Episode 87. Not Your Average Madman
The middle-aged man’s name was Galette.
He was a low-ranking member of Dusten’s gang, and he usually collected money from merchants for protection.
“Why do you collect money from merchants?”
“To protect them, of course…… Ugh!”
Galette screamed as Sirius squeezed his head.
Passersby glanced at them curiously.
“What do you protect them from when you take their money?”
“Well, thugs who cause trouble……”
“Don’t make me laugh. Aren’t you the thugs?”
“…….”
Galette shut his mouth.
He had been so talkative back at the restaurant, but after a few squeezes, he had become quite taciturn.
“When you said you were from Dusten’s gang at the restaurant, people were terrified.”
“…….”
“If you really protected the weak, they would welcome you. But they were scared and avoided eye contact.”
What did that mean?
It meant that they weren’t protectors of the weak, but oppressors of the weak.
“W-well, we’re still somewhat conscientious.”
Galette tried to make excuses.
“If we had squeezed people too hard, the Granz family wouldn’t have left us alone. No, the merchants would have called in outside forces to get rid of us.”
“The merchants would call in outside forces?”
“They could pool their money to hire assassins, or bring in other gangs…… The west is a rough place.”
“…….”
“If you’re going to operate in the west, you need to adapt to the western climate. Like I said, the west is untouchable…… Ouch!”
Galette shut his mouth as Sirius squeezed him again.
“You’re proud of it, aren’t you?”
“Ugh…….”
“Merchants hiring assassins and calling in other gangs…… Is that normal?”
“…….”
“Merchants should just focus on their business. If that’s not possible because of the western climate, then the climate needs to change.”
Sirius walked down the street, dragging the silent Galette behind him.
“Is that the four-story building over there?”
“……!”
Galette gasped.
It was because Sirius had accurately pointed out the headquarters of the Dursten group.
In fact, it was the place where Sirius had felt magic while looking around the city of Paramia.
The strongest 5-circle magic in the city could be felt there.
“Go ahead.”
“…….”
Pushed by Sirius, Galette took the lead.
As they approached the first floor of the building, the guys hanging around the entrance recognized Galette.
“Brother Galette, have you collected all the money?”
“I have a guest. Step aside.”
“A guest?”
The guys looked over Sirius’s outfit.
“He doesn’t look like he’s from the West, but where is he from…….”
“I already told you about that, so get out of the way quickly!”
Galette pushed the guys aside by force and entered the building.
Sirius followed him with his mouth shut.
“Brothers, it’s Galette.”
When they went up to the 4th floor, men with fierce-looking faces were gathered, drinking alcohol in broad daylight.
“This man wants to see Brother Dursten…….”
“Who is he?”
“Well…….”
Before Galette could explain, Sirius stepped forward.
“Is Dursten inside?”
“Who are you to look for Brother Dursten?”
“I think it’s that room over there.”
As Sirius strode forward, one of the men stood up and tried to block Sirius’s way.
But right after that.
“Ugh…!”
Thud!
The man who had been flying in the air was slammed into the wall.
Sirius had only waved his hand lightly, but the grown man flew away and fainted.
“This bastard…!”
“What the hell are you doing!”
They all got up and tried to rush at Sirius.
However, none of them actually touched Sirius.
This was because Sirius waved his hand once more, releasing a cold aura that froze their entire bodies.
It was the second stage of the Heavenly Wolf Divine Skill, the aura (Kipa) that used the power of the White Wolf.
“……!”
Galette gasped as he watched the frozen executives of the organization.
The only person safe in this place right now was Galette, who was hesitating at the threshold.
“What the hell is going on?”
The inner door opened, revealing a fat man with his upper body bare.
On the bed beyond the door was a naked woman.
It seemed they had been rolling around with each other since noon.
“Gasp…!”
The man was aghast at the sight of his subordinates frozen in place.
“They’ll thaw out soon. Their lives aren’t in danger.”
“…….”
“Are you Dresten?”
Dresten hesitated.
He looked as if he wanted to take a step back and return to the room.
“Close the door and come here.”
“…….”
In the end, Dresten closed the door with a look of resignation.
“Where are you from? The Black Iron Alliance? The Granz family? Or the Western branch of the Union?”
“Dresten.”
Sirius crossed his arms and spoke.
“What is this organization’s main source of income?”
“In, income?”
“Other than the protection money you extort from merchants, where else do you make money?”
“…….”
Dresten grimaced and looked at Sirius.
But right after.
“Keuk!”
Smack!
Sirius slapped Dresten across the face.
Blood trickled from Dresten’s mouth.
“Where else do you make money?”
“W, when merchants fight, we mediate and receive a fee. And we also receive a commission for introducing jobs to those from other regions… but the protection money is still the largest source.”
He turned his head to look at Galette, who nodded in agreement.
“So, you live by leeching off others in one way or another.”
“D, don’t you think that’s a bit harsh? We also have our own way of… Ack!”
Smack!
Dresten hunched over after being slapped again.
“What’s harsh about it? You live by extorting money from people who are working hard, don’t you?”
“Ugh… .”
“But what in the world are you doing in broad daylight?”
Sirius glared as he looked around.
“Your executives are drinking and slacking off, and the boss is rolling around with a woman. You’re truly admirable.”
