Chapter 29 - Claire (2)

[Translator - Peptobismol][Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 29 - Claire (2)

Step, step.

Hector’s back hit the door as he retreated.

He searched for the doorknob but found nothing.

“Looking for this?”

The doorknob was already in Lloyd’s hand.

‘When did he even…?’

The question didn’t linger for long.

A formless energy radiated from Lloyd.

It was unmistakably mana.

Only now did the scattered pieces of the puzzle start to come together for Hector.

The fact that Karl suddenly collapsed.

The fact that there was no sound at all during the incident.

The fact that the boy’s physical strength seemed relatively weak.

All these mysteries were neatly solved by a single word: "magic."

“So, you’re a mage. Damn it.”

The power dynamics shifted instantly.

A mage is a rare existence.

They require not only exceptional intelligence and calculation abilities but also an immense amount of resources for training.

Encountering one on the streets was practically unheard of.

In fact, within “organizations,” the presence of a single mage could determine the hierarchy.

The Vincenzo Gang had three mages, which is why they dominated Eastan.

But what?

That boy is a mage?

“Damn it.”

Now, the problem had changed.

The boy wasn’t the only issue.

A girl who could command a mage as her servant—just what kind of status did she hold? If she was above a count, even the organization might find it difficult to handle her.

Hector’s mind raced.

He reached a single conclusion.

‘I need to escape.’

That was the only way.

To do that, he had to throw the mage off balance.

A close-quarters attack would be best.

Hector clenched his fist.

Then, he swung it.

The boy’s eyes widened as if caught off guard.

‘Got him.’

Expecting the satisfying impact, Hector threw his punch.

But then—

—Whoosh.

All he heard was the faint sound of air being sliced.

“?!”

Hector was bewildered.

He glanced back and forth between his hand and the boy.

The boy had already moved to his side.

“For someone who goes around extorting money, you’re a bit slow.”

“How did you dodge that?”

“Do I really need to explain? We’re fighting, aren’t we?”

The boy grinned and extended his hand.

“You little—!”

Hector swung his fist again.

Or at least, he tried to.

“Arghhhh!”

A searing pain erupted from his wrist.

He quickly looked down.

His fist and arm were grotesquely twisted.

“See, that’s what happens when you throw punches without knowing your own condition.”

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“I didn’t do anything. You’re the one clenching your fist so hard. Just relax.”

Hector’s vision blurred from the intense pain.

Without realizing it was advice, he loosened the tension in his hand.

The pain subsided as if it were a lie.

Only then did Hector realize.

“My hand… it’s fixed?”

“That’s right. I was curious if it would work, so I only immobilized your hand. And it worked. As expected, magic is amazing.”

The boy smiled slyly.

He added:

“I didn’t do anything. You tried to swing a frozen fist, and it dislocated. Look.”

Lloyd grabbed the man’s fist.

And then, crack!

“Arghhhh!”

He realigned the dislocated bones back into the arm.

The fist returned to its normal angle.

The sheer pain of having a bone snapped back in place was enough to make foam bubble at the corners of Hector’s mouth.

“…Even the royal family doesn’t use torture methods like this.”

The murmured voice of the girl beside him didn’t reach Hector’s ears.

He was in too much agony to even scream.

Lloyd grinned as he watched.

“If you don’t want more pain, you’d better answer my questions properly.”

Although he said this, Lloyd actually had no idea how to inflict more pain.

‘I’m not exactly a torture expert.’

But he knew well that such words could be an effective threat.

Sure enough, Hector’s body shook violently.

‘When interrogating, you should start with questions that are easy to answer.’

Recalling what he knew, Lloyd spoke.

“What’s your name?”

“H-Hector.”

“Good. H-Hector.”

“It’s Hector.”

“What’s wrong with your name…”

Lloyd shrugged casually.

The precise name didn’t matter right now.

The only reason Lloyd blocked the princess was that he believed there was valuable information to extract from these guys.

Eastan.

There might be clues here to swallow this city, which leads directly to the Imperial Capital.

Lloyd asked:

“Now, tell me. Why did you barge in here?”

“W-we were just here to collect protection fees.”

“Oh, sure. That’s a given.”

Lloyd beckoned with his fingers.

Hector recoiled in fear.

With a gentle smile, Lloyd asked:

“You had greed written all over your faces. Why try to take 30% when you could’ve just settled for 20%?”

“H-how do you know that…”

Yulia, who had been silently listening, interjected.

“Yeah, how did you know that?”

Lloyd shrugged.

“Running a business on the streets is like that. There are lots of extra costs, not just taxes. They’ll probably come later, asking for some ‘community operating fund’ too.”

