Crack!
“Keeeaaah?!”
I slammed the guy’s head down with the wooden handcuffs as hard as I could, and they shattered easily. At the same time, his head smacked into the ground.
“…Wh, what–”
“…Gyaaaah?!”
“What the hell is going on?!”
The wounded patient beside him, along with all the other injured people nearby, stared at me in shock.
A young man who had just finished wrapping bandages around a patient shouted out.
“Who are you?! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Hey! What the heck are you doing to that doctor?!”
The guard who had belatedly caught up to me also gawked at the scene in disbelief.
Did I just assault a kind doctor who was treating people?
“I’m fully aware of what I’m doing. I’m catching a terrorist right now.”
“What?”
“Take a good look?”
I grabbed the horn on his head and tore it right off.
Pruuuck!
“Kyaaaaaah!”
The ‘horn’ attached to his skin came off, along with some flesh. Blood trickled down from the wound on the doctor’s head.
Horns of the Demon Race can’t be ripped off like that. They’re fused with the skull.
But this guy’s horn came right off, though it did tear his skin a bit. In short…
“This person is not of the Demon Race.”
“…Wh, what?!”
The people around were shocked.
The doctor who had been diligently treating everyone until now… is actually human?
You must be confused. I get it.
But not me. I knew exactly who this guy was.
‘Amberth the Perfumer.’
I looked down at the man sweating bullets and rolling his eyes while clutching his neck.
Ain had never seen this guy before, but Johan certainly had.
This guy was an NPC from the game [This Hero Sure Does Get Kidnapped!] – the NPC who sells magic incense to make hunting demons easier.
Since the character illustration existed, I recognized him instantly.
People might look the same, but adding horns doesn’t fool me. Neither does sticking a mole on your face and pretending to be someone else. I don’t have facial recognition impairment or pathetic judgment.
So why is a human selling magic incense in human territory suddenly in demon territory?
There’s no need to ask why.
“Were you the one who turned this city into this mess, Doctor?”
“…”
“…Hey, mister.”
Then, one of the wounded patients asked with a trembling voice.
“Are you really human?”
“…”
“Was it you… Was it you who caused this situation? Answer me.”
Just discovering he’s human is enough for the demons to suspect him.
Suddenly rampaging demons, and a human disguised as a demon hiding among them – doesn’t that scream suspicious?
The man obviously knows this too. So he started sweating cold sweat, then gritted his teeth and said:
“…Damn it, do you have any proof?”
“…Wh, what?”
“Do you have any proof I did this to the city?! You ungrateful bastards… Have you forgotten how I’ve been running around treating and taking care of the wounded with my own two hands? And now you’re trying to railroad me just because it was revealed I’m human?”
He decided to brazen it out.
Of course, there’s no law against humans being in demon territory.
With the deep enmity between the two sides after centuries of war, there’s no need for such a law.
Whether human or demon, anyone found in enemy territory typically gets killed or enslaved without any rights.
Thus, humans in demon territory fall into two categories:
Either they’re captives like me, prisoners of war, or property of the demons acquired through various means… or they’re infiltrators with malicious intent.
And clearly, Amberth the Perfumer fell into the latter category. He glared at me.
“Why should we believe this guy? Was he even in this city? You’ve been treating us while pretending to be a demon, and now that it’s revealed you’re human, you’re trusting some random outsider’s word?!”
“…”
The demons looked at him dumbfounded.
Not because they were convinced by his words, but because they were baffled.
How could someone who infiltrated their city while pretending to be something else now turn around and scold them without offering any proper explanation? It made him seem less like a kind doctor.
“Amberth Potchen. Age 38.”
“!”
Ain calmly looked down at him and continued.
“From the Runeitar Kingdom, profession: perfumer specializing in magical incense, converted to the Holy Kingdom at age 31. Presumably quite devout.”
“…You…!”
