abcnovels
Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Chapter 17: I’m Going to Beat Them Up
The old servant who had just entered was named Wright Perer, Lihan’s father and Samael’s chief attendant.
Kazen stood up from the head seat with a hardened face.
“Lead the way.”
As we followed the chief attendant outside, dozens of people were clamoring.
A few elders were also present, having come down at some point, and someone was lying near the main gate, bleeding.
‘That bastard…?’
As soon as I saw a large man standing in front of the main gate with a wicked grin, my blood began to boil.
Because I knew him.
He was one of the guys who got beaten up by me next to the corpse’s eye on the day I was first reincarnated.
Was his name Krak?
As I got closer, I could see the face of the fallen man more clearly.
“…What happened, Lihan?”
“Ugh. Young Master.”
“Who did this? Was it him?”
There was no answer. The soldiers guarding the main gate were soldiers in name only, acting like idiots. They just stared at Krak with uneasy eyes.
“……”
I met Krak’s gaze.
Krak smirked, staring right back at me as if he had something to rely on.
“You need to get beaten up more to come to your senses…”
At that moment, Kazen cut me off and stepped forward. His gaze was directed towards the very back of the group.
As if on cue, a man in blue robes slowly stepped forward from the back.
The man with snake-like eyes nodded at Kazen.
“It’s been a while.”
“…I think an explanation is needed, Lord Snake. Are you picking a fight with Samael?”
The snake-eyed man sneered in response.
“Well, would we do that? We’re here on behalf of Bayern. Rather, Samael should educate their servants properly. It was an official visit, but your servant was the first to use vulgar language towards us. He’s a hot-tempered fellow, so he acted before I could stop him. Anyway, I’m sorry about what happened to your servant. Apologize.”
Krak smirked and nodded.
“I didn’t know he’d go down with just one hit. Well, anyway, I’m sorry.”
“Are you saying that now!”
Fwoosh—
An immense aura erupted from Kazen, and the large man immediately slammed his knees and face into the ground.
“Ugh!”
The aura was so strong that even I, standing next to him, got goosebumps.
However.
The aura lasted only a few seconds.
Kazen clutched his chest and grimaced, and the mana waves around him dissipated.
‘Wait a minute. Was his mana circle broken?’
There’s only one reason for mana to disperse so quickly.
It’s evidence that the heart’s circle has been destroyed.
‘Did he experience mana runaway? No. He doesn’t even know mana resonance properly, so runaway couldn’t have happened. Then did he fight with an enemy?’
As I continued my thoughts, Snake smirked and said,
“Calm down, Lord Kazen. Acting like that won’t do Samael any good.”
Kazen glared at Snake once again.
“I didn’t expect such blatant rudeness. I’ll let this slide once, so leave immediately.”
“I’m not that free. I told you I came for an official matter.”
Snake’s lips curled into a sinister smile.
“I think you need to pay back some money.”
“That’s going too far, Lord Snake.”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m not free enough to joke around.”
I’m starting to feel disgusted. The way this snake-eyed bastard is grinning, it’s like…
“I understand Samael borrowed a large sum of money from the Hamad Merchant Guild?”
“What?”
“And you put up Khaoto Mountain as collateral.”
“……”
The expressions of a few elders changed drastically, but Kazen responded calmly, not revealing his inner feelings.
“That has nothing to do with Bayern.”
Snake stared directly at Kazen and laughed.
“Urgon acquired the Hamad Merchant Guild.”
Gasps could be heard from all around. The elders’ faces turned pale. Kazen barely managed to maintain his composure, but he was just as shocked as the elders.
‘Don’t tell me they…’
Reverse Scale.
The reason Samael had to admit its own downfall was because of the Urgon family.
“It seems you finally understand what I’m saying.”
“……”
“You’ve only been paying interest so far. You’ve long passed the due date for the principal. If you borrow money, you have to pay it back.”
Snake Eyes grinned and held out a document with Urgon’s seal.
A document authorizing Bayern to collect the debt.
“You can pay us back.”
One of the elders couldn’t hold back and shouted.
“Shut up! The Hamad Merchant Guild went bankrupt? You think we’ll believe such nonsense?”
“Hahaha. Alright. I understand your anger, so I’ll shut up.”
“Fuck off, you bastard.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll fuck off too… What did you say?”
I immediately stepped forward in front of Snake Eyes and said it again.
“You look just like a snake. Of course, I mean you look like you should be drowned in poison. Watch your tongue, you snake bastard. Where did you learn to talk like that?”
A chilling silence fell over the surroundings.
The Lord, the elders, and even the Bayern guys all looked at me with dumbfounded expressions.
Snake Eyes, having been cursed at, stuttered in shock, and Krak whispered something in his ear.
Snake Eyes then said to me with a bewildered expression.
“So you’re Samael’s sore thumb. Just as I heard.”
“What did you hear?”
“It seems you haven’t learned what happens when you run your mouth off…”
Snake Eyes and his group suddenly bowed their heads.
I thought they might have come to their senses, but that couldn’t be it.
“Greetings, Crimson Mage!”
“Greetings, Vice-Tower Master of the Red Tower.”
Hector was approaching from afar.
The guys who had been acting cocky towards Kazen immediately straightened up and greeted Hector respectfully.
