Published at 19th of January 2021 11:21:32 AM
Chapter 75
Chapter 75 – What Lurks in the Darkness of the Imperial City (III)
The slums outside the walls of the Imperial City . Poor quality wooden houses were lined up on the streets outside the city gates .
The crime rate in the slums was very high compared to the rest of the Imperial City, but along this street and the large streets that occasionally separated from the main road, it was not as dangerous as the people of the city thought . When the sun was still high and there was still light, you could see many people coming and going with their belongings, and the street was full of stalls, as was the market in front of the castle gate, even if they were only rough stores .
Of course, it wasn’t as splendid as the market that stretched along the wall, but it was lively and full of a wide variety of products . Surprisingly, not only the street vendors, but also the merchants, sometimes turned aside to visit this market . This was because, although extremely rare, valuable products at bargain prices could be seen along with all the other more common products .
However, if you took one step off the main street, the atmosphere of the street would change completely . The smell of spices and roast meat, green vegetables and sweet and sour fruit that used to float through the air on the high street gave way to the smell of suspicious chemicals, beasts, decomposition and sometimes blood .
Even in the narrow back streets, some people could be seen doing business in the lined-up stalls, but at first glance, they looked suspicious, including drugs, forbidden or stolen goods, and were only increasing . Of course, the fact that such products were for sale was proof that there was demand for them .
The slums were a place where the impression they gave changed dramatically between the front and the back . However, even in the slums, there was one thing in common between them . That is, when night fell, whether it was the front or the back, the crime rate increased rapidly .
In the back streets, a man walked with a calm pace . He wore a black-grey shirt and black pants, with a sword at his waist . Dirty, poorly dressed men looking only sideways from the roadside and from behind the buildings were casting hostile glances at the man, who was walking in a relaxed manner . However, the man did not take these looks to heart, and instead of being scared, he even had a slight smile on his face .
It was because of the atmosphere the man had and the attitude full of confidence that was not suitable for the inhabitants of this city . Even the inhabitants of this city, who made of this underworld their dwelling in this time when the sun was setting and dark, opened the way in front of man as if it were natural .
“Hmm… I heard that slums were a fun place where murders, robberies and fights happened every day, but it doesn’t seem to be as much fun as I thought it would be . ”
Kelvin muttered, walking on the dirt roads, unlike the cobblestone road in the Imperial City .
For the past few days, Kelvin had been wandering around the slums like this, meeting people who seemed strong enough to fight them and have a confrontation .
The purpose was to get in touch with the important clients of a human trafficking organization or its intermediary .
After destroying several kidnapping and trafficking networks, Royce questioned those who had been captured and discovered that some of the traffickers’ biggest clients had recently hired people who were quite skilled . So, he decided that he should contact that intermediary and track down the organization above them . And Royce ordered Kelvin to play that role .
The slums were areas that were out of reach for the guards, knights and other security organizations in the city, but where people gathered, there would always be those who controlled them . If Kelvin continued to cause trouble in various parts of the slums, eventually he would be in charge . And many of those in charge in places like this were criminal organizations .
A stranger who trusted his abilities and created a disturbance on his own turf . The options they were presented with were to eliminate him or use him if he was handy .
The expected option was that they would sign him up as someone useful and be able to contact the organization, but even if they chose to kill him, it was no problem for Kelvin . In that case, he would simply escape while enjoying the battle as much as possible . If the conclusion was reached that it was too much for the lower ranks to handle, the higher ranks would eventually come out .
The battlefield was dominated only by death and the carnage brought by demons . Kelvin, who had killed many demons on the front lines and survived, had the ability and confidence to do so .
However, even though he had eliminated a number of small fries on this level, is this alone what those thugs can do…?
If that were the case, he could expose the information within the organization in the area .
Kelvin’s thin, sharp eyes, which you couldn’t tell if they were open or closed, and his mouth would curve with a tremendous smile that would give chills to anyone who was looking .
And…
‘Well… I guess I should say they’re finally here…’
It had been an hour since he had started wander at the slums, and he felt several swordsmen in the street or behind the buildings .
He was surrounded .
They smelled of blood . They were different from the idiots who boasted of their skill and only smelled of the violence that prevailed in this part of the city .
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It was a familiar smell to Kelvin .
