Chapter 23: Turning Crisis into Opportunity (3)
Rubia felt like she was about to lose her sanity at any moment.
Well, perhaps it was only natural.
In the middle of an auction, an oddly cursed sword had suddenly popped up as an item for sale.
Then she lost consciousness and woke up to see that monstrous captain seriously questioning her about the history of the empire.
And then, BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted.
A group clad in black robes—each marked with fangs on their chests—had stormed into the auction house.
The Black Fangs. No, more accurately, impostors of the Black Fangs were wreaking havoc here.
Trembling, Rubia searched for the captain among the chaos.
However, his expression was extremely composed.
He frowned slightly but quickly regained his calm.
Even facing the terror caused by an organization impersonating his own, there was not a hint of disturbance on his face.
His tranquility was almost so profound that it seemed like he was unaware that such a thing had occurred at all.
What an inhuman reaction.
…Now that she thought about it, the man had always been like this.
While ominous waves of energy poured from the sword, when everyone else couldn’t even bear to look, he alone remained unruffled.
Even while she was quaking under that despicable curse, he appeared completely unbothered.
In fact, he even looked bored.
What kind of person is he, really…
While Rubia wrestled with this bewilderment, the captain calmly observed the mayhem from a high vantage point and muttered to himself.
“The name of the Black Fangs will hit rock bottom now.”
His tone was utterly indifferent, as if he couldn’t care less about what happened to the Black Fangs.
But for Rubia, that statement made her tremble even more.
The implication of those words directed towards the two was crystal clear.
Upon hearing this, the determination in the black-haired girl’s gaze shifted at once. Someone so loyal to the captain, the little girl named Siel promptly asked, “Can I step out for a bit?”
It was a request for permission.
After a moment of thought, the man instructed the white-haired girl to accompany her.
“Make it quick and come back.”
With those words, the two vanished from the scene in the blink of an eye.
Rubia was…terrified by that tone of voice.
The explicit meaning behind ‘make it quick’ horrified her—to annihilate everyone, given with such nonchalance.
The casual way he ordered the taking of human lives, as if sending someone on a mere errand, was profoundly disturbing.
It was too much; she couldn’t possibly regard him as one of her kind.
“Ah, Miss Rubia.”
The monster turned his gaze toward her once again.
“Please spare me! I’ll do anything! I’ll give anything, just save my life!”—those words rose to the tip of her tongue, but ultimately, they wouldn’t escape her lips.
She couldn’t dare utter them.
Rubia felt as if she wouldn’t even be able to breathe without the man’s permission.
“Why are you trembling so?”
Rubia understood the insinuation behind his question immediately.
She had just displeased the man.
A slave who was barely clinging to life by serving and funding this man had shown him her displeasure.
Sinking to the ground, Rubia could do nothing but weep uncontrollably.
She knew crying was a bad idea.
She was painfully aware that the moment she annoyed him further, she could face a death sentence right here.
But the tears just wouldn’t stop.
“It must have been frightening because of the terror, I presume,” he said, his expression malevolently insincere.
He appeared to genuinely care, his face contorted in feigned sympathy.
An onlooker might genuinely think he was just confused and trying to console her, which made it all the more terrifying.
A monster, not a human, was mimicking human emotions.
“Don’t worry about those people. They’re nothing to be concerned about.”
But Rubia wasn’t dimwitted enough to voice her true feelings: “Are you kidding me? It’s not them I’m afraid of; it’s you! You’re the scariest one here, you insane monster!”
Instead, she forced a compliant smile and stammered, “R-right. So, so scary.”
Then the man chuckled, finding Rubia’s trembling figure cute, “Don’t worry. This is nothing. Just give it a few hours, and it’ll feel like none of this ever happened.”
He meant to turn this black market and everyone in it into nothingness.
That was the final straw for her sanity.
Rubia’s consciousness suddenly snapped, abruptly cut off.
*
Time and again, I’m convinced.
This person is just too cowardly.
How on earth has she managed to survive with such a weak mentality until now?
With a mental fortitude trembling at every little thing, it’s beyond me how she ran a business.
She must have known this place is protected by defensive magic.
It’s VIP seating, after all.
There’s nowhere safer.
Wouldn’t it hold up against a massive bomb without a scratch?
Though it might crumble under concentrated magical bombardment, logically, there was no reason for that terrorist group to specifically target us.
Yet here she was, quaking in fear like this.
I even tried to empathize with her fear and reassured her not to worry, but it seemed it was too ambitious to hope for her to have a tougher constitution than tofu.
At this rate, she seemed like the kind of person who’d faint just stepping into a haunted house.
That’s no exaggeration; she genuinely appeared to have fainted from sheer terror.
I found myself catching Miss Rubia as she suddenly burst into tears and then collapsed, seating her back down.
Given how severe her condition was, even lifting her delicate frame didn’t activate my normally healthy physique.
I took off her mask and gently wiped her tears and runny nose with a handkerchief.
…An adult woman. She looked to be in her mid-twenties to early thirties, and here I am, caring for her like a babysitter, which made the whole situation utterly dizzying.
Has ‘Blood and Bone 2’ completely changed genres?
A ridiculously cowardly, melodramatic big-breasted noona sounds like a character straight out of a dating sim, not the grim, dark tone ‘Blood and Bone’ was known for.
At this point, you have to wonder if developers decided to switch things up.
Maybe that notoriously harsh game studio finally made peace with reality.
Once I dealt with Miss Rubia, I returned to my seat to survey the scene beyond the glass.
Panic-stricken people fleeing and bodies in black robes scattered everywhere—utter chaos.
While observing, it suddenly hit me.
Why am I even sitting here?
There’s really nothing for me to do here.
Wouldn’t it be better to engage in something productive instead?
That thought swelled in my mind.
Yet, my modern conscience snagged my thoughts.
Even in such a situation, contemplating theft felt fundamentally wrong.
But really, upon consideration, those things weren’t all that significant.
Up until now, I had strived to live decently, but in a fantasy world where I must act to prevent annihilation, killing is sometimes unavoidable.
Non-violence isn’t an attainable ideal in this dark reality. While I would try to avoid it, hesitation wouldn’t be an option when action was needed.
And it’s certainly true that theft is a far lesser crime than murder.
To prepare for killing but shy away from theft amidst chaos is downright absurd.
Where is the guilt in what I’m about to do?
It sounds obvious upon reflection.
Stealing is wrong, but robbing the despicable is almost commendable.
Especially when those ill-gotten gains are used for a noble cause like saving the world?
There couldn’t be a more righteous outlaw.
Moreover, I was already fully equipped for the crime.
The mask I wore was impenetrable to most detection magic.
And my black robe, identical to that of the terrorists, made blending in a breeze.
Even if caught mid-heist, I had nothing to fear.
Thanks to the amulet from Siel, if I were to take any damage, the both of them would instantly appear by my side through the shadows.
At this point, it felt like divine providence.
The heavens seemed to grant me permission to become a just thief.
Miss Rubia would surely appreciate this.
Ironically, considering my lavish spending. I’ve caused substantial financial harm to Miss Rubia’s finances.
The powerful magical energy flowing through me could very well be considered the tears resulting from Miss Rubia’s labor.
But then this event unfolded.
An opportunity to snatch not just a sword worth the price of dozens of buildings, but also countless artifacts as they appear.
Only a fool would pass up such an opportunity.
I adjusted my mask and tidied up my robe.
Focusing my magical energy into my legs, I powered up for a powerful leap.
It was time to embrace my inner outlaw.
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