Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Encounter
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The driver standing in front of the limousine parked in the Magic Tower's exclusive lot saw Lee Si-woo and offered a polite greeting.
“Good day. My name is Peril, and I will be your driver today, Mr. Lee Si-woo. It is a pleasure to serve you.”
The driver from the Dongbanhoe was, unusually, a human—a gesture clearly intended as a special consideration for Si-woo.
Using a human for such a high-end service position was practically begging for complaints.
“A pleasure to meet you. I’ll be in your care for the day.”
No sooner had Si-woo exchanged brief greetings with the driver than his phone rang.
Si-woo’s eyebrow twitched at the unexpected name on his smartphone screen.
*Click.*
“Ms. Laila? What’s the occasion?”
At the call from Roben’s sister, Laila, Si-woo asked in a dry tone. She, in turn, replied in a voice stiff with tension.
-I… I’m so sorry to call you out of the blue. But we need help right now. I don’t know many people, and we’re in a hurry… uh… so I’m being shameless and calling you….
As Laila, clearly flustered, poured out a torrent of disjointed words, Si-woo gave a wry smile and spoke.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but it sounds urgent. But what to do? I have a prior engagement and was just on my way there.”
-Oh… a prior engagement….
Hearing the utter dejection in her voice, as if her world had just ended, Si-woo scratched his chin in thought and said.
“Still, I did say to call if you ever needed help… Alright. If it’s okay with you, Ms. Laila, why don’t you come to the Senior Magic Tower’s parking lot for a moment? We can talk about what’s happening on the way.”
At Si-woo’s considerate offer, Laila’s voice bloomed with life.
-What? Really! That would be amazing! I, I’m nearby, actually! I’ll be right there, so please just wait a moment.
Before he could respond, Laila brashly hung up after getting her point across. Si-woo chuckled and shook his head.
Leaning slightly against the limousine, he spoke to the driver.
“Let’s wait for a moment. I have to meet someone.”
* * *
Ben had heard happy news from his father this morning.
He had gotten a new job, the position of a dedicated driver for a very important person.
Ben was overjoyed at the news.
It wasn't because his father was earning money and his allowance would increase, or because he could now go to a school without the beastkin kids who tormented him.
It was simply that a smile had bloomed on his father’s perpetually shadowed face.
That was the only reason.
But why?
Despite such a happy event, Ben still found life agonizing.
It was strange.
His father had told him that happiness was very strong, that whenever something joyful and exciting happened, all sadness and misfortune would get scared and run away.
So why did he still feel so much pain and sorrow?
‘Maybe my happiness is a weakling, just like me. I was so happy this morning… but now I’m so sad.’
*Thwack!*
A dog-kin boy roughly stomped on the back of Ben, who was rolling on the ground, bloodied and bruised.
“I told you not to use this street, didn’t I? Your filthy stench lingers on the road and puts me in a bad mood.”
With tear tracks staining his face, Ben said.
“I’m sorry… I did wrong. I-I thought it would be okay for just a moment….”
“You idiot. It might be a moment for you, but for us beastkin with our sensitive noses, it lasts for days.”
The dog-kin boy’s name was Darco.
He was a former classmate from the public school Ben used to attend, and a human-hater.
A vile species-supremacist, so much so that he would follow and torment Ben, who was on a leave of absence because he couldn't afford the tuition.
“It’s been over a week since your last beating, so I guess your brain checked out, huh? This won’t do. I’m going to teach you a lesson today so you won’t even think of using this street again.”
With a venomous glint in his eyes, unbefitting a child, Darco stomped on Ben again and again.
Each time Darco’s sharp kick landed on his back, Ben let out a groan.
And he prayed, over and over.
‘God. Please, just let this moment pass quickly. If you can’t do that, then please make me unable to feel the pain. If you can’t even do that… then please make it so no one can see me. So no one can curse me or hit me….’
Just then, an old shoeshine man with soot smudged all over his face strode toward Darco and spoke.
“That’s enough.”
Seeing the old shoeshine man, Darco scowled and snapped.
“Dammit, what’s with this crazy old geezer now… Hey, grandpa. Don’t stick your nose in kids’ business. Go home and look after your grandkids. This isn’t bullying, we’re just playing.”
