience.”
“But…”
I couldn’t bear it. Any more, and the girl might be left with injuries from which she would never recover.
Even still, Greed held me back. “Do not let your emotions dictate your actions. You’ll end up dead. Your stats are only slightly higher than his, and battle experience lies overwhelmingly in his favor. You know this. You know what it means.”
“All right…” I said. “I’ll cool down. I’ll wait.”
Greed was right. Again. I wouldn’t win this battle by waving my sword around in a blind rage. The skill gap was far too wide. I calmed my breath and surveyed the warehouse interior. Even though it appeared abandoned, it was full of used wooden crates stacked atop one another. Could I use them to stay out of sight and get into range for a decisive blow?
As I was determining what to do, the man moved. Now that he’d destroyed the girl verbally, he left the warehouse by another door. It seemed he had other business to attend to. If I wanted to act, it was now or never.
I slipped into the warehouse through one of the broken windows and rushed to the girl’s side. She was stiff with fear, her head held low. My footsteps probably made her think the man had come back.
First, I had to cut the chain to free her. I pulled Greed from his scabbard and sliced. The blade cut through the rusted chains with ease. One problem down. I knelt by the girl, who was now shaking.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’ll be okay.”
The girl said nothing, but she looked up, startled at the sound of my voice. For a time, she simply stared at me until she realized I wasn’t the man who’d taken her. She began to cry again, this time out of relief. It seemed she still wasn’t ready to speak. The horror of her abduction had stolen her voice.
“We have to get out of here while we still have the chance,” I said.
I took the girl’s hand to help her stand, but her look of relief melted into something different. Terror was written across her features, and she stared at something behind me, once more petrified. I glanced backward, where I found the kidnapper I thought had left.
I realized then that this was a trap. The man had known I was tailing them, and left the warehouse to tempt me inside. Now he smirked as he stalked toward us.
“Every now and again, some idiot sees me and wants to play hero,” he said. “But you know what? When I kill that guy in front of the kids, they suddenly become oh so obedient. You guys are like moths to flame—you always get burned.”
The man drew a one-handed sword from his sheath and stood with it at the ready. Waves of pressure rolled off him and washed over me. This was the difference in battle experience Greed had warned me of.
“What’s wrong?” the man barked. “Not so tough when your knees are shaking! Ha ha!”
As he edged closer, I brandished Greed. Behind me, the girl was too scared to flee. Letting the man come to us would force me to protect her while I fought. I needed to find a more advantageous position. If I made any rash moves, however, I’d be doing exactly what my enemy wanted.
I told myself not to panic, but I had to come up with a plan, and I had to do it fast. As if feeling my anxiety through my hands, Greed spoke through my
Telepathy.
“Fate, take the girl and retreat toward the mountain of boxes further back.”
Earlier, I’d seen what he was talking about—a pile of old crates clumsily stacked in a heap. They looked as though they could fall at any moment. On top of that, getting to them would put us further from the exit. I had my doubts, but then I realized Greed’s plan. All that was left was to see whether or not it would work…and we wouldn’t know that until we tried.
The kidnapper could see from my stance that I was a lower level than him, and that I lacked experience. I intended to use his overconfidence to my advantage. After five years of being pushed around and bullied by Rafale, acting the part of the weak and frightened was as easy to me as breathing. Thi
nking about it filled me with emptiness, but there was no other choice.
“Let’s go, Fate,” said Greed. “Wait for my signal. I’ll tell you when.”
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
I grabbed the girl’s hand and we fled. I channeled my wasted days as a gatekeeper and acted like I was scrambling, desperate for a way to escape or hide. We darted toward the mountain of old crates.
Come on, do it. Take the bait.
The man curled his lip, the desire to dominate glinting in his eyes. To him, I was just a fumbling, frightened, and confused would-be adventurer.
“Hey,” he said, “what happened to Mr. Hero? The guy trying so hard to save that worthless kid? Don’t think I’ll make this quick, hero. You got in my way, and now I’m going to ruin you.”
