In an abandoned building in District W.
There was a loud noise going around.
"Ahhhhhh…"
The reason for the disturbance was none other than intruders, who came in while the head of the union, Kent was absent.
There were many people who were armed with clubs while some of them had an old and rusty rods, and some among them even had shotguns.
Because of that, the beggars without their leader could not even resist and were beaten up unilaterally.
"Ha…! You fu*kers! Come on raise your heads. Raise your heads like you did when you had that fu*ker Kent on your side. RAISE… YOU MOTHERFU*KERS."
The intruder with a shotgun said while waving his gun, while the beggars of kent’s beggars union kept looking down.
The gun looked like a piece of garbage in which the bullets were not likely to come out properly, but to the beggars who were on the streets, this kind of existence alone was a huge threat.
All those who were in Kent’s beggar union were beaten to death, except the weak children, women, and the elderly.
They were moved into a corner like a sheep which was surrounded by wolves as they hugged each other.
"Keukkeuk… Cute. Don't worry. We won't hit you. You will soon become Freckle’s fodder.”
“Come with us when we are talking nicely… Freckle doesn’t like a product that’s bleeding”
Saying that the intruders grabbed the hair of the woman and the children and dragged them somewhere.
Some brave old men blocked the intruders, but that resulted in only the brutal beating of the old men.
"Fuck…! You useless old-timer. How dare you put your fu*king corpse hands on me!!"
An old man sputtered after getting beaten by an intruder.
His decrepit body was unable to move after a single attack.
Still, he stumbled and clung to the intruders.
It was not because there was no other way.
It was kind of a rash action that he just have to do.
The old man spoke as he was bleeding and panting.
"Haa… Haa… Don't you who our head is? Once he comes….comes, yuck!"
The intruder kicked the old man.
The old man grabbed his chest at the hit and his body twisted as if he was in great pain, and he looked even more pitiful because of his skinny appearance.
However, the intruder seemed not to have even the slightest bit of pity in his heart when he looked at the old man, and as if that was not enough, he even trampled on his neck with his foot.
"Hey, old timer… Do we look like idiots? We know who your head is. We came here knowing that he was not here. Do you want me to tell you something more interesting?"
"Huh…."
“Listen to me carefully, old timer. Your head’s head must have been chopped by now by our guys. From now on, everyone here is our possession. Our possessions…! Do you understand?! Consider this news as my gift before I break your head. So be thankful.”
With those words, the intruder who was stepping on the old man raised the wooden club he was holding and aimed it at the old man's head.
The other beggars of Kent’s beggar union just shook their heads and did not raise their heads.
"Take a good look, everyone! From now on, District W will be dominated by our Freckle. Everyone who rebels against us will end up like this! One…two…three.”
————— BANG!
At the count of three, the head of the intruder who was holding his bat high in the sky flew off to one side.
The damage was much worse than being shot by a gun, and the sudden situation surprised not only the beggars of Kent’s group but also the intruders.
“What, what the fu*k?!”
"Crazysh*t!! Was he attacked?"
The intruders were not able to respond to sudden situations, proving that they too were not properly trained, and ultimately they were just beggars.
At that moment, Oliver's minion approached secretly and shot the beggars armed with shotguns in the head.
Everyone froze in fear and terror as if they had met with a ghost.
[Creepy Scream]
A face with a terrible shape suddenly appeared in black smoke form.
Everyone's attention was focused on the face and at that moment, the face made of black smoke distorted and screamed.
KYAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA……!
The air-ripping scream broke the will of the listeners to fight.
The intruders, who had been in good spirits until a while ago, were literally frozen at the incomprehensible situation which drove them mad one after another.
After all, they weren't violent people in nature and their courage came from the weapons in the first place, so they had completely lost their will to fight.
Two people emerged after the situation was perfectly sorted out.
Oliver with a test tube in one of his hands and Kent with a quarterstaff.
Kent opened his mouth.
"… Throw away all your weapons and kneel down."
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
A pile of clubs and a few shotguns were piled at one side of the beggar's den.
The intruders, who had been in high spirits until a while ago, were all trapped in fear.
They were all looking down at the ground trembling, and sometimes when they looked up, they saw the minion floating around them and immediately lowered their heads again.
They saw the thing that looked like a small meatball blow a person's head off, so everyone kept trembling as if a muzzle was aimed at their head.
Everyone had their fighting spirit and fear in their minds when they came to Kent’s beggar union’s den.
Now that their fighting spirit was broken, the only thing that remained in their mind was fear.
This made it easy for Kent and Oliver to take care of their fellow beggars.
“Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.”
The beggar with glasses said looking at the old man who had been beaten.
He may not be a doctor with specialized knowledge, but because he had lived as a beggar for a long time, he could roughly see if a human’s bone was broken or if there was something wrong with the internal organs.
Kent nodded without any thought.
"That's a relief."
“Not necessarily. He can’t do anything for a while. He needs to rest for some time.”
“That’s alright. It’s fine as long as there are no serious injuries.”
The beggars who were frightened were soon relieved by Kent's words.
Then, the beggar with classes carefully opened his mouth.
“By the way…what the hell happened? That guy… is he a human.”
The one the beggar with glasses pointed at with his fingertip was Oliver.
Kent looked at Oliver without a word and after a moment of silence opened his mouth.