As he said this, Darco tried to kick Ben in the side, but the old shoeshine man, who had approached like the wind, firmly grabbed his leg.
Although Darco was just a young boy, he was still a beastkin.
His innate physical strength was incomparable to that of an ordinary human, yet the old shoeshine man pushed him away with uncommon force.
Stunned that he had been pushed back by a human, Darco stumbled backward.
‘What the hell… Who is this old man? How can a human be this strong?’
Arms as tough as braided sinew. A well-balanced physique and solid thighs that belied his age.
For a moment, Darco was surprised by the physique of a man who didn't seem like an old man making a living shining shoes on the street, but in an attempt to save face in front of his friends, he gritted his teeth and prepared to lash out.
Sensing this, the old man spoke in a cold voice.
“You’ll regret it.”
At Darco’s gesture, his five friends began to surround the old man.
The old man seemed like he could hold his own, but Darco was confident he stood no chance surrounded by six beastkin boys, including himself. With a vile smile, he said.
“Hey, grandpa. For a human to have lived long enough to be senile, you should know better than to meddle in other people’s affairs, shouldn’t you? Or what? Do you pieces of trash have a habit of looking out for each other without knowing your place?”
Tears and snot running down his face, Ben pleaded.
“Darco, don’t touch the old man… He has nothing to do with this….”
“Shut it, you moron. The moment that old man decided to be a busybody, it became his business.”
As Darco’s eyes flashed like a villain in a B-movie, a stone suddenly flew from somewhere and struck him on the back of the head.
*Crack!*
“Aargh! Wh-what son of a bitch threw a rock!”
A spider and a centipede, each the size of a small dog, emerged from the alley's shadows and observed Darco, who was clutching the back of his head and making a fuss.
-Did it hit?
-It hit.
-You think it hurts?
-Looks like it hurts.
Realizing that the ones who had thrown the rock were a spider and a centipede small enough to be kept as pets, Darco shouted.
“What are these damn bugs! Do you want to die— Huh? Uh… uh…?”
Darco’s voice trailed off, as if the volume on a speaker had been turned down.
It was because the spider, which was initially the size of a small dog, gradually grew larger until it was massive enough to fill the entire area by itself.
Thirty compound eyes and twenty legs.
A colossal body nearly five meters tall.
Faced with the majesty of Anetium, a monster species known as a tarantula, Darco fell flat on his butt.
Although Anetium had been judged incompetent enough to be thrown in the Pit, she was still a part of a monster species, and a fully grown adult at that.
She was a monster far beyond what a young beastkin boy, just entering his growth phase, could handle.
Seeing Darco completely terrified by her imposing presence, Anetium spoke to the little centipede in a triumphant tone.
-The punk is scared stiff. Ah, I really am magnificent. To think I thought I’d never be able to show off this stunning body line of mine again! To be able to return to this form? This expedition is the best!
Anetium showily extended a few of her twenty legs into the air.
-These long, shapely legs. Fangs mighty enough to chew up a cow, bones and all. And most of all, these twenty compound eyes, shimmering like dewdrops! Ah, beautiful! I’m… so pretty!
Just as Anetium was getting lost in her own beauty and spouting nonsense, Ogong, who could bear it no longer, spoke.
-How about you stop talking nonsense and get to work? We still have a long way to go to finish the Butler’s task.
-Oh, right.
As if she had forgotten, Anetium extended a leg toward Darco.
*Stab!*
The tip of Anetium’s leg, sharp as a needle, pierced Darco’s thigh.
As Darco screamed from the searing pain and terror in his thigh, Anetium spoke.
-Hey, kid. It’s noisy, so would you mind shutting it? Before I rip you in half and chew you up.
Darco’s screams stopped abruptly. He instinctively knew that Anetium’s threat was not a mere bluff.
One of Darco’s friends, who was particularly close to him, shouted at Anetium, his jaw trembling.
“Tarantula! Let Darco go! If you don’t, the city police will come and either kill you or throw you in the Pit! This is Granada! It’s not some lawless place where a monster like you can run wild!”
