Chapter 3.4

“Pfft. Looks like a drowned rat.”  

“This one’s holding up better than I thought.”  

“Alright, tomorrow we’ll use fire. Let’s burn that pretty face.”  

Lyla, having just been pulled out of a water barrel, gasped for breath.  

“Cough!”  

She coughed violently, spitting out a mixture of water and saliva.  

Kadis watched her intently, never once looking away. Perhaps it was because of that unyielding gaze that Lyla managed to stay conscious.  

“That one’s a tough nut, too.”  

“Doesn’t even beg to be spared, even as someone dies because of him.”  

“Isn’t that brat a monster?”  

The bandits snickered as they glanced at Kadis.  

“You’re the real monsters!”  

Lyla shouted.  

“You’re torturing others just to scare that child! He’s done nothing wrong! You wretched excuses for humans! You’ll all burn in hell! Even the God of Mercy won’t forgive you!”  

At her outburst, Kadis, who had been staring straight ahead, suddenly turned his head.  

The boy’s hands, gripping the iron bars, trembled.  

Everyone who had been captured with him had blamed him.  

Why don’t you save us? Why hasn’t anyone come to rescue you?  

They had grabbed him by the collar, shaking him, and screamed at him through the night.  

Torture breaks the soul easily. Kadis had spent two weeks confined in this cage with those broken souls.  

But he hadn’t complained.  

Life was inherently unfair—a series of relentless injustices. Complaining wouldn’t change anything. God would only sneer at their plight.  

“What the hell is he saying?”  

That idiot.  

“God? Do you really think there’s such a thing?”  

That fool.  

“Let’s beat some sense into this brat!”  

You should’ve just blamed me. You should’ve cursed me.  

“Stop it!”  

Kadis’s shout froze the bandits in their tracks. All eyes turned to him.  

“Leave him alone!”  

It doesn’t matter. Kadis lowered his head and muttered.  

Oh, really? 

The bandits exchanged glances.  

“Looks like our little lordling is finally ready to negotiate.”  

One of the bandits approached, rubbing his hands together.  

“Then why don’t you start by telling us about the Ducal Residence’s security and secret passages?”  

“…Fine. But first, bring him back here, next to me.”  

Kadis growled, baring his teeth.  

“Now.”  

The air grew icy.  

Even the previously smug bandits flinched and hunched their shoulders. 

Damn. Can’t believe we’re scared of a kid who hasn’t even grown any hair yet. 

Muttering under his breath, the bandit stepped back and gestured.  

“What are you waiting for? Bring that one over here, as the Young Master ordered.”  

“Y-Yes, Sir!”  

The bandits tossed the battered Lyla back into the cage.  

‘I’ll kill them. I’ll kill every single one of them.’  

All of you.  

Kadis gripped the iron bars as if he intended to crush them, memorizing the faces of every bandit who had participated in the torture.  

***

“There was a mountain of treasure—so much we couldn’t even carry it all!”  

“The guard shifts match what he told us, too.”  

“Ha-ha-ha! What a windfall!”  

Kadis had revealed the location of the secret vault in the Wolfgallion Ducal Residence. The bandits, having successfully looted it, couldn’t contain their joy.  

Kadis spoke quietly.  

“My father won’t negotiate. So, if you’re thinking of extorting money from him, forget it.”  

He was right. The bandits had sent a letter to the Duke, informing him of his son’s capture, but no reply had come.  

For over two weeks, they had waited in vain.  

The unwanted son had finally turned into a golden goose.  

“How pitiful, Young Master.”  

The bandits clicked their tongues, feigning sympathy. But it was only temporary.  

Kadis quickly dangled a new piece of bait.  

“There’s another location I haven’t told you about yet.”  

Don’t you want to know? 

Kadis smirked mischievously.  

In exchange for revealing the new location, Kadis made two demands.  

First, they were to stop torturing Lyla.  

Second, they were to give Lyla the same food and water as him. 

Once the bandits tasted the allure of wealth, they readily agreed to Kadis’s demands without a hint of suspicion.  

Afterward, Kadis revealed the locations of two more secret vaults, and the bandits came to trust him completely.  

“So, where’s the next one, Young Master?”  

“Just tell us. We’ll raid everything.”

The bandits asked in an overly familiar tone. Behind Kadis, Lyla watched the situation unfold with growing unease.  

