A Fleeting Spring Dream
Lemon and Apple stepped into the alley with their heads held high, though their upper bodies swayed in a bizarre posture that sat somewhere between unpleasant and sloppy.
“Huh?”
“Tsk. Never seen those faces before.”
The rough-looking women who had been huddled together smoking cigarettes clicked their tongues at the sight of new competition. But it didn’t take long for them to spot the elves’ ears and flinch in surprise.
“Elves? Why would elves be…”
“You idiot! If elves are coming all the way into a back alley like this to look for the likes of us, what other reason could there be!”
Only then did the one who finally caught on widen her eyes. She stubbed out her cigarette under her foot and asked, “May I ask where you ladies are from?”
Hmm. A reasonable reaction. No matter how much Lemon and Apple looked like third-rate punks, elves were still elves. And elves were famous for having no half-assed criminals among them, precisely because crime didn’t pay. In other words, even if Lemon and Apple themselves were nobodies, these women had decided there must be some terrifying big shot backing them.
Quick thinker. Well, if she wasn’t, she probably wouldn’t have survived this long.
I was busy being impressed by how fast she switched attitudes when the two elves—who were even lower than neighborhood thugs—giggled and puffed out their flat chests.
“Hehe. Curious who sent us, are you?”
“Prepare to be shocked. A slaughterer with neither blood nor tears. A miser who’ll chase you to the ends of hell to reclaim even a single coin once it’s been taken from him.”
“The very person feared by that name—Yona—is none other than this gentleman right here!”
“Everyone, bow your heads!”
……?
What kind of bullshit is this?
Suddenly acting all high and mighty, Lemon and Apple pointed straight at the spot where I was hiding. I should’ve realized it when they started yelling and running over… The thugs who made eye contact with me instantly froze with stupid expressions on their faces.
Yeah, I get it. If a supposed executive from a nationwide syndicate suddenly showed up with a “hawawa” middle-school-girl vibe, I’d make the same face.
Still, thanks to the thugs being even more shocked than I was, I managed to pull myself together quickly. My original plan had been to let Lemon and Apple pick a fight, then jump in pretending to stop it and swipe their stuff in the chaos. No matter how scummy these women were, they probably wouldn’t just beat up a pretty boy who was trying to break up a fight. That would’ve created the perfect, easy, simple, and fast pickpocketing formula…
“Ugh, screw it! I don’t know anymore! Just die…!”
Once I’d been spotted, the only remaining option was to strike first. So I charged straight at the representative of the cigarette-smoking thugs who’d been asking questions.
“Eh…?”
I hurled the sturdy rope I’d gotten yesterday at the neck of the still-dazed woman. She seemed to realize this was dangerous and tried to dodge the lasso, but—
“Too late!”
I crossed the narrow alley in an instant and leaped onto the thug leader’s shoulders. Then I yanked the rope tight around her neck.
“Ghk…”
While she struggled to pull the rope off, I slammed the pommel of my dagger into the back of her head.
Thud!
Unfortunately she didn’t pass out in one hit like they do in movies, so I kept smashing the pommel down until she did.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Ack! Gk! Kkrrk!”
Maybe one of the blows landed just right. She convulsed, eyes rolling back, and collapsed face-first. The remaining thugs stood there stunned by how fast it had happened. I flipped them off.
“Your territory is finished! From now on, this place is under the rule of this Yona!”
If you’ve got a problem with that, bring it on!
Labyrinth City actually has pretty decent public order for a place crawling with rough adventurers. The reason is simple. The truly dangerous people are either holed up inside the labyrinth instead of on the surface, or they’re corporate mafia types who don’t bother with petty crime. Of course, every once in a while a serial killer, a vicious drug addict, or a professional slaver shows up… but those guys don’t last long. Their skulls end up caved in from guild extermination quests, or they get crushed by the real big shots for “muddying the waters.”
The Twin Dagger Clan that kidnapped me was that kind of group. They got too passionate about human trafficking and ended up caught by the guild. Given the situation, as long as you don’t deliberately wander into the deepest parts of the back alleys, there aren’t that many truly dangerous people. That’s why I was able to run around pickpocketing everywhere before I met Rydia.
Still, even if these were just mediocre thugs who were too scared to mess with legitimate businesses and instead shook down orphans and beggars for protection money, ate without paying at street stalls, and carried out bloody revenge (without actually killing anyone) whenever their kids got beaten up—even so, they were still stronger than me. That’s why I’d planned to use Lemon and Apple as a front and secretly swipe their stuff. I wasn’t confident in a direct fight.
And yet…
“I-I swear my loyalty if you spare me!”
“……?”
I looked down at the five or six thugs kneeling before me. Tight clothes clinging to their bodies, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes rolling off them, scars here and there. By continental standards they looked intimidating, but to my eyes they were passable. The same gangsters who had seemed so terrifying just a few months ago were now bowing their heads to me.
And this wasn’t even the first time. This was already the third group.
How the hell did it come to this…?
