Chapter 146: No mercy

The moment of walking into the camp definitely gave strange vibes. With our minds set on razing the entire place to the ground, smiling at the guards who we had to pass as we went inside made me feel like some kind of devil in disguise. 

But there was no way to overlook what those people were doing. This camp sat right on the road that anyone would have to take from the witches village to the nearest city. It appeared only when true persecution started, forcing the witches to seek refuge together in a single place. 

And its entire purpose was to amass forces necessary to exterminate those who dared to resist. 

As such, no matter how nice those people might be, I had no other choice but to kill them all. 

"Hold your horses for now. Let's go drink something first." 

Noticing my preference, Ayda quickly stepped in, grabbing my hand. As if it was already a habit of mine, I let the girl guide me through the street-like alleys between the temporary sheds and tents of the camp. 

Even though it was clearly the first time in this place for both of us, my girl somehow managed to sense the location of a local tavern. Following her steps, we entered a relatively huge, wooden building. 

"How did they manage to finish it so quickly? Wasn't that just a few weeks before everything started?" 

Voicing my surprise as I inspected the relatively high-quality of the tavern's insides, I felt a sudden tug on my sleeve. 

"That's wizard engineers for you. Care for a drink?" 

From the side, a man asked. A single look at him only allowed me to notice how he was dressed. For the first time in a long while, I was unable to see through his aura.

That's a world with common usage of magic for you.

"Sure, why not." 

Shaking my arms, I nodded my head. Actually, it didn't really matter what we would do for a short while in this place. Drinking with a random stranger was just another opportunity to find out more about this place before it would cease to exist.

"Dear, I don't like this man. Let's go!" 

Clutching my arm as she said so, Ayda pushed her face into my shoulder. But once again, I was unable to read her aura to decide whether she was just acting or actually trying to pull me away. 

But thinking about it, if she really wanted me to not join the man for the drink, wouldn't she just pull me away regardless of my intentions?

"Woman, go and get us a room. I'm tired after our journey here, so I won't refuse a drink." 

Brutally snapping my arm out of Ayda's hold, I made sure to position myself in a way that would make it impossible for the man to notice the wink I sent to the girl. 

"Mkay…" Instantly putting on a resigned smile on her face, Ayda lowered her head before backing off.

"I'm sorry for that showcase. She still seems to misunderstand what position she is in. Can you imagine? A slave deluding herself into believing that she's is my wife?"

Saying those words in a sleazy manner, I plummeted down on the chair with a troubled expression on my face.

"What's now, don't tell me that you came to sell her? Let me tell you, while she could fetch a high price…" 

Before the man could finish, I pulled out and calmly placed a knife on the tavern's table. While I laid it flat down, its tip was still pointed towards the man.

"As problematic as she is, she is my property. It's better not to be naive enough to believe you can snatch her away." 

Playing with the handle of my knife, I sent a quick yet meaningful glance towards the man. Even if the entire situation was nothing else but a stupid play, it poked me in the wrong way when anyone would dare to speak disrespectfully about my woman. 

"Hah, don't worry." Raising his head in the air, the man smiled before his palms fell back at the handle of his mug. Taking a sip of the bear, he threw a quick glance to the counter where Ayda was talking to the Innkeeper.

"But still, to let your slave run freely like that… You warned me, but I can't say others won't try their luck. Without a collar," the man said before taking a sip and continuing, "she will surely be targeted."

Finally, the waiter noticed the new addition to his guest pool, approaching our table.

"A huge beer." 

Pulling out one of the golden coins that Ayda obtained, I flung it at the waiter. Shocked by the appearance of the most valuable coin there was in this world or at least the local country, the waiter only managed to turn his face to me with a confused look. 

"Take the rest to the girl at the counter to pay for my loggings."

Disregarding the presence of the waiter, I moved my face back to a straight position, sending a relaxed look to the man that invited me for a drink.

"Judging how you seem to come from far away, and you don't really care about money… Could it be that you came here for the execution?" 

