episode_0026

Lunchtime, on the rooftop.

Lizley was unconsciously grinding her teeth.

Leon and Emma, who were beside her, looked at Lizley at the sound of her teeth grinding.

“Is something wrong? Your expression hasn’t been good since this morning.”

Leon said, taking a bite of the sandwich Emma had made.

“No… I’m just not feeling well. My neck feels stiff, and my body feels rigid these days.”

“Why don’t you go to the infirmary? Professor Rosalie is quite skilled, she’d take good care of you… Ah, but she’s probably absent right now. With Ras.”

At Leon’s slightly amused remark, Lizley’s expression subtly worsened.

It was because she knew Leon was deliberately provoking her.

His tone, as if he were enjoying a fascinating love triangle drama, was extremely irritating, but Lizley had no choice but to back down in front of Leon.

“……”

Emma was simply fidgeting uncomfortably between them, observing their moods.

Lizley was the most important person to her, but Emma didn’t have the guts to defend Lizley against Leon.

“I didn’t think Ras would spend the night out like that without even sending you a message. And accompanying such a beauty too… Turns out Ras was a real man.”

Sip- Leon continued his teasing, savoring a mouthful of tea.

The desire for dominance he felt seeing Lizley, who couldn’t even properly retort despite his taunts, and the amusement he felt watching her reaction, delighted Leon.

“Ras, or whatever… whether he’s playing around with women or not, it’s none of my business. It’s just annoying that he’s acting so arrogant, like he’s trying to provoke me…”

Lizley muttered, recalling Ras’s reply once again.

[Sorry.]

The two-character reply, clearly showing no sincerity and obvious annoyance… it was enough to give her nightmares.

Since holding Leon’s hand, she had been busy planning to push Marisa aside and claim her place.

She chewed her sandwich, rationalizing that she was just annoyed by Ras, who was like a thorn in her side during her busy schedule.

‘Whether I cheat, or whatever I do… Ras, you have to fawn over me and be obsessed with me. Until the very end, until you die…’

Perhaps because of her contradictory and shameless thoughts, today’s sandwich was unusually rough and tasteless.

“Emma, this sandwich tastes too rough. It also seems a bit sour… Prepare it better next time.”

Emma was flustered and sweating profusely at the sudden criticism of the food, and Leon chuckled to himself watching her.

Somehow, these three turned even a light lunch into a farce.

*

I entered and walked through the back alleys of Sephiroth, specifically the slightly secluded western sector, a bit removed from the bustling commercial area.

Whether it’s the bustling downtown of the imperial capital or its quieter outskirts, beneath it all lies the underworld of those who have hit rock bottom.

Should I say the underworld is like a long, winding snake?

From the tail to the body and finally to the head, the density of the underworld intensifies as one moves from the outskirts towards the commercial district.

I came here intending to establish dominance, but that doesn’t mean I plan to take control of all the underworld forces in a single day.

If it were right before I died, when my martial power was at its peak, I could do it while picking my nose, but for me now, who is no different from a newborn babe, it’s impossible.

In the first place, in this life, there’s no particular reason for me to grind my teeth and devour the entire underworld of the empire.

I just need it for now, so I’ll leave behind a small spark.

Where I’m walking now is a common underworld neighborhood, densely packed with apothecaries, quack fortune-tellers, cheap bars, and low-grade brothels.

Instead of addresses or street names, this neighborhood is roughly called ‘Black Rose Thicket,’ named after the organization that controls it.

“Where should I go with Rosalie-ssi for dinner? Which restaurant has a good night view… I should only go home at night. And when should I scold father again…?”

To return by trail on Saturday morning, I need to finish everything by Friday.

While my mind was busily sorting through tasks, I arrived at my destination.

“Welcome!”

I opened the shabby wooden door and entered a cheap tavern.

This tavern, where loafers were already puffing on cigarettes, guzzling cheap liquor, and playing cards from noon, was called ‘The Rose That Eats Fish.’

Glancing-

As I, who had the impression of a bookworm or a young master from a well-off family, entered with a loud sound, the loafers playing cards turned their gaze toward me.

Regardless, I strode over and sat at the bar.

The musty-smelling bar, true to its cheap nature, had creaking chairs and a wobbling table.

“Ginger ale.”

I approached the pot-bellied man who was wiping glasses like a bartender and placed my order.

The ugly man who took the order glanced at me, then scoffed and said,

“We don’t have that. Why would you look for a soft drink in a bar anyway, you idiot? Go drink more of your mother’s milk…”

Whether he was trying to size me up with that glance or what, his defiant attitude was pathetic.

With tattoos and moderately fatty muscles… he clearly looked like someone who could throw his weight around, but it seemed he couldn’t gauge his place.

Seeing that even in this era, you stationed such an idiot as a doorman, you were quite clumsy back then too.

Slam-!

“I said ginger ale, you bastard. The staff training here is as shitty as it ever was. Why are you bringing up someone’s dead mother?”

In the blink of an eye, I grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him onto the bar counter.

Then I twisted his wrist, breaking it, and branded a faint ‘mark’ on the back of his hand.

“Arrrghhh…!!!”

The once-relaxed fat man burst into tears, screaming the kind of shriek usually let out by those exposed to burning pain.

“What?! He just attacked Pryer out of nowhere!”

“Get him!!”

The men playing cards hurriedly pulled out knives and daggers and surrounded me.

“Anyone who draws a knife and points it will reunite with their ancestors. Just stay still, you insects.”

Snap..!

I twisted the fat man’s arm, completely breaking it, then grabbed his head and slammed it onto the table, causing him to pass out without even a scream.

The remaining men watched the scene with utterly bewildered expressions, then shouted and charged at me.

“Sigh.”

I sighed and met the charging insects.

