Chapter 119 : Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Bounty Hunting (2)

I know what kind of anticipation is in those eyes.

And the ulterior motive that lies within.

Karina has a strong background and the financial power that comes from it, something Yuria does not possess.

So, Yuria wants to reverse their positions by catching the Skull Mask, someone Karina ultimately failed to catch despite wanting so badly.

After all, didn't the two of them make a bet over this very issue at the beginning of the semester?

And it's not yet settled.

‘No wonder Yuria's eyes are sparkling.’

But I couldn't grant Yuria's wish.

“No.”

“What? Why? It's a Judgment grade, lower than a Slaughter grade and his main area of activity is here in Icata, so it's close. Don't you think we can do it if we try, senior?”

Her words were logical and persuasive enough.

To refute this, I also needed evidence and logic that Yuria could accept, but there was no way I had such a thing.

'It's just not possible because that guy is me. How can I explain that logically?'

On the other hand, I did have another thought.

Would it be okay if I confessed to Yuria now that I'm a thief?

There's no status window showing stats like favorability, trust, and loyalty, but I've felt something from the emotions, eye contact, and conversations I've shared with Yuria while being with her.

'I feel like Yuria would follow me without a second thought even if I were a thief.'

She had no ambition for the Academy in the first place.

I was the one who gave her a goal, and she says the reason she works hard is because of me.

If I told her I was a thief, she might be a little surprised, but I didn't think she would backstab me and report me.

'But there's no need to take the risk myself.'

It was a matter directly related to my life.

There's no harm in being careful, and this issue also had the entire fate of Shadow hanging in the balance, so I couldn't decide on my own.

“Senior? Why aren't you saying anything?”

Yuria's voice brought me back from my thoughts.

When I looked at Yuria, she was looking at me with an anxious gaze.

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking for a moment.”

“Um. Senior. If you're uncomfortable, we can go for another villain.”

“Huh? Suddenly? Why?”

“Well. Your expression wasn't good……”

“Hmm. To be honest, there's too little known about that Skull Mask compared to his criminal record and there are records of him being missed several times. I thought it would be difficult. But I guess I showed it without realizing. Don't worry about it.”

“No. You have a villain in mind, don't you?”

My eyes widened.

“Huh? How did you know?”

“Just a feeling? I somehow felt it would be the same this time.”

‘This time too’ implies that something similar had happened before.

I think Yuria once told me she found it strange, that it was like I knew the future.

Anyway, it was a good thing for me.

I scratched the bridge of my nose and smiled.

“You remember being with Section Chief Baron earlier, right? Actually, there was a villain the Section Chief mentioned then. After hearing about him, I also thought he would be a suitable first target for us.”

After casually selling out Section Chief Baron's name, I was finally able to find the wanted poster of the villain I was looking for.

“Here he is. Egor the Butcher.”

Egor the Butcher.

A Judgment-grade villain, he was a typical villain who committed heinous crimes like drug trafficking, serial murder, assault, and confinement as if breathing.

To put it more bluntly, he was a piece of trash not even worth the air he breathed and the reason he was nicknamed 'the Butcher' was because of his profession at the time.

He was said to have been a butcher who handled meat in a village called Weidenberg.

Of course, whether that was his actual job or a cover to hide his identity is unknown, but he secretly kidnapped and dismembered travelers passing through Weidenberg, then sold the parts by tricking people into thinking they were special cuts of beef or pork.

Then, one day, as usual, he targeted a traveler, who turned out to be the daughter of a central nobleman, Viscount Freya, and failing to confirm this before committing the act became his fatal mistake.

His murderous deeds sparked the outrage of many nobles and quickly spread throughout the empire, and as soon as a warrant was issued for his arrest, he was graded as Judgment, not just a Special Watch target.

The bounty set was also high.

'A whopping 30 gold.'

It could be said to be the highest among the Judgment grade and it was a clear example of how terrifying the wrath of a parent who lost their child could be.

That’s why I chose this guy.

He was trash that deserved to die, not that strong, and also gave the most money.

The most important thing was that I knew where this guy was hiding right now.

“But he hasn't been caught yet?”

