NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 11
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]
Chapter 11: Hunting the Serpent (1)
A rattling carriage was running on the road to the Landwalk city.
Inside it, Victor, the loyal servant of Viscount Hasken, was gazing across with a face full of distrust and wariness.
Sitting there was Damien Hasken, the eldest son of the Viscount Paul Hasken.
‘What scheme are you planning to involve me in this time?’
Just a few minutes ago, Victor was busy disposing of the carcass of the dead horse along with some other servants.
However, Damien suddenly appeared before him, and summoned him for a task.
“Young master, what is it that you need me to do?”
“I want you to go to the Landwalk city with me.”
“What? Why on earth would you want to go to that dangerous place?”
“I have something to do there, so follow me quietly.”
Recalling that conversation, Victor sighed to himself.
Entering Landwork City now meant an inevitable encounter with the notorious Black Serpents.
Yet, there was no avoiding it.
Damien Hasken was the successor to the Viscount and It was Victor’s duty to serve him.
“I hope everything goes smoothly without any trouble…”
Whether aware of Victor’s thoughts or not, Damien was engrossed in reading.
The book he was reading seemed to be very old with its cover completely worn out.
Seeing Damien so engrossed in reading that book Victor curiously asked,
“Young master, what book are you so fervently engrossed in?”
“This? It’s a Grimoire.Its something I recently got”
Victor subtly smiled at Damien’s response.
“Young master, do you think I’d fall for such a frivolous lie?”
“It’s the truth.”
“I may be an ignorant fool who doesn’t know how to read and write, but I am well aware of how dangerous and rare Grimoires are.”
With his chest puffed out, Victor spoke.
Damien Hasken glanced at Victor and murmured,
“You truly are a funny one.”
A few hours later, the carriage safely arrived at Landwork City.
“Victor, there’s something I want you to do.”
As soon as they entered the city, Damien handed a pouch to Victor.
Victor’s expression turned serious when he saw the sack
Underneath the pouch, it felt damp, emitting a strange odor.
“…Young master, what is this?”
“A human head.”
“No, Young Master. You jest, but even for my ignorance, such jokes…”
Victor, without much thought, peered inside the pouch, meeting the eyes of a staring head.
“Ah! Aaaah!”
Victor screamed, falling backward. Damien Hasken picked up the pouch.
“Victor!”
“Get a hold of yourself. People are watching.”
Indeed, the surrounding gazes had turned towards them.
“What on earth is this?”
“Ask later. Your task now is to deliver this head and this notebook to the Church of this city.”
Victor hastily took the notebook that Damien gave him.
“It’s a very important mission. You must deliver these to the Church without fail. That’s crucial.”
“F-fail?”
At Victor’s question, Damien chuckled.
“I said to ask later, didn’t I? If you understand, then move quickly.”
Victor nodded with a determined face.
Clutching the pouch and the notebook, he set off to the city’s Church.
‘Then I must move as well.’
The first place Damien headed to was the tavern attacked the day before.
‘Cutting off their heads is easy, but that won’t appease my anger. They touched my family, so I’ll crush them starting from their core.’
Damien aimed to uproot the Black Serpents entirely from the landwalk city.
To achieve that goal, he needed to know the exact locations of the Black Serpents gang’s bases within the city.
Hence, he visited the tavern he went to last time.
“As a side note, I’ll ask for some more elixirs from the owner too.”
However, Damiens plan was spoiled.
‘The door’s shut?’
The tavern’s entrance was blocked by boards, with a paper stating “Closed” plastered on top.
‘How did this happen?’
Damien clenched his jaw. With things turning out this way, he had no choice but to find other members of the Black Serpent gang and inquire about their headquarters’ whereabouts.
At the moment Damien Hasken pondered where to find Black Serpent members…
“You swindler!”
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed. Turning towards the source, two men were locked in a scuffle.
“Hand over my money right now! I said hand it over!”
A skinny man, draped in rags, shouted angrily.
“Your money? I told you that I’d arrange work for you in exchange for a fee.”
The man retorted to the ragged one’s complaints with a sneer.
Unlike the ragged man, the other was well-dressed, with a sturdy body.
“A fee? Yes, I agreed to that! But you never said you’d take 80% as an introduction fee!”
“I’ll say it now then. The introduction fee is 80%.”
Damien observed the two men intently.
Or more specifically he was looking at the snake tattoo on the neck of the sturdy man.
“You thief! Give me my money now!”
The ragged man hung onto the other.
The man, his face firm, thrust his fist into the ragged man’s abdomen.
“Ugh!”
The ragged man’s back bent like a shrimp.
