Chapter 38

The first floor of the organization’s building.

Ralph was tied to the overturned truck. He glared at me with bloodshot eyes. Because he had taken my uppercut, his lower jaw was shattered, and his mouth hung open limply. Even without a gag, he was incapable of speech.

“That’s a fine look on your face. Makes me want to give you a kiss.”

“……”

Ralph furrowed his brow and remained silent, merely spitting out bloody saliva in irritation. Had his mouth been intact, he surely would have hurled insults at me, but this was the outcome of our life-and-death struggle. As the loser, Ralph had no means of resistance left.

“…You want to kiss him?”

“It’s just a silly joke. Don’t take it seriously.”

“I see. That’s fine then.”

Alice, standing beside me, accepted the explanation with a composed expression. She hadn’t just successfully fulfilled her role as a diversion; she had wiped out everyone outside. She hadn’t sustained a single injury, and the golem car was perfectly intact without a single malfunction. She was, without a doubt, a magnificent partner.

Throughout the entrance hall stood countless stacked paper bundles. They were piled well over a man’s height and placed flush against the primary support pillars. The contents were Gunpowder Grass—special stock that had been soaked in Alice’s concoction. Every bit of it had been “borrowed” from the warehouses on the estate. While some of the Gunpowder Grass had been loaded into the golem car, there was truly enough left over to burn. Apparently, the organization had been trading the stuff as part of their fundraising.

Technically, these qualified as a type of bomb. My Status displayed the information as proof.

Overall, the performance wasn’t bad. Its rank and power were second only to the City Core bomb. If my estimation was correct, detonating these would cause the entire building to collapse. This was a message to the villains living in this city. I was doing this to make them realize what happens when they lay a hand on us. Even if there were survivors or allied organizations, they would think twice before attempting a reckless retaliation.

Of course, that was mostly just the official justification. To be honest, I was blowing it up because it made me feel refreshed. Simple and easy to understand, right? Since there were no downsides, there was no reason not to do it.

I lifted a lined-up fuel tank and splashed its contents onto the piles of paper bundles. To ensure there wasn’t even a one-in-a-million chance of a misfire, I thoroughly coated the bombs in every location. Once I tossed the empty tank aside, I grabbed a fresh one and began walking while tilting it.

The spilled fuel created a trail. Alice followed behind in the golem car. When a tank ran dry, I’d use a new one to extend the path. I repeated this several times.

“Well, this should be enough.”

I discarded the last empty tank and let out a breath. The fuel trail now stretched for about fifty yards, ending in the middle of the lawn. We were a fair distance from the building. This would do for now.

I pulled out a cigar and a lighter, lit the tip, and took a puff. I inhaled deeply, savoring the smoke. The cigar was something I’d received at the dwarven settlement. Coming at the end of a job, it tasted divine. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I lived for this one smoke. Honestly, I wanted a drink too, but I was still on the clock, so I held back.

I enjoyed the cigar for a while, watching the purple smoke being swept away by the night wind. Once satisfied, I took the cigar from my mouth. I cast a final glance at the still-bound Ralph in the distance. Even from here, his expression was clear—he looked ready to bite someone’s head off. I thought he might beg for his life, but it seemed he had some spine after all.

I waved the hand holding the lighter.

“Later. Wait for me in the afterlife.”

I bid Ralph a final farewell and flicked the cigar away with my finger. The cigar spun through the air before landing with a soft thud onto the trail of fuel.

Instantly, a wall of flame surged upward, racing along the fuel line toward the bombs inside the building. Seconds later, with an explosion that vibrated deep in my gut, a blast of fire erupted from the entrance. The impact was powerful enough to shove aside the overturned truck, and ignited paper bundles burst open, dancing through the sky. They looked just like bottle rockets.

The blasts continued in a rapid-fire sequence. The bombed building began to shudder. Soon, it started to collapse floor by floor, kicking up massive clouds of dust. Losing its height as it shrank, the building eventually became nothing more than a heap of burning rubble. Not a shred of its former majesty remained. Wisps of black smoke rose hollowly from the gaps in the debris.

“Ha-ha-ha! Now that’s a sight worthy of a grand finale!”

