Chapter 53 (2/2)

As I do that, the old man from the weapons store goes around distributing the antidote potion and helping people escape .

Healing tools like antidote potions are considerably expensive . I advised him to stock up on antidote potions because they would increase in value in these circumstances . Not for him to be using them like this .

「 . . . Open your eyes . . . Those guys aren’t worth going so far to save . 」(Kaito)

The amount of antidote potions that he has given out to the people, including the soldiers, is already more than ten bottles’ worth . He might be paid afterwards for the bottles that he has given to the soldiers, but that doesn’t go for the bottles he’s used on the residents .

Those guys are the kind of people that even if you saved them and asked them for gold, they would simply tell you that they never asked to be saved and simply forget about that debt .

The weapons store is barely scraping by; it wouldn’t be unexpected for this to cause the store to enter a crippling debt .

And above all, it’s dangerous to be here . As far as I can see, perhaps because of the non-human blood in him, the old man is using his superior stats to fight against the monsters .

I can see that he’s no trained soldier or adventurer with the experience of countless battles .

That’s why this moment was inevitable .

As the old man tries to help an immobilized girl, a Goblin attacks him from behind .

「Ugh, damn it!」(Kaito)

「Goshujin-sama!」(Minnalis)

This is a mostly reflexive action .

I manipulate my mana to strengthen my legs and use my leveled-up Haste and Sky Walk skills to close the distance using the shortest path possible .

「Gugyah?!」

「Wha–?!」

I kick up a cloud of dust as I charge in and perform a kick with no kind of technique or anything . It snaps the Goblin’s neck, sending it flying .

「L-lad, you’re . . . 」(Old man)

「Why did you come out here? There’s no value in saving these guys . 」(Kaito)

I attack the old man who owns the weapon store with my words .

「Antidote potions shouldn’t be cheap, considering the state of your shop . Why would you come all the way out here to throw them down the drain?」(Kaito)

The people who live in the city know the city well . That’s exactly why this old man, who lives close to these residents, should know that these people would think of the antidote potion as something that had been given to them for free .

「 . . . I will thank you for saving me, but aren’t you going too far, saying that there’s no value in saving them?」(Old man)

「The guys who don’t say a single word of thanks to you after being saved, the guys who run away without trying to help those around them?」(Kaito)

「Not all of them are like that . You won’t know whether they’re good people or not if you don’t save them, right?」(Old man)

「I do know! In fact, what these people did to me . . . 」(Kaito)

「So you’re fine with a child like this being killed by the monsters?! Huh?!」(Old man)

The next part of my sentence, that these people actually betrayed me, is drowned out by the old man’s harsh words .

As he says that to me, I see the girl that the old man was protecting for the first time, trembling .

. . . So what?

The residents here betrayed me .

They called me their savior and said their words of gratitude, and then they sold me out for money .

Yes, they betrayed me .

. . . They betrayed me? Is that really true?

The girl before my eyes, the one who is trembling as the old man protects her, did she really betray me?

「 . . . No, I . . . don’t know this girl . 」(Kaito)

As these whispered words spill from my mouth, other voices drown them out .

「Tch, the adventurers . 」(Kaito)

The adventurers who were staying in the royal capital have gathered . They’ve come as one group, and unlike their soldiers, they are wearing mismatching, different kinds of equipment .

「 . . . Oi, this is my way of apologizing and thanking you . It should be more than enough to make up for the antidote potion that you used . 」(Kaito)

As I say that, I fling a single gold coin towards the old man who owns the weapon store .

「But this is the last time I’ll save you . The debt I owed you from my first run-through is done, we’re even now . I won’t save you next time . 」(Kaito)

「Ah, hey, wait, lad!」(Old man)

And then I return to where Minnalis is waiting before people start to gather .

「Goshujin-sama, why did you go out?」(Minnalis)

「 . . . That old man was definitely not one of my targets for revenge . And I owed him for what happened in my first run-through . 」(Kaito)

「It was dangerous . I do not think that you will be killed so easily, Goshujin-sama, but it might cause difficulties for our upcoming revenge . 」(Minnalis)

Minnalis’s gaze is cold .

Revenge is the one thing that binds us together, which is why Minnalis is anxious about difficulties arising in accomplishing that revenge .

「You are my accomplice in revenge . It is troubling for you to stumble in a place like this . Please stop exposing your own body to danger . 」(Minnalis)

「 . . . Sorry . But I realized something thanks to that old man . This method, the method we used this time, we can’t use it . 」(Kaito)

There are other people in the royal capital that helped me other than that old man, even if they didn’t help me directly .

There are people who gave away my location . But there are also people who knew where I was didn’t do that .

