C102: Flowers blooming on an abandoned road (2)
Chapter sponsored by Katarina, Zombiedoll and MaDalk. Thank you for you support.
"What? You're going to rob the Kunst auction house?"
Violetta, who was listening to Rudger, muttered without realizing it, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand.
There were many ears around and she would not have made such a minor mistake normally, but it was so shocking.
"There are a lot of people here, so let's go back to the hideout and talk about it."
"Oh, there's a hideout, too?"
Alex shrugged and followed Rudger with a light step.
"More than that, since he's the leader will he gather more members?"
"Members?"
"The unusual people whom the leader often spoke of. No, aren't they all human?"
"Yes, I did."
Rudger nodded.
"And besides you, the rest of us are in this city by now."
"Oh, I'm curious about that. Who are they? What if they're too normal for what I expected?"
"If it's normal, what part are you talking about?"
"Their abilities."
At that, Rudger paused for a moment. He moved his foot, which had stopped as he pondered on something.
"It won't happen."
* * *
A train station in Leathervelk.
The station, which boasts a floating population of more than tens of thousands every day, was crowded with people even in broad daylight.
Mechanical devices installed everywhere spun around to announce that the next train was coming.
Some people checked their tickets and sat down thinking it was not their turn yet, and those who were taking the train stood on the platform to wait for the upcoming train with their luggage packed.
"Paaah!"
Soon, the train arrived while the horn was heard from afar.
"Ellie, let's go."
A woman grabbed her child's hand and dragged her away. Maybe she pulled too hard because her six-year-old child lost the balloon was holding in her arms.
"Mom! My balloon!"
"Oh, my."
The balloon rose to a height beyond the reach of the child and the mother tried to correct it, but it was too late.
The rising balloon has already risen to a height that even adults can't catch.
"Balloons!"
It was the moment when the child looked at the balloon with tearful eyes that a coarse, huge hand popped out and grabbed the balloon's string.
The child looked up at the person who held the balloon.
"Wow."
To a child, all adults looked tall, but even considering that, the man in front of them looked especially huge. People around him were also surprised by the man's size and glanced at him.
"Here."
Pantos bowed his head and handed the balloon to the child. The child received her balloon back from his hand with shining eyes.
"Thank you, Mr. Giant!"
The man with long white hair like a lion's mane answered by lightly flicking the brim of the hat on his head.
Thump.
As the giant walked down the road, people made a way for him. At that moment, a young voice came from right behind him.
"Mr. Pantos, do you know the way?"
Surprisingly, the giant was not alone.
Everyone was surprised by his size, so their attention was focused on him, so they didn't even think to give a glance to the dwarf man next to him.
He was a man in contrast to the grim giant. At an age that seems to stand at the crossroads between a boy and a young man, he even had a bright smile on his face. He was a man who suited the term Midong (handsome boy).
Pantos, the giant man, paused for a moment at the words of his colleague standing next to him, and scratched his head with his thick fingers. He was usually doing it when he was embarrassed.
The small man, as if he knew it, stabbed Pantos in the waist with his forearm and took the lead.
"Follow me. The leader told me where to go."
"How do you know?"
"He told me through a crystal ball. Pantos, you were listening to it with me, didn't you know?"
"I don't remember."
"Yes, yes, I suppose so."
The two strange people, the thin man and the white-haired giant, took their first steps in Leathervelk.
* * *
"Here it is."
Rudger took Alex and Violetta to the secret hideout of his new organization, U.N. Owen.
"Brother, are you here?"
"Yes, Hans."
Hans, who noticed Rudger's visit, welcomed him. However, unlike usual, dark circles were engraved under Hans' eyes.
"You've been tired lately, haven't you?"
"Not recently. I've been tired for a long time. The last person I want to see is here."
Just in time, the one who made Hans so tired appeared.
"Huh? Hehe. Oh, long time no see boss."
"Yeah, it's been a while." She was a woman with a gloomy impression. Her orange hair, which was dyed as thick as autumn leaves, was not organized, making it look like a strawberry house.
Her appearance was beautiful enough for her to be called a beauty, but the unique gloomy atmosphere, smile and trembling pupils undermined all of those advantages.
Violetta looked closely at her figure and was surprised.
"Eh, you're an elf, aren't you?"
What stood out most were her ears.
Elves are a sub-race where everyone is beautiful and is born with the power of nature. The orange hair and the sullen woman's pointy ears were a sign of her identity.
"Yes, yes. I'm Elf~"
She replied with such a grin that made her look like a drug addict.
Rudger thought she wouldn't be able to say her name properly at that rate so he introduced her.
"She's Belaruna Petana. As you can see, she's an elf, mainly responsible for the production of drugs and chemicals. She has medical knowledge, and she's good at alchemy."
"……An elf?"
Alex, who was meeting Belaruna for the first time, also asked back in surprise at Rudger's words.
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"I can't say there's no problem. That person, no, that elf. Yeah. You said that Belaruna lady is an elf"
"That's right."
"Don't you think it's weird? Elf manufactures drugs? Do they have extensive medical knowledge?"
Alex's point was valid. Elves are a race of forests and are loved by nature. That's why Elves worship nature more than anyone else and hate artificial things extremely.
Human-made drugs, and all the new chemicals that emerge with the development of science were the things elves hated the most.
