I'll Go Rogue
Kael’s fist slammed into the guard’s face.
The man crumpled on the spot.
One of the other guards, who had been cackling and letting his guard down a moment ago, went wide-eyed.
...What the hell? What just happened?
Only for a second, though. He quickly came to his senses and lunged at Kael.
Whoosh!
He threw a punch with all the speed he could muster, but Kael was hardly the type to stand still and eat a pathetic slow-motion swing like that.
Kael leaned his upper body back just enough to let the attack sail past, then lifted a hand.
Smack!
This time it wasn’t a fist, but a palm. Kael had slapped the guard across the face.
The force was enough to make his eyes go blank.
Not just his eyes, either. His knees gave out too.
“You told me to hand over everything I had, right? Sorry, but this is all I’ve got.”
Kael twisted the corner of his mouth.
If he’d learned one thing in this Middle Ages hellscape, it was that these bastards didn’t listen to words. Not unless you beat the lesson into them.
Thud, thud, thud.
“So now you owe me change, don’t you?”
Luke, who had been dozing off in the guard office, woke with a start at the sudden racket.
Bang!
The door flew open, sunlight pouring in from outside.
Luke frowned, lifting his head in annoyance as his peaceful nap was ruined.
Crash!
Two lumps of meat rolled across the floor.
“Ughhh...”
“C-Captain... p-please, just spare us...”
What, meat can talk now?
No—on closer look, they weren’t lumps of meat at all. Two guards with their faces wrecked were groaning and wheezing in pain.
Luke blinked and looked up.
There stood a young man he didn’t recognize.
Black hair, sharp eyes, and a crooked, mocking half-smile that made him look memorable for all the wrong reasons.
He wore light armor over a black tunic, looking like some street thug who’d somehow learned how to stand with a little authority.
Kael narrowed his eyes and slowly looked around the office before clicking his tongue.
“What a damn mess.”
“...Who the hell are you?”
“Kael.”
“I didn’t ask for your name, I— ...Forget it. Are you the one who did this to them?”
“If I was?”
Kael stood with one leg cocked, wearing a twisted grin as he looked back at Luke.
That blatantly provocative attitude earned him a small sigh from Luke. Then, with a face that screamed he couldn’t be bothered to deal with any of this, Luke said, “I’d like to live quietly too, you know. I don’t understand why people keep making life difficult for me. Anyway, one last time: why did you turn them into that?”
“They tried to shake me down.”
“...Shake you down?”
“Yeah. Told me to hand over everything I had. Sorry, but this is all I’ve got.”
Kael grinned and flexed his fist.
...This guy’s completely insane, isn’t he?
Luke made a dumbfounded face.
Yeah, no question about it. The man was insane.
It was a pain in the ass, but given how badly he’d beaten those guards, Luke couldn’t just let this slide.
“Let’s not make this more exhausting than it has to be. Come along quietly, all right? Let’s do this the easy way for once.”
Luke picked up one of the handcuffs lying around and tossed it at Kael. Kael stared at it for a moment, then tilted his head.
“What, a gift?”
“Sure, something like that.”
“Really? Then I’ll give you one too.”
Kael pulled out a sheet of paper folded up in his breast pocket and tossed it to Luke.
“...What is this?”
“Read it.”
“Haah...”
It seemed a truly deranged lunatic had wandered in after all.
Luke let out a sigh heavy enough to sink the floor, then opened the paper.
But the contents were far beyond anything he’d expected.
By order of the Capital Guard Command of the Ascalon Empire:
Kael of Third District Guard Station is hereby appointed Commander of the Special Security Squad in Nox, in the southwest of the Empire.
Whoever carries this appointment document shall possess full authority to establish public order throughout Nox and suppress criminal forces, and all local administrative and military institutions are obligated to cooperate.
This appointment takes effect immediately.
Capital Guard Command of the Ascalon Empire
The imperial seal was stamped clearly across the document.
“Special Security Squad Commander...? Wait, your name is Kael?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I see. Then there’s no reason for this to get troublesome. Do whatever you want.”
“Hm?”
“If you’re a commander, then you’re my superior, aren’t you? This whole mess was already a pain in the ass, so this works out.”
Luke nodded with a blank expression.
For Kael, it was an unexpectedly odd reaction.
A young commander had just fallen out of the sky, and yet instead of friction with the existing guards, this guy seemed relieved?
“Then I’ll be heading out. Oh, not because I’m slacking off or anything. It’s just, you know... patrol? I’m going to go do some street patrol. Good luck with everything.”
The limp salute he gave looked like something from a soldier on his last day before discharge.
Luke bowed his head and trudged out of the office.
Watching his back, Kael felt a strange flicker of disappointment.
What the hell was that?
Balmung, who had been quiet for a while, finally spoke.
[He’s got the basics down.]
‘What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden?’
[Don’t bother getting your hopes up. He’s not someone you can take on yet.]
‘What, all that attitude and he turned out to be nothing but foam?’
[W-What... foam?! If I were to step in, that brat would—!]
Balmung bristled at the insult, but Kael didn’t bother listening.
He’d picked up this skill on the way to Nox. Total ignoring. No matter what Balmung said, it didn’t affect him in the slightest.
