Red Rule (1)

If, when you’ve been wronged or are in danger, a red wave shimmers before your eyes, it means you are alive — it means you’re lucky.

—Exorsus innkeeper, Nock.

Leaving Ludicer, who had fallen silent the moment we parted, I stepped out of the Garden of Gods.

Manus’s issue hadn’t been resolved in the first place, and I still had to finalize the contract with Proy and check the fifth-year gifts.

I hurriedly wrapped things up, left Ludicer’s warning to be careful behind, and rushed outside.

I thought we’d set out earlier than usual, but outside the garden it was already evening. The meeting with the gods had been about an hour shorter than normal, and because of that attention-seeking brat we wasted a lot of time in that strange white room.

My group was already out and waiting for me; as I stepped out they greeted me and fell into step.

As I gathered everyone and headed toward the north street where the bus was parked.

“Kyaa!!”

“Die!”

“…Die!!”

“Gah!!”

Screams and shouts full of malice split the night sky of Exorsus, now that the sun had vanished.

May 4th. For two days rumors had spread that Violentia and Benialis were on the move.

As a result, many representatives had gathered around the square today. Some came out of curiosity to see if a fight would break out; others came hoping to join either side. Representatives expelled from Violentia’s camp for accusing her of disobedience had also shown up, swelling the numbers.

As more representatives arrived, inns ideal for watching the commotion enjoyed an unexpected boom.

The newly built inns next to the square attracted the most guests.

The inns that had collapsed from representatives’ riots before had, almost by agreement, all opened today.

Unaware representatives, satisfied with the situation, flocked to these inns.

And this place, an inn and tavern ominously named Nemesis’s Diary, was one of those that had opened today.

The peculiar thing was that, since around lunchtime, a child had been diligently calling for customers, and patrons kept coming.

Nemesis’s Diary had started business smoothly and soon reached the evening rush when many representatives sought alcohol. Beer and a special fruit liquor sold well; the place grew so crowded there were no empty seats and people were encouraged to share tables.

It seemed the inn’s opening was a great success.

“……”

“Hey, are you drunk already?”

A man, apparently part of a group, asked his comrade at a corner table, but the other gave no answer. He snorted as he looked at the motionless man with his head on the table.

“And yet you boasted about how strong you were. You’re dead starting tomorrow, you bastard. Heh heh.”

He lifted the beer mug, savoring the small triumph of having outdrunk his comrade, swallowed the cold beer, and slammed the mug down with a thud.

After boldly slamming the glass and wiping his lips, he felt something sticky on his chest, looked down in shock, and sprang to his feet.

Thud—!

“W-what is this?!”

The drunk man leapt up, sending his chair crashing and causing a commotion, but strangely no one seemed to care. Maybe this sort of scene was expected in a tavern.

If they’d seen what was soaking his chest, they’d have thought differently: the sticky, unpleasant wetness on his front was blood.

Suddenly his beer-blurred gaze sharpened. What he thought was a red tablecloth was blood — it seemed to be his comrade’s.

“Hey! Hey!!”

He shook the comrade whose head rested on the table, but there was no movement. He was dead — a representative.

Terror at the reality of death washed over them.

Knowing that the training period was over and that one could die is one thing; feeling it is quite another.

“Aaaah!! Gak!!”

The man who had screamed clutched his chest and collapsed. Like his comrade, he vomited bright blood and fell headfirst under the table as if drunk.

And then representatives began collapsing everywhere — at every seat on the first and second floors.

Amid the nutty-sweet barbecue aromas and thick cigarette smoke, there was no metallic scent of blood.

Some went about their work calmly, treating the collapsed representatives as if they were merely drunk and asleep. They didn’t react or show surprise; they continued their tasks in silence, and sometimes sneered sharply as they watched the representatives fall.

They were the ones who had gathered at the inn three days ago to conspire.

But there were more people now than then — old hags, mercenaries, and those who looked ready to use force. Each time a representative collapsed, their eyes curved and smiles tugged at their mouths. It seemed their plan was succeeding.

Yet no matter how inept the representatives were made out to be compared to Kim Han, a representative is still a representative. Beings granted divine power wouldn’t be so weak as to fall for a sloppy scheme repeatedly.

Among the representatives were many priests and mages. Some were immune to poison, others carried artifacts to neutralize toxins.

“Cure!”

“Detoxify!”

Mana and divine power flowed, treating the poisoned rapidly and harshly. Some checked fallen comrades and stood up.

