I Never Said I Wouldn't Kill You

"Let's keep going. Since they massacred the villagers here, their hideout probably isn't far away."

They couldn't exactly be called good people, but they couldn't bear to leave the villagers' bodies lying in the wilderness, either. The four of them dug a large pit and buried the villagers, if only to give themselves some peace of mind.

"This country really is a mess. Something like this would never happen in our country," Kaiser Lynn said as she stood up after praying for the villagers.

Though they belonged to different countries, Kaiser Lynn still felt sympathy for the villagers.

"Wouldn't happen, or you just don't know about it when it does?" Shirakawa didn't believe there wasn't even one bandit gang in an entire country.

"Something like this definitely wouldn't happen. Once you visit my country, you'll see the difference between our two countries."

"Oh? Then let's wait and see."

After witnessing such a tragic ending, the four of them were in low spirits. As they walked, not one of them spoke.

"Look, there's a path over there. Do you think it leads to the bandits' hideout?"

Just then, Kaiser Lynn spotted another path branching off from the road they had been following.

"Probably." Shirakawa took out the map and glanced at it. He and the others had bought it on a whim before leaving the city, in case they got lost along the way.

Shirakawa noticed that the map didn't show this path. "Looks like the bandits made this road themselves."

He put the map away, then turned to the others. "Are you ready? If you don't want to go, you can wait here."

"I've been ready for ages." Shanks and Buggy looked eager to get going. Shanks, in particular, was barely able to contain himself.

"I'm going too, of course. It feels even more dangerous to stay here alone," Kaiser Lynn added.

"Then let's head up the mountain."

For some reason, as soon as Shirakawa said those words, his right eyelid began twitching uncontrollably, as if something bad were about to happen.

I hope I'm just imagining things.

"What's wrong?" Kaiser Lynn asked, noticing Shirakawa press his right hand against his eye.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing. Let's keep going," Shirakawa replied with a forced smile.

Hearing him say that, Kaiser Lynn didn't ask any further questions.

Though the path led deep into the mountains, they didn't see a single animal along the way—not even a carcass.

The farther they went, the stronger Shirakawa's bad feeling became.

Unable to suppress his unease, Shirakawa stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" When Shirakawa halted, the other three stopped as well. Shanks asked in confusion.

"I have a feeling our destination is dangerous."

"What, are you scared?" Buggy said contemptuously. "It's just a bunch of ordinary people. What danger could there be?"

"I'm not scared. I'm worried you guys might get hurt."

"Don't worry. With the great Buggy here, she'll be safe." As he spoke, Buggy flexed his muscles.

But he hadn't understood what Shirakawa said. Shirakawa had meant all of them, while Buggy thought he meant only her.

Shirakawa was about to explain when a voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Hey! Who are you?" Shirakawa turned around and saw a group of people blocking their way. Shanks and Buggy immediately drew their weapons, ready to fight.

"Did you kill the villagers down the mountain?" Now that they had found someone, Shirakawa had no intention of wasting time.

Besides, the people in front of them were clearly no good, judging by their clothes and manner.

"Oh, you mean those worthless peasants? Yeah, we did it." The man sounded rather pleased with himself as he said it.

"Why?" Shirakawa asked through gritted teeth.

He couldn't understand how they could bring themselves to do it—to spare neither the women nor the babies. They were no better than beasts.

"Why? Do we need a reason to kill people? We kill whoever we feel like! Hahahaha!"

"What, who are you? Here to avenge them?"

"We're here to kill you." Now that they knew who was responsible, there was no need for any more pointless talk. Speaking to a pack of beasts was a waste of time.

"Buggy, Shanks, let's go."

"Right! I've been itching to fight." Shanks charged forward in an instant and took down one of the bandits.

"You little punk, you dare kill one of our men? Get them! Tear them limb from limb!"

Though there were more of them, their numbers couldn't make up for their lack of skill. It didn't take long before only their leader was left.

Shirakawa slowly walked toward him, one step at a time.

"Don't come any closer! Stay back!" The man waved his hands in a panic and fell to the ground, trembling all over.

"Did you ever think about how those unarmed villagers felt when you killed them?"

Shirakawa crouched in front of him and spoke slowly, one word at a time. He wanted the man to understand just how desperate those villagers had felt before they died.

"Please, spare me! I didn't do it, I didn't do it!" He dropped to his knees in front of Shirakawa and kowtowed frantically. He even split his forehead open, but Shirakawa felt no sympathy for him.

"If you didn't do it, then who did? A ghost?"

"The Great General ordered us to do it. We hadn't planned on killing them."

"The Great General? So he was the one behind it all."

"That's right. It was him."

"Then who is this Great General?"

"I don't know. He suddenly showed up at our hideout a few days ago. Our boss told us to call him the Great General."

"Get up and lead the way. I want to see for myself what kind of person this Great General is."

"Okay, okay! Just don't kill me. I'll do anything you ask."

"Stop talking and hurry up."

"Yes, yes, yes." The man nodded hurriedly.

He walked ahead while Shirakawa and the others followed. After about half an hour, they finally saw the bandits' hideout.

They had to admit, the hideout looked a lot like the ones Shirakawa had seen on TV.

"The Great General should be inside the hideout now." As soon as he finished speaking, a blade suddenly slid across his throat.

His eyes widened. He probably died without ever understanding why he had been killed.

"I never said I'd spare you. And you led us here of your own free will, didn't you?"

Now that they had reached their destination, the man was no longer useful. Besides, Shirakawa would never let someone like him live.