Chapter 724
"Forgive me!!"
The gang member immediately threw himself face-first to the ground.
If his nephew really was the Student Council President of Keyzen, what was the point of arguing whether it was true or not?
‘If there’s even the slightest uncertainty, best to pull out.’
Among the gangs staying in Langerstine, there existed an absolute unwritten law.
—No matter what happens, do not touch Keyzen.
It was an absolute principle, and any gang that broke it, without a single exception, was erased from the world.
Thus, only those gangs who upheld the principle survived in Langerstine by natural selection.
"?"
Anna blinked, wondering what was suddenly happening.
"E, excuse me! The truth is, I’m not a guide from Langerstine……!"
Thud—!
A heavy booming sound rang out, cutting his words short. Birds perched throughout the plaza flapped their wings in panic and scattered into the sky.
"Right, if you can’t handle it, stepping aside is the wise choice."
A middle-aged man with patches of missing hair approached. He wore armor made of bone, draped a black cloak over it, and leaned on a staff in one hand.
Srrrk.
Srrrk.
From every alley, people wearing ‘smiling masks’ appeared, armed to the teeth. The gang member immediately realized who they were.
"……You lot."
They were the gang that had been rampaging the most in Langerstine lately.
Having operated in another province, they had come down to Langerstine three months ago, the Scoviller Family.
"Didn’t you hear just now? This woman’s nephew…."
"You mean the one who’s said to be the Student Council President of Keyzen? If that’s true, how amusing, no?"
The man with the staff twisted his lips upward into a vicious smile.
"I do hope it’s true."
* * *
Meanwhile, Simon’s group continued their search.
Finding Anna’s trail was not as difficult as expected. Perhaps because she had traveled in noticeable attire, they found people all around who remembered seeing her.
"Hmm, I recall her because she was a rare beauty. She was with a guide."
"A guide?"
Simon spun around urgently. He saw Loraine shake her head with her eyes closed.
"If that guide was someone from Keyzen’s side, we would have already been informed."
It seemed Anna had followed someone posing as a guide. When one looked even slightly foreign or naive, such swindlers tended to latch on.
"Simon, Simon."
Serne hopped up to him, singing his name as if in a song.
"I think I’ve found your aunt."
"Really?"
They decided to hear the details while moving. The three dashed quickly down the alleyways.
Fwoosh!
As they ran, a stranger suddenly jumped out and ran alongside them. Serne spoke.
"Well then, say it."
"……Yes."
His voice sounded entranced. A feather was lodged in the back of his neck, and his face was covered with a strange smiling mask.
"……The boss has kidnapped a noblewoman. I didn’t see her face, but I heard they’ll soon send a letter to Keyzen demanding ransom……."
Simon’s face turned pale, and Loraine exploded in anger.
"Even after suffering that much, you still don’t learn? You, which gang are you from?"
"The Scoviller gang."
Loraine tapped her chin with her fingers, lost in thought.
"……Never heard of them. That’s troubling."
"What’s wrong, Loraine?"
"If they’ve only recently entered Langerstine, there’s a high chance they haven’t clashed directly with Keyzen yet."
In other words, it meant their guts were likely swollen with arrogance.
An ordinary Langerstine gang would cower at the mere mention of Keyzen’s name.
"Precisely because of that, such types are even more dangerous. No telling what they might pull."
"Ufufu."
Sitting atop her artificial swan made of feathers, Serne coyly covered her mouth.
"Keyzen has grown old. No, the real problem is your way of thinking, that simply mentioning Keyzen’s name would resolve everything."
"Do you really have to rub salt in at a time like this?"
In any case, the situation was urgent, so the two stopped bickering and followed after Simon.
Under Serne’s power, the brainwashed gang member guided them to his hideout.
They had been running along a clean, well-paved boulevard, but suddenly the atmosphere of the streets changed.
A foul stench filled the air, garbage was piled everywhere. Rats, sensing their presence, scrambled into narrow cracks. This was the most shabby and dangerous heart of Langerstine, central Harlem.
"This way."
The gang member under mind control halted at the front of an alley. Serne smiled and waved her hand.
"Good work, mister. Now hop like a rabbit and go turn yourself in to the guard station."
"Yes."
The gang member vanished with ridiculous steps, and Simon sharpened his hearing.
Though the inside of the alley wasn’t visible yet, he sensed presences all over. Footsteps, voices murmuring.
"That Scoviller gang, they’ve taken a stronghold even in Harlem."
Loraine lowered her voice as she spoke.
"For a gang that just arrived to seize a key district like this, it isn’t easy. Likely they have one or two skilled retired necromancers among them."
If necromancers were involved, the situation was all the worse.
Simon clenched and unclenched his fist, then looked back at Loraine.
"What if we demand they return my aunt now, saying we’ll forgive them?"
"They won’t listen. If they were going to return her that easily, they wouldn’t have attempted a kidnapping in the first place."
"Then it’s simple."
Simon stepped forward.
"Let’s storm them."
"Wait, Simon."
Serne blocked his way with a bright smile.
"The wounds you got from Ballack’s poison haven’t healed yet. You should rest here."
"For once, I agree."
Loraine drew a dagger from the pocket on her thigh.
"Here, Serne and I will…."
"No, my aunt is being held. I can’t just stand by doing nothing."
Simon strode forward.
"I’ll go in from the front. You two flank left and right."
Serne curved her eyes into half-moons and chuckled.
"As stubborn as ever. Fine then, I’ll take the right."
With that, she vanished. Loraine looked at Simon with worry, then closed her eyes.
"Be careful, Simon."
