Dark Moon (2)
There were easily a hundred people gathered in the hall.
If they were to summon every Dark Moon operative active across the North, the total number would be staggering. It was absurd to think of using such a force merely for auxiliary support.
To grow the Dark Moon even further, mutual benefit had to be the foundation.
Jeron knew all too well that relationships built on blind loyalty did not exist. He wanted to make sure the first button was buttoned correctly.
“I am well aware of your hard work, and the many things you have accomplished for us until now.”
“…”
The kneeling operatives did not make a single movement.
The sheer weight of their presence was somewhat overwhelming, but it was something he had to get used to.
Jeron raised his voice.
“My goal is to bring you out of the shadows and into the light. Until that day comes, endure just a little longer.”
“We have already received a great grace simply by not starving to death, my Lord.”
“No. We will march forward toward a shared goal.”
“We shall dedicate our lives to you!”
Thud!
Still on their knees, the operatives slammed their foreheads against the stone floor.
Blood began to trickle down their split brows.
Jeron wondered what on earth they were doing, but since even knights occasionally behaved this way, it was not entirely shocking. Their eyes shone with a feverish intensity, as if they were competing to prove who was more loyal.
He could guess how Ark Farrow had run this organization.
These people had all been at the absolute rock bottom of society.
They were souls pulled from the very edge of darkness.
Because they had been saved at their most desperate moments, their loyalty rivaled that of any sworn knight.
“Return to your duties. The executives will assemble in the briefing room.”
“By your command!”
Their voices rang out in a thunderous, unified roar.
The operatives dispersed at Jeron's command.
Evan hurried over to Jeron and bowed deeply.
“This way, my Lord. I shall guide you.”
The scale of the Dark Moon headquarters was considerable.
However, the buildings were crammed tightly together, making for a rather grim environment. Quite a few families lived here.
The Dark Moon was not just a network of operatives.
Children ran around in front of the shabby wooden buildings, and the scent of cooking drifted through the air like any ordinary residential district.
Though their standard of living did not look particularly high, laughter echoed from every home.
There were hundreds of people living here permanently.
Jeron quickly grasped the nature of this community.
“It seems there are civilians here as well.”
“They may appear to be civilians, my Lord, but they are not.”
“Surprising. Are they all members of the organization?”
“Yes. The Dark Moon's members are widely and evenly distributed, regardless of age or gender.”
“Could this not cause trouble?”
Jeron's concern was that they had absorbed the population of other territories to build a private army.
If handled poorly, it could ruin his relationship with Count Hanes, which was currently on good terms.
In this era, population was directly equated with power. If Count Hanes ever discovered what was happening here, it would cause a massive diplomatic incident.
Evan saw right through Jeron's concern.
“Your concern is entirely valid, my Lord, but there is no need to worry. These are all people who were rescued from the brink of death. Had we left them alone, they would not be of this world today.”
“So the Dark Moon reached out to them in their final moments.”
“Indeed. To them, the Dark Moon was the hand of salvation. They were people abandoned by their lords, and even by the Goddess. Lord Ark Farrow thoroughly vetted them before accepting them into our ranks.”
“Hmph. My father's foresight is indeed remarkable. But what do you mean by 'thoroughly vetted'?”
“Lord Ark Farrow placed the utmost importance on character. Even if someone was driven to a corner, they were excluded if their own foolish choices had brought them to the brink of death. The screening process for new members is exceptionally strict.”
“Character as the primary criterion... I see.”
The more Jeron heard, the more impressed he was.
Reaching out to those who would have died otherwise.
The targets were those who had been forced into their circumstances by fate: people ruined by usurious loans while trying to survive, women sold into slavery despite being victims of domestic violence, and abandoned orphans.
But Ark Farrow had clearly believed there were levels to rock bottom.
Those who ruined their lives through gambling, alcohol, or drug addiction—or those who were simply rotten to the core—were completely excluded.
Furthermore, the fact that the Farrow family backed the organization was a secret known only to the executive level.
Thanks to these strict standards, the organization had maintained its integrity without incident.
Naturally, their loyalty was absolute.
They were prepared to throw away their lives just because they had been delivered from hell.
“Once their rehabilitation is complete, do they begin active duty?”
“Allow me to show you.”
In the center of the headquarters lay a training ground that was neither too small nor too large.
There, men and women could be seen training, sweating and bleeding.
Once accepted, they completed their rehabilitation and had their physical abilities and talents assessed. They were then assigned to various duties. Those deemed to possess sufficient physical strength and comprehension were admitted into the combat units.
Those who failed to make the cut for the combat units were deployed to various businesses, rotating between surface and underground operations.
“Do any of them ever return to being ordinary citizens?”
“Yes. Mostly families, who go on to live as ordinary residents. However, because their debt to the organization is so great, they continue to gather intelligence in their daily lives.”
“Remarkably systematic.”
“It is the legacy of the former master.”
When Ark Farrow first inherited the Dark Moon from his predecessor, the organization had existed in name only.
