Chapter 121: The Finals

The mayor announced that the finals would begin in an hour or so to let Ling Tian Yu catch a break, so I returned to the inn we last stayed at. That would be Hina-nee's spawnpoint, after all. The other three girls followed me.

When I arrived, I immediately unlocked the door and went in. There, Hina-nee sat in bed, glancing down at her own hands.

"Hina-nee…"

"Kaze-kun…?" she slowly turned her head towards me.

I quickly rushed over and pulled her into an embrace. She returned the hug, gripping me tightly as she began sobbing.

"Kaze-kun… I'm sorry… I don't know how… my weapon just slipped out of my hand…"

"It's the work of that bastard's luck," I muttered in reply. "Don't worry though… he'll be fighting me next — the last opponent he will ever face."

"E-Eh? You're…"

"Yes, I'm going to kill him," I said quietly, devoid of all emotion. Hina-nee had been crying from our reunion, but I did not. I could not feel sadness anymore, after all.

"Sakura-senpai, you have to stop him," Furuwa interjected determinedly. "Killing is fine, but Kaze intends to torture him."

"Wha-" Hina-nee turned back and stared into my eyes, as if uncertain if what Furuwa said was true.

"He harmed my family," I replied in anguish. "He has to pay."

"Well, it's not like you'll get to torture him even if you want to~" Nadeshiko whistled. "Those annoying judges and the old mayor will stop you before you go too far."

I clenched my fists. "Even so… I have my methods."

Saying this, I left the inn, a new plan in mind.

*****

"What are you going to do?" Nadeshiko asked, following closely behind me with a evil grin on her face. The other three seemed to have stayed in the room, since Hina-nee needed to recover.

"It's not any of your concern," I replied coldly, picking up my pace.

"Now, now… c'mon, tell me~ I want to learn your methods, heehee~"

I shot her beaming smile a sideways glance, then gave up on trying to throw her off and just continued walking.

She licked her lips in satisfaction. "Hehe, thank you, Master~"

We soon arrived at the place I was looking for — a large pill store.

"The Ascentian Alchemist Association, Qilian Branch," Nadeshiko read aloud the sign displayed above the entrance. "Oh, wait, don't tell me…."

She shot me a knowing smirk which I did not bother responding to, and instead just strode in the building.

This was a place I found out about through my minimap. It was near the center of the city, but I never really paid much attention to it before. It was only until after I learned about pills that I thought about this strategy. Luckily, right now, there weren't a lot of other people here, so we didn't have to wait too long.

"Welcome to the AAA. What can we do for you today?" a receptionist asked as I walked up to her.

"I want a pill refined," I replied calmly.

"Very well. What is the name of the pill, so we can know what grade alchemist is needed for this job?"

"I don't care about the specifics. I just want any pill that can be used for torture."

The receptionist's eyes widened. "This…"

"Oh? I heard something interesting here," an old man suddenly teleported beside us.

Instinctively, I brought out Dokujin and adapted a combat stance.

"G-Grandmaster Song!" the receptionist immediately bowed and yelped in fear.

I narrowed my eyes. "Grandmaster… Song?"

The old man laughed and waved off the receptionist's greeting, then set his gaze on me.

"Boy, you're quick… but not quick enough. You took 0.78 seconds to get out your weapon and defend. I could have killed you in 0.1."

"… What's your point? I just came here to get a pill refined. Not to get killed."

"Yes, yes, I know. You wanted a… pill for torture, huh?" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Y'know, the association doesn't usually take requests like this."

"There's a 'but' coming~" Nadeshiko giggled from beside me.

"Heh. You're sharp, girl. Indeed, I can make an exception this time… but on one condition."

I frowned. "What's the condition?"

He smiled and looked around. "This isn't the place to talk. Follow me."

After exchanging glances with Nadeshiko, we decided to just do as told and see where this path led.

*****

The old man — Grandmaster Song — led us upstairs. As we walked on the stairs, I noticed many gazes being directed my way, some of curiosity, some of suspicion. I didn't know why, but perhaps going upstairs was abnormal? Either way, it didn't matter to me.

We were then brought to an office of some kind. The door had a metal plaque on it that read 'Song Qing Long'.

