Promising that I won't disturb the Inn's guests meant that I couldn't kick down the door to Nogjaf's room like I originally wanted, oh well, it probably wouldn't look as cool as it did in my head anyway.

  Knocking on the door did feel simplistic though, and I felt slightly guilty as I did it three times, was I being too loud? I totally was wasn't I? This hallway is so silent that any sound I make echoes front to back, and why am I so scared of making noise?

  Ugh. I knocked three times again, this time with more force, did I really just feel anxious? Really? I already threatened the girl in the front desk so I don't think there's a point in trying to be discreet by this point.

  "Can't you see that I'm busy?!" An impatient voice came from the other end of the door when I knocked for the third time. "Bring me my food later! Did you just knock again?! Why do you people have to be so—"

  Footsteps, finally. I tried to calm myself and hide the excitement bubbling in my chest as I listened to Nogjaf, he's slowly getting closer, it should only take a moment before...

  The knob twists, I react immediately and lunge, the moment the door opens, I jump past the doorframe and into Nogjaf's room, my hand finds his throat, fingers wrapping neatly around his neck. My grip tightens and he begins to choke, he tries to speak, he fails.

  "Hello." Do I need to introduce myself? I totally do, don't I? "I'm Rontress Owelline, but you already know that, don't you, Nogjaf?" There's no sir before his name or any kind of respect in my tone. "You know what you did don't you?"

  He tries to speak, he fails, I loosen my grip. Tears fell down his eyes as he tried to explain himself, I wasn't listening, of course, all I heard was incoherent babbling. Well, except for the last part.

  "It was all Folsan's idea!" Whoa, way to go throwing your accomplice under the bus like this you snitch. Where's the loyalty between the two of them? "Please! It wasn't my fault! I was simply following along! I didn't even know why we did it!"

  His nose breaks when my fist strikes his face, blood gushes out of his torn lips while a tooth falls out of his mouth, the skin around his cheeks begins to purple and blood is pooling inside the membrane of his left eye.

  Before, I willingly ignored what he was saying, because what was the point? His pleas didn't matter to me, I wasn't gonna spare him. Now I can barely understand what he was saying with his broken mouth and ripped tongue.

  "You didn't know?!" I scream, fuck the promise, this piece of shit just had to open his mouth and piss me off didn't he? Let the rest of the Inn hear me torture this man. "And yet you did it anyway?!"

  How stupid do you have to be to do something like that? No, not stupid, cruel.

  There's nothing stupid about what he did, he simply hurt others for the sake of doing it, and that's sadistic more than anything. This piece of shit just wanted to hurt my family? Really? I thought he was like Folsan who felt that his position was being threatened!

  "Why would you even do something like that?!" I punch him again, and this time his face caves in. "You hurt my family just for the sake of it?! You cruel piece of shit!"

  Another punch and he loses consciousness and starts spasming, a seizure? No, probably just nerve damage. I inhale deeply, he's going to die here if I don't do anything, I did something stupid and I now can't use him as an example to show the rest of Flotol.

  "[Lesser Heal]." That can't happen, after I uttered the chant, his face morphs back into something that resembled Nogjaf's features before I punched him hard enough to crack his skull.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Healing the injured in our camp these last few weeks has made me realize that the original effects of the mender's set didn't disappear but instead became a part of me, that or Dryads just have an affinity for healing.

  Knowing this, I deliberately used a weak healing spell, I didn't want Nogjaf to recover fully, I wanted him to suffer. And from the looks of things, he kind of is? I mean, his face has gotten healed, maybe even his broken bones, but it's not perfect and he's definitely hurting.

  "Well, looks like I acted out of hand." I grabbed him by the collar of his vest and dragged him out of the Inn. Once we reached the front desk, the receptionist looked at me the same way a regular person would a predator.

  "Sorry for the disturbance, we'll go now." I gave her a light smile and dragged Nogjaf out of there.

  Nogjaf was unconscious throughout our journey, I don't think the cold was enough to wake him up, actually, I think it did the opposite and made him fall deeper into sleep. This didn't matter of course, since all it took was a single slap from me and he woke up.

  When he opened his eyes, we had already reached Flotol and the villagers had gathered around him. The man who used to sit at the very top of Flotol's hierarchy could only crawl away in fear the moment he saw the villagers staring at him angrily.

  "So, since everyone is here." I started, my smile was thin, barely there, I didn't want to treat this as a spectacle but I had to. Oh who am I kidding? I wanted to see Nogjaf feel fear. The fact that he isn't pisses me off more than it should. "I just want to say that all of you have messed with the wrong person."

  By this point, it is clear that I'm not someone they should have disturbed, but I wanted to say it again because why not? A reminder is always a good thing.

  "Especially you." Nogjaf flinched when I made my hand come to his face. How much relief did he feel when I simply tapped his forehead with my finger? "You hired adventurers to attack my family and I'm not an expert in law but I'm pretty sure something like that will get someone executed, noble or not."

  Well, nobles wouldn't face consequences for their actions most of the time, it just so happens that I'm stronger than them right now, and so I can punish them however I see fit.

  Oh, and look at that? Even the villagers are agreeing with me, what else can they do except that? Fight me? I guess? Nah, they can't, even if they all come together they still wouldn't stand a chance.

  "But before that." My eyes go into the crowd, specifically where Folsan is currently standing. "Nogjaf, can you tell me who it is you claimed orchestrated everything?"

  "I..." Nogjaf flinched when I clenched my hands into fists, he looked away, then at the ground. "It was Folsan, he's the one who told me what to do, I simply followed along."

  This was what he was trying to tell me earlier, that he was "simply following orders" so he isn't at fault and all that, the standard plea people make whenever they're caught. Of course, I couldn't care less if he was just being ordered around, there was no one forcing him to do this and guess what? He's even wealthy enough to fight Folsan's influence with his resources.

  But he didn't do any of that, did he? He even went out of his way to spend his wealth helping Folsan instead of going against him. What does this say about Nogjaf? Well, it says that he is a spineless loser who can only attack things lower than him.

  A filter feeder so to say. A jellyfish.

  "Lies! Here?! You are being judged!"

  Oh god, I try not to laugh as Folsan deflects Nogjaf's blame, he really is just that good at lying isn't he? And not to mention, he's basically swayed the entire population with just a few words.

  "He's right." I looked down on Nogjaf as the man stared at me like I had betrayed him, which I have... If you know, we were actually working together? What an idiot. "Nogjaf is just pinning the blame at this point, isn't he? Trying to catch Folsan off guard and take the head priest with him, of course, Folsan is incompetent but this did not mean he would hire adventurers."

  Flutt will be the one to bring down the head priest, hell, I probably won't even have to do anything thanks to him. Focusing on Nogjaf and his crimes is more efficient.

  "But he—"

  "Nonsense." I cut him off and turned to Oguarez. "I brought him here for a reason, you know, so how about we finally hold him accountable for all his crimes?"

  The old executioner nodded, then he slowly moved closer to Nogjaf.

  "No— you can't—" the noble stood up and tried to run, his attempts at escape were easy to deal with, I just had to raise a leg and trip him up.

  Oguarez soon caught up, and the moment Nogjaf was taken, I followed behind them. I was pretty excited to see another execution, how long has it been since I last saw one again? I think it was before I became an acolyte?

  No... Two months after I became an acolyte there was another execution, but then nothing else followed after that, I wonder why?