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Chapter 50: Sinia and the Empty Bag (1)
Chapter 50: Sinia and the Empty Bag (1)
Chapter 50: Sinia and the Empty Bag (1)
Messing with someone.
It wasn’t an easy task.
Even if it was absolutely necessary for quest clear or my peaceful and prosperous life.
Even though I have now become a man with provoking attitude.
My essence was kind, warm, humane, sensitive and ethical. I had the sentiment of an ideal modern person who constantly considered doing recycling and thought numerous times about doing donations or volunteering.
Would I, such a person, decide to mess with someone?
‘Oh, it’s not easy.’
The negative complex emotions that arise from the action of messing with someone, in other words, the discomfort.
Enduring that discomfort was quite a challenging task, even though I had gained a resilient mentality due to my abilities.
However, the story changes if it’s Harashin.
Most of the Harashin were undeniably human garbage.
Messing with these guys was an act of charity on par with donations or volunteering.
If you messed with them, you can feel ‘I spent the day quite fruitfully today?’ and then immediately stop all activities, flex with chicken and cola, get some sleep.
And among those Harashin, the followers of the branch called ‘The Eight Finger’ were particularly trash.
Harashin was one group, but within it, there were eight major factions following the eight leaders known as the eight fingers.
The Eight Finger was the worst of these eight factions.
They were engaged in all kinds of cult activities by worshipping the god they called ‘The Gathering One’- which was a human sacrifice.
When human sacrifices are mentioned, it is usually about black magicians, but the human sacrifices performed by these black magicians are for actual existing demons.
Although human lives are sacrificed, at least it’s not ‘wasted’.
It’s similar to a beast eating a human.
But human sacrifices by The Eight Finger are meaningless murders and waste of human lives for the sake of the fake god they created for their setup.
To make matters worse, their religious activities were unnecessarily fervent.
It was reasonable to think that most of the disappearances in Arienne were related to these guys.
Then one day, as if they were given some kind of pet formula, they changed the subject of their human sacrifice to the aristocrats of the 1st District-
That was the moment when players first encountered the group called Harashin.
Likewise,
The Eight Finger was one of the representative villain groups that players initially antagonized. They were the few that I could mess with as much as I pleased.
‘Let’s see…’
Arienne is the most giant and freest city in this world by setting.
Is it because it is the biggest and freest?
The underworld of Arienne was also more gigantic than the underworld in any other city in this world.
In the shadowy areas throughout Arienne city, slums were formed, and this was the underworld of Arienne.
Also known as the back alley.
In the back alley, those unwelcome in Arienne gathered to build their bases.
The poor who could not even live in the 5th district, which had the lowest living standards.
The outlaws and mercenaries fleeing from various rules and laws of Arienne.
And various non-human races discriminated against merely by their existence.
Above all else, the criminals.
The place I was headed now was ‘Moss Street,’ which was relatively safe within the back alleys due to a low concentration of criminals and their threat level.
In that Moss Street, ‘Long-nailed Edony,’ a direct master of the ‘Eight Finger’ branch, was actively operating while concealing his identity.
At this point, at least one person would go missing on Moss Street every day.
This was evidence that Edony was actively engaging in religious activities.
Edony’s outward identity was the ‘Empty Bag,’ a fixer of the most influential crime organization ‘Rakar’ on Moss Street.
From now on, I plan to meddle with that Empty Bag as ‘The Right Arm.’
I plan to create merits.
Through those merits, I intended to transform the imaginary group ‘The True Harashin’ that I had constructed while talking with Redar, into a real group.
Insurance.
This is the effect that I can gain through such work.
What happens when the moment comes and it is revealed that I am an assassin? What if I reveal, ‘Actually, I’ve been the ‘The True Harashin’ who’s been interfering with Harashin all along.’
People might not recognize my existence just because of that, but they’ll not instinctively try to kill me like they do when dealing with other Harashin.
The idea was to change my status from an unquestionable enemy to a dangerous figure who could be considered either an enemy or an ally.
Since I couldn’t prove my innocence through individual agreements, similar to when I convinced Redar, it was a necessary process.
Moreover.
The Empty Bag was one of the ‘Named Enemies’ in this game.
It was an enemy that players had to eliminate through quests, and most importantly, he had some pretty useful artifacts.
Insurance, pre-clearance of quests, item farming, and the satisfaction of contributing to society by countering social evils.
“Edony, you adorable bastard. Daddy’s coming for you.”
***
After leaving the Lebringer Mansion, I was jogging my memory and heightened my senses to the fullest.
How long had I been roaming around trying to find ‘Moss Street’?
Suddenly, it felt like the sun had set as the surroundings darkened.
