# Chapter 77: 77
His skin crawled.
Although he didn't know what those were, Radis would still have taken a step back.
They were monster eggs, so naturally, monsters would come out of them.
On top of that, it was impossible to guess what kind of monster it would be just from the outer shell.
Something truly terrible and evil could be born from there.
More than that, monster eggs could attract more monsters.
Radis now realized what Gorz was doing.
They were summoning monsters using the eggs they had stolen from Monsterwood.
After that, they would threaten the villagers of the towns they visited and receive payment for "subjugating" the monsters.
—But what is this?
That egg was glowing.
And the shell was the color of shiny ivory.
The entire egg was covered with faint patterns, as if it had been engraved with gold, and a subtle glow emanated from it.
The light changed to various shades the more I looked at it, so I couldn't put a name to the color of that glow.
Radis had seen many monster eggs back then, but he had never seen one that glowed.
It was obviously suspicious.
Then, he felt someone's presence outside the door.
—You said you were going to drink your fill, but you didn't even bring money? What an idiot!
—That's because you suddenly talked about spiders!
—S-Spiders! Ugh-huuu!
—Euuuugh… Huh? What's wrong with the door handle?
Luke pulled on the broken handle as he opened the door.
Then, he saw a stranger standing in the room. It was a girl with red hair and a short cloak.
No, a girl?
At first glance, he looked like a boy because his clothes were all dirty and he had an iron club attached to his belt. But when he looked at her face, it was definitely a woman.
And I had seen her before.
Luke yelled.
—Auction house!
—How did you know that this place...?
Radis raised his head to look at Gorz and Luke. Then, he opened his lips to speak.
—There are some things I would like to ask.
—...!
—First, have you ever killed someone while doing this?
Gorz and Luke looked at Radis in confusion.
—Second, these monster eggs have golden patterns, but how did brutes like you manage to get them?
Radis lifted the glowing egg from the cabinet.
—Finally, what the hell is this?
Luke had been staring blankly just then, but in his shock, he pulled out a sharp dagger and screamed.
—Are you crazy? Do you want to die? Put that down!
Gorz, who until then had remained still, stepped forward and spoke.
-You! If you think I won't take revenge just because you are someone from the Marquisate, you are wrong. I don't know what kind of nerve you have to come here alone, but if you put that down, I'll be generous enough to spare your life!
After saying all that, Gorz extended his hand towards Radis.
He looked like he was going to grab her by the hair, but that seemed ridiculous to her.
Radis nimbly dodged and grabbed Gorz's hair instead. ...I mean, if he had even a single hair on his shiny bald head, he would have gone for it, but since he didn't have...
She opted to grab his beard instead. While holding a handful of her disheveled hair, Radis asked.
"I'll give you some time to think." Do you want me to let him live, or do you want me to hit him for not talking?
Clutched by his beard, Gorz staggered forward. At that, he clenched his fists and exclaimed indignantly.
-You!
Radis sighed.
-Alright. I'll hit you once, and then we'll start talking.
───── •????️• ─────
In their previous life, Robert and Radis' high level of combat eventually raised the status of the entire subjugation squad, but it was not like that at the beginning.
There weren't many people who willingly joined the subjugation squad like Radis did.
More often than not, being sent to that squad was like a death sentence.
They were sent there after a duel. It is said that it was because he killed a high-ranking person. Tez was also caught for smuggling goods.
Laszlo was brought in for robbery.
And with a group like that, there was only one way to discipline them.
Hit them once, and they will begin to loosen.
If it doesn't work the first time, keep hitting.
Until it works in the end.
However, if you hit them too hard and they die, then it's not even worth hitting them that much.
So, as long as their skull doesn't crack, as long as their brains don't spill out, as long as their eyes don't roll back or their tongues don't turn purple, everything is fine.
It wouldn't be beneficial to accidentally break some bones, because those take forever to heal.
Moderation was the key here. If you hit them carefully and sincerely, distributing the blows evenly across the body without bias, it would work better.
Radis used that hitting method today, and the first mouth he managed to open was Luke's very swollen mouth.
—Keeeuugh! W-We didn't give it to people, ma'am!
Then, Gorz's mouth also soon opened.
—Ku-huhp! N-We find a passage. Ku-hngh! I-It's directly connected to M-Monsterwood, ma'am!
Shrinking, Gorz's face was soaked with tears falling from his eyes, which were swollen or simply closed. Who knows.
-Passage?
—Ku-uurk! W-We went into the forest through that passage m-many times. And we got the eggs from there and sold them, that's how we m-made money...
—So they managed to make all this money with things they got in the forbidden region. It's a lot, huh?
—I broke an egg by mistake once and the monsters chased us… I knew we shouldn't do something like that, but…!
Radis sighed briefly as he looked at the miserable Gorz and Luke.
Even though they knew they shouldn't do it, they would still have repeated it diligently.
Until one day, their methods were exposed... because of that, they would become wanted men. They would eventually be caught by bounty hunters and then immediately executed.
People usually don't change their ways... Should I get rid of them here?
Valiz