“Nu-naaaaaa!”
“Shut that brat up!”
“Ugh! This bastard bit my hand!”
“Gag him! Just gag him, you idiot!”
At the shout of the man with an eye patch, a scrawny guy picked up a bundle of cloth nearby and stuffed it into Terry’s mouth. As the cloth was shoved in, the room fell silent in an instant.
With a tense expression, the man with an eye patch peered through the crack in the window and let out a sigh of relief.
“Looks like no one heard us.”
“Come on, who would come all the way here?”
“C’mon, we need to keep it quiet as much as possible.”
“Uh, sure.”
‘We’ve kidnapped him, but how long do we need to keep him here?’
I’d love to leave this city, but the payment comes in a few days. Until then, I have to deal with this noisy kid.
“Hey, kid. You’ll be going home in a few days, so it’s better if you stay quiet. If we feel annoyed, we might punish you.”
“Mmmpgh!”
“Hey, tie that brat to the pillar over there.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
The scrawny guy grabbed Terry by the scruff of his neck and sat him against a nearby pillar, starting to wrap him up with rope. Just in case, he secured the knot tightly and wiped the sweat from his forehead before asking the man with the eye patch.
“Boss, isn’t it time for lunch? What should we do?”
“Get something decent. For the kid too. Can’t just let him starve.”
“I’ll be quick!”
The man with the eye patch tossed five silver coins to the scrawny guy from his pouch. Catching the coins mid-air, he hummed a tune as he left the building.
‘If not for the leech gang going down, I wouldn’t even be dealing with this kind of petty job.’
He recalled the organization he used to belong to. The gang that ruled the back alleys of Kalon. But one deal triggered an annihilation by the security force. And all those years hiding from their pursuit.
How the gang learned about their shelter’s location was a mystery, but someone who occasionally dealt with them back in the day had put out a new request.
To kidnap a kid coming out of a hole in the wall of Dern’s shop. He had used a slum kid to lure Terry and successfully carried out the kidnapping.
The client’s demand was to keep the kid safe and unharmed, so as long as he fed him decently, everything would be fine. He dragged a chair from nearby and plopped down.
‘I guess I should take a nap.’
He began to enjoy a brief, sweet daytime slumber.
—————-
“Johann! Help me!”
“…Sif? How did you get in here?”
“That’s not important! Terry has been kidnapped!”
At the shocking news burst out with heavy breaths, I kicked the chair away and rushed toward the two. Dusty Sif and Lulu looked up at me with teary eyes as I approached.
“Calm down and explain the situation clearly. I can’t help without an explanation.”
“Terry was kidnapped this morning!”
“Terry? Just like that? When?”
“He went to pick up the little ones at lunch today, but he wasn’t at the lodgings, so I went searching. I ran into Lulu beyond the front gate, and someone took Terry away…”
“Huh.”
I wasn’t sure who took him, but I could guess who ordered it. I gritted my teeth, thinking of Gross and Adam. I never expected them to mess with kids, but here we are.
Are they really trying me?
“…Karina. It seems something has come up.”
“Johann, is there anything I can do to help?”
“I need you to keep an eye on Dern’s condition. If he can’t get out of bed, things will become complicated.”
“I…I’ll help too…”
“Thanks, Elisa. Can you take care of Lulu?”
“Y-yes?”
“We need to protect this child at Yeomyeong-gwan. Lulu, stay with this sister while we find Terry.”
Lulu weakly nodded and hugged Elisa’s waist. Elisa looked down at Lulu in surprise and gently stroked her hair as Lulu buried her face in Elisa’s belly.
At least that side seems to be handled.
Now, we need to find Terry…
“Lulu, can you explain in detail what happened when Terry was kidnapped?”
“Well…”
Lulu’s sniffling explanation went like this. The two had been playing in the yard in front of the lodge when they discovered a hole they hadn’t seen before, and Tommy appeared through it. Tommy lured them out promising a little fun outside through a secret passage.
As they went out, a scrawny man with a skeleton tattoo on his right arm snatched Terry and kidnapped him. Terry struggled in the man’s arms to let Lulu escape, and he vanished into the crowd to avoid trouble. Then he ran to the front gate and met Sif.
