Chapter 111

Ding!
The sound of metal clashing was followed by the door beginning to open. Light pours in, and the noise of the outside world streams in. On the other side, the stench of maggot-infested corpses wafted in.
‘We’re finally here.
Kim crouched low behind the cover. The cover was the body of a medium-sized worm, leaning at an angle over the corpses. The slimy texture was unspeakably disgusting.
The porter approached the rattling cargo hold.
“This is just the beginning, ha. I’m already depressed.”
Just behind you, a soldier with a rifle stands guard, just in case there’s a breathing beast.
Place is indoors.
You can see the shutters all the way up. You suspect it’s a warehouse somewhere. There are no other occupants, and you don’t hear any movement nearby other than the two of you.
“This should be fine.
You’ve made your decision.
“Can’t you at least give me a hazmat suit or something, because I get nervous every time I do it.”
“I’ll try to deliver. Just don’t expect it.”
“Eh. No thanks, then. Get me a bottle of booze instead.”
The carrier put his foot on the sill of the cargo bay.
Bam!
A tiny electrode shot out from between the piled corpses. The target was a soldier, not a courier. Before he had time to react, the needle flew out of nowhere and lodged in the soldier’s thigh.
Tada tada tada!
“Argh!”
3-star Special Weapon [Pulse Waver].
It’s been used in Kilikia before. It’s a high-powered taser that has taken down even the most savvy Pekatum. It’s no wonder it’s so effective against regular soldiers.
“Rice, soldier? What’s the matter-”
The hauler turned his head at the sudden commotion. As a civilian, he had plenty of room to stab. Kim lunged, stepping over the corpse, and wrapped his forearm around the other man’s throat.
“Kek, kek! Kek, kek!”
The resistance was brief. The flailing limbs stopped and went limp. I quickly tossed the unconscious porter into the cargo hold.
He did the same with the soldier. After carefully closing the door behind him, he stripped off his hands. The muck and blood that had clung to his gloves dripped down his back.
“Oh, that was very humane.”
In fact, it’s better to take care of one or the other. For example, strangle the soldier and leave the courier alive. If all goes well, there’s a chance you’ll end up with a nice picture.
But I didn’t do anything about it.
This doesn’t disrupt my plans. I don’t want to kill unnecessarily, no matter how much I’ve gotten used to it. I’m not a psychopath, after all.
‘He’s been acting a little too rough lately, maybe because he’s been hanging out with the mob.
You can go even further.
‘I have a feeling they’re going to do something even worse soon…….’
I can pull the trigger when I need to and without hesitation. I have become such a human being. The experiences in Bastitera, in particular, have helped her grow mentally.
Very harshly, like hitting a hot iron.
Somehow, he seems to be getting farther and farther away from returning to normalcy, and if he and Leila are ever forced to operate alone, they’re likely to have frequent disagreements.
I imagined it and stopped.
“I don’t see why not.
I was worried about one thing.
“This is not the time for this.
He could feel the rustle outside the warehouse. Kim clung to the wall and sneaked a peek outside. A group of businessmen dressed in active attire were moving boxes.
“Is it a cargo loading dock?
Twenty to thirty, by the looks of it. There are more people than I thought. There are also soldiers in the middle. It’s hard to escape without being spotted.
“I’d rather just cause a ruckus.
Kim squatted, palms facing down, and soon had a rectangular display and a small drone at his feet. Even a smoke bomb, which he’d gotten used to using.
Once again, it looked like I was going to be on the receiving end of a bangucha.
* * *
Snap, snap, snap.
The sound of water bouncing off the walls. Wastewater, floating with unidentifiable debris. Normally, the smell would have been overpowering, but now I’m not impressed.
“It’s Evian compared to worm muck.
As soon as Kim left the loading dock, he entered the underground sewers. To hide? Not really. It’s a surprisingly common place for soldiers to come and go.
Probably.
‘Because that’s what those guys in Kabarati, Hevola, did.
Ramaz is no different. The underground sewers are somewhat iconic in Kabarati. Since time immemorial, they have been used for purposes other than their original purpose.
Class relations in the city are organized into three categories.
At the top is a militant faction that rules the city. The Ramaz, led by Mithril, have taken over by driving out the existing organization.
Next, in the middle are the laborers. The natives who don’t rebel, and who manage to make a decent living by doing their jobs.
The last are those who did not or could not become laborers. They have been labeled useless because of their physical disabilities, or because their ideas are unorthodox, or because they have been rejected by the examiners…….
A place of indigenous people who have been pushed off the streets for one reason or another. Like the sewage that flows down from above, humans are also being dumped here.
A rat’s den, to use an analogy.
“It wouldn’t be that different here.
How Mithril rules a city. We’ve seen enough examples in Atlanta. He’s cunning and clever. He knows how to turn the tips of the arrows of discontent that come from injustice.
“Splitting always works.
Common folk, dirtbags, and parasites.
Whatever you want to call it. People are happy to have someone worse off than them, even if it doesn’t necessarily improve their situation.
There’s no reason to mess with such an elaborate system. And Kim had an opponent to meet in this filthy rat’s den.
Polaris is a world where jade stones are rolling everywhere.
The further we went, the wider the passage became. I began to see the occasional ‘rat’. They sit or lie haphazardly on the cobblestones in rags. They are almost motionless, like corpses.
“…….”
Only your eyes will follow.
He’s abandoned his cloak, which is soaked in the blood of the beast, and has come with only his face covered. A baggy t-shirt and pants are all he has to show for it.
“It doesn’t matter.
If all goes according to plan, it’s okay to draw attention to yourself now. The commotion at the loading dock will soon give away the intruder’s presence. As long as you don’t show your face, it’s probably a good thing.
As long as the Mithril doesn’t realize that the intruder is a ‘prefecture’, you have the advantage.
