Chapter: 76
“…It seems you’re not interested in what I’m saying.”
From the sly chuckle that occasionally slipped out, Noah quickly picked up that the boss of Vian wasn’t interested in her story at all. She felt a bit annoyed, but it wasn’t all bad.
The Vian organization might have had brains under the table, but their brawn was off the charts. This was a prime time to figure out what kind of person led that bunch. That alone was already a major win.
“Ah, no way.”
The Vian boss, attempting to play it cool with some late humor, managed to mask her expression, but Noah wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat anymore. In a firm tone, she declared.
“Thanks, but no thanks. We’re both busy, so let’s wrap it up here.”
“Well, do you really think it’s gonna go down that way?”
Quite a bit of time had passed since the signal was given. By now, there should’ve been ample opportunity to grab hostages. The Vian boss grinned so grotesquely it almost shoved her cheekbones into the next dimension.
“I think you might have brought a certain prized possession of yours to room 2024. A lover, perhaps?”
“….! Damn it!”
Noah immediately pieced together the situation and shot up from her seat.
The one waiting in room 2024 was Lily. Usually, when the big cheeses of two organizations meet, they don’t drag along other members; it’s like an unwritten rule. But that rule? Yeah, it’s ignored more often than not.
I mean, you never know when your opponent might decide to stab you in the back, so waltzing in unarmed is just plain dumb. But dragging along too many goons could look like you’re declaring war.
So, the norm is to casually sprinkle a few members around to keep an eye on things while being all sneaky. But Noah? Nah, she wasn’t having any of that.
In her crew, not a single soul could outshine her strength. The members she’d drag along might end up being more of a hindrance. She was even tempted to leave behind Nero, who insisted on being her backup.
I mean, come on! No one would listen to her crazy idea of strolling solo into enemy territory.
Faced with immense pushback, Nero—the superstar of the organization—had no choice but to act as her bodyguard, while Lily opted to wait downstairs, just in case things got funky.
Everything was so sudden and small-scale that Noah, who had been all chill, bit her tongue and thought, ‘Well, guess what? There’s a traitor in the mix. One of the higher-ups, at that.’
Otherwise, how else would gossip about Lily be spreading? Internally, she cursed her own complacency. She seriously wanted to bolt out the door right then, but in front of her enemy? Turning her back would be dumber than a rock.
With a cold expression, Noah grabbed the sword from the scabbard resting against the sofa.
Srrng.
Even with the threatening sound piercing through the air, the Vian boss just grinned eerily and didn’t even try to stop her. She lifted her index finger and lightly waved it from side to side while saying,
“Oh, no way, you think I mentioned this without making any preparations, right?”
“…What exactly did you do to my subordinate?”
At Noah’s murderous voice, the Vian boss burst into laughter.
“Hahah! Now we’re speaking the same language! First, take a seat and let’s continue our little chat—”
Before she could finish her sentence.
Crash!
“Eek!”
“Ahhh!”
With the sound of something breaking and shattering, a loud thud echoed. At the same time, screams erupted from outside the inn.
It was the sound of passersby screaming and scampering away as something heavy fell right in front of the inn. Someone yelled.
“Who the hell threw a corpse in the street?!”
In this place where morals and laws were about as effective as a soggy tissue, folks only cursed the idiot tossing a corpse around. No one was too fussed about someone dying.
Instinctively, the Vian boss felt a chill at the racket coming from downstairs. Just as her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes darted toward the window, her annoyed voice turned into one filled with fear.
“H-Hey! Isn’t that the orc unit?!”
“Oh hell! It’s real! Looks like there’s a feud between the organizations! Run for it!”
“Help me!”
Outside, a corpse lay sprawled out. The orc unit.
That moment was like a slapping reminder that her command had flopped hard. Noah’s expression shifted to one of relief, and she signaled to Nero behind her, indicating he should head down first.
Tap!
The Vian boss didn’t stop Nero from bolting out. Instead, she just tightened her silence, blood vessels bulging near her eyes.
“This guy and that guy! No one around here knows what they’re doing right!”
As she clenched her teeth and exuded pure aggression, her clothes began to rip apart audibly. Noah adjusted her grip on her sword, watching the woman’s physique balloon like she was transforming into a werewolf.
