Chapter 96

“Hey there, handsome.”

I opened the window to let Adele in.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait with the guards inside the gate?”

“And didn’t I tell you I’d follow you no matter what you said?”

She was perched on the windowsill, swinging her legs back and forth.

“Besides, you planned this whole thing on the assumption that I’d show up. What would you have done if I hadn’t?”

Hmm. I had no comeback for that.

“So, how much of our conversation did you hear?”

“I just got here. Should I kill this old guy?”

Adele’s eyes tracked Malik, who had retreated into the far corner of the room.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from such murderous talk. I’m getting up there in years, you know. I only want to hear things that are good for my heart.”

“Right. That’s enough joking around, Adele. I told you this man is necessary for our plan.”

Adele shrugged.

“If you say so.”

Then Malik chimed in with a jab.

“What? You were already expecting me to fold?”

Hah. As if I’d give you a straight answer.

I walked over to the chair Malik had originally been occupying and sat right down in it.

“Now then, the ‘reliable trump card’ to show your subordinates is ready. I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

“Ugh.”

Malik emerged from the corner and sat across from me. Our positions were now completely reversed.

“I hear you’ve got forces gathered in front of the gate?” Malik asked.

“Naturally, I won’t have them march through the front. When I give the signal, they’ll scale the walls and join us quietly.”

I tapped on the desk.

“You just need to point us to the targets. Oh, and we’ll need to make sure the citizens realize this is a struggle between you and the other underground rulers, but that can wait until tomorrow morning.”

“Mmm.”

Malik looked at me with a strange expression.

“It looks like you were planning to wrap everything up in a single night. I’m against that. Those bastards aren’t so shallow-rooted that they can be exterminated in a day.”

Adele was the one to counter him.

“But finding the Banker was easy. I feel like I could have wiped out that entire ‘Underground Council’ on my own if I really wanted to.”

“That’s only because that guy’s conduct was a total mess. He’s nothing more than a fool who runs around providing the funds. The real power is that old man.”

“An old man?”

“There’s a stubborn old fogey. Anyway, they have their own forces. This isn’t over just by dealing with some hired guild rats.”

I nodded slowly.

“I see. Well, I was planning to attach soldiers to you anyway, so what you do with them is up to you. However, the drugs—I’ll be taking charge of those.”

“Didn’t you say you were just going to lounge around and relax?”

“I’ll relax after I deal with that. I can’t stand the sight of narcotics spreading through my fief. I need to know about the drug that addicted my citizens.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you. But first, I need to call Bard. We have to set up our defensive measures.”

“Can that man be trusted?”

Malik pointed at Adele.

“That fellow knows this lady’s skills better than anyone. Once I show him her face, he’ll be begging to cooperate even if I try to stop him. He’s the type whose head works very well when it comes to things like that.”

I was convinced.

“Understood. But bring me my sword first.”

“Your sword?”

“I brought it with me, but it was confiscated at the front gate. It’s important.”

“Sure, why not.”

Then Adele raised her hand as well.

“Oh, then bring me one too. A longsword with a decent edge.”

“Kill them.”

Along with Malik’s command, a hooded swordsman stepped out of the mansion. They held a sword of a peculiar design. The swordsman glanced briefly at Malik as they passed him.

‘Don’t give me orders.’

Malik felt a chill run down his spine. Because of that, his finger accidentally squeezed the trigger of his crossbow, and the stray bolt took down one of the guild members.

That was the signal for the real fight to begin.

The swarming guild members rushed the mansion. However, not a single one of them could make it through the front door.

A spray of blood erupted.

“…!”

The head of a nameless guild member parted ways with its body without even a word of goodbye. It happened in the blink of an eye. As the swordsman’s longsword danced through the air, the guild members became like overturned water jars, tumbling to the ground.

Watching veterans of the Guild’s Vigilante Association fall like stalks of rice during harvest was utterly surreal.

It was only after the fifth life was discarded on the street that the guild members regained their sense of reality.

“Fall back! If we fight blindly, we’re all dead!”

One seasoned-looking man rallied his comrades into a formation. He seemed to be the only one among the guild members maintaining his composure. However, even he was barely keeping his feet on the ground. Rather, his instincts were screaming at him to run.

‘Have I ever encountered a swordsman of this caliber before?’

No.

The person before his eyes was in a different league entirely from Izack or even the guild heroes who stood at the frontlines of dungeon raids. Even if every warrior gathered here fought with their lives on the line, could they truly guarantee victory?

‘Where did such a monster come from…?’

Just then, Malik’s voice rang out.

“No matter how much you love money, it’s not worth dying for, is it?”

He was sitting casually on the threshold of the mansion.

“No one is going to put funeral money in your hands once you’re dead. Just come back to my side. You poor little lambs.”

However, there were still many guild members left. Still intoxicated by their numerical advantage, the guild members hesitated but resisted Malik’s offer.

“Don’t make me laugh! There are only a few of you anyway. We’ll be over there to take your head soon enough.”

“And yet, you can’t seem to do it.”

The guild members’ expressions hardened at Malik’s retort.

“Wolf. I used to change your diapers when you were a kid. I was proud of you. Now you’re the head of a household, supporting your elderly mother.”

Malik began to list the names of the familiar guild members one by one.

“Yona, Hagrim, Vance. If you have even a shred of sanity left, don’t throw your lives away on the pavement. Your families are waiting for you at home. You should go back.”

Malik watched through his monocle as the muscles of the guild members gradually lost their tension.

