The Madman

Chapter 50: The Madman

The flying vehicle slowly descended onto the landing pad inside the Arena.

Security Automata filed out, ready to escort Qin Xa back to the cave.

Before getting off, Brown patted Qin Xa on the back. "Head back without worry, great inventor. The detection devices on the way to the cave won't find the little technological artifacts hidden beneath that invisibility cloak. You can safely bring them back without me accompanying you."

A flicker of surprise crossed Qin Xa's face, then he nodded. "All right, Mr. Zobayan. Have a pleasant flight."

"What does that joke even mean?" Brown asked.

"Ace pilot," Qin Xa answered.

"Well, that's pretty nice." Brown flashed a brilliant smile.

Qin Xa gave Brown another look, opened the cabin door, and jumped down. Under the watch of the Security Automata, he headed deeper into the Arena.

Brown also stepped out of the aircraft. Just as he had when he first met Qin Xa, he leaned against its hull and watched him leave.

Qin Xa had another question he wanted to ask, and instinctively looked back at Brown.

But in just a few steps, Qin Xa had already gone quite far. Whatever he wanted to ask would have to wait.

"Goodbye." Brown raised a hand and waved.

Qin Xa nodded, turned around, and continued on his way.

At that moment, both Brown and Qin Xa felt that their conversation during the journey had been rather pleasant.

Brown usually pretended to be insane. At most, when he grew tired of pretending, he would pretend that his Butcher's Nails had stopped tormenting him for a few minutes and act like a normal person for a little while.

Whether facing Tark or anyone else, he had never had anyone with whom he could speak so freely.

"Get your asses over here and service my aircraft! Now! Right fucking now!"

Qin Xa heard Brown roaring at the Arena staff.

Yet to Qin Xa's ears, Brown somehow sounded reluctant.

When Qin Xa reached the straight corridor leading to the cave, he suddenly saw the head of the Tark Family approaching with someone who appeared to be the new Arena Manager.

The two were chatting and laughing, clearly getting along well.

"That bastard Viz pretended to submit to me. He sold the things I rewarded him with to those bastards from the Julius Family. The Julius Family might use my things in some cursed ritual, but fine, I endured it."

"But that bastard even deceived me. He said he had sent his wife and daughter into the cave for Carnival Day."

"But he hadn't."

"I only said it in anger at the time, understand? I didn't want to treat him that cruelly. He could have chosen not to send his wife and daughter in, then honestly told me, 'Oh, forgive me, my master. I did not carry out your command. Please kill me.'"

"It would have been fine. For his honesty, for his honesty in not fearing death at my hands, I could have spared him. I might even have rewarded him."

"..."

Tark kept talking, his face twisted in pain and misery.

The new Arena Manager beside him remained expressionless, merely nodding and murmuring agreement.

Even among yes-men, he would have been among the lowest grade.

"Look who's back." Tark stopped and looked warmly at Qin Xa, spreading his arms. "Did you slaughter the Arena Manager's whole family?"

Naturally, Qin Xa did not step forward to embrace Tark, whose arms were outstretched. Instead, he stood where he was and looked down at the most powerful man on Nuceria.

"Indeed." Qin Xa nodded. "Not a single person was left in the estate."

"You didn't spare his daughter either?" Tark suddenly looked grief-stricken. "I... when she was little, she stayed in my home for a year. My wife and I liked her very much... You killed her too?"

Qin Xa nodded.

Truthfully, he was not sure. Perhaps the Arena Manager's daughter had gone out and never returned.

At the time, he had not bothered searching for corpses to investigate.

"Ancestors..." Tears fell from Tark's eyes like severed pearls. "I made another mistake... Why can't these things ever proceed as smoothly and meticulously as I wish?"

The new Arena Manager gently patted Tark's back.

"Since they're all dead... I need to pull myself together..." Tark took a deep breath and lifted his head, as though trying to force the tears back into his eyes. "Besides, that little girl wasn't some kind soul either. She tortured plenty of people to death. Dead is dead."

Tark instantly returned to normal, his enthusiastic expression reappearing. "I want to invite you to my brother's house. We can watch him perform what his expression looked like after all his sons died."

As he spoke, Tark gestured wildly, dancing with excitement.

"You're the one who killed all his sons. If you go, his performance will definitely be even more interesting."

"Then... then we'll kill him."

"With your sorcery."

Tark swayed from side to side, miming the act of wrenching something apart with all his strength.

"Twist his head off too!"

"Say, can you only twist heads off? Can you twist off limbs and things like that?"

"If you can, start with his hands and feet and twist my brother apart bit by bit. If not, forget it. I won't force you. I know you wizards can't always use your abilities exactly as you please."

"..."

Qin Xa looked at Tark without saying a word.

A madman.

That was Qin Xa's assessment of Tark.

He did not know what this man had experienced or how he had become family head. He only knew that the man was insane. The only benefit for ordinary people, perhaps, was that he at least regarded real Slaves as humanoid beings rather than piles of excrement.

Qin Xa could not help marveling at how complicated matters were.

Such a madman, such a terrifying madman, could nevertheless give him what he needed to achieve his goals—things he could never obtain in the Arena, no matter how many days and nights he fought for the audience.

"Aeron is dead," the new Arena Manager said.

"What?!" Tark froze.

"He's dead," the Arena Manager repeated quietly. "I received the report this morning. I was just about to tell you."

Tark stood there in a daze, his face filled with confusion.

Like his personality, his expression shifted unpredictably—grief, delight, schadenfreude, fear.

"It's fine." Tark reached out and lightly patted Qin Xa's arm. "It's fine that he was killed. Don't worry about the fact that he was my brother. When we were children, he and his father often tied me to trees and hacked at me as though I were a target, so I hate him. You don't need to worry about me taking revenge on you."

"But he really was my brother. When we were very young, we got along very well."

"Still... I... I actually think he shouldn't have died. Becoming what he was wasn't his fault. It was the environment's fault."

"I... I... Aeron..."

Tark rambled incoherently, stammering.

The new Arena Manager patted Tark's back and softly consoled him. "If you believe he deserved death, then he had to die. Even if you only had the thought of sending him to his death for a single instant, he deserved to die. You are the master of the Tark Family, one of the highest among the highest nobles. Everything in the Tark Family is your personal property to dispose of as you please. It was only one person who died."

"But Aeron was my brother," Tark said quietly. "How could I..."

"It's all right, Master. His life was your private property, just like everyone and everything in the Tark Family, the nobles who serve the Tark Family, and Slaves like us," the Arena Manager sincerely consoled him.

"You're right... brother. No matter what, we've taken another step toward my goal of slaughtering all nobles." Tears welled in Tark's eyes as he kept taking deep breaths. "Thank you for comforting me."

The Arena Manager nodded repeatedly.

"I will achieve my goal, won't I?" Tark suddenly looked at Qin Xa and asked earnestly. "You'll help me too, since you hate them as well, right?"

Qin Xa looked into Tark's eyes.

This lunatic always made him feel unsettled.

"Lord Tark is not in a very stable state of mind right now. If you have anything to say, wait until later. I'll make arrangements then." The new Arena Manager made a gesture of invitation. "Go back first. If you need anything, speak into the communicator on the gate. I'll listen and consider it."

Qin Xa walked past Tark.

Tark watched Qin Xa's retreating back and asked the Arena Manager, "He'll help me, right? Him and those Gladiator friends of his?"

"Yes, Master. You have a great goal. So of course, without question."

The new Arena Manager coaxed Tark as though soothing a child.