Chapter 57: Heavy Thoughts
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57: Heavy Thoughts
“Die!!”
“You think screaming like a stuck pig is actually going to kill me?”
Perhaps deeply moved by their leader’s sudden evolution, the man in the back began charging at me, leading with a long two-handed sword.
I gripped the Lizardman spear I’d manifested in my hand and hurled it with all my might at his legs, but unfortunately, it missed.
Blink…!
Disappearing as if he’d teleported, he reappeared in my field of vision, having closed the five-meter gap in an instant. He wasn't picking fights with others for no reason; he clearly had the combat skills to back up his arrogance.
—Clang!!
When his attack was parried, he vanished again, only to reappear from a different angle moments later. He kept repeating this cycle, but it didn't matter much to me. Thanks to my mana-sensing vision, I could predict exactly where he would emerge.
I could see the mana gathering unnaturally in the empty air.
“Hup…!”
I sharpened the tip of my tail and slammed it into the ground, anchoring it deep. Using the raw strength of my tail, I launched myself forward like an arrow. I retracted the tail mid-flight to reduce drag, then whipped it back out just before reaching him, swinging it with crushing force.
“Gah—!”
My thick tail slammed into his stomach. He flew back much further than I expected, but he was a guy with several skills. I didn't think a shock like that would kill him.
“You bastard! Your comrade is getting thrashed, and you’re just standing there!?”
“S-Shit…!!!”
While the leader and one ally were being beaten senseless, one of them was just standing there, staring blankly. The other three were busy fighting the party of four, so there was nothing they could do.
“If you want to live, get on your knees!”
“I-I want to live! I’ll kneel!”
“Forget it! Just die!”
Seeing how easily he was willing to drop to his knees, I realized there was no hope for his reformation. I rushed forward and slammed the shaft of my Lizardman spear into the side of his head. He tumbled across the ground several times before coming to a halt.
“Phew. I guess the Labyrinth has monsters like this, too.”
It seemed the party of four had finished things on their end as well. Since they were up against a group consisting of two mages and a rear-guard archer, the casters were essentially useless without a front line to protect them.
I’d told them to die, but I didn't actually intend to kill them. How were criminals handled in this world? We were in the Labyrinth, so taking them to the surface would be a massive hassle. Killing them felt wrong, but if I let them live, I had no idea what to do with them.
“Aven! Are you okay?!”
“Ah, Dora. Not a scratch on me. See?”
“O-Oh! Thank goodness!”
After gathering the criminals who were slumped against various walls into one spot, I met up with the party of four to talk.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we got through this without any major casualties.”
“Are any of you hurt?”
“Our caster took a bolt… but fortunately, it seems they avoided any fatal wounds.”
“That’s a relief. As for those guys…”
I looked back and saw that the three who had fought the party of four were already dead. I suppose they were making sure there wouldn't be any trouble later. Still, the idea of killing someone with my own hands felt daunting.
“Wait.”
The ones I had dealt with were dead too. The man I’d hit in the head with the spear shaft had a dent in his temple the size of a fist, and the one I’d whipped in the stomach—I thought I’d just sent him flying, but I must have misjudged my strength.
“I… I killed them.”
It was a strange feeling. If things had gone according to their plan, we would have been the ones dead, but even knowing that, I couldn't help but feel unsettled.
“Ugh… groan…”
Fortunately, the one whose legs I’d broken was still alive. Judging by his behavior, this wasn't his first or second crime, but I was just glad at least one of them had survived.
“Hey, wake up.”
“Gah… h-help me…”
“How?”
“Huh…?”
“I’m asking how I’m supposed to do that. If I just say ‘live’ right now, are you going to magically get better?”
“T-That’s…”
I could tolerate him sitting there while we talked, but I didn't know any healing magic. Even if I did, I wasn't a saint who would use it on someone like him. If I left him here, he’d eventually bleed out and die anyway.
“Do you wish to finish him yourself?”
“No, I’ll leave him be.”
The leader of the party of four approached and asked, but I didn't particularly want to get my hands dirty with someone who was already dying. I’d rather let him sit there and reflect on what he’d done wrong.
“We’re heading out. I hope you make it back safely.”
“Ah, right. Understood.”
I didn't want to waste any more time.
* * *
The Antonio Brotherhood.
Calling it a clan was a bit of a stretch. It had a long history dating back to the days before Calax was known as a Labyrinth City, when it was just an ordinary village of about six hundred people.
Its origins could be traced back to a small group of street thugs named after a mischievous young boy called Antonio. One day, a Labyrinth Portal appeared just three hundred meters northwest of the village, and the number of visitors began to explode.
Wealthy scholars gathered, renowned explorers arrived, and famous merchant groups set up shop. As the village grew in size and vitality, Antonio and his friends began to make their move. They started by running small-scale scams and committing petty thefts, like pickpocketing, targeting the wealthy visitors.
It was supposed to be a short-lived spree of petty crimes to make a quick buck while the crowds were thick. However, after the scholars’ research revealed that the portal in Calax led to a massive Great Labyrinth, the number of visitors didn't decrease—it surged even more.
