Ch.55Paerus Veil (2)

“I thought it would be difficult working in the capital, but it’s easier than I expected.”

I muttered to myself as I headed toward the Adventurer’s Guild with a sack containing the heads of the thugs who had been roaming the marketplace.

From what I’d heard, they were refugees who had flowed in from a nearby collapsed city?

Either way, it wasn’t my concern.

If they had nothing to do, they could become adventurers like me. Why go around swinging fists at innocent people and extorting their hard-earned money?

For that reason, they had to die, and they did.

I headed to the central branch of the Adventurer’s Guild and presented the sack of heads. The receptionist took it and began verifying each identity one by one.

“Yes. Twenty in total. All identities confirmed. I’ll issue your payment of 40 silver coins. Please wait a moment.”

“Hmm.”

“Here you are.”

The only problem was that, true to its reputation as the capital, the cost of living was quite high.

It wasn’t so expensive that I’d think ‘I’d rather die than pay this price,’ but seeing items that cost 1 copper coin in Parsifal selling for 3 copper coins here made my body twist involuntarily.

The inn rates were similar to elsewhere since their main clientele was armed adventurers, and they couldn’t easily raise prices unless they wanted to risk getting stabbed. But the market prices I experienced firsthand were considerably steep.

Perhaps those 3.5-floor trams existed because people couldn’t afford their own horses due to these prices.

Horses were not only expensive to buy but also cost a fortune to maintain, making them nothing but a dream for most commoners who lived day to day.

Anyway, I had completed another request today, and my savings were starting to accumulate.

I wouldn’t say I lived frugally, but I didn’t have any particularly expensive hobbies either. So after working all day, all I wanted was to eat something delicious as a reward, which meant money naturally accumulated.

If I had a family to support, things would be different, but I was an orphan with no ties.

“Hmm… Nothing particularly appealing here.”

More precisely, there wasn’t much work available for someone of Charcoal rank who hadn’t manifested an Aura yet, and what little solo work there was had already been claimed by others.

Since there was still time before the requests would be updated, I left the Adventurer’s Guild thinking I might get a snack…

Swish!

“Huh?”

My halberd had been stolen.

Patter patter!

“What the fuck?”

*

“Stop right there, you bastard!”

“Aaaagh!”

“Stop screaming and just stop!!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

“Hey!!!”

That thieving bastard. The scoundrel seemed to have a different running technique, maintaining distance from me even while constantly looking back.

Damn it, I’d been in this city for less than three days, and judging by how boldly they were acting, they clearly knew the local geography well…

Which meant the longer this dragged on, the more disadvantaged I’d become.

“Damn it!”

Shing!

I drew two daggers from under my armpit, activated Accel, and instantly closed the distance between myself and the thief.

Whoosh!

“?!”

Startled by how unnaturally quickly I closed the gap, the thief flinched, and I flicked my wrists to throw both daggers in succession.

Thunk! Thunk!

“Arrrgh!”

Thanks to the shortened distance, the daggers easily embedded themselves in the thief’s body, and they collapsed to the ground with a scream.

My halberd fell to the ground, and I picked it up before using its blade to remove the hood and mask covering the thief’s face.

The thief was a cat beastkin, and upon closer inspection of their face and skeletal structure, it appeared to be female.

“Huh. Quite bold for a beast woman.”

I muttered as I strapped the halberd to my back again and retrieved the two daggers from her legs. The thief tightly bound her bleeding legs and looked up at me.

“If… if you don’t let me go, my Familia won’t leave you alone…!”

“Familia?”

I’d heard that term in Parsifal too.

It was used to describe criminal organizations that were larger than common gangs but smaller than cartels—an ambiguous size.

“What an absurd woman.”

I grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up. The people around us were watching with interested expressions, wondering when I would cut her throat.

Ah… So this is the public sentiment in the city?

This heavy, chilling sensation… It’s been quite a while.

“Listen well, woman. When you steal someone’s property, you should apologize first.”

“Stop the bullshit! You have so many weapons hanging off you, surely you can do without one halberd!”

