C40 - The Judge, The Jury & The Executioner
Kahn yawned as he finally opened his eyes after a decent sleep. He quickly freshened up and went to the canteen for breakfast as he woke up a little late than his usual time.
Kahn heard whispers amongst the people that were sitting on tables in groups, many speaking so quietly that one could not even make out any words. However, this wasn't the case for Kahn who had incredible hearing senses.
"So did you hear? All the dead bodies belonged to criminals who had records of violent acts but were never arrested due to lack of evidence.. I say this guy is doing good work." said a young man in his 20s.
"Good my ass. That's just another serial killer on the loose acting like he's some kind of hero. I say soon he'll start killing innocent citizens as well. The city security should find him as soon as they can." said another long-haired man in disagreement.
"Guys, don't forget how swiftly all of them were killed. Not a single one of them even saw it coming and died on the spot with those hard spear-like things. Some say those belong to dungeon monsters." said another member of the group who was seemed to be shook and scared.
"What are you worried about? Didn't it say that only sinners will face the judgement? Tell us, what crimes did you do?" said the 2nd guy and taunted his friend.
Kahn then focused on the gossips amongst the crowd and found that almost everyone in the city was now aware of the situation. Security guards and law enforcement authorities were also searching for the killer.
Kahn ate his breakfast indifferently as if this sensational news didn't bother him at all. He soon returned to his room and took out a book from his space ring.
It was one of the books the snakekin assassin had given him. He opened the book and read the contents again..
"A true professional indeed." said Kahn as he praised in amazement. Kahn took a pen that was on the study table in his room and crossed out 12 names on the list.
What the book contained was nothing else than the names, addresses, habits, known routines and places these people visited on regular basis.
The names of the people Kahn just crossed were none other than the dead people that were killed and impaled on the walls of the streets of Flavot city. And as for the killer who committed these acts of wanton murders.. It was none other than Kahn himself.
Yesterday night, as soon as Kahn received the intel from the snakekin assassin, he was shocked by how detailed the report was. And After reading the names and areas where these people usually lived.. Kahn decided to use the dark night to his advantage and decided to finish off these people which had many humans & demihumans. Kahn used Shadow Walk and Extension to finish off the targets without getting noticed by anyone.
As for the people Kahn killed.. Not a single one of them was a saint. Some had killed, some had rap*d women & even young girls under 18 years and some even killed the victims after they did the crime. But all of these people were declared innocent due to lack of evidence and witnesses. In some cases, the witnesses disappeared overnight before the hearing itself. The first book was completely filled with this information. Every page had one of such individuals and all the details on them.
Kahn's blood boiled after reading the list of these criminals and how they were roaming free and who knows how many more innocent lives were ruined or taken by these monsters..
At the end of the day, Kahn was part of human civilization where human rights and equality were stressed upon. Fair justice was practiced no matter which part of society you came from.. But in this new world he was living in; it was only in name. You can get away with anything as long as you have money, authority and background to make these things go away. Just like the saying went..
'The biggest sin of the weak was allowing themselves to stay weak.'
The Elric of previous life would've been enraged and would go on a killing spree with his current strength and abilities but the Kahn of this life was a completely different person than the previous him.
He was no different than these killers himself. He killed for achieving his goals like the monsters he hunted in the forest, like the bandits he killed to save the merchant caravan and get out of the forest or the groundhog adventurer team he killed without flinching because they were part of his contract.
This was a world where Law & Justice didn't apply to you as long as you held power and authority. It was a world where the strong preyed on the weak.
Kahn purely acted based on self-preservation. He didn't trust a single soul in this world other than himself. And thanks to the Somir's will he inherited which changed his personality and demeanor to some degree.. He would not be swayed by his emotions and act rashly.
He didn't mindlessly kill but he also didn't mind killing anyone who stood in his way.
The reason why he chose to put up a display of justice & wrote those words with blood on the walls was to send a message to the entire city. To create a foundation of his new persona he was going to introduce.
Kahn went to meet Nikolaus as soon as the office hours were up.
"So how much did I earn?" asked Kahn to the old man about his earnings from the materials and things he sold yesterday.
"Take a look yourself." said the old man and tossed a high-grade space ring to Kahn.
"That's for all the materials you gave me yesterday. The list was quite big so it took some time. This is the most reasonable price I can give you. And by the way, the Ring is on the house." said the old man and chuckled.
As soon as Kahn checked the contents of the new space ring.. His jaw almost hit the floor and eyes popped out in surprise.
"Sixty thousand! It's sixty thousand gold dramus." shouted Kahn in surprise as he couldn't believe his eyes.
Kahn originally expected 15 to 20 thousand gold coins at best. Now he felt like he greatly undermined the value of the fortune he acquired that day. This transaction now made Kahn filthy rich compared to many adventurers.
"Keep them coming and I'll pay you more next time." said the old merchant as he rubbed his hands together like a fly..
"Yeah yeah.. It'll take me some time to gather more but you can look forward to it. By the way, do you have a detailed city map? I don't know much about the city and many of its areas so I often get lost.." Kahn said as he rubbed his hair sheepishly.
"Oh, I do have one just here." said Nikola and took out a large folded map from a nearby wooden shelf.
"Thanks. I'm going off to the dungeon again. I'll see you at dinner." said Kahn and left the office.
As for why he needed the detailed city map.. It was to plan his assassinations and targets the most efficient way he could as the locality, crowd and desolate corners played a big part in it from Kahn's experience he had yesterday night.
Kahn simply asked for directions of the places and found his targets one by one and this took him the entire morning.
With a map, he could create a list of his next targets and properly plan his assassinations.
Today, Kahn didn't go outside the merchant enterprise and spent his entire day studying the book and the intel in it along with the small book which consisted of the list of his contract targets. He had to incorporate them together so that no one would connect the dots about all the killings being specifically targeted towards Stragabor and his people. His plan was simple..
'In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.'
As the night fell.. Kahn left his room through the window using Shadow Walk and traveled through the city from one location to another without being noticed by anyone.
Tonight, half of the city was under surveillance because of yesterday's incident. And many shops and restaurants were closed off earlier. People were afraid and the authorities were taking him seriously.
The next morning, the scene was even wilder & chaotic than yesterday. Because as soon as the sunlight fell, people found a total of 14 bodies of humans, demihumans and some soldiers impaled on the walls of the city in different locations. With words written using blood just like yesterday..
NO SINNER SHALL GO UNPUNISHED NO MORE. FOR I AM THE JUDGE, THE JURY AND THE EXECUTIONER..
I AM AZRAEL.. THE ANGEL OF DEATH