The turning point came when Antonio, the leader of the group of childhood friends, was killed while trying to scam a tribe of warriors who had crossed the Myers River.
From that point on, the nameless group of thugs gained a stronger sense of solidarity under the name ‘Antonio’s Friends.’ They began to operate with more precision and organization than ever before.
Not all visitors held peaceful ideals. The Antonio Brotherhood used the money they’d amassed through crime to recruit ambitious, powerful explorers. With that strength as their backbone, they committed even greater crimes.
Their influence continued to grow until, eventually, the Antonio Brotherhood became a massive organization that practically ruled the Southeast district of the Labyrinth City.
Despite this, the reason it was difficult to call the Antonio Brotherhood a ‘clan’ was because their membership was so ill-defined.
“Huh?”
Contrary to the fact that most criminals in Southeast Calax claimed to be members of the Antonio Brotherhood, there was no formal procedure to join. It was simply that everyone committing crimes while based in the Southeast called themselves part of the Antonio Brotherhood.
“Then doesn't that mean the Antonio Brotherhood doesn't actually exist?”
“That’s not it. The Antonio Brotherhood does exist.”
“What do you mean?”
“Among the business partners of the Golden Glove Syndicate, which the Lymain family belongs to, there are high-ranking officials of the Antonio Brotherhood. They aren't just lending out their name, and they aren't small, either.”
“Wait, then why are those criminals just left alone?”
“That’s… probably because the Antonio Brotherhood itself doesn't commit crimes.”
“I don't follow… You said they were a criminal organization?”
Theodora let out a deep sigh before continuing.
“On the surface, the Antonio Brotherhood is nothing more than a merchant group and an explorer clan that uses its vast capital to buy powerful explorers or expensive materials. Their stance is that they have absolutely no connection to the thugs crawling all over the streets of the Southeast.”
“Ha! And people actually buy that crap?”
“Let’s look at it this way. If those guys we just met claimed to be from the Page of Arcana while committing their crimes, would you believe them?”
“That’s… well, no. I wouldn't.”
“And why is that?”
“Because there’s no proof?”
“Exactly. There’s no proof. You can’t find a link between the back-alley thugs calling themselves the Antonio Brotherhood and the Antonio Brotherhood that operates in the public eye.”
Furthermore, no one was brave enough to throw their life away by going head-to-head with the wealthy Antonio Brotherhood to expose their criminal activities.
The thugs who called themselves the Antonio Brotherhood only targeted powerless commoners or small-to-medium clans.
Instead, they used the funds they gathered to maintain continuous trade with the giant clans, proving themselves useful. While the source of their funds was certainly suspicious, in the end, only those with power could blow the whistle.
And so, only those at the bottom continued to die.
“Of course, if there were no checks to stop the Antonio Brotherhood… things would be even worse than they are now. Fortunately, there is a clan that rescues victims from their criminal acts.”
“Who?”
“The Mayerbridge Union. Remember what I said about why the Antonio Brotherhood first bonded?”
“Ah.”
She’d said the original leader, Antonio, was killed while trying to scam a tribe of warriors who had crossed the Myers River.
“It’s rare for the leadership of the two clans to clash directly, but the people of the Mayerbridge Union periodically wipe out the Antonio Brotherhood’s criminals and prevent them from spreading outside the Southeast.”
“I see…”
“Thanks to them, their influence is mostly restricted to the Southeast slums. I’d like to lend them more support, but unfortunately, the Golden Glove Syndicate is a gathering of merchants. Even if the Lymain family has a strong voice within the syndicate, it’s difficult to bring up a topic that offers little profit and carries massive potential for loss.”
“Hmm.”
I remembered the harsh words I’d said to Delbaheim before. I should probably apologize the next time I see her.
The situation inside Calax was more complicated than I’d thought. I knew there were criminal groups, but I hadn't realized there was this much depth to it.
“Aven, you said you live in the Southwest, right?”
“Ah, yeah. That’s right.”
“Let me give you a piece of advice: never get involved with the Antonio Brotherhood. Don't make them your enemy, and don't hold their hand. Stay away from both.”
“Right. Thanks for the advice.”
As we walked and talked, we eventually arrived at the 11th Floor Base. I hadn't encountered an enemy strong enough to make me go all out, but I felt strangely exhausted. Perhaps it was because I’d had to fight other people.
“Dora. Do you want to go back to the surface?”
“I’ll… leave that to your judgment.”
“Hmm.”
Maybe we should try going as far as the 13th floor.
“Let’s get some sleep at the base and then head down to the 12th floor.”
“Okay.”
As we stepped past the final set of stairs, a wide space opened up, filled with tents pitched here and there. There were quite a few parties sleeping with nothing but a robe wrapped around them; the 11th Floor Base was a bleak place.
“I need to clear my head.”
A night of heavy thoughts…
“I can’t even tell if it’s night or day.”
It was a rest period filled with heavy thoughts.