Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 002
Chapter Title: The Tiger in the Back Alleys
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Not too far apart, separated by a narrow back alley, they had been competing for a long time. Was that the reason?
"You brought in mercenaries too?"
The limping Thomas seemed to have made every preparation to hunt down the mad dog Sein.
"You think I wouldn't expect it after that kid took over half the back alleys with his fighting skills alone?"
Thomas grinned.
In contrast, Sein's face darkened slightly.
'He's a pro.'
Not just some random mercenary rolling around.
The way he walked.
The way he stood.
The sword at his side.
'I didn't notice him.'
Above all, he hadn't even realized such a man existed until Thomas called him out.
"Hoo?"
The mercenary let out an exclamation of admiration as he looked at Sein.
"Did you read me?"
The mercenary had noticed that Sein was sizing up his skills.
"Your movements and dagger work are impressive enough, but your eyes are sharp too. You're too good to rot in the back alleys."
"Did you come here just to praise me?"
Even as the limping man spoke, the mercenary kept his eyes on Sein and opened his mouth.
"Come with me."
"What?"
"What?"
Thomas and Sein were equally taken aback.
"You fucking—what did you just say?!"
At Thomas's curse.
Crack!
The mercenary clamped his hand over Thomas's mouth.
Snap!
The solid jawbone shattered in an instant.
"Ugh, uuuugh... Uuuuugh!"
Thomas writhed in agony, screaming.
"Wow! From limping to mute now. What should I call you?"
"You've got guts."
The mercenary seemed pleased even with Sein's reaction.
But the mercenary needed to learn something.
No matter how much they were back-alley thugs, they had their own code of loyalty.
"Boss!"
"Kill him!"
The blades aimed at Sein turned toward the mercenary in a flash.
Thomas's remaining underlings.
Slash!
But before they could close in, they were shredded and scattered.
Blood rained down in the moonlit back alley.
"You idiot."
That was all Sein could say.
"You called in a tiger to catch a dog."
Sein's narrowed eyes.
'Knight-level.'
This guy wasn't some ordinary mercenary.
At least a knight.
No, judging by that move just now, he was on par with the captain of an average knight order.
"You saw that too? You're exceeding expectations."
Splat.
The mercenary approached, stepping through the overflowing pools of blood.
"So, will you come?"
It wasn't an invitation—it was a threat.
If he refused, he'd end up like Thomas or his goons.
"I'd love to, but I have my circumstances."
"You're refusing?"
The mercenary tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Unexpected. I thought you valued your life more than anyone."
"That's exactly why."
It was then.
"......!"
The mercenary reached out, sensing something.
Boom!
The explosion bursting right in front of his face caught everyone off guard.
Whoosh!
Smoke billowed out, filling the back alley in an instant.
"Dragon's Breath...?"
Amid the smoke, the mercenary muttered in confusion.
The destructive power, the smoke.
It was Dragon's Breath, one of the lost secret weapons of the empire.
"This..."
His eyes gleamed.
"Gives me even more reason to catch you."
The mercenary began to move.
*
*
*
"Huff! Huff!"
Sein ran and ran.
It was Chichiron's back alleys, now as familiar as his own home.
"Huff!"
He knew better than anyone where and how to escape.
But even he felt cornered.
'Damn it. That crazy limping bastard.'
The mercenary he'd hired to hunt him.
But he was no hunter—he was a tiger.
'Why the hell is a guy like that in these back alleys?'
Chichiron was a small border territory.
The back alleys were nothing special.
"Fuck!"
Even the guards were mediocre.
No.
'Even the lord's knights would struggle against him.'
So he was stuck.
No one could stop that guy, no matter where he fled.
'So close.'
It was infuriating and heartbreaking.
This dogshit life.
He was sure sunshine was just around the corner if he held on a little longer.
"Over there."
Instead of sunshine, he was about to be dragged into pitch darkness.
Along with a voice from afar.
Rumble!
The buildings in the alley Sein was sprinting through began to collapse.
"Crazy!"
That thing was a monster.
With escape blocked by the debris.
All he could do was stop.
"You run like a rat. I cleared the obstacles because you were in the way, and it's quite a sight."
"Haa... Haa..."
The mercenary. Face to face.
"Where'd you get the Dragon's Breath?"
"......"
"Not gonna answer?"
He was certain.
'No escape.'
Grip.
He clutched his dagger.
"Hoo... You even know what Dragon's Breath is. Now I'm even more curious."
