Chapter 11: Snake Hunt (1)
The carriage rattled along the road.
Inside, Victor, the valet of the Haxen family, sat with a face full of distrust and wariness, staring at the person opposite him.
There sat Damian Haxen, the eldest son of the Haxen family.
‘What scheme is he dragging me into this time?’
Just minutes ago, Victor had been dealing with the carcass of a horse that had died suddenly, alongside the other servants.
Then, out of nowhere, Damian Haxen appeared, summoning Victor with a task.
“Master, what is it?”
“We’re heading to the city of Landwalk together.”
“What? Why on earth are we going to such a dangerous place?”
“Just follow me without question.”
Recalling the conversation, Victor sighed quietly to himself.
Entering Landwalk now meant a certain encounter with the furious Black Serpent.
But refusing wasn’t an option.
Damian Haxen was the heir to the family, and serving him was Victor’s duty.
‘I hope we can get through this without any trouble…’
Whether he sensed Victor’s unease or not, Damian was engrossed in an old book, its cover worn and tattered.
Curiosity piqued, as he’d never seen Damian so absorbed in reading before, Victor asked, “Master, what book has captured your attention so?”
“This? It’s a book of dark magic. Just acquired it recently.”
Victor chuckled at Damian’s response.
“Master, do you really think I’d fall for such a tall tale?”
“It’s true.”
“Even though I’m not the most educated, I know how dangerous and rare a dark magic book is.”
Victor puffed out his chest as he spoke.
Damian glanced at him and muttered, “You’re quite the amusing fellow.”
A few hours later, the carriage arrived safely in Landwalk.
“Victor, there’s something you need to do.”
As soon as they entered the city, Damian handed Victor a sack.
Victor grimaced at the sight of it. The bottom was damp, and it emitted a strange odor.
“Master, what is this?”
“A human head.”
“Master, come on. Even I won’t fall for such a joke…”
Without thinking, Victor peeked inside the sack. His eyes met the wide-open eyes of a severed head.
“Ahhh!”
Victor screamed and fell to the ground. Damian picked up the sack.
“Master!”
“Calm down. Everyone’s watching.”
Indeed, people around them were staring.
“What on earth is this?”
“Ask later. Right now, your job is to deliver this head and this notebook to the city’s church.”
Damian handed him a notebook. Victor quickly took it.
“This is a crucial task. You must deliver these to the church to avoid any complications.”
“Complications?”
Damian smiled at Victor’s question.
“I said ask later, didn’t I? Now hurry up.”
Victor nodded with a determined look, clutching the sack and notebook as he sprinted down the street.
“Time for me to get moving too.”
Damian’s first stop was the tavern he had raided the other day.
‘Cutting off the head is easy, but that’s not enough. They messed with my family, so I’ll crush them from the ground up.’
Damian intended to uproot the Black Serpent from Landwalk entirely.
To do that, he needed to know the locations of all the Black Serpent’s branches in the city.
That’s why he came to the tavern.
‘And maybe squeeze some elixirs out of the owner while I’m at it.’
However, Damian’s plan hit a snag right from the start.
“The place is closed?”
The tavern’s door was boarded up, with a sign that read “Closed.”
“Now what?”
Damian stroked his chin.
He’d have to find another member of the organization to extract the locations from.
As he pondered where to find a Black Serpent member, a loud voice interrupted his thoughts.
“You thief!”
He turned to see two men in a heated argument.
“Give me my money! I said give it back!”
A scrawny man in rags shouted, his voice filled with anger.
“Your money? I told you, I take a fee for finding you a job.”
The man in rags was arguing with a well-dressed, burly man who scoffed at him.
“A fee? Sure, you said that! But you didn’t say you’d take 80% as a commission!”
“I’m telling you now. The commission is 80%.”
Damian observed the two men closely, focusing on the burly man’s neck, where a snake tattoo was visible.
“You con artist! Give me my money!”
