Episode 70: Head-Popping
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The man from the Court of Justice spat and screamed in a pathetic manner.
“Guh… Do you not see this cursed seal! We bind the ‘Orthodoxy’ of Ortenos! You’ll regret acting rashly!”
‘Orthodoxy.’
It was also called lineage, a quality passed down through generations in noble families.
It was said to reside in the Magical Power Gate, like a family name affixed to the gate.
It was closer to a conceptual thing than a biological one.
Orthodoxy was said to become more concentrated as generations continued, and it was said that nobles with ancient lineages could use unique magic or be born with special qualities.
“‘Insignia of Orthodox Shackles,’ is it?”
“That’s right. This cursed seal is meant to bind the power of Stella-Class like you. With this many shackles, even a Stella-Class would be powerless!”
The ‘Insignia of Orthodox Shackles’ was, as the name suggested, a forbidden seal that bound the Orthodoxy of nobles.
It was said to have been established between House Ortenos and the Lanecki Family when House Ortenos was founded, but I had not heard the details of the circumstances.
The troublesome thing about this cursed seal was that its effects were cumulative.
There were about twenty tax collectors.
For each person who activated the flame-like cursed seal on the back of their right hand, the chain cursed seal engraved on my right arm became more powerful.
(Itchy.)
Was I really weakened?
The Satella-Class binding was too insignificant to notice.
It was like getting itchy from stress when meeting unpleasant people.
“Get ready quickly, I’ll at least let you die as warriors.”
“Ugh… Hah, kukukukukuku! Then you’ll regret it! This is the power of numbers! Kill him!”
The tax collectors all ran towards me.
Certainly, the decision to attack all at once was not bad, rather than being defeated individually.
They probably had Star Tools as weapons.
“One against many, huh? Shall I do it for the first time in a while…”
Magic and Star Tools had a large impact on the surroundings.
I thrust the pipe into the ground and positioned my left half forward.
“…Magic Martial Arts.”
Against a Satella-Class opponent, there was no need to bring out Star Tools.
Among the combat methods of the nobility, it was the oldest and strongest martial art.
The first combat skill I learned was this Magic Martial Arts.
My own body was easier to handle than a pipe.
“To discard your weapon is foolish!”
“Iron Hammer to the rebel!”
The Magic Martial Arts used by a Stella-Class was on a different level from the Magic Martial Arts used by a Satella-Class like Dadinga.
Perhaps the men from the Court of Justice did not understand that.
In the first place, the body of a Stella-Class was equivalent to a weapon for most creatures in this world.
What would happen if it was further clad in Body Enhancement Magic?
“Wh-what, disap…”
Those were the man’s last words.
The body, now only a torso, collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Sorry, I couldn’t let you scatter in a flashy way.”
I tossed the head of the tax collector I had plucked off.
What should I do to avoid causing destruction to the surroundings and reduce post-processing as much as possible?
The answer was to pluck off their heads.
Since I only used grip strength, there was no need to worry about pieces of flesh flying around, and there was little secondary damage.
It was lukewarm and I didn’t like it very much, but it was the most rational.
“Huh?”
“Good bye.”
Squish.
Apparently, he was surprised by my sudden appearance.
It was no wonder he couldn’t see me, since ‘Shukuchi’ was a footwork technique that involved rapid acceleration and sudden stops.
“How dare you…!”
“Yes, next.”
I crushed the head of the man who shouted next.
My right hand was stained with blood each time I crushed a head.
“Why! Why do you have so much power even with your strength restricted…!”
“If you thought you could stop me with this much, you’re underestimating me too much.”
Squish.
It seemed that it was very strange that my physical abilities did not seem to be debuffed.
“How cruel…!”
“Are you even a noble…!”
“I am a noble. Well, please bear with the cruelty, I don’t want to do this either…”
Squish, squish, I plucked them off with both hands.
Unless the opponent was a Stella-Class, I could pluck the lives of most creatures simply by moving my body a little.
Therefore, even if I was called cruel, I would suppress them with minimal movement.
“You’re crazy…!”
“Hahaha, we’re both the same.”
Squish.
I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
The people living in this world were all a little crazy.
If I could, I would have lived without staining my hands like this.
From the first training in Magic Martial Arts, my limbs were broken or cut off, so it was no wonder that my sense of ethics was distorted.
Thanks to that, I found myself pursuing ways to easily destroy the human body and destroy the spirit.
The men from the Court of Justice probably had not lived a life conscious of fighting, like us Ortenos.
While I was saying that, all but two had been dealt with.
“Is this… a dream…?”
The Coral-Head man stood dumbfounded at the momentary killing show that had taken place before his eyes.
“It’s not a dream.”
“Hyaa! Y-you monster!”
“It’s cruel to call a person a monster.”
The Coral-Head man from the Court of Justice screamed as soon as he heard my voice.
Then he sat down and began to back away.
I dripped blood from both hands as I cornered the man from the Court of Justice.
“Hah… hah… Y-you! A-are you going to kill me too!”
“? I’ll ask you the opposite, why do you think you won’t be killed?”
“…! I-I don’t want to, please don’t kill me! I don’t want to die in a place like this!”
The man from the Court of Justice had lost his mind so much that he began to beg for his life in tears.
If he said that much, I might indulge in a little chat.
“The Special Taxation Act, was it? How did you feel when you were exercising it?”
A bad practice that had been carried out for more than fifty years without any precedents or codification.
I was simply curious about what kind of thought process they were using.
“Hae? Nothing in particular…”
“You don’t feel anything?”
“Y-yes.”
“Did you think the people of Ortenos were dogs or livestock?”
“That’s not true…”
The Court of Justice probably did not think of the people as fellow human beings.
I could understand the feeling of being separated from the people because of having power.
In my previous life, the source of power was ambiguous, such as money and fame, but in this world, there was Magical Power.
Anyone in the nobility could be drowned in power because of the sense of omnipotence.
I had to be careful not to become like this Coral-Head.
“You take property from people you don’t like and kill them. You guys at the Court of Justice are always pushing your own convenience.”
“S-so what’s wrong with that! Those with power are justice. We have no reason to be blamed for what we do!”
“…”
I wanted to argue that that wasn’t the case, but I couldn’t put it into words well.
There was no persuasiveness in bringing up ethics or philosophy from my previous life.
From the beginning, I had no intention of reforming him, but this was probably the limit of the conversation.
For the time being, there was no choice but to solve it with force.
“…Maybe so. But you guys went too far. You antagonized me. That’s reason enough to die.”
I grabbed the Coral-Head man’s head and suspended him in the air.
“Guh, y-you’ll regret this! Guh, Lanecki will definitely corner you and kill you miserably…! You better wait in fear for that day to come…!”
The Coral-Head man spat out a parting line as he died.
I didn’t know what kind of measures Lanecki would take in the future.
Even so, once I had decided, I would definitely complete it.
“No matter what comes, I’ll just crush it head-on.”
Squish, I killed the Coral-Head man.
I faced the last one left.
He was sitting on his butt, frightened that it was finally his turn, but I had no intention of killing him.
I threw the head of the Coral-Head that I had just crushed to him.
“Take that head and tell it to your superiors, not the small fry at the consulate, but to Count Lanecki. If you interfere with Ortenos any more, this Sharka de Ortenos will kill all of you retainers who are named as the main family.”
“Y-yes.”
Half threat, half declaration of war.
It was better for the target to be concentrated on me personally than for the entire Ortenos to be targeted.
The survivor from the Court of Justice nodded with a solemn face and fled like a rabbit.