Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Surviving With An Sss-Rank Inventory Chapter 28
Episode 28:
Back alley.
A slang symbolizing the underworld of Rivernos. The shadow of a large city where many small organizations are intertwined with complex interests.
“You look like you’re asking how I know that.”
“….”
Inside the tense reception room.
Dio, who was confronting Sigmund, whose alertness was at its peak, slowly opened his eyes.
However, Sigmund remained silent and only glared at Dio.
“Calm down, vice-captain.”
Dio, who slowly pushed away the pointed tip of the sword, stood up and continued speaking.
“Disappearance cases have increased recently.”
“The back alleys of River North’s underworld.”
Dio slowly circled around Sigmund and began to explain further to resolve his doubts.
“Where did the vice-captain start searching to find his sister? “Maybe…”
Gulp –
Sigmund swallowed his saliva at Dio’s words, which seemed to be stretching them out on purpose.
“The back alley must have been destroyed five minutes before the opening.”
Dio, according to Sigmund’s judgment, was just a suspicious person who came across the sea.
However, as long as the existence of the back alley was known, doubts about the unclear origin were no longer important.
Why did Dio know about the existence of River North’s troublesome back alleys?
How did they guess that Sigmund would have raided the back alleys first?
‘After Sepia’s death, the first people to receive Sigmund’s wrath were the back street gang.’
Originally, Sigmund, who witnessed Sepia’s death, began to express all his anger on the world, starting from the back alley.
‘But Sepia is alive. If you think about the later story from Sigmund’s perspective, you will have a hard time dealing with the back alleys.’
After seeing Sigmund’s sensitive reaction, Dio was convinced that his thoughts were correct.
If dealing with the back alley had been easy, Sigmund would not have reacted so oversensitively.
“I can help.”
“…What do you mean? “Are you an outsider?”
Sigmund, who did not believe Dio’s words, opened his mouth bluntly.
“I don’t know where you heard about the back alley, but it’s not a problem that can be solved that easily. “No, before that, why are you, an outsider, helping us?”
“Aren’t you reluctant to entrust Sepia to me because you don’t trust me? “That’s why I’m going to prove my abilities.”
“What skills do you have?”
“If I were to judge based on what I saw and heard on the way here, people were talking.”
When Sigmund, who was dominated by distrust, took the bait, Dio’s eyes lit up and he slowly began to explain his future plans.
“So…”
The so-called back alley clearing operation.
Even though River North is a big city with a powerful knight order, why is it leaving behind criminal organizations in the back alleys?
Criminal organizations are like weeds.
Even if you think you’ve completely eradicated it, it keeps sprouting up somewhere.
The same was true for River North.
Rather than having numerous criminal organizations run rampant, it is better to have two powerful forces keep each other in check.
The lord of Rivernos thought that was the best method.
Dio explained the operation with this in the background.
Dio’s explanation continued for a while, and Sigmund listened to his explanation in silence.
Eventually, when Dio’s explanation was finished, Sigmund became lost in thought.
A plan too detailed to be called a hastily concocted story.
Above all, it is strange that a man who is new to River North knows the details of the back alleys.
But…
“I’m not saying I’m going to do anything bad, but I’m going to clean up the back alley gangs for River North. Why don’t you just trust me and leave it to me?”
“And what if you die? “How do you plan on treating Sepia?”
“Do I seem reckless enough to risk my life to carry out an operation? Besides, Sepia is my patient. “There is no doctor who would leave a patient behind.”
“….”
At Dio’s words, appealing to his sense of responsibility as a medical professional, Sigmund lowered the hand holding his sword.
“What do you want?”
Sigh-
* * *
Sigmund’s private office.
While I was looking for Sepia, the backlog of work was left in a mess on the desk.
Meanwhile, Sigmund, who had no intention of organizing his documents, sat in a chair and was lost in thought, pondering the conversation with Dio.
A man named Dio.
It was not an insight that an ordinary person could show.
‘Did you say you were a detective?’
Sigmund did not take his eyes off Dio, who accompanied him to River North.
This is because Sigmund had a duty to verify that he was a human capable of saving Sepia, which had the curse mark engraved on it.
‘Even if you heard about the back alleys in another city, did you manage to figure out the situation in the back alleys in such a short period of time?’
A back alley dominated by two criminal factions.
And Sigmund, who touched them first to find Sepia.
The problems that arise from this can be quite troublesome.
Even though the back alley is an underworld where criminal organizations gather, they clearly have the citizenship of River North.
The reason the knights had been unable to clear out the back alleys so far was more a matter of justification than a lack of power.
The lord’s order was also taken.
‘Can you solve this? ‘That guy?’
Sigmund recalled his first meeting with Dio, who received his sword.
Movements that are free-spirited yet controlled like a knight.
If you’re that skilled, there’s no way you’ll be cornered in a back alley.
‘He may have a bit of an abrasive personality, but it could be true that he is a former military council member who exercised investigative powers.’
However, it was still difficult to fully accept the suspiciousness.
Sigmund sighed deeply because he could not leave Sepia in peace unless he made sure of this.
“Phew…”
How long has it been since you felt so helpless?
Sigmund sighed and considered whether it was a good thing to help him solve the back alley.
Among the things Dio asked Sigmund to do was to quietly watch whatever he was doing in the back alley for a week.