*

Had about two minutes passed?

There were five men who attacked in total.

I roughly broke a few of their bones, knocked them out, and tossed them into a corner of the bar.

Turning the bar into a mess in an instant somehow made me feel refreshed inside.

I went to the messed-up bar area, mixed myself any random cocktail, and sipped it.

The taste of whatever it was—alcohol or a drink—going down my esophagus, was honestly awful.

“Ugh, these conscience-dead bastards are selling this kind of garbage for money…”

I deliberately let one lucky guy escape without beating him, so now someone resembling a person in charge should come.

Creak-

When I had drunk about half the cocktail, the door creaked open, and a man entered the bar, followed by three or four others.

Unlucky-looking squinty eyes, a lizard-like impression, and slick, gleaming brown hair as if something had been applied to it.

It was someone I knew.

“Train your brats better, Frixos. Your customer service is utterly terrible.”

“….May I ask who you are… and what brought you to this corner of the world?”

A relaxed, sugary voice, pretending to be a mastermind, spoke to me.

“I told you. I’m a customer. That fat bastard lying over there was discriminating against customers, which I found disgusting, so I beat him up. I came to meet your boss, so call him quietly.”

Frixos, the enforcer and second-in-command of a small back-alley organization based in this bar.

He has squinty eyes, but he’s not particularly strong or hiding anything.

He seemed to be roughly assessing my skill by observing my unruffled state and his underlings lying unconscious without a single groan.

“Don’t roll those tiny eyes of yours, you incompetent moron. What do you know just by looking? I came here knowing it’s your rule that your boss comes out for a meeting if someone orders ‘ginger ale.’ Why are you playing hard to get?”

“….It seems I didn’t know the rules well as a newcomer. I apologize on his behalf. I will bring the boss.”

He was incompetent but perceptive enough to realize that if he attacked, he wouldn’t even be able to recover his bones.

He scurried out of the bar, leaving only his awkward subordinates behind.

After about ten minutes, the bar door opened again, and a somewhat more useful person appeared.

Dressed in a pitch-black hooded robe, and the voice was probably…

“Who dares cause a disturbance in the Black Rose Thicket…?”

The voice, laden with eeriness and terror effects, held magic within itself.

At the appearance of the so-called ‘Boss,’ Frixos and the other underlings bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

However, to me, who knew the true identity of this ‘Boss,’ it was merely a familiar and trivial sight to behold after a long time.

A magic that ‘seemed’ impressive at first glance. But if you peeled back its true nature, it was nothing more than an illusion magic for intimidation.

Slide- The figure glided like a ghost and approached me, sitting at the bar counter and drinking a cocktail.

Inside the robe was like an empty black void, which would further create a sense of mystery and fear for the underlings, but…

Thump-!

“Where do you think you’re sitting, acting all pretentious?”

No chance.

I immediately gave the arrogant fellow a burning hot knuckle rap.

And…

“Waaahhh!!!! What are you?! Why aren’t you scared, why are you hitting me?!”

A pathetic wailing sound came from inside the hood, and I grabbed the hem of the hood and burned it away.

“Nghhh!! Hey!! Stop it!! I said stop!!!”

The hood burned away, and what emerged from within was a woman with pale skin, black hair, and black eyes.

And look, she hadn’t even washed her face, so she was grimy.

The terrifying atmosphere she had created was trivialized and burned away by my flames, and as her outer appearance was revealed, the prostrate underlings began to murmur.

“W-what?! The boss bawled her eyes out from one knuckle rap!”

“Right?! If she cries, she loses!”

“More importantly… the boss was a woman?”

I stomped my foot impatiently and threatened the murmuring insects.

“Shut up, you idiots. From now on, just clean up this messed-up bar. And buy a bottle of ginger ale. Just so you know, poison doesn’t work on me, so if you try any tricks, your heads will fly off.”

As I stealthily snatched the ‘Boss’ by the scruff of her neck as she tried to sneak away, she dangled pathetically like a cat held by its nape.

“Why?! Why are you doing this to me?!… What did you come for…?”

When I glared at the shrieking figure, her tone immediately became polite.

“It’s a bit hard to talk here, let’s go somewhere private. Lead the way, to your house.”

“Ugh… So you came here targeting beautiful and cute me…! You lecherous pervert. How did you know I was a woman… Ow!!”

She was spouting nonsense, so I gave her another knuckle rap.

“I’m not interested in women who don’t even wash their faces. Stop spouting nonsense and lead the way quickly. I have something to discuss.”

“Alright….”

The disheartened figure walked ahead of me with her head bowed, and Frixos looked utterly shocked.

At the strange sight of the squinty-eyed bastard actually opening his eyes from shock, I patted his shoulder and said,

“Clean up well, and let’s have a talk sometime later today or tomorrow, okay?”

“…Understood…”

Leaving the bowing man behind, I followed the unidentified woman.

*

“Uhm… could you tell me who you are first…?”

We went to the house where she lived alone.

It was a shabby house with no particular features, but inside, various medicinal herbs and bottles were arrayed.

Crystal balls used for magic, and various suspicious-looking books, meaning this person was, at least, a mage.

“You’re my boss now. Your organization, and you, are all mine.”

“Why is it like that?!…?”

The figure raised her voice, then immediately became polite again as I clenched my fist.

“That’s how the back alleys work, so what are you rambling about? Will you submit? Or will you burn to death?”

“I’ll submit…”

A half-baked mage, incompetent, petty villain, swindler, and the one who eventually died tragically because they got involved with me.

“You made a good choice, Pisces.”

“How do you know my real name…!”

Pisces the Dark Mage.

I reunited with my original underling from my past life a bit earlier than expected.

It was a moment that somehow reminded me of Irha.