"Mm."
She too disappeared, and Simon entered the alley with quick steps toward the source of the presences.
Inside the alley was a wide plaza.
Across that plaza stood an old, decrepit gate. In front of it, a man clutched a mask under his arm while guzzling from a bottle of liquor in broad daylight.
"Huh?"
Spotting Simon, the man narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell are yo— Guhh!"
Simon slammed the man’s face into the wall. Two streaks of red trailed down the wall, marking their descent.
Clunk!
He pushed past the old gate and entered.
The wide Harlem plaza spread before him. Though large, it was completely unkempt. Grass sprouted randomly, trash was scattered all over. The fountain had long since dried, its basin filled with garbage and rusted coins.
The gang members were chatting idly among themselves. Every one of them wore or carried a smiling mask.
"Hmm, who’s this brat?"
A man with scorched skin spotted Simon and stepped forward. From his belt came the swift sound of a dagger being drawn.
"A school uniform, huh? Didn’t your mom teach you, that walking around here in that will get you stabbed?"
"Wait, did you say school uniform?"
A gang member lounging on a wooden crate, playing dice, turned his head at those words.
"Then the one we kidnapped must really be from Keyzen’s side……!"
Simon’s leg cut a black trajectory.
Smaaash!
The first gang member who had spoken was launched like lightning, crashing into the group gambling nearby. The table flipped, people sprawled across the ground.
"W, what’s going on?"
"You bastard!"
Another gang member rushed in from the side, thrusting a dagger at Simon. Simon caught the blade between his index and middle finger, then kicked the man’s leg out from under him, forcing him to kneel.
At the same time, without even looking back, he rammed his elbow into another man and dropped him flat.
"He’s alone! Everyone, get him at once!"
Trusting their numbers, the gang members in the plaza charged all together. Simon calmly lifted his hand.
"Come out, all of you."
The subspace tore open, and skeleton archers leapt out, firing arrows. Six gang members fell in an instant, pierced through, and the archers then split apart into Bone Armors that latched onto other gang members’ bodies.
As Simon gestured left and right, the gang members clad in Bone Armor began to slash their own comrades with swords and shoot them down with arrows.
"An intruder! An intruder’s here!"
"Everyone, inside!"
The gang members in the tavern below seized their weapons and rushed out, but at that moment—
Ziiiiiiing―!
A crimson flash ripped a straight line across the tavern roof. The ceiling collapsed whole, burying those trying to escape beneath rubble.
"You knew she was Keyzen’s guest, and still you dared to touch her."
Step, step.
From the opposite roof, Loraine appeared, her black hair fluttering in the wind.
"Why do you not value your lives?"
—Kiiiiiiiiiiik!
Behind Loraine, giant pterosaurs, strengthened by her ability, let out roars. They leapt from the roof, lashing with winged arms, sending gang members flying like fallen leaves.
"My my."
From the other side, Serne revealed herself. Floating elegantly in the air, she enjoyed a cup of tea, feathers orbiting her in a protective swirl.
At her gesture, the feathers transformed into black lightning that electrocuted the gang members, then into ice that trapped them within glaciers.
An overwhelming display of Darkness-element sorcery, her figure was like a transcendent being, descending heavenly punishment from the skies.
"What are these monsters!"
The gang members faltered, eyes darting in panic.
"Stop."
A voice, heavy with intimidation, boomed.
Every movement in the plaza froze.
Step, step.
A man walked forward, gripping a staff, his entire body clad in flawless Bone Armor. Simon recognized him instantly.
‘That must be Scoviller. And a necromancer, no less.’
He pressed a cursed blade against the neck of a noblewoman.
And that noblewoman, unmistakably, was Anna. Dragged forward by Scoviller, Anna spotted Simon, and with a pure, innocent smile, she waved.
"Simon~ over here!"
"Don’t bother with your little tricks."
Schring!
Scoviller narrowed his eyes, pressing the blade even closer to Anna’s throat.
"If you value this lady’s life, cancel your summons and drop your weapons."
Loraine bit her lip and let her dagger fall to the ground. From above, Serne too descended meekly from the roof.
"Heh heh heh."
Scoviller’s lips curled upward.
"The Keyzen Student Council President, and two noble students as a bonus. The ransom will make me a rich man."
"……"
Simon scratched his head, then allowed a faint smile.
"We’ll take responsibility for cleaning this mess, so, would you kindly come out now?"
Anna beamed.
"Oh my, is that all right?"
Scoviller.
He could not believe what was happening next.
Crack!
Crunch!
The joints in his wrist and arm snapped, strength drained from his knees.
‘What…?’
The noblewoman’s tied hair whipped loose, her dress fluttered in the wind. Her body spun like a top, leaving afterimages.
"Fortunately, since you’re a necromancer, this won’t kill you, right?"
"What?"
Booooooom!
Scoviller’s body was hurled violently, smashing through one building, then another, breaking wall after wall, until after collapsing five buildings in a row, he finally stopped.
A deathly silence.
Everyone stared, jaws hanging open.
Whooosh—
Anna lifted her leg, standing poised.
Her dress torn, stockings full of holes, yet her gaze sweeping the front was nothing but deadly serious.
A monstrous strength wrought purely from mana control.
All present were utterly overwhelmed. Anna then put her feet together, brushed off her clothes, and waved at Simon.
"Simon~ here I am!"
Loraine and Simon both let out weary, helpless smiles.
Serne hummed, "Hmm~", casting meaningful glances between Simon and Anna.
Clatter.
Thud.
All around, weapons slipped from hands, the will to fight drained away.
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