Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: 3. The Orphanage's Peaceful Daily Life
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The Homias Gang was the largest and most notorious faction among the back-alley powers in Luton.
It wasn't just a matter of being ruthless. Perhaps due to their leader Homias's personality, the Homias Gang was unusually meticulous for a back-alley organization.
Of course, calling it meticulous in a good way was the same as saying petty and annoying in a bad way. They remembered even the smallest grudges and would observe their targets for days, striking only at the perfect opening. From the opponent's perspective, it was impossible not to curse them out.
Moreover, under Homias's command, they had expanded not only in the back alleys but also into legitimate brewing businesses, opening taverns. This kept the Homias Gang always riding high. There were even rumors they had some connection to Luton's lord.
Such a Homias Gang...
"W-What the hell is this?!"
"You're Homias, right?"
...was now on the brink of annihilation.
Homias, their boss, panted heavily while desperately trying to figure out how things had come to this.
'What? Why is this happening?'
It had been an ordinary day. Collecting protection money as usual, crushing any upstarts, killing a few as examples—it was just another normal day.
Homias had been lording over the gang as usual, planning to indulge in wine and women, when suddenly a robed figure raided their hideout.
Realizing there was only one attacker, Homias sneered and sent his men.
They all died. And now that monster stood before him.
"I asked if you're Homias."
"Y-Yes! I mean, yes, sir!"
"Good. Then..."
"B-Before that! May I ask which noble house Your Excellency hails from...?"
"Noble house? Well, I'm just a wandering mercenary."
"I saw formal swordsmanship in Your Excellency's blade. You're hiding your identity, so you must be no ordinary man!"
"...What, are you some squire or something?"
"N-No, but I have my connections!"
"Connections."
'He's hooked!'
Right now, the overwhelming advantage was with that monster. But Homias had his aces up his sleeve.
He'd bribed the Luton Family and other factions precisely for times like this. No matter how strong the monster was, he couldn't handle all those backers.
And so—
Shing.
"Anyway, confirming you're Homias is enough. Farewell."
"W-Wait! I have connections, I tell you!? The Lord of Luton! The Information Guild! No matter how strong you are, you think you can make enemies of them all and survive!?"
"That's none of your concern. So..."
"Wait a moment."
A young girl's voice rang out. And as soon as it did, the monster's sword stopped.
As Homias, looking a decade younger, caught his breath, his eyes turned toward the shattered door. Someone was approaching.
As the voice suggested, it was a young girl. A girl with pink hair tied in a ponytail.
And the monster bowed his head to the girl.
"Lady Laila, do you have something to say?"
"Yes. Kill Homias if you must, but those names he just mentioned have piqued my interest."
"W-Who... are you?"
"Who knows? I'm not someone you'd honor with titles. Just a year ago, I was an orphan crawling through the gutters, trembling at the sound of your name."
"W-What?"
"I never paid much attention after escaping those gutters, but you touched someone you shouldn't have."
"Someone I shouldn't have...?"
"The Director. Orphanage Director Yujin."
"Y-Yujin?"
Who the hell was that?
At the words from the girl with cold eyes, Laila, Homias made a dumbfounded face for a moment. He'd thought he'd offended some big shot, but he didn't even remember the name Yujin.
However, as Laila's eyes narrowed at his bewildered reaction, Homias racked his brain at the fastest speed of his life.
"Yujin, Yujin, Yujin... Ah, aaa! Th-That orphanage director guy!"
"Guy?"
"S-Sir! Orphanage Director Sir!"
He barely dredged the name Yujin from a corner of his memory. And it wasn't anything special.
One of Luton's orphanage directors had commissioned them to kill the Orphanage Director Yujin, and the Homias Gang had accepted. Such assassination requests were one of their main sources of income.
It had been just one of countless routine documents, glanced over without sticking in his mind. But thanks to that glance, he was buying time now.
"Who made the request?"
"I-I can find out right away! Just a little! Give me just a tiny bit of time!"
"........."
It didn't matter if she was a kid or whatever. Homias was prepared to do anything to survive.
At Laila's nod, as if to say keep talking, Homias slammed his head to the ground and shouted loudly.
"Whoever dared to target Director Yujin, we'll deal with them for sure! Our gang won't touch Director Yujin either!"
"So, who made the request?"
"W-Well, the documents aren't here! They're at another branch, so just wait a moment! I'll be right back!"
"I'll trust you to be quick."
"Of course! Thank you for your mercy!"
With Laila's permission, Homias bolted out of the building. Watching his pathetic retreating figure, the self-proclaimed mercenary, Galen, spoke in a worried tone.
"Lady Laila, he'll obviously run or bring other gangs. We should have killed him here for sure."
"That's what I did."
"Pardon?"
"This is the Homias Gang's main base, so all their so-called elites are dead. Homias isn't stupid; he'll realize he can't bring his own men."
"That's true, but..."
"So where do you think Homias will go?"
"...To other factions? Ones that could match you?"
