"No way."

I said, smiling as I looked down at the blackened Goaz.

He was a comical sight, sitting there trembling.

He had a stern face.
A man who looked like he was up to no good, with muscles built for show.

Men like this troubled me in my past life.

I remembered the loan sharks.

"Please! I'll do anything, just forgive me!"

His surrounding subordinates held their guns, and others carried away the bodies of their comrades.

Their gazes towards Goaz were cold.

However, there was a reason why I couldn't forgive Goaz.

While being a type I disliked from my past life was one reason, he was also mistaken.

"What is it? Are you mistaken about something? You're saying you'll do anything, or give me some incredible treasure -- but your treasure is already mine. And all you can do is obediently become my achievement, or be turned over to the empire for my bounty."

Goaz's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait! If you spare me, I'll definitely be useful. Ah, I lost to you, but you saw my strength, right? Your soldiers couldn't even lay a hand on me. I'll serve you obediently. So, please let me go! I have more treasure hidden than the bounty. So, please! I'll give you treasure I don't have here too!"

It's probably a lie.

It might be the truth, but it doesn't give me a reason not to turn him in.

"What? You're still hiding something? I'll let the empire know when I turn you in, so they can investigate thoroughly. A fun torture awaits you."

"You... you're kidding me, you brat!!"

Perhaps realizing that nothing he said would work, Goaz, despite having only one leg, charged at me.

He came at me with black smoke emanating from his body.

Towards the charging Goaz, I pointed the tip of my sword --

"Stop making noise."

-- and slashed him, just enough to not kill him, taking his last leg.

Goaz fell to the floor, sliding, and didn't understand what had happened. After a moment, he seemed to grasp the situation and begged for his life, crying.

"Please save me. Please. Save me!"

I happily admired my newly acquired sword, which was more useful than I had imagined.

Then, my subordinates asked me.

"Lord Liam, are you really going to capture him alive?"

"Is there a problem?"

"N-no, it's just that he killed many of my comrades."

I see, that's why they couldn't forgive him.

"If I kill him, won't the bounty decrease? I recall it's better to capture them alive, right?"

I seemed to recall hearing that.

But it seemed Goaz was different.

"No, for heinous criminals, life or death is irrelevant. For someone like Goaz, as long as we have a record of his death or his head, the full bounty will be paid."

Hearing that, I felt ashamed.

"What, is that so?"

I looked at Goaz, who was still crying.

I remembered my past life -- who was it that spouted nonsense about loan sharks having compassion? They were the type to suck you dry to the bone.

They had not a shred of kindness.

They even told me to get life insurance.

No matter how much I cried or screamed, I wasn't forgiven.

I despaired of my life.

Why was I going through such things?

But look at me now?

Now, I am the one who takes.

And the one being taken from is Goaz, a heinous criminal -- isn't that perfect!

"Please save me. I'll tell you everything. So please save--"

"Stop making noise, you're annoying."

After beheading him to silence him, I was surprised to see Goaz's body.

His black skin was returning to its normal color.

It was a tanned, wheat-like color.

"Ah, it's back. Is this guy a cyborg?"

Looking at his body, there was no sign of mechanization.

And that black skin... this world is truly full of mysteries.

I grabbed Goaz's head.

"This will be proof, right?"

"Y-yes!"

As my subordinates hurriedly replied, they brought tools to collect it.

As reports came in one after another, it seemed they had secured almost the entire ship.

My subordinate confirmed with me:

"Lord Liam, we found those who were captured -- other than the pirates."

◇

Guided by one of the pirates, I arrived near Goaz's room.

I had thought it was quite sturdily built for a pirate ship, but it turned out they had stolen and modified a warship from some country.

These guys were going too far.

I kicked the pirate guiding me from behind.

"Hurry up!"

"Y-yes!"

The man, called the "breeder" by other pirates, was close to Goaz.

He was short, with a potbelly, yet had thin limbs.

A creepy man.

He seemed to be entrusted with a special job and possessed specialized knowledge.

Arriving near Goaz's room, as the door opened, my subordinates entered first.

The breeder said something.

"Ah, um, please don't touch the equipment too much. They're my precious tools of the trade."

