177. Believers (1)
Subureptor Large Museum Director’s Office.
There were several men gathered there.
The men were mostly middle-aged to old, and although not officially affiliated with the museum, they were unofficially intertwined.
Enough to use the director’s office as my master bedroom.
“after······. I am tired.”
Someone opened their mouth.
It was not a remark with a special message.
Since the first day of an important event that is held once a year, the riots have been undone, so it was a good thing to say.
All of them were seemingly innocent on the outside, but the humans rolled around in the back alleys.
Everyone was silently calculating their own damage.
“Well·····. The damage is great.”
Another man said He was an old man who was bald and without one eye.
A silence of agreement returned the answer.
Taken from n̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲t̲l̲.̲c̲o̲m̲
Not to mention, of course, this raid has ruined the name of the Crime Firm. It was self-evident that a considerable amount of money, effort, and mental strength would be consumed, such as cracking down on the rumors not to spread and compensating the VIP customers who were damaged.I couldn’t help but feel nauseous.
Especially now, when wizards and cities are growing in power.
It could be said that it was truly ironic.
The Crime Firm, a large criminal coalition that exerts influence throughout Seland, was the most prominent in the Landa branch, but compared to its reputation, the Crime Firm’s position within Landa was relatively weak.
Indeed, it was unavoidable.
There was a tower and a city more like a thug than a crime pump,
That was not enough, there were also areas that were too rough to touch, such as X, Y, and Z areas.
Crime Firm’s unique organizational power, capital, and huge network that does not discriminate against this fact has been well concealed, but the Crime Firm is also showing its roots.
This raid on the auction house was only a harbinger.
“Let’s all think positively.”
In the midst of utter depression, someone opened his mouth at once.
He was none other than Gordon Goodhart, the former director of District R in Landa.
“Do you see it positively?”
“It is literally. The damage is huge, but in fact it could have been much greater than this. Fortunately, it ended up like this.”
It would have been a rebuke to not be bullshit, but it wasn’t really wrong.
It was the first day of the auction, so there were relatively few people, and the reputation of the auction house was damaged by being attacked, but there was no major damage, so I was able to save face.
Most importantly, the auction items were not stolen.
“Then what?”
“Let’s give up some profits. First of all, let’s stop the auction.”
“Do you want to back down because you are afraid of a thug with a cleaver?”
“Did you know that the thug with the cleaver is a member of the Black Hand?”
Kuk-wook…. Everyone shut their mouths.
“It hurts my self-esteem, but conflicts with them should be avoided at best. When it comes to scale, we’re not left behind either, but as we all know, they and us are fundamentally different. It is more dangerous.”
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No one dared to deny it.Crime perm and black hands. Both were large criminal organizations, but their roots were completely different.
A crime firm was a business to make a profit, whatever it was. Violence was only part of the means, but not the black hands. For them, violence was commonplace and sometimes even purposeful.
Little was known about them, but they also engaged in self-destructive madness if necessary.
Fighting with those people had to be prepared for great damage, whether winning or losing.
“The one who attacked this time, Seamus said, was most likely the ‘flesh cook’ side.”
“They eat human meat?”
“When you look at the disease-based black magic, the cleaver, the improvisational, greedy, and cruel personality. As some of you may know, the main activity of human meat chefs is Gallos. Even if we make up our minds to fight, we cannot fight properly because we are across the sea.”
“then?”
“Let’s try to ask for moderation through the other finger. They are half crazy, but there are people who can speak.”
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Not everyone doubted that opinion. Rumor has it that Gordon, a corpse dealer, is dealing with the Puppets.If we’re going to reconcile, it’s better for Gordon to take over.
“It’s fucking disgusting to have to bow your head to the warlock baboons.”
The bald young man murmured warily. He was also a wise man who knew how to admit reality, but apart from that, what made him angry was anger.
“I think the same, but this is the best. Unlike Blackhand, our crime perm derives its power from money. If we try to build up our pride and fight them, we will do a lot of damage whether we win or lose. At least it will be difficult for the family to maintain where they are now.”
Everyone shut their mouths at the calm but logical explanation.
All of these were hidden giants within Landa, but at the same time, there were also many inside and outside who were aiming for the position.
Contrary to the existing image of grinding a gun first if you don’t like it, the main weapon in the crime perm was patience and cunning.
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Now was the time to be patient.“Then, what about things?”
“Currently, they are distributed and stored in a secret warehouse through part-time spatial school wizards. That way, even if the raiders come, they won’t be able to take it away. Let’s postpone the auction for a while, and let’s deal with the expensive ones first. After all, the number of people who can buy such a thing is limited. Hopefully, you will get what you pay for.”
It wasn’t a satisfactory answer, but everyone agreed.
Self-esteem was obviously an important issue, but business was no less important to the crime perm.
Broken pride can be regained later, but if the business is shaken and you are pushed out of the competition for rank, then that was the end.
But even so, humiliation is humiliation. A middle-aged man murmured.
“Yeah, we have to be prepared for something.”
The contrast is nothing but powerlessness.
Sadly, it took more than money to live in this wealthiest city in the world.
