Chapter 294
The short man with his hood pulled low grumbled.
“They sure know how to make a departure ceremony noisy. Humans really do love pointless extravagance.”
“Thanks to that, everyone’s attention is focused over there. Works out well for us, doesn’t it?”
The tall man walking beside him answered with a smirk.
One of them was so short that his head barely reached an adult human’s chest, though his shoulders were massively broad.
His companion, meanwhile, was a giant whose head stood two full heads taller than an average human.
They were a completely mismatched pair.
The two men had just finished watching the departure ceremony for the mana stone mine expedition force.
They hadn’t come specifically to see it.
It just so happened that the day they entered the slums coincided with the expedition’s departure.
The tall man patted the shorter man’s shoulder.
“Still, it was a pretty entertaining sight. When else would we get to see something like that?”
“In the end, it’s nothing more than entertainment for insignificant humans.”
“And yet those insignificant humans built a civilization like this.”
“Damn it! If we were given enough materials, we could build a city like this in no time.”
“I know, I know. With the craftsmanship of proud dwarves, building a city like this would be easy.”
“Hmph!”
The short man snorted, seemingly pleased by the tall man’s words.
The short man wasn’t human.
He was a dwarf.
The dwarf’s name was Etli.
Now in his early forties, he used a massive war hammer as his weapon.
The name of the man walking beside him was Buckshire.
He was Etli’s friend, notable for his rugged face and unusually thick body hair.
Buckshire and Etli walked through the slums with the hoods of their robes pulled low.
Even without hiding themselves, there was probably no one who would recognize them.
Still, one never knew what could happen, so they remained cautious.
They had committed too many crimes.
If someone recognized them, things would become troublesome.
At that moment, Etli suddenly spoke as though something had come to mind.
“I saw a familiar girl earlier.”
“A girl?”
“I’m sure I’ve seen her somewhere before, but I can’t quite remember.”
“What kind of girl?”
“A girl wearing a pointed hat. Her build felt strangely familiar.”
“Hmph! There are countless girls like that. Stop thinking useless thoughts and focus on the task in front of us.”
Etli frowned at Buckshire’s scolding.
But since the man wasn’t wrong, he didn’t bother arguing.
They were outsiders who belonged neither to Neo Seoul nor the slums.
Even if the slums allowed relatively free movement, it was still best to remain careful.
Fortunately, everyone’s attention had been drawn toward the expedition force heading for the mana stone mine, so nobody paid attention to them.
Because of that, they reached their destination easily.
The place where they stopped was a small pub hidden in a secluded corner of the slums.
The signboard depicted a hammer and sword crossed together.
Bang! Bang!
When they knocked on the door, it opened slightly and someone peeked out.
It was a woman with skin so pale it almost looked white and striking red hair.
Looking at the two men, she asked,
“What is it?”
“What do you mean what? We’re the people you called.”
“And how would I know that?”
“Fuck! Haven’t we done business enough already? Do we really have to go through this hassle every single time?”
Etli exploded in irritation.
“Just answer the question.”
“Goddammit! I’m Etli of Helbrin.”
As he answered, Etli showed the bracelet on his wrist.
The intricately engraved bracelet contained a black gemstone.
Beep!
The woman scanned the black gem with a scanner.
Immediately, Etli’s face and information appeared on the device.
“It’s correct. The person beside you needs to identify himself as well.”
“Buckshire of Helbrin.”
Buckshire wore the same bracelet as Etli.
Once scanned, his information also appeared.
After confirming both identities, the woman fully opened the door.
“I’m Romina of the North District.”
“Romina?”
“As you can see, I’m an elf.”
Romina brushed aside her red hair slightly.
Pointed ears were revealed beneath it.
After confirming her identity, Etli grinned.
“Nice to meet someone from home.”
“Strictly speaking, it’s not my hometown. I was born here.”
“Why be so uptight? We’re from the same roots anyway.”
“Enough useless chatter and get inside already.”
“Heh-heh.”
Etli entered the pub with a sinister smile.
Buckshire followed behind him, looking around the interior.
The pub was incredibly old.
It was so worn down that even the word “vintage” couldn’t describe it, to the point one might wonder if it was really operating as a business.
In fact, there were no customers inside at all.
Romina gestured toward the seats.
“It’s a real business. We just clear it out temporarily when special matters like this come up.”
“Then I guess the alcohol’s real too?”
“Of course. Want a drink?”
“Sounds good! Pour me a nice cold beer.”
“As much as you’d like.”
Smiling, Romina poured beer from a barrel and handed it to Etli.
Etli emptied the mug in a single gulp.
“Kuhh! Nice. Not as good as Kurayan, but drinkable.”
“You talk like you’ve actually drunk there before. Even though you were born here too.”
Romina refilled his mug to the brim.
Swirling the beer-filled mug, Etli asked,
“So why did you call us here?”
“If there wasn’t business, I wouldn’t have called you.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking what kind of business.”
At Etli’s uninterested tone, Romina smiled faintly before answering.
“Why else would I summon human hunters? To ask you to hunt humans.”
“What kind of humans?”
“You don’t need to know the details. I just need humans with no connections.”
“How many?”
“Around a hundred.”
“Only a hundred? Why not just hunt people in the slums instead? That’d be way easier.”
“I already told you. I need humans with no connections.”
“So you mean there can’t be any traces left behind.”
