Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Translator: Penny
Chapter 35
The Underbelly of the World, Part 2
Returning to the Night Alley, Josef frantically began packing his meager belongings.
His possessions were few: a handful of Imperial silver coins, some Kingdom gold coins, secret documents detailing past missions like brewing recipes, and a few hidden swords.
Fuck! If I stay here, I'm as good as dead!
Those absurd bastards had told him to run the Night Alley with Jacob.
When he agreed, they released him without hesitation.
But Josef planned to pack his bags and flee the fief before the Count's House Demons descended.
The "Six Fingers" and other assassins he'd worked with were ordinary humans, even if their natures were demonic and their motives predictable.
Having lived a life of mediocrity himself, Josef found it easy enough to blend in with the others.
But Agron and his gang were different.
They were demons incarnate.
In a single night, they had annihilated the Kingdom's most notorious assassination organization.
What's more, there didn't appear to be a single casualty, not even an injury.
They captured the leader? That monster?!
Rumor had it that Agron had even defeated the Priest, leader of the Six Fingers, in a one-on-one duel.
The Priest was the most formidable assassin Josef had ever encountered, unmatched by any other.
A monster capable of slaughtering an entire noble house by dawn or burning a small village to the ground without hesitation.
"Fuck, this is insane...!"
Yet, deep within the mansion's dungeon, Josef had witnessed it himself.
Through the flickering torchlight, he had glimpsed the Priest's horrifying state—limp and grotesque, like a slaughtered pig.
I'm done with this godforsaken city! I'm leaving, right now!
After packing his belongings, he glanced around the Night Alley one last time.
He desperately wanted to set the place ablaze, erasing all traces of his existence, but he feared the knights would notice the fire and come after him, so he decided to leave quietly.
Pulling his hood low, Josef stepped out of the shop.
"Ah..."
He froze in his tracks, barely two steps out the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Yeah, where are you off to?"
It was Saiki and Temurin.
"You... you're alive?!" Josef asked, his voice a mix of relief and fear.
With the Priest captured, it made no sense for them to be wandering around unharmed.
"I survived. Temurin, this crazy bitch is dead," Saiki spat.
"Saiki's mouth is filthy. The Master resurrected me," Temurin replied.
"Resurrected...? Master...? What are you talking about? Did the Priest bring you back?" Josef stammered.
Their complexions were unnaturally pale, while their eyes and lips were strikingly red, creating an otherworldly appearance.
"The Master is the Master. And above the Master is the Grand Master," Temurin said.
"What...?"
"Uncle Jacob told us to keep an eye on you, and he was right."
Saiki moved swiftly, snatching the bag from Josef's shoulder.
"He said you'd definitely try to run off with some important ledgers or something."
"W-wait! Why aren't you guys running away?! They killed all of Six Fingers' comrades!" Josef shouted desperately.
But Saiki and Temurin tilted their heads, as if they didn't understand what he meant.
"Our comrades are the people of the Count's House. Temurin, this weirdo, and me."
"Yeah, my comrades are the Master, the Grand Master, Uncle Jacob, Grandfather Baek Woon... and... that dumb little brat."
"You've been brainwashed."
Josef drew a dagger from his coat.
"Get out of my way! If you don't move, I'll—"
"Where do you think you're going, business partner?"
A shadow in the alley stirred, and Jacob emerged.
"You wouldn't be trying to run away after all the favors we've shown you, would you?"
"Ha, ha ha... N-no, that's not it at all... I was just happy to see my colleague..."
"I see. But you shouldn't point a dagger at your colleague."
Jacob moved with lightning speed, snatching the dagger from Josef's hand.
Then, as if snapping a cookie, he broke the blade into pieces, tossing them to the ground one by one.
Watching this, Josef recoiled in terror, stumbling back into the shop.
"Josef."
"Y-yes, sir!"
"The Count ordered me to let you live one last time, so you can run the shop with him."
"...Yes, sir."
"You saw what happened to your comrades in the dungeon, didn't you?"
Josef nodded slightly.
"That was my work. Do you understand what that means?"
Nod.
"Now, you have no more chances left."
Jacob pressed the dagger, now only a hilt, into Josef's hand.
A cold sweat drenched Josef's back.
"Ah, I didn't come here to talk about this. Have you lived in this neighborhood long?"
"Yes, I'm a native..."
"I see. Then you must know the area well?"
"Yes, I'm quite familiar with it..."
Jacob smiled contentedly, leaving Saiki and Temurin in the shop and taking only Josef with him.
After walking about a block, they found Agron and Wolf waiting for them in plain clothes.
"I've brought him."
"Hmm, good work. Josef, how well do you know this city?"
"...I know it fairly well."
"Wolf here knows the city well, I hear."
Josef glanced sideways at Wolf, a phantom pain throbbing in his jaw from the blow he'd taken days earlier.
"But why me...?"
"We plan to build an orphanage in this city. But first, we need to understand the city's true condition."
"Couldn't you just have your vassals investigate and report back...?"
"I want to see reality, not just words on paper."
If Agron commanded it, the majordomo or secretary would conduct a thorough investigation. But a single line in a report—"poverty"—could never capture the daily struggles of someone living in actual poverty. Documents were mere shadows, empty shells.
Agron wanted to walk the streets himself, to witness their reality firsthand with his own eyes.
"Guide me. Show me the city you know."
Kotaru, the central city of Veilain, wasn't as grand or developed as Cacciola, but it wasn't a backward rural town either.
