Chapter 46

“Why on earth did they go in there?”

I asked if he had sent them, but the Guild Leader shook his head. If he had nodded, I would have immediately withdrawn from the organization, judging that it would be hard to keep my life under such a blockhead.

The Guild Leader grabbed his head and let out a sigh.

“It seems they wanted to be of help to the Saint.”

They were just idiots.

“That means they went in on their own accord and got themselves into danger. Just leave them. Tell them to rot there.”

“Haa…”

Ignoring my advice to dump such guys, the Guild Leader naturally began to discuss a rescue plan. I really didn’t want to do it, but since this was a request from the Guild Leader and he had offered appropriate payment, I eventually accepted. It was a personal mission I was taking on in a long time.

A few days passed. I was currently standing on the soil of my hometown, a place I didn’t even miss. The drizzling rain made the already gloomy neighborhood even more dreary, which only made me feel depressed.

After entering Nervas, I didn’t immediately try to make contact with anyone; I just spent my time listening intently. From between the alleys, over the windowsills, and inside warehouse doors—I listened to conversations to see if there was any information about those stupid outsiders. Hiding in the shadows, I simply listened.

I was able to confirm that there had been outsiders poking around here and there without fear recently. However, information on where they had vanished to did not surface.

Next, I started roughing up the guys I deemed acceptable to rough up by my standards. Drug dealers, beggars, prostitutes—mostly residents who weren’t formally affiliated with any powerful organization. I couldn’t hear the whereabouts of the outsiders from them, either.

Instead, as separate information, it was said that members of the Black Wheat organization had once asked the outsiders about their affiliation. Since they were fools who had walked into their own graves, they must have proudly blabbed about their affiliation. My head throbbed, and I slapped my forehead.

Still, if Black Wheat had grasped the affiliation of the members, there was a high possibility they were still alive.

Black Wheat was Ugurtz’s organization, and I had some ties to it. We weren’t exactly on friendly terms, but they were relatively more favorable toward me than other factions. I thought I might be able to get through to them to some extent.

I immediately went to one of Ugurtz’s businesses. Since I purposely went through someone who knew my face, it didn’t take long to sit across from a human in a position to share useful information.

“Long time no see, but what was your name again?”

Lehitt, a Black Wheat executive with slicked-back hair and a sharp impression, asked with a smile. Because he was the type to become more bothersome if I gave him any unnecessary lip, I just gave my name obediently.

“Felix.”

“Ah, right. So? What’s your business?”

“I want to know the whereabouts of my colleagues.”

“Colleagues? You had colleagues?”

“I do. Colleagues from a mercenary group called the Martial Regiment. They must have been scuttling around here without fear recently.”

“A mercenary group…? I don’t know.”

He put on a show of contemplating for a bit before feigning ignorance, which was irritating, but I held it in. Even if I couldn’t hold it in, he wasn’t the kind of opponent I could do much about.

If it were a one-on-one fight, I’d have the confidence to win. But provoking Lehitt here was an act of starting a fight with a massive organization called Black Wheat. Since organizational warfare isn’t just about raw strength, I was definitely at a disadvantage.

“I have the intention of paying an information fee. It might be unpleasant for someone like you to be treated like an information broker, but I have no choice, so please bear with me. It seemed like the guys below you couldn’t open their mouths.”

Lehitt put both legs on the table and crossed his ankles. Then, he trimmed the tips of his fingernails with a small knife and said, “I like money too, but I can’t tell you something I don’t know.”

“Is that so? Then should I go find Ugurtz instead?”

Only then did Lehitt’s gaze turn toward me. Unlike his mouth, which was smiling constantly, his eyes were cold and devoid of laughter. He took his legs off the table and looked at me straight on.

“Kid. It seems no one has taught you manners until now, so I’ll let it slide just this once. If an outsider brings up our boss’s name so carelessly, they might get their tongue cut off. What are you relying on to be so fearless? If you could become invincible just by swinging a blade, you wouldn’t be living like that right now.”

