------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Pot]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
Chapter 83: What Kind of Man Shakes His Legs Like That?
“Hey, you there!”
A voice called out to me as I was walking, deep in thought.
“Huh? Were you calling me?”
When I turned around, two thugs with shabby-looking blades were grinning and looking at me.
“Kid, if you take off those clothes and scram, we’ll spare your life.”
“Ah, this?”
I asked, lifting the hem of my clothes.
“These aren’t even particularly expensive clothes.”
“Good. Then you won’t get scolded by your mom even if you leave them behind, right?”
“Kekekeke!”
The thug with two missing front teeth cackled at his friend’s joke, which wasn’t even funny.
“What are you going to do if the guards catch you doing this?”
“Bullshit, which will be faster, us getting caught or intestines spilling out of your belly?”
I sighed at thier way of talking.
“Ah, these assholes. Talking about spilling intestines to a small and frail kid like me?”
It was actually a good thing. Wouldn’t it be good for Peter’s safety to create an urban legend that people shouldn’t mess with a kid wandering around with a foolish face at this hour?
I glanced at the thug trying to grab me from behind and then snapped my finger into the air.
Paak!
As if hit by a slingshot, the thug who was hit on the bridge of his nose bled from his nose and fell backward.
“Wha, what!”
“Ever heard of Finger Flicking Skill?”
“!”
It is said that when you become a swordmaster, you can create enough force as if hit by a hammer just by flicking the air, but I simply used a small trick of instantly flicking out a small mass of aura.
If I had some metal beads, I would have made a hole in his forehead, but I wasn’t that well-prepared.
“Hey.”
“Ye, yes?”
“Come here.”
I beckoned to the thug who had instantly lost his will to fight.
“Wha, what I said just now was just to scare you… I didn’t mean it. Really….”
I took the stance of flicking his forehead with the hand that was picking my ear.
“Heeik!”
I said to the thug who knelt down in fright.
“Put down that knife and bow your head.”
If you don’t want to die.
* * *
I went to the rooftop of Peter’s house, changed my clothes, and then went to find Zizek.
Unlike when I was in Peter’s form, no one dared to even make eye contact with Karzan, who had a menacing look and a large build, let alone pick a fight.
“Tsk, pathetic fuckers.”
They sure know how to find a comfortable place to lie down and stretch their legs.
‘By the way, this is also a troublesome thing.’
From Allenvert to Peter, from Peter to Karzan. This was a real mess. This wasn’t some kind of triangular trade.
“Sigh.”
Anyway, I walked through the night slums and arrived at Zizek’s base.
“You’ve arrived!”
The organized members, standing at attention, bowed to me.
“Excellent. They’re as disciplined as guardsmen.”
Seeing the guys with innocent look on their faces, it seemed Zizek had given them quite a bit of moral instruction.
“But you guys look very well indeed?”
“Boss got us new clothes and gave us haircuts and baths.”
“Really? You carried out my instructions well.”
At that moment, a curt voice came from the side.
“It wasn’t difficult, what’s the big deal.”
“Oh, Zizek.”
“Welcome.”
Zizek, who was for some reason out in the empty lot, asked.
“You’ve come back so soon? I thought it would take a few days.”
“Yeah. I had some time.”
As I picked my ear and replied, I discovered something.
“Who are those guys?”
Two thugs were kneeling, beaten to a pulp. Of course, they were the bastards who had tried to rob me earlier.
“Don’t you know?”
“Know what?”
I asked back, feigning ignorance.
“They said a guy named ‘Karzan’ beat them to a pulp because they messed with a kid under our protection. They’re waiting for you to decide their fate.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
Looks like they were properly scared of me after all. Playing along, I approached them like it was our first meeting.
“You messed with one of my people?”
“We, we’re sorry!”
I looked in turn at the guy who had fainted from my earlier finger flick and the guy who had been beaten up for his share as well.
“Wow, the smell is something else.”
They all reeked of urine.
“Tell me in detail what you did. I’ll check it later, and if there’s even one word of lie, exaggeration, or concealment, you’ll really die.”
“Th, that is.”
The two guys trembled and confessed all the facts in detail.
“We’ll never, never do it again.”
“We’ve been living like trash!”
I replied coldly.