“This one might be a bit tricky.” 

Kadis said, furrowing his brow in a way that didn’t suit him.  

“It’s heavily guarded, and the shift times change frequently. But it’s deep in the forest, so reinforcements are impossible. If you manage to pull off the raid, you’ll have a whole week to haul the goods without anyone noticing.”  

The mention of treasures so vast they’d take a week to transport left the bandits holding their breath, swallowing hard.  

From then on, the bandits became busy.  

As they prepared for the decisive day, they trained every morning like soldiers. To Kadis, their efforts seemed utterly laughable.  

Common street thugs.  

Still, their preoccupation allowed him to discreetly loosen the locks by striking them with a rock whenever he had the chance. Distracted by their preparations, the bandits paid no attention to Kadis and Lyla, locked up in their cage.  

“Idiots.” 

Kadis muttered under his breath.  

Though Kadis and Lyla hadn’t explicitly discussed it, they were thinking the same thing.  

Once enough bandits left to raid the vault, they would seize the opportunity to escape.  

There would only be one chance.  

***

“Die! Damn it, just die, you bastard!”  

How had it come to this?  

Lyla stood frozen, her mind racing.  

Weren’t we supposed to escape together? To get out of here with Kadis?  

But Kadis seemed to have no interest in running away.  

“I’ll follow you to hell and curse you there!”  

Kadis was astride one of the bandits, repeatedly plunging a dagger into him.  

Thud. Thud. Thud.  

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, staining the white snow crimson.  

More than half of the bandits, blinded by greed, had left to raid the vault. Taking advantage of the reduced guard, Lyla had managed to break the lock.  

The two of them had sneaked out, keeping as quiet as possible. But they had run into a lone bandit standing guard.  

Lyla had been about to grip a wooden stick she had hidden for use as a weapon and take a deep breath when Kadis sprang into action.  

He darted forward, leaping high into the air, and kicked the much larger bandit in the stomach, knocking him down.  

Then he snatched the dagger from the bandit’s belt and began stabbing him relentlessly.  

Even now, long after the man had stopped breathing.  

“P-please stop.”  

“Huff, huff.”  

“He’s dead…!”  

Lyla grabbed Kadis’s right hand, which was poised to strike again. His hand was trembling uncontrollably.  

No, it wasn’t just his hand. Kadis’s whole body was shaking.  

“There’s one left.”  

“…What?”  

“The one who tortured you. There’s one more.”  

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We need to escape before the other bandits wake up.”  

“If you want to live so badly, go by yourself!”  

Kadis shoved Lyla’s hand away.  

His bloodshot eyes were completely unhinged.  

‘He’s lost his mind.’  

Lyla clenched her fist and struck Kadis hard across the face. This time, it wasn’t a slap but a punch.  

With a dull thud, Kadis’s head snapped to the side.  

Though Kadis was the one who got hit, it felt like her own hand hurt more. Kadis didn’t even let out a groan.  

“Killing someone isn’t a game.” 

“…Says the one who’s never killed anyone.”  

Ptuh!  

Kadis spat onto the ground, blood mixed with saliva, likely from a torn piece of flesh inside his mouth.  

“That’s right. I haven’t. And I never will!”  

Lyla shouted, her voice trembling. Then she threw her arms around Kadis, pulling him into a tight embrace.  

“Ugh!” 

“I’m a coward. Such a coward that I let someone younger than me stain their hands with blood.”  

Tears streamed down Lyla’s face.  

Whether Kadis noticed her crying or not, his heavy breathing gradually calmed down. Only then did Lyla gently release him.  

She cupped his cheeks and forced him to meet her gaze.  

“Thank you for saving me. And forgive me for this.”  

“What?”  

Kadis frowned, confused. Before he could react, Lyla hoisted him onto her back with all her strength.  

Startled by the sudden lift, Kadis dropped the dagger he had been holding.  

“Hey, the weapon! The weapon, you idiot! Grab the weapon!”  

Kadis reached for it, but it was too late.  

Ignoring his protests and the light punches he threw at her back, Lyla ran.  

Her lungs felt like they were freezing with every breath, and one of her shoes slipped off, leaving her bleeding foot to trail behind. But she didn’t stop.  

She ran and ran, as if running was all she knew how to do.  

“Huff, huff…!”