Because the inn was large and packed across two floors, a considerable number of representatives recovered. Many rose, drawing up their killing intent — not a hundred, but certainly over fifty.

Representatives from the second floor descended to the first and advanced on the innkeeper, exuding killing intent like wolves encircling a wounded deer.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Heh heh. Can’t you see the ones lying here? That question’s for us. You vermin, why did you do this?”

A muscular, sword-belted man, perhaps a warrior, stepped forward to berate the innkeeper. As he reached to grab the innkeeper by the collar,

“Graa!!”

A scream rang out from behind the group, and someone fell.

The representative, thinking a continent-dweller had been killed and about to continue, had to stop.

“Gak! Th-this! Vermin…”

“Assassin!”

The commotion from behind was unusual because the victim was not a continent-dweller but a representative.

The inn descended into chaos. As terrified servers and tavern staff were stabbed in the back, the confusion peaked.

But it lasted only a moment. Someone shouted that every continent-dweller in the inn should be killed, and the tide turned overwhelmingly against them.

“Kill them!”

“Heh heh, this one is a shame to kill though?”

“Oh? This one’s an elf? Heh heh heh.”

“Graa!”

“Aaah!! Let’s die together!”

The inn became a sea of blood in an instant and turned into a slaughterhouse.

Continent-dwellers had blades in their bellies or their entrails spilled by divine power, yet they still swung knives or scattered poison. More than half were dead, and the female continent-dwellers were bound naked to one side.

Representatives giggled as they approached the innkeeper. The innkeeper clutched the child who had been calling customers and glared at a representative grinning with red blood splattered on his face.

“So, if we kill the innkeeper now, does this inn become ours?”

“Oh?! Is that so?”

“Let’s start by cutting off the arms and legs.”

“That kid’s my type. Hah!”

“Go to hell!!”

As the innkeeper thrashed and shut his eyes tightly in his final moments.

“Stop.”

It was a low, calm voice — so small that in that mad, bloodthirsty inn it might have gone unheard, yet everyone present heard it.

All eyes turned toward the source.

The first thing that caught the eye was black leather armor. Behind it, a tall frame and muscles that couldn’t be hidden by armor. Finally, a dark red, billowing cloak.

“Black armor… red cloak… Blessed warrior Kim Han…”

The representatives visibly flinched at the innkeeper’s words.

In the noisy, madness-filled inn, only the sound of Kim Han’s footsteps could be heard.

“Tsk. Want to die here or leave quietly?”

I could kill them all, but I wanted to get to the mansion quickly to check Ludicer’s gift. I was also eager for Merus to hand over Sophia’s gift, so I asked, even though normally I wouldn’t.

“W-we outnumber them…! Ugh.”

Before the sword-bearing representative at the front could finish his words, his throat was cut and his head rolled to the floor — instant death by a fellow representative.

The remaining roughly fifty representatives hesitated and backed away. Their faces were filled with genuine fear — trembling eyes and jaws agape.

“I-I’ll just leave.”

“Me too!”

“I, I will!!”

They shouted that they would leave.

Perhaps because they’d already seen blood, annoyance from the Garden of Gods and conversations with Sophia and other goddesses surged at once. Their noisy chatter grated on my ears.

“Just… die.”

I ripped out the throat of the man at the front and killed him, then shifted my gaze to the next. Suddenly the inn was awash with red shadows.

Whether they took my words as an order or simply wanted to act, the members swarmed in and cleared the inn in an instant. The new recruits who joined after bonding in the Monster Wave killed representatives more zealously than anyone else.

Perhaps because the surviving representatives were mostly priests and mages.

After just a minute or two, no one remained standing in the inn except the Rebound Legion and the continent-dwellers.

“Tsk. Killed the appetite. Good. You all heard your patron gods about ‘absorption,’ right? Grab them one by one, pull out hearts, and try it.”

He smacked his lips and gave the order like a chef urging a taste test of a new dish.

Naturally, at first there might be revulsion…

“Huh…”

Most members had no qualms and extracted hearts or slices of heart from the corpses. Only a few, including Lee Hyo-ju, hesitated.

Even Arun drew a dagger from his bosom, quickly extracted a heart, and shouted, “Absorb.”

‘Well, in the places they live, this kind of thing happens all the time…’

There are so many ill-suited fools who do abnormal things that I sometimes forget.

I easily forget that these are people who, in lands where murders are frequent and wars kill thousands or tens of thousands, have taken part in battles and slain their own kind.

Naruan, smiling innocently, handed the heart she had extracted to the hesitant Lee Hyo-ju.