The roads were well-maintained for carriages, the shops lining the main streets were clean and orderly, and the people's faces radiated a comfortable ease.
Agron and his group headed toward the shadows of Kotaru.
As they moved away from the central plaza and toward the outskirts, the alleys twisted like the entrails of a beast.
But there was a deeper problem.
"Filthy," Agron remarked.
"This is their daily life here," Josef replied, his voice low with shame.
Even in broad daylight, people lay sleeping in the alleys, or collapsed in drunken stupors, completely unconscious. Their vomit and the excrement of dogs and cats were mixed together in a horrifying spectacle.
"Why are they like this in the middle of the day?"
"They're non-citizens. Their home is the streets. There are many sick people, beggars, wandering musicians... gravediggers, prostitutes, and the like."
"I see. Are there many sick people and beggars?"
"Not so much in the bustling districts, but they're common in these back alleys."
Josef glanced sideways at Agron, who was following behind.
He couldn't fathom what the Lord Count was thinking.
An orphanage? What's he planning to do with a place like that? Is he trying to create a tax haven or something?
Lords typically preferred building new mansions, churches, or universities—not orphanages or pharmacies. Such institutions neither enhanced their reputation nor generated profit, so they simply ignored them.
Beggars and the sick?
They probably wouldn't even want to look at them.
Among the stories Josef had heard was one about a nobleman who had all the beggars who approached his carriage for alms beheaded on the spot.
The reason, it was said, was because they had dirtied his carriage.
But why would such a fastidious nobleman personally venture into a back alley filled with filth and urine, where an old prostitute exposed her sagging breasts?
Josef wanted to ask, but the menacing figures of Jacob and Wolf following closely behind kept his mouth shut.
Whatever Agron's purpose, it was likely just a brief indulgence from someone who had recently inherited the Countship.
After a few banquets and mingling with the nobility, he'll completely forget about the orphanage and all that nonsense.
They had now entered a district where the buildings were barely recognizable as such.
Roofs had collapsed, walls had crumbled, leaving the interiors exposed to the elements.
If these could even be called buildings at all.
Just moments ago, the area had been teeming with vagrants, prostitutes, and the sick. But from this point onward, the presence of children became increasingly noticeable.
"Do they have separate territories?"
"Not officially, but... it's generally understood that way. People occasionally pass through that area to buy prostitutes or seek out back-alley doctors, making it easier to beg."
"Can't children beg too?"
"That's precisely why the other beggars drive them away. They're afraid the children will cut into their share."
The older beggars were cunning enough to form alliances. But the children, lacking such understanding, could only be chased away by stronger beggars.
"This place... is a wasteland of trash."
The uneven terrain was littered with unrecognizable debris, surrounding makeshift shelters like hovels and tents that barely qualified as homes.
"That's right. People from 'The Inside' are dumping their trash 'Outside'."
"Isn't there a proper waste disposal facility?"
"There's probably one on the outskirts... but it's expensive, so everyone just dumps their trash here. It's free."
"Hmm."
While Agron looked around, observing their surroundings, Wolf dragged Josef down another alley.
"W-what? Why?"
"Someone's following us."
Wolf's eyes gleamed as he pointed deeper into the alley.
There, a dozen or so people, each clutching a weapon, were secretly tailing Agron.
Seeing this, Wolf drew the Bastard Sword from his hip.
"Wait, hold on. I recognize some of them."
Josef stopped Wolf to prevent unnecessary bloodshed and approached the group.
Looking closer, Josef realized they weren't a gang of seasoned vagrants but a group of kids whose baby fuzz hadn't even worn off yet.
"Hey! What's all the commotion?!"
"Oh, Josef hyung?!"
"Are you guys out of your minds? What are you doing here?! Get lost before I lose my temper!"
Josef was a native of Kotaru's underbelly.
Known for his fiery temper since childhood, he was a well-known figure in Kotaru's back alleys—a man no one could claim not to know.
It was no accident he'd become a broker in the Night Alley.
"But hyung, look at that big bastard! He looks like a dumbass, but he's wearing fancy jewelry and expensive clothes."
"Hyung, didn't you bring us here on purpose to target him? If there's something good, we should share it! Don't hog it all for yourself!"
Their eyes rolled wildly as they shouted at Josef, their voices accusatory.
Though Josef was famous, his legendary exploits had occurred over a decade ago. Most people recognized his face but knew nothing of his true skill.
"Ha."
Josef was incredulous. He remembered a time when he had been just like them—fearlessly confronting mercenaries in back alleys and nearly dying when he ambushed a knight with a prostitute. He had survived those close calls, grown stronger, and risen to his current position.
The fools before him were no different. They were at the stage where a firm hand was needed, just as he had once been.
"Have you motherfuckers been huffing rat poison as a group? Hey! I'm Josef! How dare you raise your voices at me?!"
"Josef or whatever the fuck—we're gonna eat together, you little shit!"
One of them swung his weapon at Josef.
Josef kicked the man in the stomach, disarmed him, and slammed the weapon into his opponent's head.
He intended to thoroughly rehabilitate these thugs right here and now.
"You spineless bastards! You're all dead! Come at me!"
His furious shout caused a brief commotion in the group, and they split into two factions.
"Hey! Let's split up! We'll take on Josef, and the rest of you go after that big bastard!"
"Wait! Don't go that way! Come at me instead, you bastards!"
Josef gestured frantically, his voice rising in panic.
If you go that way, you're all dead, you bastards!
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny