Master’s Smile

《Justice Does Not Always Prevail》

A large amount of blood gushed out from Sorglos’ severed arm.

The blood spurted and adhered to Rust’s body right after he slashed her arm away.

Some of it even splattered onto his cheeks, but it got distorted by the broad smile that he was making.

“Uguh!?!”

He tried to shove his shield as a follow-up attack, but it was interrupted by Sorglos kicking him in the stomach.

“Hahaha! You completely fooled me!”

The kick to the stomach did quite a bit of damage to Rust, but above all, the fact that he was able to cut off the limb of one of the heinous dark guild members gave him a sense of insanity.

Sorglos doubled over in a daze, as if she couldn’t get into a good stance with one arm being cut off.

“Ooh…, seems like I’ve been beaten to a pulp once again.”

“……”

Sorglos then muttered in a carefree voice while staring at the cut section where her arm previously was.

It was a disappointing reaction for Rust, who was expecting to hear a scream or a cry of pain from her.

However, such reaction could not be helped.

What Rust didn’t know is that Sorglos has no sense of pain.

“You’re surprisingly carefree, aren’t you? However, you won’t be able to fight me now that you’ve lost an arm.”

“Hmm?”

“You were on par with me when you were in perfect condition! With one less arm to hold your weapons, you’ll have to make fewer moves now! I wonder, how long will you be able to hold a fight with me in that condition?”

Rust had been confident in this battle since the beginning, but he was even more convinced of his own victory this time.

Thus, he let out a savage smile and licked Sorglos’ blood that was on his sword.

Normally, he would not do such a thing as he was committed to justice. However, the thought of defeating a member of a dark guild excited him so much that he did so.

Sorglos let out a gasp when she saw him and then chuckled at the thought of being frightened.

“Now then, it’s time to end…this….”

Rust had been talking to Sorglos with great vigor, but soon after, his voice was getting weaker and weaker, and finally came to an abrupt end.

The reason was quite simple.

He had been struck by a powerful bloodlust which made it impossible for him to speak.

“…hu…hh…?”

The person who was giving off the killing intent was supposedly not Sorglos, who had one of her arms cut off.

It was in fact, the man with a gentle smile behind her.

He, whom Sorglos calls Master and adores, did not seem to be doing anything in particular.

He didn’t have a weapon prepared like Rust and Sorglos, nor was he even gathering magic power, a sign which a person is about to unleash a magical attack.

He just stood there and smiled.

And yet, Rust, the strong and righteous swordsman, was stunned and unable to speak due to the bloodlust he received.

“I’m very thrilled that Master is angry for me, but your bloodlust is too thick…, I got slightly hit by it as well.”

Sorglos stared at her master with a bewitching gaze and told so.

However, Rust had no time to worry about that.

His head was too dizzy from the sheer force of the incoming bloodlust and beginning to doubt whether he could even keep his feet firmly planted on the ground.

“Haah…haah….”

With a blurry vision and heavy breathing, Rust stared at Sorglos, who was closing in on him while telling her master that his bloodlust had hit her as well.

Master had already turned his eyes away from Rust and was handling Sorglos with a wry smile.

…strange.

Then, why am I still in pain?

“…Hmm? Rust-dono has already been freed from Master’s bloodlust, though? In the first place, if you were to be hit by Master’s bloodlust directly, you would be dead in ten seconds.”

“…Hu-? Eh…?”

In order to answer Rust’s question, Sorglos glanced back at him and told the truth.

Indeed, Master had already put off his bloodlust towards Rust.

Even so, the pain Rust felt had not improved at all.

In the end, he collapsed to the ground.

“W-Why…?”

He spoke weakly as he had no idea why he was lying on the ground.

The look of triumph on his face had gone, replaced with a look of doubt and confusion.

“No, well, nothing can be done as you carelessly bathed yourself in my blood.”

“Blood…?”

Sorglos reluctantly turned her gaze away from her master and disclosed her secret to Rust.

“Yes, myself, is not a normal human being, so my blood is also special. Well, although I said blood, it’s just a fake liquid that resembles blood.”

　Sorglos proudly showed off the arm that Rust cut off as if she was trying to provoke him.

“I can change my blood into a variety of liquids at my own discretion. The blood that Rust-dono had licked before was a strong paralyzing poison.”

“P-Paralayzing-…!?!”

Rust hurriedly tried to move his body in response to Sorglos’ words, but it was all for naught.

The only thing he could barely move were his eyes and mouth.

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not a poison that suppresses muscle activity, so you won’t have a problem with breathing.”

Rust was relieved to hear Solgros’ explanation.

However, he quickly felt anger towards himself for having felt so.

“Damn it…!!!”

“Well then, what are we going to do about this one, Master?”

Sorglos first asked for her master’s opinion while making a sidelong glance at the paralyzed Rust.

Master did nothing but gave a wry smile, which was unusual for him.

He is usually in charge of stopping the guild members from running amok, but this time he had no intention of stopping her.