"Tools of the trade?"

Were they tools for raising animals?

I asked him one thing that bothered me.

"Hey, you."

"Yes?"

"Do you keep dogs on this ship?"

As the man smiled unpleasantly, he tried to impress me.

"Oh, you nobles do like your dogs. I can modify them into any kind of dog. Do you prefer obedient ones? Or do you want them to be like actual dogs?"

What is this guy talking about?

I thought he was crazy, when suddenly several of my subordinates burst out of the room.

They took off their helmets and were vomiting.

"What are you doing, showing yourselves like that in front of Lord Liam!"

My trained soldiers had pale faces, and I became curious about what was happening.

One soldier came out of the room and said to me.

"Lord Liam, I don't think you should go in."

His voice lacked strength.

"What? Tell me, I'm curious."

Instead of my hesitant subordinate, the creepy breeder explained.

"This is also my laboratory. I usually assist the captain -- Goaz -- with his hobbies. I'm sure the Count will be pleased."

The subordinates who had taken off their helmets glared at the breeder.

"You monster!"

To my subordinate's words, the breeder grinned.

"-- Explain."

At my command, the breeder happily told me about his work.

So -- it was so disgusting that I shot the breeder in the head with my pistol.

As expected, pirates are a menace.

Even more incomprehensible.

◇

In the dark room, creepy tools hung on the walls.

An operating table was placed there, and everyone in the room dreaded being taken to it.

This room was called the breeding room among the pirates.

It was a disgustingly bad taste room, a fusion of experiments by the creepy man called the breeder and Goaz's incomprehensible hobbies.

In this room were -- or rather, were -- people who were once handsome and beautiful.

Goaz's hobby was to enjoy the sight of handsome and beautiful people becoming ugly.

He also enjoyed torture as a hobby.

The breeder's hobby was human modification, and with the two of them together, the room was filled with people who were once handsome and beautiful, now in tragic states.

Among them, there was a woman who had been treated particularly cruelly.

Her name was [Christiana Leta Rosebreia] -- she was once a beautiful female knight.

Within the interstellar nation, though a small country, she was a princess knight born into royalty.

Her hometown was taken hostage by Goaz, and she surrendered, becoming Goaz's favorite -- toy.

Everyone brought to this room was a person with a special status.

People suffering from the twisted hobbies of Goaz and others.

Christiana -- Tia, had been reduced to a mere lump of flesh, unrecognizable from her former self, in that room.

As she noticed the ship's disturbance, she sensed everything when an unfamiliar group entered the room.

The soldiers who entered the room were vomiting at the sight before them.

Some soldiers were trembling.

Tia spoke to one of the soldiers.

"-- What happened to Goaz?"

Her once beautiful voice had become a very creepy one.

The soldier trembled in surprise and pointed his gun at her.

"Eek!"

"Don't be startled. Although I've been reduced to this state, I am not your enemy. I'll ask again. What happened to Goaz?"

As I thought the soldier's reaction was understandable, a gunshot was heard from beyond the open door.

The companions in the room felt relief.

Ah, with this, they could finally die.

A knight entered the room.

He was small and still looked young.

The boy, whose adulthood was questionable, held a single sword.

From the soldiers' reactions, Tia sensed that this boy held a higher position and spoke to him.

"Did you capture Goaz?"

The boy was slightly surprised but quickly replied.

"I killed him."

"-- Is that so?"

Inside the room, her companions moaned.

Joy, gratitude, tears of happiness -- the soldiers were terrified, but the boy seemed to be looking at Tia.

One of the soldiers searching the room brought a terminal and handed it to the boy.

Tia was truly grateful from the bottom of her heart.

The boy seemed like an angel sent from God, whom she had prayed to.

"It's finally over. I don't know who you are, but if you have any mercy, please -- please save us."

Tia's plea for salvation was to die by the hands of these boys.

In her current state, she couldn't even die.

Finally, everything would be over, Tia thought.

"Salvation?"

"Yes. I believe you'll understand if you see our condition. We can never live as humans again. So, by your hands --"

Having become an ugly form, she thought it impossible to return to her original state.