I clenched my fist tightly under the table. What’s wrong with how I live my life? I’ve lived so diligently. Seriously, everyone living in this neighborhood is a bastard, and I didn’t want to deal with them at all.

Still, because I was a professional mercenary who had accepted a mission, I tried hard to endure. I just trembled inwardly and imagined tearing his head off his body about ten times.

In the midst of that, Lehitt kept on acting high and mighty to the very end.

“If you understood, just get lost to the bottom. Your mere existence, facing me as you are, is quite a laughable matter.”

In the end, I was chased out by Lehitt without obtaining any meaningful information. I kicked the alley wall hard. When I bit my lip, unable to hold back my irritation, my fangs dug in without mercy. The skin broke, and I tasted blood. It was agonizing to force myself to swallow the profanities trying to escape my throat.

I shouldn’t have come. I should have just handed this over to others. In truth, there were more people from Nervas in the mercenary group besides me. It’s just that they were away on other work, making them difficult to mobilize immediately.

I mean, why on earth do you outsiders who know nothing have to come here and cause a mess while perfectly capable guys are sitting there?

While I was throwing a tantrum and cursing the missing guys, I felt even more stifled because I came to the conclusion that they could only be brave because they knew nothing. Well, true colleagues from Nervas wouldn’t have created such a situation to begin with. This reality where only unrelated guys cause trouble was entirely expected.

Thump! I kicked the ground once more. The sole of my leather boot made a dull sound as it left a footprint on the wall. The impact sent a stinging sensation up through my sole to my shin. Even that triggered my irritation, so I kicked out again and again. To that rhythm, I cursed Lehitt in my heart. You son of a bitch, you horse-ass, die, die!

After spewing out all my anger a while later, I leaned my head against the wall and caught my breath. The chill of the rain-soaked bricks soaked into my forehead. But it was far from enough to cool the burning rage rising in my chest.

My state? I’m much more decent than you. Don’t talk bullshit. Lehitt seems to like this giant trash can well enough, but I left because I hated these smelly things to begin with. So why should I be treated like trash?

Lehitt’s condescending gaze stuck to my brain and wouldn’t come off. I remembered that arrogant look in his eyes as he’d trimmed his fingernails and swept his gaze over me languidly, as if looking at a rat crawling out of a sewer.

He blathers on at will without even knowing how much I agonized and tried to escape this dog-like neighborhood. How much I’m suppressing my temper even now to protect the everyday life I miraculously obtained with Iel—there’s no way the narcissist Lehitt would know. If you don’t know, you should just shut up; how dare you discuss manners? If I had truly thrown away my manners, someone like you would have been dead long ago, I fumed. As I clenched my fist, my leather glove screamed and stretched tight.

This neighborhood hadn’t changed, then or now. Whenever it rained, the distinct, rotting stench seeping from every alley pierced my nose. It’s a sickening smell.

Suddenly, I roughly swept back my wet hair and looked behind me. My other hand was on my sword.

Someone was approaching, stepping on the wet ground. Judging by the lack of effort to kill their presence, it didn’t seem like they were intending a surprise attack, but I still didn’t let my guard down.

The figure of a man who appeared, tearing through the darkness deep in the alley, was surprisingly ordinary. It was a face difficult to leave in one’s memory because it lacked any particular characteristics. If one had to find characteristics, they would be ash-colored eyes, a gaunt face, and brown hair hanging limply from the rain. And in places like this, the truly dangerous ones always appear wearing ordinary masks.

I put force into the hand gripping the scabbard. The leather-covered surface of the scabbard was damp as if it would slip from the rainwater. I sharpened my senses to the sound of his footsteps, which came faintly, buried by the sound of rain. The man stopped two steps away from me. Then, without a word, he rolled up the sleeve of his left arm.

From his wrist to above his elbow, black vein-like tattoos were engraved broadly, as if the blood vessels under his skin were bulging abnormally.