The Tutorial Boss Cleans Up the Back Alleys
After sending Elena off, I headed to the back alleys.
In a rundown building in the back alleys, thieves lay sprawled at my feet, beaten to a pulp.
"Urk, guh..."
One with limbs twisted at grotesque angles foaming at the mouth, another clutching his gut and retching, yet another cradling his shattered nose.
These were the punks who called themselves a "clan" and strutted around in the deserted back alleys. People commonly referred to them as the Thief Clan.
An illegal outfit that couldn't even bother registering properly with the guild. They made their living off smuggling, fencing stolen goods, and hired beatings, ruling the back-alley underworld like a crime syndicate.
But in truth, they were just a third-rate gang of small-time thugs aping the real clans out in the open, full of hot air.
I pressed my toe down hard into the side of one still twitching.
"Gah!"
A scream erupted.
"Shut it. Before I kill you."
The writhing bastard froze like a lie. He even clamped his hand over his mouth, desperate not to make a sound.
"Kuh...!"
I bore down on his ribs with my foot. The deeper I pressed, the more stifled groans escaped him.
"One more time."
I repeated the same question I'd asked when I first tracked down the Thief Clan.
The clan leader, eyes bulging as he glared at me, still perked up his ears to listen.
"Why were you tailing me? For days now. You thought I wouldn't notice?"
"Urk, kuh...!"
The leader's eyes looked ready to pop out. As he couldn't hold back a scream any longer, I lifted my foot.
He spat ragged breaths onto the filth-covered floor, coughing up blood a few times before looking up at me.
His pupils trembled like a mouse cornered by a cat.
But even a cornered rat will bare its teeth at a cat. Knowing Eck well, the leader seemed convinced he was done for, and a self-destructive grin twisted his pain-racked lips.
"Puhahaha!! E-Eck, you act all aloof and worldly-wise! Ptoo!"
The bastard on the floor hawked up a bloody glob of spit.
Even as he coughed like he was on his last breath, a look of twisted enlightenment spread across his blood-smeared, mangled face.
"The rumors were true! You're whipped by that little brat! Totally head over heels! The rumors were spot on!"
He cackled, flashing broken teeth.
"The great Eck, coming to smash a whole clan over one puny kid! You really the Eck I know?! Puhaha!"
"That all you got to say?"
"My, aren't we gracious today. Even waiting for me to finish? Well, then let me say this!"
The clan leader yelled in a trembling voice, face pale with fear.
"Touch us, and that girl won't walk away unscathed! Everyone in the back alleys knows you came here!"
He ground his teeth, clenching his fists tight.
"What do you think the others will assume if we vanish? Better keep a close eye on your little pet. Heh heh. Go ahead, kill me if you dare. That'll be the day she gets hers."
If the Thief Clan disappeared, word would spread that Eck had acted for Elena's sake.
Elena was Eck's weakness. Simple as that.
"You got grudges from all the shit you've pulled in the past! Think your karma's gone just like that?! Eck!"
The leader burst into mad laughter. His enraged voice echoed through the alley.
Poison glinted in his eyes. Hope that he might actually blackmail me. That shallow relief tugged his lips into a sickening smirk.
I glanced toward the back alley outside the building.
The lurking presences eavesdropping on the Thief Clan's fate had already exceeded ten.
In these back alleys, every day was a powder keg. One scrap of info could decide a group's fate, so eyes and ears were always glued to every corner, watching everything.
I have to be a good guy.
No matter what I'd done in the past, in front of Elena, I had to be.
Knowing her thought patterns, to handle her, it was best to have no blemishes.
She trusted people easily, but once she latched onto someone, it was blind devotion.
I had to be the one she trusted most.
She wouldn't keep believing in me forever if the guards dragged me off.
So I had to play the usual Eck without slipping up.
Assault, rape, fraud, extortion, murder. Get nabbed for any one, and would Elena deem it worthy of her trust?
I didn't know if we'd reached blind devotion yet, but even that had conditions.
Elena’s blind faith would shatter on crime.
Especially sensitive to "murder," the crime that killed her dad.
Hearing that, the Thief Clan leader visibly relaxed, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Y-yeah, now you're getting it. No point picking a fight with us if you wanna play nice now."
