"Wuaaah!!!"
The armored knight clearly hadn't expected someone to be hiding behind him. He was instantly shocked, but before he even had a chance to resist, Duanmu Huai grabbed him by the head and lifted him up in one motion.
"H-help! Help me!"
The armored knight struggled desperately, but it was completely useless. Seeing this, Moso Shizuka shook her head helplessly.
"Seriously, how did someone that big even hide himself?"
"If only I had that kind of technique…"
Kentou Kanami sighed softly.
Duanmu Huai completely ignored the struggling armored knight and turned his gaze to Kaoru, the black-haired girl standing to the side.
"Alright, we've caught him. Next we just kill him, right?"
"Th-this…"
Facing Duanmu Huai's question, Kaoru was also at a loss for words. She had originally thought that there would at least be a fierce battle between the two sides. Who would have thought that Duanmu Huai was this terrifying—there wasn't even a fight at all. This was a straight-up instant kill.
"Y-you can't kill me!!"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the armored knight struggled even more violently.
"I'm the son of Zeruki Clavin! Hasam! If you kill me, my father will never let you go!"
"Who?"
Duanmu Huai of course didn't recognize the name the man was shouting, so he looked at Kaoru. She frowned, her expression serious.
"He's a high-ranking official of the Kingdom of Seth…"
"Oh, that's not important."
Duanmu Huai interrupted Kaoru mid-sentence, then forcibly turned the armored knight around so that he was facing him.
"Eeeeeek———!!"
The moment he saw Duanmu Huai's face, the armored knight let out a terrified scream, his legs flailing wildly. Then a foul stench spread out…
"Why did you do this? Was it just for amusement?"
"I-it wasn't my idea! This wasn't my idea!"
Seeing Duanmu Huai, the armored knight completely collapsed. His body trembled as he wailed and begged for mercy.
"It was all Amy's idea! She thought it was too boring, so she came out hunting! I was just invited by her to help out! It wasn't my idea! I was just helping!!"
"And who is Amy?"
"She's Commander Radon's daughter…"
"So you came here to kill people just because you thought it was fun, right?"
"Y-yes! What's wrong with killing second-tier citizens?!"
Perhaps because death was imminent, the armored knight suddenly began shouting back loudly.
"This country was founded by us, by us mages! Those second-tier citizens who can't even use magic are nothing but parasites! We built this country, we protect this country, we fight against the demon race and guard humanity's borders! These are things that only we mages can do! Those second-tier citizens can't do anything at all. Keeping them alive is just a waste of food, or rather, allowing them to live at all is already our greatest mercy! Since their lives were given by us, what's wrong with killing them whenever we want?! This is Seth! This is the country of us mages!"
"You…!!!"
Hearing the armored knight's words, Kentou Kanami clenched her weapon in rage, wishing she could rush up and cut him down immediately. Moso Shizuka's expression was also grave, but she quickly turned to Kaoru and asked,
"What do we do now?"
"Th-this…"
Facing Moso Shizuka's question, Kaoru looked conflicted.
"All we can do is hand him over to the security force…"
"No need to go through all that trouble."
Duanmu Huai calmly interrupted Kaoru.
"He's already seen our faces. We can't let him go back alive anyway. As for some high-ranking official… hmm, let's just pretend we didn't hear that."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai suddenly exerted force with his right hand! The next moment, his fingers pierced straight through the armored knight's thick helmet and plunged directly into his brain!!
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
A shrill scream rang out. The armored knight struggled frantically, twisting his body in desperation. Duanmu Huai didn't care in the slightest. He merely applied a bit of force with his right hand and suddenly lifted upward! In the next instant, the armored knight's head was ripped straight off his neck by Duanmu Huai! A section of blood-soaked spine was even left dangling, swaying in the cold air.
"Ugh…"
"Er…"
Olgis and Kentou Kanami had seen Duanmu Huai fight before, so they showed no reaction. Moso Shizuka and Kaoru, on the other hand, turned deathly pale—after all, this was the first time they had personally witnessed someone's head being torn off. Compared to the battles they usually experienced, this was far more grotesque.
"Alright, I'll take care of the rest."
Duanmu Huai shook the head in his hand.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to place this corpse and head in the first-tier citizen district as a warning to those lawless nobles. Since the man is already dead, wouldn't it be a waste not to make good use of him? You can head back first. Leave the rest to me."
"Eh… wait a moment—!"
However, before Moso Shizuka could finish speaking, Duanmu Huai's figure flickered again and vanished without a trace.
Since the main person involved had already left, the others had no choice but to return and report the situation to Uruze.
"I really didn't expect it to be like this…"
After hearing Kaoru's report, Uruze's face was pale, her brows tightly knit.
"Killing people just for amusement—this is too much! How could they do something like this?!"
"Actually, this kind of thing isn't that strange."
However, just as Uruze was angrily questioning the situation, Duanmu Huai silently reappeared again, startling everyone.
"Wah! Big guy, when did you come back?"
"Not long after that. What's wrong?"
"...…"
Seeing Moso Shizuka staring at him warily, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow and asked,
"…You're not thinking that I snuck into your room to peek at you changing clothes, are you?"
"Oh? That's actually an option? I'll consider it next time."
