Heishou Pack - Si Branch: Rodion's Story

I see a small group of people fleeing, navigating past the bodies growing cold and stiff.

But it won't matter. Don't they know that there's no getting away from the snakes?

Gaaaaah!

…….

While it is not as deadly as the Night in the Backstreets, the nighttime of Hongyuan is when various grievances and resentments come to light and clash.

Maybe that's why...

Nighttime is when those who harass and bully vendors and merchants during daytime then tremble and fall on the dirt to scurry under their desks.

Nighttime is when those who would normally look down on the poor are rendered sobbing and snivelling as they demand to know under whose bidding we have been sent.

Every swing is a beheading of the arrogant,

and their decapitated heads thump lightly before rolling across the wood floor like bowling balls.

One of the heads comes to a rolling stop, and its eyes stare straight into mine.

Resentment. Fear. Sorrow.

Familiar sentiments, all of them, swirl behind the gathering cloudiness of those eyes.

Hah. Think you've got it rough, huh? You don't deserve to look at me like that.

You've never felt the shearing cold. You've never felt the hunger, the sensation of bones sticking to your skin.

How dare a mere beast of the Heishou lecture us?! You're nothing more than livestock!

I don't even look around as I decapitate the source of that voice with my polearm.

I felt something rising from my throat. It was dry and discomforting.

Don't they know why they're getting killed...? How do they not see this is totally just deserts?

So, despite knowing that there wasn't anyone to hear my words, I speak to the decapitated heads as I walk across the creaking floorboards.

It's never enough, is it? Even with all this boundless wealth, you still had to look for more, huh?

I guess it's more of a rhetorical question. It's power, isn't it? You wanted that little morsel of power, something more than money can get, didn't you?

They must've been too greedy. Greedy enough to draw the ire of a different candidate... my lord's, to be exact.

And they have the gall to give me that look? They pretty much brought all this upon themselves.

... Looks like I've decapitated all of them.

My lord's orders were simple.

The mission was to find a small hermitage called <ruby=Songan>Pine</ruby> Hermitage and decapitate everyone on the list.

There was a weird exception clause listed there. Should I encounter a target who's not on the list, I should crush their head. But...

I didn't see anyone that fit the conditions in this tiny hermitage.

Well, now that's taken care of, I should head back to - Huh?

I detect a very small noise coming from under the pile of crates.

I reflexively reach out and destroy them... and a tiny shadow crawled out from under them.

Ha... ha...

So that's why the lord sent the Heishou here. He knew that they were secretly raising a potential candidate here... A potential rival to him.

P-please don't kill me, Ms. Heishou!

Mom and dad said... If we wanna live in Daguanyuan's blessings...

I-I have to work hard to become the Family Hierarch and bring prosperity to our family.

He's just a kid... he doesn't even know what he's talking about.

Haah... now why'd you have to go and hide there? Couldn't you have picked a better hiding place than under some random crate?

The boy is barely holding back his tears. But the hermitage is quiet, and there are no witnesses.

Now that I'm thinking about it, my lord probably didn't know for sure that there was a kid, either.

There wouldn't have been that awkwardly worded clause if he did. He would've just told me to kill the child.

He must've sent a Heishou for this job... as a warning.

A warning to others that he shouldn't even hear rumors of something like this.

…….

Nngh...

Well, I see how it is.

If the lord's gonna get me outta here... well, he can't afford to use us snakes for the big missions, right?

That has to be why he's using us only for these small, cheaper missions.

Heh, looks like this lord's finally gonna be the one to keep the promise.

... Huh? What are you -

Don't worry about it. It's better that you don't know.

You're a lucky one, kiddo.

This was a mission I volunteered to take. No other Heishou's coming.

And the other Heishou that's supposed to be here seems to have taken the liberty of giving himself the night off. I haven't seen him all night.

Uh... uhh...!

Sit still, kid. Don't wanna accidentally cut your head in half.

I... won't have to crush his head. A quick beheading should do it - I can explain this to my lord, and -

Whoops, just realized that you pretty much had the situation handled.

……

I didn't just jump the gun, did I? My bad if I did.

The head drops to the floor. There's a large hole straight through the skull.

The boy's head hits the floor with a wet thump in a fashion unlike the other decapitated heads, which rolled away with an almost blithe bounciness.

The flesh was raw. Viscous blood drips and sticks to the wood.

Damn... it's like this lord's got a sixth sense or something, huh? How'd he know there'd be a kid here?

Uh... yeah. Right.

This... is why I hate this work.

Not allowed to even make a single judgment. Just follow the lord's orders.

We won't make any enemies or friends, but... that's what makes us nothing more than tools.

... Its long-term prospects are pretty dire.

At least I can comfort myself with the fact that the deal I made with the lord'll be fulfilled soon.

This miserable work... Just a few more days, and I won't have to be a Heishou anymore...

... What took you so long?

Our lord gave me a last-minute extra mission. Had to take care of that first.

Mission...?

Yeah. Lord's looking to deal with a prominent candidate from the Xue family tomorrow.

It's gonna be a big mission, so he'll have to let go of our leashes once we take care of it, but... hey, if he thinks the mission's worth it, then who are we to say otherwise?

So, uh... Just asking in case you had your hopes up, but... you didn't actually believe him, right? That he'll free you and take you under his wing?

Huh? Aw, 'course not~ I'm not stupid.

The words that came out of my own mouth were strangely placid. Almost jovial.

Yeah. No sane person in Hongyuan's ever gonna take a non-Adept Heishou under their wing.

The Family Hierarch war's coming, right? It'd be a dumb move to not be a Heishou.

I'm so glad I'm a Heishou when stuff's going down for reals. We get a brief period to relax once they pick the Family Hierarch too, don't we?

It was as though something had taken control of my tongue to speak, as though all the gloom in my words were cleaned and filtered before leaving my lips.

... If I admit that I desire for nothing more than to escape this life of a Heishou... I'll have to face what a miserable thing I've become.

You're not wrong.

Besides, I know how much you guys'll miss me. There'll be a super capable snake-sized hole when I'm gone!

That's uh... well, you're not entirely wrong there, but also not entirely correct.

C'mon, this is when you say "you're so right", 'kay? Ugh, no wonder you're so boring. You've been at this for too long.

Well, let's head back. I'll report the mission's success to the lord; I need to visit him soon anyway.

The other snake leaves. I found myself transfixed by the crushed head, its shape now almost unrecognizable.

But I soon look away and leave the hermitage.

My room smelled of mold and lukewarm humidity.

Old, Bolus-soaked wraps thrown haphazardly across the floor. Blood all over my body.

This mess of a room was just too much, too much like my own heart.

So I bury my face between my knees to calm the growing misery.

I don't know. I just don't know anymore.

Everything he asked, I did without question. Was it too much to ask to forfeit a few months of his time with the leash?

There was never going to be any escape from this life, no matter how loyal I was. I knew that. But I still had to ask.

He could've chosen me.

Why... why wasn't it me...?

I didn't want to think anymore.

Thinking only seemed to sink me, drag me deeper into the endless abyss.

I'm so cold.