C181: Silver Sun (1)
'It', who was asleep, woke up much earlier than usual.
In the darkness where nothing was seen, as if the ink had been poured on it only red eyes like red jade shone magically.
'It' slowly rose to its feet. Normally, 'It' would have killed time here blankly, but this time 'It' didn't because 'It' felt something familiar ing from afar.
"The smell of blood. This is my blood."
The light slowly returned to the slightly blurred eyes. Soon, when the fog in 'Its' head pletely cleared up, "It" smiled as if it was funny.
"You bloody disciple. When you ran away, you secretly drew my blood and then ended up using it."
The emotion in the voice was more intense than irritation and anger.
"But I thought the blood he took wouldn't be used because I taught and raised him hard."
As long as the student was not a fool, he knew that 'It' could sense his location as soon as he used the blood. That means that he was forced to use it.
"It's fun."
He's a bad disciple, but he's still a great guy. Nevertheless, to use 'It' blood means that he was caught in something interesting.
"I got interested."
'It' is an existence far from the world. Surrounded by boredom, 'It' turned its back on the world and lived a quiet life alone, paying no attention to anything outside. But when 'It' smelled its blood from far away, the boredom disappeared.
'It's' blood boiled when 'It' found out that its disciple was going through something interesting somewhere.
"It's been a long time. Why am I moving like this?"
'It' needed to take a look at the outside world and see how much it changed.
What will the world look like after a long time?
"The sin that caused this master to move 'Its' heavy steps. You will have to pensate me with ample pleasure."
* * *
Rudger trembled unknowingly.
"Are you okay?"
"…… No. It's not okay. This is definitely not OK."
"Is it because of your teacher?"
"Yes."
Hans, who didn't know about Rudger's teacher, didn't understand why he was so scared. Still, from what he heard from him vaguely, his teacher is a great wizard and a wanderer.
Even taking that into account, is there any need for a person of Rudger's caliber to fear such a person?
"Aren't you exaggerating too much? When you talk about your Master, brother's reaction is like someone who saw death before he died."
"Actually, Master is like a death god."
"Haha! Brother, your jokes have improved a lot."
"Hans. Where do you think I learned these magic and skills in the first place?"
"Well, I thought you just learned it on your own because you're such a genius."
At Hans's words, Rudger shook his head.
"I'm not a genius, as I said many times. Most of the technology I use was pioneered by others and I just copied it."
"…… No. Usually, even if there is a pioneer, no one can copy it all."
"Why can't I do it?"
"……."
Hans gave up because Rudger standard is so high that it is too much to underestimate himself. He won't listen to him if he talks.
"Hans, think about it. Why don't I reveal it to others even if it seems like I've acplished something great?"
"Isn't it because your standard is too high?"
"No, I have my own pride. The pride of letting others know what was not in the world and what others didn't know."
"……There was. But why are you being timid?"
"Why? Because I didn't like my teacher."
Even Rudger's magic [source code], that people are drooling after, was dismissed by his teacher. Rather, he was criticized for showing off with just that.
Rudger didn't think it was a disgraceful feeling of jealousy. In the first place, it was Rudger who came up with the basic gist of the source code, but it was his teacher who played the biggest role in creating it.
At the same time, 'It' never claimed his ownership. That was how his teacher was like.
Rudger has been growing up looking at such a teacher's back since he was young. It was for that reason that his standard of seeing something was inevitably different from others.
"No, if your brother says so, how great is that teacher?"
"It is a monster. I risked dying several times because of Master."
Hans was stunned by Rudger's confident words.
'Monster? It's still his teacher. Can he use that word?'
However, he said it so seriously that Hans had no choice but to nod with a puzzled face.
"What a son of a gun!"
"Don't curse, right?"
"Uh… I'm sorry."
"To be honest, swearing is unfortable."
Hans became embarrassed for no reason.
"Well, if you say so."
"Yes, let's call it a day."
"First of all, it would be nice to say that the incident in Theon has not spread anywhere else and has been concluded internally. And brother removed a First Order of the Black Dawn Society himself, this is a great feat."
Rudger shook his head.
"It's safe to say that the most likely risk has been reduced but I can't relax yet. I won't give up on the Black Dawn Society."
He still felt chilly when he remembered that Zero Order came to Theon.
"They'll step back now, but you never know when they'll act again. So before that, we have to start from here."
Hans had no choice but to nod.
"What happened now to finding their hideout, which I ordered at that time?"
