Chapter 14 - I Won't Go Down To Mere Numbers!
Everything around us was scorching. We ran frantically from the massive firestorm before we ended up as barbecued meat. We fled southward, getting lost within a maze of stone ruins and collapsing structures. There were too many corpses to stop the fire. However, we managed to escape a safe distance away to view the full destruction, a series of buildings being burnt to the ground, rubble smoldering as fires burst outward. I gasped heavily and fell to my knees, tired from the rapid escape. I cursed under my breath. "What the hell?!"
Lepa put down a small bag she'd been carrying. "Fuck, what should we do now?" She sighed heavily and bit her nail nervously, anxiously, her teeth grinding against her fingernails, picking at her fingers. "Our factory!"
"Yeah. That asshole just burnt down everything," Lepu cried out as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Fuck fuck fuck!!!"
Scarlet stumbled towards me and panted. "Shit... Ah..."
"Everything's gone," she murmured.
"The capital doesn't have any care or concern for those living in the slums. If one of the noble idiots wants something done, they'll have it done, no matter what."
"All these people... Everyone's gone. What can we do, Your Highness?" Scarlet mumbled dejectedly, sinking to the ground. "How could the capital treat the lawless folk this badly?"
"Hey," I called out, wiping my sweat off. My entire body ached from the exertion. "We'll find those bastards. And when we find them, we'll deal with them ourselves, right?"
She smiled feebly and gave me a light nod. "Yes."
With a look of determination on their faces, both the twins and Scarlet stood back up. "Let's run away for now and talk over what should we do after calming down," Lepa suggested. She glanced over towards the wreckage once more. Her body began quaking uncontrollably as she felt immense anger build within her. "But I still feel like I can't say goodbye to our home like this. They're gonna pay! So much..."
"We're going," Scarlet added. "Come on, we have to keep a cool head."
She took off in a sprint ahead of us. "Stay alert, everyone."
Everyone nodded.
I followed closely behind the girls as we exited the maze, coming into the main square of the village, which was untouched by the wildfires. It looked like it had been left alone and had been relatively unchanged since I was here earlier. Though now, it was completely empty except for ourselves. I kept pace alongside Scarlet and the two twins, scanning every direction. My attention darted from side to side, scanning the shadows beneath the various buildings and ruined structures. Nothing.
There were only broken wooden pieces scattered here and there, and half-destroyed walls lying among piles of rocks, left over by an explosion. We stood in the middle of the road, all breathing rapidly. The burning smell lingered heavily around us, even stronger than before. We were breathing the smoke.
"Oh god," I heard Lepa say faintly. I watched as she bent down. "I... think I might have an idea of who it was..."
"Who?" Lepu asked. Her cheeks and eyes were covered with soot stains from the fire that had been burning everything around us just a minute ago. She turned toward her sister and asked curiously, "Do you know who's doing it?"
Lepa responded bitterly, "Banage... The man who killed our father. That bastard!"
She clutched the fabric tightly around her chest, trying to control herself. "Don't say his disgusting name... Don't ever say it..." she said to herself more than anyone else.
"What? Who's that?" I asked, looking back and forth between the two twins.
"Just a rich, corrupt businessman. He was my dad's partner once but betrayed him because he wasn't greedy and arrogant like Banage. Now that I think about it, it makes sense. The man lives at the edge of town, where one of his windows faces the slums. That man... He must've been utterly blinded by greed destroying our property for a better view."
"What?" Scarlet asked. "I shouldn't delve into your past, but how can you be so sure it's him?"
Lepa stood straight again, glaring toward the distant flames that still burned. "Because the same thing happened to our home when we were kids."
"He used to threaten us with false reports and complaints just to get his way. If we didn't do things as he wished, he'd punish us and ruin whatever we tried building. Now we live here, doing business at a much lower level of income to get by."
"Damn, so that's how it is," Scarlet sympathized.
"Then... what do we do now?" I questioned. "Since we know the target, should we just go right in and crush him?"
Lepu shook her head and placed a hand on her hip. "If it was just the four of us, it'd be hard to defeat that bastard. Even with the help of you devils, we probably wouldn't make it out alive. He has so many bodyguards on his side, not to mention his wealth to pay them in the first place. You saw the level of this incident. Think of his mansion..."
"It's bigger than this," Lepa stated, motioning to the whole village. "More soldiers and staff are stationed there constantly. Plus, the other guards are stationed outside the house as well. Even if we sneak inside the property undetected, they'll see right through us. It'd be a suicidal attack."
I sat down and crossed my arms. "Well, I might still be a low-level devil." I flexed my arm and cracked the muscles and joints in my shoulders. "But I'm tough enough. There is a new technique I want to try. I won't go down to mere numbers."
Patreon
Wkppp· Oct 19, 2023
