Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Episode 009 (2)
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Deep within the alleyways.
As he turned the corner, the full view of what they called the slums came into sight.
The damp humidity felt even heavier somehow, and cheap wine bottles without proper labels were lined up like decorations along the street.
This was the dark underbelly of Sashanu City, renowned for its fine wine production.
Just as shadows grow darker when the light intensifies, the more a city develops, the deeper the darkness beyond it becomes.
'Ripe figs and vanilla, with the scent of caramelized black sugar. This is... opium processed by drying and hardening, isn't it?'
The atmosphere around him grew even stickier.
Kuhn kept walking.
At the same time, he didn't forget to constantly scan the walls and alley corners with his eyes.
'Looks like this is the right way.'
What Kuhn was checking with his roaming gaze was a kind of signpost—or marker.
It was a guide to the branch of the continent's underworld network known as the Dirty Hand, the so-called information guild.
While the empire and the five great families dominated the continent's surface world, there were separate rulers for the shadows after sunset.
The Dirty Hand was one such organization that controlled the night.
Composed of prostitutes, pickpockets, and gamblers, it lacked the raw military might of other groups but was unmatched in numbers and intelligence-gathering prowess.
Unlike surface organizations confined to fixed territories, it was the largest info network spanning the entire continent—a key factor in its uniqueness.
That was exactly why Kuhn, who had never set foot in the North before, could locate their branch so easily.
'If the North and South had different info networks, tracking them down this way wouldn't have been so straightforward.'
Even if he could have found them, it would have taken far more time than this.
Using the graffiti-like markers scattered around as his guideposts, he wound through the alleys several times.
Kuhn finally stopped in front of a gambling den that looked more than just rundown—it was downright shabby.
【GAMBLE & PUB】
A smell similar to the one he'd caught at the alley's entrance wafted ceaselessly from inside the weathered wooden door.
It wasn't just gambling or booze.
Mixed in was a sweet yet headache-inducing aroma, suggesting they also dealt in narcotics like opium.
Sure enough, with a creak and groan—
As the old hinges gave way and the door swung inward, the thick narcotic haze poured out into the street.
Kuhn wrinkled his nose at the stinging stench for a moment, but that was all.
The mana-heart fueled power of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits surged through him, devouring the drug-laden smoke in an instant.
'Is it just my imagination, or has it been more active lately?'
Was this another effect of absorbing the demonic energy from those mine corpses?
He pushed the stray thought aside and slowly surveyed the interior.
'Hm.'
The inside was as filthy as the exterior suggested.
Bits of paper from bottles and drug packets littered the floor, alongside half-eaten biscuits, jerky, and even scampering rats.
A proper gambling house usually maintained some semblance of appeal to draw in customers.
No matter how you looked at it, this place didn't seem like a legitimate operation.
But even so.
Kuhn's lips curved into a faint smirk.
'I've come to the right place.'
The moment he stepped through the door, multiple pairs of eyes from inside fixed on him.
They belonged to patrons fiddling with card hands or rolling dice.
For regular gamblers, it was an unusually sharp reaction—something you wouldn't expect unless they were dealers or bouncers.
Some even slyly slipped hands under the tables, and one burly man rose to his feet.
Copper skin, muscled build, skinhead with not a hair in sight.
His torso below the neck was covered in dense, vivid tattoos.
"Well now, this isn't a place you'd stumble into by accident, and you don't look old enough to gamble either. So what brings our little kid here?"
'Little kid, huh.'
Kuhn let out a faint sneer at the man's tone.
His relatively small stature for his age made him look even younger.
'Of course, even without that, I'm not exactly gambling age...'
Despite his casual words, the man kept one hand subtly tucked behind his waist.
Whatever was going on, he wasn't dropping his guard.
In response, Kuhn spoke in a cold voice.
"Looks like I've come to the right place."
"...?"
"Where do I go to meet the branch chief?"
At the mention of "branch chief," the man's eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Branch chief? This is just a regular gambling den—what are you—!!"
Before he could finish!
Veins bulged along the man's forearm. At the same instant, Kuhn's waist rose to eye level with him.
"Huh?"
Whoosh!
A leap so high it seemed his head might hit the ceiling!