The ragged man clung to the burly man.
The burly man scowled and punched the ragged man in the stomach.
“Ugh!”
The ragged man’s back bent like a shrimp.
The burly man didn’t stop there, grabbing the ragged man’s hair and slapping him repeatedly.
“You beggar, you were desperate for a job, and now you’re giving me grief?”
“Stop, please.”
“Stop? You should be grateful I found you a good job. Thief? Con artist?”
“Ugh! Ugh!”
The ragged man took the beating without resistance.
The burly man finally stopped after a while.
“Spit! Show your face around here again, and I’ll break your legs.”
The burly man turned to leave, but someone grabbed his shoulder.
“And who are you?”
The burly man turned, scowling.
Damian Haxen had placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re with the Black Serpent, right?”
“So what? You looking for a job too?”
“No, I need something else.”
“Something else?”
“Tell me all the Black Serpent’s hideouts in the city.”
The man’s face twisted in anger.
“Are you out of your mind?”
The man swung a punch at Damian.
Damian easily dodged and drew his longsword.
The blade grazed the man’s wrist, and his hand fell to the ground.
“Ahhh!”
The man screamed, clutching his wrist as blood seeped through his fingers.
“You bastard! You cut off my hand!”
“You’re too loud. Could you quiet down?”
Damian pressed the sword against the man’s neck.
The man hiccuped and shut his mouth.
“Good, you understand quickly. I like that.”
“Who… who are you?”
“Does the name Damian Haxen ring a bell?”
“Da… Damian Haxen? The noble who attacked the tavern?”
“That’s an unpleasant way to put it. I was merely enacting rightful vengeance.”
“You… you dare return to the city? Are you insane…?”
“I asked you to be quiet, didn’t I?”
Damian pressed the blade closer to the man’s neck, and the man’s face turned pale.
“Why is that tavern closed? I caused a scene, but the building was intact.”
“Are you crazy? After what happened, do you think customers would come? The boss shut it down because there was no income!”
“What about the owner? That Andersen fellow?”
“The boss dealt with that old man, saying he had to take responsibility for what happened.”
Damian clicked his tongue.
He had hoped to extort some elixirs, but it seemed that opportunity was lost.
“Next question. Tell me all the Black Serpent’s hideouts in Landwalk.”
The man’s eyes wavered, clearly hesitating.
“Seems you still don’t understand the situation. Shall I cut off an ear?”
“No, no! I’ll talk! Just don’t!”
The threat worked. The man spilled everything to Damian.
Damian marked all the locations the man mentioned on a map of the city he had brought.
Excluding the central headquarters, there were five locations in total.
“Why are there so many?”
“The Black Serpent is the largest organization in Landwalk. Of course, there’d be that many…”
“Thugs are thugs, no matter how big they are.”
Damian removed the sword from the man’s neck. The man’s face brightened slightly.
“So, you’ll let me go now?”
“No.”
Damian swiftly slashed the man’s throat.
The man died without even realizing what had happened.
“The church will wipe you all out anyway.”
The church never forgave dark wizards or their collaborators.
Once Victor delivered the evidence, the church would learn of the Black Serpent’s dealings with dark magic.
Then, the church would swiftly condemn the Black Serpent as heretics.
Damian intended to annihilate the Black Serpent before that happened.
Setting such a precedent would ensure that future enemies wouldn’t dare to threaten his family.
“There’s one nearby.”
Damian was about to move when he noticed the ragged man trembling on the ground.
The ragged man eyed Demian Haxen with a face full of fear.
“Ah.”
As if suddenly remembering something, Demian reached into the pocket of the fallen gang member and pulled out a pouch of money, tossing it to the man.
“Wh-why are you giving this to me…?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t kill him because of you.”
“Then why give me this money?”
“Just because.”
The ragged man looked bewildered, but Demian paid him no mind and walked away.
