Chapter 94

—Creak, creeak.

The old floorboards groaned in protest.

The sound of several pairs of footsteps echoed down the hallway. Finally, the door swung open. Beyond it sat Malik.

“Hello there, youngest Young Master.”

Malik waved with a bright smile.

The men escorting me shoved me into the room.

‘Dammit, I almost tripped over the threshold!’

There’s always those types who just love to show off how rough they can be. I grumbled to myself as I took a seat across from Malik.

“I never dreamed you’d actually walk into the lion’s den on your own two feet. I didn’t think you had this kind of choice in you,” Malik said.

A faint scent of alcohol wafted from him. It seemed he’d had a drink before I arrived.

“If I didn’t come, my only other option was war. I can’t exactly wage war against the people of my own fief, can I?”

“But even if I kill you, Denabi won’t be able to avoid war. Because of what you just pulled outside, the moment I kill you, you become a martyr, and the Upper District gets the perfect excuse to sweep away both me and the influential figures of the Lower District.”

“So, are you going to kill me now?” I asked.

Malik chuckled. “Of course not.”

Malik had a track record of putting me in a bind several times already. There was no way he didn’t see through my intentions.

“I’ll admit it. If I kill you, it’s over for us. But that doesn’t mean your homework has disappeared. I could just send you back exactly as you are. Without touching a single hair on your head—nice and clean.”

He was right.

In any case, I had basically come here offering myself as a hostage to stop the drug distribution. If the negotiations failed, I was the one in trouble. Malik could simply end this meeting and send me back.

“That is, assuming you are the true ruler of the Lower District,” I added.

“Hmm. What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you can’t just send me back.”

I crossed my legs and leaned my arm on the armrest.

“You’ve lost almost all of your political standing in the Lower District. I heard it from that Banker… and you said it yourself. You barely managed to dig a decent pit to lure me down here just so you could kill me. But if I return to the Upper District, do you think those ‘Underground Council’ bastards will just leave you alone?”

“Oh. You know quite a lot now, don’t you? Did you hear that from the late Izack?”

He likely thought Izack was dead. Of course, I didn’t say a word about Izack’s actual status.

“But surely you received the ‘gift’ I sent? I can just keep drugging your people like that.”

“My people?” I asked back.

He tilted his head in confusion.

“Look. You must think I’m an idiot.”

“About what?”

“You can’t just spread enough drugs to quietly addict over twenty people and then shamelessly try to wash your hands of it. The residents of the Lower District must be getting addicted too. To those very drugs.”

It was only natural. It’s not just the consumers who get hooked on narcotics; the distributors often end up addicted as well. It’s a common occurrence.

“You guys can’t just keep spreading the drugs indefinitely either. Not unless you want to stop being an ‘Underground Council’ and turn into a bunch of ‘Underground Junkies.’”

The drugs were a double-edged sword for them too. They had made a desperate gamble. Therefore, they had to eliminate me this time.

‘Of course, I’ve now become someone who must not be killed…!’

—Clap, clap, clap.

Malik suddenly burst into applause.

“Magnificent. Mr. Alejandro would be so pleased. To think the son he thought had zero talent has grown into such a genius.”

Too bad the ‘contents’ aren’t his real son, though.

“Fine. I’ve reached a stalemate. If I kill you, it’s the end. If I don’t kill you, the same ruin awaits me. It would have been nice if you’d been fooled by me… but I failed even at that.”

He rested his chin on his hands atop the table and closed his eyes as if in deep thought.

“So I’m thinking. How to break through this situation. Do you know which candidate is currently leading the polls in my head?”

I answered for him.

“Should I just kill Shane Astrier and run away to escape the eyes of the Underground Council?”

“Correct. Now, give me a reason why that candidate shouldn’t win the election.”

Malik looked up and pulled a small hand-crossbow from beneath the desk, aiming it straight at me.

‘Hey, hey, hey…!’

I raised both hands. I swallowed hard.

“I could give you a thousand reasons… but are you going to take responsibility if I get nervous and say something stupid? Put that thing down first before we talk.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Sigh…”

I looked down at the floor, checking if it was about to cave in. Of course, the result was disappointing. If it had actually collapsed, I would have bolted through the hole.

In a voice that was neither too slow nor too fast, I spoke:

“Distance, confirmed. Position, confirmed. Target, set.”

“…?”

He didn’t react to my words, which didn’t exactly sound like a magic spell. He just glared at me with suspicious eyes.

“Now then. If I say just one more word, you die.”

“What?”

“Uh-uh, if you put your finger on that trigger, I’ll kill you. Stay still.”

His finger trembled slightly, but he didn’t move it toward the trigger.

“Haven’t you heard that I’m a mage? I made quite a name for myself in the dungeon, so it should be hard for you not to know.”

“You think I’d believe that kind of bullshit propaganda…?”

“And yet, who’s the one currently frozen by that ‘bullshit propaganda’?”

I continued.

“Let’s think back. When I first visited you and was leaving. Wasn’t there a fellow who fainted while spraying blood from every hole in his body?”

I took my raised hand and snapped it down to point at myself.

