Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Cleanup and the Pursuer
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“If you're going to kill me, do it quickly. Stop with the pointless tricks.”
The Gray Fox, seemingly wanting to avoid a pathetic end, forced a calm expression.
With an indifferent face, Lee Si-woo stomped on the Gray Fox's uninjured left leg.
The excruciating pain of his leg bone snapping raw made the veins on the Gray Fox's neck bulge as he gaped his mouth wide.
As if finding the Gray Fox's desperate attempt to suppress his moans to protect his pride pathetic, Lee Si-woo proceeded to break both his arms.
At Lee Si-woo's brutal actions, the nearby mercenaries pulled the triggers of their rifles.
“Stop it, you crazy psychopath!”
*Rat-a-tat-tat!*
Though his mana was depleted, his intact Mineralization ability didn't allow the bullets to harm him.
Deflecting the bullets with his silver skin, Lee Si-woo gripped his hammer with a blank expression.
And then, he began to clean up.
“Aaargh! Get away, get away!”
“Wait! I-I didn't shoot! I didn't! If you let me go, I'll keep my mouth shut about today!”
“You idiot, shoot! He has no intention of sparing us!”
In truth, the mercenaries' loyalty was surprisingly impressive.
Normally, mercenaries in such situations would abandon their employer and flee.
Sure enough, the last surviving mercenary spoke with a desperate voice.
“Sir Lee Si-woo, how could we possibly have the face to ask you to spare us? But... please, just Sir Gray Fox. Please show him mercy. The truth is, Sir Gray Fox had a reason why he had to do this...”
Lee Si-woo raised his index finger to his lips and said.
“Shh. That's enough.”
“...Pardon?”
“Is there anyone in this world without a story? Yes. I'm sure that man has his own trials and tribulations. But you know what? I'm not particularly interested in hearing it.”
Shoving his hammer into the mouth of the beastkin mercenary who tried to say more, Lee Si-woo continued.
“What's the point of listening to the story of a bastard I'm going to kill anyway? It'll just leave a bad taste in my mouth.”
After killing the last mercenary, Lee Si-woo glanced at the Gray Fox.
The Gray Fox's whiskers trembled as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to endure the pain of his shattered limbs.
Seeing his state, like a death row inmate awaiting execution, Lee Si-woo turned away.
As if to say that even a quick death was a luxury he didn't deserve.
“Damn it! Kill me! Please, just kill me! You said you would! So why are you keeping me alive in this miserable state!”
Lee Si-woo ignored the Gray Fox's screams and walked over to Lime, who was writhing on the floor.
Burnt wings and a melted steel pauldron.
Clothes turned to ash and a body covered in burns.
Lime, who was barely breathing, managed to open her eyes and look up at Lee Si-woo.
“Even to you... I look like a lost cause, don't I? Like I'm about to die?”
“No.”
“...What?”
“You'll die if I leave you like this. But if you want to, you can live.”
“R-Really...?”
“Yes. You can definitely live. What will it be? Shall I save you?”
“Isn't that obvious? If I can live, of course I have to live!”
[A consumable life form is nearby. Would you like to consume it?]
He hadn't even dared to try it when he coveted the orc, but with Lime as the target, things were proceeding so smoothly it was almost anticlimactic. Lee Si-woo gave a bitter smile.
Thinking this must be one of life's strange twists, Lee Si-woo touched the confirmation button that appeared on Barathrum's screen.
[Commencing consumption.]
A white portal appeared above Lime and greedily swallowed her whole.
From the broken pauldron Mabo and the inventory ring left where she disappeared, Lee Si-woo took only the ring and let out a sigh of relief.
Successfully consuming a 1st Circle Beginner made him feel a sense of accomplishment and exhaustion at the same time, as if he had overcome a great mountain.
‘With this, I've completed the 3-star quest and secured the energy to construct new facilities in Barathrum. It was tricky... but I did it. But it's too early to relax. I still haven't dealt with the biggest mountain, Harman.’
Steeling his resolve again, Lee Si-woo returned to the Gray Fox.
The Gray Fox, whose limbs were broken but whose neck was intact, had seen everything that happened to Lime. He spoke.
“What... what the hell just happened?”
Lee Si-woo shrugged and replied.
“I saved her, just as she wished.”
“Did you use portal magic? Impossible. That's something only a spatial school mage of at least the 5th Circle can...”
“Well now. Is there any reason for me to explain everything I do to you?”
Lee Si-woo's cold voice made the Gray Fox realize his own predicament, and he glared with bloodshot eyes.
“I suppose so. You're right. Fine, then kill me.”
Lee Si-woo tapped his chin with his index finger, observing the Gray Fox. To speak in such a composed tone despite the pain of his broken limbs showed he had considerable endurance.
“What if... what if I were to let you live?”
“...Me? Now? Why?”
“That's for you to convince me of. So prove your worth to me. If you're useful, I'll let you live.”
The Gray Fox swallowed dryly.
Until a moment ago, he'd had no expectations.
Considering what he had done, there was no reason for Lee Si-woo to spare him.
The Gray Fox's voice trembled, like someone who'd been trapped in a dark cellar and suddenly saw a sliver of light through a crack in the window.
“I, I... have something to do. W-We, the Fox Tribe and the Beastkin...”
Lee Si-woo stomped his foot hard.
The intimidating gesture made the Gray Fox shut his mouth involuntarily. As he stared with teary eyes, Lee Si-woo said firmly.
“Let's cut the pathetic sob story. I asked how useful you could be to me, not how pitiful you are.”
