Episode 10: The Whims of the Evil God

　A boy who called himself Uta.

　This was the person Marie had stolen money from and betrayed.

"What's wrong, why are you crying?"

"…………"

　Uta asks.

　It was a gentle, calming voice, but Marie felt it was awful and frightening.

"sorry……"

"Yeah?"

" Sorry I stole your money..."

"…………"

"I was supposed to use that money to get my sister back... My sister who was taken away because of my father's debts..."

　Marie cries and describes her situation.

　It was more like she was repenting than making excuses for the theft.

　My father ran away, leaving me with debts.

　My sister is taken away by debt collectors.

　I worked hard to earn money in order to get my sister back.

　The men who were her creditors appeared before her and tried to take Marie away as well.

　Her older sister had been forced into prostitution and lost her life as a result of violence from a customer.

　To achieve this, they tried to get Marie to work in her place.

　Marie confessed everything, without leaving anything out.

"Why, why am I a child...?"

"…………"

"If I were bigger, I might have been able to save my sister. I could have sold my body in her place... but why, why am I so small and weak..."

"I see, that's spicy."

　Uta places his palm on Marie's head as she curls up and sobs.

"It's hard. It's lonely. It's sad. It hurts... It's scary."

"Ugh... Ugh... You want your money..."

"It's okay. You're not wrong. Family is important. It's much more important than someone else's wallet. You're doing the right thing."

"Is that so...?"

　When she looked up as her head was being stroked, She Saw Uta's expression was strangely calm.

　It's not exactly kindness. It's not love or sympathy either.

　Although they seem to embrace others, they never get close to them, and they make no attempt to understand them.

　His eyes, looking down from the clouds at the tiny human, seem to be filled with a mixture of resignation and pity at his foolish mistake.

　That is called "Mercy."

　The compassion of a transcendent being standing at great heights dwelt in Uta's eyes.

"However... if you wish to be punished, I will give it to you."

"Hk...!"

"Punishment is also a form of salvation for the criminal. By receiving punishment, a person can start life anew with a clean slate."

　Marie's consciousness fades away.

　I sink so deep, so deep, that I think I'll never wake up again.

"You have been forgiven. Now it's time to live a new life for yourself."

　With those final words, everything went dark in front of her eyes.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

　The young girl, Marie, certainly lost her life there.

　That is an indisputable fact.

　　　　　〇 〇 〇

"My goodness! Who would have thought we could get such a large sum of money from a brat like that!"

"That's enough to pay off my father's debts! Gahahahaha!"

　Several men were laughing together on the second floor of the building that served as their base.

　The men were what they would call a gang, an organization with considerable power in the underworld of the Kingdom of Fafnir.

　Their main sources of income are loan sharking, human trafficking, and prostitution.

　 it was a perverse act, it was a legal business that was not regulated by the laws of the Kingdom of Fafnir.

　However, even taking that into account, the men went too far. There is no doubt that they were bad people.

　That girl...Marie's father was scum.

　Getting into debt to gamble, then gambling again to pay it off... and the cycle repeats.

　Eventually, he ends up selling even one of his two daughters.

　The man fled without fulfilling his responsibilities and is currently missing.

　The remaining daughter, Marie, is an orphan and makes a living by doing day labor.

　The moneylenders forced the older daughter to become a prostitute in order to repay the money they had lent her.

　However, before she could repay all the money, the girl died.

　One of the customers had treated her roughly, repeatedly hitting her until she died.

　Of course, I made the customer take responsibility for his actions... but that aside, I still had to collect the missing money.

　So the men approached Marie.

　To kidnap her and sell her off.

"Haha! With this much, I'll even get some change! But still...where did that brat get such a large sum of money!?"

"You must have stolen it somewhere! Well, as long as we get the money, we don't care!"

　The men were beaming with joy after receiving a large amount of gold coins.

　Even if you sell a skinny kid, you can get at most ten gold coins.

　I never thought he would get ten times that amount.

"Now that I think of it...what should we do about that little brat that teleported us?"

　Two of my subordinates are dead because of that strange boy.

　The man was also near death, and he had no choice but to settle the score.

"Don't ever let him leave town. Bring him to me alive."

"Okay, I understand."

"Hmmm..."

　Giving orders to his subordinates, the man fiddled with the bag of gold coins he had obtained.

　We are wolves.

　It is a beast that attacks and devours people.

　That's the way I chose to live. That's the only way I could choose to live.

　An orphan born and raised in a slum has only two choices: to live his life as a loser or to use violence to steal from others.

"yeah……?"

　The gangster was lost in thought when he heard a commotion coming from downstairs.

　I wonder if the young people are fighting.

"Hey, what are you all making a fuss about?"

"Hey, let me take a look."

　The subordinate was about to go and check on the situation, but before he could do so the door was opened from the outside and a young subordinate rushed in.

"This is bad, brother! We're attacking!"

"Huh? Who's that from...?!"

"It's me!"