He wore a generous smile as he spoke.

“It’s alright. No one is going to blame you. I understand you. Betrayal, this stupid little game of playing soldier—it’s all just to put food on the table, isn’t it? But what’s the point of any of it if you’re dead?”

Malik’s words poured poison into their hearts like a viper biting into a thigh.

‘Why on earth am I doing this? For whose sake was I about to die a dog’s death? How did I even end up here?’

They felt a strange, dizzying sensation.

“Shut up…”

One voice poked out in resistance.

However, that weak voice was pathetically thin. If anything, it sounded more like a declaration of surrender.

“Just turn around. Then, point the swords aimed at us back the other way. At the ones who drive you to a dog’s death while prattling on about ‘Lower District pride.’ Those are the ones who brought us to this state.”

Malik pointed somewhere as he spoke.

In truth, the gesture held no specific meaning.

Yet, something else happened inside the minds of those listening. They truly felt as if the people Malik described—the ones who ‘brought us to this state’—were actually there.

“If they were just gone, we could live like we used to. Sure, it’ll be as uncomfortable as before. The sewers will clog, and the granaries will be crawling with rats. But you could just come to my house to talk like old times. ‘Malik, the sewer is blocked.’ ‘Malik, catch these rats for me.’ And I’ll gladly help you. Just like before.”

Malik continued.

“Is what you’re trying to do right now worth chasing at the cost of giving up that kind of life? Think about it one more time. We still have a chance to return to the past.”

“……”

The voice was soft, but it was as sharp as a hidden blade.

Before long, the report of victory delivered by that blade reached them.

—Ting.

—Tiding.

The refreshing sound of steel hitting the ground tapped at their feet.

—Tididing.

Beginning with the first note, the sounds of metal cascaded into a harmony.

Leaving behind the guild members who had abandoned the fight, the swordsman looked back at Malik.

‘This man… he could topple an army with nothing but his silver tongue.’

With the commotion in front of the mansion serving as the signal, the massive preemptive strike began.

The first place Malik raided was the Vigilante Association—the guild office.

The guild members remaining at the office were easily swayed by Malik’s persuasion. Since they hadn’t been offering loyalty to either side in the first place, winning them over wasn’t difficult.

By daybreak, a significant number of guild members had joined Malik’s faction.

“So, why don’t you swallow your pride and come with me? Szilard.”

“Absolutely not! Agggh…!”

Szilard clutched his bandage-wrapped abdomen. Every time he tried to resist, blood seeped through the gauze.

“I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn. Is it because of the brother who betrayed you? Are you fuming because of Bard? Forgive him. He did it all to save your life.”

It was just as Malik said.

The moment Bard had come face-to-face with Adele again, he had abandoned his resistance. It was because he knew her skill level. Now that Anita was gone, even both brothers attacking together wouldn’t stand a chance.

Szilard glared at his younger brother with sharp eyes.

“I know you intentionally avoided my vitals when you stabbed me. But you idiot…! If we miss this chance, we’ll live as slaves to the Upper District forever!”

Bard shook his head slowly.

Malik spoke in Bard’s place.

“Slaves? Shane will be a good lord. He’ll restore the Lower District residents as rightful citizens of Denabi. He’ll improve the poor environment down here too. So…”

“You mean we should live like dogs, eating whatever scraps those Upper District bastards throw at us?!”

Szilard argued back, almost spitting blood.

“I have no intention of being satisfied with the equality they prattle on about. They must pay the price for the privileges they’ve enjoyed for generations. I won’t hang my life on the cheap sympathy they grant like an act of charity!”

Malik let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha, so you want to swap the places of the Upper and Lower Districts? Kick out all the Upper District people and live there ourselves? Is that what you want?”

“Yes. That is exactly what I want.”

“……”

“No matter how much that hypocritical youngest son struggles, water does not flow from bottom to top. Sunlight will never reach the bottom of this deep canyon. And the Upper District will never look up to the Lower District!”

Malik stood there speechless, simply staring at Szilard.

Bard found Malik’s reaction strange. Why wasn’t he arguing back? Why wasn’t he cutting him off to say that such a thing was impossible?

Then, Szilard’s cry pierced through them.

“What I want isn’t cheap sympathy or fake equality. What I want is to flip this damn Denabi upside down. That’s all.”

“……”

Malik remained immersed in the silence for a long time, his head bowed.

Szilard looked into Malik’s shadowed face. He wanted to read Malik’s expression. Was that face mocking him? Or was it weary with annoyance?

However, Malik’s face showed neither. Szilard could not read the true intent behind that expression.

Then, suddenly, Malik reached out and called for Bard.

“Hey, bring some alcohol. The cheapest kind.”

While Bard went to fetch the drink, Malik looked down at Szilard and said out of the blue:

“Szilard. You’re dreaming.”

“…It’s not a dream. What I want to grasp in my hands truly exists right beyond those gates.”

“No. It’s a dream. Noble but futile, wretched, and devoid of any hope. That kind of dream. I know someone who used to have a dream like that.”

“That’s…”

‘Quiet.’

Malik covered his lips with his index finger.

“…For the past decades, the Lower District was the Lower District, and the Upper District was the Upper District. But is there truly a reason for this high and low, this noble and humble status we were born into? Aren’t we, who have endured poverty for so long, the ones truly entitled to enjoy the abundance of the Upper District?”

Malik’s clear eyes drifted toward the empty air. His gaze was focused on something incredibly far away, as if recalling something from beyond an ancient memory.

“We always want that answer.”