Chapter 97
Iskan and I checked our equipnt before entering the abandoned building.
‘The shock pistol is too powerful.’
The shock pistol, Ruina, wasn’t a weapon ant for frequent use in anti-personnel combat. It was originally designed specifically to counter Rick Silva Núñez.
Click.
I adjusted the standard-issue pistol of the Imperial Guard. The components moved smoothly. It had a simple, reliable structure with no unnecessary features. Its firepower was weak, but that could be compensated for with precision shooting.
Whirr.
I drew my blade halfway. The edge of Crucis glead with a cold, blue light. I preferred this over a gun.
Whoosh.
Then, I spun Ilay’s gift, Graken Vuth, in one hand. The dagger required little maintenance, yet its pristine white blade remained razor-sharp.
“You have a Graken Vuth? Did you seize it from an Equessian?”
Iskan recognized the weapon and spoke.
“A friend gave it to as a gift.”
“That’s a rare item. You must have good friends.”
“...I suppose so.”
I hesitated for a mont before responding.
Iskan raised his eyebrows slightly, as if surprised by my answer, then smiled.
Woooom!
A low hum echoed from the sky in the direction of Akbaran.
We hunched down and turned toward the sound. A hovering vehicle stopped in front of the abandoned building, and a man stepped out. He glanced around cautiously before entering the building.
“There must be sothing in there. People keep going in.”
After waiting a mont, we approached the building. The outer walls didn’t seem to have any surveillance devices.
Step, step.
We walked into the dark interior. A cold hallway stretched ahead, completely devoid of light.
‘This is a well-traveled passage.’
This wasn’t an abandoned building. There were clear signs of activity. Dust on the floor had been disturbed, forming trails of footprints.
“There’s soone up ahead.”
I whispered. Iskan would have noticed as well.
“For now, hold back on the violence until I give the signal. We might be able to resolve this through conversation.”
Past the hallway, a room opened up. The walls were sealed on all sides, without even a window—an environnt where normal eyesight was useless.
Whirr.
Only the glow of cybernetic eyes flickered in the darkness.
Three n stood inside. One of them noticed us and spoke.
“Oh, you’re here already? There’s still so ti before your appointm—”
“You idiot! They’re not custors!”
“What?!”
The n belatedly shouted and pointed their guns at us. The red dots of optical sights landed on our foreheads.
“Whoa, whoa, let’s all calm down. I’m just here as a custor.”
Iskan raised both hands as if surrendering.
“Who the fuck are you? A custor? We only take reservations, dumbass.”
Among the three n, the one who seed to be the leader tilted his gun toward Iskan. He had no idea that the man in front of him was a high-ranking Imperial Guard. If he really wanted to threaten him, he needed sothing more than a gun—he needed a bomb powerful enough to blow up the whole room.
“Let’s make an exception just for today. It took a lot of effort to track this place down. I heard this is the only spot that provides proper service.”
Iskan lied without hesitation. He was simply throwing out a plausible story to gauge their reaction.
“Then why’d you bring soone with you? You think this is a joke?”
Since he was keeping his gun aid steadily, he chose to ask questions instead of attacking right away.
‘He’s curious about where we got our information.’
Until he figured that out, he wouldn’t attack us outright. At first, he’d at least pretend to coax us.
“This guy is my bodyguard. It’s my first ti here—wouldn’t it be reckless to co alone?”
“This little punk?”
“He’s skilled. Go ahead and aim at his head and pull the trigger.”
“What? You think we won’t?”
“It’s fine if he dies.”
“Hah... Hahaha, you crazy bastard. Well...”
The man laughed, rubbing his forehead. Then, in an instant, he changed the direction of his gun and aid at .
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. I had already read his finger movent and tilted my head. The bullet grazed past my ear.
The n’s eyes widened. They exchanged whispers, clearly startled.
“...Seems like he really can handle security. If you can afford soone of this level, you must be quite wealthy.”
His tone had changed. He must have realized that fighting us outright wouldn’t be in his favor.
“I can pay in goods instead of credits.”
Digital assets like credits were easily traceable. The deeper underground you went, the more people preferred alternative paynt thods.
“So, who referred you here?”
The conversation was unfolding smoothly, though their wariness remained.
“They asked to keep it confidential.”
“Hmm... That’s odd. If another client introduced you, we wouldn’t be having this unnecessary tension.”
“I don’t know the full details. They asked to keep it a secret, so I am.”
A silence settled after Iskan’s words. I observed the three n carefully, prepared to subdue them instantly if their attitudes shifted.
“You should leave for today. Visits like this are troubleso. If you co back properly introduced, we’ll accept you.”
The n were already gathering their things. The mont we left, they would change locations and inform only their “regulars” of the new eting point.
‘They’re being extrely cautious. But I suppose that’s necessary for doing business in the underground.’
At this point, I was genuinely curious about what they were selling. Prostitution and drugs were easy enough to find in the lower districts.
I waited for Iskan’s signal. Killing two and keeping one alive for interrogation would suffice.
“If you turn away like this, it’ll be difficult for you to continue your business. I tend to hold grudges.”
Iskan was still trying to talk his way through.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
The leader cursed and moved to aim at Iskan. At the sa ti, my hand moved.
“If you knew who you were pointing a gun at, you wouldn’t even dare. Go ahead and try—if you want to regret it. Got family? Friends? They’ll all die. Because of you.”
I spoke while leveling my pistol at him, making it seem as if Iskan was a noble of exceptionally high status. And, for the most part, my words were true.