However, it is unbelievable that there is an elf that manufactured drugs and made gunpowder.
"Not all elves do that. Alex, won't other races see you and think that all humans are con artists?"
"That's true, but isn't your evaluation too harsh?"
"And don't you think that's too old-fashioned? Elves have also long accepted change. That comment is very elf-discriminatory."
Elves still live mainly in huge forests that are not easily accessible to humans, but many Elves have accepted the change of the world since the conquest war that took place half a century ago.
Among them, some elves travel to know the wider world, and others are fascinated by the field of science.
"Of course, Belaruna is one of the greatest elves……Although she has an eccentric personality her skills are real."
"Did you just say eccentric?"
"Anyway, she will be of great help to us."
Even the magic reagents that Rudger uses while fighting are all made by her.
Belaruna grinned as if his compliment was pleasing to the ear. Then, she recalled her purpose and immediately approached Hans.
"Now, now, Mr. Hans. Shall we talk about what we couldn't do before?"
"Argh! Get out of here! You crazy elf! Brother! Please help me!"
Hans begged, clutching Rudger's trousers.
"I haven't been able to sleep properly since that crazy elf came! She's trying to use me as a test subject whenever she has time!"
The nightmare of the past few days passed like a panorama before Hans' eyes. Belaruna approached Hans from time to time and forcibly extorted body tissue. She injected strange drugs into the food he was eating and even when he was sleeping she crawled in her bed and cut him with a scalpel.
Belaruna replied with a smile.
"Ha, Mr. Hans, what do you mean crazy? I'm just a knowledge seeker and I like new discoveries."
"Why are you seeking that knowledge from me?"
"Yeah, it's because Hans has a very attractive constitution. That's okay, right? Wouldn't it be nice to have a little bit of your finger? You might grow it again when you transform later……."
"Grow up? What do you mean to grow up again? Get out of here!"
Rudger sighed, it seemed necessary to clean up this mess.
"Huh? People are already here"
At that time, a clear voice was heard through the open entrance.
Everyone's eyes turned to and saw a man with long gray hair and a young man smiling at this side.
"Both of you arrived on time."
"Yes, I was almost late because Mr. Pantos went off the wrong track again."
"I see. Anyway, almost all the people who are going to gather are here. Come on in."
Rudger clapped his hands and caught everyone's attention.
"I'm sure some of you already know each other, but some of you are new so let's get to know each other."
* * *
The meeting room was filled with various kinds of people. Some sat on the sofa, some standing still and some leaned against the wall.
Rudger spoke.
"Everyone got along well. You all know why I called you guys. I'm going to get over my long wandering life and settle down and at the same time, I'm going to create my own power."
"The foothold is this Leathervelk?"
When asked by Alex, who was sitting on the sofa crossing his legs, Rudger nodded.
"As you all know, I called all the people here, but most of you don't know each other so let's each introduce ourselves briefly."
Hans was the first to step forward.
"Hans, as you can see, I've known you for a long time. My main job is collecting and organizing information."
Is it an expression of his will that he doesn't want to be looked down on at this moment?
Hans gave a solemn air with a lot of strength.
"That's it for my introduction……."
"Hans."
"What's wrong, brother?"
"You have to say something else."
"Something else? No way……That too?
Hans frowned when he realized what Rudger was telling him to say.
"Are you serious?"
"We will be together in the future. It's better to talk about it now since it's bound to be revealed when you work anyway."
"Well, if that's what you say……."
Hans hesitated a little and then confided in his real ability.
"I'm a bit of a peculiar person, exceptional compared to others but that doesn't mean I'm weird or anything.…."
Hans, who thinks his ability is a curse, was not very happy to speak about it.
Eventually, Sheridan, who couldn't resist Hans's chatter, rose from his seat and approached Hans back. She pulled a beast's tooth out of her pocket and poked Hans.
"Argh!"
Hans screamed. He looked like he was about to cry when he saw Seridan laughing and the beast's teeth in her hand.
"This is why I didn't want to tell you."
At the same time, change began.
"Oh."
"Oh, my God."
"Wow."
If ordinary humans suddenly grow hair from their bodies and turn into half-human, people will have various reactions but the reactions of the people gathered here were a little more boring than expected.
Hans looked at his hands and stared at Seridan.
"What teeth did you use?!"
"I just took it because a stray cat was brushing its teeth."
"What, a cat?"
Hans looked hurriedly in the mirror. He now had a bizarre appearance of a half-cat and a half-human. He suddenly felt a strong urge to lick his fur with his tongue.
"Hans, take it."
Rudger took a reagent ampoule from his pocket and handed it to Hans.
"Thank you brother."
After receiving the ampoule, Hans injected it directly into his body. Soon, his size gradually decreased and returned to his original human form.
Rudger opened his mouth.
"As you can see, Hans has the characteristic of taking the beast's factor into his body and turning into that beast. He's not a combat agent, but this particularity is also Hans's strength."
"Hwiyu. That's amazing I can't believe a human being can change like that."
Alex's eyes shone with admiration.
Rudger stared at the crowd.
"And the same goes for you. All of you have one thing that's special."
Rudger has encountered all sorts of extraordinary things while traveling for a long time across the continent and those who could not get along with those around them because they had special abilities and outstanding talents.
Rudger had reached out to them and encouraged them to join him because special things suit special people.
"So, who is going to introduce himself next?"