5 Chapter 4 - The Orphanage

I watched from my vantage point by the window as the men cruelly and mercilessly violated the girls, some of them were in shock and unable to resist, the others struggling and fighting, in vain.

Suddenly, the cat girl raised her hand in desperation towards the man pinning her down, forming a narrow, clumsy projectile of water and firing it at the man.

The attack struck the side of the man's face, leaving a deep gash there as he let out a cry of pain, before letting out an enraged snarl and slamming his fist onto her face, breaking her nose with a loud crunch as her head thudded against the floor.

"You little shit!" Snapped the man as she began to form another water attack with a defiant look in her eyes, before letting out a sharp cry of pain as the man suddenly grabbed her throat and a burst of lightning erupted.

She let out a weak groan as her eyelids fluttered, her gaze briefly settling on me before she lost consciousness. The man's attack had scorched most of her hair off her head and left several severe burns across her face.

"Ugh, I hate that smell of burnt hair, it's putting me out of the mood."

"Man, you really gotta learn to control that temper of yours, haha!"

"Tch, I couldn't help it, the little bitch nearly took my eye out, I wasn't going to let that slide."

"Let's wrap things up, we've spent a bit too much time in here as it is, we shouldn't push our luck. If you aren't going to have your way with her, then just kill her."

"Hm...I really messed up her face bad. Yeah, I can't get it up for a face like this. Alright, then, guess I'll kill her," He sighed, firing out a bolt of lightning at her neck and vaporizing a large chunk of it, killing her.

He struck her jugular, and even if he didn't, her throat is now visible, no way anyone's surviving that...yeah, no doubt about it, she's dead, alright. The other men are killing the remaining survivors now, guess they're about to leave.

Watching this, I feel...I feel absolutely nothing. Just indifference, and a strange sense of numbness and hollowness inside me.

"That's quite the look in your eyes, so dull and emotionless, like the eyes of a dead fish. Well, maybe not completely emotionless, I can sense that you are feeling something towards this, but it certainly isn't anything positive.

Heh...hehehe, man, I really fucked you up good, didn't I? What a wretched creature you are. I mean, seriously, you're so fucking bitter and resentful over the fact that no one ever lifted a finger to save you in your previous life that you absolutely refuse to help another person if it doesn't benefit you in some tangible, worthwhile way.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the very idea of helping others out of the goodness of your heart with no ulterior motives disgusts you, the very thought of it makes your skin crawl. You really are a-...," Chuckled Arkiela as she glanced at my face.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear it, all you're doing is stating the obvious. I understand myself better than anyone, I'm confident that I know exactly what kind of a person I am, and I'm fine with it. I don't know if I'd necessarily call myself a bad person, but I sure as fucking hell am not a good person, and I have absolutely no problem with that. Now, then...looks like they're all done killing everyone," I remarked quietly, taking a pistol out of my Item Box, holding it between my teeth as I grabbed onto the edge of the roof.

I can't get a good angle from up here, guess I'll need to get inside. Which is why, finally, I'm opting to use a gun. There's five of them, so it'd probably be tough to beat them without using a gun.

"Hm? What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna kill those men. It'd be a waste not to, I could use the EXP, especially with the Guild entrance exam not too far away," I pointed out, before springing my feet off the roof while tightening my grip on the edge.

I swung my legs back and over my head, letting go of the edge of the roof and letting my momentum carry me into a front flip, my feet slamming onto the glass of the window and shattering it, my body flying in through the window frame as the shards of glass rained down inside the building.

"What the hell!?"

"Who the fuck is that!?"

I twisted my body across in midair before stabilizing myself, as the men stared up at me with dumbfounded looks on their faces. It probably won't take long for them to snap out of it and attack me...but it doesn't matter, I'm not gonna give them the time to do that. The instant I caught them off guard, I already won.

I took hold of my gun from between my teeth and gripped it with both hands, a tingle of excitement and anticipation shooting down my spine at the nostalgic sensation between my hands.

This is the first time since coming to this world that I've held one of my guns with the intent to shoot. My time at the orphanage has come to an abrupt end...so I'll end this chapter of my new life with a bang!

As I began to plummet, I fired out several shots, taking aim at their shoulders and knees. Chills washed over my entire body at the familiar sound of gunshots ringing out, startled cries of pain echoing out below me as all my bullets struck each of the men.

