Chapter 43
Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Rat’s Ploy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After letting the rat beastkin mage, Dimdim, into his lodging, Lee Si-woo took a bottle of water from his backpack and tossed it over.
“Oh, thanks.”
Catching the water with a sly smile, Dimdim had a surprisingly intense look for a rat beastkin.
One of his eyes was covered with a black eyepatch, likely blind, and numerous scars were visible through his shaggy brown fur.
The air of a battle-hardened mercenary.
He had a hunch.
His intuition told him that this small rat beastkin, who barely came up to his waist, was no pushover.
Lee Si-woo asked.
“Have you eaten?”
“Nope. You?”
“I need to. In that case, I’d like you to treat me to breakfast. How about it?”
At Lee Si-woo’s shameless request, Dimdim shrugged and replied.
“I didn’t know it was the trend these days to treat guests so poorly.”
“Shouldn’t I figure out if you’re a guest or a pest before I decide how to treat you?”
“Is that so? Well, can’t be helped then. Like a good and wise guest, I’ll treat you to this meal.”
Dimdim took a lunchbox from his bag and handed it to Lee Si-woo.
He thought it might be an item, but seeing the worn leather bag, it seemed Dimdim had just picked up a random bag in the city.
Having given his own breakfast to Si-woo, Dimdim chugged the water while Si-woo watched him with a sidelong glance.
Lee Si-woo opened the lunchbox and offered a piece of meat to Dimdim.
“Have a bite. I need to check if it’s poisoned.”
“Oh, so thorough. Hey, from this day forward, I officially appoint you an honorary rat beastkin. So timid and suspicious, you’re just like one of us rat pups.”
Dimdim popped the meat into his mouth without hesitation and chewed.
After watching Dimdim’s throat bob as he swallowed, Lee Si-woo spoke as if still unsatisfied.
“Sorry, but would you mind if I checked inside your mouth?”
At Lee Si-woo's blatant distrust, Dimdim clicked his tongue.
“…The more I see, the more I covet your talent.”
Only after carefully inspecting the inside of Dimdim’s mouth did Lee Si-woo begin to eat.
A moment later, having devoured the lunchbox in the blink of an eye, Lee Si-woo rinsed his mouth with water and spoke.
“You said you decided to side with me, so why did you write a note? Are you perhaps wary of the VIP?”
Dimdim grinned at the question, which implied that if he had nothing to hide, he would have just said it out loud.
“The eyes and ears of the wind spirits are everywhere. You have to be careful about what needs to be. In my experience, even if you’re going to refuse a VIP’s offer, making them uncomfortable never ends well.”
“You weren’t leaving your options open?”
“Isn’t it natural to leave your options open? This alliance hasn’t been formed yet, after all.”
Deciding that bringing it up now would do neither of them any good, Lee Si-woo changed the subject.
“Fine. Then what do I gain from allying with you?”
Leaning against the wall and tapping the floor with the tip of his foot, Dimdim spoke.
“You need food, don’t you?”
“Perhaps. I have a few lunchboxes myself.”
“With that monstrous physical ability of yours, a few won’t be nearly enough.”
Lee Si-woo gave a bitter smile.
Seeing how every Tom, Dick, and Harry knew about his abilities, it seemed his rampage yesterday had been the problem.
But it couldn’t be helped.
It was necessary, considering the benefits given based on the ‘Kill Score’ ranking on day three.
Lee Si-woo crossed his arms and nodded.
“That’s true.”
At Lee Si-woo’s surprisingly easy agreement, Dimdim’s single eye curved into a fan shape.
“I wonder if you know about a talent among us rat beastkin called Food Trace.”
Since ancient times, rats had been a species uncannily good at finding food, and their evolutionary descendants, the rat beastkin, naturally possessed a similar ability.
It was Food Trace, a talent to track nearby food by scent.
Of course, in an age overflowing with food, it was usually a useless talent, but things were different now.
In a survival situation, the most important resource, no matter what anyone said, was food.
“The fact that you and I are having this conversation probably means I’m aware of it.”
A commanding nuance subtly revealed in his flat tone.
As if to say that if he didn't have a useful ability, they wouldn't even be talking, Dimdim's face stiffened slightly at Lee Si-woo’s words.
“This is making me nervous… Tsk, hey, can’t you go a little easier on me? You don’t have to be so harsh for me to know my place.”
Dimdim tried to play it off with a cheerful front, but Lee Si-woo, showing no interest in pointless chatter, continued with the main topic.
“The idea of you using your talent to report the location of food to me is certainly appealing. Good. Then what you want is to enter the Top 10?”
Dimdim was flustered by Lee Si-woo’s conversational style, which seized control and steered the discussion one-sidedly, but since he was the one in need, he had no choice but to be led along.
“That’s right. My condition is that you don’t kill me and we stick together until the Top 10 is decided.”
“I accept. Where is the food, and how much is there?”