In front of Kelvin, a bald man stopped and came out of the shadows of the building and stood in front of him . The clothes the bald man was wearing were not the old, tattered clothes worn by slum dwellers, which showed signs of having been patched over and over again, but a solid shirt, jacket, and pants . And at his waist he carried a one-handed sword .
“…There is one thing I want to ask you . ”
“What is it about? If it’s about an address, I must say I’m not very good at it . ”
Ignoring Kelvin, who shrugged his shoulders and spoke lightly, the bald man continued his words in an indifferent tone .
“Are you the one who’s been looking for fights around here lately?”
“I don’t know if I’ll be a magnet for them, but it makes me happy to face any fight that comes my way . ”
As soon as Kelvin answered that, the men appeared in handfuls from behind the building and surrounded him . Several of them were armed with burning torches and spears or clubs in their hands . They also wore the same shirts, jackets and pants as the bald man . They were dressed uniformly in small, neat clothes that were different from the poor residents who lived in the slums . In other words, they were people who belonged to the kind of organization that Kelvin wanted to contact .
“I just have one more question . ”
“What’s going on?”
“What is your purpose?”
“My purpose…?”
So, Kelvin paused and made the gesture of thinking about it .
“Well… I was attracted by the fragrance of this country, but I had differences in values with the head of the mercenary army I belonged to . Finally, I couldn’t stand it, so I hit him . And then he threw me out . So, you’d say I’m looking for a new employer, and in the meantime, abuse and have fun with a bunch of wimps?”
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“Hahaha, some wimps, huh? Oh, so they were wimps, huh?”
“Slums are a den of criminals . I had been told that if I took one step beyond the main street, I would not be able to guarantee to stay alive…”
Kelvin shrugged his shoulders and looked at the men around him with a wry smile .
“To be honest, I was disappointed that they were much worse than I expected . ”
“I see . ”
The bald man nodded happily with a loud laugh as he raised his hand and contained the men who were upset by Kelvin’s provocative comments . Then he raised his hand again and waved it slightly, and the men around Kelvin lowered their weapons .
“Hey, you . You’re looking for an employer, aren’t you? If you’re good at what you do, why don’t you come with me? I’ve got a good job for you . ”
“It depends on the reward… and how many opportunities you give me to kill people . ”
“That’s a reliable answer . ”
As he responded to the bald man, the impression Kelvin gave didn’t make him feel like he was lying . The bald man seemed convinced that his words could be trusted .
“Follow me . ” He urged Kelvin and started walking .
The bald man walked through the narrow streets of the slums, which were complicated by the wooden shacks that had been built without any order along the streets . Kelvin walked behind him and, in turn, behind him came the men who followed them .
Soon a large building appeared, incomparably larger than the ramshackle houses around it . Only this building was made of stone . The bald man stopped when he put his hand on the door of the building and opened his mouth without looking at Kelvin .
“By the way, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you…”
“What would it be?”
“I mean, how strong are you?”
At the same time as those words, multiple murderous intentions were felt behind Kelvin . However, at the same time, Kelvin had also drawn his sword . Then he turned and attacked . The blade of the sword that reflected the flame of a torch flashed like a ray of light, and someone shouted “Ah!” . The blades of the spears held by the men, and also the clubs, had been cleanly cut .
“So what? Would you rather I killed them this time?”
Kelvin slowly returned to his original stance from the position in which he had attacked, with the sword in his right hand, he looked back with a chilling smile .
“N-no, that won’t be necessary . It is enough already . ”
A choking sensation could be felt . The atmosphere emanating from Kelvin turned into a clear killing intent as savage as a storm . The bald man, who had reflexively moved to the wall of the building to get away from Kelvin, stared into his eyes .
“I see . ”
With those words, the strange oppressive feeling that had been controlling the place disappeared as if it were vanishing into thin air . The men around him, including the bald man, turned pale and breathed heavily . But they remembered the feeling of cold sweat on their backs .
Not that Kelvin, who held the sword, had changed his expression . He just stood there with his sword and did nothing else .
The bald man struggled to catch his breath . His facial expression managed to hide the fact that he had been momentarily crushed by the pressure .
“C-Come on . It’s time to make some money . ”
However, his discomfort could not be completely hidden, and was manifested in his words . But Kelvin pretended not to notice the bald man’s agitation, nodded, put away his sword and went after him .
‘I guess the first step was a success, wasn’t it? Now we just have to make contact with the people we’re looking for . ’