Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 103 - 네가 왜 거기서 나와
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Translator: crow
Chapter 103: Why Are You Here?
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Gaderok's black fire.
Its infamy reached every corner of the underworld.
Those who encountered tales of the black fire often suspected Gaderok of being a warlock.
The nature and power of that force delved into realms beyond comprehension.
Once ignited, the fire wouldn't extinguish until its target was completely incinerated. It couldn't be doused.
In the back alleys, the black fire was a symbol of terror.
Gaderok reigned as the king of the back alleys, wielding that symbol of fear.
"The black fire... went out...?"
But right now.
The black fire had been snuffed out.
And so anticlimactically, like a candle flame flickering out in the wind.
The back alley bosses and their escorts stared at Gaderok in stunned silence.
"..."
Gaderok himself stared blankly into the distance.
Their gazes naturally followed his.
All eyes in the room converged on the councilor proxy.
"You alright, Brimfort?"
"Huh? Oh..."
Was this a dream or reality?
Brimfort, half out of it, startled and nodded vigorously.
"Y-Yes, sir! I'm fine!"
-My fate's tied to this punk kid?
-Yeah. Might as well call it quits.
The Brimfort who had despaired over his situation upon arrival was gone.
He swiftly dragged his chair right next to Rishir and sat down.
A servile display unworthy of the title "back alley boss."
In a normal back alley meeting, he would've been showered with mockery and scorn.
If it had been the usual meeting centered around Gaderok and Gadum, that is.
"..."
"..."
But now.
No one in the meeting dared direct scorn or mockery at Brimfort.
"Th-Thank you for saving me! I owe you my life, councilor proxy, sir!"
Because of the one protecting him right beside him.
"No big deal."
After extinguishing the black fire, he acted as if nothing had happened, utterly nonchalant. It was more than enough to shake the hearts of the bosses, who had been shackled by the shadow of that black fire.
This place was no longer a "back alley meeting without Gadum."
They no longer thought, "Is it Gaderok's era now?"
Their bewilderment and silence granted legitimacy to the new ruler.
Legitimacy enough to sway the entire flow of the room.
The looks treating him like a lost kid were gone.
Reading the shift, Rishir recalled Klana's advice.
-When dealing with criminals, the most important thing is seizing the initiative.
Time to follow that advice.
Rishir spoke up immediately.
"As someone just said, the atmosphere's a bit chaotic to proceed with the meeting. But no worries. As you can see, I've put out the urgent fire."
Using a formal tone he rarely employed, Rishir unleashed the signature aristocratic roundabout eloquence.
In that instant, Gaderok—who had stirred the chaos by complaining about the disorder—looked utterly ridiculous.
A few bosses glanced at Gaderok and swallowed their sneers.
"..."
But when Gaderok flashed anger at their expressions, they schooled their faces as if nothing had happened.
Gaderok stared at the silent Rishir.
The room's atmosphere split in two.
Rishir clicked his tongue inwardly.
'This might be tougher than I thought.'
Rishir's mission this time was to seize control of the back alley meeting and pass an agenda that could pressure them.
For that, he needed a majority vote—four in total, including his own and Brimfort's.
From the mood just moments ago, he'd dared to hope he might sway the two bosses excluding Gaderok.
But their reactions now dashed those hopes.
Rishir could see they still feared Gaderok more than him.
'Unless these guys fear me more than Gaderok, getting them to vote yes on an agenda harmful to back alley criminals... yeah, that's a pipe dream.'
To find another way, Rishir recalled the key notes he'd memorized before the meeting.
1. The western boss Gaderok and this meeting's convener Dejong are in a tense standoff.
2. The northern boss and eastern saint seem to avoid outright criminal acts.
'Dejong's over there watching Gaderok's mood... so maybe pin hopes on the saint and the boss.'
The boss and the saint.
Thinking of them, Rishir's expression wasn't exactly pleasant.
He recalled Dogal's explanations about the two.
-The boss is no pushover. Since she rose as the north's new ruler, the north has bonded like a single body. Absolute control even Gaderok couldn't achieve.
-Gadum tried steadily approaching her since human trafficking was a big chunk of his business up north. But every time, he got shut down cold.
-Same with the saint. He's built fame healing junkies and the sick in the slums for free. As the name suggests, he has absolute support there. Probably outshines even the church's saintess.
-On top of that, his explosive rise has backing from 'Golden Barley,' one of Bondales' top trading houses. Their young lady 'Karia' fell hard after he cured her illness.
-Plenty of other power players swooning over the saint too.
-Both the boss and saint are masters at handling people.
-Even for you, Rishir, they won't be easy opponents.
They stood out from the other back alley bosses by shunning crime.
Similar vein to him, checking criminal orgs as part of the council?
'But no guarantee they'll back me up.'
They still based their power in the back alleys, after all.
The council's involvement would irk them, if not as much as the criminals.
'A way to pressure the back alleys efficiently without ruffling the saint and boss... tricky.'
Despite mulling it over, no solution came.
Rishir hoped the two wouldn't arrive before he figured it out.
"The boss has arrived."
But against his wishes, the boss showed up right on time.
Rishir tensed and stared at the living room entrance.
A slender woman stood there.
Behind a pure white mask, red eyes asserted their presence.
"..."
"..."
Councilor proxy.
Northern boss.
The two locked eyes in a strange gaze for a long moment.
"The saint has arrived."
Before the boss could even sit, another newcomer appeared.
From within an iron mask, neutral sky-blue eyes asserted their presence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Councilor proxy.
Northern boss.
Eastern saint.
They locked eyes in strange gazes for a long moment.
'Why are you here?'
No one else could read the meaning in those stares.
Then.