Kuhn's palm swiftly engulfed the man's still-bewildered face.
Followed by a crushing downward slam!
The force from those slender arms was unbelievable.
The skinhead's massive frame smashed through the gambling table and cratered the floor.
Crack, boom!
Dust piled on the table and floor billowed upward.
Kuhn spoke coldly amid the chaos.
"I'll ask again. Where do I go to meet the branch chief?"
2.
One-Eyed "Jack."
Jack had long served the Dirty Hand's Sashanu City branch, rising to chief not through brute force but shrewd cunning.
That said, it wasn't as if he lacked strength entirely.
He'd never formally trained under anyone, but Back-Alley Jack was known to rival top-class fighters.
The position of Dirty Hand branch chief wasn't something you claimed lightly like a pot in a card game.
Of course, "first-rate" varied wildly in skill, and he barely scraped the edges—but it was enough for an underworld info chief.
Wearing a jovial grin, Jack scribbled numbers into his ledger.
'This is payment for info sales, these are tribute and protection fees from the members, and this side is...'
A heap of silver coins—not ducats—piled before him, mingled with occasional gold.
Enough to rival a nameless merchant's yearly earnings at a glance.
Then.
Crash, bang—...!!
One of his underlings burst into the office, causing a racket.
"B-Big trouble!"
"What is it? I told you to knock before entering my roo—...!!"
"S-Some guy's showing up and beating down our members!"
Before Jack could finish barking, the panicked underling spilled the news.
Realizing something was off, Jack swept the silver coins into his desk drawer while shouting.
Clink, clatter!!
"What? Who? How many?"
"Th-That's... j-just one guy!"
The underling added the detail with a stupefied look, as if he couldn't believe it himself.
"A-A kid who looks pretty young shows up out of nowhere saying he needs to see you, Branch Chief..."
A young kid, alone, strong enough to take down his men with ease.
And demanding to see him right off the bat.
Jack pieced it together in his head faster than the underling finished!
"That...!!"
He hurled the ashtray at the fool's head, yelling.
"That's a customer, you idiot!!"
.
'Word must have reached the branch chief already.'
Kuhn muttered inwardly as he followed the winding passage beyond the gambling den's back door.
Leading the way was one of the gamblers, his eyelids bruised blue-black.
The guide.
Of course, he could have found the chief without raising a fuss if he'd wanted.
But Kuhn had chosen this noisy approach for a simple reason.
'No point letting these types look down on me.'
They were like piranhas swarming at the slightest weakness.
By now, news of his strength should have reached the chief's ears.
"H-Here it is..."
Creeeak—.
The gambler, who'd taken a few hits from Kuhn, timidly opened the wooden door at the passage's end.
Beyond it was someone's office, surprisingly well-kept.
'Proper windows too—must connect to another building via underground passages.'
Seated at the desk was a plump, one-eyed middle-aged man of sturdy build.
Spotting Kuhn, he stood and rubbed his palms together.
"Haha. I heard my men failed to recognize you and committed quite the blunder. How should we apologize for this rudeness?"
Had Kuhn arrived quietly, the man wouldn't be so deferential.
In response, Kuhn reached into his bosom.
He pulled out a small badge and tossed it onto the desk as he continued.
"You know what this is, right?"
The tiny badge rolled across the desk and stopped before One-Eyed Jack.
Recognizing it, Jack jolted upright with a yelp.
"J-Jordic Executor!"
It was the badge symbolizing the Jordic knights—known as Executors.
Kuhn continued in a voice like chilled steel, facing the startled Jack.
"Bring every scrap of intel on the bandits operating nearby. Leave nothing out."
.
"Pl-Please return here in two days, and I'll have all the documents compiled and ready for you."
Leaving Jack trembling at the sight of the Executor badge, Kuhn exited the den and headed for the tallest nearby building—its rooftop.
Tap, tack—.
Gripping the flagpole atop it, the entire alley around the gambling den lay spread out below.
'This spot will do...'
And there was good reason he'd revealed his Executor status despite the mission's need for secrecy.
A few minutes later.
Creeeak, rattle-rattle—.
One of the men leaving the den vanished into a nearby manhole.
In the darkness, Kuhn's eyes gleamed fiercely as he watched.
Whoosh—