As I plummeted down, my feet slammed onto the back of one of the men, cushioning my fall and eliciting an agonized wheeze of pain from him as his legs wobbled and he collapsed onto his knees, one of the bullet wounds I'd inflicted on him thudding against the floor.

Tch, my aim was off...I hit their arms, calves and thighs instead, I missed my targets by a few inches. Guess I should've expected to be a bit rusty after going eight full years without shooting a gun, huh? Hm, or maybe it's because I didn't properly account for the recoil, my current body is a fair bit weaker than my previous body was when I died.

Well, whatever, it was still good enough.

They're all on the floor now, unable to move their limbs. Most people cast Spells using their hands, since apparently the palms are the easiest spots to channel Mana into, so I've also effectively neutralized their Magic, or at the very least, made it much, much more difficult for them to cast their Spells.

According to Arkiela, channeling Mana through an injured body part causes immense pain, and casting Spells require a certain level of concentration, which varies depending on how powerful the Spell is. Naturally, pain can be quite effective in disrupting concentration and focus, so injure a person's hands or arms and you severely compromise their Spellcasting.

In other words, these men are basically helpless against me now. They can't stand, they can't move their arms and they're going to struggle to use their Magic.

"Wh-who the fuck are you?"

"Hm? Does it really matter?" I responded, as I put away my gun and took out my grappling hook, firing it down at the back of the head of the man who I'd landed on.

The anchor struck his head and caved his skull in, blood and brain chunks bursting out as it ruptured the back of his head severely, killing him instantly. Damn, that was pretty gory. I've always wanted to do that, but refrained during my previous life since it was too messy to try during covert missions.

I then yanked the anchor back out of his head and put it away in my Item Box, switching to a katana. A look of terror appeared in one of the remaining men's face as I strolled over towards him, his arms and legs twitching as he desperately tried to move.

"S-stay away from me, I-I'm warning y-...!" He began to cry out in a panic, before I cut him off, pun intended, by slashing my blade down to the top of his head and splitting it in half, the blade slicing down his face before coming to a half about an inch above his upper lip.

Hm, I was trying to get the blade to slice all the way down to at least his chest, guess I've still got a lot of muscle I need to build up. I then drew the blade back out, swinging it across to get the blood off it before sheathing it and putting it away, and then taking out a different weapon...a flamethrower.

I then walked over towards the man who killed the cat girl, a look of horror on his face as he began to cry out in protest and desperation, but I didn't let him get any words out, unleashing an intense wave of flames at him.

He screamed out in agony as the flames engulfed his body and set him ablaze, the stench of burnt hair and flesh filling the space as his cries of pain began to peter out, his body going limp as it continued to burn, smoke starting to fill the space.

O-okay, that was a mistake, what a foul fucking stench...note to self, don't use the flamethrower indoors.

Alright, just two more of them left now, I'm almost done.

"Wh-what the fuck are those weapons, who the hell are you!?" Cried the next man who I began to approach, before I took out and flung a throwing knife at him, striking the spot between his eyes and killing him.

"Just one more to go now," I said to myself, turning towards the last man, who was trying to crawl away in desperation, before halting and turning to face me as he heard my footsteps approaching.

"D-damn it, we should've left when we had the chance...," He muttered with a grim look on his face.

Hm, which weapon should I use to kill him? Don't want to waste anymore bullets, and I've already used my blades, what else have I got? I've got nunchucks but I'm not all that good at using them. What about the police batons I appropriated after killing a cop I'd been hired to assassinate?

Yeah, I never got a chance to use those, so this is a good opportunity...

"Alright, blunt force it is," I decided, taking out the pair of batons and swinging them around.

I wonder how many blows it'll take to cave his skull in? Let's find out.

"You little bastard...," Growled the man as I closed in on him, before suddenly opening his mouth, "Take this, [Breath of Fla-...]...mpffhh!"

Whew, close one. Right as wisps of flames began to flow out of his mouth as he chanted, I quickly drove one of the batons into his open mouth, jamming it down his throat.

"Ugh, gross...I don't feel great about a dude deepthroating one of my weapons like this. Eh, whatever...choke on it, you piece of shit," I remarked dryly, as I drove the baton further down his throat with a violent twist, before stepping back and watching him suffocate on it.

With his arms fucked up by the gunshots, he can't pull it out...wish I'd gotten to try bashing his head in to see how many hits I'd need to cave in a grown man's skull, but this isn't bad either. It's certainly a shitty way to die from his perspective.