I cheered and did a little jig. Mid-celebration, Alice held up her hand for a high-five, so I obliged. Having accomplished our goal, we enjoyed the afterglow only briefly before climbing into the golem car. The back seat was overflowing with spoils—supplies we had gathered while making rounds through the building and warehouses.

The trouble had started with a simple traffic jam, but it had turned out to be quite profitable in the end. I really ought to thank Dalles for picking that fight with me.

“Alright, let’s go. The job isn’t over until we’re back home safe.”

“Right. We can’t let our guard down yet.”

Engaged in peaceful conversation, we drove the vehicle off the estate.

At dawn, we returned to the handyman shop. Opening the door, I made eye contact with the owner, Letona, who was busy organizing documents. She looked at us and spoke in a friendly tone.

“You’re home quite late. Tell me, did you enjoy yourselves?”

Ignoring Letona’s joke, I closed the distance between us.

“The man I fought in the street was a high-ranking member of a criminal organization—an executive named Dalles. You purposely kept that quiet, didn’t you? What’s your angle?”

The chain of events that led to crushing Ralph’s organization had started with that incident with Dalles. It began with our first meeting during the traffic jam and connected to our reunion where he sought revenge. If I had known Dalles’s true identity early on, I would have changed my approach. He wasn’t just some thug; he was an executive of the organization that ruled this city. If I’d known that, even I would have acted with a bit more caution.

Letona knew I had a run-in with Dalles. Despite that, she stayed silent. It was a deliberate withholding of information. In response to my interrogation, Letona gave a playful smile.

“Oh, did you happen to… take him out?”

“He was an eyesore.”

Letona didn’t seem particularly surprised. On the contrary, she offered a nonchalant explanation.

“I intentionally didn’t mention Dalles. I figured if I didn’t, a clash would be inevitable. I was hoping you and Alice would do a little ‘cleaning’ for me. He was quite a nuisance. Since his organization was what it was, I couldn’t lay a hand on him, but it seems he has safely passed away. My, my, thank you very much. This is just a token of my gratitude.”

Letona rummaged through a cupboard and handed me a heavy leather bag. Taking it, I checked the contents. As expected, it was filled with a large sum of money. I made no effort to hide my disgust.

“So you used me. You’re a crafty woman.”

Normally, I’d want to kill her, but this commotion had its benefits for me as well. I decided to let it slide. Letona still had utility; she was too talented to discard based on emotion alone. Instead of drawing my knife, I placed a hand under Letona’s chin. Looking her straight in the eye, I spoke.

“Don’t get too carried away. If you cross the line, I might just finish you off, regardless of how useful you are.”

“I-I understand! Please, rest assured, I would never dream of getting in your way, Mr. Jack!”

Realizing the gravity of her blunder, Letona promised frantically. Then, she began to pour out supplementary information as if to appease me.

“I-I just remembered! The owner of that property we discussed is the criminal organization Dalles belonged to! With them in chaos following his death, we might be able to negotiate a very favorable deal! A power struggle for supremacy will surely break out inside the organization now. They’ll be needing funds. Even with slightly unfavorable conditions, they’ll want to liquidate their abandoned properties! A-And with my negotiation techniques, I can easily talk the price down!”

I was a bit surprised by Letona’s words. To think the property I’d decided to buy belonged to Ralph’s organization. What an unexpected connection. It seemed I was destined to be involved with that group one way or another. However, there was a mistake in Letona’s reasoning.

The organization wouldn’t be plagued by internal strife. Because I had just wiped out the entire thing. I figured I should probably tell her.

“See? I’m cooperating with you, Mr. Jack! So please, don’t look at me so scarily, okay?”

Pinned down by Letona’s desperate pleading, I stated the simple truth.

“I destroyed that organization. The boss was a beastman with a lion’s head, right? By now, he’s probably nothing more than mincemeat.”

“Eh…?”

“You didn’t know? I thought you’d have caught it with your favorite hobby of secret filming.”

“E-Even Far-Sight Magic Tools aren’t omnipotent… They can’t cover the entire city. There are plenty of districts where setting them up would be… problematic. I mean… um… Mr. Jack, who exactly are you?”

“That’s a secret for now. I’ll tell you when the time is right to disclose it.”

Leaving the stunned Letona behind, I headed up to the second floor. I was exhausted. I could deal with the various aftermath details tomorrow. Cutting off my thoughts there, I collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.