After a moment of silence, the man attempted to reignite the discussion once again.

"Execution? Don't tell me, did it already…" 

Opening up my eyes wide, I pretended that the man struck right at the point. 

"Ah, no need to worry."

Raising his hands in a calming manner, the man smiled.

"The festivities have yet to begin. After all, it's not that easy to catch so many of those darned witches at once! I heard the general wanted to make sure to make use of this opportunity. I even heard there will be public shaming for all of them."

If there was any feeling of mercy in my soul directed towards those people, then it withered all away right now. Seeing the happy face of the man speaking about my compatriots meeting with a pathetic end, I accidentally let a single thread of my killing intent escape from my control. 

"Wha…" 

Startled by the sudden change in my aura, the man attempted to say something. Opening his mouth while he leaned to the back on his chair, he failed to utter a single word before his head rolled out of his shoulders.

"You heard him. There is no point in dawdling in this place any longer." 

Wiping down the blood from her short sword that she just used with a piece of cloth formerly belonging to the waiter's outfit, Ayda didn't even spare the corpse a single look.

"Yeah. That public shaming thing though, what was it about?" 

Standing up and taking a look at my equipment, I then raised my head towards the girl beside me. 

"Hey, is everything all…" Before Ayda could give me her response, my mind blanked out. Given how there was no external stimulus, it was either a powerful mental attack or something of my system's doing. But the second possibility required some sort of trigger to activate…

Before I could formulate even a single guess as to what kind of trigger could I accidentally activate, my blanked-out vision suddenly exploded.

In an instant, my entire view was blocked by numerous notification. All at once, it seemed as if the long lost connection to my apocalyptic tech finally returned, swarming me with all the stuff that happened while it was inactive.

"I'm okay!"

Shouting out in hopes of reaching Ayda's ears, I focused on reading through the notifications. As annoying as it was, the prospect of having the assist of this modern tech in the coming fight was too great to be ignored. 

Soon, I finally managed to dig out the most crucial information for my current situation.

*The system currently undergoes repair. Synaptic connection reestablished. The current rate of connection reconstructions: 2%*

Judging from the super pitiful amount, my hopes of receiving system assistance during the coming fight were buried. But right underneath this specific notification, another hope remained. 

*System currently inoperable.*

*Fighting focus inoperable*

*Battle analytics inoperable*

*Strenght enhancer…*

*Noise cancel…*

*...*

*...*

*...*

*Passive knowledge assimilation, operable*

Out of all the traits that this apocalyptic tech armed me with, only a single feature appeared to be working. And just a single look at the mass of notifications that still completely blocked my vision, it was working just as good as it did in the past.

*Magic stone with embedded spells, allows casting of a basic spell of fire*

*Advanced magic stone, embedded with tri-layered spell structure. Allows casting of advanced firestorm spell.*

Bit by bit, the knowledge of everything that I came in contact with ever since the system failure in the past, would now assimilate into my brain as soon as I would close the notification. 

After ensuring that there would be no missing of knowledge, I ignored the part of reading through the notifications, simply closing them en masse. But then, just as I reached the last few of the information windows, a smile involuntarily crept up my lips. 

"Ayda…" 

With most of the notifications now gone, I had a hard time holding my laughter of excitement back. Because as it appeared, my efforts to understand the early stages of cultivation in my free time, actually managed to pay off!

"Yes, dear?" 

Finally calming down after noticing that I came back to my senses, the girl sat down on her legs before intently staring at me.

"Those prototype items of Sander…" My smile became even brighter. With the bits of blood that splattered on me from the neck of the deceased drinking companion of mine, I could only wonder how terrifying my face looked like right now. "They might actually be quite helpful." 

Grabbing the mug of beer that Ayda mindfully took from the waiter before killing him, I took a hearty gulp before approaching the Inn's doors and slamming them open. 

Right in time, to smash one of the men attempting to enter the place with the doors through his head!