The sewers were quite complex in structure.
It’s not a maze, but it’s a path that splits in the middle, with potholes here and there, and old tents stretched out like a promise.
It’s your home, but it’s also a flag of sorts that says it’s your territory.
“Hmm. Is this the right place?”
A colorful tent. It was made from discarded fabrics, nothing of high quality. Upon closer inspection, I noticed small writing in the corner.
“Manoj, Priya, and the House of Assam!”
“Right.”
I was obsessed with the cute handwriting.
“…… What is this? Who are you to snoop around someone’s house?”
Just then, I heard a voice and turned around. A man with a grimy face was there. He was carrying a basket of unidentifiable berries and bark.
Noticing the stare, the man slipped the basket behind his back.
“Gossip if you don’t have to.”
“Do you mind if I excuse you for a moment?”
“I’m sorry, but you know what you see, there’s nothing worth taking.”
He’s wary of everything he sees. In the game, I felt like he was just a jerk, but it was different in person. His willingness to fight is impressive.
A determination not to let a handful of sand be taken away from him. I’d say he’s got a vicious temperament, but he’s certainly better than the others, who were dead in the water.
After all, people need to be accountable.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on?”
From inside the tent, a skinny girl poked her head out. A boy about her age followed, carrying some pebbles.
They’re both young. Maybe middle schoolers. He’s in the middle of puberty, threatening Kim with a pebble.
“Who are you, don’t argue with me and get lost!”
“I didn’t argue with you, man.”
“Is that it, Manoj, really?”
The boy asked, still nervous, but understanding. The man called Manoj looked back and forth between the children and Kim, then sighed.
“……I was just talking to you for a second. Put that down.”
“Uh… it’s not Manoj, yeah. Sorry.”
Soon the grass is dead and the pebbles are on the ground. Her emotions change rapidly at her age. It’s just like in the game, and Kim Yi-hyun is unnecessarily embarrassed.
“Well, that’s that.
First things first.
I don’t want to waste my time navigating back and forth.
“I have a request for you.”
“What, a request? Suddenly what….”
“Don’t worry about the pay.”
He looked at the two kids looking up at him and said.
“I’ll give you a lot more than you’ll ever get for your ‘little work’.”
There was a short pause.
There was no change in the children’s expressions. It could have been seen as a reaction that they didn’t understand what he meant, but Kim didn’t miss even the slightest gesture.
A girl was handing a shard of glass to a boy. With a look of innocence on her face. It’s not a big threat, but I couldn’t help but feel creeped out.
“What do we do with these guys?
Kim’s head snapped up.
“Priya, Assam. Stop it.”
After urging them on, Manoj started to enter the tent, his head halfway back, looking at Kim and nodding inward.
“Let’s talk about this inside.”
* * *
Twin brother Priya, Assam.
These are the characters in the Event Story that Banzar is set in. They are different from Ekidna in many ways.
On the one hand, a man who eats three meals a day despite having abandoned his home and business. The other is a poor man who eats a decoction of tree bark. It’s a stark contrast, and in the future, the situation will change 180 degrees.
While Ekidna dies, the twins make it safely to the lab.
“Four stars, though.
Let’s be honest: performance sucks.
Spellbinders aren’t suited for combat in the first place. It’s a non-combatant that was only included to fit in with the storyline.
In the game, it was an infrastructure character that mopped the floors of the inn…….
“The whole setup is a scam.
Inside the tent. Kim looks at the twins alternately and smiles. Whenever they stare at him, Chapter looks away in surprise.
“That’s a cute reaction.
They’re not cold-blooded assassins or anything. They’ve had a rough life and have learned to defend themselves. And they’re in the business to keep their mouths clean.
I’m interested in that business.
“I want to buy an identity.”
“……Where did you hear that?”
“To a dead man.”
Manoj’s mood was serious, so he added a word.
“It wouldn’t have reached Ramaz’s ears.”
“You’re saying you’re not sure?”
“It didn’t go in.”
“How can you be sure…….”
“Oh, that’s persistent.”
Kim Yi-Hyun cut off the tail of the horse forcibly. You can’t even say you saw it in the game. There’s no way to prove it one hundred percent.
But I know how to change the subject.
Tak.
He pulled a wadded up bundle of papers from his pocket and set it down.
“Five million upfront. Do you think this will work?”
“…….”
The tent was eerily quiet. The only sound was someone swallowing dryly. Maybe it was all three of them. It was a sum of money they had never touched in their lives.
“You can’t give me this, this, this much money… even if you put your chin out.”
“Manoj, you’re full of shit, you said you’d give it to me, take it first! Take it and think about it!”
“That’s right.”
“That’s ridiculous. If you were in our position and suddenly had money, how would you spend it?”
My hand trembles as I push the bill back down. It’s a waste of blood from his eyes. As far as unavoidable reactions go, Manoj had a point.
The workers are documented and well organized. They know each other’s faces and names. Even their paychecks are tiny.
But what if a sewer rat that’s not one of them comes out into the street and starts talking money?
“Soldiers will come and confiscate it, and they’ll ask where it came from.
Straight to torture. A society where a soldier with a gun is superior to a commoner with a mountain of gold. The deeper my pockets, the thinner my leash.
So long as you’re an average Joe.
“What’s not to love about you guys?”
“Yes?”
“I’ll just knock out anybody who walks by, then borrow their face.”
[Makeup]. Priya’s spell, as named in the game.
She can replicate a human face down to the dot. She can also change her facial expressions freely. This is different from the innate ability of the no-face guys.
Assam is no less useful. Jade Stone is not an exaggeration, they are invaluable talents. They also synergize well with Kim’s spells.
“I’d love it if you’d do some of my work.”
They’ll be the key pieces of this operation.