Childish yet fatal at the same time.
“Rather than just scouting one or two guys, we need to gather a large workforce that we can operate properly. A true warrior.”
“Why don’t we hire a fixer or a non-affiliated gang with a bit of power?”
“It is the opposite of blindly recruiting. I don’t want someone like Sheamus coming out again. That crazy guy rips money from people belonging to the same crime firm. They don’t know respect and rules.”
“But, then, how do you get it?”
“How about the dwarves who were pushed out of the tower? You only know how to study, but you don’t know much about street life?”
“no. I’m proud of myself and I’m stubborn, so I won’t listen. Are you going to sit on top of us?”
“Are there any good listeners among them in the first place?”
“At least through the words. ah! Gordon, how’s that guy? Did you help us today? Did I say Dave? Can you scout?”
“Well·····. Let’s watch it for now.”
“What?”
“It doesn’t seem like a simple fixer. For now, let’s watch.”
Gordon replied, recalling Dave meeting with the Philgaret Broker.
***
Dark night sky with blue moon.
In the middle of Zone J, where many buildings stand tall.
A man and two women stood in front of the car.
“Then, is this the end of the quest?”
“Yes, because the auction is practically over. Of course, the remuneration will be paid as promised.”
“All right. For me, I can make money in a short period of time and gain, but for the young lady, it will be a loss.”
“No, I can’t live without my own pockets anyway, so it’s no big deal. Most of my assets are real estate, so I’m short on cash. Rather, I am satisfied. Plus, Gordon-sama said he would hand over a nice item or two in return.”
It was. Although Jane did nothing, Oliver said the worst was spared, and Gordon decided to do her a favor to Jane who had brought Oliver.
I wasn’t sure, but if it was the thing, there was a high possibility that I would make a connection with Miranda.
“It must be very difficult.”
“It’s all about living.”
“I wish you all the best.”
At Oliver’s words, Jane stared at him.
“If it’s okay, would you like to have dinner together? It’s not a big deal, but I still want to serve you a meal.”
“sorry. Something happened.”
A nonsensical, obvious excuse. However, Jane decided to believe it.
Because he was such a person.
“Is it . . . important?”
“Well·····. Yes, maybe.”
“Then, there is nothing I can do. I’ll let you know when things go well.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
When Jane and Oliver’s conversation was over, Coco interrupted.
“I bought the book safely. I will receive it soon, but I will give the book I received through Forrest.”
“thank you.”
“And I also thank you for this. I was looking forward to it, but Dave always exceeds my expectations… If you ever need information, please come to me. We will take you to a reasonable price.”
Oh, that was quite surprising. They said that Sisterhood doesn’t make deals easily.
“Thank you for that.”
“Huh…. I’ll even teach you makeup, so come see me. Kids will love it too.”
“Yep.”
After talking to each other, Jane and Coco got into the car and left.
Oliver looked at the car leaving without thinking, and after a while he opened his mouth.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“no. master.”
Filgaret Broker in the Dark Darkness…. No, Marie answered with her head bowed to her waist.
“········.”
Oliver looked at Marie without saying a word.
You are the master… I didn’t know what to say. It must have been less than a year and six months since you left, but you are still the owner.
After thinking for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“If it’s okay with you, can we move the place of the story?”
***
midnight. Two cars were driving on the outskirts of Landa, where development was restricted.
The vehicle is a relatively common F-series. Even so, it was a car that could be bought with quite a bit of money.
In other words, it was a vehicle that could be moderately sized without being conspicuous.
After a while, the car veered off the shoulder of the outlying road, entered a deserted forest, and stopped.
shudder-
The door opened and a person got out with the sound characteristic of the F-series.
Oliver and Marie. And there were many warlocks who seemed to be Marie’s subordinates.
There was an even mix of males and females, and they seemed quite trained.
‘And you don’t like me.’
Oliver thought as he looked around Marie’s men from the car behind them.
“master····.”
After getting out of the car, Marie fell to her knees and bowed her head. He didn’t just tighten it, but squeeze it so deep that his forehead touched the ground.
“ah·······.”
Oliver sighed involuntarily. He didn’t even know why. What the heck… it was just kinda
“number of animals·····.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Can you stand up?”
“How dare I…”
Oliver had no idea why he was doing this, but Oliver focused on getting Marie up first.
Watching someone kneel to him and bow his head was terrifying.
“Please. Please get up.”
Request. It wasn’t until the word came out that Marie finally got up.
Oliver took out a test tube with magical power, extracted it, and made a fire to light the surroundings.
Some were surprised, but Marie just looked at Oliver calmly.
As if Oliver could do it.
Oliver also stared at Marie, who took off the mask without saying a word.
What’s better than remembering? It seemed to have changed a bit.
His hair was plentiful, his skin pale, but much cleaner and shiny than before.
It smelled like perfume was applied to the body, and there were many decorated teas like the house of angels or the women who participated in the auction house.
It’s changed so much that I didn’t know what to say, but then I remembered Coco’s teachings.
“…you’ve become pretty.”
To that word, Marie responded with tears in her eyes.
“It is a word to be grateful for. master.”