“Graaah! Now that it’s come to this, I’ll wipe everything out! No one’s making it back alive!”
And that’s when the battle between the two bosses kicked off.
*
At the same time, in the bathroom of room 2023.
“Euh-heung.”
After luxuriating in the bathtub to my heart’s content, I found myself humming. With a relaxed smile, I opened the bathroom door slightly, grabbed my clothes, and promptly shut it again.
“Huh? What’s with these wood chips?”
I tilted my head at the sight of sawdust and tiny wood fragments on my clothes and casually brushed them off.
“Did dust sneak in? Better close the window next time.”
With that thought, I got dressed. I had just returned my cursed sword to my hand earlier, so I threw a towel on my head and exited the bathroom.
“Sorry for taking so long! It’s been ages since I’ve—”
Lian, who had been speaking warmly, suddenly lost her words as she took in the scene.
Jess was vigorously scrubbing blood off the floor with some random cloth as if she were washing a car, freezing like a guilty puppy upon making awkward eye contact with me.
And then there was Iris, inexplicably standing in front of the shattered window, staring at me like she’d just found out where babies came from.
The floor was a bloodbath, the door was smashed to bits, and beyond all that lay a total of several corpses. I pointed toward the hallway with my shaking hand and said,
“I-I-Iris, uh, this is just a casual question, but what’s going on over there…?”
“They just came in and started hitting us…”
“You did well! Really well!”
I immediately gave a thumbs up at Iris’s gloomy expression, feeling proud.
“You did… well, but..! Let’s hightail it out of here! If we make that kind of ruckus, we might just attract the neighborhood bosses!”
My brain was ringing alarms left and right. I packed my things with alarming speed, hoisted Jess under my arm (Jess: Uh..?), and took Iris’s hand, leaping through the broken window like a stuntman.
Thud!
The three corpses piled below acted like a makeshift cushion.
“Heuk… that’s just brutal!”
“To think such young kids are the ones who took down the orc unit…”
Onlookers from a distance either gawked at Lian’s sadistic use of corpses or shrank back in fear at the sight of these new powerhouses.
I swiftly turned and dashed back into the inn, colliding with the innkeeper, who’d been frantically packing his bags to escape.
“Oh my god!”
It was only after seeing the innkeeper’s reaction that I finally realized the kids were doused in blood. I set Jess down and offered a gold coin to the innkeeper.
“We had a bit of an accident upstairs… Some furniture got smashed. This is for your troubles.”
“Uh-huh.”
The innkeeper quickly nodded, seemingly satisfied with the compensation.
“Well, I’ll be on my way since I’m busy….”
Crash, bang!
Hearing the ruckus coming from above only confirmed my suspicion. I grabbed robes from my bag and dressed the kids before slipping one on myself.
This time, however, the robes I selected were the standard issue black ones worn by mercenaries. In a situation where we’d just made a ruckus, a fancy robe would’ve stood out like a sore thumb.
Thanks to the innkeeper’s help, I made my escape through the back door and sprinted towards the east, away from the inn.
After what felt like an eternity of running, I finally stopped, feeling like I’d crossed from one end of the city to the other. The vibe here was so radically different; it was clear another alley boss was running the show.
Feeling relieved, I scanned my surroundings.
“Hey, you there.”
Just then, a voice tinged with annoyance drifted my way. As I paused, pondering if I should just bolt again to avoid further annoying encounters, the guy cut right in.
“You guys here to join the Black Assembly too, huh? Things are about to start, so get going.”
“…?”
I blinked, puzzled by the unexpected curveball. The dude scoffed and added,
“Anyone planning to pick a fight with someone running full tilt? Yeah, good luck with that. Just quit staring and take yourselves to the Black Assembly.”
I still couldn’t wrap my head around what the Black Assembly was, but hey, I was grateful I wasn’t getting dragged into any more sticky situations. I started moving with the kids again in search of another inn.
“Oh, that one looks good. Should we check it out?”
“Anywhere’s fine as long as my big brother’s with us.”
“Me too!”
Seeing Jess wiggling her tail so much it made her robe flutter, I couldn’t help but chuckle. I headed towards the inn with the kids.
“Alright, then! Let’s kick off the Black Assembly.”
…Of all places, it just had to be where some Black Assembly shindig was going down.
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