I said I knew to his face, but I can’t just leave him alone.
Even if you don’t intervene as promised, shouldn’t you be aware of what’s going on?
‘We’ll have to put up surveillance.’
A stranger who may cause trouble in River North.
If he’s truly acting with pure good intentions, there’s no problem, but if he just shows signs of being suspicious…
‘I’ll have to find another way to treat Sepia in advance.’
Sigmund began preparing to begin a full-scale battle with Dio.
* * *
Dio left the Knights’ Mansion and was heading straight to the back alley.
‘It’s just as I remember.’
Dio, who recalled his past activities based in River North, was filled with new emotions.
A quest from a blacksmith who is having trouble supplying steel to the general store owner who asks for medicinal herbs.
He did the personal things that everyday life gave him here in River North, and it was when Dio was just getting out of his rookie state that he became aware of the existence of the underworld.
“It’s still the same here.”
A place where shabby buildings are clustered in a corner after passing through a busy street.
This is the border of the River North underworld, and even the guards do not enter here without permission.
The back alley is a place where various criminals hide among the people of the slums and there are two major powers that dominate this place.
The golden dawn of the moderates.
The gore howl of extremists.
The future of the back alleys that Dio knows is a process, but in the end, it ends with all of them being wiped out by the awakened Sigmund.
I remember the situation before that, when the extremist Gore Howl attacked Golden Dawn and took complete control of the back alleys.
Of course, after that, Sigmund gets crushed, but if you keep in mind that the situation is different now than then…
‘There is no reason for Sigmund, who confirmed Sepia’s survival, to mess with a beehive for no reason.’
At this point, it is unknown how the story of the back alley progresses.
However, he knew exactly what was going on in the back alleys before being attacked by Sigmund, and was confident that if he took advantage of this, he could destroy them.
How to catch a barbarian like a barbarian.
‘The reason Gore Howl attacked Golden Dawn is because Golden Dawn’s power has weakened.’
After Sepia went missing, Sigmund searched the back alleys.
The biggest victim of that incident was none other than Golden Dawn, and Gore Howl took advantage of the opportunity to act when its power was weakened.
In that way, Gore Howl was able to unify the back alleys by capturing Golden Dawn.
‘Not long after, he was destroyed by Sigmund, who went berserk after confirming Sephia’s death.’
However, at this point, Golden Dawn has only reached the point where it has suffered the most damage after Sigmund raided the back alleys.
Here, Gore Howl will be waiting for an opportunity to strike the golden dawn.
‘All I have to do is give him a little push on the back. Of course, to my advantage.’
After organizing his thoughts, Dio smiled and headed towards a back alley that had a gloomy atmosphere due to lack of light.
* * *
“Take a look. Auditor.”
An old man with a strong physique opens his mouth.
Although he was an old man with neatly combed gray hair, he looked as if he had combed out the ravages of time and was as good as any young man.
The identity of this old man is Ludens, the Lord of the Golden Dawn.
‘I heard he was run by back alley thugs, so I thought he was a bandit with a bushy beard…’
Dio had only heard of Ludens’ name, but this was the first time he had seen him in person.
Because Golden Dawn fell before the players arrived in Rivernos due to the flow of the story, there was no opportunity to see Ludens.
When we actually met and talked like this, there was no such thing as an old gentleman.
That doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the biggest criminals in the back alleys.
“Don’t worry, I will speak well to the vice-captain here.”
Dio nodded to Ludens, who did not lose his kind smile even though his power was weakened by Sigmund.
“Hahaha, I believed you would be a person who could communicate well. Normally, the vice-captain wouldn’t have to apologize to us… but thanks to the auditor.”
“no. “I didn’t do anything. Let’s get along well from now on.”
“I like it.”
“Hahaha”
“Hahaha.”
Dio and Ludence are smiling happily.
As can be seen from the title that Ludens calls Dio, Dio currently holds the status of a special investigator under Sigmund.
This is exactly what Dio asked Sigmund.
Knights generally had the power to search commoners without a warrant, and Dio asked Sigmund for that authority.
‘The information in the back alleys is also amazing. Sigmund is reluctant.’
As Dio escaped from the Golden Dawn’s Lair, he began to think about the future.
‘It is no exaggeration to say that everyone in the back alleys knows what is happening in River North.’
Ludens knew that Dio came to Rivernos with Sigmund.
Of course, that fact was not the problem.
Rather, it was only better from Dio’s point of view because it made him more confident in the position of special auditor that Sigmund had temporarily given him.
That’s probably why Ludens treated Dio with respect from the beginning.
‘I didn’t know that Sigmund suspected me.’
Although Sigmund searched through the back alleys to find Sepia, the moderate Golden Dawn had little resistance to this.
Knowing that, Dio contacted Golden Dawn first.
The conversation there was uneventful.
A trivial story about how Sigmund will no longer be wandering around the back alleys.
Of course, it was Dio’s lie.
It was understandable and suspicious to see Ludens always smiling and behaving kindly, but it didn’t matter.
‘After all, it will start with Gore Howl, not Golden Dawn.’
As I told Sigmund, the only time you can stay in the city with Sepia is a week, so you have to resolve it within that time.
‘The cornerstone for the day after tomorrow has been prepared. Now…’ With
shining eyes, Dio’s gaze was directed to his warehouse located in River North.
Survive as an SSS-level warehouse character