Continuing, the man grabbed the ragged man’s hair and began slapping him.
“Hey, you beggar. You begged me when you needed a job, but now that you’ve found work, you act up?”
“St-stop.”
“Stop what? You should have been grateful that I found you a good job. But you are calling me a bandit? A swindler?”
“Ugh! Ugh!”
The ragged man, being weak, could only take the beating without resistance.
After beating the ragged man for a while, the man finally stopped.
“Next time you catch my attention, I’ll cripple you.”
As the man turned to leave, someone grabbed his shoulder.
“What now?”
He turned around with a firm expression.
Damien had his hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Are you a member of the Black Serpent?”
“What if I am? You need a job too?”
“No, I need something else.”
“Something else?”
“Tell me the locations of all the bases of the Black Serpent gang in the city.”
The man was shocked after hearing Damien’s words.
“Are you insane?”
Suddenly, the man threw a punch on him.
Damien easily evaded the man’s punch and drew his longsword out.
He aimed the blade at the man’s wrist, and swung it, soon enough, the man’s hand dropped to the ground.
“Aaaah!”
The man clutched his wrist with his hands.
Blood seeped through his fingers.
“You bastard… you… cut my arm!”
“You’re making a lot of noise. Could you keep quiet for a bit?”
Damien pressed the sword against the man’s throat.
The man choked, closing his mouth.
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]
“You seem to understand my words quite well. I’m pleased.”
“Who… who are you?”
“If I say I’m Damien Hasken, would you recognize me?”
“…De-Damien Hasken? The noble who raided our tavern and murdered the guards and the squire there?”
“You’re very slow to catch on. I only sought rightful vengeance.”
“You…you dared….to come back here… you are a lunatic..a lunatic.”
“Didn’t I ask you to be quiet?”
Damien pressed the blade closer to the man’s neck, causing his face to pale.
“Why did that tavern over there shut down? I may have caused a ruckus, but the place itself should’ve been fine.”
“Be-because… of what you did to the tavern last time, the customers stopped coming, and there was no income so the boss decided to close it!”
“What about the owner? Was it Andersen?”
“I-If you are talking about that old man then the boss held him accountable for everything that happened in the tavern and has told him to rectify it.”
Damien nodded his head thoughtfully.
He wanted to get another elixir from him but that won’t work now.
“Now to the main question, tell me about all the bases of the Black Serpent gang in the Landwork City.”
The man’s eyes flickered for a moment. It was evident he was hesitating.
“Seems like you still don’t get the situation you are in. Should I help by cutting off your ear?”
“N-no! I’ll talk! I’ll talk, so stop!”
Scared by the threat. The member spilled everything to Damien.
Damien marked all the locations the member mentioned on the city map he had prepared beforehand.
Apart from the central headquarters, there were a total of five places that he said were the main bases of the Black Serpent gang.
“Why are there so many?”
“T-the Black Serpents are the biggest gang in Landwork City. That many bases are… to be expected…”
“No matter how grand a thug thinks he is, the fact that he will be a thug remains.”
Saying this Damien put away his sword from the man’s neck. The man’s face brightened immediately when he sensed that the sword had been taken off his neck.
“Th-then, you’re letting me live now?”
“No.”
Damien swung the sword, slitting the gang member’s throat.
Unaware of what had befallen him, the member bled to death.
“All of you will die anyway when the Church comes.”
The Church never forgave black magicians or their collaborators.
If Victor presented the dealings between the Black Serpent gang and the black magician.The Church would eradicate the Black Serpent on charges of collaborating with demons.
Damien had intended to exterminate the Black Serpent beforehand.
Creating such a large threat might prevent his future enemies from recklessly targeting his family.
‘There seems to be one nearby.’
Damien prepared to move.
At that moment Damien saw the ragged man who was beaten up by the gang member.
The ragged person, with a face full of fear, warily stared at Damien.
“Ah.”
As if a thought had suddenly struck him, Damien reached into the gang member’s pocket.
He retrieved a pouch of money and tossed it over to the man.
“Why… why are you giving this to me?”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not because of you that I killed this guy.”
“T-then why are you giving me this money?”
“As a gesture of goodwill.”
At that, the ragged person displayed a perplexed expression.
Leaving him behind, Damien moved towards first base.
The first base Damien visited was a two-story building located in an alley.
At the entrance stood a guard who seemed quite vigilant.
Damien walked steadily toward the guard.
“Hey, outsiders are not allowed at this place. Get lost.”
Despite the warning, Damien didn’t halt and instead looked at the guard.