“They couldn't catch him. Money-crazed bounty hunters scoured the empire to catch him, but they couldn't find where he was hiding. Originally, the bounty on his head was 20 gold. It went up to 30 gold because he just wouldn't get caught.”

"Heo," Yuria let out a small sigh.

“At that point, didn't he just die somewhere?”

“I thought so too, but from what Section Chief Baron said, that’s not the case. This guy is still alive. A dead body was recently discovered in a village in the eastern part of the empire, and the method of killing was similar to the Butcher's. He heard it from a colleague working there, so there's no way it's false information.”

Just then, Yuria, who had been listening to me quietly, clapped her hands.

“Ah! Then, in a way, we've also received a secret directive from the Section Chief, haven't we?”

……Uh.

Is that how it works?

Well, from Yuria's perspective, it could be interpreted that way, but at this point, I started to worry a little.

What if she goes to Section Chief Baron and brings this up?

Then my lie would be exposed in an instant.

'It's good that the lie comes out so plausibly, but the problem is that once I tell one lie, I have to keep telling more.'

Ah, whatever.

I'll meet with Section Chief Baron later and get our stories straight.

He’s a malicious shipper, so if I tell him it's related to Yuria, he'll say okay without any questions.

“Shall we go now?”

Worried she might ask more questions, I quickly organized the file and stood up.

We departed on Saturday.

Since it wasn't recognized as an educational or official activity like the off-campus activity period, the only time we could use it was the weekend.

Before leaving, I made all the preparations I could.

I stopped by the Lunatic to share my schedule with Luis and Dayle and also met Guartes in the sewer to see if he had any requests.

And so, on the day.

We met early on Saturday morning and boarded an airship bound for the eastern imperial city of Paragon.

By the time we arrived in Paragon, the sun, which had been at the top of our heads, was hiding behind the mountains.

Paragon was a large metropolis.

As a center of eastern trade and one of the gateways to the capital, Icata, it had a large floating population of mercenaries, adventurers, and merchants.

For this reason, the lodging industry was particularly developed, with a variety of accommodations ranging from luxury hotels to shabby inns.

We considered our expenses and checked into the shabbiest inn.

We would only be staying for one night anyway and neither I nor Yuria were picky about our sleeping arrangements, so as long as it wasn't a collapsing warehouse, it didn't matter much.

'Though it's not like we'll be sleeping anyway.'

I planned to wrap everything up tonight and tomorrow morning.

I already had a plan in my head about where Egor the Butcher was hiding, and what I had to do to draw the hiding bastard out.

After organizing our luggage in the room, we went outside the inn again.

Just as a shadow is cast where there is light, in the dark corners of the city where people's eyes do not reach, there exists a place called the Pleasure Den.

Pleasure Dens exist in various forms in every city, but Paragon's Pleasure Den was different.

The city of Paragon, located in a basin, was an incredibly hot city, and its poor people had dug into the ground to build houses and live there to escape the scorching sunlight.

And that was the origin of the Paragon Pleasure Den.

In the maze created by the tightly packed buildings, the smoke from puffing cigarettes flows out, and the moans of those writhing between pleasure and pain from cheap drugs and sexual acts echo every night.

On one side, gamblers, high on dopamine, stare intently at the cards in their hands, and in the arena next to them, blood and cheers erupt.

It was truly a place where all the entertainment that could satisfy human desire was thrown together.

For this reason, Paragon's Pleasure Den was located in a place out of public sight, but those in the know knew all about it, so it was their own playground that they visited regularly whenever they stopped by Paragon, and this included commoners and nobles alike.

'And Egor the Butcher is the bodyguard and manager of Kazan, the boss of the Pleasure Den.'

The reason Egor had been able to hide until now was because of Kazan's protection.

In fact, from my perspective, Egor was on the weaker side, but in the general underworld, Egor's skills were quite formidable.

Especially since he thought of humans as ingredients, he was an expert at dealing with people.

Kazan had many enemies and Egor needed a home to protect him, so the two, who could complement each other's weaknesses, entered into a contractual relationship.

“Let's stop by there first.”