Hm...not sure I want that baton back. I mean, I took four batons from that cop I killed, so I've got spares. Yeah, he can keep it.

I then looked around the space as his desperate, choked gasps echoed out, surveying the wreckage of corpses littering the area around me.

"This world is seriously fucked up, huh? I mean, these guys just casually strolled into an orphanage and proceeded to rape and kill the people inside, and I bet they would've gotten away with it if I hadn't been here. Hey, was it like this during the medieval era of my old world?" I inquired, as Arkiela flew down towards me.

"Dunno, but probably. I found the modern era you lived in more entertaining to observe, I didn't pay much attention to older time periods. And yeah, this world is super fucked up, but you're almost just as fucked up in your own way, you know. Besides, don't forget, this island was once used as a dumping ground for the worst criminals in the rest of the world. In other words, every single person on the island is a descendant of those criminals. I bet that stuff like this is likely pretty common throughout the entire island continent."

"I don't see how them being descendants of criminals makes any difference. What kind of people your parents are don't determine what kind of a person you are, that's a hill I'm willing to die on," I responded dryly, as the man's choked cries began to fade and his agonised writhing slowed down, his body starting to go limp.

"Hah, come on...you know you're only saying that because the thought of you being similar to your own parents doesn't sit well with you," She replied with a scoff.

"Shut it, bitch."

"Ooh, looks like I hit a nerve, guess your parents are a sensitive topic for ya, huh? You know, one thing I was surprised by in your previous life is the fact that you never tried to track your parents down and kill them. I even tried to nudge your impulses to try and prompt you to do so, but you never gave in, you always brushed it off and thought about something else," She sighed wistfully, as a thud echoed out, the man having choked to death on my baton and collapsed onto his back, his body going completely limp.

I mean, I certainly considered it, of course. But...

"I just didn't want to ever see them again. If I'd ever run into them after I became a merc, I probably would've killed them, sure. But going through the trouble of tracking them down and going out of my way to kill them would've been a pain. That aside, the thought of going back to my home country after things had changed so drastically for me...it was a lot of unpleasant, mixed feelings," I replied with a bitter grimace.

"Hehe. Yeah...I REALLY fucked you up good, didn't I?" She grinned smugly.

"Don't test me, you goddamn bitch, it won't take a lot to provoke me into killing you."

I swear, if I make it to old age in this world, I'm so gonna kill her before I die, I'll make sure she never gets back to the Divine Realm. I'll keep that to myself though, don't want her to see it coming.

"Well, anyway, what do you plan on doing now? Probably shouldn't stay here after what just happened," She pointed out.

"Yeah, obviously not, you dumb bitch. Hm...there's still about a month or so left before the Guild entrance exam is set to take place, but I guess I'll move to Astaroth City right away," I decided after mulling it over for a bit.

"Uh, but you don't really have any money, remember, shithead? Certainly not enough to rent out a room at an inn or whatever," She responded objectively.

"Not a problem. These guys are wearing some pretty decent clothes, so they've probably...," I trailed off as I rifled through the pockets of the man I killed last, grinning as I found a pouch in his pocket, a light jingle ringing out as I took it out of his pocket and continued triumphantly, "Nice, they've got cash on them! Hm, maybe I shouldn't have used the flamethrower on that one guy. Hope I didn't melt any of the money he's carrying."

This is a lot more money than what the usual lowlife thugs I hunt down carry on them, sweet. There's a bunch of gold coins in here, the highest denomination of the currency used in Acheron Island.

The currency here is called Erons, made up of four types of coins. The lowest is bronze coins, which are each valued at 10 Erons. Next, there's copper coins, at 100 Erons each, followed by silver coins, valued at 1000 Erons. And finally, gold coins, one of which is worth 5000 Erons.

Stuff like a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread is around 200 Erons, though that can vary based on supply and demand, as well as across different regions. Even the cheapest inns cost about 1000 Erons a night minimum, and most of the thugs I've been killing only had a handful of bronze and copper coins, with the rare, occasional silver coin if I got lucky.

So I never had enough to leave the orphanage before this, but that's not a concern anymore. I'll easily be able to afford a stay at an inn in Astaroth just with the money I looted off this first guy.

Hope the others are just as loaded too...

"Look at you, looting corpses so casually," Chuckled Arkiela in amusement, as I went through the pockets of the other men.