Sorglos believed that the cause for this was her arm being cut off.

Master is most likely―――although sometimes he’s unwilling to be―――angry at Rust as he treats his guild members like his daughters.

“Oh, this is somehow embarassing~”

Master tilted his head and looked at Sorglos, who was making an embarrassed smile under the cloth.

“Heal me at once!”

Rust howled at both of them.

“No, like I would do that”, Sorglos took back her retort and kept it inside her mind.

“Hmmm…. I don’t like the idea of killing you that easily. Not only that, I still can’t forgive you for targeting Master too….”

Sorglos put a hand on her chin and groaned while thinking of what she would do to him.

She is relatively friendly to everyone other the Master, but that is only for those who do not touch him.

And once someone touched her line of anger, they won’t be killed normally.

Master had already made it clear that he will leave Rust’s treatment to her.

Sorglos, who had been thinking very hard, finally came up with a satisfactory punishment.

She then clapped her hands together and happily informed Rust.

“Alright! Well then, I would like to erase Rust-dono’s memories about us and let bygones be bygone.”

“…Huh?”

Rust gazed up at Sorglos while looking dumbfounded.

Would it really only be that simple of a punishment?

Just by forgetting about them and he will be freed?

Even though, he had tried to kill them before….

“T-That’s all it took…?”

“Hmm? Of course. I will have you forget about me and Master. Now then, let’s get started without delay.”

“Hmph! Get on with it then!”

Sorglos smiled and gave a nod after Rust looked at her as if he was looking at something absurd.

While he watched her calmly approaching him, Rust couldn’t help but let out a heartful laugh in his mind.

“(Fools!! I don’t know what kind of drugs will you use, but the recovery magicians of my guild can easily heal me back. After that, I’ll remember you once again and finally kill you! Next time, justice will-…!!!)”

He wanted to blurt out everything that was in his heart, but they might kill him instead if he did so.

Hence, although it was humiliating, he decided to keep quiet for now.

Even if the drugs were something that the members of “Prishield” could not cure, his guild is still a normal, mid-level guild and has access to high-ranking recovery magicians.

They would be able to help them if the need arose.

He was smiling at the thought, but then his face turned pale at Sorglos’ next words.

“Seems like Rust-dono is already prepared, so it’s time to “fiddle with your brain”~.”

“…eh?”

Rust looked up at Sorglos, who seems to be excited, while looking dumbfounded, this time, in a bad way.

Nevertheless, Sorglos tried to reach for his head, not caring about him whatsoever.

“W-Wait, wait! What do you mean by that!? I-I thought you were going to give me some drugs!?”

“Haaah? Nonono, Rust-dono won’t feel any pain that way, you know? This is a punishment for trying to touch Master, so you must experience a certain amount of it.”

Sorglos shook her head, wondering what Rust was talking about when he asked such question in a panic.

“(F-Fiddling with my brain, you say…!?)”

How much pain would he have to go through by that?

Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.

“Though, I’m not that good at fiddling someone’s brain, you see… I sometimes messed with things other than memory, so please bear with me.”

Sorglos held out her fingers in front of Rust’s eyes, which then melted and turned into a liquid sludge.

The sludge wriggled as if seeking its prey, leading Rust to let out a deep throaty scream.

“D-Don’t joke with me!! Why do I have to go through this!? You people are evil! You are an evil, treacherous dark guild that oppress, toy with, and kill people! So, why should I, the righteous one, have to suffer!? Why!?!”

Rust’s eyes became bloodshot as he spitted and shouted in anger.

Indeed. He came here to defeat the dark guild for the sake of the kingdom and for justice.

And yet, why was he lying on the ground?

Why was he about to be subjected to something more horrible than death?

“…I’ll tell you this since you seem to have misunderstood something.”

Rust glared at Sorglos with intense murderous intent while still lying on the ground from the paralyzing poison and heavy breathing.

However, she returned his gaze as if it was all for naught.

“We, “Army of Salvation (Yelquchira)”, would never commit a criminal act or slaughter for no reason.”

If there’s a reason, they will do it without hesitation.

“You might be thinking that we’re the same as that “Iron Trash”…or should I say “Iron Queen (Inicken)” just because we are both dark guilds, aren’t you? My, this is quite troubling.”

Sorglos was convinced that it was almost certainly “Inicken” who had caused Rust to strongly view the dark guilds as enemies.

Unlike “Yelquchira”, who lived in the shadows and kept their information secret, “Inicken” frequently committed criminal acts in the surface world despite living in the dark.

Indeed, they were truly an eyesore.

“Though, that’s not what I was trying to point out….”

Sorglos crouched down at Rust’s side and told him in an alluring voice.

“―――The fact that you tried to touch Master is enough reason for “Yelquchira” to punish you. Have you resolute yourself to have your brain scrambled?”

“Hi-hiiie…!”

Tears spilled from Rust’s eyes.

It was not supposed to be like this. It was not supposed to be….

Those were the last thing that Rust had thought.

Soon after, his screams echoed throughout the forest.

”