Chapter 304
“Are you asking me to find them for you?”
“I know it’s shameless of me, but yes.”
“Why me?”
Zeon looked genuinely confused.
The North District was one of the largest powers in Neo Seoul.
Naturally, they had a huge number of people and an enormous number of Awakeners. With so much manpower at their disposal, he couldn’t understand why they were asking an outsider like him.
Borin’s answer was simple.
“Precisely because it’s you, Mr. Zeon.”
“What?”
“From what we’ve learned, you’ve already encountered the Scavengers several times. Naturally, we assumed you understand the Scavengers’ nature and movements better than anyone else in Neo Seoul.”
“So?”
“The people Eli is making contact with are also Scavengers.”
“So you think I’ll be able to track them down?”
“That’s one reason, but……”
Borin gently bit her lip.
From here on, she would have to talk about the North District’s shameful secrets. But if she wanted Zeon’s cooperation, she had to be honest.
“For demi-humans like us, the Scavengers are extremely wary, so approaching them isn’t easy. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we have no point of contact with them at all.”
“Hmm! I suppose that makes sense.”
Zeon nodded.
The Scavengers were several times more suspicious than ordinary humans. They even distrusted fellow humans, so demi-humans were out of the question.
Elves and beastfolk at least resembled humans somewhat, but the Scavengers could distinguish them with uncanny accuracy.
To most Scavengers, demi-humans weren’t beings to negotiate with—they were nothing more than prey. Because of that, even the North District regarded the Scavengers as enemies that had to be exterminated.
For this reason, it was impossible for the North District’s Awakeners to secretly approach the Scavengers.
Unless it was a special case like Eli.
Borin lowered her head slightly.
“I sincerely ask for your help.”
“Fine. But I have one condition.”
“Please name it. If it’s within our power, we’ll grant anything.”
“When the time comes, grant me one favor.”
“A favor?”
“I can’t think of anything right now. Just consider it a debt.”
“Understood. We were already prepared to pay a price anyway.”
This wasn’t just any matter—it involved the rebellion of Eli, their second-in-command. Borin had no choice.
And from everything she had observed so far, Zeon didn’t seem like the type to make requests that would harm the North District.
A faint smile appeared on Zeon’s lips.
He had intended to track the Scavengers down anyway because of Brielle, so being able to receive compensation from the North District as well was killing two birds with one stone.
If he could place one of Neo Seoul’s ruling powers in his debt, it would benefit him too.
“I’ll look into the Scavengers.”
“Thank you. If you need any assistance while tracking them down, please contact the North District anytime. We’ll do our utmost to help.”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll be on my way now.”
Borin stood up with a relieved expression.
After she left, Brielle opened the door slightly and peeked her head out.
“She’s gone?”
“She’s gone.”
“Why does she have to come barging in without warning? Elves are so annoying.”
“You deliberately avoided her, didn’t you?”
“Well, there’s nothing good about facing them anyway. Mandy alone is more than enough elf for me.”
“True enough.”
Zeon nodded.
For some reason, Brielle really disliked interacting with other elves. Since Zeon was familiar with her personality, he didn’t think much of it.
More importantly, Gaia was peeking out from behind Brielle’s back.
She had been inside the room with Gaia the whole time.
There was absolutely nothing to gain from letting anyone discover Gaia, a spirit lifeform.
Especially if the person was an elf.
The elves would undoubtedly try every possible means to get their hands on Gaia.
That was why, before Borin entered, they had completely concealed Gaia’s presence and scent. Because of that, Borin had failed to notice Gaia at all.
“Still, an elf rebellion? Eli’s completely lost his mind.”
“Why? Don’t rebellions happen often in elven society?”
“Not often? They never happen. Elves are a race that follows nature’s flow. Once an order is established, they never go against it.”
Elves never rebelled against established laws and rules.
Even if something was unreasonable, they believed enduring and accepting it was the proper way to live.
“There’s only been one time in history when elves broke their rules.”
“When?”
“When Kurayan was destroyed. Back then, the elves should’ve disappeared together with Kurayan. But they rejected their destined fate and chose survival instead. As a result, they ended up destroying Earth too. It’s the original sin elves must bear forever.”
A world destined for destruction.
The fates of all beings living there should have ended alongside it. But the lifeforms of Kurayan rejected that destiny and tried to continue living in a new world.
The result was devastating.
Earth underwent a cataclysm close to annihilation, and more than ninety percent of all life perished.
Most of the land turned into desert, and the few surviving lifeforms were forced to continue harsh, exhausting lives.
As a result, the demi-humans—
In the past, Brielle had never thought deeply about any of this.
She hadn’t believed the elves had done anything terribly wrong.
Back then, she had been filled with hatred toward humans, so she’d even thought it served them right. But after Zeon saved her, she completely overcame her drug addiction, and while living among the people in the slums, she came to realize just how grave the sins of the demi-humans truly were.
‘A race burdened with deep original sin. And I’m one of them too. How could I ever hold my head high before humans?’
—Pii!
As Brielle’s expression darkened, Gaia carefully wrapped her pectoral fins around her in comfort.
Gaia looked at Brielle with a smiling expression.