I rested my hand on the sword hilt at my waist.
"The guards turn a blind eye to back-alley business."
Fewer headaches for them was a win-win.
The blade slid free of its sheath.
"Wh-what are you...?"
The mad grin froze on his lips. His eyes of assured victory shrank in terror.
"Th-the kid, I don't care what happens to...!"
Slash!
Before he could finish, my sword grazed his throat.
The Thief Clan leader's head tumbled across the floor, drawing every thief's gaze.
The shackles binding their ankles snapped free. They bolted in unison.
As the panicked bastards clawed at the floor to flee, a bluish glow shimmered along the blade that had felled their leader.
Shing!
The light flashed. The overheated lurkers hit the dirt without so much as a death rattle.
Fresh crimson soaked the building floor from their severed stumps.
I looked down coldly at the sprawled corpses.
"Stupid fucks. Think I won't kill just 'cause I'm not acting like my usual self."
No reason to let them live.
They weren't under any noble's protection, and it wasn't the kind of thing to get dragged off by guards for.
Even if word spread, I'd have backers.
Especially after they threatened Elena—no reason not to kill, only more reasons to.
I called out to the rats beyond the walls.
"Go spread the word! If you don't wanna end up like these guys, stay the hell outta my way! Touch Elena even once, and I'll uproot everything you've built!"
I channeled mana for emphasis, and the presences scattered fast.
"Tch."
The clan leader had a point worth noting.
Eck's accumulated enemies.
Eck had plenty.
What a raw deal.
Just look at these thieves—they'd been scheming to cozy up to Elena and pull her to their side.
Drug her, frame me, or maybe take Elis hostage.
If they approached pretending to be civilians, she'd warm up easy, like how she chats with folks on the street.
I already knew how thieves would approach Elena.
But I can't babysit her 24/7.
I wiped the blood from my sword with a rag and headed to the inner rooms of the Thief Clan's building.
The wooden door creaked open, releasing a stench of stale air from every room—booze, smokes, sweat, and filth assaulting my nose.
I kicked in the clan leader's upstairs room.
In the corner sat a crude chest banded with metal.
Crack!
With mana-infused swing, my sword split the rusty lock.
Inside, crammed with the clan's choicest loot from their thieving: compact pouches of gold coins, bags of raw gems.
A tidy sum. I pocketed them.
"Jackpot."
I reached for a copper ring.
Up close, its surface was etched with tiny barbs—like millipede segments.
A cheap trinket worth half a silver at market.
Millipede Husk.
A rare item from some back-alley quest reward. Top-tier aggro gear that draws blistering hate onto the wearer.
A game-changer, depending on use. Nice score.
I pocketed the ring and left the building.
Lukewarm beer slid down my throat.
Corner table in the bustling guild tavern. Adventurers packed the place, but no one sat there.
I claimed it, getting buzzed on the bitter swill.
Downed a whole mug, and it hit weirdly fast. Aftereffects from my past life, or maybe 'cause I'd been boozing more lately.
Buzzed, I mulled over remaining tasks.
Just the dungeon left, huh.
The point when Elena met Eck. Two Red Moons had risen.
Tutorial nearing its end.
It's about time.
I set my mug down and eyed the guild door.
It swung open. Elena entered, steps light, face bright.
Our eyes met; color bloomed on her cheeks. She trotted over, tail practically wagging like a pup awaiting praise—her hopes plain as day.
Elena held out a parchment.
"How's this?"
Subjugation proof. Issued by the guild for slaying the troll.
Her cheek twitched.
"Not bad."
As I pocketed the proof, the guild stirred at Elena's return. Nearby adventurers buzzed.
Those who remembered her first visit here let out genuine gasps of awe, stealing glances.
"Good work, Elena."
"Thanks to you, mister. Hehe."
Elena plopped down opposite, recounting the troll hunt. Finished, her flushed cheeks twitched again.
"I did good, right?"
"Yeah, you did."
"I'm awesome, huh?"
"Yeah, awesome."
"Hehe."
She seemed pretty pleased herself—grin ear to ear.
Just the dungeon left.
The event to awaken Elena, handing her the power to kill Eck.
She won't kill me, but... still nerve-wracking.
I gripped my mug tighter.
And that day marked when Elena would start surpassing me in strength.