Seeing the beastkin boy acting brave for the sake of friendship, Anetium cackled.
-Well, look at these cheeky little brats. Daring to threaten this elder? And… city police? The Pit? Hah, I’m not scared one bit. This elder has long since graduated from that place, you know. And….
Anetium struck the face of the friend who had stood up for Darco with one of her legs.
*Smack!*
Watching the dog-kin boy roll on the ground with a bloodied face, Anetium said in a bored tone.
-Friendship is nice and all, but you should learn to read the room, shouldn’t you? This elder, despite my beautiful appearance, has quite a nasty temper, you see? Now then… little friends. I’m going to poke your thighs with these pretty legs of mine. It’ll hurt for a few months, and you’ll have a scar for life… but look at that scar and remember.
Anetium stabbed the thigh of another of Darco’s friends with her leg and continued.
-‘Ah, so this is how petty and dirty the malice of the strong can be.’ So that you’ll think, ‘I should never pick on the weak again.’ Something like that. What, but what if you don’t learn your lesson and do it again? Then I’ll just show up again!
*Stab, stab, stab, stab!*
Anetium stabbed the left thigh of all six beastkin boys, including Darco, before leaving them sprawled on the ground.
The boys screamed that they were dying, but perhaps because it was a deserted alley, the city police fortunately did not appear.
Still, with this much commotion, it wouldn't be strange for the police to show up at any moment. Ogong approached Ben.
Although a mysterious little centipede was coming closer, the old shoeshine man stood still, perhaps because it showed no sign of harming Ben.
Wary of the old man who exuded an unusual aura, Ogong took out a faceless statue the size of a child’s palm from the backpack he carried on his tail and handed it to Ben.
-Human kid. Life is tough, isn’t it? When it is, try praying to this statue. It’ll help ease your mind a little. Well, that’s what our Butler says, anyway.
Clutching the faceless statue, from which a warm energy that soothed the mind flowed, Ben asked.
“What is this…?”
-‘Something for those with nowhere to lean on to lean on. A place where fleeting hope and a sliver of comfort coexist.’ That’s what the smart Butler said… To be honest, I don’t really get it either. But one thing’s for sure, it’ll help bring you some peace of mind from now on. It was made for that purpose.
Just as Ogong said, holding the statue made his anxious and depressed heart feel a great sense of comfort.
Like the embrace of a mother he had never known.
Ogong asked the old man next to Ben.
-You want one too?
The old man, who had been staring at the faceless statue in Ben’s hand with pupils trembling like an earthquake, nodded.
As if feeling generous, Ogong tossed a statue.
Seeing the old man catch it carefully, as if afraid it might fall, Ogong shouted to Anetium.
-Anetium! Let’s go! If the cops show up, we could be in for a real ugly scene.
-Yes, yes, I’m coming.
At Ogong’s words, Anetium’s colossal body gradually shrank back to its original small-dog size.
She scurried over to Ogong’s side and said.
-You handed out the statues, right?
-Of course.
-Damn, but we still have a lot of statues left, don’t we? How long is it going to take to hand all these out?
The old man spoke to them.
“If your purpose is to hand out those statues, give some to me. I’ll give them to people I know.”
At the old man’s words, the centipede and spider’s eyes lit up like a part-timer who had just found a place to dump their flyers.
-This fellow is a good man.
-As expected of an elder, he has a good character. Alright then, we’ll give you this backpack with 100 statues in it, so please hand them out as you see fit. Oh, and you have to give them only to humans, okay?
The old man seemed slightly taken aback at the mention of a hundred, but he nodded his head as if he had no choice.
The two, pleased to have offloaded the faceless statues onto the old man, scurried away from the alley.
-Yes! The Butler’s praise is mine. The tasty treats are mine, too. Hehe, I have to hurry back and ask for praise~
-You idiot. Use your head. If we go back now, he might entrust us with another hundred statues. No, he might give us more work because we did a good job. So… we’ll play around a bit before going back. We’ve already finished our task.
-Gasp… Damn! You’re a total genius! I just got goosebumps. Wow, so your head does work sometimes, Sir Ogong? I thought you just had it for show.
-…….
