42. Welcome to the Labyrinth City
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Welcome to the Labyrinth City
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The next morning…
Jeong Yoo-shin left Silva in charge of the inn and went to the monster dismantling shop.
Dalmong had told him before he left that the manager had returned.
The former scoundrel who had ruled the back alleys of the eastern district.
The elf who had been reformed by Spirit Teacher Simus’ fists.
He might have cleaned up his act, but he probably still had connections in the eastern district and might have information about the slave hunters.
He walked through the western district and arrived at the monster dismantling shop.
He smelled the familiar stench of blood.
Marlon, the dwarf, recognized him as he entered the shop.
“Hey! Aren’t you that barbarian?”
“Yes. Where’s the manager?”
“Right here.”
An elf with an eye patch walked out from among the piles of monster parts.
He wore loose-fitting work clothes and exuded a decadent aura.
The monster dismantling shop manager.
Aldein Ashwood.
“What do you want?”
Aldein approached him slowly, his hands in his pockets.
“Do you know anything about the slave hunters?”
Aldein chuckled.
“Of course. Did Dalmong tell you about me?”
“What are they called? Where are they?”
Aldein stepped closer and looked him in the eyes.
He frowned.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Aldein grinned.
“It’s nothing. I’ll help you. It’ll take a day. But I have a condition.”
“What is it?”
“Help me with some work.”
Jeong Yoo-shin’s face crumpled.
He was in charge of Dalmong’s inn, so he wanted to return quickly.
“Right now?”
“Yes. That’s my condition.”
“Sigh. Fine.”
He changed into some work clothes and started working alongside Marlon.
Thanks to his level up and improved perception, he was able to dismantle monsters efficiently.
Once he started working, he was completely focused.
All his worries vanished as he concentrated on cutting, chopping, and tearing.
His restless mind calmed down.
Evening arrived.
The workers gathered in the courtyard, placed a metal sheet on the ground, and started grilling meat.
He declined their offer to join them.
He had been away from the inn all day.
He felt bad for Silva, who had been managing everything alone.
He wanted to go back and check on him.
Aldein spoke to him as he was leaving.
“I’ll be at the inn tomorrow evening. Be sure to be there by then.”
“Yes, sir.”
He hurried back to Dalmong’s inn.
The inn was quiet. Silva wasn’t there. He must have finished his work and gone to bed already.
He looked around the inn, scratched his head, and went upstairs to his room.
He threw himself onto his bed, exhausted. Darkness enveloped him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next morning…
Feeling guilty, he woke up early and helped Silva clean the inn and wash the dishes.
They worked tirelessly from morning ‘til night.
Night fell. They saw off the last customer and tidied up the inn.
They sat on the steps at the entrance and shared a bottle of liquor.
Silva took a sip and sniffed the air.
“It smells like rain.”
He looked up at the sky.
It was difficult to tell in the dark.
But the night breeze did feel a bit damp.
Was this the first rain of early summer?
He felt a sense of unease.
‘Right!’
Weapons. He needed equipment. His long sword broke on the fifth level, and his light armor was tattered.
All he had left was the slave hunter’s dagger.
The one he took from Ditto’s son.
“I need to go to the blacksmith. You go ahead and sleep, Silva.”
Silva tilted his head.
“At this hour? There are some shops that are open, but wouldn’t it be better to go tomorrow?”
“I need to buy something urgently.”
He left the inn and ran to the blacksmith district in the western district.
Boron’s blacksmith shop was closed.
“What’s going on?”
He asked a passing dwarf.
“Boron? His new assistant swung a hammer and accidentally hit him in the head. He’s bedridden.”
So Einhorfer, with his hand tremors imprint, had finally caused an accident.
He turned and went back to the inn.
He couldn’t go to another blacksmith.
He hadn’t brought enough money as he expected to get a discount at Boron’s shop.
‘Damn it.’
He felt frustrated. Nothing was going his way.
He shouldn’t have gone to the blacksmith so late at night.
He walked quickly.
His head felt hot, and his heart began to race.
Raindrops began to fall from the dark sky.
‘What’s happening to me?’
He brushed his wet hair away from his face and slowed down.
He finally reached the inn.
Clatter!
He opened the door and entered.
The inn was dark and quiet.
Most of the guests were in the labyrinth, so it was always quiet at night.
But this silence felt different.
He slowly turned his head.
A wooden box sat on a table. His usual table, the one closest to the counter.
He felt drawn to it.
A strong smell of blood emanated from the box.
With trembling hands, he opened it.
Creak.
The lid slowly opened, revealing the contents.
The head of a middle-aged female gnome.
And the heads of three small gnome children.
He recognized one of the smaller heads.
All four heads had their eyes gouged out.
Their mouths were sliced open from ear to ear.
Their mouths were filled with a mixture of silver coins and chewed food.
The children’s faces were contorted in agony as if they had suffered greatly before dying.
“Ugh!”
He doubled over and vomited.
The reason Ditto had betrayed the reject party.
The reason Ditto had tried to kill him.
The answer was in the box.
Clatter!
The inn door opened.
He looked up.
Aldein was standing there.
“It’s raining. I thought the weather felt ominous.”
Aldein, still in his loose-fitting work clothes, glanced at the box.
He brushed the raindrops off his clothes and approached Jeong Yoo-shin.
Creak.
Click.
He closed the box.
Jeong Yoo-shin stared blankly at Aldein.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Aldein leaned down and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Snap out of it.”
