Different from the Upper District Scum
The word upper district scum carried all sorts of meanings in the Hood. It could be a mocking jab at the pampered, soft-handed ways of those from Sentinel. Or it could be the sticky, self-deprecating mix of jealousy and inferiority complex unique to Hood natives. Sometimes it was even said with pure, unfiltered awe. No matter which emotion a Hood resident felt when looking at someone from above, it all boiled down to one simple truth: those people are different from us.
“Do people in the Hood always exchange opinions in such barbaric ways right before an important deal? If you keep showing such disappointing behavior, I’ll have no choice but to agree with my father’s assessment.”
A girl stepped into a situation where bullets and blades could start flying at any second, speaking with perfect composure. Her elegant imperial speech sounded like something straight out of a propaganda radio broadcast. Facing her, I felt like I was staring at a creature from an entirely different world.
Her glossy, deep magenta hair and milk-white skin were nothing like the pale, sunlight-starved complexions of Hood folk. Her features were delicately arranged in a way that made her look charmingly cute, and her body showed healthy, distinctly feminine curves. She looked only a year or two older than my sister Sarah, yet the difference between them was night and day. If Sarah was a malnourished child from a documentary, this girl looked like a princess from some fairy tale. They were both girls around the same age. Was the simple fact of where they lived enough to create such a massive gap?
“Hah.”
A strange, hollow feeling drained the strength from me. Without a word, I lowered my gun. The girl raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised.
“This gentleman here seems to possess at least some degree of intellect. When conversation fails, one might as well be dealing with a beast.”
I didn’t bother replying. Her tone was just as infuriating as Edge’s, the kind that made you want to put a hole in her skull. Looking at her expression, it was clear she wasn’t disappointed that a fight had been avoided—she was disappointed she wouldn’t get to watch beasts tear each other apart. The way she acted all holier-than-thou was exactly what you’d expect from upper district scum.
Edge, unable to stand the girl’s arrogant rambling any longer, slid her sunglasses down and openly displayed her displeasure.
“Upper district princess. Didn’t your fancy parents teach you not to butt into adult conversations?”
“Well. It seems your level is far too low to comment on the Eastwood family’s upbringing.”
Even while facing Edge’s rage head-on—rage that could shake half the Hood—the girl didn’t so much as twitch. On the other hand, Edge, who should have been controlling the situation, had her authority stolen by this third party who barged in. Her face twisted into a deep scowl.
“Hah, fuck. This is why I hate upper district scum.”
But all she could do was scowl and mutter curses. That was it. Edge, who ruled the Hood like a queen, had just been treated like an annoying neighborhood auntie. The girl had only revealed her presence and spoken a few words, yet she’d wrapped up the whole mess in an instant. She turned gracefully, then pinched the hem of her skirt with both hands and gave me a polite bow.
“Now that I think about it, this is our first meeting, sir. I am Katarina, eldest daughter of the Eastwood family.”
Katarina bowed to me, but I knew it wasn’t out of any real respect. Unlike Hood culture, where strangers immediately bared their teeth and claws to test each other, this was simply basic Sentinel etiquette. It had nothing to do with the other person’s status. They just did it because that’s how things were done. In the Hood, face was everything. In Sentinel, dignity and manners were pride itself. And among those who valued dignity and manners so highly that they even used polite speech with worthless dogs—
They were called nobles.
Katarina Eastwood was a noble.
The moment I heard her name, the palace of memories in my head opened on its own. Information flooded in, including the fact that she was a captureable heroine. But I ignored everything except the few details that might be useful right now. My situation was far too desperate to get excited about meeting a heroine from the original story I never thought I’d encounter in my lifetime.
The noblewoman before me, Katarina Eastwood, might be the key to my success. That single fact was all that mattered.
I looked her straight in the eyes and spoke.
“Name’s Cain. Are you the client for this job?”
“To be precise, it’s not me but my family. Still, for the sake of this question, you may consider the answer to be yes.”
Fuck. It’s either yes or no. What the hell does “you may consider it yes” even mean? I was used to Hood-style communication—straight talk or straight punches—so her roundabout way of speaking grated on my nerves. But I held it in. This was probably normal up there. And honestly, she hadn’t even been that indirect.
“I heard the client disliked working through gangs. The fact that you came all the way down here yourself suggests a change of heart?”
“Preference is nothing more than preference. For the sake of better efficiency, a course of action can be adjusted at any time. In my personal judgment, it is better to meet the person I’ll be entrusting with the task and decide for myself.”
I swallowed the urge to break out in hives and continued the probing conversation that didn’t suit my tastes at all.
“You said it was a family matter. Is it appropriate for personal judgment to interfere?”
“That is not for you to judge, sir.”
At least enduring it had been worth something. From just a few exchanges, I’d roughly figured out what was going on. This was clearly Katarina acting on her own, sticking her spoon into a family operation. Her goal was probably expanding her influence within the family or securing some personal gain. According to the original setting, Katarina had a very ambitious personality and never missed an opportunity that could bring her major benefits. Thanks to my knowledge of the original story, I now had solid grounds for what would have otherwise been a shaky guess.
“Right. I overstepped.”
“My, how surprising. To receive an apology from a gentleman of the Hood. You seem far more cultured than you appear.”
