Chapter 8:Whew, that gave me a scare.
Contrary to Kael's prejudices, Nox appeared to be quite a decent city on the surface.
Sure, it lacked some things compared to the capital, but that was unavoidable.
‘This is actually… Pretty impressive.’
The important thing was that it looked more ‘livable’ than he'd expected.
In Kael's mind, Nox had been a savage slum city overrun with homeless people, where assaults, murders, and arsons happened on any given day.
"Ah, well, about that? There was a time when it used to be like that……"
Jack said, scratching the back of his head.
He was the smaller of the 2 guards Kael had beaten up.
"But ever since the Iron Thorn boys started managing public order, it all just vanished."
"Why, what did they do?"
"At first they'd let it slide with a warning, but from the 2nd time onward, no mercy. The moment you get caught…… it's this."
Jack drew his finger across his throat.
It meant getting caught was a death sentence.
[This is anything but funny.]
Kael shared Balmung's sentiment. To think that thugs were doing the work the guards should be doing.
‘It is effective, though.’
In this world, nothing worked faster than fear.
The guards had regulations and rules to follow, but those men did not.
‘This is infuriating.’
Honestly, it made his blood boil.
He was the Guard Commander who had come all this way.
What gave those people the right to play kingpin?
He might not have cared if he hadn't come, but now that he was in Nox, he could no longer tolerate it.
‘What should I do about this.’
Kael looked at his 2 subordinates, their faces thoroughly battered.
Tommy and Jack.
Both had faces that resembled rats.
Kael had given them nicknames—Big Rat and Little Rat.
‘They're quite the problem.’
They were as hopeless as hopeless could get.
He couldn't handle this entire city on his own. He needed every helping hand available.
‘There's really only one person for this.’
The man with those dead fish eyes.
Luke.
He needed to bring that one in.
There was no other answer.
"Um, how much longer do we have to stay like this?"
"Shut it. Can't you see I'm thinking?"
"……Yes, sir."
Big Rat Tommy flinched and dropped his head.
Having been on his knees for so long, his legs were cramping up something awful.
‘Of all the crazy bastards to run into……’
He'd run into the wrong person, and in the worst possible way.
The truth was that Tommy and Jack had been the ones to provoke things first, but that was long forgotten now.
"On your feet."
"……Pardon?"
"You deaf? I said get up."
Kael's brow furrowed, and the 2, now completely pale, scrambled to their feet.
"Big Rat and Little Rat."
"……Y-yes?"
"There's something you're going to do for me now."
"U-us?"
"Why, don't you want to?"
Kael's eyes narrowed. Tommy and Jack shook their heads vigorously. Goosebumps ran all over their skin.
Kael dropped a hand on each of their shoulders and curled the corners of his mouth upward.
"You've both been knocked around from every direction…… you've had it rough, haven't you?"
Kael spoke in a warm tone.
An ominous feeling suddenly washed over them.
"N-not exactly what I'd call rough……"
"Quiet, and don't worry about a thing from here on. I'm here now. You trust me, don't you?"
The corners of Kael's mouth curled even further.
Tommy and Jack trembled with dread and anxiety.
* * *
Thud!
"……Huu."
Luke slammed his cup down hard.
The alcohol was rising to his head. His pupils, already devoid of life, glazed over even further.
It felt as though a fog had settled inside his mind. Drowning himself in drink made the gloomy thoughts grow faint.
Luke knew that what he was doing was escapism.
But then again, what was wrong with escaping from reality every now and then?
The other patrons inside the tavern were watching Luke with peculiar looks.
"……There he goes again."
"Leave him alone, it's not like it's a new thing."
"Fair enough."
Luke was something of a local celebrity in Nox. He looked like nothing more than a common drunk at a glance, but the moment he drew his blade, he became an entirely different person.
The story of how he had single-handedly subdued nearly 10 criminals was quite well-known in Nox.
"I still can't believe it no matter how many times I hear it. Could it be a rumor?"
"Hey, he might hear you. Keep your voice down."
"And what's he gonna do if he does? Look at him, just sitting there drinking."
There were always those who harbored doubts regardless of where one went.
A muscular, bald man scoffed and spoke up.
He said it loud enough as if wanting Luke to hear, but Luke paid it no mind whatsoever. He simply continued drinking in silence.
"So if I take care of him, I can get into Iron Thorn or Bipolar?"
"……You're insane."
"Thanks for the compliment. Was there ever a sane person in Nox to begin with?"
The bald man smirked and rose from his seat, making his way toward Luke.
"Hey, you. Drunkard."
"……"
Even with the confrontational greeting, Luke remained silent.
Taking Luke's silence as a sign of fear, the man grew even more brazen.
"Figures it was all a lie, wasn't it? Huh? A guy like you, seriously—"
"……Haa."
With a sigh that reeked of irritation, Luke shot out his hand and grabbed the man by the throat.
Crunch!
Caught completely off guard, the man never even thought to dodge, and his throat was seized in an instant.
In that moment, the rowdy atmosphere went dead quiet.
"Why does everyone keep pestering me like this……"
The man flailed and tried to wrench the hand away, but Luke's grip didn't budge an inch.
The difference in build was clear. Luke had a slender frame, while the bald man was considerably muscular.
Just looking at the thickness of his forearms, it seemed like the bald man should have had no trouble shaking Luke's grip loose.