“So it was a planned kidnapping?”
“Why would they take my brother…?”
“Could be Adam, or Gross…maybe both…”
I had a rough idea of their intentions. While they kept my attention diverted, they plan to swallow Dern’s shop whole.
It’s a bit sloppy, but if they take out everyone in Dern’s shop and then deal with Bedin, Dern wouldn’t be able to do anything even if he came back.
Kidnapping without evidence? Just deny it!
It’s a dirty strategy, but not bad to keep me tied up. They know how close Sif and I are, and with a hostage, Sif and I wouldn’t be able to act recklessly.
But…
If they think that can stop me, they’re mistaken.
“I think it’s time to teach them what happens when you make someone angry.”
“I-I have a way?”
“Tommy wouldn’t have helped out for free to kidnap Terry, would he?”
A person who betrays for money isn’t likely to resist a bigger reward.
“Just wait a bit. I’ll make sure Terry is returned to us.”
—————————
“What’s this?”
“Looks like they’re looking for someone.”
“They’re offering 500 gold coins to whoever finds or brings this kid?”
“500 coins?!”
“That’s enough to live off for a lifetime!”
“So they just need to find that kid?”
“The kidnapper is supposed to be a scrawny guy in his mid-twenties…he has a skeleton tattoo on his arm…”
The stunning news plastered on the wall and flyers spread like wildfire among people.
They’ll reward someone with 500 gold coins just for finding the kid. A sum rarely touched by anyone had people’s eyes flashing brightly as they began a search.
‘Damn, what’s this! They said it was an easy job!’
And the one who read the flyer was none other than the kidnapper himself.
Frozen in front of the flyer, voices echoed behind him.
“Doesn’t that guy look like the kidnapper on the flyer?”
“Now that you mention it, it does!”
Eyes.
Eyes.
Eyes.
And more eyes.
Countless gazes fixated on him.
How do the people see him?
The scrawny guy gave up thinking.
He felt deeply that no pleasant answer would come from his thoughts.
‘I need to quickly relay this to the boss!’
With this situation, he needed to leave this place as soon as possible. While people looked at him with uncertain expressions, the slums he had been hiding in…
…were always ready to turn on him.
‘Shit, shit, shit!’
He dashed toward the slums in a panic. People noticed the suspicious atmosphere around him.
“Doesn’t that guy look a bit like the kidnapper on the flyer?”
“Seeing him run, could he be the real deal?”
Conversations heard within the crowd turned all eyes toward the scrawny guy. It felt like arrows piercing his back with the gazes of hungry hunters.
Like a porcupine, the scrawny guy turned pale and began running down alleyways to escape from those pursuing him.
——————–
“For a while now, they won’t be able to focus on us.”
“Grr…”
Gross glanced at Adam with an uneasy expression. The man in front of him, who had proposed a crazy strategy of kidnapping a child to divert attention, made him feel uncomfortable.
But since they were now on the same ship, there was no turning back. Gross fidgeted with his teacup and asked Adam.
“What’s the plan now?”
“Let in those who might become our allies and send away those who won’t. We need to quickly filter them out and take control.”
“We need to kick out Bedin’s faction first.”
“Leave that to Gross. Isn’t that something you’ve always disliked?”
“That’s the last tea I’ll ever have in this life.”
The two shared smiles on their faces, but their eyes revealed that it wasn’t genuine.
If Dern’s shop boss couldn’t come back and they expelled Bedin, then it would be time to turn on each other’s throats.
“Indeed, you’re quite the character, Gross.”
“And you’re not that easy either, why are you sweet-talking me?”
“Then, shall we get started…”
“Can I say something first?”
“Who the hell!?”
Gross and Adam turned their heads toward the direction of the voice.
A figure entered their vision. Leaning casually against the window, the man strolled over and sat down on the sofa.
“It’s been a while. You two haven’t met me before.”
“How did you get here…”
“Now isn’t the time for such trivial talk.”
The man, Johann Quartz, spun a flame the size of a ping pong ball on his finger.
Even from a distance, the heat was palpable, and soon the sweat began to pour down the backs of the two men like rain.
“I think you were discussing something interesting… I also enjoy chit-chat. Mind if I join?”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.