"Homias blabbed earlier: the Luton Family and the Information Guild. Names that came up in a life-or-death situation, so they're likely his biggest backers."
"Then letting Homias escape on purpose is..."
"To draw them out. Even if we wipe out the Homias Gang here, someone else might target the Director later."
Weeds grow back no matter how many times you pull them. Laila had seen it too many times in the back-alley gutters.
Even if the Homias Gang vanished, another would replace them, and they might target the Director again for some reason.
As temporary staff at the orphanage, she had a duty to protect it and her boss. At least, that's how Laila saw it.
"So I'm uprooting them completely. At least in this Luton, no one will be able to touch the Director."
"I see. The Information Guild is one thing, but the Luton Family is dangerous. They're nobles, and we might have to reveal the Beril Count Family's name."
"That won't happen."
"Why are you so certain?"
"...Something the Director told me."
Tadap!
"Huff, huff! Damn bastards!"
Homias, who had escaped the hideout, ran without rest. After running and running, confirming that the monster wasn't following, he mocked Laila and the monster.
'Even I have to say, that was a brilliant improvisation!'
The documents at another place? A lie. The assassination papers were naturally at the base. Saying he'd fetch them from elsewhere was just an excuse to escape.
Even if they hadn't let him go, he planned to send the monster away or buy time somehow, but those two idiots let him leave freely.
Ah, but he'd keep his promise. He'd return, but not alone.
Thud! Thud!
"Sir, sir! I need help! Sir!"
"...Tch, what is it all of a sudden? Homias. I always told you to come at midnight."
"Y-Yes, but this is really urgent!"
The back door of the Luton Family mansion. Homias knocked in a specific rhythm, and a sleazy-looking middle-aged man appeared. Smaller in build and height than Homias, but Homias groveled and used honorifics before him.
Because he was the Luton Family's head butler. One of Homias's top 'connections.'
How much bribery had he poured into this greedy butler? It had hurt at the time, but now it didn't matter.
"So, what's the problem? Speak quickly."
"Our hideout was attacked!"
"Attacked? By who?"
"One guy! Calls himself a wandering mercenary, but from his formal swordsmanship, he seems like a knight."
"...How did you piss off a monster like that?"
"It wasn't our fault! To be precise, it's not the monster but the kid he serves!"
"Serves? A noble?"
"Not a noble! She said herself she was a back-alley orphan. Just because we touched some orphanage director, she sicced a monster on us...!!"
As Homias vented his rage and grievances, the butler's expression shifted from annoyance to seriousness. He had to help since he'd taken bribes from Homias, but something felt off.
"So, a kid from the gutters moves a monster who can wipe out your gang alone? Does that make sense?"
"I don't know that far, but please help! Otherwise, I'll die and the gang will collapse!"
"Not enough info. Tell me more details."
"...Double! Double the bribe from last time!"
"Make it triple."
"Got it! I'll pay, so save me!"
"Fine, I'll talk to the lord. Say some crazy mercenary is rampaging, killing innocent citizens."
It was highway robbery, but Homias had no choice with his life on the line. Plus the previous bribes and now extra profit—the butler finally nodded.
Luton's lord was a typical incompetent noble. No interest in the territory, just indulgence. He highly trusted the current butler, whose position he'd bought with big money.
So, a fabricated report would get knights and soldiers moving. No matter how strong the foe, he couldn't handle all of them. The butler ignored his unease and accepted, tempted by the triple bribe.
Homias would surely commit even worse atrocities to pay up, but the butler didn't care.
As he turned to enter, the butler paused and looked back at Homias.
"By the way, you mentioned some orphanage director earlier? What was that?"
"Oh, that's why the kid targeted me! Some orphanage director! Aren't all orphanage directors scum anyway? Why make a fuss over touching scum...?"
"Good point. Which one? Happy Orphanage?"
"Smile Family collapsed recently. Name was Yujin or something. Small orphanage, not worth noting... Butler?"
"...Y-Yujin?"
"Butler? What's wrong?"
"Pretend this never happened! Get lost!"
"What? Butler? Butler!?"
Bang!
Stunned by the sudden change, Homias reached out, but the back door slammed shut and locked first. No intention of getting involved.
As Homias stood dumbly before the locked door...
The butler broke into cold sweats, clamping his mouth.
'Yujin, Yujin?'
Not that the Orphanage Director Yujin himself was scary. The butler had never seen him or known about him.
But he remembered the name because...
'Why touch someone connected to those monsters...!'
In the past, when Yujin requested permission to build an orphanage from the Luton Family.
He'd contacted Luton's lord directly and gotten the seal stamped in 3 minutes through his 'connection.'
The butler clearly remembered how monstrous those connections were, so he backed out the moment Yujin’s name came up.
After that tension, Yujin and the orphanage had been quiet for over a year, so he'd almost forgotten.
"Damn it."
Somehow...
This wouldn't end simply. An ominous feeling crept in.