First, I had to decide on a course of action.
After all, my Gift was "World's Most Incompetent." Until just a moment ago, I had taken a certain pride in being strong, but now that my memories as Kai Heinemann had returned, there was no doubt that it had all been an illusion.
In the first place, there was no way one could become the world's greatest swordsman simply by winning within a delusion. Truly a frog in a well. I had come dangerously close to charging in recklessly and getting myself killed.
Looking back on it now, that dungeon with the grandiose name of Gods' Ordeal hadn't been anything special either. After all, someone as incompetent as me had managed to clear it. It had to be the lowest-difficulty dungeon in existence.
Yes. The outside world would never be as lenient as that dungeon. The Four Great Demon Kings, Heroes, dragonkin—this world was teeming with extraordinary powerhouses. The me from before my memories returned would probably have wanted to fight them, but unfortunately, I had no such desire anymore. Or rather, until just a little while ago, hadn't I been craving life-or-death battles to a sickening degree? No, no, that was downright creepy! It totally freaked me out!
At any rate, it was best to proceed with caution. I should probably refrain from summoning the monsters from the Subjugation Compendium as much as possible. Setting aside Faf, who possessed a decent level of strength, Fen and Nine-Tails were still far too green, even if they constantly insisted on accompanying me. For the time being, I would strictly order them to stay inside the Subjugation Compendium.
With my general guidelines settled, what should I do next? Perhaps I could obtain the hunter certification I'd always longed for, or maybe set out on a journey to see the world.
No, surviving our current predicament came first. I cast a glance around at the pack of beasts surrounding the three(?) of us.
"Done running already? Well, for someone who looks like total small fry, you did pretty well. Honestly, when that fog rolled in, I was seriously freaking out."
From deep within the trees, guarded by the pack of beasts, an effeminate man dressed in a black robe stepped into view.
Hm? He doesn't look strong at all. According to Kai Heinemann's memories, he should have been quite powerful. Well, I supposed I would find out once we actually crossed blades.
"Hm? You had companions? That girl over there is a bit young, but she's quite a looker. She'd be wildly popular with the pedo perverts. Looks like she'll fetch a high price from the slave traders."
The red-haired man ogled Fafnir with unabashed lust.
"Master, Faf thinks this guy is gross. I want to kill him!"
Fafnir made its plea to me without even trying to hide its disgust.
"Wait, wait. There's still something I want to ask him."
As usual, I gently stroked Faf's head to soothe its temper while talking it down.
If I remembered correctly, this man had been babbling about some sort of plan, so I should at least make an effort to pry the information out of him. Besides, Faf was practically family to me now. I couldn't let it do something so dangerous.
"Then I shall handle it. A mere human, yet rather insolent. Fret not, I need only refrain from killing him, yes?"
The Chicken Majin—Astaroth—cracked his knuckles through his pure-white gloves and took a step forward. Hey, you're weak, so don't just go charging in without thinking.
"No, I'll do it. I want to see what they're capable of."
"You wish to see what they are capable of, Master...? Against such small fry?"
Astaroth asked, staring at me as if looking at some bizarre creature.
What a rude fellow. Even so... small fry, huh? Indeed, just like the monsters in that dungeon, I didn't feel the slightest threat from them. Lately, my ability to gauge an enemy's strength seemed to have grown dull.
To hone my abilities, I had spent a very long time training under the restrictions of the God-Sealing Gloves. It was likely a side effect of living that way for tens of thousands of years. Compared to before, my ability to accurately measure an opponent's prowess had degraded considerably. Of course, I could still make vague assessments. Specifically, on a scale of weak, slightly weak, very weak, hopelessly weak, and weak as a gnat.
However, when facing a human rather than a monster, I had no confidence in my judgment at all. After all, for nearly one hundred thousand years, I had had zero interaction with people. One cannot measure what one does not know.
Be that as it may, he was certainly not an opponent to be taken lightly. I decided to go all out.
I drew Raikiri, scabbard and all, from my Item Box.
"Do you bastards even realize what kind of situation you're in?! Or has fear completely broken your minds?!"
There were over forty black panthers surrounding us. To the me before entering the dungeon, this would have been an utterly hopeless crisis. But as expected, I didn't feel threatened in the slightest. I might as well test the waters.
"True Kai-Style Swordsmanship: One-Sword Style, First Form: Death Line."
For me, this was the most fundamental technique—as natural as drawing breath.
At my uttered words of power, lines traced across the black beasts. In an instant, they were sliced into scattered chunks of meat and tumbled to the ground.
"Huh?"
The red-haired man's eyes went wide, staring blankly at the beasts that had been reduced to piles of minced flesh.
Just as Astaroth had said, they really were small fry. That being said, this world was a dangerous place. Letting one's guard down was strictly forbidden. Especially considering how noticeably reckless I had been before entering the dungeon.
"Now then. You were saying something about a plan, weren't you? Care to tell me all about it?"
Among the books I had acquired, there was, rather conveniently, a manual on torture. Faf had a habit of wanting to read whatever I was reading, so I had avoided looking through the abnormal ones since they would be terrible for its upbringing. From now on, though, perhaps I ought to actively study that sort of material as well.
Regardless, I might not have known the proper methods of torture, but beating him to a pulp would surely loosen his tongue. After all, I had plenty of ways to heal him. Granted, Panacea could only be used on myself, but I had all sorts of ultra-potent potions excavated from the labyrinth. All sorts of things, indeed.
"S-Stay back!! You monster!!"
The red-haired man drew a dagger and frantically swung it with trembling hands, only for me to shatter both of his arms with the blunt spine of Raikiri.
With fractured bone piercing through his skin and both arms bent in unnatural directions, the red-haired man let out a bloodcurdling shriek. Taking that scream as my signal, I began the interrogation.