chapter 32
32 – Sunstone Fragment – 2
Arteil, a huge port city.
A commercial city created by people who dream of finding wealth and fame.
Some people succeeded in finding wealth and fame, but the world was full of Icarus who fell while trying to achieve their dream of becoming the sun.
Magnificent, sky-high magic towers and buildings, and slums on one side of the city.
These people, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, lower their heads and just look at the wanderers wandering the streets.
Their eyes were full of greed and greed, but no one dared to touch Harvey.
The three-legged crow, who shows off his peak beauty, and Harvey, who gives off a strange atmosphere.
The poor did not readily approach Harvey and the three-legged crow and just kept them in their sights.
“I want to rip out all my eyeballs.”
“Hold on, if you cause trouble here, it’ll be a pain in the ass.”
“Aren’t your eyes impure? How dare you call it safe?”
Roaring, the three-legged crow looks at them and scatters his life, and the poor run away in a hurry.
Since they are experts at survival, they must have realized that the three-legged crow is dangerous.
“They are good at running away. It’s like seeing a ghost.”
“What can I do? I have to live like that.”
Harvey and the three-legged crow slowly walk deeper into the center of the slums.
And Harvey slowly walked into a rather ugly building.
It rattled.
A bar full of dust.
It says it’s a happy bar, but the atmosphere isn’t like that at all.
A place filled with contradictory energies.
“Who are you?”
As he entered the entrance of the building, the owner, who was wiping glasses, gave him a venomous look, but Harvey didn’t care and opened his mouth to the owner.
“There’s something I’m looking for.”
“…What are you looking for?”
“Because it’s a necessary item.”
“If that’s the case, then go to the black market or Gaboshu, because that’s where the most goods come in.”
“No, what I want is a key.”
“….”
The owner’s expression immediately changes when the keyword “key” is mentioned.
He looked around at the owner, then frowned and opened his mouth to Harvey.
“f*ck you.”
“…”
“I don’t even know who you are, but is there anyone who can vouch for your identity? Not even that. What should I trust and tell you about you?”
In a way, the owner’s argument was natural.
In some ways, the back world is a space filled with promises, trust, and betrayal.
Overwhelming violence coming down from above, not a promise made with words.
The owner had no choice but to surrender to the overwhelming violence.
That was the way to survive on this floor.
The law was far away and violence was close, so the slums were like a lawless zone.
Jinglang.
At that time, a bag of money fell in front of the owner.
The owner carefully lifted the money bag and smiled pleasantly at the feeling of heaviness conveyed to his fingertips.
“With this level of sincerity, there is nothing we can do.”
“Where are the keys?”
“Go to 10th Avenue, under the bridge. The password is Black Mask.”
” I get it. “
“Who on earth are you? Seeing you spend so much money, you don’t seem like an ordinary person… Are you a master from a prestigious noble family?”
“You don’t need to know, you don’t have to know.”
“Well… I understand that you have your own circumstances.”
You shouldn’t be curious about things you shouldn’t know about the human side that has survived on this earth for a long time.
Now that we know the truth, we are already connected.
The owner followed the floor rules, and Harvey turned and walked out of the bar without hesitation.
“You gave me too much wealth.”
“Not really.”
As soon as he goes outside, the three-legged crow clings to Harvey and reprimands him for what happened earlier.
“There were too many eyes, my dear. You dared to reveal that much wealth to others.”
“It’s an unrelated issue.”
“Why? It might cause a setback to what you have in mind?”
“Anyway, we can’t get to where we’re going now.”
“…?”
The three-legged crow tilts his head and expresses doubt at Harvey’s words.
Harvey opened his mouth, looking into the three-legged crow’s eyes that seemed to be asking him to give the correct answer.
“In the slums, there are rulers who control the area. This means that the area we are in now and the area we are going to have completely different forces.”
“There are many rulers in such a small piece of land.”
“Because that’s human nature.”
Wherever people gather together, there are bound to be gains and losses.
And profit creates power, and greed creates corruption.
The situation in the back alleys, the economy of the slums.
Even though everyone was walking around naked, there were definitely people taking advantage.
It was inevitable that back-alley rulers would fight for power in order to make profits.
Like a king ruling a small country, they ruled their area with their own rules.
Because the balance of power was so unstable, the poor in this district could not even set foot in other districts.
Because if you’re not careful, you could get beaten up, or in worse cases, get killed.
“It’s difficult, but simple.”
“Because human relationships operate organically.”
“So that means the place we’re going to now is a completely different area from here.”
” yes. “
“Then it sounds like the person you’re trying to meet is also there.”
” answer. “
“So what on earth is the person you want to meet doing?”
As Harvey said, the person he was looking for was residing in the place where he had to go.
He is a typical drinker who drinks alcohol at the table all day.
“He’s crazy.”
“…?”
A typical moody maniac who destroys anything that he doesn’t like and that upsets him.