Intimidate the fearful and remove their ability to fight back. It was a tactic right out of Rafale’s playbook. I guess birds of a feather shared the same repellent strategies. That just meant I knew what the man would do next. He would pursue.
“Give it up, hero! You can scuttle away and hide, but it won’t make a lick of difference.”
The girl and I ran deeper into the warehouse. The space around us grew tight, and we backed into a dead end, surrounded by old boxes stacked high. How would this look to the man? The echo of his relaxed footsteps grew louder. Steel sword in hand, he showed not a hint of concern.
“Nowhere to run now, hero.”
Step by step, the man closed in.
Almost, almost. I motioned for the girl to back up as far as she could.
Then Greed gave me the signal. “Now, Fate!”
I held the black sword up high.
The man grinned smugly. “Let me guess. You planned to bury me under all these old boxes, huh? Bet you didn’t realize you’d bury yourself and the girl, too. Fear made you stupid, hero.”
“Did it now?”
I charged. I had one chance, and if I failed here, there would not be a second. I brought my sword down on the man with everything I had.
We were surrounded by boxes with nowhere to run. My bet was that if I attacked with a large, easy-to-read swing, the man would try to parry it with his sword.
Exactly as I hoped, he didn’t move back an inch. Instead, he raised his sword to deflect my strike. He didn’t realize I was swinging a black blade that cut through even steel chains as though they were nothing. Greed sliced the man’s sword like butter.
“What?! No!”
My blade continued into his shoulder, cutting a line straight down to his waist. Blood flew through the air as the man crumpled to the dirtied floor of the abandoned warehouse. More blood spurted from his mouth as I knelt at his side.
I still needed to know something: which holy knight meant to buy this girl? I wanted the vile creature’s name.
“Tell me,” I said. “Who put you up to this?”
The man refused to speak, even as he died in front of me.
“Tell me! Who was it?!”
I pushed my blade deeper into his wound. His face twisted in pain, but still he refused to speak. I had no other choice; I would have to use Telepathy to dig into his thoughts. But as I reached out, the man finally gave in to the agony, and he spat a name from his dying lips—a name that disgusted me.
“It was…Hado. Hado…Vlerick…”
Hado? The second son of the Vlerick family?
Hado was bad enough in public, and now I was being told he was even worse in private?! How many other young children had ended up as Hado’s prey? I didn’t have a chance to ask. The kidnapper had lost too much blood, and he was gone.
Gluttony skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +920, Strength +900, Magic +670, Spirit +500, Agility +950. Skills added: Conceal, One-Handed Sword Technique
It was just as Greed had said; the man had a Conceal skill, and he’d used it to hide his One-Handed Sword Technique.
I used Identify to analyze my new skills.
Conceal: Hides skills from Identify.
One-Handed Sword Technique: Increases attack power with one-handed swords. Unlocks the tech-art “Sharp Edge.”
Conceal was exactly as advertised, but the One-Handed Sword Technique was interesting; it included a secret skill called a “tech-art.” According to Greed, all such “Technique” skills came with a powerful hidden move. I used Identify again to learn more.
Sharp Edge: This counterattack inflicts two strikes.
Sharp Edge… It dawned on me then that, if the man had used this tech-art before I launched my attack, I probably wouldn’t be standing here. It seemed truer than ever that some battles were decided by luck, and I was fortunate to have had it on my side this time.
We’d been in the warehouse for too long, and it was time to get away. The dead man had set up a deal to sell the girl to Hado, and I didn’t want us to be found by the Vlericks or their men. After all, I was supposed to be on gatekeeper duty. If they found me here, I would be in for a lengthy, torturous death. My meager stats were still a long way from competing with the likes of them.
I took the girl’s hand, and we made a run for it. From the warehouses, we headed to the crowded downtown area. It would be safest to blend in with the crowds.
In the sky above us, the sun began its slow descent. My stomach rumbled as if to remind me of the time. This was not the growl of my Gluttony, which had just now feasted on the soul of a kidnapper. This was a much simpler hunger, the hunger of a body that had missed its lunch and now demanded sustenance.
