A month had already passed since Ryu and Kaguya began working with us to hunt Evilus.
A great many things had happened in that time.
First, we changed their weapons so their identities would not be exposed. I gave them each one of the Kijeol Modan weapons I had made as demonstration pieces when I forged Namakura: the long one to Ryu, and the short one to Kaguya.
I also gave Ryu another small weapon to wear on her wrist. Of course, as a powerful Level 4 adventurer, it was unlikely she would ever lose her weapon somewhere, but there could be times when she had to get close for an assassination, so I handed her the Hidden Blade I had made.
Making a mechanism where the blade sprang out at the press of a button was too much of a hassle, so I made it so that flicking her arm appropriately would deploy the blade on its own. It was similar to the Assassin's Creed Syndicate version, though I had not recreated the gauntlet or vambrace; it was only the blade-deployment mechanism mounted onto a forearm guard.
Of course, I also added a mechanism that allowed her to manually adjust and lock the blade in place, just in case.
Next came their clothes. Ryu usually kept herself hidden anyway, so changing her hair color and hood was enough. Kaguya was the opposite: her distinctive kimono attire was so famous that simply tying up her hair and putting on ordinary everyday clothes made her almost unrecognizable, even without a hood.
"...This should be enough of a disguise for you two. Put on masks too, and you're done."
"Really?"
"Understood."
Then there was the task of making Agateram to serve as Kaguya's left arm. The knowledge infused through the Noble Phantasm was so complex and delicate that I would never have understood it if I had not personally learned the pinnacle of Orario's prosthetic-arm manufacturing techniques.
Of the month-long grace period, I devoted three entire weeks to infusing illusions and using Sentō Namakura as the framework. During the remaining week, I continued the assembly, applying magical treatments and infusing illusions into the parts I had prepared beforehand.
When it was finally complete, it had become a prosthetic arm of black silver rather than white silver. Was it because it was a left arm? Fortunately, both the physical-stat support and the prosthetic arm's own capabilities were not too far from what I had expected.
The only problem was that if she kept the always-open mode active, Kaguya—who had no Skill for recovering Mind—would suffer Mind Down after around five hours. Of course, she could just drink a Mind potion, or keep it closed during ordinary times, so it was not a serious issue.
As for the full-scale offensive activation that drew out Namakura, without a Mind potion she would likely suffer Mind Down within fifteen minutes at most.
"So, normally, you can use Level 4-level strength with your left hand."
"Mm-hm."
"And if you say, "Take up the sword, Namakura," the prosthetic arm's output rises to Level 5."
"Mm-hm."
"If you say, "Flash forth, Namakura," Namakura will be drawn from your left palm, and your overall physical abilities—strength, endurance, and agility—will rise to Level 6."
"Mm-hm."
"You understand all that, right?"
"Mm-hm."
"..."
"Mm-hm."
"What the hell do you mean, 'mm-hm,' you little shit?!"
"Eek. How. Scary. [Reading in a flat textbook voice]"
After that, we gathered as much information as possible through Limus's back-alley intelligence network.
First, we scraped up information on every organization and individual suspected of being connected to Evilus. Then I filtered out false information using what I had learned through internal Familia documents. Finally, the two women who had fought Evilus on the front lines sifted through what remained.
The result was nearly hundreds of people.
There were three small Familias and one medium-sized Familia. Counting mercenary groups, merchant associations, and organizations tied to the underworld, there were twenty-seven organizations in total. There were even vague indications that some Guild employees had cooperated with them or turned a blind eye.
"...We should start by killing the Guild employees who served as their informants."
"There are three of them, so one each."
"...Are you all right with this? Unlike us, this is your first time killing 'them.'"
"I think doing even this will let me cast away that last shred of regret—that I never got revenge. This is my first and last revenge for those people from two years ago."
"We begin tonight."
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"Are you Guild employee Sareb Dan?"
"I am Sareb Dan... What is this about?"
"...For the past five years, you've been helping Evilus... No, the evidence is conclusive. Die."
Using Level 2 leg strength, I closed the distance to the ordinary Guild employee before me in an instant.
To avoid leaving traces, I brought a dagger I rarely used and, just as Ryu and Kaguya had taught me, drove the blade into a spot slightly to the left of the center of his chest.
I embraced him from behind and covered his mouth as he tried to scream and vomit blood, then dragged him into an alley I had scouted beforehand. Even with a knife buried in his heart, he must have wanted to live, because he flailed his arms, trying somehow to pull it out.
Jian, who died because of you. The members of our Familia. Other adventurers. They all wanted to live, just like you do. But you, the bastard responsible for taking their lives, want to live? How dare you?
I gripped the hilt of the dagger embedded in his chest and shoved it in once more.
Die.
My body trembled violently. I tightened my grip on the dagger I had pushed in and slowly turned it counterclockwise.
Just die already.
And when we had gone all the way into the depths of the alley, I ripped out the buried dagger with all my strength. Blood sprayed out in front of me like a fountain.
Perhaps he was already dead. He did not move at all.
They said that if I left a corpse here, the 'cleaners' would come.
I went farther in and followed the alleyways as Limus had instructed. Sure enough, I reached my forge in no time.
