Thanks to the King’s Authority, the Special Task Force had been established, but since I was still the only member, it was effectively just a unit in name only.
If this situation dragged on, there would definitely be rumors circulating around, so I had to recruit members as quickly as possible—even if just one day earlier.
‘Fortunately, I have the Memory of a Previous Life.’
Honestly, I had considered recruiting the Heroes who fought alongside me in the final battle.
But by now, they must be growing stronger in their respective positions, and some had even already joined the Order of the Royal Knights, battling fiercely on the front lines.
To bring such people into the Special Task Force?
It would be a good idea, but it wasn’t particularly beneficial.
Heroes are structured so that they can’t be taught by others in the first place.
‘Heroes are humans loved by the gods.’
Because of that, they pray to the gods they believe in to receive a Blessing.
Most Heroes fight by strengthening themselves through the power of that Blessing, and thanks to that ability, they can easily reach a level comparable to Sword Masters.
Because of this, most Heroes tend to be poor at absorbing teachings from others.
When I had to properly learn the sword, I had to make countless efforts to avoid relying on the Blessing’s power.
‘Then the only ones left are those guys.’
Those who were once human but ultimately gave up on being human.
The traitors who sided with the Demon Army, even taking over the positions of the existing Corps Commanders.
‘Right now, it’s still before they have betrayed humanity.’
So, I would find them and bring them into the Special Task Force.
They were the ones who had claimed the Corps Commander positions in the Demon Army purely by their own human ability.
If I could manage their spirits and bring them over to our side, they would become powerful allies in the end.
‘…Fortunately, I already know the location of one of them.’
But just knowing the location, it was impossible for me alone to find the person.
As I pondered my options, I quietly sighed.
“In the end, there’s no choice but to do it this way.”
Having decided to act, I immediately stood up and left the room.
The Capital of the Kingdom of Lumin was mostly a lively and bright place.
But where there is light, there must also be darkness.
Just a little distance away from the bright areas spread the slums, dens of beggars.
This place, hidden behind the image of a land of knights, had been devastated by long years of war.
Those who had been broken down by this life had fallen into a pit of despair, unable to find hope.
Yet even in this mire, there were uncut gems that could not shine.
‘The Desolator was exactly such a case.’
A human who had fought alone against one-third of the Humanity Resistance Army on the Demon Army’s side.
Surprisingly, it was revealed that he was originally the eldest son of the Noble House of Redburn in the Kingdom of Lumin.
His family had fallen, framed by certain nobles within Lumin for conspiring with the Demon Army.
The Desolator, having narrowly escaped execution, wandered through the slums, losing his only sister in a tragic incident along the way.
He didn’t die by monsters in the war against the Demon Army, but lost everything to those he once believed were allies—the depth of his grudge was unfathomable.
‘Deep-rooted distrust and hatred toward humans created the Desolator.’
And soon, that unfortunate incident would happen again.
Considering how large it was, preparations must have been underway for several years already.
I had probably walked quite far into the slums.
Before long, some burly men began creeping up beside me.
Soon, one large figure stood directly in front of me.
“Hey, who the hell are you, coming into our territory without permission? You paid the toll, right?”
Without a word, I stretched out my hand.
A holy sword suddenly appeared out of thin air.
“Oh? That guy’s wielding a pretty expensive sword, huh?”
“Kid, haven’t you learned that swinging dangerous weapons around recklessly can get you killed? Ohoho, wanna play swordsmanship games with us old men?”
“Hahahahaha!”
I calmly sheathed the holy sword.
“It’d be a waste to use it on you.”
“Tch, this bastard is rushing his end… Ugh!”
I twisted the jaw of the guy trying to talk back with my left hand.
His face turned upward, and he collapsed dead on the spot.
“This guy just wouldn’t stop looking!”
I caressed the soft belly of the pot-bellied man.
I thought I was touching gently without causing pain, but my hand came away with bits of flesh stuck to it.
“Gurgle!”
As the pot-bellied man coughed up blood and collapsed, a slender figure lunged at me.
He drew a dagger and aimed for the back of my head, but I grabbed the blade, snatched it away, and plunged it into his skull instead.
“Want to come at me again?”
The burly men who had surrounded me gradually backed off.
They seemed to realize they weren’t a match for me.
“Where are you guys going now?”
But them not attacking wasn’t part of my plan.
I grabbed the head of the one trying to run and slammed it against the wall.
The wall cracked, shaking violently.
If I hit it a few more times, it would probably collapse, so I threw him to the ground and stomped hard on his head.
The sound of bone breaking was strangely satisfying.
“Guys who swing weapons at a brat like me have probably done the same to quite a few others, right?”