"I'll come with you."
Sein spoke.
"Please spare me."
"You said no earlier."
"Not right now. I have to stay in Chichiron for a while. If that's okay, I'll follow you."
Sein's eyes didn't seem to be lying.
But.
"No can do."
Damn it.
That was the reason Sein had refused the mercenary's offer from the start.
A being at least knight-level, no, captain-level, disguised as a mercenary and coming to Chichiron's back alleys.
That meant.
'Fugitive.'
The guy was fleeing from someone.
So even if Sein wanted to, he figured he'd leave this place soon.
"One month—no, one week."
He tried to bargain desperately.
"Too many conditions. Can't cut out your tongue, so I'll start with the limbs."
The mercenary was already right in front of Sein's nose.
His hand reaching for his sword.
"I need to know your secrets."
The moment it touched the hilt, Sein would end up like Thomas's shredded goons.
At best, he'd still be breathing.
Just as the mercenary's hand reached the sword hilt.
Clang!
What burst forth wasn't the sound of Sein being sliced, but sparks.
"Wha—?"
The mercenary's bewildered face.
That was the only chance Sein had waited for.
"Yeah. Aura, you bastard!"
Sein deflected the mercenary's sword and thrust his dagger at the man's neck.
*
*
*
"Really..."
His voice was sincere.
"I can't believe it."
The mercenary stared down ahead with a face that showed utter incomprehension.
"Cough. Hack... Hic..."
Sein lay collapsed before him, gasping roughly.
"Rare movements for back alleys, Dragon's Breath..."
The outcome was already decided.
"And aura too."
The mercenary was genuinely impressed.
"Just who the hell are you?"
Nothing you'd see in this rural territory's back alleys.
Even in a world ruled by darkness, this was a remote countryside untouched by deep shadows.
"Answer me."
"Aaaagh!"
The mercenary ground down on Sein's ankle as he spoke.
"You. Who are you?"
At first curiosity, now more than suspicion.
And growing greed.
"I'll spare your life. You seem useful."
"Fuck, you wanna know?"
Amid the pain, Sein twisted a smile and said.
"Want me to tell you?"
"Cheeky bastard."
Crunch!
Finally, a gruesome sound erupted from Sein's ankle.
"...Cough. Looks like I'm limping now too."
Yet Sein laughed as he spoke, as if he were madness incarnate.
"Losing an arm and a leg shouldn't matter. Can't drag a wild one around when I'm on the run."
Shing.
Under the brilliant moonlight, the mercenary's sword gleamed.
Aimed at wide-open sky-blue eyes.
Swoosh.
Just as the mercenary's sword began to descend slowly.
Clang!
Sparks flew once more.
Had Sein held one last move? But the mercenary's face was different now.
Shock, and fear.
"Witch...! Why are you here?!"
Awe.
Clang clang clang!
His sword still sparking, blocking something.
Sein could clearly see what the sword was blocking.
Something pure white.
It was.
"I came for business, but I didn't expect to find a wanted man."
The leg of an upper undead, Bone Spider.
Clang!
The mercenary batted away the Bone Spider's leg and leaped back, slamming the ground.
The death aura from the Bone Spider infected his chest, turning it black and necrotic.
"Business...?"
"Yeah."
A shadow loomed over Sein.
Jet-black hair like ebony, a woman with beautifully sculpted curves.
"This guy's my business."
"Wha...t?"
Beauty itself.
Her back embodied it.
Yet from that beauty emanated an ominous aura of death.
"You wanted to know what he is?"
"Witch. Just let me go. I'll leave quietly."
"Too late."
Boom!
Bone Spider's leg.
Naturally, there was only one.
Eight in total.
The ones sprouting from the black-haired woman's back riddled the unbeatable mercenary with eight holes.
"No way...!"
The mercenary said with trembling eyes.
"De... "
Facing death, he tried to utter his final words like a last will.
Splash!
The Bone Spider's leg piercing his body didn't stop there—it tore him to shreds.
A scene straight out of the back alleys.
The woman who created it slowly turned her head and said.
"You're Chichiron's mad dog, Sein, right?"
"......"
Sein looked up at her.
Overwhelmed by a death far beyond the mercenary's.
"Tell me. Who are you?"
Sein was smiling.
"Or maybe it's natural you wouldn't know."
Under the brilliant moonlight.
"You may not know, but you carry great blood. Sein."
The two gazed into each other's eyes from different positions.
"Sein Demorus. That is your true identity."