"Ah, damn it, how disappointing...only the first guy was properly loaded, none of the others have any gold coins," I sighed wistfully, before adding with a shrug, "Oh, well, there's still a whole lot of silver coins between the rest of them, so it's still a pretty decent haul, I suppose. I should be able to comfortably cover a month's worth of expenses with this amount."

"By the way, should you really just leave that baton here? It's not as unusual as a gun, but it's still a weapon that doesn't exist in this world, at least not as well-made as this," She pointed out as she flew next to me as I finished looting the thugs.

Yeah, I was starting to think the same thing. I really don't want it back now that it's covered in saliva though...

"Ah, God fucking damn it...," I grumbled, dragging my feet over to the man whose throat I'd sheathed the baton in.

I took hold of the handle with a disgusted groan before yanking it out with a sickening, wet squelch, shuddering at the noise as I held up the weapon, slick with spit.

"Yeah, that's pretty nasty."

"Hey, clean it up, can't you create water or something?" I inquired, really not wanting to put it in my Item Box.

"Nope, I can't. Besides my Destruction Magic, I can only use a few other very minor abilities that are similar to the Skills in this world, I can't use anything resembling the abilities of any of the other Magic Classes," She replied with a shake of her head.

"Oh, that works. Use that Destruction Magic to erase all traces of it," I prompted her.

"Ugh, do I have to? I'll need to make my presence tangible in this world to use my Magic. All I can do in my current state, where I effectively don't exist outside of your perception, is shrink or grow bigger, turn myself visible to others if I want to, pass through solid objects, appraise stuff and mildly affect people's impulses," She shrugged apprehensively.

"Tch, what I wouldn't give for abilities like that, I could definitely make better use out of them than you ever could. And if you can't use your Destruction Magic in this state, then switch to the state or whatever where you can use it," I frowned in response.

"Yeah, alright...go on, toss it up and I'll blast it," She relented with a sigh.

I nodded and tossed the baton up, quickly taking a few steps off to the side to get out of the way as she increased her size to about ten inches long and raised her hand towards the weapon. She then fired out a rapid red beam from her palm, which struck the baton, engulfing it...and eradicating all traces of it.

"Hey, not bad."

I don't get why she's always complaining so much, that's a pretty damn awesome power, the lucky bitch.

"Alright, it's done. Time to switch back to-...," She began, before abruptly trailing off as I swiftly grabbed her out of the air and adding nervously, "H-hey, uh...what're you doing?"

After I reincarnated in this world, it didn't take long to figure out that she can't use any Magic when I touch her. The first time I grabbed her like this, she didn't try to shrink to slip out, or even just phase herself right out of my hand.

"Fascinating...you feel more solid now, I can actually feel a small bit of weight while holding you now," I remarked in intrigue, as I flicked her chest a couple of times, her boobs violently jiggling from side to side.

"Ow! Why do you always do this!? C-come on, shithead, let me go, please?" She requested with a tense, anxious smile.

"Wow, the jiggle is more satisfying than normal. As for why I always do this, it's kinda like using a stress toy. You know, like fidget spinners or those squishy stress balls," I smirked, before letting her go after a couple more flicks to the boobs.

"Dick...," She muttered as she flew up out of my reach and shrunk down to about two inches long, before adding as she regained her composure, "Well, anyway...are you gonna leave now? Or wait till morning?"

"There should still be carriages running, so I'll leave now. But first, I'll gather a bit more money," I remarked, as I put away all the money I looted off the five men into a Slot in my Item Box.

"Uh, from where though? Their cart that's parked outside, maybe? I suppose they might've left some money there, but-..."

"I mean, yeah, I'll definitely search the cart before leaving, but that's not what I meant. It probably won't be much, but I'll help myself to the orphanage's funds, just need to find where it's stashed," I replied, as I headed in the direction of the old man's room.

Since he ran the place, he probably held onto the funds and hid it somewhere in his room.

"Wow. You're gonna rob an orphanage? That seems low, even for you," She chuckled in amusement.

"Normally, I wouldn't. But they're all dead now, so they've got no further use for money. With that in mind, I see nothing wrong with what I'm doing. It's not stealing if no one owns it, after all. It's no different to archeology, digging up old graves and stuff to find treasure."

"I mean, I guess that makes sense...kind of?"

"Whatever, you're the last person I ever need to justify my actions to, so fuck off. Anyway, let's wrap things up here quickly and then head out...it's finally time to say goodbye to this shithole of a town."

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