“…….”
“While you’re lazing about like this, others are out there working hard. And you go around extorting money from those very people.”
Dusten winced.
He seemed to be a man who felt shame, at the very least.
“Am I wrong?”
“Not wrong, but…”
“But?”
“Oh, you’re not wrong. It’s all true.”
Dusten was completely disheartened.
Dusten, who controlled this area as a 5-circle wizard, but the opponent was just too bad.
In Dusten’s eyes, Sirius was a wizard of at least 7-circle or higher.
Just by looking at how he instantly froze the executives, he wasn’t an opponent that Dusten could handle.
He even slapped him at a speed that was invisible to the eye.
If Sirius had a sword in his hand, Dusten’s neck would’ve already been rolling on the floor.
“From today onwards, Dusten’s gang will not receive protection fees from anyone.”
“P-protection fees, you’re saying…?”
“No more commissions or anything like that from now on.”
“Ah, but then what are we supposed to eat and live on…”
“You don’t know that either?”
Sirius glared at Dusten and said,
“If you don’t know, I’ll teach you. Come out with me.”
“Together…?”
“Tell all the members in the building to come out.”
“…..”
Dusten blinked.
He couldn’t understand how the situation was turning out like this.
“But who was that woman in the room? You didn’t drag her here from somewhere, did you?”
“Th-that’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“She’s just… my lover.”
“What’s her job?”
“She doesn’t really have a fixed job, but sometimes she manages the women at the bar…”
“Then bring her out too. Make sure she’s dressed.”
This was complete nonsense.
But Dusten had no choice but to accept.
Galette, who was standing alone looking fine, was appealing to him with his eyes saying, ‘Please do as he says!’, and… Dusten himself had a hunch that if he talked back here, his head would fly off.
However… there was one thing he had to confirm.
“Excuse me.”
“What is it?”
“I’m just wondering… did you come from the South?”
Sirius nodded briefly.
“By any chance… is your name Sirius?”
“You guessed correctly.”
“……”
Dusten had nothing more to say.
Resenting his unfortunate fate of being targeted by Sirius, he trudged back to his room.
* * *
Palamia Wharf.
The Cheonrangpyo Kingdom’s fleet, which had arrived there, was preparing to unload cargo.
“What in the world?”
Eustia, who was preparing the documents to submit at the wharf, grimaced.
This was because Sirius had entered the wharf with dozens of men in tow.
“I’ve brought some manpower.”
“Yes?”
The people Sirius had brought were members of Dusten’s gang.
Including Dusten, all the executives had been defeated by Sirius, so they all looked very subdued.
“Put them to work unloading cargo.”
“What exactly have you been doing?”
“You don’t need them?”
“No, the more hands, the better.”
After confirming the sorry state of Dusten’s gang, Eustia roughly guessed what had happened.
From Noble mtl dot com
The people Sirius brought here like this were delinquents who needed to be rehabilitated.
So Eustia decided not to ask or pry and just use them as much as possible.
“Um, excuse me.”
At that moment, Dusten cautiously raised his hand.
“So what will happen to us in the future…?”
“What do you mean what will happen? You’ll become Dusten’s gang, a group of laborers who work hard at the wharf.”
“……”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t survive without receiving protection money? So I’m going to teach you how to earn your own living.”
Dusten made a face as if he had been wronged.
But he couldn’t protest.
“Once the rehabilitation period is over, you’ll be paid the standard wage in the Cheonrangpyo Kingdom, so you don’t have to worry about starving.”
“……”
“Do you have anything you want to say? If you have any complaints, speak up.”
That’s what Sirius said, but… who could possibly complain in this situation?
So Dusten brought up a different topic.
“S, Sirius.”
“What is it?”
“Someone from the Black Iron Alliance will be here soon. Someone needs to respond, but if everyone is working here, there won’t be anyone to respond….”
“Is that so?”
Sirius nodded.
“Then I’ll respond.”
“Wh-what?”
“I’ll go to your hideout and deal with the Black Iron Alliance myself. Then there won’t be any problems.”
“Of course there will be problems….”
Dusten tried to say something, but Sirius ignored him.
“Velid.”
“Oh, my goodness… why?”
Velid, who had been swinging his sword on the deck, stopped and tilted his head.
“You’re in charge of keeping an eye on these guys.”
“Keeping an eye on what?”
“On whether they’re doing their job properly. Have you done that a lot for the Albraim family?”
“Ah….”
Velid scratched his head.
He recalled the time Sirius had hit him on the back of the head for not doing his job properly.
“Listen up, everyone,” Sirius said to Dusten’s gang.
“That guy over there with the iron club will be keeping an eye on you. If there’s anyone you don’t like, he’s a crazy guy who’ll beat you up with that iron club.”
“……!”
“You’ll see when you watch him in action, but he’s not your average crazy guy. You’d better watch your step.”
Velid jumped down from the deck.
Everyone gulped as they watched him perform the Triple Sword Technique in midair, drawing an arc.
“By the way, I’ve been hit by that guy before, too.”
“……!”
Sirius had been hit by that guy?
Everyone looked at Velid with fearful eyes.
“Do a good job.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Dusten’s gang nodded their heads with faces full of terror.