Startled by Naruan’s sudden action, Lee Hyo-ju bit her lip until it paled and took the heart.

“Thanks, Naruan.”

“Hehe, it’s nothing. Ice-tag probably wouldn’t do this well. Um… I’ll do it next time too.”

“Alright. ‘Absorb.’”

Lee Hyo-ju, who offered a maternal smile, performed the absorption and looked at me stunned.

When you experience absorption for the first time, everyone is startled by the ‘Setting’ message that floats in the air. Because…

“Why? What did it say that shocked you so?”

“You absorb the ability of Meno, the Lake’s minor god’s representative. Dice roll. Complete! Acquired intellect… 10.”

It’s like that. Except for me, representatives don’t know their quantified physical stats or divine power stats. They don’t even realize that bodily information can be quantified. Even when absorbing a pill, such messages don’t appear.

However, in ‘absorption’ alone, the obtained abilities are displayed as quantified stats in a message, to objectively and accurately present the absorption results.

“Is it amazing?”

“Aren’t you amazed, Kim Han?”

“I was surprised too. Forgot? You must have seen me ‘absorb’ in the Monster Belt, right?”

“Ah…”

Convinced, Lee Hyo-ju stared at the bloodstain on her hand where the heart had been, then returned to her usual cold expression.

Has Lee Hyo-ju now prepared to fully become a kin-eater who consumes representatives’ blood and flesh?

They all finished absorption without exception, sharing the stats or divine power info they’d gained as they moved toward the exit.

Only Arun approached me and handed over three hearts.

“What is it?”

“There are leftovers. The captain sliced two as soon as he started… haha.”

I was about to tell him to do it himself, but seeing the eager looks of the members, I took the three hearts and murmured softly.

“Absorb.”

“Huh…”

Whose prank is this? It’s luck all the time.

I glanced at Mae Young-ryeong; she looked back with a meaningful glint in her eyes and what might have been a smile at her lips.

“Mae Young-ryeong?”

“…Yes.”

“Was it you?”

“……”

Where does that damned Witch ability end?

I shook my head and returned to my group.

“Martial Star, how was it?”

“Well, nothing special. It doesn’t seem like my strength increased much.”

He absorbed strength; he might not feel it, but his stat increased slightly.

After that, the group chattered about the stats they’d absorbed. The ones who first absorbed a representative’s heart seemed surprisingly fine.

‘In my past life I truly…’

I sighed, recalling the week of torment in my past life, and stepped out of the inn. Or rather, I was about to.

“Blessed Warrior!”

“Hmm? Ah! Are you alright?”

“Th-thank you!”

“Not at all. Tsk. It just means their rampage was that severe. My apologies. Spread the rumor that I killed them. And don’t engage in such dangerous acts in the future. It could harm not only you but also uninvolved continent-dwellers. If you truly can’t tolerate it… speak to the five major magic towers.”

“Th-thank you. Thank you, Blessed Warrior.”

“No, use this for repairing the inn.”

I forcefully placed the hundred gold coins they insisted I take on the counter and left the inn.

Perhaps the rumor had spread; the representatives gathered outside to gawk backed away timidly as we exited.

“Consider this a warning. Don’t harass Exorsus citizens where Rebound Legion members are present if you don’t want to end up like the scum in that inn. I’ve clearly warned you. Harassing Exorsus citizens where a dark red cloak is visible is forbidden. If you’re curious, go ahead and try.”

No one got angry or resisted. Most representatives flinched and backed away further.

Violentia had been waiting for me. She approached from afar with her attendants.

“Kim Han.”

“Violentia.”

“…May I pay you a visit soon?”

“Hmm… I’m planning to leave Exorsus…”

“Yes! I have something to discuss about that!”

Violentia’s eyes sparkled as she brightened.

I already knew from reconnaissance what she intended to say, but not being able to show it left me irritated. I nodded and asked her to come in three days, then headed to the mansion.

After that day, rumors began that over a hundred representatives had died in the inn and that our members had wiped out more than fifty representatives in a minute.

And a new title referring to me began to spread.

‘Red Rule’ Kim Han.

It combined the meaning of red and of forbidding or ruling.

I don’t know how the phrase ‘Wherever a red cloak is seen, harassing Exorsus citizens is forbidden’ turned into such a title, but anyway I became ‘Red Rule.’

“Pfft!”

Seeing Lee Hyo-ju try and fail to hold back laughter, making a flatulent sound, I honestly for the first time wanted to sew the mouths of Exorsus citizens shut.