Lemon and Apple had stupidly revealed my location. Panicking, I’d quickly taken down the one who looked strongest. The rest of the trash had immediately surrendered, so I just took their wallets and let them go. Maybe that was the problem. The ones who had been so scared at first visibly relaxed, then started following me around. Even when I told them to scram, they only backed off a little ways before trailing after me again like lost puppies.
Leaving them like that felt weird, so I asked if there were any decent targets nearby worth robbing. They happily led me to another alley. And just like Lemon and Apple had done, they proudly introduced me.
These crazy bitches.
Thanks to having these lackeys (who weren’t really lackeys) with me, the already menacing atmosphere reached its peak. We got attacked first… but I ended up winning instead. My experience in the labyrinth, especially fighting the horned rabbit, had been a huge help. If I could react to that quick little bastard’s speed, there was no way these pathetic thugs who weren’t even proper adventurers could land a punch.
The one who looked like the boss stepped forward first, flailed around uselessly, and got subdued. The moment their leader was helplessly grabbed, the underlings surrendered without hesitation. I took all their wallets again and let them go, but they started following me just like the last group. When I asked them what the hell they were doing, they stubbornly begged me to take them as subordinates. It got annoying, so I handed them off to Lemon and Apple. That’s how my lackey count (who weren’t really lackeys) doubled.
Half-giving up, I begged them to handle the next one quietly. But Lemon and Apple declared they couldn’t lose to the newbies and rushed out shouting before I could stop them. I told them to behave since I wanted it done quietly. And that’s how we ended up here.
This one didn’t even think about fighting me and immediately dropped to her knees. …No, I remember the whole process, but I still don’t understand how it turned out like this. What the hell is going on?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Lemon and Apple—who were standing on either side of me—began scolding them.
“How dare you! What exactly do you think Sir Yona is!”
“Did you really believe you could survive with empty words of loyalty like that?”
The twins shouted while blatantly rubbing their index fingers and thumbs together. It was such an obvious, shameless demand that it almost looked pathetic, but it seemed to work. The trembling thugs’ eyes went wide. They hurriedly dug through their pockets. When they politely took out their wallets and placed them on the ground, Lemon and Apple collected them all and handed them to me.
“Hmm…”
I put on a thoroughly displeased expression and accepted the wallets. Of course, there wasn’t much money inside. Even the fattest wallet belonging to the boss only had a little over two silver. Still, collecting them all brought it up to about four silver. Adding in what we took from the previous groups, it came to nearly thirteen silver total.
Originally I’d only planned to swipe the wallets of one or two of the thugs fighting with Lemon and Apple, so even two or three silver would’ve felt like a good haul… But my thoughts had changed. At this point the profit outweighed the bad taste it left in my mouth. I shook off my slight hesitation and nodded.
“Fine. That’s enough. You may stand.”
“We thank you for your generosity, Sir Yona!”
“You are now part of our family too!”
“Thank you… thank you…”
Lemon and Apple spoke in triumphant voices that basically said “welcome to the bottom rung.” The third boss looked genuinely relieved. As I watched the thugs stagger to their feet, I poked the twin elves in their sides.
“Hngh.”
“Haan…”
“Stop making weird noises and come here for a second. I need to talk to you.”
“What is it, sir? If it’s urgent business… do you need the bathroom?”
“Lemon. Men don’t use the bathroom.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Why would I call you over if I needed the bathroom? And Apple, Apple. Men do use the bathroom, you know?”
Lemon blinked stupidly like she genuinely didn’t understand, while Apple sat down with an expression like the world had collapsed. I let out a deep sigh at the pair of them, then pointed at the thugs behind us—the new recruits who were greeting each other. No, at this point they were my lackeys.
“What the hell is with them? Why are they trying to become my subordinates so naturally?”
“Huh? Weren’t you trying to take over this area from the start, sir?”
“Don’t tell me you did all this without knowing? That’s surprising in its own way, sir.”
“I never said that, okay? My plan was to swipe their wallets and run, okay? Anyway, I really don’t get it so explain it to me already.”
Lemon and Apple glanced at each other, then nodded.
“It’s simple, sir. You tried to subdue them with the minimum amount of harm, didn’t you?”
“You didn’t try to kill them or even cripple them. In this line of work, that’s how you signal that you want them under you.”
“If you just say it outright… well, they wouldn’t listen anyway. That’s why they’re not in the labyrinth and are just shaking down kids here instead.”
“There’s another reason too, sir. You’re young and your appearance is cute, aren’t you?”
“How do you think it looks for people who got completely cleaned out by someone like you? They’d be mocked by the women around them in no time.”
“…So they’re thinking that since they lost anyway, they might as well drag everyone else down with them?”
“Similar, but a little different.”
“If everyone gets beaten by you, it stops being embarrassing for just them. It just means you were strong.”
“……”
“Above all, in this world, if someone fights as well as you do, you have no choice but to cling to them.”
“Or completely wash your hands of the life and live honestly so you never cross them.”
“These guys are way too faithful to the strong-eat-the-weak rule…”
So that was the reason. I shook my head and asked.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to submit to a young guy like me?”
“What are you saying, sir? It’s actually exciting.”
“Serving a female boss is normal, but serving a male boss is hot.”
“…Ah.”
I understood. A corrupt boss is still a boss, after all.