Peluma extract, a material derived from the ingredients of the reagent that was conducting the werewolf experiment.
The other day, Rudger ordered Hans to search the Baltanung city where Peluma grows. Of course, he didn't think the information would be found immediately.
"I was about to speak about that."
But Hans was more petent than he thought.
"It's easy to find it right away if the location is specified. As brother said the other day, I discovered movements of suspicious people in Baltanung city."
"What's the possibility it's them?"
"More than 90 percent."
He was almost certain.
"They're in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Baltanung and are holding hands with a nearby gang to maintain their power."
"Didn't they notice something and tried to run away?"
"They didn't. It seems they didn't think we caught their tail."
The laboratory where the Shamsus School was working was pletely gone, but they must have been convinced that even if investigators gathered all the data there, they would not discover them.
"There's one more place I need to visit soon."
"I'll be ready."
Hans, who was quick-witted, immediately understood Rudger's meaning and answered.
Rudger nodded satisfactorily.
As a result, it was safe to say that most of the things to be sorted out were over.
"Of course, there are things that haven't been pleted yet."
For example, Devian Burtag, who fought in the final of the magic duels.
As Rudger's seal control technique was released, he saw the appearance of a "God" that existed beyond.
Rudger was glad that he stopped in the middle. If he was a little late Devian would have bee an idiot. But what will Devian Burtag say when he es to his senses?
'Well, even if he talks about what he saw, no one will believe him and he will be treated as a lunatic.'
At least it was obvious that teachers from noble factions would be wary of him and closely watch him. The same is true of being involved with the Lumos family at the outdoor banquet hall. He didn't think a man like Caiden Lumos would go through with it.
'But it's better to go on like this.'
Now that he was famous Rudger had to pay attention to public reputation and politics.
In the future, many people will e up to him and try to cling to him or obtain something from him.
The nobles are insidious and will stab him in the back if he lets his guard down so he needed to show them.
'How dangerous it is to touch me carelessly.'
If he simply stays calm, they will look down on him in the end so he had to show them that even if his opponent is a duke he wouldn't back down.
That was a sort of territory declaration and he also got points from the president for the incident. It was his calculation that, in the grand scheme of things, there was nothing to lose.
"Hans, is there anything you want to say?"
Hans, who was supposed to leave, hesitated and was looking at Rudger.
"Well, that's……."
"Don't look around and just say it."
"Brother I told you that time, right? If the projects we are carrying out bee stable, we will go to Baltanung to check the secret branch of the Black Dawn Society."
"I did. Did something happen to the business we're working on?"
"No, the business itself is progressing step by step."
"Then what is it?"
"It's a problem because we're too successful."
Rudger, who had patted his chin for a while, noticed why.
"You haven't been disturbed since that day, have you?"
"That's right. The merchant association, which had been interfering with our work by filing a petition to Leathervelk city councilor, suddenly calmed down."
"Did you find out anything?"
"I haven't figured out anything yet but……there are some guys who have been acting suspiciously lately."
"They're showing suspicious movements?"
"Brother must have heard about them too. A criminal organization out in the sun."
Rudger had one thing that came to mind when he heard it was a crime syndicate out in the sun. It was the criminal that dominated the back streets of Leathervelk before the Red Society.
"Silver Sun."
* * *
It was a luxurious room with leather sofas, expensive furniture, and even the finest carpets.
However, even though it was in the daytime, the room was dark because the light was not ing in well due to the blinds covering the windows.
Only a scarlet flame burning in the fireplace was illuminating the room and a man sitting on the sofa in the center said as if bored.
"Hmm. I mean."
His languid gaze directed at the people in front of him.
"Beggars who haven't even learned to eat are climbing up without even knowing what to do, so you would like me to step on them?"
The man waved the document in his hand.
The five people who came as representatives of the merchant cooperative could not say anything with their heads bowed.
"Was our Silver Sun that funny?"
Whenever the man's blue eyes scanned their bodies, they trembled as if they had epilepsy.
Silver Sun.
Commonly called SS, they were once gangsters who were vicious in the dark, but they came out to the sun and became a corporation due to their growing size and power.
Whether it's legal or illegal when it es to money it's their job to intervene in the union and collect money, but there were quite a few areas where they reached out.
Extorting money from street vendors in the name of protection money, distributing food ingredients and wine exclusively, swept away enormous wealth, and lined up with city councilors.
