The major general's displeasure at the situation was palpable as the guard broke out in a cold sweat and pleaded desperately.
"Yi, this guy didn't comply with the inspection properly!"
"Didn't submit to the inspection?"
"Look, he's openly carrying a strange object by his side."
The major general's gaze fell on the sword at Osian's waist.
It was a pure sword without any decoration.
Her piercing red eyes scanned Osian's face with curiosity.
"Who are you?"
"Osian."
"Osian? What do you do?""Fixer."
He was just a new recruit, but Osian didn't bother answering that question.
The major general's frown deepened at the word "fixer".
Just looking at his face, he appears to be a young master from a noble family, but he carries a sword at his side and his profession is fixer.
"Do you really use that sword?"
Osian narrowed his eyes at the question.
His knightly body took offense to the major general's provocative words.
‘No, no. Be patient, wanderer knight in me.’
Osian managed to keep his cool.
No matter how he looked at the other person, she seemed to be a person of high status beyond the person in charge of this place.
If he had to guess, she was probably a high-ranking police officer in the city, and nothing good could come of arguing with such a person.
‘So let's be as polite as possible.’
Osian said, knowing better than to pick a fight.
"Are there any idiots who carry weapons they don't use?"
"What?"
Osian felt sick at the words that came out of his mouth.
But the knight's body, once ignited, made no attempt to hide his displeasure.
"If you're really curious, I can show you here."
"......."
The major general's expression twisted subtly.
She wasn't angry, but rather, she was surprised that a fixer could look at her and not freak out.
‘Bluffing? But I can tell by the look in his eyes that he’s not bluffing.’
It's not a bluff, nor is he trying to deceive them.
The man in front of her, Osian, seemed genuinely and sincerely comfortable with his sword skills.
Moreover, his authoritative voice clearly showed that he believed in it.
The major general couldn't quite put her finger on the sensation that had just pierced her instincts like a needle in a haystack.
Rather, it was the guardsman who had first argued with Osian that enraged him.
"How dare you, you arrogant little fixer!"
The soldier couldn't bear to see the major general, whom he sincerely respected, treated with such disdain.
It was half a calculated move to impress her.
He pulled a black trident from his waistband and held it.
"Bastards like you need to be beaten to wake up!"
With that, he swung the trident at Osian's head.
It happened before the major general had time to stop it but immediately afterward, something amazing happened.
The other guards didn't see it, but the major general did.
Before the trident could reach his head, Osian had drawn his sword with his right hand and cut it off.
It happened in the split-second it took for the soldier to swing his arm.
"Eh?"
The soldier's eyes widened as he realized that the trident he was swinging had been cut into thirds and fell to the ground.
He didn't understand what had happened to his weapon.
"What the hell.......?"
A moment of panic for the weapon.
Boom!
Sparks flew in front of his eyes.
He realized in hindsight that the sparks were caused by the collision between Osian's sword and the major general’s metal boots.
The major general had stretched out her long legs and blocked the sword as it fell toward the officer's face.
Osian stared at her in surprise.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that the soles of her boots were made of hard metal.
The major general opened her mouth.
"Enough."
Her red eyes were fixed on him, unable to leave and under that stare, Osian stood, held his position then spoke up.
"I think I've proven this much, right?"
"......Yes. I see. Let's leave it at that. I apologize for my subordinate's rudeness."
"Major General, what the hell are you talking about?"
The guard was puzzled that the major was the first to apologize.
The major glared at him.
‘Shut up.’
The way he said it with his eyes made him freeze.
Osian put his sword away, and the major general lowered her leg.
"And I'll ask you again. What is your name?"
"Osian. Didn't I answer just a moment ago?"
"......You did. My name is Alensia Hare. I'm the boss of this little bastard here, and the city's enforcer."
The Enforcer?
Osian had never heard the name Enforcer before, so he didn't react much but the other soldiers, including the major general, were surprised at his lack of response.
To see an Enforcer in Tirna and not be terrified.
'No. Judging from the way he swung his sword just now, he must have been confident in his abilities.’
A man of his caliber is a mere fixer.
Even Alensia didn't know everything about this city, but she still prided herself on knowing more than others.
‘Besides, just a moment ago, he followed my movements with his eyes.’
Major general Alensia thought about it, then shook her head.
She moved aside and said,
"You may leave now."
"......."
Osian stared at her for a moment as she graciously dismissed him, then turned on his heel.
Before leaving the checkpoint, Osian glanced back and said,
"I didn't mean to kill him in the first place."
With those words, he was out of sight of the checkpoint.
As he walked away, the officer gritted his teeth inside his gas mask.
"Major general, why did you let that insolent man leave?"
"Noisy."
"Major General!"
"Stupid bastard. You still don't know why I let him go?"
The major's pitying gaze left the soldier speechless.
Even if she was strict with his subordinates, she didn't give them such a blatant glare.
At that moment, Major General Alensia's expression changed from a pitying gaze to one of surprise and horror.
What is it? What's wrong with her?