Watching the backs of the spider and centipede who had saved him and were now leaving, Ben clutched the statue and murmured softly.
“Thank you….”
* * *
*Vmmm.*
With a sudden wave of dizziness, a faint voice entered Si-woo’s ears.
-Thank you….
At the faint voice, like the remnant of an echo, Si-woo frowned.
‘Ever since Barathrum’s tier rose to 4, I’ve started hearing strange auditory hallucinations. At first, the sound was so faint I thought I’d misheard it… but I heard it clearly just now. Hmm, I should stop by Barathrum soon and ask the Butler what’s going on….’
Si-woo, who had been in the middle of a conversation, frowned and fell silent. Rios, thinking he had somehow displeased him, carefully opened his mouth.
“Why? Are the terms not to your liking?”
Only then did Si-woo remember he was in a private meeting with Rios, the head of the Dongbanhoe. He smiled faintly and said.
“No. It’s fine. Let’s proceed as planned.”
“That’s a relief. Good, then let’s summarize one more time. The Dongbanhoe will provide jobs for one hundred thousand humans in Granada, establish a medical foundation to support research on new virus vaccines, and do its utmost to save patients.”
Rios swiped his index finger across the document on his smart pad and continued.
“Not only that, we will establish soup kitchens in the slums to prevent starvation, and deploy private police to maintain security while apprehending criminals who have committed violent crimes such as murder and rape, and hand them over to you. Lastly… we will scout about ten talented individuals each year and nurture them as corporate-sponsored mages. Well, will this be enough?”
“Yes. That’s more than enough.”
“Then with this, you are our ally and also our sponsored mage?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Seemingly greatly satisfied with having successfully recruited Si-woo as the Dongbanhoe’s sponsored mage, Rios grinned.
“Well, it ended up being a much larger expenditure than I expected… but if I can recruit a talent like you with this, it’s a cheap price to pay. It may be a loss for now, but looking at the future, it will eventually return to me as a profit. But… may I ask you one thing?”
“Yes. If it’s something I can answer.”
“Why the sudden interest in the welfare of humans? Frankly, if you had sought personal gain, you could have acquired an astronomical amount of points and magic stones, couldn’t you? To be blunt, there isn’t much you stand to gain from a welfare contract like this, is there?”
Points and magic stones? He could get as many of those as he wanted by grinding criminals’ souls on the scales.
Yes, just like when he acquired that expensive return stone to lure Allen into a trap.
But this kind of welfare work couldn't be done with money alone.
It required influence over the city’s systems, vast connections, and power, all of which were impossible without a faction.
Si-woo said with a blank expression.
“Who knows? Why indeed? Perhaps it’s just a formality to ease my conscience. Or maybe it’s because of a request from a woman I know.”
At the mention of a woman he knew, Rios’s eyes gleamed. He considered it a crucial point that could fully bind Si-woo to him.
‘A woman he knows… Who could it be? Isabelle? Or is there another one? Interesting.’
As if he didn’t want to discuss it further, Si-woo moved on to the next topic.
“Well, let’s stop with such trivial talk… I heard from Allen that you had prepared a familiar for me.”
Rios said with a meaningful smile.
“Yes, I’ve prepared a familiar to win you over. An incredible one, at that.”
Rios clapped his hands, and employees entered the office leading a black wolf on a leash.
“This is Beli, who carries the blood of the phantom beast, Fenrir. Unfortunately, he’s not a pureblood, so he cannot be called a Fenrir, but he can freely change between small and large forms, making him a companion familiar in normal times, and a mount in emergencies….”
Rios introduced Beli with the pride of a father boasting about his child, but unfortunately, the introduction was cut short.
With a loud cry, a white squirrel shot out from Si-woo’s embrace, or more precisely, from his smartphone.
*Bbi!!!! Bbi-bbi-bbi-bbi!*
The white squirrel, Bbi-bbi, suddenly popped out and tapped Beli on the forehead with its adorable paws. Ignoring the bewildered Rios and Beli, it turned to look at Si-woo with eyes full of resentment, like a wife betrayed by her husband.
Its gaze seemed to say, *You have me, so why are you bringing home a mutt like that?*