This fucking bitch. She was seriously looking at me like I was some kind of trained monkey. The more we spoke, the more nauseating it felt, but I didn’t let my displeasure show. I had to endure. If I couldn’t swallow even this much humiliation, I’d never make it up there. There was too much at stake to just say “fuck it” and walk away.
Katarina looked me up and down with the same intrigued eyes one might use to observe a talking monkey. Then she turned again, addressing the Blade thugs who were still standing there stupidly while watching Edge, who was still radiating open displeasure.
“Well then, since it seems we’ve finished all the necessary conversation, allow me to brief you on the details of this business.”
Despite my terrible first impression of her, her clear, pleasant voice and refined, precise wording made the information sink in perfectly. Even the meatheads staring at her with blank faces kept nodding and going “ooh,” so I figured she’d make a damn good teacher.
After carefully committing all the job details to memory, the meeting seemed to be winding down. That’s when Edge spoke up in a rather menacing tone, stopping me.
“Hey, you cocky brat. Got a minute?”
Even though Katarina had openly ignored her, Edge was still the boss of a major gang. She might have started the provocation, but there was no way she’d let me pointing a gun at her slide. Plus, she’d just lost face in front of her subordinates, so she probably wanted to salvage some pride. Since we had an important job coming up, she wouldn’t try to spill blood unnecessarily, but she wasn’t going to let it end peacefully either.
“What?”
I replied while reaching toward my waist, ready to throw down if necessary.
“You’ve got a real high head on your shoulders. Boys, put him on his knees.”
“Yes, Boss!”
Edge made the first move, clearly intending to mess me up first and talk later. Of course, I had no intention of taking it quietly. Once you get treated like trash, that’s the end of it. No matter who the opponent was, you had to bite back like a rabid dog with everything you had so they wouldn’t dare disrespect you again.
—BANG!
Thinking that, I pulled out the metal rod and put a bullet in the shoulder of the first guy charging at me.
“Agh, fuck!”
I smashed the handle into the temple of the staggering, shoulder-shot bastard to knock him out, then planted a solid middle kick into the gut of the guy hesitating beside him, sending him flying.
“You son of a bitch!”
I dodged the next guy’s obvious, rage-fueled punch with a slight tilt of my head.
“The hell?!”
I slammed my fist into the jaw of the idiot who was making a dumb face in the middle of a fight and dropped him.
When three guys went down in the blink of an eye, the rest of the gang members froze, hesitating to charge. As I stood facing them—
“B-Bro…”
“Hey. What the fuck is that guy? Wasn’t he just some trash picker? How’s he fighting like that?”
During the brief standoff, I slipped my hand inside my trench coat and pulled out a proper revolver instead of the now-useless metal rod. It was a stunning silver revolver with a beautiful finish. The rumor that Mathias was a blacksmith respected even outside the Hood clearly wasn’t bullshit. The crazy old man had built a revolver from blueprints alone in just three days. I had no idea how he’d done it by hand, but it was a damn good thing for me.
—Click!
Whirr.
“F-Fuck…”
At the sound of the cylinder turning, the guy in front took a step back, unable to hold his ground any longer.
—Shing!
Finally, Edge drew her dual blades and stepped forward herself.
“Not bad. Seems you’ve got enough spine to keep your head up. I’ll carve two nice cuts into that disgusting face that reminds me of that bitch.”
“Fuck off.”
She said she’d carve my face, so I aimed to put a hole in her instead and pulled the trigger.
—Bang!
“Hah!”
She really hadn’t taken the boss seat for nothing. Edge read my hand movement right before I fired and crossed her blades to block. But—
—Ting!
I thought the bullet had been stopped when I heard the sound, and was about to fire again when I saw it wasn’t Edge’s blades that had blocked it. A translucent barrier had cracked with a loud snap and was scattering. I immediately lowered my gun.
“One moment. I still have something to discuss with that gentleman.”
It was Katarina again. Did this girl have a hobby of interrupting fights?
* * *
“Haa… All of you, just get the hell out.”
By then, Edge must have decided she’d saved enough face, or maybe she just didn’t want to get tangled up with Katarina any further. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and kicked us out.
As we walked down the alley in that awkward atmosphere, Katarina followed exactly three steps behind me. I wasn’t sure if that was part of her damn etiquette too. From behind me, her uniquely irritating way of speaking rang out in a clear, bell-like voice.
“The mood seemed quite tense, but I didn’t expect you to start fighting so soon. Is this the usual way things are done in the Hood?”
“If you can read the room, why the hell do you act like that?”
“I simply intervened as the client because it seemed the fight would become too excessive right before an important job. Was there some problem with my actions?”
“No… Forget it. So what do you want?”
—Vrrr!
Since we weren’t exactly on small-talk terms, I asked for her business right away. In response, a translucent barrier unfolded instead of words. Was it to block out prying eyes? It was my first time seeing magic this close, so I found myself secretly impressed. Katarina took something out from her bosom and spoke in a low voice.
“Actually, the business I explained earlier was a kind of smokescreen. The real task is something else.”
“What?”
In Katarina’s hand was a small jewelry box.
“Cain, all you need to do is deliver this to the location I specify.”
Just hearing it sent a bad feeling crawling up my spine. My instincts, honed from surviving in the Hood all this time, were sounding every alarm bell they had. It looked like I’d gotten myself dragged into something far more dangerous than I’d thought.