I awoke to the cold sensation that tapped my nape repeatedly. Looking up, it came from a leak in the ceiling. A water drop fell onto my eye, shutting it close.

 

“Ah, fuck.”

 

As I was about to rub my eyes, my hands refused to move. It was bound with rope. I shook my hands in an attempt to remove it but to no avail.

 

“Wait what the—”

 

I was kneeling within a small enclosure of stone walls. Then, the scene of me fighting off the guards in the smithy appeared in my mind. Right, I was shot by a crossbow before I lost consciousness. I felt no pain anymore, so they must have healed it.

 

“Those motherfuckers jailed me.”

 

Along with the wake of my five senses followed a hot tornado within my chest, my caged heart thumped with violence as I clenched my teeth and glared outside the bars. It was only yesterday that I got out of that pit, and now I was going to be trapped again? There was no way I could let this go.

 

Whoever did this must pay.

 

“Hey! Get me the fuck outta here or I’ll fucking kill all of you!” I screamed as loud as I could. No one answered.

 

“I said, get me the fuck out of here!”

 

Then, footsteps emanated from the hallways. Two armored guards carrying spears came into view, looking down at me.

 

“You two assholes get mew the fuck outta here!”

 

They just stared down at me in silence, before chuckling after a few seconds. My eye twitched as my breathing became heavy.

 

“I ain’t warning you again. If you get me out of here, then you might as well walk away unscathed.”

 

Then, one of the guards walked closer. He looked around the prison, then back at me.

 

“Buddy, listen here. There’s nothing you can do. You harmed a prestigious blacksmith and two soldiers. There isn’t even a need for a court hearing just so they can execute you.”

 

After he spoke, the two of them laughed. Was that a threat? Because it didn’t feel so. It sounded like an invitation for me to break their skulls, even.

 

“This is what you want. I ain’t getting out of here without ruining my reputation anyway, so why would I bother about the laws?”

 

“He’s scary.” the other one said, looking at his partner, and then bursting into laughter.

 

Their insults weren’t working anymore. In fact, it was making me happy that they were giving me their consent to take away their lives without feeling guilty. With that, I sighed.

 

“Exadius Pirbae.”

 

The wind howled as they circulated in a sphere, before blasting a strong torrent of wind that uprooted the iron bars and squeezed the two guards between the walls. I stood up and invoked Howling Shell before breaking out of the ropes.

 

I walked towards the two guys that were struggling to stand up, their eyes pleading.

 

“H-Hey, listen, we were just kid—”

 

I took his spear and stabbed his stomach. Blood poured out of his mouth as he tried to breathe out another word. His other pal screamed at the scene as he wriggled to remove his trapped feet.

 

“You fucking idiots wouldn’t have to die this way if you let me go,” I said before thrusting the spearhead into the last guards’ nape.

 

The prisoners around saw the scene, and I looked at them. They were trembling in fear as they pushed themselves against the wall far from me. 

 

“Unlike y’all, I didn’t commit a crime.”

 

I dashed out of the dungeon and up to the stairs. Several footsteps clanged along with their metal armor. I invoked Howling Shell again as soon as I reached the next floor. The soldiers flew backward, piling on top of each other. I used this chance to wrap my spear in Wind Collapse, but as soon as I released it, the wind simply brushed against them.

 

“What the?”

 

Ah, fuck it. I invoked Pillar Feet and launched myself forward, stabbing the first soldier. The spear broke, so I took his sword. One of them swung his mace downwards and I caught it with my blade. I kicked him and slashed his throat, spraying blood all over. Another charged with a mace aiming for my head. I ducked and trusted my sword upwards. He stepped backward and avoided the attack.

 

“Fucker.” I said. The soldier tried to kick my knees but I stepped back and slashed his throat with a grin.

 

The third one swung his greatsword sidewards, I dodged by backstepping. He then slashed diagonally, and then sideward in quick successions. I dodged all of them and launched myself upward with a spell. He looked up as I descended with my blade aiming down for his throat.

 

“Enough!”

 

The scream was too late. My sword’s tip found its way into the guard’s neck, burying itself deep into his heart as blood leaked out of his mouth. Three soldiers were now lying dead before me. At the end of the hallway, the silver Count and the dwarf blacksmith stood, their eyes widened at the bloody scene.

 

“This shouldn’t have happened if that piece of shit didn’t scam me,” I said, pointing my blade towards the smith.

 

The smith furrowed his eyebrows as he rubbed his hands.

 

“H-He’s lying, Lord Count! I-I am not gonna do that!”

 

The count looked at him, then glared at me.

 

“That man, Julius, saved my children. Although he used it for monetary gain, there is no way he could lie for just a hammer. Kasus, are you sure he is the perpetrator here?”

 

“I-I-I’m not lying, Lord Count! It’s just a hammer! Why would I lie over it!”

 

“Unless it’s an important hammer. You discovered it has something in it, and you exchanged it for an ordinary one. What a scumbag.”

 

“L-Lord count! Believe me! I could never! This guy is the one who started it! He accused me and crushed my desk, threatened to kill me and my apprentice, and even almost killed the guards!”

 

My blood was boiling. My breathing became heavier and my vision grew darker, I narrowed my eyes towards the blacksmith.

 

“Don’t act like you're the victim here.”

 

“You two, stop. Let’s settle this calmly.”

 

“L-Lord count! This man will kill me! P-Please, restrain him! Guards! Guards!”

 

“Kasus! Let us settle this—”

 

I snapped. I launched at the smith and tackled his entire body, slamming him against the wall with a loud crunch. His eyes rolled back as the foams in his mouth began to taint with red. His body slid down as I let go of him. I had never felt so satisfied in my entire life.

 

“J-Julius, what have you done…”

 

I turned at the count, whose face distorted in fear. He kept stepping back while staring at the dead blacksmith until he hit a wall. Then, he looked at me.

 

“I did this to justify myself. I am simply trying to live my life as best as I could, and those who came to ruin it deserve what harm comes to them.”

 

Those who wronged me and would do so in the future deserved the fate they would get from my hands, and no one could stop me from that.

 

“You… are a murderer.”

 

“And what are you gonna do to the person who saved your children? Execution? Is this how you repay salvation?”

 

The Count’s eyes trembled as he struggled to look at me. He was chasing his breath, but before long, he spoke.

 

“Leave this city right away! From now on, you are exiled from my domain, and I will make sure that the entire Principality will never accept you again!”

 

An exile, huh? I clenched my jaws and glared at him. With that declaration, I might not be able to go and see Pyrwal and Biel again. There was nothing I could do unless I killed the Count before me. But that decision would lead to worse consequences that could hinder my quest of finding a way back home.

 

“Good enough,” I said.

 

With that, I launched myself towards the windowsill. I emerged out of a fortress’s backyard with nothing but trees. Then, I invoked Howling Shell and dashed out with vigilance, careful not to stumble against any patrolling soldiers.