Chapter 10:Then,Let's Grease The Belly a Little, Shall We?
He'd gained a new lackey. And quite a capable one at that. An alcoholic, and one who had nearly killed him with his own hands. But in the end, things had gone exactly according to Kael's plan.
"……I haven't forgotten the promise."
Luke stared at Kael.
Kael looked at Luke's face and thought.
‘Not a bad face underneath it all.’
The disheveled hair, the dull skin, the lifeless eyes made it hard to tell, but his features weren't bad.
‘Seems like he's actually got the skills to back it up.’
To be so young and yet possess that level of ability—why was he going through life like someone waiting to die?
Honestly, Kael couldn't understand it.
‘Well, he's probably got his own reasons.’
But Kael had no room right now to go around worrying about other people's circumstances.
A promise was a promise. He'd nearly died himself, so he intended to squeeze every last drop out of this arrangement.
Before any of that, however, there was something else that needed to be taken care of first.
"Let's eat first, shall we?"
Maybe it was all the physical exertion.
His stomach felt like it was about to fuse with his spine.
* * *
News of Luke's defeat at the hands of an outsider spread fast.
The more insular a group, the quicker rumors travel.
Luke had been the object of recruitment efforts by both Iron Thorn and Bipolar, so the incident shot to the top of everyone's conversation in an instant.
Those who had actually witnessed the fight between Kael and Luke boasted about it in taverns as if it were their own tale to tell, and no small amount of exaggeration and embellishment was added along the way.
Before long, the news reached the ears of the leaders of both Iron Thorn and Bipolar.
At the far edge of the harbor stood a massive structure cobbled together from abandoned grain warehouses. In place of windows were iron plates and spike-studded boards.
This was Iron Thorn's headquarters—the rallying ground where its members gathered.
"……Luke lost?"
Hagen, the leader of Iron Thorn, furrowed his brow. It was the most unbelievable thing he'd heard in recent memory.
Luke was a powerful fighter Hagen himself had recognized.
True, he was living like a broken man these days, but that kind of essence didn't simply disappear.
Even an aged and sickly lion was still a lion.
Luke was a lion.
He may have lost his pride and wandered astray, but given the right opportunity, he would reclaim his former dignity at any moment.
That was precisely why Hagen had wanted Luke. He was convinced that if he could just get Luke under his thumb, he could sweep away Bipolar—his biggest thorn in the side—in one fell swoop.
And yet, this lion had lost to some outsider?
The disbelief aside, he couldn't help but feel suspicious about the rumor itself.
‘And not just any outsider—a commander who had only just been assigned to the post, taking down Luke……’
Something was off.
Because it simply made no rational sense!
"……What is that bastard Luke scheming?"
Hagen's expression twisted. It grated on him like a large thorn lodged deep in his throat.
The biggest problem right now was that there was no easy way to resolve this nagging feeling.
Whatever kingly airs Hagen put on in Nox, at his core he was still nothing more than the head of a criminal organization.
And criminal organizations couldn't survive on brute strength and ruthlessness alone.
Reading the room.
Knowing when to fall in line and when to step back—that was the fate of any criminal outfit.
He was aware that the Empire was in turmoil. The Emperor had collapsed from illness, and the Empire's national treasure had gone missing. The Crown Prince was now the one effectively running the Empire's affairs.
In the middle of all this chaos, sending a wet-behind-the-ears kid as a commander to Nox was already suspicious enough—but for that same commander to take down Luke the very moment he arrived?
Anyone calling himself the head of a criminal organization and taking that at face value deserved to be stripped of the title.
"……This is maddening."
His head throbbed. Moving carelessly in a situation like this wouldn't just mean a blow to the organization.
It could mean Iron Thorn itself getting completely dissolved.
Iron Thorn might walk with its chin up in Nox, but the moment the Empire decided to step in and deploy its military forces, it was over. They'd be swept away without even mounting a proper resistance.
That was what the Empire was. An absolute presence that no organization on the continent dared to challenge.
Just then, one of his subordinates spoke up.
"Boss, if you give the order, I can take care of that Kael guy right now—"
"What?"
Hagen's face crumpled without mercy.
‘What the hell is this idiot saying? Is he trying to run the organization into the ground?’
‘This is exactly why these brainless bastards……!’
His blood was boiling. The only thing they knew how to do was throw a decent punch. That was it.
He felt utterly disgusted. How, in a situation like this, could someone open their mouth and say something so completely thoughtless?
"I-I'm sorry……"
The subordinate apologized as Hagen fixed him with a look that could devour a man whole.
Hagen let out a long sigh and pressed both hands against his temples. His head was pounding.
"……This is an order. Don't do anything for the time being. Any action that could draw attention is strictly forbidden! If anyone thinks lightly of my orders and disobeys them……you'd do well to look forward to what comes next."
The members of Iron Thorn all swallowed dry gasps in unison as they caught sight of Hagen's ice-cold glare.
Hagen was a brutal man. Especially when dealing with traitors or subordinates who willfully defied his orders—he had a way of devising punishments that were nothing short of horrific.