“It’s in an officetel just two kilometers away, so it’s not far. And there’s enough food to satisfy all of us. The room there is a suite assigned only to some of the aces.”
“A suite… Hmm, what happened to the owner of that room?”
“Maybe because it’s an environment that’s easy to get surrounded in, they left. But don’t worry. That ace didn’t have a backpack like you, so they left behind a considerable amount of food.”
Lee Si-woo’s pupils shifted slightly as he listened silently to Dimdim. His unreadable black eyes stared intently at Dimdim’s nonchalant face.
Just as Dimdim, burdened by that gaze that subtly frayed one’s nerves, was about to say something, Lee Si-woo smiled brightly.
It was a smile so warm it could melt the frostiest weather.
“Excellent. Let’s go.”
* * *
On the way to the officetel with the suite, Dimdim’s mouth never stopped.
As if he had been contemplating how to win Lee Si-woo’s sympathy, he rattled off a long list of grievances.
“We rat beastkin may be small and physically weaker than other beastkin, but as a prolific race, our numbers are considerable, and we’re clever, so we’ve managed to live reasonably well. That is, until that damned genetic disease started spreading.”
“A genetic disease?”
“It’s a genetic disease that affects rodents and rat beastkin. You’ve probably heard the name before. It’s called hemophilia, a disease where blood doesn’t clot, so you can’t stop bleeding. It’s pretty famous.”
Lee Si-woo nodded his head.
“Hemophilia… Yes, I’ve heard of it.”
“Right, you’ve heard of it. But you probably don’t know how terrifying it is. One day, you get a nosebleed. But it doesn’t stop. Ever, no matter what you do. Have you ever imagined… what it feels like to slowly die like that?”
At first, Lee Si-woo had been wary of Dimdim, but faced with such a pitiful story, a sense of compassion raised its head. He let out a faint sigh and said.
“I haven’t, but… it sounds horrible.”
“Your body and mind are perfectly fine, your family is by your side. You can even talk to them… and you just die like that. You leave this world smiling, crying. If this isn’t a living separation, what is? But what’s even worse is the reality that this hemophilia is a next-generation genetic disease, affecting ninety percent of our children.”
Seeing the shadow on Dimdim’s face, Lee Si-woo lightly patted his shoulder in encouragement.
His attitude had done a complete 180, as if he had never distrusted or treated Dimdim coldly.
“Is there… no cure?”
As Lee Si-woo’s reaction grew warmer, Dimdim relentlessly appealed to his own misfortune.
“Have you ever heard this saying? There are no incurable diseases in the Main Dimension. Except for poverty.”
“The cure is expensive.”
“Quick on the uptake, aren’t you? Exactly. One dose costs over 300 million points.”
“300 million points…? My god, didn’t you just say ninety percent of your children get hemophilia?”
Dimdim squeezed his eye shut and said.
“That’s right. That’s why most of our children die before they even leave infancy. No matter how healthy they are, what child doesn’t get a single nosebleed in their life? Dammit, our race… is slowly going extinct.”
“Is that why you came to the selection? To enter a Magic Tower and earn more money?”
“You could say that.”
“To risk your life for your race, even so… that’s not an easy thing to do. You’re quite remarkable, Dimdim.”
“Remarkable? I was just pushed into it by my family and my race… Tsk, did you know? We were actually making good progress with a broker who smuggles the cure. We were supposed to give him a large sum of money and receive the cure for 100 million.”
“The cure for 100 million? That’s still expensive, but… it would be a much smaller burden.”
“Right. But my tiger beastkin friend, who was negotiating with the broker and had brought the deal to the brink of success, and the rat beastkin mercenary team haven’t been heard from since they went to secure the large sum of money for the broker. Thanks to that, the whole thing fell apart. Well, they’re not the type to betray us… they probably died a lonely death somewhere. That’s the common end for third-rate agents and mercenaries.”
Listening to Dimdim, Lee Si-woo realized that the tiger beastkin agent who had disappeared while moving with the rat beastkin mercenary team he mentioned was Gray Fox.
He suddenly recalled the words of a dying rat beastkin mercenary.
—Sir Lee Si-woo, what right do we have to ask you to save us? But… Sir Gray Fox. Please, show mercy to her alone. The truth is, Sir Gray Fox had a reason why she had to do this…
However, even after learning the full story, there was no change in Lee Si-woo’s expression.
He patted Dimdim’s back with a gentle voice.
“Don’t worry. I will help you. Then you can enter the Top 10 and help your race, can’t you?”
As if moved, Dimdim tightly gripped Lee Si-woo’s hands and bowed his head.
“If you would do that, I would be so grateful.”
Clasping Dimdim’s hands, Lee Si-woo pointed to the 10-story officetel in front of them and said.
“Ah, but more importantly, is that the officetel you mentioned?”
“That’s right, that’s the place. We’re already here? Let’s go.”
Dimdim, about to head towards the officetel, flinched and froze.
Lee Si-woo’s hand had clamped onto his forearm like a snare and wouldn't let go.
