The Ruthless Cleanup

“We can do nothing.”

“Captain, is it truly right to simply let this happen?”

“No, it isn’t. However, we cannot bear this burden.”

They were utterly helpless. Faust made that judgment. He understood. Hamman was the God of Justice. He was also the God of Responsibility and Proof. Yet, even if they were to prove something for the sake of justice, they could not shoulder the responsibility. No one could stop him once he knew the truth and erupted in fury. Everything would simply come to an end.

“Could that woman, Trimoss, the lord of this domain, truly survive?”

Trimoss merely fulfilled the role of a lord. In reality, she held no power. Like a jester on a stage, she would have to step down once her act was done. Other jackals would plunder Trimoss’s assets. Trimoss was already gone. Only her shadow remained.

“Paradoxically, if he never comes, Trimoss is utterly useless.”

“But, but this kind of thing…”

Unlike Jack and Faust, whose expressions had darkened considerably, Nocturne showed no particular emotion. For him, it was merely another common tragedy. There was nothing they could do, nor any reason to do it. Nocturne, having shuffled the cards briskly, dealt them across the low table as if scattering them.

“As your captain mentioned earlier, we’ll pretend we heard nothing.”

“…Indeed. I had also considered this.”

“Live long. That’s how you get a good life.”

Such an absurd remark. She did nothing further. After glancing at the three of them once, she stood for a moment longer before exiting the room. Nocturne, having dealt enough cards, spoke to the remaining two.

“Care for a game?”

The two stared intently at the cards before shaking their heads in refusal. How faint-hearted. Nocturne flipped the cards briskly and began to play poker by himself.

“Why is my body so stiff?”

Despite feeling as though I had slept soundly, my body felt oddly heavy and sluggish. Even twisting and stretching, my muscles felt tightly strained. Was it due to the gloomy weather?

For some reason, the three others also looked far from well. Each of their faces was grim, their eyes hollow and utterly lifeless. They must have stayed up late doing something, instead of sleeping.

“Are you leaving now?”

Just yesterday, she had seemed to smile for a moment, but now she was gloomy again. She was wearing the new, pure white dress I had given her yesterday. I wasn’t sure why she chose that one; it looked flashy but had no options, making it the least valuable of all the clothes. Had she liked it? I bent slightly, meeting Trimoss’s gaze, and offered a smile.

“Trimoss, I don’t think I’ll be able to come back here ever again.”

At my words, several people, including her, gasped. ‘Huh? Why were their reactions so dramatic?’ I pondered, but couldn’t understand why. More importantly, I needed to continue what I wanted to say.

“So, what I’m saying is, you should probably hire new NPC employees.”

“Is this… the last… the last time?”

Her eyes wavered, and her voice trembled violently. Though I didn’t know why she was reacting this way, I squeezed her hand firmly.

“While playing with you yesterday, I noticed that the loyalty and overall quality of your NPCs seemed incredibly low.”

“NPC… what is that?”

“Hmm… all living beings capable of interaction and conversation? I can’t really explain it. For now, just think of them as ‘humans’ here.”

Although I had fun playing with Trimoss, the quality of the surrounding NPCs hovering around was terribly poor. I saw too many instances of them shouting at Trimoss, the lord, or outright disobeying her commands. Even common ruffians, if hired, wouldn’t behave in such a manner. I suspected their loyalty had simply plummeted.

“Rather than these low-loyalty, useless individuals, it would be better to simply hire new ones.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Was something… wrong?”

I didn’t really expect her to understand. Even if I explained, she likely wouldn’t properly grasp it anyway. I wasn’t sure how much she’d need, but I pulled a generous ten thousand gold from my inventory and handed it to her.

[Awaken, Princess.]

No sooner had I spoken softly than a thunderous clatter erupted from all directions, including the mansion’s perimeter. One by one, awakened golems rose, grasping their various armaments.

Startled by the loud noise, she spun around, her eyes widening. I rested a hand on her shoulder, leaned in, and whispered.

“I taught you how to use them yesterday, didn’t I? Today, I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Thump-thump, the leader of the golems slowly walked towards us and knelt. I pointed to it, kindly explaining to her.

“You can name it if you wish. This one is the highest quality among all the golems installed here. It’s a special grade, while the others range from superior to supreme. If you want to change any settings, just speak to it. It will appear whenever and wherever you call it. [Change Elimination Target Settings.]”

—Confirming desired settings for change.

“Hmm, first, let’s check the current settings, shall we? [Output Current Settings.]”

—Current automatic recognition setting range: Eliminate all objects hostile to target object ‘Trimoss’. Hostility level is set to ‘Life-threatening severity’. In exceptional cases, if called, commands will be followed regardless of existing setting values.