If this conversation didn’t resolve things, they would be the ones to die.
The n hesitated before lowering their guns. I loosened my aim slightly but kept observing.
“...Do you even know what we sell?”
We didn’t. Handling this was Iskan’s job.
“I ca to buy pleasure. Making an accomplice would be safer for you too, wouldn’t it?”
It was a vague phrase that could apply to any underground business. Whether it worked or not was uncertain.
“Hah... Alright. Follow . We don’t normally make exceptions like this. We never take custors without a reservation or a proper introduction.”
“I’ll compensate you generously.”
“As you should.”
The man opened a door, revealing a staircase leading underground.
‘Another damn basent.’
I grumbled internally. It was natural for people in this line of work to use underground tunnels. But ever since experiencing the Arcane Fortress, I had grown to dislike them.
The man guided us alone, while the other two seed to have other custors to attend to.
Step, step.
The man leading us down the underground passage carried an electric lantern. No matter how well one could see in the dark, nothing was more comfortable than clear visibility under a light.
“Since you don’t have a reservation, I’ll assign you whatever’s left over. Don’t bother asking for a replacent.”
He spoke while walking ahead.
“I was the one who forced my way in, so I won’t be unreasonable.”
“Do you have any preferred equipnt or setups?”
Iskan was undoubtedly thinking fast.
‘Prostitution? But if he’s asking about equipnt and setups...’
His wording was oddly cold.
But I didn’t dwell on it for long. I focused all my ntal resources on mapping out the passage we were walking through. Conversation was Iskan’s responsibility.
“No need to prepare anything separately. I’ll use my own.”
“Hmm. So that’s the type you are. You must have sothing in mind already.”
“I’d rather not discuss embarrassing fantasies.”
“Haha, it’s not easy to say out loud, is it? Even for us. We prefer to speak in indirect terms rather than outright stating things.”
The atmosphere grew noticeably more relaxed.
But sothing had been nagging at for a while now.
I slowly parted my lips.
“...Excuse , but may I ask sothing?”
At my words, the man stopped walking.
“You wouldn’t have any reason to be curious about this place, would you, bodyguard?”
His response carried a hint of irritation.
I rolled my eyes around, scanning the underground passage. A faint hum from my cybernetic implants filled the air. Iskan would have realized that I had increased my output.
“People pass through here regularly, don’t they?”
This was the discrepancy I had noticed. There were no traces of foot traffic. Two custors had entered before us. If they had co through here, there should have been signs of movent.
‘Unless they use different underground passages for each custor, this doesn’t make sense.’
The man would need to answer carefully. Whether I used force or not depended on his response.
“What are you talking about? People co and go all the ti—”
Before he could finish his sentence, I acted.
The forced smile, the sweat forming on his skin, and the blatant lie—when all those pieces aligned, I reached a single conclusion.
He was leading us into a trap.
Whoosh.
I slipped behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck. At so point, the dagger, Graken Vuth, had found its place beneath his chin.
Iskan simply observed my actions in silence.
“Choose your next words carefully, unless you want your throat torn open.”
“H-Hey now, c-custor... W-What is this...? Ghh! Kghhh...!”
I pressed Graken Vuth against the man’s chin. The sharp tip of the blade touched his tongue. Blood spilled down his neck like a crimson tie.
Threats without violence often sound like empty bluffs.
‘I can kill you.’
The target needed to feel that truth in their very body.
“I wasn’t completely sure... but the way you reacted just now confird it. This isn’t a passage for custors, is it?”
Iskan stepped in front of the man, speaking calmly.
“Y-You b-bast— Kahk!”
I twisted Graken Vuth slightly. The wound tore open, and the bleeding worsened.
“Answer only what you’re asked. We don’t care if you die. The only reason you’re alive is to make our job easier. If we decide that getting answers from you is more trouble than it’s worth... we’ll just kill you here and move on.”
“A-All right, I g-get it... J-just... p-put the k-knife away, p-please.”
The man barely managed to stamr out a response.
Swish!
I withdrew Graken Vuth and flicked it clean. The mont the blood droplets hit the ground, the pristine white blade glead as if brand new.
Clank, clatter!
I yanked the man’s weapon from him and tossed it aside. Now unard, he clutched his bleeding jaw, gasping for breath.
Iskan watched him calmly.
“We don’t care what kind of business you run. We just need to et one of your custors. If you cooperate, nothing will happen. One custor disappears, and you keep doing business as usual. Understand?”
The man struggled but nodded.
“Then take us through the proper custor passage. We don’t want to kill anyone unnecessarily—including you.”
As I listened to Iskan, a thought crossed my mind.
‘Iskan is sticking to a peaceful approach as much as possible.’
If it were , I would have subdued all three n the mont they appeared and started with imdiate threats. Kill two quickly, and the last one would crumble in fear.
Sudden violence and death threw people into panic. And panicked people spilled the truth easily.
Iskan knew this thod well. But he had chosen the more tedious diplomatic approach. This was a man who had undoubtedly killed countless people in his life as an Imperial Guard.
‘We don’t want to kill anyone unnecessarily.’
I interpreted that differently.
‘I don’t want to kill anyone unnecessarily.’
Iskan preferred non-lethal thods. His words weren’t a simple ploy—he genuinely didn’t want to kill.
The Imperial Guard were trained combat machines, their natural aggression honed into lethal precision. And yet, he hesitated to take lives.
‘A way to hold onto his humanity... to keep from being consud by the Legion.’
I felt like I had just uncovered Iskan’s defense chanism.
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