Some of these guys even smelled strongly of blood.
“There’s no reason for me to spare you, right?”
Since they were proven murderers, I had no intention of letting them live.
I chased after the one who was clearly running away, kicking him on the heel.
“You’ve never fought a Hero before, huh?”
Bang!
Just a kick tore off the attacker’s leg.
“Aaaaah!”
His screams echoed throughout the slums.
Nearby beggars quickly hid inside buildings, watching silently.
I stepped on the bleeding man crawling on the ground and asked,
“Where’s your king?”
“Sa, sa, sa… save me… ugh.”
Hmm, the last guy I caught was weaker than I expected.
I didn’t think he’d die from losing a leg.
Maybe I should have just broken it instead.
I sighed and scratched the back of my head.
“I’ve told you this much, but you’re still going to pretend you don’t know?”
With those words, I suddenly threw the holy sword toward the dark alley.
I heard someone grab the sword and get pushed back.
“…You’re quite rough.”
“Then why didn’t you just come out when I spoke calmly?”
A middle-aged man emerged from the darkness, holding the holy sword.
He threw the sword toward me.
Since I had no reason to catch it, I dismissed the summoning.
The sword flying at me vanished in a flash of light, and at the same time, a fist flew into my vision.
I thought about dodging, but since there was no malice in it, I stood still.
The fist stopped right in front of my face.
Hmm.
His gaze lowered.
My finger pointed straight at his heart.
I shamelessly smiled and said,
“It’s a draw.”
The man withdrew his fist and replied,
“I lost.”
“I said it was a draw.”
“If my fist and your finger collided, the force would have canceled out. So, I lost.”
No, isn’t it more important that we both aimed for fatal spots?
I briefly questioned this, but it wasn’t a logic that would work on this stubborn man.
I gave up trying to persuade him in real time and looked at the man in front of me.
The King of the Slums asked,
“Who are you? Why are you looking for me?”
“You’re pretty calm. I thought you’d complain about me killing your men.”
“Ah, there’s a misunderstanding. Those guys aren’t my men. They were people I was planning to kill anyway.”
“Oh, I see. So I beat you to it.”
After lightly clearing up the short misunderstanding, I immediately spoke his identity.
“The former Hero, Toruman Wibeller.”
His eyebrows twitched.
Ignoring that, I continued.
“I want to make a request to you, the king who rules over the slums.”
“…You could’ve just called me the King of the Slums, you know?”
He muttered a small complaint, and I answered nonchalantly.
“Then I’d have to explain in great detail why I chose you for this job.”
Toruman quietly stroked his chin and asked,
“Who are you looking for?”
Recalling the outline of the unfortunate incident involving the Desolator, I answered.
“There was a man and a girl who recently came here, right?”
“The slums have so many people. I don’t remember every single one of them.”
“The notable thing is that the man has silver hair, and the girl has blonde hair. They’re too beautiful to fit into the slums. Even if dust is on them, a noble’s dignity doesn’t fade that easily, right?”
At that moment, Toruman’s expression turned deadly serious.
“…Why are you looking for those two?”
Hmm, I didn’t expect such a sensitive reaction.
‘So, Toruman is involved after all.’
I glanced around once and quietly lowered my head, saying,
“Revenge for the Noble House of Redburn—want some help?”
“…?!”
The King of the Slums’ eyes filled with shock.
Muffin Redburn.
The Desolator’s real name.
The Noble House of Redburn had fallen into ruin due to the accusation of collusion with the Demon Army.
Colluding with the Demon Army is a grave crime punishable by execution for three generations.
The eldest son, Muffin, narrowly escaped execution with his only sister, fleeing the border and growing a desire for revenge against the Noble House of Kiren, the rival family that framed his own.
“This is where Muffin is.”
“Hmm.”
And so, I arrived in front of the shabby house that served as Muffin’s hideout—the origin of the recent unfortunate incident.
“For such a run-down house, it’s quite extravagant, huh?”
“…Did he notice?”
“Yeah. He didn’t hide it very well.”
The shabby mansion was covered with all kinds of defensive magic and intrusion prevention spells.
Some of its magic was even leaking out despite efforts to conceal it.
If Ryuk had hidden it, it would have been more perfect than this.
“…No way. We implemented security measures so that even traces of magic and tracking wouldn’t work, and those were executed by a top-class security specialist wizard from the Magic Tower.”
“Guess the specialist wasn’t that professional after all.”
“Well, whatever.”
“Nope.”
Toruman looked at me with cold, resigned eyes.
I shrugged and replied,
“Is it a sin that I can see it?”
“I didn’t say anything.”