She merely gaped like a goldfish before reaching out a trembling hand to touch the golem’s head. ‘Was it fascinating to her? I thought I had shown her plenty when I taught her how to use them during installation.’ Perhaps it had been too long since she last saw it.

“Th-these are what were guarding this place?”

“I taught you how to use them yesterday. What did you think they were then?”

“I thought it was… a way to summon something. I never imagined such things would be in the mansion…”

“Hmm—? Well, it’s easy to forget, I suppose. By the way, they aren’t just here. They’re installed throughout the entire domain. If monsters or anything dangerous invades, they’ll automatically engage in combat, though you won’t have to manage that.”

The settings were, after all, merely settings. Although it was designed as a monster gathering place that would be regularly invaded, in reality, no monsters ever came. Perhaps I just hadn’t seen them because I visited so sporadically. Just in case, I pressed a piece of paper containing written commands and their usage into Trimoss’s hand.

“If it seems too difficult, just refer to this. Anyway, the golems currently present are programmed to eliminate only those who pose a life-threatening hostility towards you. I’m going to add a slight adjustment to the settings. [Add Elimination Target Recognition Range.]”

—Adding new settings to the elimination target recognition range.

[Eliminate Hired NPCs with Loyalty below 30.]

—Settings added. Too many recognized targets in the current area. Do you wish to execute immediately?

“Hmm, that many? Well, can’t be helped. [Execute Immediately.]”

No sooner had I finished speaking than the summoned golems charged at the surrounding NPCs, brutally severing their heads. Blood splattered everywhere, and brief screams poured forth like grains of sand, washing away.

“Trimoss. This land, this area, everything in this domain was made for you. But it seems none of these NPCs truly respect you. Such things have no place here.”

“Wh-what is this…?”

“The reason they are dying now is because they do not revere you. Anything that does not serve your purpose has no reason to live here. Remember that.”

When an NPC is first hired, their loyalty begins at 50. The average loyalty of guards in a major city is around 70, while other hired NPCs average around 80. A loyalty level below 30 is practically equivalent to that of a bandit, a value that cannot be recovered through NPC interactions alone.

Of course, as a player, I could recover it if I managed them. However, I had no intention of staying here any longer. Their overall stats were too low, and judging by their service, their life skill proficiency was almost at rock bottom. It was far more efficient to kill the current NPCs and recruit new ones than to spend time and money restoring them.

“I liked you. You might have forgotten, but I remember.”

“Ha… so lightly, so emptily…”

“Trimoss, take care. Be happy. I really can’t come back now, so don’t wait for me. Understood?”

Had I broken her by killing too many at once? Trimoss merely followed the scattering bloodstains with her eyes. She muttered something, half out of her mind, but its meaning was completely indecipherable.

I removed my hand from her shoulder and returned to the three standing idly by.

“Sir Haut.”

“Hm?”

‘Why?’ Faust, his face ghostly pale, looked between me and the scene behind us as he spoke.

“Did you… know?”

“Know what?”

I really didn’t understand what was wrong with them now. Earlier, their expressions had been dark, as if they were about to cry, but now, all color had drained from their faces, their eyes wide with terror, and they were trembling uncontrollably.

Was it because their levels were too low? Perhaps their mental fortitude was weak, making them easily agitated. I smiled brightly at the three of them.

“Now, let’s find something you’ll all enjoy.”

‘Goodbye, Trimoss.’ With that, we left Red Rebirth.

The scent of blood was so potent it made my nose sting. People were screaming and running everywhere; it was absolute pandemonium. The system warning earlier had indicated many targets, but seeing it firsthand, I had to admit it was even more extensive than I’d imagined. At this rate, almost everyone would be wiped out, leaving virtually no one behind, wouldn’t they?

No. Still, it couldn’t be helped. Just as I was turning away, someone dashed up and grabbed my arm.

Jack stood before me, his face utterly pale. I wondered what he had done to be trembling so much.

“Wh-what is happening? Why are, why are those things suddenly killing people?!”

“What’s there to be surprised about? It’s just a normal cleanup.”

Did they not realize I was the one who eliminated them? It seemed they hadn’t registered the system command I’d issued. If that were the case, it was understandable, as NPCs, excluding those with evil alignment, were programmed to react with fear or shock upon discovering corpses.

Additional actions or dialogue might vary slightly depending on the specific character class or disposition. I thought they would be fine since they were combat-oriented, but perhaps their mental fortitude was low due to their low level. Or was it their priest alignment causing them to overreact even more? I merely shrugged.

“It couldn’t be helped. It’s much easier and faster to just hire new ones than to fix the existing ones.”