"Please, come in," the man said, welcoming us inside.

We complied, seeing as how we already came this far. Might as well see the whole thing through.

Grandmaster Song closed the door behind us and walked over to his seat, across the large table from us. He then rested his elbows on the desk and put his hands together, lacing his fingers, before finally setting his chin on top of them to form a serious, thoughtful pose.

"Now then… regarding our deal. If it's a torture pill you need, I have just the thing for you. But as I said earlier, there is a condition."

"What is it?" I asked cautiously, narrowing my eyes.

"It's nothing too difficult. I just want you to report back to me what happened after using the pill."

"… You mean, you want to use this opportunity as an experiment?"

He smiled, nodding slowly. "You're quick on the uptake. I like that. Pill-inventing is not easy — tests on real subjects are the most efficient method of perfecting a pill."

"Are there no already-invented pills made for torture?"

"Of course there are," the man laughed. "It's just… the AAA does not sell them. That is, unless you are a VIP here, which is a title that brings many other benefits in addition to this here in the association."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so? Then I'll add on to our deal a bit. In addition to the pill, I want to become a VIP here."

"… You're quite the greedy brat, aren't ya?"

I shrugged. "Don't try and fool me. You purposely brought that up so I would ask this. I don't know why, but you seem to want me to become a VIP here."

Grandmaster Song fell silent for a brief moment, then began chuckling darkly.

"Heh… you're the second person ever to have completely seen through my schemes."

"I would ask 'who's the first', but to be honest, I really don't care," I snorted. "Just tell me, do you accept my conditions?"

He smiled at me. "You've got yourself a deal, young man."

*****

I strode out of the Ascentian Alchemist Association, Qilian Branch, and headed off in the direction of the tournament. Nadeshiko followed.

There were roughly 15 minutes left before the finals between Ling Tian Yu and I began. I had successfully acquired my torture instrument, the Exile's Cursing Pill, as Grandmaster Song named it. I ended up having to pay him around 1,000 gold still, but overall, this was a sweet deal for me.

According to him, this pill was an High-Grade one, so its market cost would've been many times higher than what I had to pay today. I also earned myself a VIP spot in the association, somehow, so that was a side benefit as well.

I didn't know why Grandmaster Song wanted to make me a VIP by bringing that up and baiting me into asking for it, but when I asked, he didn't bother answering anyway.

Soon, the three girls who had stayed behind in the inn came over as well. Hina-nee was now fully recovered, but had a look of worry on her face. Furuwa similarly appeared uncomfortable, not meeting my gaze. Aisa, however, remained as nonchalant as ever.

"Kaze-kun…" Hina-nee began, as if wanting to say something, but before she could, I cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, Hina-nee. You can't stop me. Even if you don't want me to torture him, I'll do it anyway. Call me disobedient, call me feral. But I will not let him get away with killing you."

"…" Hina-nee bit her lip, unsure of what to say anymore.

"Kaze… I won't try to stop you. But I just want to ask you one thing: do you really want to do this?" Furuwa asked, staring into my cold, lifeless eyes. "Once you go through with this… there's no turning back for you. You won't just be a murderer anymore. You'll be a true monster."

"I've already killed someone before. I can do it again."

"Killing is not the same as torturing someone to death…" Hina-nee gritted her teeth tightly. "Kaze-kun, I know you're doing this for me. Because of that… I'll follow you wherever you go, whatever you do. If this is your choice, then so be it. I'll adapt my own personality to fit yours. But just keep in mind… we can never go back to our old selves. Not after this."

"… I'm aware. Back when I made my first human kill, that fact was already established," I replied calmly. "They say you can't drive out darkness with more darkness, but sometimes… you have to fight fire with fire. Ling Tian Yu murdered you. I will do the same back to him, thousandfold. And since I can't kill him 1,000 times… I'll have to make up the pain with torture instead."

Hina-nee, to my surprise, smiled sadly. "I see. So that's your choice."

"I won't blame you if you choose to see me as a monster from now on."

However, she quickly shook her head and hugged me gently.

"Didn't I say already? I'll follow you, no matter what you do. If you choose to become a monster… then I'll become one too."