“You’re not just ordinary trash. How can guys who try to stab a defenseless kid be human?”
“We’re sorry!”
As I spoke, I became enraged and struck the two guys’ heads.
“A defenseless kid, a kid, a kid! You bastards.”
The thugs, with large bumps on their foreheads and then punched again on top of them, trembled as if they were about to faint.
“They’ll really die like this.”
Zizek stopped me.
“If they tried to kill someone, they should have been prepared to die themselves.”
I spat on the ground and finally stopped.
Killing one or two of these thugs is not difficult for me. But I don’t intend to become a man who kills humans like killing ants.
“What are you going to do with those bastards?”
“Hmm.”
Zizek replied with a troubled face, as if understanding my anger.
“They’re trash, but they’re not the only ones doing this kind of thing in this world.”
“So?”
He said, carefully watching my expression.
“The important thing is that this kind of thing should not happen again in our territory.”
“That’s right.”
Of course, the place where those guys appeared wasn’t Zizek’s territory, but that was okay. It would be someday.
“I’m thinking of beating them up real good first, and then sending them out to warn their trashy thug friends.”
That was a decent method. I nodded.
“Good. If they don’t believe it, tell them to check it themselves.”
“Yes.”
“This is a matter of how much fear your name can instill in the future, Zizek. In this world, fear creates authority.”
“I know.”
I waved my hand.
“Then deal with these guys as you said. You and I have some things to talk about.”
Zizek shrugged.
“We should. I had a lot of things I wanted to ask anyway.”
* * *
I went to Zizek’s office and sat in the seat of honor.
“Give me some water.”
“I’ve poured some.”
“It’s not poisoned, is it?”
“Oh my.”
“You’re sighing over a little joke.”
I drank the lukewarm water. The cup smelled.
“Live a little cleaner.”
“I did clean it?”
“Do it properly. Before I turn everything over.”
“You’re picky. Anyone would think you came from some noble family.”
“Shut up.”
“But who is that boy?”
I put down the water glass and replied.
“I was going to tell you about that anyway.”
But before telling him the truth, there was something I needed to confirm with Zizek.
“What did you do while I was gone?”
“Well, it’s a long story. I disciplined the organization members a bit and made them look a little more presentable….”
“And?”
“I put them through hellish training.”
“I wondered why they looked so drained.”
I chuckled.
“Did it motivate them a bit?”
“They’d be fools if it didn’t.”
“That’s true.”
A spark was rising in Zizek’s eyes.
“Do you want to become stronger?”
“Yes.”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll help you.”
Zizek looked into my, Karzan’s, eyes with a serious gaze.
“I’ll be in your care.”
“I like how obedient you are at times like this.”
“I can distinguish between public and private matters to that extent.”
Zizek snorted.
“Ah, and I apologize, but I haven’t finished cleaning up the businesses yet.”
“I understand that.”
Even a small corner store can’t be cleaned up in two days.
“There must have been guys who voiced complaints. What did you do?”
“I hung up or crippled the guys who talked nonsense and sent away the guys who wanted to retire.”
“You did well.”
I asked.
“Did you give them severance pay?”
Then Zizek asked back with a dumbfounded face.
“Do I have to give them that kind of thing?”
“The ways of the underworld have fallen to the ground.”
I lamented.
“Didn’t those guys have families?”
“They do. That’s why they quit.”
“Then go and give them some money even now. If they didn’t cause trouble and did their duty while we were sharing meals, it’s right to treat them with respect.”
At those words, Zizek’s expression became even stranger.
“Why are you making that face?”
“No, you really have a great capacity. I’ve never heard of anyone in this world thinking about things like that.”
“A great capacity?”
I chuckled.
“I do. A damn lot.”
Karzan’s capacity, who roamed the underworld of Flanders, was like a lake holding a vast night sky.
“Ah, and there’s one more thing.”
“Tell me.”
“Today, I went to find the guys who usually had terrible reputations and either educated them or beat up the hopeless ones and chased them away.”
“You did? That’s excellent.”
“Karzan. No, Boss.”
Boss. I realized that it had been a long time since I had heard that familiar expression.
“I think of this as an opportunity. An opportunity to change not only my life but everyone’s lives. And an opportunity to become stronger, an opportunity to become real men.”