“That was my handiwork. I held back on the power quite a bit.”

With that, I slowly lowered my hands.

“So, since we’re both in a desperate spot, let’s not act so stiff. Malik.”

The bewilderment on Malik’s face began to morph into a different emotion. It was an emotion that didn’t quite fit the current setting.

‘What…? He’s laughing.’

Malik laughed as he removed the bolt from the hand-crossbow. He tossed the arrow aside with a flick of his wrist. It rolled across the floor.

“I knew it. I really like you, Shane.”

That’s not exactly what I want to hear from a middle-aged man old enough to be my father who was just pointing a crossbow at me…

“Well, I’m glad I’ve grown on you. But the proposal I’m about to make will please you even more.”

Malik nodded with a satisfied face, gesturing for me to go ahead.

Hmm, I had wanted to deliver this line in a slightly different atmosphere.

It couldn’t be helped.

I spoke.

“I will make you the true ruler of the Upper District. So, Malik, why don’t you become my person?”

“As I thought, this won’t do.”

I looked up and stood from my stool.

“Jailer, come open the door and unbind Anita.”

At that, Adele grabbed my arm.

“I told you this wasn’t a good idea.”

I agreed with her. Anita was a heinous criminal who had killed several search party members. Releasing her was something that should never happen under normal circumstances.

‘But among the informants we can use right now, Anita is the most valuable.’

I turned to Adele.

“You’re going to protect me anyway, aren’t you?”

“……”

Anita also seemed surprised. She probably hadn’t expected me to actually undo her restraints. Led by the jailer, she stepped out from behind the bars. Adele glared at her as if she would kill her the moment she sensed any suspicious movement.

Finally, we left the prison. We brought Anita to the castle’s inner courtyard. Squinting, she shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand.

I spoke to the jailer.

“Go bring that.”

The jailer bowed silently and returned toward the dungeon.

“Shall we talk for a moment while we wait for him?”

Anita looked back at me.

“You haven’t fully released me yet. At best, you’ve just taken me out for a short walk like a dog kept in the front yard. You’re not planning to say the negotiation terms have changed because of this, are you?”

I let out a short laugh.

“What then? Am I supposed to put you on a horse and slap its rear while telling you to have a safe trip?”

“Give it a try. My mind might change, and I might come back and say I’ll work for you.”

What a charming dream. Not that it would ever happen. I feigned ignorance and walked toward the flower bed.

“Set that talk aside and look at the flowers while you’re out. Aren’t they beautiful?”

I shifted the conversation.

“Flowers like these can’t bloom in the Lower District because the sun doesn’t reach it. So, I’m not going to promise that I’ll turn the Lower District into a paradise better than the Upper District… or anything like that.”

“Cloud-chasing nonsense. Did you bring me out here just to spout rubbish?”

“No. I’m being very realistic. I want to make the Lower District a decent place. I’m no savior. Even so, despite the lack of sunlight, I want it to be a place where clean water flows, where there’s a halfway decent doctor, and where children can grow up eating real food instead of filthy drugs…”

—Yawn.

Anita’s exaggerated yawn cut the flow of my words.

“I can’t listen to this. What’s your motive for saying such things?”

“Because I don’t want my subjects living in a den of junkies. Even if that subject is the daughter of a violent criminal like you.”

“…!”

Anita’s pupils dilated. It was the first time she had shown genuine agitation.

“You bastard, how do you… what did you do to my daughter?”

Anita tried to lunged at me, but Adele wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Ugh…!”

Adele’s kick swept into Anita’s knee. Her leg gave way, and Anita collapsed on the spot.

I asked her back.

“How would you like me to treat them?”

A flash of terror crossed Anita’s face. I plucked a flower from the bed. Holding it in my hand, I spoke.

“You’re quite famous in the Lower District. After borrowing some connections from my friend and the guards at the second gate, it wasn’t hard to find you. You have a family, don’t you?”

The friend I mentioned was, of course, Yelena.

“You have a disabled husband and a daughter. It was for them, wasn’t it? The reason you tried so hard to protect your employer.”

“No. My family… absolutely not…!”

“They are my subjects as well. Why would I do anything to them?”

I clenched my fist around the plucked flower. The innocent bloom was ruthlessly crushed within my palm.

“I don’t even need to get my hands dirty. I won’t do a thing. But in the meantime, word might reach that Banker’s ears. Something like: ‘Could it be that the captured Anita has turned traitor?’”

I continued mercilessly.

“Then the Banker will grow anxious. He’ll think of your family, whom he likely marked as hostages. If he breaks your lame husband’s arms so he can’t even use crutches, and throws your noisy daughter into a full water tank and shuts the lid…”

“Shut up! You piece of trash! Argh…!”

Adele’s kick struck the struggling Anita. Pinned down like she was under a mace, Anita glared at me with murderous intent.

Just then, the jailer I had sent returned. In his hands were Anita’s greatbow and quiver.

“Thank you.”

I took the bow from the jailer and dropped it in front of Anita.

“Now, you have two choices. Whichever you pick is up to you.”