However, despite this, many back alley rulers want and seek him out.
Just because it’s strong.
Although foolish people with an imperial greed to rule the back alleys constantly wanted him.
“He’s got a pretty long story.”
“I guess he’s not an ordinary guy.”
He rejected their request.
However
It would have been nice if it ended on a good note.
Some rulers who maintained an arrogant attitude went against their wishes and were beaten to death, turning them into half-babysses.
He was the ruler of the slums and a strong man recognized by everyone.
“Three-legged crow.”
“Did you call me, dear?”
“You might have to fight, so you better be prepared.”
“Hoo…”
The three-legged crow slowly increased his body’s strength, probably because he was intrigued by the word ‘fight’.
Even if it is called Shinzo, the three-legged crow is now a monster.
There is no monster anywhere that doesn’t like violent fights.
“I’m looking forward to it~”
The three-legged crow hums and sings the song Lululala, perhaps intoxicated with energy.
The words and actions resembled those of a child, but the force expressed was not that of a human.
“Let’s go first.”
Harvey and the three-legged crow slowly began to move towards another area.
To welcome him as the first colleague of the organization he will create.
******************************
Jump, jump!
District 11, a busy bar in the center.
In a bar that should have been full of people, only one large man was drinking.
Fur coats and fur hats that don’t suit the weather at all.
Gauntlets made of steel coated with magic.
And an impressive bushy beard.
Boom!
A man putting down a wooden glass on the table after drinking all his alcohol,
Ujijik!
And immediately the wooden dining table could not withstand the man’s strength and broke.
The same goes for glasses.
“Keu…”
However, the man didn’t seem to care about the items he had destroyed, and was just busy savoring the taste of the boiling alcohol.
“…I…do you like the taste of alcohol…”
At that time, the owner approached the large man and carefully asked him about the taste of the alcohol.
He treated the large man in an overly humble manner.
But it had to be that way.
The man in front of the owner was a crazy person who would destroy anything he didn’t like.
What was so bad was that even the rulers of the back alleys would leave him alone.
“Taste of alcohol?”
The large man turned his head and looked at the owner.
The owner crouched down at the rough force, like a strong wind imbued with cold.
“It’s trash.”
” …yes? “
“It’s trash, it doesn’t have the characteristic grain scent at all, and it’s too weak. Are they selling this as alcohol?”
“..uh..uh…?”
Why on earth are you doing this after eating so deliciously?
The owner began to vigorously turn his head for the first time in his life.
To somehow survive from this man.
“hehehe… Because the knowledge of the small people is so limited, they can only make cheap alcohol like this… Because they are so uneducated and ignorant… “
“Isn’t it? Still, it was quite refreshing. It’s a pretty good drink.”
Is he crazy?
Really, is this guy the same person who just a moment ago was talking about how bad the alcohol was and was making a living?
When the owner is struggling to know which melody to play.
I’m sorry.
“Are there any?”
“Honey, your eyes are stinging.”
“It’s because of the alcohol.”
“…Arcohol? What was that?”
“There is something like that.”
Someone opened the door of the bar and slowly walked in.
” oh my! “
The owner quickly walked towards the guest who had just entered and whispered in his ear.
In order to somehow save people, he didn’t want to see the two young men and women being torn apart before his eyes.
“Please…go somewhere else…he’s in front of you now…”
“Get out of my way.”
“Ugh!”
However, Harvey pushed the owner away and slowly sat down in front of the large man.
Of course, the three-legged crow as well.
The owner was trembling and watched this situation.
If you make a mistake, your entire bar, which you built from scratch, will be blown away.
“This is my first time seeing you.”
“The taste of the alcohol was trash itself, but it had a nice refreshing feeling… Is this the type of alcohol that people in the southern kingdom usually drink? It seems a little special. It’s in a different realm from the extremely strong alcohol of the northerners.”
” hey. “
“Hmm… Should I go down a little further south? It’s refreshing, but the taste of alcohol has covered everything. At this point, it would be better to drink pig urine.”
However, the large man did not pay attention to Harvey and the three-legged crow’s actions and just muttered something.
As if Harvey had expected the man’s reaction, he smiled and slowly opened his mouth towards the man.
“Kwonseong (拳星).”
Pop.
In an instant, the man’s muttering stopped.
Then the man slowly turned his head and looked straight into Harvey’s eyes.
When a man opens his mouth to say something.
Harvey began speaking first.
“Should I call him Jeon Kwon-seong now?”
“Who are you, a dog of the Empire?”
“No, it’s a hound that will kill the empire.”
“A crazy person came in.”
“I don’t think that’s what you would say for touching the duke’s wife.”
“…!”
The man’s wild eyes open wide.
The look in your eyes as if asking how you know that.
“It’s funny that a man who was the enlightened one of the Empire is in the kingdom, isn’t it? Rasputin?”
“I will kill you.”
In an instant, life poured out from the body of the man called Rasputin.