‘For now……I'll watch and wait.’
Hagen forced himself to suppress his restless anxiety.
Fortunately, Iron Thorn wasn't the only criminal organization in Nox. Bipolar—that thorn in his side—would surely have some reaction to this as well.
‘They might sit back and watch like I am.’
Anyone with a brain would know it was too early to make a move.
‘That young commander's name was……Kael, wasn't it?’
He had no idea what that young commander was after, but he had no intention of sitting back and letting things play out as the man pleased.
"Huu……"
Hagen exhaled slowly and dragged his hand down his face.
* * *
"……Are you two seriously messing with me right now?"
Kael stared at Tommy and Jack with a look of pure disbelief. The 2 of them smiled awkwardly and scratched the backs of their heads.
‘What in the……’
He hadn't had particularly high expectations.
How great could food from a security force really be? He wasn't even thinking about taste—he'd have been perfectly happy just barely having enough to fill his stomach.
Back in the capital, it was usually just a hunk of bread with some butter or cheese, and a bowl of watery soup.
A typical Guard diet. Meager by the standards of his former modern life, but better than starving, and he'd grown used to it to some degree.
He'd assumed Nox would at least manage that much.
What he got instead was a single pitch-black lump of bread—god only knew when it had been made.
"Hey, you, 2 rats. Start explaining."
Kael fixed them with a piercing stare.
Jack, sweating nervously, fumbled through an explanation.
"W-well, you see. As you can see, our situation isn't exactly great……. The guy who was supposed to handle food supply quit ages ago, and we don't have quite enough money to be eating out all the time, so we've had to make do on our own……"
Beyond pitiful—it was outright grim.
Kael stared blankly at the bread that looked more like a stone.
‘It's a rock.’
The longer he looked, the more certain he became. This wasn't bread. It was a rock. Nothing a human being should be putting in their mouth.
But there was an old saying—look before you leap.
For one final confirmation, Kael picked up the rock-shaped bread and smacked it across Tommy's head.
Thwack!
"T-Tommy!!"
Tommy collapsed on the spot.
‘Rock, alright.’
The rock, having served its purpose, had a faint smear of blood on it.
He felt bad for Tommy, but uncovering the truth had required no less. What was done was done.
What mattered now was how to solve the problem at hand.
‘Criminals get to cut into steak every night, and I, the Guard Commander, am supposed to eat this?’
If Kael had still been a rank-and-file Guard, he might have swallowed his pride and moved on—but ‘Guard Commander Kael’ absolutely could not let this slide.
"Luke. What do you usually eat?"
"Me? I just……Whatever's around……"
"So you're basically shaking people down for food?"
"……"
Luke quietly averted his eyes.
Come to think of it, that guy had some nerve too.
‘Well, I guess that's why he goes around pulling knives on his superiors out of nowhere.’
Honestly, it seemed like Kael himself was the only normal person in this entire city.
The kind of situation that made sighs come naturally.
‘Still, I've got my dignity as Guard Commander. I can't go around shaking down law-abiding citizens.’
I may be broke, but I've still got my pride.
Freeloading off innocent people didn't sit right with him.
As he turned the problem over in his mind—
An idea suddenly surfaced.
"Wait a moment……. It only matters if they're law-abiding citizens, doesn't it?"
A shift in perspective.
If the target wasn't an upstanding citizen, but instead the kind of scum dragging society into the gutter—wouldn't that be perfectly fine?
The corners of Kael's mouth curled upward.
"Hey, you, 2 rats. Up."
"C-Commander! T-Tommy still hasn't come around—"
"Want me to wake him up?"
Kael smiled with an eerie grin as he reached for the rock—well, the bread—again, and Tommy, who had been sprawled unconscious, snapped his eyes open and scrambled to his feet.
"Sleep well?"
"T-Thanks to you, Commander, I slept great!"
"Good to hear. If you ever want to sleep again, just say the word. I'll put you right out."
Every time Kael casually tossed and caught the rock, it made a dense, heavy thud that no bread had any business making. Tommy's face drained of all color.
"I-I'm fine! I think I've slept more than enough!"
"That so? Then let's get to work, shall we?"
"W-work……did you say?"
Tommy, gripped by a terrible premonition, swallowed hard.
Kael led the Guards out of the office. He put Tommy out front to lead the way and set off at a brisk pace.
"C-Commander? If I might suggest……maybe it'd be worth reconsidering just a little. To me, this seems like a rather hasty—"
"Yeah? Want to take a nap and think it over?"
"……No. I think it's an exceptionally sound decision."
Tommy cursed a blue streak under his breath and led them onward.
At last, they arrived at their destination—a restaurant.
And not just any restaurant. A rather upscale-looking one.
Kael surveyed the expressions of his group now that they'd arrived.
Tommy and Jack were rigid with tension; Luke wore the same sullen expression as always. He didn't seem to have any particular thoughts about it.
"This is the place you mentioned?"
"Y-yes……. This is it……"
"Good. Then let's grease the belly a little, shall we?"
With a sly grin, Kael kicked the restaurant door wide open.