It truly felt as though Gaia was telling her everything was okay.
“Thank you!”
—Be!
“I’m glad I have you.”
—Piiii!
“Yeah!”
Thanks to Gaia, Brielle quickly regained her energy.
Smiling faintly, Zeon put on his robe.
“You’re going out?”
“I received a request from the North District too, so I’m thinking of making a serious move now.”
Several days had passed since they asked him to find the Scavengers, but Argos’s Eye still hadn’t uncovered any information.
If Argos’s Eye wasn’t incompetent, then it could only mean the Scavengers were moving with extreme secrecy.
At the end of the day, the best option was still to investigate personally.
Brielle pulled down the tip of her pointed hat and spoke.
“I’m coming too.”
“You sure you’re okay with that?”
“With what?”
“Your trauma and all.”
“I’m still a little scared, but I can’t spend my whole life trembling. I need to overcome it.”
Zeon smiled at Brielle’s determined reply.
“You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
“This is a world where you can’t survive unless you get stronger. Why? Is that weird?”
“No. I’m just proud of you.”
“Really? Hehe!”
Brielle laughed shyly.
As the two prepared to head out, Gaia quietly entered Zeon’s subspace on her own.
Then the two left together.
Darkness had already settled over the streets.
The slums were far more crowded at night than during the day.
People who hid indoors from the sun during daylight came out at night to work and conduct business.
Zeon and Brielle headed first to old man Clexi’s shop.
They wanted to get dinner and hear about the progress made so far.
The moment they arrived, old man Clexi welcomed them as though he’d been waiting.
“You’re here?”
“Any news?”
“Sit down first. Brielle, you too.”
At his words, the two sat across from him.
“You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“No.”
“I’m starving!”
As if he’d expected that answer, old man Clexi placed two bowls in front of them.
Inside was something that looked like gukbap.
At first glance, it resembled dog food, but in this era there was hardly any meal as efficient as gukbap.
After all, there was no need to go through the trouble of preparing side dishes.
“Let’s talk while you eat.”
“Okay.”
Zeon and Brielle picked up their spoons.
Slurp!
They tasted the broth first.
As expected, it was delicious.
It even seemed like his cooking had improved since the first time they met.
“Mmm.”
“It’s good.”
“Delicious!”
The two began eating in earnest.
Old man Clexi watched them with a pleased smile.
“Listen while you eat. We had Argos’s Eye searching for several days, but no special information came in. Nothing about the Scavengers from Sinchon, Dongdaemun, Guro, or Cheonho-dong.”
“That’s strange.”
“Strange, right? If unfamiliar bastards had entered, someone should’ve noticed. At first, I wondered if they hadn’t arrived yet.”
“There’s no way.”
“I know. So I changed my perspective. They must know perfectly well that the moment they entered Neo Seoul, they’d attract attention. If that’s the case, wouldn’t they naturally look for a place where no one would notice them?”
“A place like that… does exist.”
Zeon’s gaze shifted downward.
Beneath old man Clexi’s shop was a wastewater pipeline that carried sewage underground.
Following the pipe downward eventually led to the sewer system.
Zeon had already experienced the sewers once before.
He had entered them while chasing Croker and the crocodiles that stole his mana generator.
The environment was so terrible that ordinary people couldn’t endure it even briefly, but Awakeners could probably tolerate it to some degree.
“If it’s the sewers, a large number of people could definitely stay hidden without attracting attention.”
“Exactly! Argos’s Eye can’t reach the crocodile-infested sewers. If those bastards really entered Neo Seoul, there’s a high chance they’re hiding there.”
It was a reasonable deduction.
The problem was that the underground sewer network was enormous and incredibly complicated.
“If they really are hiding in the sewers, Argos’s Eye won’t be able to find them.”
“Then I’ll have to go in myself.”
Old man Clexi looked uneasy as he asked,
“You?”
“It’s the only option.”
“Tsk!”
In the end, old man Clexi clicked his tongue.
Just imagining the sewers made his stomach churn.
If it were up to him, he would’ve preferred sending members of Argos’s Eye in Zeon’s place, but he knew better than anyone that it would be useless.
Argos’s Eye was at its strongest when blending into crowds and gathering information.
In an isolated environment like the sewers, they were powerless.
“If there’s anything you need, tell me. I’ll do my best to get it for you.”
“I will.”
“Hoo… I wish things would stay quiet for once, but there’s never any rest.”
“Tell me about it.”
“When are you planning to enter the sewers?”
“Since we’re already talking about it, I’m thinking of going right away.”
“Right now?”
“There’s no point delaying it.”
“You really are unbelievable when it comes to taking action.”
Old man Clexi looked genuinely impressed.
It sounded easy enough in words, but entering that filthy underground world required extraordinary courage.
At that moment—
Kooong!
A powerful vibration shook the floor.
Zeon and Brielle frowned and focused their senses downward.
“Is anyone there?”
At that instant, a faint voice echoed from the wastewater tunnel beneath old man Clexi’s shop.
It was so quiet that an ordinary person wouldn’t have heard it, but Zeon and Brielle, as Awakeners, caught it clearly.
Brielle set down her spoon and stood up.
“Someone underground is calling for help.”