Chapter 538 Into The Hole You Go
I looked down at the three Adventurers lying on the ground in front of me, all of them groaning in pain pathetically. Come on, I already healed all of you up so you're not bleeding out, why are you still whining?
"Hmm… So do you believe me now? Though I guess I didn't exactly use ten different types of magic anyway."
Eita was tearing up, "Plea… Please… I… I was against the idea, Aster… You have to believe me!"
Kaelin also gave me a pathetic look, "Me… Me too, Aster! You… You already know that I know about the Nilm Family's capabilities! That's why you would believe me when I say that I didn't actually want to go against the Nilm Family when I still didn't know your real identity!"
I was expecting Riklan to say something as well but surprisingly, he was completely silent and was keeping his head down.
I pretended to be surprised, "Oh? Really? So this is all Riklan's idea? Even though you knew that this plan involved betraying the trust of someone else which would very likely result in the loss of said person's life, neither of you had any choice in this matter and had to go through with it?"
Both of their mouths snapped shut immediately.
It's obvious that was not the case as this was most likely something that they have been doing for a long time and I was just another one of their victims.
Seeing that they weren't saying anything, I simply continued, "Hmm… Since we've reached this point… I guess it's not unfair for me to ask what kind of compensation can I expect to receive for this right?"
"C… Compensation?" Kaelin asked.
"Hmm? Was that something surprising? Or would you prefer that I kill you all right here?"
"No, no, no!! We will compensate you, Aster! Ev… Everything! The Creas we got from the Treasure Mimic! They're all yours!!"
"Ara? But that already belongs to me, doesn't it?"
"H… Huh?"
I pointed to my Pack of Folding, "That bag belongs to me right?"
Both Eita and Kaelin nodded their heads quickly, obviously not daring to deny that fact after what had happened to them from trying to steal that exact same object from me.
"And whatever was inside belonged to me and you tried to steal it from me, yes?"
Kaelin understood what I was trying to do and quickly protested, "Wait! We all worked to defe--"
I pulled out my [Light Sword] and stabbed it into the back of his hand before he could finish his words.
I ignored his screams of pain and cleared my throat, "Ahem, I think I heard something incorrect so let me ask again… Whatever was inside the Pack of Folding belonged to me, right?"
"Arggghh!! Yes!! Yes! I was wrong!!"
I smiled and pulled out the sword before turning to Eita, "What about you? You agree as well, right, Eita?"
She nodded her head quickly, not wanting to end up with the same fate as Kaelin.
I giggled and patted her on the cheek which made her flinch back in fear.
I then gestured my hand towards them, "In that case, that treasure was mine as well isn't it? So why are you trying to use what is already mine to begin with to compensate for this?"
No response came from them.
"Oh? So you don't have anything to compensate me for what you've done? I guess I should just kill you three after all~"
Kaelin and Eita started to panic and were each trying to come up with an excuse to get me to let them go.
Unexpectedly, Riklan slammed his fist on the ground and let out a roar, silencing both of his team mates.
"Enough! Stop humiliating us, Aster! I know you have no intention of letting us live after what we've done! Just kill us already!"
I tilted my head at him, "Oh? What made you think that I would actually kill all of you without giving you a chance to redeem yourself?"
"Because we already know your real identity."
I grinned, "Hmm~ It seems like you aren't retarded after all~ Alright, I guess I should just wrap this up, I have other things to do after all~ Ah, but I'll be fair of course~ You see, I could just stay here and torture all of you slowly but honestly, I'd rather not because you guys aren't worth my time. So I'll just put you through what I experienced~"
The three of them wondered what I could mean when I went to Eita and picked her up in my arms.
The mage gave me a confused look until I started walking towards the hole that was still present in the centre of the cavern.
Her eyes widened and she turned to me with a panicked look on her face, "Wait… Wait! Aster!! I… I can still be of use to you! My body!! I'll give you my body!! You can do whatever you want with me!! Didn't we have a good time?! I can do whatever you want me to do! Please! I--"
Before she could finish her words, I gave her a slap across the face to shut her up.
While she was still recovering from the shock of being slapped, I had already tossed her into the hole, the mage screaming the entire way down.
I dusted my hands and turned back to look at the other two men who were still on the ground.
Riklan obviously had already resigned himself to his fate but Kaelin was trying his best to crawl away from me.
I went for the rogue next and grabbed him by the back of his neck, causing him to let out a choked scream as I dragged him towards the hole.
"Wait… Wait… I can… I can still… I can still be of use!"
I didn't even stop to listen to what he had to say before I grabbed him by the back of his neck to lift him up from the ground.
He struggled in my grip but that did not make any difference and I just threw him into the hole unceremoniously.
He started cursing me when I flung him into the hole but I ignored him in favour of directing my attention to Riklan who remained in the same position all this while.
"I thought you would put up more of a fight."
He shrugged, "There's no point, is there? You've already proven that we can't beat you. Any attempt from me is just going to prolong my inevitable fate just a while longer, so why bother? I know you are trying to get satisfaction from seeing me squirm and maybe beg for my life like the other two, that's why I'm not giving that to you."
I tilted my head at him, "Huh… And you're not worried that I would just decide to torture you a little bit before I am done with you? You still have both your arms, I can start with breaking each of your fingers first."
He chuckled, "Are you even capable of doing that? I would like to think that I can gauge a person pretty well and from what I've seen, you're not someone who could torture another person even if you hate them."
"Mmm… I would argue there's a first time for everything and for you guys, it's the first time I got betrayed like that so I'm open to new ideas right now."
"Mhmm… I'm sure you are, you're going to toss me in that hole aren't you?" He asked, nodding at the hole in question.
I turned to look at the hole, "That's the plan I guess. Do you even know what is below?"
When I heard no answer, I turned back to see that he had his sword out behind him and used its fire enchantment to blast out a gout of flames that propelled him past me so that he could dive into the hole himself.
I frowned, wondering if this was like his last act of defiance where he would not even grant me the satisfaction of throwing the bastard in myself when I realised there was something missing.
Where's the treasure chest?
My gaze went to my Pack of Folding that was still on the ground.
No fucking way.
While I was dragging Eita and Kaelin to the hole, he crawled over to change the chest back into a plate by using my Pack of Folding before taking it out again to hide it on himself? Then he made me think he wasn't trying to run away and counted on me to let down my guard so that he could run away with it?
Fuuuck… I can't believe I fell for one of the most cliche villain tropes where the villain thinks they won and let the hero get away in the end…
…
But… It's a boss room down there though? Even if the three of them worked together with all their limbs intact, I don't think they will be able to beat that particular boss though?
So if they were to go in now, I'm pretty sure all three of them would be slaughtered.
True, I don't get the satisfaction, but it's not like they would make it out anyway so what's the point? Was it really all just to spite me?
Well, fuck you I'm not giving you all that satisfaction!! I'm not going to rest until I either see you die or kill you with my own hands!
Even if I fell for the first trick, I'm not going to fall for the 'villain walks away thinking the trap killed the hero but the hero somehow miraculously survives' trope!
I grabbed my Pack of Folding, gathered everything they had taken out to put it back in the bag, then jumped into the hole after him.
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