Honestly, if Moso Shizuka hadn't mentioned it, Duanmu Huai would have forgotten. Using Dark Night Watcher skills for peeping was absolutely top-tier. Whether a girl was changing clothes or bathing, you could quietly find a spot to crouch and watch from beginning to end… hmm, he wondered whether the Night Raven Watchers had used it like that in the past?
"…I'll set trap magic at my bedroom door."
"Suit yourself."
Duanmu Huai teased Moso Shizuka, then turned his gaze back to Uruze.
"Actually, similar things happen in many places. Those who hold power and belong to the ruling class will act however they want toward the lower classes, and think it's only natural. That's not unusual."
What Duanmu Huai said was simply reality. In games, many planets and civilizations had systems similar to Seth's. Of course, their ruling classes weren't necessarily mages—they might be psychics, mutants, or followers of certain religions… in short, people who possessed powerful abilities that ordinary people didn't have.
In fact, even outside of games, things like this were common in reality as well.
Take the warrior and knight classes, for example. They did similar things in the past. Among warriors, there was once a principle called "kirisute gomen"—roughly speaking, if someone was disrespectful to a warrior, the warrior could kill them on the spot without punishment.
Of course, "disrespect" was a very subjective standard. Sometimes just looking at a warrior the wrong way could be considered disrespect, resulting in immediate execution.
Medieval knights were slightly better, but they could also sentence and execute commoners based on their own judgment—though they usually didn't kill people with their own hands.
When modern people transmigrate to the Middle Ages or fantasy worlds, they often try to punch through obstacles with slogans like "everyone is free and equal."
But in reality, the formation of any order or rule has objective conditions.
In this case, there was only one fundamental objective reason—that they truly bore their responsibilities and served as the backbone of national defense.
Take the Kingdom of Seth as an example. First-tier citizens had privileges, but they also bore obligations such as paying taxes, conscription, and supplying magical power. Second-tier citizens had no rights and no obligations. Those who couldn't use magic could only live under the protection of first-tier citizens.
The same applied to warriors and knights. When facing external threats, were you supposed to rely on farmers who only knew how to till the land instead of warriors and knights to fight?
This wasn't unique to civilized races either. The animal world was the same. Take a wolf pack, for example. The alpha wolf naturally held the highest status, followed by the attack wolves responsible for hunting and scouting. As for the old, weak, and sick, they held no status at all within the pack. They could only eat what was left over, weren't allowed to resist, and could even become food for other wolves. The reason was simple—their existence brought no benefit to the pack.
So you can shout that everyone is born free and equal all you want, but objective reality won't change because of it. In the Kingdom of Seth, just as the armored knight said, they built the country, they guard its borders, and they resist demon invasions. In their eyes, second-tier citizens were nothing but useless trash, bringing no benefit to the nation and serving only as filthy burdens. Why shouldn't they be killed?
What, are you going to overthrow the mages and resist the demon race yourselves? Do you have that ability?
If you don't, what gives you the right to be equal with us?
And since we've paid so much, why should we be equal with you lowly commoners?
If we're equal with you, wouldn't that be unfair to us?
In real society, equality wasn't achieved through ideological enlightenment, but through the advancement of civilization and technology. In ancient times, cavalry was unstoppable. The power of a mounted knight was unmatched. But in modern times, with the reform of firearms, the battlefield changed. Cavalry, once the main force, was gradually marginalized and replaced by mechanized troops, tanks, and artillery. Only then did the knightly class collapse and decline.
Warriors were similar. Ultimately, with the progress of civilization, overwhelming force was no longer concentrated in the hands of a small group. Moreover, the real world had no demons or monsters. Even a general could be killed by a single handgun.
Under such circumstances, equality became inevitable.
But a magical world was clearly different.
Because mages could genuinely kill hundreds of people with a flick of their fingers. What could civilians holding nothing but swords or hoes use to resist?
In reality, no matter how strong a knight was, being swarmed by bandits meant certain death.
But in fantasy worlds, powerful mages could flatten entire mountains.
Would such a person be willing to be equal with farmers who only knew how to till fields?
If they weren't willing, what could you do about it? Even if hundreds of farmers rushed at them together, wouldn't they still just be a platter of food?
Why are superheroes and mutants hunted in superhero movies?
The reason was simple.
Because they possessed the power to refuse equality. Even if they wanted equality, power itself created inequality. Once mutants or superheroes became the ruling class, ordinary humans would have no ability to resist. Modern weapons would be useless against them, and at that point, ordinary people would have no choice but to become second-class citizens.
Therefore… they had to be completely eliminated.
"…So in my view, this is the fundamental contradiction facing the Kingdom of Seth."
After finishing his thoughts, Duanmu Huai shrugged. The room fell into dead silence, everyone staring at him in astonishment.
"I really didn't expect you to see things so clearly, big guy…"
"It's not that I see clearly. Read more books."
"Then… what should we do?"
Uruze clenched her fists and looked at Duanmu Huai. He spread his hands.
"That's something you need to think about. The root cause is right here. Shouting slogans is useless. So what exactly is your political objective? Think about it yourself."
After saying this, Duanmu Huai turned and left, leaving Uruze sitting there, silently deep in thought.
(The chapter ends)