In his youth, Ark had focused all his efforts on expanding the Dark Moon's influence and establishing a proper system.
At first, funds from the territory were injected into the group, but once the Dark Moon found its footing, it expanded its influence independently.
As a result of those efforts, it had now grown into one of the two major underworld organizations in the Hanes territory.
For the past few years, they had been expanding their reach, infiltrating almost every underworld network in the North.
To facilitate this expansion, they had required a specialized combat unit, which led to the creation of the Black Reapers.
The training methods of the Black Reapers were incomparable to those of the ordinary members.
They carried out acrobat-like maneuvers in a training facility with a highly complex layout.
“They look similar to the Hashashin.”
“Their training methods are similar, but their origin is quite different.”
Jeron nodded.
The Hashashin, the infamous assassin guild of the Desert Kingdom, was made up of people whose lives had reached a dead end.
They had not fallen due to external circumstances, but had become Hashashin after retiring as berserkers, the core military force of the desert.
The berserkers of the Desert Kingdom, enhanced by drugs, suffered from severe withdrawal symptoms after retirement. They did not hesitate to commit contract killings just to afford their drugs. The Hashashin was an organization formed by such men.
In comparison, the Black Reapers were not drug-addled, and contract killing was strictly forbidden. They killed only upon direct orders.
Given the medieval nature of this world, the Dark Moon's operations still had aspects that a modern person would find excessive, occasionally relying on crude methods or disregarding human rights.
But considering the era, Ark Farrow had been an incredibly progressive man.
He had established his own standards, excluding evil as much as possible while striving for mutual prosperity.
Still, because they were an underworld organization, they had their limits.
“The smell of blood?”
As Jeron walked through the interconnected buildings, experiencing a different world on every floor, he suddenly caught the thick scent of blood.
While the smell of blood was common in the underworld, this was the Dark Moon headquarters.
Jeron could not help but stop in his tracks.
They had reached the headquarters' sole dungeon.
Inside, a gruesome scene unfolded.
Men and women were bound, their skin half-flayed, their fingernails and toenails torn out, and their limbs severed.
They were being treated as if they had committed high treason.
Fitting for a society devoid of human rights, the torture techniques were highly advanced.
“What crimes did they commit?”
“They are traitors.”
“Traitors?”
“Wretches who dared to betray the organization's grace for a few coins. They do not even deserve a peaceful death. Although our system prioritizes character when accepting members, we occasionally fail.”
Jeron understood Evan's words instantly.
He had experienced such situations countless times himself—especially on the ruined Earth.
Believing someone to be good, only to be stabbed in the back, was a common occurrence.
Having been betrayed so often, he had once lived in absolute distrust of humanity.
Though there had been plenty of such people among the villagers in the rural town where he finally settled, there were also many decent human beings, which had made him realize the world was not entirely rotten.
Whether on Earth or in this medieval world, human nature was much the same.
Only the environment and values differed; it was still just a collection of various human beings living together.
“We reached out to them when they were at the gates of hell, and in return, they took money to kill our members or put them in danger. They are trash for whom even death is a luxury.”
“Are you torturing them because it would be a waste to simply kill them?”
“No. We are torturing them to extract information.”
“Traitors must be weeded out. However, we must proceed with extreme caution.”
“I shall keep that in mind, my Lord.”
Jeron did not give any specific orders regarding this matter.
The Dark Moon was already remarkably progressive for this era.
Because of this, the loyalty of the members was immense. If he rashly altered the way the organization was run or changed long-standing cultural practices, it would inevitably cause backlash.
It felt a bit sudden, but Jeron realized he had inherited an incredibly loyal organization.
At the top floor of the Dark Moon headquarters.
Jeron had been quite surprised today.
He had seen the dark underbelly of society that he, as a noble, had never known, and realized that people at the absolute end of their ropes were scattered everywhere.
It was a miracle that the Dark Moon had managed to grow this far by exploiting those cracks.
Most surprising of all was the loyalty and discipline maintained within the organization.
Most of them were prepared to leap into the fires of hell carrying kindling if ordered to do so.
While the punishment for traitors was brutal, the unity within the organization was beyond imagination.
Naturally, Jeron could no longer leave the Dark Moon out of his plans for running the territory.
He had believed he had to reform the Farrow territory solely through his own strength, but the legacy left by the previous lords and their efforts to rebuild the family had not been in vain.
On the surface, the Farrow family appeared impoverished and shabby, but inwardly, they had been sharpening their blades for centuries.
It was a truly terrifying level of resolve.
These were people who had dedicated their lives to the glory of the family rather than their personal comfort.
Ark Farrow was one of them.
Jeron felt a heavy weight on his shoulders as he inherited the Dark Moon, built on the blood and sweat of his ancestors.
He had finally realized what the concept of 'family' truly meant to the people of this era.
The executives were gathered in the briefing room.
They were the actual leadership running the Dark Moon.
Jeron stood before them and made his declaration.
“My father has retired due to his injuries, and I shall lead this organization from this day forward. While we will maintain our current direction, we shall set a new goal.”