The guard was about to say something when he realized that his mouth was empty.
"Uh, what?"
He realized in hindsight that his gas mask had been cut in half and his eyes widened.
"You see, if I hadn't stopped him, you would have been dead."
"......This, this. This can't be...how, how."
"You fool. How can you still call yourself a soldier of Tirna? You’ll be disciplined."
"Uh, why?"
“Because you don’t know the reason why.”
With that, Alensia turned and walked away.
She thought back to Osian she had just confronted.
‘I thought I definitely blocked it properly.’
Alensia had indeed blocked Osian's blade, but her subordinate's mask had been cleanly sliced off.
‘Cutting a metal mask with just the aftereffects of swinging a sword. I’ve never heard of someone with that level of skill.’
Alensia was just as puzzled, if not more so.
'I wonder what would have happened if we'd stayed there and fought.’
If she fought Osian as an Enforcer, would she be able to subdue him, or more importantly, would she be able to overcome him?
It wasn't impossible, if she used the arcane power only given to Executors.
But Alensia sensed that, just as she had hidden her power, Osian was hiding something.
‘Osian. I'll have to remember him.’
Alensia thought that maybe something big is about to happen.
*
District 47 is completely deserted.
Even in broad daylight, I finally made it to the place, which was dingy with no light from the narrow and high alleyways.
It was a bit of a hike, but no big deal.
'Let's see. First of all, the request itself said to clean up the gangs in the 47th District.’
The request was detailed, and I'd gotten all the information I needed on the way.
A gang is a group of criminals who have grown up in the darkness of a city.
In the game, there are gangs in every city.
The difference was that they were armed with daggers and clubs in the game, but here they were armed with guns.
'A gang called the Black Snakes took over the 47th District, and they quickly grew in power, extorting money from people and even going after businesses.’
The 47th District is the most direct access to the outside of Tirna.
It was a place that served as a kind of pass-through but it was not well policed.
There were plenty of other neighborhoods that led to the outside of the city, and the city didn't see the need to specialize in 47th District.
‘If it’s this underdeveloped, touching it would actually be a waste of money.’
There were police officers in the 47th district, but they were either paid off or just pretending to work.
That's why gangs like the Black Snakes thrive.
Perhaps because their livers were swollen as they increased their power, they ended up attacking the trucks that the company was transporting.
‘The companies that use the 47th District are small to medium-sized businesses at best. They've decided they're not worth the trouble.’
Tirna is a huge city.
It's so big that it's divided into districts, each of which is like a city in itself.
How many buildings are there in the city and how many streets are there?
It's no wonder it's easy to hide in such a place but I was used to this kind of situation.
Even in games, when you try to complete multiple quests, you're often met with unkindness.
When you get a quest, there's no system that tells you where to go with arrows.
You had to navigate and figure it out on your own.
Quests with unknown destinations and complex structures that made it difficult to locate NPCs.
The back alleys of the city in particular were the perfect place to waste time with nothing to do.
Many players got tired of these quests and left the game, or moved on to other, simpler quests but I wasn't one of them.
‘In the game, there are a lot of NPCs that don't interact with you, so it's hard to ask and find things.’
This is real life, not a game.
So even if I just talk to a bum on the street, there's information to be gained.
With that in mind, I decided to look for someone nearby who might know something.
-Boom!
A bright red apple rolled toward me with the sound of something breaking.
I picked it up and turned my gaze to the source of the commotion.
"If you're going to do business here, you're going to pay!"
"Did you think we wouldn't find you if you moved and ran away? You realize we have a tight hold on this place, right?"
"Hey, what are you doing, smash it."
Five burly men, who looked like thugs to me, were persecuting the fruit vendor.
They kicked over the stall and trampled on the fruit as it rolled across the floor.
She tried to resist, but she was no match for them.
One of the taller men gave her a strong shove and she fell to the ground.
I looked around and saw that some passersby had gone on their way without intervening.
At least this wasn't the first time this had happened.
‘Yeah. There must be people in the demolition industry in this world.’
I tossed the apple in my hand, caught it, and threw it at the bully.
-Pow!
The apple flew straight and smashed into the temple of the one who seemed to be the leader of the five.
"Who the fuck are you!"
The scruffy-looking guy whirled around and made eye contact with me, his face contorting.
"Is that you?"
"Yep. I threw it."
The guys giggled and snorted at my answer, then slowly approached me.
"Hey, bro. You look like you're wearing nice clothes, so why the fuck are you in someone else's business. Huh?"
"Let me ask you something else."
"What's with this asshole's tone of voice?"
"From the way you just talked, you guys seem to know the geography of this place. Can I ask you for directions?"
At my question, the four thugs looked at each other and burst out laughing.
The only one who didn't laugh was the one who got the apple and glared at me.
I nodded, realizing that even if he knew, he would never tell me.
"It's okay. You don't have to tell me right now."
There's no point in wielding a sword against these guys so I curled my fist lightly into a ball.
"I wasn't expecting to hear it right now."