I quietly picked the lock and entered, immediately stripping off all my clothes and throwing them into the furnace. If the gods asked, they would find out, but I still had to destroy the evidence first. I put the dagger I had used to kill him into the crucible and placed it in the furnace as well. It was an ordinary dismemberment dagger I had bought off the street, nothing particularly good, so it would melt quickly.
...It was not as though I felt nothing. The physical sensation of plunging the blade in had been no different at all from killing monsters in the Dungeon. But when I considered that even that vermin had been a person, for a moment it felt as if my hands were drenched in blood. Now, I was a murderer.
In my original world, or in the world of DanMachi, I was a criminal certain to receive the harshest punishment. Yet as I stared silently at my bloodstained hands, I felt a strange sense of release. I had exacted revenge for them. A bizarre joy spread through me, the joy of offering a drop of my enemies' blood before their memorial tablets.
"...But my revenge ends here. Now it's time to help with theirs."
This much blood would not be enough revenge to offer them. But if I helped Ryu and Kaguya, wiped them all out, and drove every last Evilus member from Orario...
Would I be able to enjoy that joy completely then?
Creak...
"...You're here?"
"...Yeah. You two finished too?"
"We finished... Are you okay?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I said I was, would you?"
"Of course not. It's your first murder. If you're okay, then either you were already crazy, or you went crazy this time. One of the two."
"Ha... You know it well."
"Because we went through it too."
"That is right."
Ryu, who had been silent, spoke to me.
"No matter how sinful they may be, the way we deal with them is ultimately murder... the greatest sin a living being can commit.
That is why we bear that sin upon our own justice. Carrying the weight of sin alongside the weight of justice—that was how we... faced them."
"I don't know how much more blood will stain your hands in the future. But remember this, at least."
Kaguya lightly took my hand, which seemed still tinged with blood, and spoke.
"Your hands were stained with blood for what you believed was right. It may be a sin, but at the same time, it may be a medal of honor."
"Thank you. I think I feel a little better now."
And so, carrying the weight of murder, I stood.
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From that day on, our [Hunt] began.
Over the course of one night, an entire mercenary organization was found dead with their throats cut, while information proving they had cooperated with Evilus was neatly piled before the Guild's doors.
We cross-checked the information again and again, and once a Familia was conclusively identified as belonging to Evilus, we annihilated it while its god was out in the pleasure quarter.
We killed every executive of merchant associations that had sold supplies for their own profit despite knowing their buyers were Evilus. Those who knew and simply let it slide died as well.
One by one, Evilus scum had their limbs severed, vomited up their entrails, and finally had even their hearts squeezed tight.
As I supported the two of them and Limus provided information, they were steadily driven into a corner. Naturally, killing Guild employees put the other side on alert as well, but unlike the original story, we had prepared thoroughly before carrying out the killings, so they could not identify who we were. More precisely, they had their suspicions but no evidence, and it seemed they were keeping quiet in return for all the Astraea Familia had done for Orario.
Still, people were not fools. Rumors were beginning to spread about who was eliminating those connected to Evilus.
Not long ago, Fels, Uranus's messenger, came to visit and said,
"Covering for you is reaching its limit. If you're going to finish it, finish it quickly."
Then he left.
...My heart nearly stopped.
Unlike the original story, we were moving in an organized manner and causing absolutely no harm to innocent civilians, so it seemed the Guild was willing to cover for us to some extent.
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After taking care of the last remaining mid-sized Familia affiliated with Evilus, the four of us gathered in the back of my workshop.
"Everyone... you really worked hard."
"Seriously, after we cleaned house this time, the back alleys got a whole lot quieter again."
"That is how great an impact we have had, is it not?"
"That's right, that's right."
Everyone looked exhausted, but their eyes were shining brightly.
We all knew it. The four of us had brought an end to Orario's dark age, which had continued ever since the collapse of the Hera and Zeus Familias.
"I've got liquor I saved for this very day."
Reaching behind me, I took out the divine wine [Soma] I had bought long ago, when I first made a large sum of money in Orario.
"...To Astraea, who protected Orario all this time!"
"...To Orario's bright future, which awaits us!"
"...To a future where we can smile brighter than anyone, and be happier than anyone."
"...To tomorrow with this arm of black silver!"
Starting with me, we each gave our own toast, then drained our cups in one go.
It was overwhelming pleasure. Beautiful, dizzying pleasure—so much so that it was fortunate there was only enough [Soma] left for one cup per person.
If we had drunk more, who knew what might have happened?
Then our consciousnesses went completely dark.
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...When morning came, Kaguya and Ryu suddenly knelt before me...?
"Am I still drunk? Why am I seeing something so bizarre?"
"...When we barged into your shop without warning and selfishly asked you to help us, you did not refuse and accepted at once. You supported our supplies, provided weapons, and even made Kaguya a new arm. These are favors so immense that we could never repay them.
If not for your help, Smith, we would have continued our indiscriminate slaughter, eventually had bounties placed on us by the Guild, and become people who could no longer walk through Orario with our heads held high.
But as we are now, we have nothing with which to repay you. So please, if there is anything you desire, do not hesitate to tell us."
"..."
Honestly, I had no intention of demanding anything. Helping them with their revenge was no different from carrying out my own. It was revenge for Jian, my friends, and my Familia members—all those who had died during [Death's Seven Days].
...If I had to ask for something, though, then yes. It would be that.
"There's exactly one thing you can help me with."
"...?"
"You two, have you ever heard of the Hostess of Fertility?"