Those are the eyes of someone who knows me.
He wouldn’t look at me like that otherwise. And for a moment, he seemed surprised, as if he had no intention of hiding the fact that he recognized me.
“You crazy—! Damn! A very important person has graced us with his presence. Huh? Why is a noble brat here? No, why is the Lord’s child here!”
“How do you know me?”
“The event after the northern subjugation three years ago. I saw you come out with the Count then!”
“You have a good eye.”
Three years ago. After the northern subjugation in winter, Father had held a small festival. It was an event for those who had participated in the subjugation.
Apparently, Birence had also participated in that subjugation two years ago. That’s likely how he saw me following Father when he came out to give a speech.
He had seen me only one time, three years ago. And he still remembered it.
‘He has a sharp eye. And a good memory.’
He was either outstanding or quite an interesting fellow.
“Back then, some pale-looking guy showed up. I wondered if a noble could be that weak, but now you’re out here doing this? Dammit.”
“Doing what?”
“Isn’t it obvious when you’re with that crazy Reton guy?”
“Watch your tongue!”
“Shut up. Ha… a noble who should be protecting the Spiritual Land is instead undermining it. How interesting. Hehe.”
He was quite an interesting man, not losing his nerve even in a flustering situation. However…
“Did your father tell you to do this? Did he say to do something like this if you can’t inherit the Spiritual Land?”
“Stop.”
He shouldn’t have crossed the line. It was fine to mock me to my face, but mocking my family was not allowed.
“Ugh…”
As I drew out my Qi and increased the pressure, Birence, who had been screaming like a madman, had no choice but to fall silent.
“Since you know who I am, this conversation should be easier.”
“…What conversation? Just let me go. I feel like I’ve done more than enough for what I owe.”
Even though his spirit had been crushed, Birence refused to use formal speech until the end. Additionally, he didn’t forget to glare at me as if he wanted to kill me.
In his eyes, I probably looked like nothing more than a child of a Noble Family hanging out with a boss of the underworld. It was clear what kind of things such a person would imagine.
‘He probably thinks our family has become completely corrupt.’
He might be letting his imagination run wild, thinking that my father sent me in his stead or other unthinkable things. It was predictable. The hostility shining in Birence’s eyes was proof of that.
‘They say he’s crazy… but his eyes are clear. And he’s even capable of feeling anger toward me. My goodness… where did he spend all that money?’
The more I looked at him, the more interesting he became. A man who had simply gone mad from a gambling addiction wouldn’t have eyes like those.
Ignoring Birence, who was staring straight at me, I looked at Reton and asked, “How much debt does this guy have left?”
“Including what’s left, it’s easily 200 gold.”
“That’s a lot. Not an amount an individual should be able to borrow, isn’t it?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit! How much did I actually borrow? Plus, I helped design this place!” Birence screamed like he was in pain.
“What’s the principal?”
“100 gold. The other 100 gold is interest. Didn’t you tell me to keep the interest game reasonable, My Lord?”
Reton answered confidently. Among the businesses the organization had left behind, there was also private moneylending. Since I took over, I had adjusted the interest rates to a reasonable level.
“You lent him quite a lot.”
“He had a history of paying it back a few times before. I thought he would pay it back this time too.”
“And yet, instead of paying it back, he ended up in a Gambling House?”
“There are more cases than you’d think where people, struggling with debt, seek out gambling. It’s a foolish choice.”
“It’s not just foolish; it’s stupid.”
“Shut up! What do you guys know!”
But a person with such clear eyes usually doesn’t make foolish choices in any world.
‘That means there’s another reason.’
I had it figured out. From that moment on, there was no reason or meaning to talk any further.
“Birence.”
I looked straight at him and spoke.
“Choose.”
“Choose what! You crazy bastard! You want us to undermine the Spiritual Land together? Sure, why not. Noble pieces of shit who ruin their own lands are scattered all over the place anyway.”
“Shut up and listen. Just shut up.”
I told him to make a choice.
“Are you just going to leave him like that?”
“The choice isn’t mine to make.”
I threw a few words at the shouting Birence. There was no need for a long explanation. The core was what mattered.
‘Will you come under me and eliminate the reason you chose gambling?’
Or he would be confined for life and mobilized to build fortresses. In the end, it was one of the two.
I had no intention of talking about justice while running an underworld organization. The world wasn’t originally that just to begin with.
‘I simply maintain a line.’
To ensure things don’t fall to the absolute worst. Since the organization was going to exist anyway, I was simply tuning it so it wouldn’t sink to the very bottom. That was also convenient for my position, as I had to protect the Spiritual Land.
Therefore, regardless of the reason, I couldn’t simply look favorably upon Birence, who had made foolish choices several times. No one had forced him to go into debt or visit a Gambling House. He had made foolish choices and had simply ended up here as the price.
In such a situation, even giving him a choice was quite a righteous thing to do, wasn’t it? I was only practicing as much goodness as I could. Exactly as much as I could take responsibility for. I wasn’t a saint.