It was actually just common knowledge Lloyd picked up from chatting with Claire, the Hero Party’s merchant. As the heir to a trading company, she was well-versed in such matters.

‘Come to think of it, Claire could be behind this too.’

She was sharp with calculations.

If using Lloyd could yield significant benefits—if the profit from his absence outweighed his presence—that could easily be Claire’s line of reasoning.

Even though they were childhood friends, Claire had always kept her distance during their time in the Hero Party.

Anyway.

Lloyd shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“So, why are you in such a rush to gather protection fees? Spill it.”

That should be enough questioning.

Lloyd extended his finger, and Hector, terrified, began to talk.

“O-our organization is bringing in drugs soon. To sell them, we need to be at the top of the extortion rankings!”

So that’s it.

Wait, hold on.

“Drugs? You mean narcotics?”

“Y-yes!”

“You idiots!”

The princess, who had been standing by, suddenly lashed out.

“Do you know how many people suffer when one person becomes a drug addict? Their entire family is ruined! And you want to profit from drugs?”

Yulia fumed with rage.

It was the first time Lloyd had seen her get this angry.

It seemed she was more concerned about the well-being of the Empire’s citizens than he initially thought.

Maybe she isn’t a tyrant after all, Lloyd mused as he stepped closer to Hector.

“Eeek!”

Hector flinched and backed away.

‘How annoying.’

Swoosh.

Lloyd waved his hand horizontally.

Hector’s legs became fixed to the ground.

“Don’t move. Your legs might snap off like your hand did earlier.”

Hector’s eyes trembled violently.

‘Ah. I didn’t even mean to scare him that much.’

Lloyd had just immobilized his legs because it was bothersome.

Hector’s eyes darted around frantically.

‘Well, he seems to be enjoying himself, so I guess that’s good.’

Lloyd asked:

“How much of the drug are you bringing in?”

“E-enough to supply all of Eastan.”

“That’s quite a lot.”

“Of course, our Vincenzo Gang is the best in Eastan…”

“You’re just low-level suppliers, so what’s with the ‘best’ talk? Anyway.”

Lloyd tapped his chin thoughtfully before asking:

“Where is the source of these drugs?”

“It’s from a small rural area outside the reach of the Empire’s law…”

“No, not that. Who is bringing in the drugs? Your gang is just a distributor in the city. Who’s producing the drugs and distributing them to each base? Who are they?”

This isn’t a small operation.

If it’s this large, it’s not just being supplied to Eastan.

It’s probably being distributed across the entire continent.

This isn’t something small-time crooks could pull off.

There’s something big behind this.

Something massive and dangerous.

The princess nodded, agreeing with him.

She seemed to be on the same page.

Hector shook his head.

“H-how could I know something like that?”

“Are you sure?”

Lloyd raised his hand threateningly.

“I-I swear I don’t know!”

Hector trembled violently as he answered.

But Lloyd wasn’t convinced.

“What do you think would happen if I stopped other parts of your body like I did with your hands and feet? For example, here.”

Lloyd’s finger pointed toward his lungs.

He moved his hand upward.

“Or maybe here.”

Heart.

Neck.

Brain.

As Lloyd’s finger traced each vital spot, Hector nearly screamed in terror.

“I-I really don’t know! I swear on everything! I absolutely, absolutely don’t know. Please, forgive me. I’ll never be involved in the gang again. Never, ever. Just please let me go. I’ll live an honest life.”

Hmm. Judging by his reaction, it seems he’s telling the truth.

Swoosh.

Lloyd flicked his hand.

—Thud.

Hector collapsed on the spot.

It wasn’t that anything was severed; the magic holding him in place was just released.

Lloyd’s spell had kept his feet rooted.

“Kueek…”

Hector groaned in pain.

But he quickly composed himself and stood up.

Then he bowed deeply.

“Th-thank you. I-I’ll live a good, honest life. I’ll quit the gang.”

Lloyd shook his head dismissively.

“No need to do that.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Hector and the princess both responded in confusion.

Lloyd shrugged.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. Just don’t cause any trouble for our guild. Collect protection fees as you see fit.”

There are necessary evils in this world.

Claire had said as much.

Gangs collecting protection fees from shops was a necessary evil.

Because law enforcement was far away and fists were close by.

Lloyd agreed.

But that wasn’t the grand reason he let Hector go.

It was more that…

“Instead, bring me information. I want to know what’s going on within your organization. The thing I’m most curious about is the true source of these drugs.”

There was a scent in the air.

A very foul, yet.

Massive, sweet scent.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]