Finally realizing what Lee Si-woo wanted, the Gray Fox took another breath and began to speak.
“...As a member of the Fox Tribe, I'm quick-witted and versatile. Also, from my long career as an agent in Granada, I have considerable connections...”
“Assets? Do you have much?”
“I spent it all on magical artifacts...”
After that, the Gray Fox continued trying his best to appeal, explaining his Talents and the benefits of keeping him around.
But Lee Si-woo just kept smiling brightly, not looking like he was listening seriously at all.
Finally sensing something was wrong, the Gray Fox said.
“You... you have no intention of letting me live.”
“Isn't it amusing? The sight of a man who tried to act all dignified and go out with a semblance of grace, now desperately trying to prove his market value to beg for his life?”
“Y-You damn son of a bitch! Is life a game to you? How could you play with someone's life like this...”
Lee Si-woo slammed his fist into the Gray Fox's snout.
Shattered teeth clattered to the floor along with a spray of blood.
As if he had never been smiling, Lee Si-woo spoke in an icy tone.
“Anyone hearing you would think you were some great man who deeply cherished the lives of others. Well now. Seeing how you treated the porters, I don't think you and I are all that different.”
His mouth mangled by Lee Si-woo's fist, the Gray Fox's body trembled, the whites of his eyes showing.
“Krrrk, gack...”
“That's right. I never had any intention of sparing you from the start. I just couldn't stand the sight of you. The way you ignored those who begged and clung to your legs to live, only to act all high and mighty at the end.”
Lee Si-woo smashed his fist into the Gray Fox's face, again and again.
As the Gray Fox's face slowly lost its shape, Lee Si-woo whispered in his ear.
“Why? Why don't you beg me to save you some more? You never know. I might change my mind again. Ah, but I suppose you can't in that state. What a shame.”
Lee Si-woo mercilessly snapped the Gray Fox's neck with his grip.
*Crack.*
“It suited you.”
Lee Si-woo wiped his fist, covered in blood and saliva, on the Gray Fox's clothes and stood up.
Looking down at the Gray Fox's ruined corpse, Lee Si-woo took a deep breath, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
In truth, he wasn't sure himself.
Whether he had killed the Gray Fox so brutally out of pity for the porters who died in vain.
Or whether he was just venting his anger because he was disgusted by the fact that such a pathetic excuse for a man had dared to pull tricks on him.
Then again, what did it matter now?
It was all over.
*Step, step.*
Lee Si-woo headed for the orc's sleeping area in the corner of the warehouse.
After pushing aside a few prey animals that the orc seemed to have caught and some empty liquor bottles, an iron handle revealed a cellar.
He pulled the handle, and after descending the stairs that appeared, he found Aman's private laboratory.
“Okay, this is it.”
The lab wasn't large, but it was practical.
First, Lee Si-woo gathered the various research materials scattered around.
He figured they would be worth at least a billion points after a proper appraisal.
On one side of the lab desk was a luxurious leather box.
When Lee Si-woo opened the box, a worn spellbook emerged with a puff of acrid dust.
Lee Si-woo confirmed the word 'Homage' written on the cover of the spellbook before putting it in his inventory ring.
‘Let's see... is there anything else useful?’
After rummaging around for about ten minutes, Lee Si-woo found a cash card and a diary with the PIN written inside a desk drawer and grinned.
He felt as good as if he'd found a thick wallet dropped in a secluded place.
After grabbing every expensive-looking thing in sight, Lee Si-woo left the lab.
From Baba's Mabo and artifacts to the two mages' inventory rings.
And now, Aman's spoils.
All in all, it had been a profitable expedition.
* * *
The city of Granada.
In a corner of that place, where all sorts of races in a variety of clothes bustled about.
A white-haired old mage in a luxurious fur robe held a necklace in his hand and swung it.
The necklace, which had been spinning in the old mage's hand, suddenly stopped and pointed somewhere, as if held by an invisible hand.
The old mage lifted his head toward where the necklace's gem was pointing.
The large letters written on the side of a building over thirty stories tall came into view.
‘Wasp? The cheeky little bastard. I don't know what trick he pulled, but he became a mercenary. No wonder I couldn't find him for so long.’
The old mage strode into the Wasp building without hesitation.
The receptionist at the entrance greeted the old mage.
“Welcome, I'm Mary, the Wasp receptionist. May I ask the purpose of your visit?”
The old mage, looking annoyed, took out his ID and tossed it at the receptionist.
After checking the ID, Mary the receptionist jumped in surprise and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“S-Sir Harman! It's an honor to meet you!”
“Enough with the pleasantries. There's a team leader who manages the mercenaries, right? Tell him I want to see him. Within ten minutes.”
Hearing "within ten minutes," Mary's face turned pale.
“Sir Harman, meeting the team leader isn't difficult, but asking to see him within ten minutes is impossible...”
“Fine, I'll give you twenty minutes. And relay my message as well. If he's even one minute late, I'll make sure he learns exactly what happens when a 4th Circle Master decides to make a scene.”
Without even having the chance to reply, Mary immediately picked up her smartphone.
She sincerely did not want to find out what kind of scene that reckless man would cause.
* * *
After returning to Granada, Lee Si-woo first went to the unmanned motel from before, prior to meeting Jin.
He planned to connect to Barathrum, complete the facility upgrades, sort out the spoils from this expedition, and then set his 3-star Talent.
But Lee Si-woo's good mood vanished like a heat haze the moment he entered the room.
*Ding.*
[A Death-Ground Fortune has arrived. Would you like to read it?]
Lee Si-woo knew instinctively.
Harman was hot on his heels.