‘What just happened?’
Everyone in the bar was thinking the same thing.
Their eyes saw what had happened, but their minds couldn't quite comprehend it.
Taiwo was impatient, so he fired his gun, and Osian swung his sword.
That was it but Osian didn't fall down in a spray of blood. Instead, the bullet split in half and embedded itself in the wall of the tavern.
‘That asshole. Did he really parry the bullet with a sword?’
It's more accurate to say that he cut it rather than parried it.
In fact, whether it was cut or parried, from a third party's perspective, it was impossible to do both.
And at the same time, they realized that the rumors that had spread the day before had not been false.
If he could cut bullets it was absolutely possible for him to take on 40 gangsters.Taiwo was still frozen, probably not thinking that Osian would cut down the bullet he fired.
"How on earth could.......Even if you're a mutant with enhanced physical abilities, this shouldn't be possible."
“It’s just a cut.”
"Just? Just, what?"
"Yes. More than that, you......shot me."
Osian's cold voice brought Taiwo back to his senses and allowed him to look around.
The onlookers gathered in the tavern on the first floor were all staring at him.
Taiwo didn't know what the emotions in their gazes meant and he glared at the mercenaries as if to kill them. How dare the bastards who couldn't even make eye contact with him look at him like that!
But for once, the mercenaries didn't avert their gaze.
The wounded lion could not scare the hyenas, especially not one who had violated the rules of the tavern.
Osian knew that, which was why he had pointed out Taiwo's behavior and that was enough to give him a reason to swing his sword.
“Don't come!"
Taiwo cried out as Osian slowly approached.
His pronunciation was better, but his legs were shaking like a pair of aspens.
Taiwo realized that Osian was going to kill him, and he knew that no one would stop him, that this was a just execution.
Faced with the horror of death, Taiwo pointed the gun he had in his hand to strike again at Osian.
His fingertip was about to pull the trigger when Osian's figure disappeared like a candle being snuffed out.
‘Where is he?’
Taiwo's eyes darted around, searching for Osian but Osian suddenly appeared in front of Taiwo's nose.
Before Taiwo could open his mouth to scream, Osian's sword plunged into him.
"Kerrrrr!"
Taiwo let out a gasp of pain. The last thing he saw as Osian was killing him was his partner, Jake.
Jake couldn't bear to look at those eyes asking him to do something, so he turned his head and looked away.
At that sight, Taiwo's face distorted in despair and he soon lowered his head.
Osian drew his sword, which he had embedded in Taiwo's brain and with a single swing, the blood on the blade dripped onto the floor.
Osian turned to face all eyes on him and opened his mouth.
"As you can see, he disregarded the rules of this place, drew a gun and fired it, so I asked for a reasonable price for that offense, and I don't think you'll have any complaints there."
No one spoke up to challenge Osian's statement.
Instead, there were only nods of approval, as if Taiwo had died a good death.
Satisfied that the situation was settled, Osian turned back to Jake.
"Do you still need more proof?"
"......No."
"Then you'd better get the hell out of here, because I don't want to see the blood of a dishonorable man once more."
The words were blatantly insulting, but Jake couldn't let it anger him.
He scooped up Taiwo's fallen body and made a quick exit from the tavern.
Osian watched him go, then turned back to the bar and sat back in his chair.
“Okay then, let’s start talking again.”
Isabella and Osburn's eyes, which had been scrutinizing him a moment ago, now held an undisguised greed.
Now that they knew the rumors of bullet-cutting were true, they were even more greedy.
But greed is greed, and it made them more cautious.
Osian killed Taiwo, the fixer in Jake's office.
Recruiting Ossian meant that they would eventually have a great power, but it also meant gaining Jake’s enmity.
Jake himself is by no means a fearsome person.
He's very capable, but he has an overly high ego and a bad personality. He's resourceful but not much more than that.
What scares them more is the massive organization behind him.
With no idea what they were up to, Osian was a very unwelcome addition to their organization.
Osian was not unaware of the complex emotions in the eyes that looked back at him.
"I think I've already decided who I'm going to make a deal with."
Ossian's gaze shifted to Ronan.
Ronan Rolland.
The man hadn't changed his demeanor since he'd argued with Jake and killed Taiwo.
"Are you sure you're okay with me?"
"Isn't that what you've been waiting for since last night?"
"Well, yeah......I guess so."
Ronan nodded instead of arguing.
Despite the setbacks, none of them were enough to sway Ronan's resolve.
"I promise to give you the best treatment in the industry."
Osian and Ronan shook hands.
Although it is only a provisional contract at the moment, it appears that this deal will never waver.
"In that case, would you like to go straight to my office?"
"Office?"
"Yes. It's a bit far from here, but since you'll be stopping by often, it wouldn't hurt to see it first."
"Sure."
Osian nodded and rose from his seat.
Ronan was about to follow him out the door when a voice stopped him from behind.
"Congratulations, Ronan. You've recruited quite the talent."
Ronan paused as he turned to leave and gave a slight bow to Isabella, who was giving him a subtle look.
