Arthur watched the leader drag the man across the ship and throw him over the deck for the rest of his followers to see. The woman carried her child behind Arthur as he escorted them out of the ship. The man begged the leader for mercy, saying he was defending himself, but the leader didn’t listen.
“Boss! Listen to what I have to say! Are you going to believe a couple of strangers over your men?” shouted the giant man with his arm to one of the cabinet’s walls. He was still bleeding from his leg, but it seemed his stamina was keeping him alive.
“Spider,” called the leader, and a woman appeared beside him. Arthur was impressed that even he didn’t see the woman standing there all along until she stepped forward. “How is the operation?”
“Since the arrays have been shut down, we managed to capture most of the smugglers. However, their leader is still nowhere to be found. We fear that he escaped.”
“He is hiding on this ship,” said Arthur, interrupting the two. The woman called spider turned to look at him, and her eyes were completely red. “No one has left this ship, but he is hiding inside a special room that exists inside an artifact.”
“…such an artifact is not something a low-level smuggler would have,” said Spider with a frown and continued, “and who are you?”
“He is the man who disabled the arrays for us,” said the leader knight while looking at his bleeding subordinate, “and the person who stopped this fool from staining the honor of our cause.”
“It was only a matter of time before this man betrays what we believe in,” said Spider as she looked down on the man. “Disgusting scum.”
“I haven’t done such a thing! I was attacked, and then that man appeared to fight me! Are you too afraid to take revenge, L–” the man suddenly froze in place, and the woman named Spider walked toward him.
“Your big mouth almost broke one of our rules,” said the woman as she crouched in front of him. “You know the punishment of those who reveal the name of our leaders, right?”
The man started shaking with fear and watched Spider reach out toward his opened mouth. Then, blood started gushing from his frozen mouth before Spider shoved her fingers in it and pulled out his tongue.
Arthur could feel the woman holding him tightly as she started sobbing at the scene. The giant man couldn’t even move as the woman took out his severed tongue and held it over the ship’s railings.
“Any members who reveal the names of our leaders will have their tongues severed. This is the second rule of our rebellion,” said Spider as she let go of the tongue, letting it fall into the thick trees of the wilderness.
“You can release him now, Spider,” said the leader, and the giant man started moving again. He started screaming and saying incomprehensible words as blood pooled from his mouth into his hands. “Dear guest, do you know where that artifact is?”
“I do,” said Arthur as he looked around. “However, I have no reason to reveal it after this incident. I made an agreement with Rain, but I considered you to be more than a bunch of savages.”
“Fear is necessary to keep a tight lip of our cause,” said the man as he spread his arms. “The first rule of our organization is to do no harm. But unfortunately, we are not what this man portrayed us to be with his actions. Thus, such punishment is warranted.”
“I know, but was it necessary to do it in front of this woman?”
“Unfortunately, this woman has seen our faces. We must keep her in custody until it’s no longer a threat to our mission.”
“Then wear a fucking mask, if that’s the case,” said Arthur with a speechless face. The knight looked at him and then smiled. “You didn’t think there would be anyone other than the smuggler?”
“I couldn’t contact Rain in her undercover mission because the smugglers were monitoring her. It was one of our plans to steal their funding, but we have never foreseen that the smugglers would work as human trafficking acros
s the border for money.”
“That explains it, but… what did you plan to do with the innocent guests?” asked Arthur with a frown. The knight turned to the woman and placed his hand on the chest plate.
“I had no intention to harm you, ma’am. On the contrary, I wanted to send you to a safe house until this ordeal ends. I apologize sincerely for that man’s actions, as he will be dealt with swiftly for allowing his personal feelings to cloud his judgment.”
Arthur was silent after seeing this since this man seemed sincere about his plans. If that was the case, then he couldn’t blame them. However, Arthur had a better idea for that. He raised his hand toward the woman’s head, and light flashed from it.
The woman stared at the light before fainted and fell to the ground with her child. Arthur caught the two of them and placed them down before doing the same to her child in front of the confused eyes of the soldiers.
“There is no reason to inconvenience these two further,” said Arthur as he stood up. “I erased their memories of the past hour. They will never remember you, and there will be no need to hold them.”
“…is that even possible?” asked Spider with doubt. “A memory-altering ability is rare, not to mention it couldn’t do this to a human leg,” said the woman as she pointed at the man’s missing leg.
“It seems we have far underestimated our new comrade,” said the knight with a smile. “However, I know that you aren’t lying. Therefore, this woman will be taken to the nearest city and left in an inn with a bag of money. Does that satisfy you?”
“It does,” said Arthur. “However, I can know if anything happens to them before you leave them. If any of your soldiers attempt to harm the two, then I will make all of them explode, not just their leg.”
Arthur’s words sent shivers down the soldiers’ spines on the deck. He didn’t seem to exaggerate, and the terrifying image of popping like a balloon would hunt their dreams tonight.
“You have my word,” said the knight, and Arthur nodded. A couple of soldiers picked up the woman and her child as a newcomer joined the deck. It was the tall Rain, with her white suit and seductive figure.
“You boys are having fun without me? So unfair,” said Rain as her heels tapped on the wooden floor. Her face was halfcovered in blood, but it didn’t stop the soldiers from gulping at her alluring figure. “Oh, this seems to be a rougher play than I expected,” she paused when she saw the limbless man bleeding from his mouth.
“Rain, where have you been?” asked Arthur with a frown.
“Killing some of the smugglers who annoyed me. I waited a long time for that, and I couldn’t let any of them live,” said Rain as she walked toward him. “It seems you already met the man I told you about. So, what do you think?”
“We are far from being similar,” said Arthur, and Rain chuckled.
“The two of you have the same expression, almost as if you were made from the same mold,” laughed Rain. “I look at the two of you now, and I can’t tell which one is which.”
Arthur and the leader frowned simultaneously, staring at the woman laughing too much over it. The two looked at each other, looking for clues, but somehow didn’t see it.
“In any case,” Rain said as she wiped away the tears from her eye, “I failed to find Snakeskin. He seems to have run away before we even attacked.”
“Your friend here thinks he is hiding inside a separate dimension, but I doubt it. Even if he did, there is no way this man would know it without being a part of the smugglers,” said Spider with a frown.
“If Arthur said that, then I believe him,” said Rain as she stood beside Arthur and slapped his shoulder. “This bad boy can do anything he wants, and one of them was disabling this ship’s arrays.”
“I didn’t disable them,” corrected Arthur as he raised his hand. “I hijacked them,” he turned his hand into a fist, and the ship lit up with runic arrays. “And I can
activate the defenses against the intruders, right now. Most of your men are inside the ship now, with nothing protecting them.”
“What is the meaning of this?” asked the leader, but Rain was unconcerned.
“The meaning of this is another lesson for you. Never trust a man you met a few hours ago with the lives of your men. I’m sure Rain already told you of the circumstances, but still… this was foolish, Lyle.”
“…you know my name?”
“I’ve been reading that man’s mind, and he has been shouting your name for a while now,” said Arthur as he lowered his hand. “This was not a threat but advice. Be more cautious if you want to rebel.”