Why?
A thought suddenly struck him.
Perhaps because of the human mage’s unguarded demeanor, he had allowed him to get too close, too carelessly.
Forcibly ignoring the ominous feeling that sent a chill down his spine, Dimdim asked.
“Why? Do you have something to say to me?”
Lee Si-woo smiled brightly and said.
“Yes, I do, Dimdim. Let’s say an ace was assigned a suite. And since an ace would have been briefed on the basics of the selection by the VIP, let’s also assume they knew food would be scarce.”
Lee Si-woo’s skin slowly began to transform, taking on a golden hue.
“So, would that person leave food behind in the suite just because they didn’t have a backpack? Or would they make a scene so no one else could have it? No. They could have hidden it somewhere else. Well, it doesn’t matter what they did. In any case, it’s unlikely they would have just left it there untouched.”
“…There seems to be a misunderstanding. That’s purely your hypothesis, your conjecture. I really just told you what I saw and heard. Besides, why would I lie to you? All I have to do is quietly ride your coattails and reap the benefits.”
Even as he said that, Dimdim deployed his mana shield at full power.
But it was already too late.
Once caught by Lee Si-woo, he was like a deer with its neck caught in a crocodile’s jaws.
*Crack.*
As soon as the mana shield shattered helplessly, the bones in Dimdim’s arms were crushed by Lee Si-woo’s grip.
As Dimdim screamed and fell to his knees, Lee Si-woo swept his legs with a low kick.
With his legs broken like dry twigs, Dimdim pitched forward.
Lee Si-woo spoke softly.
“If what you said is true, I’ll take responsibility and get you into the Top 10. I mean, even with all your limbs shattered, as long as you’re breathing, you can still make it into the Top 10, right? Isn’t that so?”
“Kugh… you son of a bitch… If you were going to do this, you shouldn’t have pretended to trust me! Why did you follow me all the way here just to cause this scene! What grudge do you have against me?!”
Lee Si-woo stomped on the back of the fallen Dimdim’s head with his foot and said.
“If you truly intended to form a proper alliance with me, you wouldn’t have used a note in the first place. But you did. Hmm… I suppose you wanted to please your client by not letting it be known on the broadcast that the VIP had intervened in our affairs. It would be a headache for you if my VIP found out.”
“Damn it! No! D-don’t do this! I told you. I really can’t die. I’m the hope of my race. If I die, the children of my race have no future. Okay, f-fine. Cripple me. Do whatever you want if you don’t trust me. Just please don’t kill me…”
Watching Dimdim, who was now sobbing with his face pressed to the ground, Lee Si-woo leaned down and whispered in his ear.
“Do you think the VIP was unaware of your race’s pitiful situation? No, of course they knew. That’s why they must have made you an offer you couldn’t refuse. Yes. An irresistibly attractive offer.”
Dimdim’s sobs stopped abruptly.
“But why did you lure me to the officetel instead of just attacking me… Ah, a perfect trap where even a rat can catch a tiger. You might have prepared something like that.”
“I admit… my method was too clumsy. But it’s too late for you to act smart now. No matter how great you are, since you foolishly followed me here, you’ll die here in the end.”
No sooner had Dimdim’s frosty voice echoed than nine black shadows burst through the officetel windows.
Nine rat beastkin mages took up positions on the rooftops of nearby buildings, surrounding Lee Si-woo and glaring at him with chilling eyes.
At this point, even if Lee Si-woo wasn’t panicked, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
Even for wandering mages, for ten of them to form an alliance beforehand and enter the selection?
Considering that at best only one or two of them would make it into the Top 10, it was clear the entire rat beastkin race had staked their survival on this, mobilizing all their mages.
‘Nine mages were waiting? Heh, if I’d gone into that officetel without knowing anything, they wouldn’t have even found my bones.’
Honestly, it was a miscalculation.
He had been sure it was a trap and had prepared several plans, but he had never imagined so many mages would be waiting.
‘Nine of them? This… is going to be tough.’
Still, the fortunate thing was that he hadn’t killed Dimdim yet.
According to Harman’s experience, when dealing with a team like this, injuring a team member was more effective than killing them.
Wouldn’t they have to divert some of their forces to care for the injured?
Lee Si-woo tore at Dimdim’s side with his bare hands.
As a chunk of flesh and fur was ripped away, blood began to gush out.
An injury like this would require at least one person to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.
Was even this not enough to satisfy him?
Lee Si-woo’s lips twisted into a smirk as he spoke.
“Dimdim, is your tiger beastkin friend’s name by any chance Gray Fox?”
“…You? You…! H-how do you know that…?!”
One of the most effective ways to deal with an organization is to shatter the leader’s composure.
And for Lee Si-woo, that wasn’t a particularly difficult task.
“Of course, I know. Because the one who killed Gray Fox… was me.”
Dimdim’s expression twisted into a demonic grimace, and a desperate wail erupted from his lips.