I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 86. Hell (6)

At the entrance of the Tribunal, a member of the Black Sword Corps gestured with his chin.

“Go inside.”

Flutter—

Without a word, Yuri led the way, parting the tent’s fabric as he stepped inside.

Inside the space was a single high platform, and sitting there was someone Yuri knew well.

Yuri blinked in surprise.

“…Coco?”

Hearing Yuri call her, Coco, who had been puffing on a stiff cigarette, lifted her gaze.

“Oh, you’re here?”

She lazily waved her hand, clearly not too pleased to see him.

Yuri asked her, “Are you on another side job today?”

“Seems that way. Apparently, I’m the most available. Tsk.”

“…What’s your job today?”

“Can’t you tell? I’m obviously the judge. Now, hurry and stand there, you criminals. I’m busy, and there’s a lot more to deal with after you.”

When she pointed below the platform, Yuri quickly stood there, with Poppy and Arin taking their places on either side of him.

Thus, the trial began in earnest.

Coco cleared her throat and adopted a judge’s tone.

“Hear ye, criminals. You have invaded the peaceful Animal Forest and caused a disturbance. Do you admit to this?”

“What if we don’t?”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you argue day and night, you’re all guilty. That will never change.”

“…Well, then.”

Only then did Yuri realize that this wasn’t a trial at all.

It was called a trial, but it was simply a place where their guilt had already been decided, and only the sentence was left to be determined.

So, having given up on everything, Yuri just listened to Coco’s words.

“Therefore, I sentence the three of you, who disturbed the Animal Forest, to 8 hours of hell training. If you don’t diligently carry out the sentence, the clock won’t start, and if you don’t complete all the hours, you won’t be able to take a single step out of this hell training camp.”

At her words, Yuri’s eyes darkened.

‘Eight hours…’

It seemed that being dragged into the hell training camp meant being held for a minimum of 8 hours.

And during those 8 hours, they’d likely be doing the things he saw on the way here.

‘The Leather Collecting Quest lasts for 10 days.’

No doubt wolves, bears, and tigers would roam every night, dragging the cadets into hell.

Then, they’d have to endure grueling labor for 8 hours until their mouths tasted like iron.

Already short on time to collect leather, if he lost strength due to hell training, what would happen?

That would lead to a continuous series of hardships.

But the real ordeal was just about to begin.

“Let’s see.”

Coco glanced through the documents in front of her.

“Arin Helga, Bobikrutankapurtabi. Each of you has one rabbit and one deer hide…”

Then, as she read the next part, Coco’s lips twisted.

“Yuri Holland, you have 32 rabbit hides, 12 deer hides, and 4 wolf hides… You sure gathered a lot in such a short time.”

Among those captured so far, Yuri’s record was undoubtedly the best.

No, it was extraordinary.

Even if you combined all the others, they wouldn’t match him alone.

But what did it matter?

It was all in vain.

Coco, suppressing a smirk, resumed her act.

“Tut-tut, as if it wasn’t bad enough that you disturbed this peaceful Animal Forest, you even harmed so many innocent animals! Therefore, all these hides will be confiscated!”

Boom—

At her words, it felt like the world was collapsing behind Yuri.

“C-Confiscated? How can you do that?!”

“It’s the rule. If you didn’t like it, you shouldn’t have gotten caught.”

Huff—

Coco blew out a puff of smoke with a sneer.

Yuri pouted in protest.

“Ugh… This is unfair! It’s tyranny!”

“Shut up, you rascal! The trial isn’t over yet!”

Bang, bang, bang—

Coco banged the gavel, glaring at Yuri before continuing the trial.

“Arin Helga and Bobikrutankapurtabi, since this is your first trial and you don’t have much leather, I’ll show leniency at my discretion. However!”

Coco’s eyes bore into Yuri with a fierce intensity.

“Yuri Holland… Your crimes are grave! Despite this being your first trial, you’ve harmed so many animals! Therefore, I sentence you to an additional 29 hours and 12 minutes of hell training, equivalent to the value of the 292,000 points worth of hides you possessed!”

Bang, bang, bang—

Yuri’s face went blank.

‘…How many hours?’

If he didn’t mishear, it was 29 hours and 12 minutes.

Yuri hesitantly raised his hand.

“Um…”

“What?”

Coco’s tone reverted to normal, signaling the end of her judge’s act.

But Yuri didn’t care about that. He asked with half-lidded eyes,

“When you say additional hell training, does that mean you add 29 hours to the basic 8 hours?”

“Of course not.”

“Oh, thank goodness…”

“You add 29 hours and 12 minutes to the basic 8 hours. Why would you leave out the 12 minutes?”

“……”

“If the math is too hard, I’ll do it for you. Your sentence is 37 hours and 12 minutes.”

Yuri’s face contorted.

‘37 hours…? 37 hours?!’

That was more than an entire day.

Of course, it was impossible to endure 37 hours of continuous hell training, so no one knew how many days it would take to fulfill the entire sentence.

Yuri’s face, which had already been growing pale, now turned completely blue.

‘Then… What about my hides? My points?!’