“Hmm. I suppose one could think that way.”

I drew my longsword and cut off her left wrist.

“Aaaaargh!!!! My hand!!! My hand!!!”

“Familia, you said? There’s no one here to help you now. Brutally killing those who harm you is a natural right bestowed upon humanity by Karil, and I am quite prepared to exercise this right.”

“Hic… hic…”

She wept, unable to tear her eyes away from her now-severed left hand.

It was commendable that she managed to stop the bleeding with a piece of cloth, but I had no intention of leaving her be in the first place.

“What is the name of your ‘Familia’?”

“Hic… Roland… Roland Familia.”

“I see.”

I cut off her right wrist.

“Aaaaargh!!! Why!! Whyyyyy!!!”

“Go tell your family. Tell them if they bother me again, I’ll fillet them alive.”

“Hic… sob…”

She left, bleeding profusely, and I cleaned the blood off my longsword before sheathing it again.

I watched the thief fleeing in the distance and began to secretly follow her.

With my rattling chain mail and long halberd in hand.

*

The last place she visited was a gap between buildings.

There were men waiting for her there, and I could hear them clicking their tongues as they saw her severed wrists.

“Tsk. Judging by your state, I guess you got caught.”

“That fucking bastard is completely insane! I mentioned our Familia name, but he wasn’t scared at all!”

“Are you an idiot? He’s an adventurer—threats about Familia mean nothing to him.”

“B-but…”

“Shut up, you bitch. Go inside and drink a potion. More money down the drain, damn it.”

High-grade potions can heal severed limbs.

Judging by their conversation, they seemed to be an organization that could afford high-grade potions without too much difficulty, albeit at a cost. As it happened, I was curious about what fighting in narrow streets would be like.

“So what are we going to do about that adventurer?”

“What do you mean? We need to crush his limbs at least to save face.”

“What about killing him outright?”

“That would make things too complicated. The Adventurer’s Guild would tear us apart.”

“Sigh… These beast bastards and their thinking. Of all people, why did you have to target an adventurer and cause this mess?”

Criminals don’t target adventurers.

Not only is the Adventurer’s Guild’s pursuit frightening, but there’s hardly anyone who boasts “I’m an adventurer” who can’t handle a blade, meaning you could lose a limb in the blink of an eye.

However, for adventurers, such criminals are easy prey.

There’s no need to call the police when money can make those swaggering thugs disappear forever.

No one had paid me, but I decided I needed to erase this “Roland Familia.”

The reason was simple.

Because I wanted to.

I drew my halberd again, gripped it in my hand, and turned the corner to enter the gap between buildings.

“What the?”

Naturally, I encountered the thugs who had already taken position, and I silently pointed my halberd at them.

Seeing my stance, they glanced at the place where the beast woman with severed wrists had entered, then drew their weapons.

“Talk about bad luck.”

“Don’t let your guard down. Judging by how he’s dressed, he either has connections or skill, or both.”

As expected of lowlifes crawling the streets, they were quite perceptive.

“My name is Viktor the adventurer. Nothing personal, but you need to die.”

“Is this because of that woman?”

“Of course.”

“Karil have mercy.”

They rose from their positions and rushed toward me at once. I thrust my halberd, piercing the throat of the first one to approach, killing him instantly.

Next, I let go of the halberd, handing it to the one who grabbed the shaft. As he fell backward, not expecting me to release it, I drew a dagger and stabbed him in the heart. For the large man who seemed trained in martial arts, I drew my longsword in reverse grip, cut his joints and tendons, and forced him to his knees.

Thud!

“Damn it…”

“Any last words?”

“Spare me.”

“No.”

His head fell, and I advanced toward the headquarters of the Roland or Rowland Familia or whatever they called themselves.

Crash!

I kicked down what might have been the main door or a side entrance, and immediately all eyes inside turned to me.

“Blood for the Blood God! Karil! Witness my slaughter!”

With that prayer to Karil, I drew my twin swords and began cutting down the thugs who rushed toward me.