The alleyways – areas that barely get any sunlight due to the geographical and structural layout of the city –
This was the proof that I had entered Moss Street.
The alleyways were instantly a different environment from the first district.
The musty air, filled with a stench, constantly hit my nostrils.
It was as though it was numbing my nose to help me adapt to the back alleyways.
“Oh, it’s livelier than I thought.”
Moss Street was strikingly different from the back alleyways I had mistakenly entered when I first came to Arienne.
If the back alleyway that I had entered then was like the ‘entrance to a dungeon.’
This place was, at least, like a neighborhood where people lived.
Numerous people were moving back and forth.
It had a similar vibe to districts 4 and 5 where civilians and commoners resided.
If one had to put a difference between district 4, 5, and here, it would be that the general mood of the pedestrians was significantly rougher?
It was indeed an “underworld” feeling.
Now, I have to find the ‘Empty Bag’ here.
It wouldn’t be too hard.
Although he thoroughly hid his identity as an assassin, he confidently revealed his existence when operating as the Empty Bag.
“Hmm?”
Just as I was entering deeper into the Moss Street.
“Who is it?”
I felt that my existence had been captured by someone’s senses.
Level: 65
Skill: Assassination Arts of Injustice Lv.7 (Legend)
I was currently in my Right Arm mode.
Level 65, with a skill level of 7.
A seven-star assassin.
Right now, as a seven-star assassin, I was completely hiding my presence.
And yet, someone sensed me?
I immediately identified the owner of that sense.
An afro-style, pink hair that covered one side of her eyes.
Her soft, playful eyes that shone through the hair, and a lively impression from the lips holding a smirk.
It was a familiar face.
“Sinia?”
Sinia, who helped me out during the Academy entrance exam with our teacher, was sitting in a pub.
She was looking at me through the pub’s window.
For now, I accepted it.
Just like Adryn and Yena, Sinia had reached the stage of the seven stars and stepped into the realm of heroes.
Given how formidable Sinia was, it wasn’t odd that she discovered me while I was fully hiding my presence as a seven-star assassin.
“But why is she here?”
Sinia was a resident of the distinguished first district as a noble and an Academy instructor.
What’s she doing in the back alley, not to mention in a pub at this hour, totally drunk?
“Oh.”
Then, one piece of information about Sinia came to mind.
[So why is Sinia chasing Harashin?]
[Because…]
[Why is Sinia chasing Harashin?…]
[Why is Harashin being chased by Sinia?…]
[Damn it, you bastards, speak up.]
Sinia was pursuing Harashin for some reason.
That would explain why she showed interest in my assassin’s talent.
Even her being in the back alley pub at this time made sense.
“…”
And now, while pretending to turn away from me-
There was still some sense pointed at me.
Sinia displayed her interest in me-
In ‘The Right Arm’.
Perhaps she sensed a connection to Harashin from The Right Arm, whose presence was concealed by the art of assassination.
I took my gaze off Sinia and moved on.
However, I could still vividly sense Sinia’s aura.
‘What do I do about this?’
I briefly pondered the predicament of an unexpected pursuer.
‘It actually worked out well.’
I concluded that shortly after.
***
“Blargh!”
“Sorry~”
“Ugh!”
“Excuse me~”
In a pub on Moss Street at the back alley.
A woman walked through, stepping over the men who had fallen around her.
One of them had a twisted wrist, the other a twisted arm.
They were men who had put their hands on her shoulder, tried to hold her waist.
They were ruffians who had instantly approached the unusually beautiful young noblewoman alone in the bar without hesitation.
“Master~ Sorry for causing a ruckus.”
The man who was addressed as ‘Master’ widened his eyes.
The color of the coin the woman touched was gold.
She paid an amount that was worth dozens of times the price of the drink she had consumed and left the pub.
“Hmm?”
A group of men blocked her way.
“That girl…!”
One in the bunch, clutching his broken little finger, spoke up.
He was the man who had casually sat next to her and stroked her hair only to end up with a twisted little finger.
He was a member of the crime syndicate ‘Rakar’ that dominates the Moss Street.
After his finger was twisted, he promptly left the pub.
He found other members of Rakar nearby and told them about the woman who had messed with him.
About the defenseless lady, who seemed to be a noblewoman, drinking alone without any escort.
Click.
A behemoth of a man stepped forward at the center of the crowd.
‘Axe’s Hand Kandal’, the person in charge managing numerous pubs within the Rakar.
He was a formidable player, standing at a 4-star level.
With an axe attached to his thick right hand resembling a log, Kandal looked at the woman, scratching his thick chin with his other hand.
Her radiant pink hair full of luster seemed to be the only thing that held color in this dreary street.