It was bad enough that all the hides he had worked so hard to collect were confiscated, but now he would have to roll through this hell instead of gathering points for the foreseeable future?

This was nothing short of a bolt from the blue for Yuri.

Thus, he resolved himself.

‘I have to reduce my sentence somehow.’

Sure, what was taken was already gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. As much as it was infuriating and disgusting, if that was the rule, there was no choice but to accept it.

The only way to avenge this miserable situation was to get out of this hell as quickly as possible and start collecting points again, making it clear he would not be defeated.

And he had a very good method in mind.

Yuri raised his hand high.

“I object!”

“Objection?”

Coco looked at him with curious eyes at this sudden objection.

Yuri spoke the words he had prepared with a determined expression.

“Those were not caught by me alone!”

“Not caught by you alone? Then by whom?”

Yuri extended his arms, pointing to both Poppy and Arin on either side of him.

“These guys.”

“……?”

“I caught them with these guys.”

Poppy and Arin’s eyes widened in shock, having been suddenly dragged into this out of nowhere.

“N-No! Absolutely not!”

“I-I’m hungry!”

They shook their heads vigorously in denial, but Yuri’s brazen voice drowned them out.

And indeed, the world often favored those who spoke the loudest and those who excelled at flattery.

“The punishment for the crime committed with my friends! Please distribute it fairly! Oh, wise and revered judge!”

Yuri raised his chin with a proud and shameless expression.

‘Guys, from today on, you’re my friends.’

The expressions of the three who left the Tribunal were starkly different.

Yuri looked somewhat regretful but still much more relieved than before.

In contrast, the other two looked hollow, as if their very souls had been sucked out.

Poppy and Arin’s pupils were slightly unfocused.

Who could blame them?

Standing beside Yuri had led to an additional ‘9 hours and 44 minutes’ being added to their sentences.

As they left the Tribunal, Arin glared at Yuri.

“You…!”

It was a justified anger directed at Yuri for dragging them into this.

But her fury was drowned out by the booming shout of a Black Sword Corps member nearby.

“New recruits, fall in!”

At the sound, the eyes of those already undergoing training snapped to Yuri and his companions.

The emotions contained in those gazes were strange.

There was pity for those who had joined them in this hell.

But also, a certain joy that there were now others to share in their suffering.

Thus, Yuri and his companions were welcomed in a peculiar way as they immediately joined the hell training.

Clank—

The three of them were fitted with heavy shackles around their ankles.

“Now, you will begin jumping jacks. There will be no final signal! If you complete the task perfectly, you will have a 10-minute break. But if you fail, the count will double. Any objections?”

“None, sir!”

“The count is 500. How many?”

“Five hundred!”

“Your voices are too weak. 1,000.”

“Thouuuuusand!”

“Is that all you’ve got? 1,500.”

“Thouuuuussaaaand fiiive hunnnndred!”

“Begin!”

“One, two, three! One!”

“One, two, three! Two!”

The jumping jacks began in the sticky mud.

Yuri gritted his teeth as he participated in the training.

My points… my points!’

He had never expected that the Cradle would take his points away again so easily.

When his 292,000 points vanished before his eyes, Yuri felt like the world was collapsing.

‘Those cruel bastards!’

His despair and anger soon transformed into a desire for revenge.

‘Aunt Hopi… I won’t let you get away with this. I’ll destroy you!’

Yuri ground his teeth.

And, in truth, he had another reason for needing to catch the tiger, aside from revenge.

‘What’s the point of collecting hides in the forest if you meet Aunt Hopi and get dragged to hell? It’s all going to be for nothing.’

So, to ensure a stable supply of hides, Aunt Hopi, the root of all evil, had to be eliminated.

Besides, if he could catch Aunt Hopi, he could also hope for a big score of points.

‘I will catch you, Aunt Hopi!’

Fueled by revenge and meticulous calculation, Yuri began planning how to catch the tiger.

Time passed.

“One thousand four hundred and ninety-nine!”

They were now on the brink of completing 1,500 jumping jacks.

Everyone was desperately hoping and praying.

‘Please, don’t say it! Please!’

They all hoped that no one would shout the final count.

But their hopes were shattered.

“One thousand five hundred!”

From the very back, a man shouted out the number 1,500 loudly and proudly.

The others’ faces filled with despair, and Yuri’s eyes flashed with killing intent.

‘You idiot! How could you get that wrong?!’

Should he deal with that fool before the tiger?

But Yuri didn’t have time to do so.

They immediately had to do 3,000 more jumping jacks.

And so, Yuri and his companions’ hell training continued.

“Three thousaaand!”

“…Damn it.”

For a while, the suffering continued.

One day, as light snowflakes fluttered down.

Whoooosh—

Clank—

The sign that read [Hell Training Camp] rattled in the cold wind.

Soon, the rusty iron gate beneath the sign creaked open.

Screeeeeech— Bang!

And beyond the wide-open door…

“Arin Helga, Bobikrutankapurtabi, and Yuri Holland… Release!”

Step, step, step—

Three figures emerged into the world.