He patted Jeong Yoo-shin’s shoulder.
“You’re still dazed.”
Slap!
His head snapped to the side. His cheek burned.
His eyes refocused.
Aldein grinned.
“I have information for you. Want to hear it?”
He nodded.
Aldein stood up and shouted,
“Come in.”
Several people entered the inn in an orderly fashion.
A boar beast-person, a cat beast-person, a lizard beast-person, an elf, and a dwarf. He recognized a few faces from the monster dismantling shop.
“Check for ambushes. And clean this up.”
Aldein pointed at the vomit while covering his nose.
One of his subordinates went to the storage room, brought back a mop and a bucket, and cleaned up the mess.
“Sit down.”
Aldein sat down at a nearby table and pointed at the seat opposite him.
Jeong Yoo-shin silently sat down.
Aldein took a note from his pocket and held it up.
“Can you read?”
“Not really.”
His voice was raspy.
“I’ll read it for you.”
Aldein began to read.
“The slave hunters’ group is called the Crimson Hunters.”
“They came from the Western Empire, laundered their identities in the southeastern Lionel Kingdom, and then gathered in the Labyrinth City.”
“They’re loaded. They’ve earned quite a fortune kidnapping people in the Eastern Alliance. Karin tried to stop them, but it was too much for her.”
“…Thirty low-ranking officers and one mid-ranking officer. That’s all.”
Aldein finished reading the note and yawned.
Jeong Yoo-shin looked at him.
“Where are they now?”
“In the eastern district.”
“Why is the Labyrinth City tolerating them?”
“They’re just a bunch of bottom-feeding scum obsessed with money. There are plenty of groups like them. The higher-ups in the Labyrinth City have more important things to worry about. And the City Guard is busy.”
“But why…”
“Are you here to plead with me?”
Aldein tilted his head.
“Are you here to complain about the injustice of the Labyrinth City’s laws? You pathetic mixed-blood barbarian, get a grip. Do you think you’re special just because you’re surrounded by good people?”
Jeong Yoo-shin glared at him.
Aldein scratched his eye patch.
“Dalmong, Karin, Mion, Simus, Luke, Ashur.”
“Master, we found a wolf beast-person in the storage room. He seems to have been drugged.”
A cat beast-person from the kitchen interrupted Aldein.
“I’m talking, you idiot.”
Aldein glared at the cat beast-person with his one good eye.
“S-Sorry, Master.”
The beast-person trembled and bowed their head.
Jeong Yoo-shin clenched his teeth.
‘Silva.’
He remembered the wolf beast-person’s quiet smile.
Aldein tapped the box.
“Can’t you see? The slave hunters don’t target the powerful. They target the weak, the unconnected, the scum of the city. Look at that white wolf beast-person. He’s drugged, but otherwise unharmed.”
Aldein leaned back in his chair.
“What are you going to do? Hide behind Mion’s skirts? Cling to your sword master’s leg? Can’t you stand up on your own without your protectors?”
A surge of killing intent welled up within him.
Not only had they tried to kill him, but they also paid a starving child to commit murder.
And they had gouged out the eyes and ripped open the mouths of the child he had shown kindness to along with his family.
He looked up.
“I’ll kill them. All of them.”
A dark shadow flickered in his eyes.
Aldein stared into his eyes for a moment, then grinned.
“That’s the spirit. You have the same look in your eyes as when we first met. No, it looks even better now. Good.”
His subordinates, having finished searching the inn, stood behind Aldein.
“Bring it out.”
Aldein said casually.
“Yes, sir.”
An elf took a garment from a leather bag and placed it on the table.
A black coat.
“You don’t have any equipment right now, do you? Put this on. It’s made of monster hide and can withstand most blades.”
Jeong Yoo-shin looked at the coat and nodded.
Clink.
Aldein unbuckled his sword and placed it on the table.
“This is my sword. Draw it.”
His subordinates who were standing silently behind him flinched.
Their eyes widened even though they didn’t say a word.
A long sword with a reddish hue.
He gripped the sword.
Aldein watched his every move intently.
Shing.
The sword was drawn, gleaming in the dim light of the inn.
It wasn’t an ordinary double-edged sword.
It was a thin, single-edged blade.
It looked like it could easily cut through flesh, but not armor.
“It cuts well despite its appearance.”
Click.
He sheathed the sword.
“…Why are you doing this for me?”
Aldein rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
Silence fell over the inn.
Aldein slowly spoke,
“If someone needs work, you give them work. If they need advice, you give them advice. And if they’re filled with killing intent, you give them a sword. That’s just how I feel.”
He stood up.
“This is all I can do for you. Those slave hunters are deep within the eastern district, so be careful. I’ll give you a guide. But he won’t fight with you.”
“…”
“Snout, stay here and guide him. If you don’t want to linger, just come back afterward. For the rest, take this box and the wolf beast-person. We’ll protect them until this is over.”
“Yes, sir.”
A boar beast-person bowed their head.
“Let’s go.”
Aldein turned to leave, but he stopped and placed a hand on Jeong Yoo-shin’s shoulder.
“I almost forgot.”
The monster dismantling shop manager’s one good eye crinkled into a smile.
“Welcome to the Labyrinth City.”
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T/N - What did I tell you? Still, I like Aldein. No coddling, just “Here’s armor and a sword. Go get them.” Though if this is already his reformed self, how bad was he before?
Also, some itsy bitsy spoilers for you guys: the next two chapters after this will be metal as f*ck. Be prepared for badassery.