From her lively expression revealed by the hair covering one eye, he could sense the playful liveliness that is unique to noble ladies.
His eyes flashed with lust.
His thick lips, twisted into an obscene line, opened.
“Miss, did you lose your way? You shouldn’t be wandering around this dangerous area alone.”
“Huh? No? I didn’t lose my way? Anyway, I’m busy right now, could you step aside?”
Kandal’s head jerked to the rhythm of the woman’s lively voice.
The obscene line on Kandal’s lips deepened.
“Oh my, you shouldn’t be this reckless. What if you run into some bad guys and get into trouble in a place like this? We’ll guide you. Let’s go together.”
“Hahaha, it’s fine, can you just step aside~?”
Just as the woman tried to pass the group, Kandal gestured with his eyes.
One of the hooligans moved to block her way.
Sigh.
The woman sighed and looked at Kandal.
“Really. I’m busy, you know? If you keep doing this, I’m going to get angry?”
She behaved as though a nun of an orphanage was disciplining children.
The hooligans burst into laughter.
Kandal was no different.
He raised his hands and cackled.
“Oh my, how scary!”
Kandal speculated about the woman’s identity while watching her endearing actions.
A naive lady who knew nothing about the ways of the world.
Why would such a lady be wandering around this back alley unguarded and alone?
Simple.
She must be tired of her confined life in the mansion, and tricked those around her to sneak out on her own.
Relied on her superficial self-defense skills learned from her family.
Noble? Dealing with her could be troublesome.
Kandal’s rationality appealed to him.
However, looking at the woman standing unguarded before his eyes, the cries of his rationality was easily buried by the cries of lust.
As Kandal licked his lips and was about to approach the woman…
“Urgh…!”
Someone kicked Kandal in the side.
“Who the-… huh?”
The large scar drawn across his face at an angle and his vile expression said it all.
It was Henriksha, an executive of Rakar.
Kandal froze at the sight of him.
Not simply because he held a higher rank within the organization.
Henriksha was a powerful man who had attained the 6-star realm.
No one could challenge him within Moss Street.
Kandal, who had reached the 4-star realm and was unable to see anyone else in this back alley, was no different.
He timidly looked up at Henriksha, who had kicked him.
“He, Henriksha, sir. What brings you-… Ugh!”
Henriksha then kicked Kandal in the gut with all his might.
“Fucking… Shut the hell… Up… you idiot…!”
The thudding sounds of the blows echoed several times and soon, Kandal passed out with his eyes rolled back.
Henriksha, seeing this, went immediately to Sinia and bowed his head.
“Ms. Sinia, I really apologize. These unpolished fools dared to not recognize Sinia and acted rudely…!”
As he spoke, the expressions of the hooligans, who were huffing and puffing just moments ago, were marked by confusion.
“Si, Sinia…?”
“Wait, the Impenetrable-”
Is she, or isn’t she?
“What kind of country drama is this…”
Sinia murmured, covering her face with her hand.
Soon, she spoke to Henriksha with a charming smile.
“I don’t mind. Can you please take care of these guys now? I’m quite busy right now-”
“Ah, if you need to be somewhere in this area, I could guide you-”
“I say I’m busy, okay?”
Sinia said with a bright face and lively voice.
But the atmosphere changed.
Henriksha, who had been smiling bitterly, flinched and his eyes widened.
“So, sorry.”
As he bowed his head, he gave a sharp look at the hooligans.
It was then that they hurriedly made way.
“Thank you~”
Despite the incident, the woman who said thank you in a cheerful tone and gentle voice gracefully left the spot.
After that.
Solid sounds of bones breaking and screaming echoed through the area for a while.
***
Maybe because of the ruckus just now.
“No~”
It delayed her chase, and Sinia ended up losing the stranger with the unusual mask.
“Ah, seriously. I’m so annoyed?”
In conjunction with her bubbly face, her voice rose at the end.
Was she getting angry, or slacking off?
That was the impression of those who knew little of her.
However, anyone who knew a bit about Sinia would have been surprised to see her like this.
They would say it was their first time seeing Sinia so agitated.
“I can’t give up like this.”
Saying that, she still scavenged the back alleys for a while.
All traces of alcohol had cleanly evaporated from her.
In the first place, she could easily get rid of any effects of alcohol from her body if she wanted to.
“Huh!?”
How long after she thoroughly combed the Moss Street with her clear sense.
Sinia once again caught the trace of the hoodlum.
Whizz!
His tremendous build.
His black robe.
His unusual mask.
Sinia saw the hoodlum entering an alleyway.
Although it was the situation she had been craving for, Sinia’s response was lukewarm.
“Hmm… I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”