I asked the three riffraff covered in blood and intestines some questions with a smile on my face.
Questions directly related to why I set foot in this slum.
“You’re the Abandon, right?”
“Y-yes! That’s right! We’re the bottom tier, though…!”
Of course, they added some obvious side notes.
With that appearance, they wouldn’t be upper management. Obviously.
“I want to buy a slave, but I heard that I need some sort of membership to participate in a regular auction?”
A membership for participating in the regular auction. It was a setting from the original work.
Since the slave auction involved criminal organizations, it seemed like a perfect setup for all sorts of trouble. Without a membership, they wouldn’t let you in at all.
If you were a noble, they’d issue you a membership simply by verifying your title, and even if you weren’t a noble, if your identity was certain, you could buy a membership for a lot of money, but…
‘That’s out of the question for me.’
That kind of service was only available to the well-known big shots, and as a wandering knight with an unclear identity, it was something I couldn’t afford even if I had the cash.
So the only way for me to get into that auction was to ‘transfer’ or ‘borrow’ a membership from someone who already had one.
Of course, I couldn’t touch nobles or wealthy merchants, so there was only one option left.
“I heard your organization has that membership… Is that true?”
I had to aim for the memberships that the auction house scattered like charity to the sources of slave supply.
That’s why I stepped foot into this smelly slum.
‘I would have preferred the Guild’s cooperation, but if that’s difficult, I’ll just have to target here.’
First of all, they did have memberships in the Guild since they were involved in the slave trade.
Of course, they didn’t kidnap people without connections like other organizations did; they only sold criminals caught on the spot through legal procedures.
Meanwhile, the Abandon ruling this slum were the worst of the worst, unhesitatingly kidnapping women and orphans to sell.
“Y-yes! We have it!”
“I-I heard the big boss has something like that….”
Anyway, judging by the riffraff’s reaction, it seemed certain that the Abandon had that membership, just like in the original setting.
I was a bit worried that they might not have it since they ranked as the absolute weakest among all the organizations that chewed up Pesengwigel. Thank goodness.
“Really? So how do I borrow it? Should I meet with that ‘big boss’ to negotiate?”
“U-um… well, that’s…”
The riffraff trailed off.
I wanted to shoot back that it didn’t make sense, but I was afraid of getting chopped up for being disrespectful, so they looked like they couldn’t say anything.
“Speak up if you have something to say. If you’re just going to stand there unable to give me a proper answer, you don’t have to stay here, right?”
I lightly pressured them. I picked up a dagger lying on the ground and poked their snouts with it.
Thwack! Thwack!
They shrieked and convulsed. One even dampened his pants.
Such trash, yet so timid. Why so serious? It’s not like getting your mouth sliced open will kill you. It’ll just hurt a little.
“The big boss won’t just stand by!”
“Oh, are you threatening me now?”
The riffraff’s shout burst out spontaneously. It sounded like some sort of threat, so I tilted my head, questioning what they meant by that.
Were they saying that if I touched them, they would get revenge from their organization? How cliché.
“N-no, that’s not it! That guy is worse than a dog! He won’t just give it away!”
“Oh, is that what you meant by he won’t just stand by? I misunderstood.”
I gently pulled back the dagger that was about to gouge out his eye and smiled.
Why didn’t they just say it properly in the first place? I almost turned him into a blind man with a split mouth.
“Anyway, he’s not the kind to hand it over, huh?”
“Y-yes, yes… That’s right! No way!”
Of course, that’s how it would be.
If a woman came asking to borrow a membership, would he just hand it over? No way this trash organization’s boss would do that.
Most of the members of the Abandon were just like the homeless, but the upper management would enjoy the luxury afforded by the money given to them by their subordinates.
To maintain such status, they must consistently prove that they are worthy of such privilege.
If they failed to do so, everything would be taken away by their underlings, who craved that position.
In simpler terms, if they didn’t want to get stabbed in the back by their subordinates, they had to regularly showcase their strength and cruelty.
“This is how strong I am. This is how brutal I can be. So don’t even dream of taking my place!” A warning and a threat in one.
In other words, unlike these pests, the upper management of the organization would know how to fight.
‘How strong could they be compared to the Guild, though?’
