The Tale of the Teapot Hero’s Revenge

Chapter 8

Anger boils over, and the heart freezes

"Understood? I have some questions, so I'll remove my hand from your mouth. But if you make any noise, I'll kill you immediately. Got it?"

Carion frantically nodded his head up and down. I'd seen this before. What should I do if this is also part of your act?

"H-Ha... Haaah..."

Even after I release my hand covering his mouth, he didn't scream. It seemed like he's genuinely terrified. In other words, unlike him, this guy doesn't have the pride of a professional soldier.

"Alright, first question. Tell me the reason why you attacked Kyrie's village."

"I-I was ordered by the king. That's the only reason... It's true... I-I don't know who you are, but my life..."

"I didn't ask about that. Do you want to die?"

"H-Hiiii..."

Ahaha, he's wetting himself. Maybe he should wear diapers.

"Why did everyone in the village have to die? That's what I want to know."

"T-The hero... If the hero doesn't die, the next hero won't be born. So, we had to kill that useless hero and make way for the next one..."

"I know that. But why did everyone in the village have to die?"

"Hii! The hero... is a symbol, a hero... It would be bad if we openly killed him, so..."

"So, you disguised it as an attack by bandits and killed the entire village?"

"Yes! I told you! I told you, so help me!"

"Hmm, I see, I see, I get it now."

What a ridiculous reason. That's why my family and friends were all killed.

"Hey, did you know that a wine delivery arrived earlier?"

"A-Ah, yes, I know! I know!"

"I have it with me right now. I'll let you enjoy it."

There's a corkscrew right on the table. I inserted it into the cork of the wine I brought and twisted it, making a satisfying pop sound.

"Mmm, it smells good. Come on, don't hold back, enjoy it to your heart's content."

I stuck the spout of the wine into Carion's mouth. At the same time, I boiled the contents. The simmering hot wine then flowed into his mouth.

"Mmmph, mmm, mmmuuuuhhhhh?!"

"See, isn't it delicious? How about that, is it tasty?"

"Mmbooooohhhh, buuuuhhhh?!"

Oh dear, he's spitting it out.

The hot wine drips onto his clothes, making it look even hotter.

Since I didn't want to waste the rest, I poured it over Carion's head.

"It's hot! It's hoooot!"

"I told you not to scream."

I placed my hand on his neck and sent a surge of power, boiling his entire throat until it became a mushy mess. Now he couldn't speak or even breathe.

"..."

"...Ahh... Ahh...!"

As expected, he flapped his mouth like a suffocating fish, thrashing around on the floor.

Hahaha, it's amusing.

...It was amusing, but I couldn't laugh at all. I could't even bring myself to point and laugh.

I wondered what this unsatisfied feeling was. It should feel more refreshing.

"...Enough, I'll just kill you."

That's right, it must be because this person wasn't the real enemy. The real enemy, King Brutogyu, was the one I need to kill. Once I accomplish that, this lingering unease in my chest would disappear. Everything would be resolved, everything would be over.

I grabbed his head and activate my power, aiming for his skull, targeting his brain.

"Burst and fly."

His head trembled violently, though I couldn't see it. It must be his brain boiling and bursting. I made his body convulse several times until he stopped moving.

"Take that, you swine."

Finally, I kicked his head with all my might. I then opened the door and carefully scanned the surroundings before leaving the room. Then, Joanna came running towards me with great speed.

"Kyrie-chan, I'm sorry! I messed up!"

"...Huh?"

When I turned my gaze back, two soldiers were chasing after her. Ah, I see. Our infiltration had been discovered.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry!"

I'm caught up in this mess as well so I ran down the corridor with Joanna.

"Intruders! There's one more! Look! Caron-sama is dead! He's been killed!!"

"What?! Inform the others outside!"

Oh no, everything had been exposed. One of them went to inform the guards at the gate while the other continued to chase after us. What do we do now?

"Do you have any good plans? Anything?"

"For now, let's go to the third floor! We'll discuss our next move there!"

We ran up the stairs, up and up, sprinting through the corridors. A soldier with a drawn sword was chasing us from behind. I'm unarmed, and Joanna only had a short dagger. If they catch up to us, our chances of winning were slim. We kept running until we finally reached the third floor.

"What's the plan now?"

"The room at the end, I have the key! We'll escape from there!"

"Wow, you're well-prepared for this!"

If you were so prepared, I wish we hadn't been caught in the first place. We rushed through the corridor to the end and arrived at the targeted room. Joanna hurriedly tried to unlock the door.

"Hurry, hurry! They're almost here!"

"Don't rush me! It's open!"

With a click, the key unlocked the door. We quickly opened it, I entered first, followed by Joanna, who closed the door and locked it from the inside.

"Hey, open up! Damn it!"

Bang, bang, bang. The sound of the door being forcibly knocked and the sound of someone trying to turn the unyielding doorknob could be heard.

"W-We're safe, for now—"

As I shifted my gaze inside the room, I was captivated. There was a silver-haired girl inside. Her hair was messy and unkempt, and her clothes were in tatters. She had a thin and emaciated body, and a collar was fastened around her neck. There didn't seem to be any chains attached, though.

Her eyes were beautiful.

Blue eyes, long eyelashes.

Her facial features are quite well-defined.

She's probably around the same age as me.

"Hey, Kyrie-chan, why are you staring off into space?"

"Oh, no, it's not that. Who is this child?"

"Well, I don't know the exact circumstances of someone else's household. Most likely, she's a slave or something like that."

Well, that's probably true. From what I could see, she did look like a slave since she's dressed in that kind of attire.

"But more importantly, we don't have time to waste. Let's escape quickly!"

"No, but how...?"

While I was speaking, Joanna opened the window and threw a rope with a key attached towards a tree where leaves had fallen. Outside the window was the back of the mansion, with no one around.

She pulled on the hook that firmly caught onto the tree, she then checked the tautness of the rope, and tied it to a pillar in the room.

Finally, she passed two short ropes through the main rope, creating a loop shape with handles for both of us.

"Here, escape route complete. Let's make our getaway."

"You're efficient. Okay, I'll go first."

We had to escape quickly, or they might call for reinforcements. As I took a step towards the window, the cuff of my pants was caught on something.

It's not so tight that I couldn't walk and I could easily shake it off with a weak force.

"...Huh?"

The culprit was the girl. I could just brush her off and escape, but she's looking directly into my eyes. As if she doesn't want me to go, her expression seemed to say.

"What is it? I'm in a hurry. If you have something to say, say it clearly."

"...Uh... Uh!"

"...What?"

She opened and closed her mouth, trying to squeeze out words. But no sound came out. It's similar to what happened to Caron when I destroyed his throat.

"Could it be that you can't speak?"

"...!"

She seemed to understand my words and nods.

"Do you want to come with me?"

"...!"

"...I see."

She desperately pleaded with her eyes, as if she wanted to be taken along.

I had no intention of getting deeply involved with anyone, but I couldn't leave her behind here, feeling abandoned by everyone. Her clinging eyes, as if she has been abandoned by everything, made me feel like I couldn't leave her here alone.

"Hey, Joanna-san. I'm taking this child with us, so please understand."

"...Huh? What!?"

I wouldn't argue with her. I held the girl's frail body in my left arm, gripped the handles of the loop with my right hand, and kick off the window frame of the mansion, jumping out.