Still... if even you say that, then I guess he’s worth something.
He might’ve had the dead-fish eyes of a man already halfway to the grave, but he seemed to have real skill.
Not bad.
The more capable subordinates he had, the better.
Luke walked down the street with heavy steps.
His gait, his expression, his eyes—there was no trace of energy or motivation in any of it.
To exaggerate a little, he looked like a corpse walking.
...A new commander, huh.
Luke, wandering aimlessly through the street, mulled over the name Kael in his mouth.
“...This really isn’t funny.”
The golden time was long gone.
Nox was already finished.
Beyond saving.
If they wanted to revive Nox, they’d have to start over from the very beginning.
There was no other way except to send in an army and wipe the city clean, or dispatch two powerhouses on the level of the Imperial 5 Swords and slaughter everything in sight.
But both options were impossible in reality.
The Empire didn’t have the luxury right now to move that many troops, nor to spare two people of that caliber.
So just keep ignoring it like they always have.
And now, of all times, they’d sent some unseasoned punk of a commander and expected him to do something.
It was enough to make him lose faith in humanity.
He’ll figure it out in a few days anyway.
He’d see just how rotten Nox really was.
As Luke trudged along, simmering in irritation, a tavern came into view.
As if possessed by something, he turned and headed for it.
I’m going to be rotten.
Once his transfer to Nox was confirmed, Kael entered his rebellious phase.
He’d realized that living honestly was useless.
Those bastards. They really think I’m easy to push around, huh? Hm?
His resentment toward the Empire grew and grew.
Kael was reborn.
The obedient pushover named Kael was already dead.
The one bit of good fortune in this mess was that Kael had been given a title.
Specifically, the title of Special Security Squad Commander.
He had no idea what the Special Security Squad actually did, but in formal rank, it was above even a guard captain.
Depending on how you looked at it, it was an unprecedented promotion.
Of course, the reality was nothing more than a shiny shell over a rotten core.
No one in Nox was jealous of Kael.
That was because of Nox’s reputation. The roughest of rough places. The Empire’s worst lawless district, crawling with crime.
And to make matters worse, it was the place where one of the Empire’s proud Imperial 5 Swords had betrayed the realm, leaving behind a stain of disgrace.
Who would be happy being handed “command” in a place like that?
In truth, Kael wasn’t even in a position to wield real power yet.
“So you’re telling me... the two of you are all there is?”
“If you count Captain Luke, then it’s three of us total...”
“Hey, are you messing with me right now? Two or three, what difference does it make!”
“H-Hiiik!!”
As Kael flew into a rage, the two guards, their faces swollen, clung to each other and screamed.
The situation was even more miserable than he’d imagined, and Kael’s head started throbbing.
The guard force is only three people? What is this, a joke?
He was speechless.
Could this even be called a guard unit?
“Th-There’s... there is a reason it ended up like this.”
“...Then explain it to me in a way that makes sense.”
One of the hesitant guards opened his mouth and began talking.
It was rambling, but the gist was this.
Nox was, just as Kael had guessed, a paradise for criminals.
Criminals from every region had flocked here, each building up their own little power base and starting to fight over territory and profit.
With public authority stripped of power, there was no one left to mediate or stop them, and every day brought fresh bloodshed as they bit and tore at each other until one side was dead.
After a fierce war, the winners and losers had finally become clear. Right now, Nox was split in two and ruled by two major criminal organizations.
Iron Thorn and Biopolar.
Iron Thorn made most of its money from gambling dens and taverns, while Biopolar dealt in human trafficking and prohibited goods.
What a goddamn disaster.
There was no better word for this kind of total collapse.
A criminal organization maintaining public order? That was no different from a thief acting like the landlord.
It’s gone all the way to hell.
Balmung, who had been quiet, gave a snort of contempt as well.
This time, Kael agreed with him.
“So what does that have to do with the guard force looking like this?”
“W-Well... because guard operations are basically impossible. There’s no salary, and nobody knows when or where they might die, so who would work?”
“Hold on. Then why are you two even still here?”
“We... it might be hard to explain, but... it’s because of Captain Luke. He told those guys not to lay a hand on us.”
“...He warned them? Warned who?”
“The bosses of Iron Thorn and Biopolar...”
Kael frowned.
Could that really be true? Two massive criminal organizations that had split the city in half were scared of just one guy named Luke?
“...The two bosses really want to recruit Captain Luke.”
“Why?”
“Well... maybe because if they had Captain Luke, they could take full control of the city?”
“He’s that strong?”
“Uh... I’ve never actually seen him fight seriously, but I’ve heard he’s insane.”
“Oh? Is that so.”
Kael stroked his chin for a moment, thinking.
Then he grinned and spoke to Balmung.
Hey, old man.
[What is it this time? And stop calling me old man. I’ve told you countless times—]
Skip the small stuff. Do me a favor, will you?
[...Why should I do anything for you, brat?]
What, you were curious about Nox’s latrine flavor? You should’ve said so sooner.
[Kraaah!! Fine, I get it, so stop! For the love of all that’s holy, enough with the latrine already!!]
Then he should’ve just agreed in the first place.
Kael snorted through his nose.