“The rampage of the demons this time was caused by magical incense. Examination results showed no unusual drug reactions, nor any disease similar to rabies that affects dogs. Physically, everything was normal… The only thing that could influence demons without leaving a trace is magical incense.”
Amberth stared at Ain in shock, realizing he knew everything about him.
Ain continued.
“And this guy is a perfumer specializing in magical incense. If you check where he’s been staying, you’ll find evidence. Search or don’t search, it’s up to you…”
Pruuck!
“Kehk!”
Ain kicked Amberth in the chest. Looking down at him struggling to breathe, Ain grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.
“Why did you do it?”
“Guh… Kehk…”
“Judging by how much trust you’ve gained here, you’ve been here quite a while. By now, you should know these people are just regular folks, right? Don’t you feel even a shred of remorse?”
Gyaah!
“K…?!”
When Ain tightened his grip on his collar, Amberth let out a groan. Ain glared at him coldly.
“Why did you do it, you son of a bitch?”
“Kruh… Ptoo!”
Amberth spat at Ain, who casually turned his head to avoid it.
Amberth continued.
“Bullshit about being ordinary, you dirty demon bastards… Living in packs like vermin… Should I feel guilty for cleaning that up? Haha! That’s hilarious. Why should I feel guilty for cleansing what the Goddess herself condemns? I’m a martyr! You uncultured bastard!”
“Hmph.”
“Stop your nonsense already. This is wartime. Don’t give me that crap. You demons kill our humans freely anyway, so what law says I can’t do the same? I’m human, you’re demons! Killing enemy forces is common sense! Are you really that stupid?”
Amberth mocked Ain further.
“Anyway, keeping you bastards alive would just mean more deaths for our people… By killing you, I saved that many of my fellow humans! Don’t judge me with your ridiculous standards…”
“Shut up.”
Ain couldn’t take it anymore and slapped Amberth across the face.
Crack!
“Kehk!”
“You didn’t terrorize some military base, you attacked a small civilian town. Talking about martyrdom and enemy forces when you’re a terrorist… Besides, terrorism against civilian cities is war crime, even during wartime, you piece of trash.”
Ddak!
“Keheh…!”
“Let me enlighten you. Your so-called martyrdom is just plain civilian massacre, and it brings no benefit to humanity. I don’t know what delusions you’re spouting about doing this for humanity.”
Stepping on Amberth’s neck lying on the ground, Ain continued.
“What? Did you see everyone here as soldiers ready to fight on the battlefield through those dim-witted eyes of yours?”
“Fools shouldn’t have convictions, they say… Devotion to humanity? Please. Thanks to cretins like you, humanity’s compassion will disappear.”
“Human… compassion… is… garbage…! Demon… bastard…!”
Seeing the fire still in Amberth’s eyes, Ain smirked.
“Demon? Do I really look like one to you?”
“…What…?”
Responding to Amberth’s question, Ain shed his robe.
“….!”
Amberth and the demons watching widened their eyes.
Ain completely revealed himself, showing that he too was human.
“Congratulations, Amberth. For a moment, you managed to make a hero lose his compassion for humanity.”
“…Hero…?”
Looking down at the dazed Amberth, Ain smiled faintly and said…
Crunch!
“…Kuaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
He crushed his hand.
Crunch, Crunch.
The sound of bones breaking echoed repeatedly. Ain spoke.
“The reason I said ‘momentarily’ is… I don’t think you’re really human, so I don’t think you should be included in humanity.”
“Kuaaaaaaah…!”
Crunch!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
This time it was the arm. Ain began grinding it to powder while speaking.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. That’s the job of these people. But let’s go halfway.”
“Kueeeeeeeeh…!!!”
“Ever wondered what ‘half-death’ means? There was this manga I remember vividly from long ago. Thinking about it, ‘half’ of ‘death’ means doing half of a fatal action… But if we consider total body destruction as ‘one death’, splitting it into upper and lower halves gives different impacts. You can survive without legs, but not with a crushed upper body.”
However, Ain continued without caring about his reaction.