I nodded.
“You have a good sense. You’ve definitely seized such an opportunity.”
Zizek was a man who didn’t disappoint my expectations. Therefore, I was going to entrust Zizek with a task.
“…Zizek.”
“Yes?”
“Are you prepared to hear a truth that’s hard to handle?”
As I lowered my voice, Zizek’s expression also became more serious.
“Uh… you saying that suddenly makes me a bit nervous.”
“Shut up. What’s done is done.”
“Then don’t ask.”
I ignored Zizek’s muttering and dropped a bombshell.
“I’m actually trying to build a force in the underworld under the secret orders of the Fourth Young Master Allenvert Grunewald.”
“…Huh?”
Zizek’s brain seemed to freeze for a moment.
“What, this isn’t a lie, is it?”
“Does it seem like a lie?”
“Wow, Fuck, wow. Wait a minute.”
Zizek jumped up from his seat and paced around the room like a dog that needed to relieve itself.
“This is driving me crazy.”
“It seems so.”
“Could it be that I’m completely screwed?”
“If you’re having second thoughts now, quit. This is your last chance.”
“Damn it, I can’t do that now that I’ve come this far.”
“What kind of man shakes his legs like that?”
Zizek, who slapped his thigh to pull himself together, took a deep breath and said.
“I’ve heard about that Young Master. They say he’s of mixed blood from the mountain tribes?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I heard rumors at the bar that he’s been reclusive and has become a different person.”
“That’s also right.”
I wasn’t particularly surprised by Zizek’s information network. Rumors would have spread by now.
The stories could have come from the mouths of the Royal Guards or the Security Guards, or from the mouths of the employees or their families. It didn’t matter to me. It was rather good.
“Anyway, from now on, that means the Young Master of the Grunewald ducal Clan is our backer? I thought I was getting out of the shadow of the Bisakino Brotherhood, but this is something I can’t handle….”
As Zizek muttered nonsense, a coldness returned to his expression.
“Boss, can I ask you just one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Could it be that you’re trying to raise me as a sword to be used in the Clan’s succession struggle?”
“You’re seriously misunderstanding something.”
I chuckled.
“What he needs is power, not ‘you,’ Zizek. If you can become that sword, he’ll use you, and if not, he’ll find another sword.”
“……”
Zizek, enduring even the words that scraped his pride, replied like this.
“But isn’t it also true that you chose me?”
“That’s true. Your mission is to prove that my choice was right.”
While building up his pride, I added this warning.
“Keep your mouth shut. If this fact spreads in the underworld, you’ll be the only suspect. Then I won’t be able to save you either.”
“I understand.”
“I’m not saying this as a joke. If you leak today’s events to anyone, abandon everything and run away immediately. Then you might be able to live for another day or so.”
“Yes? No, that’s….”
Zizek, who was about to say something, grasped the atmosphere and replied like this.
“I’ll be especially careful, so please don’t pressure me too much. I almost peed myself.”
“Filthy bastard.”
I shook my head and said.
“Anyway, there’s something we need to do today.”
“Tell me.”
“This office is too inaccessible. Use this place just as an annex for your guys to eat and sleep, and find another building to use as the main building.”
“Yes? With what money….”
I threw the bag of gold coins that Olivier had given me.
“This much.”
Zizek exclaimed with his mouth open.
“Your spending is on a different level. As expected….”
Expected of what? Allenbert’s subordinate?
“Shut up.”
“Only thing I did was to say ‘as expected’.”
I looked at Zizek’s frivolous mouth.
"Be careful. You were walking a fine line just now."
"Yeah, I realized I overdid it for a second there."
Zizek scratched his head awkwardly.
"Good. Timing and balance aren’t just important in swordsmanship."
I nodded and asked.
“Are there any buildings nearby that we can take over?”
“Of course. There are many guys who would sell if they had the money.”
“Can we go see them now?”
“Oh, already?”
I said, getting up from my seat.
“I’m a busy man. If I make the decision, you’re in charge of the practical work.”
“…It’s good that it’s simple.”
Zizek also stood up following me.
“Then let’s go. I’ll guide you.”
------------------
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Pot]
[Proofreader - Kawaii]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
------------------