Snake Eyes whispered to Kazen, just loud enough for him to hear.
“You’ll find out the truth soon enough if you check. I’ll give you exactly three months. If you can’t pay, you’ll have to vacate Khaoto Mountain. Or…”
“……”
“You could come under us. Our Lord is generous, he won’t turn you away. Haha.”
With that, Snake Eyes bowed only to Hector and left immediately.
Seeing Kazen and the elders staring blankly, I wanted to possess Perer and smack them upside the head.
Sigh…
It didn’t seem like Snake Eyes was making things up. He wouldn’t tell a lie that would be easily exposed.
Of course, what pissed me off the most was something else.
Forget about borrowing the money.
How can they just stand there and take that bullshit?
* * *
“One! Two! Three! Four!”
The sound of shouting filled the air halfway up Khaoto Mountain.
Young mages were running and sweating profusely as the sun began to set.
“Huff huff. Guys, isn’t it too hard? Should we stop for today?”
“Yeah, let’s rest today!”
“Whoever said let’s rest today, step forward.”
“Gasp!”
“I knew it was you, Iron.”
I had secretly followed the apprentices from behind.
Contrary to my expectations, seeing them train so hard made me a little disappointed, so I tried to provoke them, and someone took the bait.
“Where did you go, Captain?”
“Why am I the Captain?”
Just as I was about to scold Iron, Zion spoke to me first.
“You’re the Captain because you’re the Captain. Where have you been? We haven’t seen you for a while.”
It was the first time I’d been called Captain, and it felt oddly satisfying.
“I had somewhere to go. Let’s see if you’ve been training well.”
“What are you looking at?”
“Everyone, attention.”
The ten apprentices simultaneously took the attention stance.
Ain, you’ve gained some muscle. Pass.
Iron, not bad for a slacker.
Makan, this guy is a real monster.
Zion, the venom in your eyes has grown, not bad.
.
.
.
Palge, still fat.
“Pig, you’re hopeless.”
“What are you talking about, I worked the hardest!”
“Then why do you look like that? How much do you eat normally?”
“I’ve been like this since I was born!”
“Shut up. Everyone, continue what you were doing. Zion, follow me.”
I took Zion down to an open space near the training hall.
We sat side by side on a long rock, and Zion asked me,
“Why are you suddenly acting all serious? Do you have something to say, Captain?”
I responded seriously.
“Your father was a successful black market merchant, right? From Khaoto.”
“So?”
“Then you know a lot about Khaoto?”
Merchants, by nature, need to be well-informed to survive.
Especially black market merchants dealing with dangerous goods, they need to know everything that happens in the city, day and night. It could be a matter of life and death.
Zion answered as if I was asking the obvious.
“Of course. Until a year ago, I even knew how many times the manager of the Night Dew Pub peed in a day. No one knows it better than me.”
“Good. Then tell me about Bayern.”
On the day I was first reincarnated into this body, Corpse Eyes clearly stated that his family was Bayern.
I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but it seems his mockery of Samael wasn’t just empty words.
“Bayern? Those thugs?”
“You know them. Tell me everything, without leaving anything out.”
“It must be because of Samael.”
Zion was certainly quick-witted.
By the time his long explanation ended, the sun had completely set in the west.
And my conclusion was:
“They’re no different from third-rate gangsters.”
“Third-rate assholes, that’s what they are.”
The current Khaoto was different from the past.
In my past life, it was a dazzling magical city, but now it’s a lawless wasteland.
It’s just like the back alleys I used to live in.
Knife fights break out several times a day, and security is terrible.
Among them, the Bayern are the thugs who extort protection money from merchants and small shops, and if they don’t like something, they’ll resort to violence and even take over businesses.
“They haven’t been rooted in Khaoto for long. Originally, the Dark Soul gang controlled Khaoto.”
Until a few years ago, the Dark Soul gang dominated Khaoto.
As Bayern gained power in Khaoto, the Dark Soul’s influence gradually diminished…
Currently, the Dark Soul gang controls the western part of Khaoto.
Bayern controls the eastern part.
“Are there any notable figures in Bayern?”
“The bigger problem is that they’re connected to Urgon.”
“Well said. What are these Urgon guys all about?”
Zion asked back with a puzzled expression.
“What? Are you stupid, Captain? You don’t even know that?”
I smacked the back of Zion’s head and replied,
“Just answer the question.”
“Geez. Seriously? Urgon is the most famous in Quebec. They have deep ties with the Blue Tower. If we’re talking about magic families, they’re among the top in the east. And that’s not all…”
As I listened to Zion’s explanation, I understood why Kazen and the elders’ faces had hardened.
“So, the Bayern guys are nothing special.”
“What did you hear? I clearly said they’re dangerous. Urgon is backing them.”
“Alright. Go get me a mask.”
Zion tilted his head.
“What mask? We don’t have one.”
“A black market merchant doesn’t have one?”
“I told you, we’re bankrupt. Damn it, Captain.”
“On second thought, we don’t need one. There’s something better.”
I gave Zion’s head a good whack and started walking down past the training hall.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“To beat them up.”
Anyone who dares to harm my servant deserves to be trampled tenfold.
Whir—
I must have been overcome with anger.
I could feel the three circles in my heart spinning vividly.
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