The chairman of Silver Sun, who achieved it, was the man who is now sitting on the sofa and laughing as if he was having fun.
His name was Carlone.
The snake-like eyes of the man, who fed the political and business circles money and even the police, looked at the merchants.
"You're going to borrow my hand because you can't handle beggars?"
Carlone threw the data handed over by the merchants into the stove. The paper quickly burned and the fire spread out of the stove while the sound of burning firewood made their ears sting.
Carlone took a sip of the wine beside him while Merchants were forced to watch the scene, swallowing their saliva.
Soon after, Carlone, who took his mouth off the wine glass, said.
"Temoran, for how many years have I known you?"
"Ten years, sir."
Temoran, a middle-aged man in his mid-50s, replied in a trembling voice.
"Okay. 10 years. If so, you should know enough about who I am."
"Oh, no! I can explain!"
Exclaimed Temoran.
If he hesitated here, Carlone will surely try to kill him even if they've known each other for 10 years.
"In fact, the biggest problem is not the beggars. It's a man called 'the owner' behind them!"
Only then did Carlone begin to be interested and Temoran spoke urgently so he would not miss this opportunity.
"Originally, the Red Society ruled the back world on its own."
"Yes, they did. They were the ones I left to do that."
"Not long ago, a man appeared and wiped out the Ren Society. That's the one who's now called "Owner" by the lower classes."
"So what's his name?"
"Most of the time, they only call him "Owner", so I don't know about it either…….But it's clear that he's the culprit behind all this."
Carlone frowned.
"You didn't bring the most important information?"
"I know!"
At that time, one of the young merchants who was listening quietly opened his mouth.
Carlone chinned him with an interesting gaze.
"I overheard them heading somewhere in the middle of the night before the Ren Society was pletely dissolved. That's when they said one person's name."
"What did you say?"
The young merchant answered in a trembling voice.
"James Moriarty."
"Ha!"
Carlone couldn't hold back his laughter as soon as he heard the name.
Suddenly, the young merchant who spoke his name broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of Carlone laughing like crazy.
Soon after, Carlone stopped laughing.
"Well done."
With that said, he took out his gun and shot Temoran.
The sight of Temoran falling down turned the other four merchants' faces white.
Carlone blew the smoke from the muzzle through his mouth.
"Congratulations, young merchant friend. Now you've succeeded Temoran. What did you say your name was?"
"My name is Cayleton."
"Yes, Cayleton. I'll start dealing with the slums soon. The price to move us will be great and of course, I'll get more money. If you give something, you need to receive something. Do you have any objections?"
"Oh, no!"
The merchants nodded their heads.
"Okay. Then you can go now. Take the body."
The merchants carried Temoran's body and left as if they were fleeing. Soon after, Carlone, who was left alone, couldn't hold back and laughed.
"Stupid people. You really think I don't know."
Carlone knew the whole series of events that the merchants told him about.
He was the first to receive information that a man named James Moriarty appeared in the back alley of Leathervelk and swept away the Red Society. It was also him who spent a lot of money to hire Calsapa Assassins using the remnants of the Red Society.
'However, the assassination failed, and I decided that there was something about the other person, so I watched for a while.'
At that moment, he didn't expect the merchants to e and ask him for help.
In the first place, Carlone was thinking of taking over the back alley sooner or later. Then, the merchant association asked for help, so could he be luckier than this?
He was going to take this opportunity to extort money from them.
'James Moriarty? That's funny. It's just a fake name anyway because he died in the kingdom of Delica.'
Of course, he admitted that he was capable.
The ability to sweep away the Red Society and quickly start the slums was enough to impress Carlone but the Silver Sun was different from the Red Society.
In the first place, Red Society was just a pawn of Silver Sun. They were a tool used to clean up the back alleys periodically.
'It's a pity that the tool has disappeared, but it doesn't matter. It's enough if I make it again.'
Rather, it was enough to gulp down the projects currently being carried out in the slums.
'As long as I get it in my hand, I can go higher.'
Carlone was already convinced that everything had e into his hands.
"Hey."
"Yes."
A subordinate hiding in the dark appeared.
"I'm going to do what I've been preparing for. The cleaning of the slums. You know, right?"
"I see."
"Just give them a light warning for now since we still need some people to carry out the business. Let's do it as usual."
"I'll be ready at once."
Soon the subordinate hid himself in the dark again while Carlone hummed joyfully.
The wine was especially sweet today.