So are these guys stronger than me? Of course not. If they had skills that surpassed a royal knight, why would they stay in a trash organization like this?
They could have easily become the leaders of a private knight order just by swearing loyalty to a decent noble family’s household.
If they preferred a fun and free life of crime rather than a stable job, the Abandon might be the way to go, unlike the other criminal organizations.
‘…But still, I can’t dismiss them entirely.’
You don’t avoid filth out of fear; you do so out of disgust.
The upper management of the Abandon were not the problem with their strength, but rather the filthy methods they employed made me want to steer clear of them.
Since they came from slum backgrounds, if we became enemies, they’d use any means necessary to pull off some nasty tricks.
Other organizations might at least plan ahead for the aftermath, but these guys would just start causing chaos without a second thought.
It was common for firebombs to come flying through the windows of inns while people were sleeping, and if you got exposed, your family, siblings, and friends would all be kidnapped by them.
Would one of them be used as a hostage? Sure, likely.
The rest would end up being horrific examples, chopped up and sent to the poor souls at a rate of one piece a day.
These were the psychopaths known as the upper management of the Abandon.
So trying to negotiate with the big boss would be useless. They weren’t the type to listen to reason.
“Well… that’s something I’ll handle. You just need to tell me where the ‘big boss’ is. He must be inside this slum, right?”
The leader of the Abandon. I think his name was Dan Furb? About all I knew of him was that name.
In the original novel, the character in me completely ignored such petty scum, so there weren’t any proper descriptions.
I knew he had a trashy personality, but I didn’t know where he lived. What a letdown.
“Uh… I don’t know?”
“We’re, um, the bottom tier, so we don’t know those things…”
But these beggars didn’t even know. They were completely useless.
“…You don’t know? Is that it? Your response seems a bit lacking in sincerity, doesn’t it?”
“N-no, I really don’t know! What do you want me to say if I don’t know?!”
The oldest of the three riffraff protested in frustration as if he felt wronged. How could I expect answers if I pushed them when they genuinely didn’t know?
How audacious.
“Oh, is that so?”
Thwack.
I reached for his head like a snake. My gauntleted fingers produced a creaking metallic sound as they squeezed the riffraff’s skull.
Hurk?!
“Then you are no longer needed.”
I had created a fearsome atmosphere, and now he was acting tough.
It seemed like there was no one loyal enough to spit out a lie for the organization, and I surely didn’t need three mouths that couldn’t provide answers.
“Wait a minute…!”
The riffraff flailed his arms wildly, desperately trying to explain. But he didn’t finish his sentence as my arm moved several times faster than the words he was trying to say.
Whizz!
With a sound like ripping tough cloth, the riffraff’s head was detached as easily as popping off a Lego piece.
“GUUUAAAAHHHH!!”
The defunct riffraff screamed his final scream as his spine shook. The moment his vocal cords tore, the scream cut off abruptly.
“Uugh, AAAAAAHH!”
“HUUUUURK!!”
In return, the other two, having witnessed the spectacle of someone’s head being ripped off right next to them, continued their screams, shaking uncontrollably.
“Shut up.”
I crushed the severed head underfoot, silencing them.
Wasn’t that a bit overly cruel? Well, if those who’d been suffered from this nonsense saw this spectacle, they would have applauded wholeheartedly.
It was simply a necessary task.
These types wouldn’t even think of listening unless you scared them to a near-death state.
“Do you think that if you don’t know, it’ll be the end? If you don’t know, you should at least name someone who does, right?”
“Ja-Jack Hyung! Jack Hyung would know!”
“That’s right! If it’s Jack Hyung… Oh, and Bog Hyung too!”
Look at this. Instant results!
As soon as I sent one guy off as a sample, the remaining two started spitting out all sorts of information as if their mouths had engines.
Names and descriptions of the upper management likely to know Dan Furb’s location. His residence. His usual behavior and family ties—all of it spilled out.
They received a reward of relief from pain in exchange for their earnest answers.
…Didn’t I promise I would spare them if they answered well?
Well, I can’t recall saying that.
I probably didn’t.
Since I struck cleanly with one blow, it likely didn’t hurt. That alone was already more than enough compensation for them.