The boss glanced between Rishir and the saint, then quickly slid into the seat on Rishir's right.
The saint naturally moved to Rishir's left—but
"?"
"..."
After a staring contest with Brimfort already occupying it, he sighed.
Anyway, the round table was full.
"Everyone's here. Let's begin the meeting."
The right to conduct fell to Gadum, the back alley meeting's biggest sponsor.
As Gadum's proxy, Rishir reaffirmed his goal before surveying the table.
'One, two, three, four... huh?'
It was sudden.
Rishir realized a clever way to fully control the back alleys while convincing everyone.
'What the hell did you do...'
Since the councilor proxy extinguished the black fire, Gaderok's expression had been sour.
The black fire held special symbolic meaning for him, even more than for others.
The spark of unease blooming in Gaderok filled the void left by the extinguished flame.
He agonized over the fear that this meeting might not go his way.
But the agony didn't last.
Soon after the meeting started, the councilor proxy proposed the first agenda—and its content was a joke.
"Thus, to protect and coordinate your businesses more effectively, our guard will include most back alley streets in patrol routes. Additionally—"
Stripping away the flowery, sly verbiage, the agenda boiled down to:
-The back alleys are under our guard's management from now on.
'Still just a punk kid after all.'
Got cocky after snuffing the black fire?
Or overconfident in the power backing him from Gadum?
Either way, he'd made a colossal blunder.
Declaring control over the back alleys at a meeting of back alley bosses.
'No need to check the boss and saint's reactions.'
The unlikely alliance of boss and saint siding with the proxy—
Gaderok's greatest anxiety dissolved.
'Now the boss and saint will clearly draw a line against the proxy.'
Gaderok scanned the table.
In his eyes—
His side had three, the enemy two.
And two neutrals: saint and boss.
'Brimfort...'
If he could just sway him back, the back alley meeting would fall into his hands.
"Those in favor of my agenda, please raise your hands."
Gaderok leaned back leisurely, calculations done.
All that remained was watching the punk crumble on his own.
Gaderok eyed Brimfort's reaction.
"..."
'Not quite that stupid, huh.'
Brimfort looked troubled, glancing nervously at Rishir, the saint, and the boss.
In a situation hostile to Gaderok, sucking up to saint and boss wasn't enough—he seemed baffled at pushing an idea that might offend them.
'In that case, instead of killing Brimfort—'
As Gaderok pondered post-vote plans, assuming defeat for the proxy—
"...!"
A gasp came from the seat next to him.
Gaderok snapped out of it, wondering what was up.
"..."
And doubted his eyes.
The saint and boss.
They had raised their hands.
"I-I'm in favor too!"
Then Brimfort, who'd only eyed those two, raised his.
"Motion carried."
Thus, the proxy's absurd agenda passed.
Was it supposed to go this smoothly?
Rishir dazedly checked Gaderok's reaction.
As expected, he was confused.
That much was predictable.
"..."
Then, resolve hardened on Gaderok's face.
He exchanged glances with the southern boss next to him—Dejong—and nodded.
'Hold up.'
A strange unease washed over him.
And soon, it became reality.
Gaderok slipped a hand into his bosom, a small mana ripple occurring.
A signal to his men waiting in nearby buildings.
Rishir's sharp senses detected presences swarming the building fast.
"Sir Rishir, something's wrong!"
As Dogal and the escorts took positions back-to-back at the entrance, armed thugs flooded in, blocking it.
"Those are... Sir Rishir! Gaderok and Dejong's organization members!"
Indeed, Gaderok and Dejong had already joined forces.
To completely oust the wavering Gadum inside and out, and monopolize the back alleys.
The boss sandwiched between them, at a loss, glared and demanded answers.
"Gaderok, Dejong, what the hell is— Aaaargh!!!"
The flustered boss between them burst into black flames.
Ignoring the writhing man on the floor, Gaderok stood and sneered down at Rishir.
"Punk, you complicated things in the end. Know this? All of it is your doing."
"..."
"Now then—"
"Kyaaak!!!"
A scream cut Gaderok off.
One of Dejong's underlings.
She thrashed, engulfed in black fire.
"Wh-what is this...! Forean!"
"Lady Dejong!!! Save me!!! It burns!!!"
"Damn it all, Gaderok!!! Stop this! What do you think you're doing?!"
Dejong immediately backed away from Gaderok, demanding answers.
"...?"
Sudden betrayal.
And panic.
Gaderok showed mutually exclusive reactions at once.
"...What's going on?"
"Infighting?"
Even the boss and saint looked baffled.
But—
"Oh yeah."
"You're here too."
Their gazes turned to Rishir, then nodded in sudden understanding.
"No—"
Rishir, equally baffled by the sudden mess, started to deny it when—
-Chuinni!
A voice echoed in Rishir's mind.
From yesterday. Dangallion, one of the 'three,' griping about being the only one not in his inner world and requesting entry.
Startled, Rishir asked him.
'What is this? Your doing?'
-Who else but this Dangallion would stir trouble for Chuinni!
'How, what?'
-See that black pearl earring on that worm's ear!?
'What's that got to do?'
-It's mine!
'...'
An answer omitting far too much, but Rishir grasped the meaning instantly.
Dangallion's habitual self-introduction came to mind.
'The burning black fire... is that your power he's using?'
-The power I created! All black fire in this world belongs to me, Dangallion!
'Holy shit.'
-Lamentable! That lowly worm wielding my power freely...! Anyway, now's the time, Chuinni!
'Now? For what?'
-I'll burn their underlings with black fire! They'll think that worm did it and fall into chaos! Sow discord between them in the gap!
"..."
What kind of daily thoughts led to such a scheme popping out naturally in a crisis?
Rishir marveled at the demonic plan.