That was enough.
“That’s enough. In the end, the choice is what’s important.”
“In that case, I will make sure he’s managed so that he doesn’t die.”
“Sure. Whatever it takes.”
My brief interest ended there. Now it was time to return to my original purpose.
I followed Reton into his room. Inside, I asked about my original goal.
“What is the situation with the organization?”
“Internally, things are running well. But the problem is…”
“So the problem is external? Is management difficult?”
“N-no. We are managing those who were originally here. The problem is that people have come from the outside.”
“The outside…”
Within the direct territory, Reton had a firm grip on the underworld of at least the Outercity and the Inner City. The problem was that there were people who had come from the outside. According to what Reton had heard, they were all from the southern part of the Earl’s Territory.
“It’s suspicious.”
“What is?”
“Even if they are from the South, it’s hard to have that level of martial power.”
Those who arrived one day targeted the slums first, as all underworld organizations do.
*Whoosh—*
“Agh!”
They reportedly swung their swords at the organization members without hesitation. They targeted and stabbed a few people and coiled themselves around the outskirts of the slums.
“It would be impossible without prior information.”
“I suppose so.”
I also needed information to acquire this organization. It would be the same for a new organization. However, as soon as they entered this city, they accurately targeted Reton’s men.
‘That means there’s an informant I don’t know about.’
Informants are everywhere. A prime example is the Information Guild. They exist everywhere on the continent and boast a history even longer than the Empire. They would have most information. However…
‘It’s not them.’
They don’t care about small fry. They only trade information for large-scale jobs. Being an Information Guild, it was impossible for them not to have information, but they didn’t often get involved in things like this. Besides…
‘Their information fees are expensive.’
The amounts were so large that it was hard to seek them out for ordinary matters. Most requests started at several thousand gold. It was unlikely they had obtained information from such an Information Guild.
Therefore…
“They would have to be organized enough to have their own information… but that couldn’t be the case, right?”
“They are an organization that came from the outside. That’s unlikely.”
“Then there’s only one answer. Dark Moon, where you used to be.”
“…”
“……For now, that’s how I see it.”
*Shiver.*
As soon as he heard the two words “Dark Moon,” Reton’s body trembled involuntarily. Max, who had led the Black Snake organization, was also eventually part of Dark Moon. Dark Moon was one of the underworld organizations said to have roots not just in the kingdom but throughout the entire region.
There were rumors that several nobles were in collusion with them, and others said that not just nobles but even royalty were involved.
‘All of it might be bullshit.’
It might be fake information to confuse others, but in the end, only one thing was important. Dark Moon was a larger and more deeply rooted organization than expected.
“Do you think they came for revenge?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been able to confirm it properly. So…”
As if his thinking had stopped, Reton just kept trembling. He was fine normally, but he still had a lingering fear regarding Dark Moon. If it weren’t for the oath of Mana he made to me, Reton might have gone to Dark Moon right away to offer his loyalty again. Because he was afraid.
‘It will be hard to give him work like this.’
As long as my family is here, this place is my domain. If Dark Moon struck my territory, it was something I had to stop anyway.
‘If possible, I’d like to nip it in the bud… but it’s suspicious.’
I expected Dark Moon to move again at some point. However, it was much earlier than I thought. There might be a reason I didn’t know about. There might even be someone using Dark Moon to target something in this territory. In fact, it hadn’t even been confirmed if they really were from Dark Moon.
‘There are many possibilities. And Reton hasn’t been able to move properly.’
His grip on the organization was firm. However, when it came to matters like this, Reton was certainly quite incompetent. His fear of Dark Moon was paralyzing his mind. If the subordinate who was to be my hands and feet was frozen, it was I, the one above, who would eventually be tired.
“Reton.”
“Y-yes.”
“Stop trembling and organize the organization. I’ll take care of this matter.”
“Ah! Thank you!”
Only after I finished speaking did Reton stop trembling, looking relieved. I looked straight at him and spoke clearly.
“I’m overlooking this just this once. From next time, don’t tremble or act stupidly over things like this. If you do… you understand, right?”
“Y-yes!”
“Good.”
Reton nodded his head repeatedly. As if he had to listen to my words no matter what.
I gave him a brief glance and left the cavern immediately. It was toward the south of the slums.
‘Let’s handle this quickly.’
The slums, which looked unchanged on the surface, were certainly different than before. The current situation was that underworld organizations had decreased their influence and their acts of tyranny had also diminished. Since the Parakho who tormented them were keeping a low profile, it was natural for the people in the slums to look more lively. Much of the shadow on their faces had disappeared.
However, as I went further south, I saw many people with shadowed faces, just like before I had started moving.
‘It seems they’re acting out quite a bit.’
It was clearly evident that after I had put effort into organizing the territory, some troublemakers had come in and were muddying the waters.
Suppressing my anger, I used a movement technique to go deeper inside. And finally…
“There it is.”
I was able to arrive at my destination.