"a……"

　The subordinate who had burst into the room disappeared.

　In an instant... as if it were a joke, his body was shattered into pieces.

"Hello, this is pizza delivery...just kidding."

　A young boy emerged, stepping on the remains of his subordinates, a pile of dust on the floor.

　He looked familiar. It was the boy I mentioned earlier... the one who teleported the moneylenders.

　Looking back, he looks really young.

　He was probably in his mid-teens.

　He had black hair and black eyes, a look not often seen in this country.

「You… why are you here…!」

"Why do you think that is? I wonder why."

"...There should have been some young ones down there. What did you do with them?"

"I killed them. I turned them all to dust."

"......!"

　On the first floor were the young men of the organization.

　Although all of them were stupid and dim-witted, they were still quite strong.

"And you killed it... a brat like you, all by yourself...!"

"That's what I'm saying... didn't you hear me?"

"Kill him!"

　The man commanded.

　At that moment, the subordinates in the room began to move.

　Several of his subordinates drew their swords and attacked the boy.

　Both strikes were carried out without any mercy. The sword of a gangster accustomed to killing.

"Yeah... that's nice."

　But the boy...Uta doesn't move.

　There's no evasion, no defense.

　And yet...the weapons of the men who attacked Uta broke without a word.

"Huh..."

"That's nice. It makes me feel so much better when you come after me like that. I can kill you with peace of mind."

　All of the broken swords had turned black and rusted into scrap metal.

　It was as if it had been left in salt water for a long time without any care...how on earth could it become like this in an instant?

"Then it's time to fight back."

"a……"

"Gah..."

　Uta kicks the floor with light steps and touches the bodies of the moneylender's subordinates.

　Each time, their bodies turned to dust and scattered across the floor.

"That's stupid... What on earth did you do...?"

　The last remaining moneylender muttered in shock.

　In just a few seconds, my subordinate was dead.

　The young man downstairs is also dead.

　There is no one left. Only men remain.

"Your ability... wasn't it just teleportation?"

"That's one thing, but it's not the only thing you know?"

　Uta's tone was light.

　He acts so nonchalantly that it's hard to believe he's just killed someone.

"Are you going to kill me too?"

"Yeah, I'll kill you."

"...Just let it go."

"yeah?"

"Please let me go. I'll give you the money. But please just save me."

　He bows down to the man who killed his subordinate.

　At last, it has come this far.

　He rose from a slum orphan.

　From being the one who had things stolen from, we have become the one who takes things.

　And yet... I don't want to die. I don't want to lose everything I've built up.

"Hmm, I guess not. I thought so."

"Why?... What grudge do you have against us? Did I do something to you that made you have to kill us all?!"

"I haven't done it though, nothing special."

　Uta's tone was always light.

　That's right...these men hadn't done anything special to Uta.

　I almost got punched in the alley, but that was it.

　Uta was not so violent that he would try to kill someone just because he was about to be punched.

　And When asked if he was bad enough to be portrayed that way, the answer is no.

　All the businesses the men are engaged in are legal in this country.

　Using violence to collect debts is not something to be praised for, but at least it is overlooked by the authorities.

　Even though they are gangsters who control the underworld, that is all they are.

　He was nothing more than a minor villain, left alone with no hope of causing any harm to the country.

"If I had to give a reason... I guess it was because it was unpleasant?"

"Unpleasant, you say...?"

"Yeah, that's right."

　Uta spoke in a relaxed tone, with no sign of anger or sadness on his face.

“Seeing that child crying made me feel horrible. I felt a weight in the pit of my stomach and nauseous. I felt like food wouldn’t taste good anymore… so I’m going to kill you all ?”

「For that reason…for that reason, you think you could take someone's life…?!」

"But... is there a problem?"

"......!"

　Seeing Uta's face as he said this so calmly, the man finally realised.

(This man… is not human…!)

　The man knows people who kill out of anger and hatred.

　I know people who commit murder for money or pleasure.

　I should have known that there are people who kill for a sense of justice, for their country, or for loyalty.

　But... there was no emotion in Uta's eyes.

　He was bothered by the dirt in his room so he decided to clean it...but with that casual attitude, he ended up killing a dozen gangsters and trying to kill a moneylender as well.

(We've become involved with something we shouldn't have touched...!)

　The man experienced the greatest fear of his life.

　There's no particular reason, but I help people on a whim.

　They kill people for no particular reason, just because they don't like them.

　Merciful, ruthless, forgiving, cruel.

　They ignore logic and trample on morality.

　That was truly the work of an evil god.

　This is the state of gods and demons that exists outside of human law and ethics.

"If this is the end of the story, I'll kill you."

"Well..."

"See you later."

　This is the end... Like the end of a picture book, Uta brings the curtain down on the man's life.

　With a light touch on the man's shoulder, his body crumbles into dust.

"Oh, it's mine."

　The remains of the man had turned to dust... Uta picked up the bag of gold coins buried there and smiled happily.