"Ugh, guhh……"
But reality told a different story. No matter how hard the man strained, Luke's hand didn't move a muscle.
Eventually, the bald man reached his limit and his eyes began to roll back. The moment foam formed at his mouth, Luke threw the man aside with an irritated look.
Crash!
How such strength came from that lean body was beyond anyone's guess—the unconscious bald man went flying like a toy.
The moment his body went limp.
Bang!
The tavern door burst open.
A man had kicked it open and strode inside.
His uniform was that of a guard, but the curled smirk on his lips and that particular gleam in his eyes made him look far more like a thug than any guard.
"……Who's this now?"
Kael frowned at the sight of the unconscious bald man.
But he quickly lost interest and looked around the room.
"Ah, there he is."
Having spotted Luke, Kael gave a nod and moved his feet.
The patrons who saw Kael began murmuring among themselves. Nox was a city where all sorts of people gathered, but it was rare for disturbances to happen one after another like this.
Kael sauntered into the tavern—in every way, he looked the spitting image of a thug.
"A beer, please."
"……You an outsider?"
"Up until a moment ago? I'd say you could consider me a Nox local now."
"……If you're thinking of settling here, you'd be wise to watch yourself. You wouldn't be the first stranger to die in a ditch around here."
"Wow, you're actually worried about me? That's touching."
The tavern owner frowned and handed over a wooden beer mug.
"Hm, as bad as expected."
Kael grimaced after tasting the beer.
Lukewarm beer was something he'd never gotten used to no matter how many times he had it.
On top of being lukewarm, it was sour and flat.
"……Is that something you normally say to a person's face?"
"Oh, sorry."
The owner looked utterly dumbfounded by Kael's shameless response.
Mug in hand, Kael walked over to where Luke was.
"How do you even drink this stuff?"
"……Why are you here?"
"Why, am I not allowed to be here?"
Kael stood there grinning.
Luke narrowed his brow. To think he'd be pestered again, back-to-back.
His patience was slowly reaching its limit.
"……I don't know what you want, but carrying on like this in this city will get you killed before your time."
"Ha, the people here must be kind. Everyone's so worried about me."
"Does it look like I'm worried about you right now?"
"Weren't you?"
"……Did you come here to pick a fight?"
"Not particularly—I just wanted to have a chat. Why such a grim face?"
"Mind your own business."
Luke's voice was growing sharper by the moment.
Yet even so, the smile on Kael's lips refused to fade.
This was precisely the reaction he'd anticipated.
"Come on now, how could a Guard Commander neglect his subordinate?"
"Commander……?"
Luke's expression turned ice-cold.
"You're not seriously trying to play Commander, are you?"
"Not play Commander—I am the Commander."
"……Ha, that's funny."
"Glad you find it funny. At least there's something amusing in a miserable life like yours. Isn't that right?"
"……What?"
Luke's expression stiffened.
Snik—Kael curled up the corner of his mouth and spoke.
"What, did that hit a nerve? I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"
"……You'd better watch that mouth of yours."
"And if I don't? What's wrong with calling trash, trash?"
Kael's provocation kept climbing in intensity.
The air around them went cold.
The other patrons in the tavern naturally fell silent and tuned in to the exchange between the 2.
"……I wonder if you think that flimsy rank of yours protects your life."
"What, do I look like someone who throws his weight around because of a rank?"
Kael let out a short laugh.
"If you've really got a problem with it, shall we settle this without the rank getting in the way?"
Luke, who had been staring at Kael in silence, rose from his seat.
He had no desire to keep playing along with such cheap provocation and wordplay.
Luke turned away and was just about to leave the tavern.
"You're scared. Idiot."
That single line stopped Luke in his tracks.
He turned back around and fixed his gaze on Kael.
His expression was the same blank look as before, but the atmosphere around him had shifted.
"……Are you sure you won't regret this?"
"Why would I regret it? I already know I'll win."
"Fine. Then let's take this somewhere else."
Kael rose from his seat and followed after him.
Every patron in the tavern kept their ears wide open, hanging on every word of the exchange.
The 2 most entertaining things in the world were watching a fight and watching a fire.
And this was a fight involving Luke, Nox's very own local legend.
Where else would one find something this riveting?
What had just happened a moment ago wasn't even worthy of being called a fight.
You couldn't really call it a fight when some muscle-bound idiot got thoroughly thrashed for running his mouth.
The moment Kael and Luke stepped out of the tavern, the patrons broke into chatter.
"What is going on? What even is this situation?"
"How would I know? Either way, aren't you going to go watch?"
"Why would you even ask something so obvious? Of course, we are."
And so they all poured out of the tavern together.
The moment they did—they witnessed something unbelievable.
It had been an incredibly short amount of time.
They had all assumed the fight hadn't even started yet.
But it was already over.
And the outcome was something none of them had expected.
Luke was down on one knee, one hand pressed to the ground.
And Kael stood over him with an expressionless face, looking down.
Luke, one of the strongest men in Nox, had been defeated by a freshly appointed, greenhorn Guard Commander.
‘……What in the world just happened?’
A violent tremor ran through Luke's pupils. He couldn't even begin to understand what had just taken place.
As for Kael.
‘……Whew, that gave me a scare.’
He was quietly trying to calm his pounding heart.