“Now we’re understanding each other.”
“A hundred, huh… I’ll talk to the boss first, but it won’t be easy.”
“Why?”
“Lately it’s become difficult to secure manpower.”
At that moment, Romina’s expression twisted.
Etli’s words sounded like nothing more than an excuse.
“So the Helbrin Mercenary Corps has really fallen that far? You can’t even gather a mere hundred people?”
“It’s because the terrain of the desert has changed drastically recently.”
“What do you mean?”
“A colony called Steel Fortress suddenly appeared, and our area of operation shrank significantly.”
“Steel Fortress?”
“So Neo Seoul still doesn’t know about it yet. It’s a newly established colony in the desert. The owner is someone who used to be a scavenger like us. But now that he has his own territory, he’s hunting down other scavengers like rats. Thanks to that, we can’t even approach that area anymore.”
The Helbrin Mercenary Corps were scavengers.
They hunted humans wandering through the desert.
Their main business was stripping victims of everything they possessed and selling them off as slaves.
The world was vast, and there were many people who needed slaves.
One of the places that bought the most slaves was Neo Seoul itself.
And the place this woman came from was one of the biggest buyers of all.
Romina’s voice rose sharply.
“So you’re saying you can’t do it?”
“That’s not what I’m saying…”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Heh-heh.”
Instead of answering, Etli rubbed his fingers together in a gesture asking for money.
“Hmph! How much more do you want?”
“We want the weapons developed in Neo Seoul.”
“That’s impossible. The risk is too high. If City Hall finds out, they won’t let us off lightly.”
“Then do whatever you want. We lose nothing by refusing this job.”
Faced with Etli’s bold attitude, Romina glared fiercely at him.
But Etli simply drank his beer as if he couldn’t care less.
Romina slammed the table.
Bang!
“Fine. But you must bring people without any connections. If problems arise, we won’t let you off either.”
“Don’t worry about that. We’re experts at this kind of thing.”
“Bring all one hundred within ten days.”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll leave first.”
“We’ll go after finishing our beer.”
Etli lifted the frothing mug of beer to his lips.
Romina stared at him for a moment before leaving the pub.
Once only the two remained, Buckshire cautiously spoke.
“Is it really okay to decide something like that without discussing it with the boss?”
“The boss will probably say we did well.”
“How are we supposed to gather a hundred slaves? Steel Fortress absorbed everyone, and now people are practically extinct out there.”
Buckshire couldn’t hide the worry on his face.
Normally, hunting down around a hundred people wasn’t particularly difficult.
The Helbrin Mercenary Corps had already identified small villages in their usual area of operation.
Whenever necessary, they simply attacked one of them, killed everyone, and took what they wanted.
But over the past few months, the situation had changed.
People had abandoned their villages and moved to Steel Fortress.
As a result, the Helbrin Mercenary Corps had lost nearly all of their prey.
As though there were no issue at all, Etli replied,
“If there’s really no prey left, we can just get them here.”
“She specifically said she wanted people without connections.”
“What kind of connections would slum rats have? Even if a hundred disappear, nobody’ll notice.”
“Etli!”
“Shut up and drink. What kind of lycanthrope lacks this much guts?”
Even after Etli’s words, Buckshire’s expression didn’t relax easily.
Watching him, Etli clicked his tongue.
“Tsk.”
***
After sending Brielle home, Zeon walked the streets alone.
“A beastman and a dwarf…”
Zeon did not dismiss Brielle’s words lightly.
Brielle was a child with keen observation skills and an excellent memory.
An ordinary child could never have mastered alchemy at such a high level so quickly.
If Brielle believed she had seen them, then she had definitely seen similar people somewhere before.
If she had spotted individuals resembling the human hunters who kidnapped her, then suspicion was only natural.
That was why Zeon was wandering the slums alone.
Since the expedition force had just departed, the streets were still crowded.
Many of the people who came to watch the departure ceremony remained outside.
Zeon didn’t actually expect to find the two Brielle described so easily.
Still, one never knew what might happen, so he decided to search around first.
Zeon thoroughly examined every street in the direction where the dwarf and beastman had disappeared.
But nowhere did he find anyone resembling them.
“Looks like they went inside somewhere.”
Unfortunately, it seemed he would have to give up for today.
If the people he sought truly were the human hunters who kidnapped Brielle, then they would eventually reveal themselves again somewhere.
“This city never has a single quiet day.”
He had thought that after returning to Neo Seoul, he might finally enjoy some peaceful days.
Yet trouble had surfaced once again.
Just as he was thinking that the word “peace” simply didn’t suit him—
Bump!
His shoulder lightly collided with someone passing by.
Zeon immediately apologized.
“I’m sorry. I was distracted by my thoughts…”
“Hmph! Watch where you’re walking.”
The woman he bumped into replied sharply.
She was a beautiful woman with blazing red hair.
Apparently already in a bad mood, she glared at Zeon briefly before walking past him.
Zeon watched her retreating figure.
Not because her glare had offended him.
But because her face felt strangely familiar.
After digging through his memory for a while, Zeon finally remembered where he had seen her before.
“Right… She was beside Eli.”
When Damian had lured the elves of the North District using the Crown of the Spirit King as bait, that woman had been standing beside the Spider Queen Eli.
Though she didn’t seem to recognize Zeon at all.