“Then how about organs? That requires judgment based on each organ’s value… To begin with, organs are too complicated to classify, right? Like, is the ‘brain’ one whole unit, or should it be divided into cerebrum, cerebellum, hippocampus, etc.? Not that I want to go through the trouble of cutting you in half for the sake of it. So I’ll just break your bones.”
“What…?”
“As humans eventually die when all their bones break, I’ll aim for half. Sounds like ‘half-death’, right? That’s how it was judged in that manga.”
Ain smiled gently and continued.
“Anyway… Humans have roughly 206 bones. Also symmetrical, making it easy to calculate ‘half’. So I’ll break exactly 103 of your bones starting now.”
At that, Amberth’s complexion paled.
“There are 30 bones in the hands and arms total, which I already crushed, so moving on… Next is the leg.”
Crunch!
“Keerrrrrrrrrkk…!!!”
“30 bones including the femur, or 32 counting the patella… Oh, and to make things interesting…”
[Enhanced Sensation: Pain]
Ain activated his granted ability.
Through Enhanced Sensation, he amplifies Amberth’s sense of pain.
“Let’s start with doubling the pain lightly. I can increase it if you seem to handle it well?”
Crunch!
“!!!!!!”
Amberth’s eyes rolled back from the sudden doubling of pain. He couldn’t even scream now.
“Scapula and clavicle…”
Crunch!
“…..!!”
Each time a bone broke, excruciating pain flooded his mind. Amberth moved his lips, trying desperately to speak.
Rather just kill me.
But this devil doesn’t grant that wish.
“Ulna and radius, ribs, palate bones, each pair of two…”
Crunch! Grind!
“Let’s do all 24 ribs.”
Grinddddddd!
“Upper jaw two, lower jaw, sacrum…”
Crunch! Crush! Grind!!!
“And, parietal bone…”
Listing each bone he’s breaking, he slowly kills himself.
By the time exactly half his bones were crushed…
“Hurt?”
Tilting his head, he grabbed his face streaming with tears.
“My heart hurt much more.”
Crunch, Grind…!
The sound of cracks appearing in the skull was heard. But soon, Ain stopped and stood up.
“Well, that’s enough. The rest isn’t my responsibility.”
Saying that, he picked up the discarded robe and put it on. Then he glanced around.
-…
The demons were looking at him with blank expressions. Ain gave a bitter smile.
‘Tried to take a proper day off, but couldn’t.’
Can’t help it. Once revealed as human, staying here longer wouldn’t be beneficial.
Blacky will be waiting outside too, so it’s best to leave quickly.
So he was about to leave quickly.
“…Excuse me, over there!”
“…Hmm?”
Hearing someone calling him, Ain turned to look.
There was a child approaching hesitantly, looking at him fearfully yet trying to come closer.
“…Th, thank you! Be, because of you… the bad person who killed my mom got caught…”
“…”
Seeing the child saying that while holding back tears, Ain stared at him blankly for a moment.
Then he seemed to ponder something, nodded slightly, and approached the child.
The child flinched but didn’t step back. Ain knelt on one knee.
“You don’t need to thank me. That’s just what a hero does.”
“Hero…”
“Yeah, beating up bad guys and helping people.”
Ain smiled faintly and said that.
“But if you’re grateful, would you do me a favor?”
“…Favor…?”
“Yeah, a favor. Honestly, it’s fine even if you don’t do it. It’s your choice after all.”
“…”
Looking at the child staring blankly at him, Ain spoke.
“Don’t become someone like me.”
“…Me…?”
“Hero or whatever… No matter how nicely it’s packaged, ultimately a world without such things is a better world, right?”
“…”
“A hero fights for a world that doesn’t need heroes or anything like that.”
Saying that, Ain smiled faintly again, stood up, and turned his back.
“Besides, you saw just now, right? I have a pretty bad temper. What’s good about having more grumpy people in the world?”
Making a light joke, he started to leave.
And the city’s demons watched him disappear for quite a while.