The guard, seeing that Damien didn’t bat an eye to what he said, shouted again with a stern expression.
“Can’t you hear me? If you don’t want to get beaten like a dog, scram…”
As soon as the guard came under his striking distance, Damien swung his longsword and severed the guard’s neck.
He then opened the door and stepped inside the building.
The members of the Black Serpents were seated around a large table, drinking and gambling.
Besides them, a man and a woman were kneeling totally naked.
“You bastards!”
A middle-aged man raged in front of the man and woman.
“I told you to supervise the prostitutes, but you ended up running away with one! Even then instead of apologising you dared to mess with me and strike at my face!”
“Sir, I’m sorry. I made a mistake!”
“P-please spare us! We won’t disobey your orders again!”
Despite the pleading of the man and woman, the leader’s anger did not subside.
“You vile wench! You owe me so much money and yet you dared to run away? If your mother couldn’t pay and died, it is natural for you, her daughter to repay the debts just as eagerly”
The leader grabbed the woman’s hair, causing her eyes to well up in agony.
“Fine, it won’t work. I should set an example by slitting both of your throats.”
“P-please, have mercy!”
“I-I beg you!”
“Shut up!”
The leader slapped the faces of both the man and woman.
They groaned and collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.
“Sir, relax and come join us for a round.”
“Yes, what’s the point of getting worked up over these leeches?”
The other members addressed the leader.
The leader, still fuming, decided to join the gambling table.
At that moment, he noticed Damien standing at the door.
“Ah… really, these idiots can’t even do security work properly.”
The leader furiously ran his hand through his hair.
“What the hell, who’s on security today?”
“It’s Henry, sir.”
“Bring him to my room. It’s high time for me to do some serious mental re-education for these guys.”
“Understood.”
“What, understood! Don’t just sit there and get that guy out right now!”
The leader, infuriated, struck the back of the gang member’s head.
The member rubbed his head and stood up.
“Ah… damn.”
The member, bearing the brunt of the leader’s fury, had an frustrated expression.
Seemingly intending to vent this rage on Damien, the member clenched his fist and approached him.
“Where do you think you are barging in? You think the Black Serpent gang is a joke? Let me enlighten you properly today.”
Damien didn’t even bother to respond to him and swung his longsword.
The blade pierced through the gang member’s neck.
Shortly after, the man’s head slid off his neck and fell to the ground.
“…Huh?”
“Huh?”
Other gang members watching the scene uttered dumbfounded sounds.
The sudden death of their colleague caught everyone off guard, causing a delayed reaction to the situation.
The body, now missing its head, lost balance and toppled over.
At that moment, the gang members regained their composure.
“B-Broad’s dead!”
“I-It’s an ambush!”
The members hastily searched for weapons.
However, Damien was faster than them in grabbing weapons.
He leaped among the gang members.
“Ugh!”
“Aaahh!”
Blood of the gang members spattered every time Damien swung his sword.
The bodies of the gang members were severed. In the blink of an eye, they all turned into piles of corpses.
The only one who remained was the leader.
“A-Aah!”
Losing strength in his legs, the leader started to tremble before Damien.
“Wh-who are you! D-do you know who I am? I’m an executive of the Black Serpents!”
“Noisy.”
Damien stomped on the leader’s ankle.
Crack.
With a sound, the ankle broke, and the leader screamed.
“If you scream one more time, I’ll cut you this time.”
At Damien’s warning, the leader tightly shut his mouth.
When he quieted down, Damien glanced at the naked man and woman.
“P-please spare us!”
The naked man and woman prostrated themselves before Damien.
In an indifferent tone, Damien Hasken said,
“You’re free to leave.”
“Th-thank you!”
“We promise to live our life peacefully.!”
The two hurriedly dressed up and fled outside. “Now it’s just the two of us here.”
Damien’s gaze returned to the leader which caused the leader’s complexion to turn pale.
“Now, answer all the questions I ask truthfully.”
“W-Would you spare me then?”
“Let me hear your answers first and then I will make any decisions.”
Crouching to match the leader’s eye level, Damien looked into his eyes and continued,
“Tell me about all the Black Serpent’s branches in this city.”
Though he had heard it from the member he had met near the tavern, he couldn’t fully trust the information, after all he was just an errand boy of the gang. That is why he decided to ask the leader who is one of the executives of the Black Serpents.
“Wh-Why would you…”
Damien hit the leader’s face with the hilt of his sword.
The leader spat out blood and broken teeth, growling in pain..
“Just answer the question, understand?”
With tears streaming down his face, the leader nodded in pain.
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s male Disciple]
[Quality Checker – Kawaii]