Revealing my whereabouts would have earned a lot of money, some people told me to leave because they didn’t want to be involved .

A girl I don’t know that didn’t know anything about me gave me one of her own precious pieces of candy .

There are those in this country who didn’t become my enemies, so I can’t keep doing things this way . Those people being killed weren’t included in my calculations when I planned this event .

「For revenge, you can’t mistake who you’re taking revenge on . What we did today was no good . There were too many innocent people mixed up with who we were supposed to take revenge on . Too many died that weren’t the people we were supposed to take revenge on . And most importantly, I hadn’t noticed this fact . 」(Kaito)

There is a line that I mustn’t forget to draw if I want to retain my sanity .

If it’s absolutely necessary for my revenge, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill some people that I would consider friendly .

But if I don’t even think about it and start killing people just because it’s easier, not a single piece of the person that Leti saved would be left, and I would become a true monster .

Vengeance is an emotion . It’s not an instinct; it’s a piece that someone carries in their heart .

I’m sure it’s impossible for a monster that has lost all sense of reason to achieve that .

I’ll kill the princess, I’ll kill the king, the queen too, the prime minister, the knights . I’ll definitely kill all of them without a single shred of mercy .

I’ll torture them and torture them and as they regret their actions, I’ll crush them with the irrational reality and the power I possess .

I won’t get anyone unnecessary involved; I must achieve vengeance, the greatest vengeance of all time .

That’s why I have to be selective . I have to think of a way to decide and filter those who I really need to take revenge on .

This revenge doesn’t need any impurities .

This revenge must be as pure as possible .

That old man who owns the weapon store, that girl who was trembling . If they’re not targets for my revenge themselves, I can’t cause suffering for those that I do want revenge on through their deaths .

They are definitely impurities that are unrelated to my revenge .

They aren’t people that I can’t absolutely avoid getting involved in my revenge . This inefficient method isn’t revenge . My objective and my method have gotten mixed up .

I paid it no deep thought and had no real determination . Relying on only my emotions, I acted in a way that only made things worse .

What I did today was definitely a failure .

If I mistake where the line is drawn and step over it, I’m sure I won’t live to see my revenge fulfilled .

「Let’s go, Minnalis . Let’s give things lots and lots of thought, so that we can accomplish a perfect revenge . We’re not murderers who take pleasure in killing; we can’t continue using these methods that produce so many casualties that aren’t related to our revenge . Let’s concentrate on planning things more precisely so that we can have high-quality revenge . We still have plenty of people we need to take revenge on . 」(Kaito)

With these words, I turn my back on the walls of the royal capital .

As I do so –

「What are you deciding on your own? I have not finished lecturing you . 」(Minnalis)

「It hyurts, it hyurts, what are hyu doing?!」(Kaito)

Minnalis pinches my cheeks with her fingers .

I took all this effort to collect my thoughts neatly, but the atmosphere is ruined .

「I am not particularly against you saving that man from the weapon store . What I am angry about is the fact that you exposed yourself to danger to do so, Goshujin-sama . Do you really understand? Goshujin-sama, you are the one who said that we should proceed with caution as we still lack power, am I wrong?」(Minnalis)

「S-sorrhyih, I’ll he cyareful from now on, so forhive me . . . 」(Kaito)

「 . . . Please be really, really careful . I cannot carry this desire for revenge on my own . We are going to achieve a perfect revenge, aren’t we? In that case, please do not neglect to keep yourself safe . 」(Minnalis)

With those words, Minnalis lets out a sigh and finally releases my cheeks . . . I thought she’d tear me to pieces . I’m being quite serious .

「So from now, we will move as we discussed before?」(Minnalis)

「Yeah, I suppose we’ll head north . Our first destination is the college town,『Ermia . 』」

I look at the walls of the royal capital that I likely won’t see for a while .

The monsters are already either being killed by the adventurers who have appeared or retreating to lick their wounds .

With the advantage of numbers turned against them, the monsters have no chance of winning . That district will become peaceful again before long .

「Just you wait, king, queen, princess, knights and all you other pieces of trash . I’m definitely going to drag you all to the depths of hell . 」(Kaito)

This is my second life that I’ve been granted through some twist of fate .

You trampled all over me during my first life . So now it’s my turn .

Now, I’ll depart .

I’ll set out on this path of vengeance that nothing will be created from .

I’ll walk on while laughing at everything that happened to the me that already met his end .

Even if I can’t tell anyone .

So that even though this life is shitty, I haven’t lived it in a way that can be called『a life that I threw away halfway through . 』

I laugh as I walk on this path of vengeance .