There was no point in living anymore.

However, the boy told her that he would not kill them.

"Alright, I'll save you. But you must repay this favor. Someone, call a doctor and have them carried out."

Tia thought the boy in front of her misunderstood the meaning of salvation.

"W-wait --"

The boy left the room with the soldiers.

She pleaded with the remaining soldiers.

"Please! Kill me! Please kill me!"

The soldiers turned their faces away.

"-- It's Lord Liam's order. We cannot disobey. I'm sorry."

In the room, despair suddenly washed over Tia and the others.

◇

Emerging from the distasteful room, I looked at the transformed figures of the victims on my tablet.

It detailed what was interesting, what experiments were done, and how they were modified.

It observed the process of their transformation, and there was even a breeding diary.

It seemed they gathered only handsome and beautiful people and enjoyed watching them transform into ugly beings.

"Those guys have bad taste."

It was a hobby I couldn't understand.

My subordinate asked me.

"Lord Liam, are you really going to save them?"

It was a subordinate with medical knowledge, and he informed me that the treatment methods for those who had been transformed were limited.

"Judging by their condition, the only treatment is to regenerate their entire bodies."

"Can they be cured?"

"That would require an Elixir. Even if diluted, you know its value."

In a fantasy world, Elixir is like a panacea.

Of course, it exists in this world too, but even the great empire finds few of them.

If it were to appear on the market, it would be traded at an exorbitant price.

"We can just buy it. I wanted some too, so I'd like two or three."

Selling the treasure I took from Goaz should fetch a considerable amount.

In fact, Goaz might have more hidden.

I'm the type to use Elixirs.

"N-no, well -- we also need specialized doctors. I've heard the equipment isn't cheap either. And in their condition, they'll need psychological care too. It will take many years to regain their original forms -- and, well, the treatment costs will be astronomical."

Since I expect to make a big profit this time, it's not a problem.

"I'm just helping because they asked for it."

"The meaning of 'please save us' was --"

"I know."

My subordinate fell silent.

They could no longer hope for a normal life.

I understood that, but -- looking at the history written on the terminal, it was simply unreasonable.

It felt like seeing the suffering of my past self -- or even greater suffering, so I felt a little sympathy.

Most of the captured people had their hometowns destroyed by Goaz.

Most of them had no place to return to.

"I'm in a good mood right now. Doing good deeds once in a while isn't so bad, don't you think?"

My subordinates seemed unsure how to answer.

◇

Upon returning to my territory, I was warmly welcomed.

The citizens rejoiced, and Brian, who greeted me at the mansion, was in tears.

Amagi was as usual.

Brian was crying to an extent that made me uncomfortable.

"Lord Liam -- this Brian believed you would return safely!"

"O-oh, is that so?"

Amagi whispered to me.

"It's true they were worried, but they didn't expect you to win."

"Is that so?"

-- It's better than nothing that they cry out of worry.

Brian wiped his tears and reported, but I couldn't understand what he was saying, so I decided to get the report from Amagi.

Then --.

"Summoned to the capital planet?"

"Yes. There's talk of awarding a medal to you, who defeated the Goaz pirate group. It's almost decided, and the official announcement will be made soon."

The guide mentioned it.

That it would be my military achievement or accomplishment.

It's all so convenient.

Just by destroying a pirate group of that caliber, I can gain an incredible amount of treasure and honor.

Hunting pirates is profitable.

"Also, we received contact from the Henfrey Trading Company and the Seventh Weapons Factory. It seems Lord Thomas wishes to discuss the purchase of spoils of war."

"Why would the weapons factory contact me?"

I didn't understand why the factory, where the beautiful but unfortunate Nias was, would contact me.

Amagi quickly provided the reason.

"It seems that some of the weapons held by the pirates are also used by other countries. They wish to purchase them as research material."

"Should I consider them enthusiastic researchers?"

"Also, they discovered rare metals and wish to secure them as resources."

The precious metals possessed by the Goaz pirate group were in considerable quantity.

-- There wasn't much gold, so I wasn't too happy about it.

"I should talk to Thomas first."

"I will arrange it immediately."

It's really convenient to have excellent subordinates.