"My, my, it was just a stroke of luck."
"Did you forget that luck counts as skill in this business? Anyway, I'd like to congratulate you again, and tell you to be careful."
When Isabella said be careful, she meant Jake.
Now that Taiwo is dead and he was humiliated in front of so many people, Jake will go after Osian at any cost.
And also after Ronan, who had recruited Ossian.
"Be careful. Jake is a snaky man, and while he smiles on the outside, few people are as twisted in the gut as he is."
"I know that."
"I'm glad you do. At least I think pretty highly of you in this business. Though I'm suspicious of you because you're always smiling and I can't tell what's going on inside."
"Oh, that's hurtful of you to say."
Isabella snorted in disbelief.
"Hurt? Stop making ridiculous remarks that don’t even work.”
"......."
Seriously.
Ronan didn't understand why people didn't take him at his word.
If he smiled, they were wary; if he struggled, they didn't believe him.
Maybe it's because the world is so harsh.
Ronan removed his hat from his head and held it to his chest, bowing his head slightly.
"I appreciate your concern, but this is a path that I and Mr. Osian will have to bear alone from now on. I will take your advice to heart."
"......Yes. Good luck."
"Hehe, I hope to see you often, Ronan."
"Yes. Goodbye, too, Mr. Osburn."
After exchanging a few casual pleasantries with the industry people, Ronan placed his hat back on his head and walked out of the tavern.
Outside, Osian was waiting for him, arms folded.
"I apologize if I kept you waiting. I thought I should say hello."
"I can wait long enough for you to say hello."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Oh, by the way, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I stopped somewhere before going to your office?"
"I don't mind, but where are you thinking of going?"
"The clothing store."
"A clothing store? Why there?"
Ronan stared at Osian's armor wordlessly as Osian gave him a look that said he really didn't know.
Osian lowered his head to look at his own armor, and then realized.
"Ah."
The armor was so comfortable that he had forgotten.
*
Stepping out of the clothing store, Osian gave his outfit a subtle glance.
Brown leather pants that are easy to move around in and a white dress shirt. A simple vest worn over it and a frock coat worn on top.
It was better than armor, but Osian found the outfit uncomfortable to say the least.
Ronan, on the other hand, took one look at Osian and nodded in satisfaction.
"Hmm. You definitely look better now that you’ve changed your clothes.”
Even in his original armor, Osian was reminiscent of a noble, but now that he was fully dressed up, it was no joke.
Not only the clerks at the clothing store, but also the owner came out and made a big deal about it, and even now, passersby would steal glances at him as they passed by on the street.
"The shop says they'll send the armor separately, so we'll go straight to the office."
"......Of course."
Osian felt a little empty without his armor.
Then he realized that it was funny to think of it in hindsight, and he gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
How long had he been in this world and already missed his armor?
Still, it was for the better. The long sword at his waist was still there.
The two made their way to a nearby platform and boarded the tram.
It was a streetcar that traveled through the 30th arrondissement, and Osian sat inside and scanned his surroundings.
‘It's a different world…I've seen gangs, guns, and the architecture, but as I travel a tram like this, I realize it's a completely modernized world.’
Even now, steam-emitting cars were passing by on the streets, and non-human sub-races were also seen.
Eventually, the streetcar came to a stop, and Osian and Ronan got off and started walking.
Soon they arrived at a shop with a sign on the street that read.
"This is our fixer's office, [Violet Fox]. Please come in."
Ossian was expecting something different from a fixer, but it didn't look much different from the other buildings on the street.
As he followed Ronan inside, the bell on the door rang with a tinkling sound.
"Ho-ho."
The interior of the building was cleaner than he expected.
Wooden tables and chairs along with a couch off to one side and picture frames on the wall.
Brass pipes hung from the ceiling and walls, and a dim light emanating from the ceiling's back illuminated the interior.
Classical music played softly from a gramophone on a wooden table.
Against one wall was a long shelf, lined with bottles of various liquors.
"Was this also a tavern?"
"It's a side business. Fixers do a lot of different things, so we run them together as restaurants and taverns to gather customers and get information."
Ronan led Osian upstairs to his office on the second floor.
Sitting down on the couch, Ronan immediately handed him a contract.
"Here's the contract. Read it over and let me know if there's anything you don't like about it."
Taking the contract from Ronan, Osian skimmed it quickly.
He didn't know what the terms were in this industry, but objectively speaking, they weren't bad.
Beyond not bad, it was honestly incredibly good treatment, even by modern standards.
"Oh, and I need to write down your specialties, Mr. Osian, and I was wondering if you could tell me what you're good at, because I'll need it later when I'm trying to get you work."
Osian looked away from the contract and said.
"My specialty is swordsmanship, that's all you need to know."
"Uh, hmm. So you're saying that you are a swordsman?"
"Yep. You've seen me."
"I have. Ah, in that case, may I ask what you did before this? I'll leave that part blank if you don't mind."
"You don't have to. I was a wandering knight before that."
"......."
Ronan started to say something, then nodded in understanding.
"I see. That's the concept."