The first place Demian Haxen visited was a two-story building tucked away in an alley. A thug, looking rather rough around the edges, stood guard at the entrance.
Demian approached him with steady steps.
“Hey, no peddlers allowed here. Get lost.”
Despite the warning, Demian didn’t stop. The thug scowled and growled.
“Didn’t you hear me? If you don’t want a beating, scram—”
As soon as Demian was within range, he swung his longsword. The thug’s head was cleanly severed.
Demian pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Inside, members of the Black Snake gang were drinking and gambling around a large table. Nearby, a naked couple knelt on the floor.
“You worthless bastards!”
A middle-aged man was raging in front of the couple.
“I put you in charge of watching the prostitutes, and you run off with one? You’ve really disgraced me!”
“I’m sorry, sir! It was my mistake!”
“Please, spare us! We’ll never disobey you again!”
The couple pleaded desperately, but the man’s anger didn’t subside.
“You wretched girl! Do you know how much debt you owe? If your mother died without paying it off, you should be working to pay it back!”
He grabbed the woman’s hair, and tears welled up in her eyes from the pain.
“Enough. I’ll make an example of you both by cutting off your heads.”
“Please, sir! Show mercy just this once!”
“We beg you!”
“Shut up!”
The man kicked their faces, and they collapsed to the floor, groaning.
“Boss, come on, let it go and join us for a game.”
“Yeah, why waste your energy on those worms?”
The gang members at the table called out to him.
The boss was about to join them when he noticed Demian standing at the door.
“Ah… that idiot can’t even guard the door properly.”
He ruffled his hair in frustration.
“Who was supposed to be on guard today?”
“It was Henry.”
“Bring that fool to my office. He needs a serious lesson.”
“Understood.”
“Don’t just sit there! Get rid of that guy!”
The boss smacked the back of a gang member’s head, who then stood up, rubbing his head.
“Damn it.”
The gang member, still smarting from the hit, approached Demian, clenching his fists.
“Do you know where you are? You think you can just walk into Black Snake territory? I’ll teach you a lesson.”
Demian didn’t bother to reply, simply moving his sword. The blade sliced through the gang member’s neck.
Moments later, the man’s head slipped from his shoulders and hit the ground.
“Wh-what?”
“Huh?”
The other gang members, witnessing the sudden death, were too stunned to react immediately.
The headless body toppled over, and the gang members finally snapped back to reality.
“Br-Broad’s dead!”
“We’re under attack!”
They scrambled for their weapons, but Demian was faster.
He charged into their midst, swinging his longsword.
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
With each swing, blood splattered, and bodies fell. In the blink of an eye, they were all dead, save for the boss.
“Aaah!”
The boss collapsed, his legs giving out, trembling as he pointed at Demian.
“Who are you? Do you know who I am? I’m a Black Snake officer!”
“Be quiet.”
Demian stomped on the boss’s ankle.
Crack.
The sound of breaking bones was followed by a scream.
“If you scream again, I’ll cut it off.”
At Demian’s warning, the boss clamped his mouth shut.
With the room silent, Demian turned to the naked couple.
“Please, spare us!”
They prostrated themselves before him.
Demian spoke with disinterest.
“You can leave.”
“Th-thank you!”
“Try to live honestly from now on.”
“Yes, we will!”
The couple hurriedly dressed and fled.
“Now it’s just the two of us.”
Demian’s gaze returned to the boss, whose face had turned ashen.
“Answer my questions.”
“W-will you spare me if I do?”
“I’ll decide after I hear your answers.”
Demian crouched to meet the boss’s eyes.
“Tell me about all the Black Snake branches in this city.”
Though he’d heard from another gang member earlier, he needed to verify the information.
“Wh-why do you want to know…?”
Demian struck the boss’s face with the hilt of his sword, causing him to spit out broken teeth in agony.
“Just answer the questions. Understand?”
Tears streaming down his face, the boss nodded.