As soon as I entered the room, the men started arriving. There were many of them. Since the hallway they were coming through wasn't very wide, only a few could exit at a time.
I took advantage of it, of course.
When the first three men stepped out and saw me, I smiled at them.
"Goodbye." I created ice spikes beneath their feet and used gravity magic to slam them into the ground. The ice pierced through their bodies, killing them instantly.
Seeing that, I felt a bit disgusted.
But it's better than before. I don't feel as bad now.
The other men who entered the room were startled after seeing their comrades dead.
So, I created a wall of flames in the hallway entrance and "trapped" two of them inside with me.
"We can't get through—it's too hot!"
"If we try, our skin will melt!"
The men on the other side of the flames started shouting.
"You idiots! Go around and break through the wall!" one of the trapped men yelled. He took a few steps back along with his companion, visibly trembling in fear.
I smiled and said:
"Even if all of you came in here at once, I could kill you all with ease. I'm just doing this for fun. Come on, attack me. I won't even use magic this time."
The two men looked at each other, grinding their teeth in anger.
They were tall—taller than me.
Every man I've fought so far has been tall and muscular.
I don't know if that bald guy has some kind of fetish for hiring only men like that.
"Damn it!"
"Hey, Carl, calm down!"
One of the men charged at me, while his friend shouted desperately for him to stop.
But he didn't listen and rushed forward.
His eyes were burning with hatred.
I stared straight into them. My cold gaze made it clear I wasn't afraid. By the time he realized how stupid his move was, it was already too late.
He was too close—and I swung my sword at high speed.
He couldn't keep up with my movements.
My sword severed his arm and then slashed open his neck, blood gushing out from the torn artery. He collapsed at my feet and died in agony.
"You bastard!" his friend shouted but didn't move.
"This is just the beginning."
"Carl! Answer me, Carl!" someone shouted from the hallway.
Then I heard banging on the wall to my right.
'Are they really trying to break through the wall from the outside?'
I smiled.
I pointed my hand in the direction of the sound.
In my mind, I visualized long, sharp spikes of ice emerging from the wall and flooding the alley behind it. Spikes two meters long.
I began to hear grotesque sounds.
"Uaaahhh!"
"Urggh!"
"I don't want to die…"
Several men screaming in pain and desperation.
Even though they were behind a wall, the stench of blood grew stronger.
"Did they all die?"
Then Carl's friend charged at me.
He knew he couldn't run, so he had to try something.
As soon as he got close, I used gravity magic to pin him to the floor.
"You bastard! I'm going to kill you! I'll tear off your arms, your legs, your tongue—I'll make you wish you were dead!" the man shouted, tears in his eyes.
"How cute. You're growling like an animal." I grabbed his hair and stared into his eyes—eyes filled with pure hatred.
Then I dispelled the fire wall and some men entered the room.
They saw me crouched down, holding their comrade's hair, and froze in shock.
Still holding his hair, I raised my sword and swung it hard—cutting his neck like I was slicing a fish. His angry expression remained on his face as I held his head by the hair.
"What? Never seen a head before?" I asked before tossing it toward them.
Then thorns of ice appeared from the ceiling, piercing their skulls.
It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.
Their heads practically exploded all at once.
"This just shows how easy it is to kill humans."
####
When everyone was dead, silence filled the room. I sighed and looked at their boss, still unconscious inside the vault. I stepped back in and began transferring all the money into my inventory.
I thought it would just be stored, but instead...
It was added directly to my "Available Money."
"What the hell? There was a crapload of money in here."
[ 355,653,344 ]
"355 million! Damn, that's a lot of money! How did these people have so much money?"
This organization doesn't even seem that big, so I don't get how they've amassed this much money.
"Where's my money? Where is it? Where is it, you son of a bitch!?"
The man finally woke up.
"What? I didn't take anything," I said, smiling as I approached.
Still on the floor, the man started crying.
"Urgh... All my money… You took all my money! I'm going to kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!"
He got up and charged at me, but I used gravity magic to pin him down again.
He groaned in pain as I approached.
I knelt beside him and looked into his eyes. "If you try anything, I'll cut your head off. Look around."
I released him, and he looked outside the vault. When he saw his blood-soaked office, his face turned pale.
He froze in fear.
"You get it now, don't you? There's no point in resisting. Now let's talk."
"Talk? Didn't you already take all my money? Just leave!"
"Of course that money isn't enough. A Familia can't survive with such few resources."
"Familia? So you are part of a Familia!"
"I'd rather not explain. I want to talk about your business. Were you really buying and selling items and stones, or were you just stealing like you tried to do with me?"
"It's true! It's true!" the man cried. "I've been doing this work for years. That's why I had so much money saved up... But now it's all gone." His depression seemed to deepen by the second.
"I see." I smiled and said, "You can keep doing what you were. I need more money—and you're going to work for me. I don't care who you sell those items or stones to—I just want the money."
This guy might be selling to terrorists, but I honestly don't care.
"Work for you?"
"Exactly. I'll pay you, of course. How about a 90–10 split? I take 90%, you get 10%."
"Are you kidding?"
"The profits will be much higher. You won't have to buy anything—I'll supply your stock. All you have to do is sell. What do you think?"
"But 10% is too little. How about 20%?"
"20%? Hmm… Fine."
His eyes lit up. "Alright, I'll work for you. But… what do I do about this?" He looked at the corpses of his men.
"Don't worry, I'll stay here and work with you. I'm enough protection on my own." Actually, Madara will stay. I'm not wasting my time here.
"You? … Fine."
He's clearly uncomfortable with it.
He's afraid of me.
'Well, I don't know how Madara will handle it, but I'm sure it'll be fine.'
I left Madara's body and returned to Clone 16. Then I explained everything to him.
I thought he'd be annoyed about managing something like this, but he actually seemed excited.
Well, my money farm is ready. Now I just have to wait for that bald guy to do his part.
####
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Next chapters: Chapter 54 - Fun. / Chapter 55 - Denatus? I don't care about that. / Chapter 56 - Conversation with Freya. / Chapter 57 - You will soon become a target.