As I contemplated where to feed myself, I heard the cute sound of a smaller stomach rumbling beside me. The girl I had just saved covered her stomach with her hands, her face red with embarrassment. Nothing like the relaxation of still being alive to remind you of an empty stomach.
“Let’s get something to eat,” I said. “It’s on me.”
The girl’s face brightened with joy. I was worried the trauma of her kidnapping might have scarred her psychologically, but finally, she was smiling. I hoped my fears were misplaced; if the girl could smile like this, I was sure she would be fine. It was time to get back on schedule, and that meant meat!
In the downtown area there was no lack of selection. I detected a heady scent wafting through the air. Beef stew. Perfect for adults and children alike.
Lunch was decided. I took the girl’s hand, and we headed into the restaurant.
It must have been popular, because the place was packed. There were no tables left, but we were in luck; there happened to be two spots open at the counter. We took our seats swiftly, and the server gave us a menu.
“What would you like today?” they asked. “The special comes highly recommended.”
The day’s special was a fish dish made fresh with catch delivered that very day. The people next to me were already devouring it, and it looked fantastic. Not a bad choice. However…
“We’ll have beef stew and some bread,” I said. “Enough for two, please.”
“Got it.”
I’d wanted the stew from the start, and the girl’s eyes had lit up when I mentioned it. I couldn’t let her down now. We waited excitedly until the server placed our bowls before us, full of glorious, meaty beef stew with a side of freshly baked bread. It looked nothing short of heavenly.
I was almost drooling, it looked so good. Next to me, the girl couldn’t help herself. She actually drooled.
“Is this…your first time eating meat?” I asked.
The girl wiped the saliva from her mouth and nodded. She was an orphan, after all, abandoned by her parents because of a skill considered useless. It was no wonder she’d never eaten meat. Even I couldn’t afford it, back when I was a gatekeeper.
She looked up at me, her eyes begging for permission to get started. I wasn’t about to deny her a good meal.
“Go on,” I said. “Let’s eat. You’ve been through a lot today.”
I gave the girl a pat on the back, and she began eating tentatively. In mere moments, the stew and bread were gone. Her stomach full, her
mind and body finally at ease, the girl let out a slow breath followed by a few gentle sobs.
Finally, her voice was coming back. It gladdened me to hear.
Delicious food really did have the power to make people happy, and it was no different for me; with each mouthful of beef stew, I felt excitement for tomorrow.
The time flew by, and night began to fall. I wasn’t sure whether my new orphan friend had a place to go home to, so I asked her. To my surprise, she lived at an old orphanage in the same Residential District slum that I called home. It wasn’t far at all!
“In that case,” I said, “why don’t I walk you part of the way?”
“Yay!”
We left the restaurant and headed from the Merchant District to the Residential District, then into the slums, where the poor and the downtrodden scraped out a place to live. From there, I walked the girl to her orphanage.
We followed a path so ill-maintained it couldn’t even be called a path anymore. As the cloudy skies opened, the moon brightened our surroundings. Even though we walked through poverty, it was beautiful to see our way illuminated by the evening light, and it warmed me.
“Your orphanage should be just a little ways ahead,” I said. Then, noticing the girl’s reticence, “Hm? What’s wrong?”
The girl had gone quiet. She’d seemed so near to recovering until a moment ago. Had the memories of today’s events come rushing back?
Then she broke into a radiant smile, and I wondered why I’d even worried. “Thank you for saving me!”
Now it was my turn to fall silent. Was this…the first time anybody had ever really thanked me? It was awkward and embarrassing, but also, it was…kind of nice. Mostly, I was just glad, and relieved I could help. It was a sweet thing to feel, once in a while.
The orphanage came into view, and outside it, the nuns who worked there frantically searched for something. I had a feeling that what they were searching for was walking right by my side. Now that we’d come this far, she wouldn’t need an escort any further.
Berserk of Gluttony (Light Novel) Vol. 1 Page 4