“… As you all have seen, he is a warlock.”
“Warlock…?”
"Yeah… Warlock. He said he is a Warlock, and he also showed me the evidence. He was indeed a Warlock."
Even though everyone understood it in their heads, they still couldn’t help but be shocked.
For people like them, who were at the bottom of the social pyramid, wizards and warlocks were an otherworldly existence.
“Then… Kent, why the hell did you bring a Warlock?”
“I too didn’t know he was a Warlock.”
“Why did a warlock stay here?”
“Well… I will have to ask.”
A woman hugged her child and asked.
“Is he going to kidnap our children?”
“Well… he wouldn’t have helped us if he was going to do that?”
“Still, you never know, do you?”
The woman who spoke had a child with her, and she hugged the child tightly in anxiety.
Everyone looked at Oliver with anxious eyes.
Then someone spoke.
"Uh…… Where is that girl going?"
Everyone watched as Harmonica approached Oliver alone.
The girl bowed her head and thanked Oliver.
Oliver looked at it silently and raised his hand and then nodded.
It was truly an awkward sight.
However, strangely enough, people's anxiety gradually subsided when they saw this.
Kent didn't miss this opportunity and spoke.
"I know everyone's nervous right now, but leave this to me for now. Oliver is a warlock, but he's also the person who helped us. He even helped those kids."
Kent said while pointing at the 20 or so beggar children, they were the children Kent brought along with Harmonica.
Small and messy children filled with anxiety were gathered in one corner.
“……”
“I know everyone has a lot to say, but first of all, we need that person’s help. Absolutely.”
“Help?”
"Yeah. Freckle has now started threatening us directly, so we can’t stay still anymore, can we? If we have to fight back, we have to borrow someone's hand… Are there any disagreements?"
No one could say anything
Until a while ago, they were about to be kidnapped by Freckle’s gang.
In the end, they were pushed by the situation and the atmosphere, so everyone left everything to Kent.
Kent approached Oliver.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Um, yes… I have been waiting.”
Oliver responded immediately to Kent's words.
Kent took Oliver to talk privately, even though Kent looked calm on the outside, he was very nervous on the inside, though he did not harbor hostility like others.
“Are you okay?”
Kent carefully pulled a cigarette out of his pocket.
“Whoa……ha-! I hope you can understand. I’m a smoker. Would you like to smoke one?”
Oliver shook his head.
Kent spoke as he smoked again.
The words came out along with the white smoke.
“First of all, let me say thank you again. For helping me in the sewer….and for helping me like this again. Thank you.”
“Um, I got some help too, and I didn’t just help… it’s all right.”
“I know. I know… It was for answering your questions. Anyway, thanks.”
Kent was sincere.
He felt a great sense of fear and guilt thinking about the fact that he could have lost his comrades.
When they were saved, he felt a corresponding sense of relief and joy…
“Yeah…what do you want to ask?”
“…why did you drop your weapon? Throwing it away wouldn't have helped much in that situation."
“Are you curious about that?”
"Other than that… Why did you help me the first time we met, and why do you keep protecting the people here? I heard that you could have gone on a more comfortable path."
Kent closed his eyes slightly and then opened them.
"… Then let me ask you, you look like a skilled warlock, so why did you come into the beggar's den? It's been a while since I retired as a Solver, but a warlock of your level would have a much more comfortable way to live."
“Um… there’s something I want to find out.”
"Is that so? Then I would say I did it because I wanted to."
"What?"
“I just wanted to…”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
“There are people in the world who do things that are incomprehensible. There are people who bring, feed, nurse, and comfort those who have given up their lives for no reason. It's just that I saw it as God's will."
"…do you happen to be talking about the former head, Mr.Priest?”
"It's the story about him and me. To be exact, he brought me and took care of me. And he didn't expect anything from me."
"… Didn't Mr. Kent succeed him? Is that his will?"
"No, it's not a will. He asked for help, but he told me to leave whenever I wanted to. I’m staying here because I wanted to. After all, it’s a life that I threw away once, I don’t mind if it goes for a Kid or for the people here…"
Kent smiled a little, and Oliver nodded his head in silence.
It wasn't a convincing answer, but it didn't seem like a bad answer either.
"Honestly, it's not a very convincing answer, but thank you for your answer… Then, did you help me in the beginning because of your promise with Mr.Priest?"
“To some extent…but, there is one more reason.”
"What is that?"
“…it may sound strange in the current situation, but you look like Dave.”
“Who is that?”
“My son who died because of me.”
Kent looked at Oliver and said.
“… I don't care if you think it's a lie. I just wanted to tell you about it. So I said it."
"Yes, I understand…."
An awkward silence gradually settled down, and Kent looked down and asked again.
“…… I’m sorry, but can you help us?”
“Um…sure.”
“I'm so glad… Then, I'll have to interrogate them first. So, Can you stand behind me for a bit? I think you just standing will help.”
Kent pointed to the tied-up intruders.
“…what are you going to do?”
“Well? We should first ask about the den where Freckle is hiding.”
“I don’t understand. If they knew you are targeting, won’t they be on guard?”
“Maybe, but we can't help it.”
"What if you know the location of the den, and there's a way to let them lower their guard?"
"… Then it's the best. Why? Is there a better way?"
Oliver answered while creating black magic in his hand.
“Yes.”
(To be Continued)