I took Yuria to a general store.

It was called a general store, but all it dealt with were masks.

From colorful masks to masks that looked like the severed heads of animals and people.

The sight of them hanging on the wall and looking at us was as if we were surrounded by human heads, a scene that would make an ordinary person's knees buckle.

Yuria paused for a moment at the grotesqueness, and looked up at me quietly.

“Pick one?”

“Yes.”

Yuria seemed to hesitate for a moment, then chose a cat mask.

I just picked the one next to it.

It was a mask of something that could have been a tiger, a leopard, or a magical beast.

When we went to the counter, the owner, who was puffing on a cigarette, held out his palm.

He was a blind man with no eyes, and I placed two silver coins on his palm.

The owner, after receiving the money, sniffed and then chuckled as he pocketed the money.

Then he lifted the bead curtain next to him and gestured with his head for us to enter.

It was the back door leading to the Pleasure Den.

“Let's go.”

Yuria, who had put on her mask at some point, tightly gripped my sleeve.

Anonymity is the basic premise of Paragon's Pleasure Den.

This was because everyone from public officials working for the state to nobles, and even clergy and monks came to play.

All of them were uncomfortable with their identities being exposed, and from Kazan's perspective, he could have just not let them in, but after realizing they accounted for the largest portion of his revenue, he couldn't help but feel it was a shame.

So, the mask system was introduced.

“Hahahaha!”

“Damn it! A flush again? Are you kidding me?”

“Are you blind? Here. Check it, you bastard.”

“Fight! Kill him!”

As we followed the narrow passage leading from the back door, it wasn't long before we heard shouts of "Waaah!" and a boisterous noise from ahead.

Billowing clouds of cigarette smoke are trapped indoors, hanging thick like fog and a mixture of the body odor of various people, the sour smell of sweat, drugs, cosmetics, and cigarettes creates an indescribable stench.

I took a quick look around.

I could see people dressed in reddish-black suits stationed around.

They were the guards of the Pleasure Den.

But Egor was nowhere to be seen.

“……Is he here?”

Was it because it was noisy around us?

Yuria whispered, sticking close to me.

I shook my head.

“No.”

Egor was a monstrous giant over 2 meters tall.

No matter how crowded it was, a giant of that size would stand out from a distance.

“No matter how much I look, he’s not here. He must be in the VIP room. Let's go there.”

“Be careful.”

“Okay.”

The VIP room was a space for special customers, located in the center of the Pleasure Den, and not just anyone was allowed entry.

Naturally, we, wearing ordinary masks, were subject to being stopped.

Well, there was no separate solution for this.

Just brute force.

Right now, there would be nobles and other celebrities in the VIP room, and if we caused a commotion in front of them and revealed that we were Academy cadets, the cunning Kazan would surely try to persuade us first, not subdue us.

I planned to make a deal there.

Hand over Egor, whom he was hiding.

Then we would leave.

It was basically a threat, but Kazan, who prioritized money over loyalty, would surely accept our proposal at once.

‘Yes. It should be like that, but…….’

The way things were going was a bit strange.

‘Why is no one stopping us?’

It was strange.

As we walked down the long corridor leading to the VIP room, not a single guard stopped us.

In the first place, the guards who should have been stationed in the corridor were gone.

Did they all go to the bathroom together?

Or were they all slacking off together?

‘Could it be a trap?’

No.

That couldn't be.

Except for Section Chief Baron, Luis, and Dayle, no one knew we were coming here, and we even just dropped off our luggage at the inn and came straight here.

There was no way they had time to set a trap and wait.

In the meantime, we ended up arriving at the VIP room, and the plan to cause a commotion and make them come out on their own was futilely thwarted.

“Well, I'll be……”

“What should we do?”

“Well, since it's come to this, we'll have to go in and find them ourselves.”

The esteemed guests inside might not like it.

But what could we do?

We had come this far, and we couldn't go back empty-handed.

Thinking that, I opened the door in front of me.

Bang!

At the same time, the two of us froze on the spot.

“……Damn. What is all this.”

As if a demon had paid a visit, a terrible hell had already unfolded inside.

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