Chapter 179 : Chapter 179

Chapter 179 : Ellen's Gang

Brakenport.

Flocks of seagulls covered the sky. Cries burst out loudly with every flap of their wings.

Kkiruk― Kkiruk― Kkiruruk―

A pair of corpses lay sprawled at the end of the embankment.

“…….”

“…….”

Three boys were gathered in front of them.

They looked down at the corpses with hardened faces.

“We’re screwed.”

“Tell me about it.”

The two boys on either side threw out a word each.

Every time they did, the expression of the boy in the middle became more distorted.

“……Just which bastards are they?”

The boy in the middle, Ellen, finally opened his mouth. He chewed on his fingernails.

“Probably the Fergus bastards. Those guys are busy sabotaging everything we do.”

“Couldn’t it be the Ironclad Lobster bastards? The look in their eyes was unusual when we brought these people in.”

Ellen roughly swept back his bangs. He sighed deeply repeatedly.

“Damn it. Regardless of which bastards they are, isn’t the problem that we took our eyes off them first?”

“That is true.”

“Admitted.”

The two boys on either side nodded their heads.

Ellen opened his eyes sharply.

“Where the hell did Tiaro and McRay go? To think they still haven’t…… when things have come to this pass.”

It was then.

“Ellen―!”

An urgent shout was heard from the edge of the beach.

Two people ran at full speed, cutting through the sandy beach.

The voices calling Ellen repeatedly pierced through the sound of waves and echoed to the end of the embankment.

“Heok, heok, heok!”

The two people gasped for breath with their hands on their knees.

Ellen watched that sight wordlessly. Patience dwelt in his eyes.

“……Tiaro, McRay.”

“B, Big trouble, Ellen!”

“Is it bigger trouble than this?”

Ellen stepped aside so the corpses could be seen.

At that moment, Tiaro and McRay’s eyes grew round and large.

“Uh uh?! W, What! Why are these people dead?”

“…….”

“We didn’t do it!”

Ellen swallowed a sigh. Even his eyelids trembled.

“It happened during the time you two were in charge of guarding.”

“Aha.”

Tiaro tilted his head toward the corpses.

“Well, sorry about that!”

“…….”

“D, Done, right? I apologized.”

Only the cries of the seagull flock echoed lonely.

The boys were busy looking at Ellen’s reaction.

Ellen said while covering his forehead with his hand.

“So, where have you two been?”

“……Ah! Right!”

Tiaro suddenly lifted his head.

“The statue is strange, Ellen!”

“Statue? The Rosaria Goddess Statue?”

“Yeah! The…… light in the eyes went out!”

Ellen and the other two boys tilted their heads.

Tiaro tapped the rim of his eye with his index finger.

“Originally, blue lights were turned on!”

“Were they?”

“They were! Since we see it every day, we’re just used to it so we can’t recall it well!”

“……Okay, but so what. The lights went out, so what are we supposed to do.”

This time, the two boys standing on the sides stepped in.

“Mm, Ellen. This seems like a somewhat serious situation?”

“You know how much Deiron cherishes the Goddess Statue. Last time he came, he smacked his attendant Hans’s head just because some dust got on its instep.”

It was true. There was no one in Brakenport who didn’t know that the ruler of the port changed from Hans to Alkabang because of that incident.

“But the light that used to be in the eyes disappeared? This, this, doesn’t seem like it’ll end with just one or two necks.”

“A bloodbath will blow.”

The two boys on either side stroked their forearms. To the boys of Brakenport, Deiron was terror itself.

“Deiron is dead.”

McRay was pressing down firmly on both his temples with his fingers.

Instantly, everyone’s gaze pinned on him. It was to the extent that even Ellen flinched.

“What is he saying?”

“Has he gone crazy?”

Sarcastic voices went back and forth. Tiaro, who was next to him, slapped McRay’s snout with his palm.

“This bastard, there are things you can say and things you can’t.”

“Dude, watch your mouth. Even we will get fucked, seriously.”

McRay used to throw out words like this, and strangely, there were times when they fit exactly.

Therefore, these sorts of prophecies from McRay acted as advice determining the gang’s course of action, but in cases like now, they were mostly treated as nonsense.

“Ah damn! It’s real!”

McRay shouted while shaking off the flying kicks and fists.

“I saw clearly that some knight took Deiron’s head and went like this!”

McRay placed the knife at his waist on his shoulder with a clunk.

With his other hand, he pretended to grip something and walk authoritatively.

He was even adding facial expressions.

“I got it so stop, McRay.”

Ellen restrained him. He moved his gaze to the corpses again.

“……Still, it wasn’t bad for a first attempt. Let’s place significance on the fact that we safely brought outsiders into Brakenport for now.”

The boys who were half-excited and bickering shut their mouths before they knew it.

They looked at each other’s reactions. It was like saying, you speak first.

At this time, Tiaro plucked up his courage.

“Um, Ellen……”

“Speak.”

“That…… do you really plan to keep doing this?”

“The tourism business?”

“Whew, yeah. It sounds nice to call it a tourism business. But who in the world would want this.”

Tiaro tried to point toward the seaside, but his hand hesitated in the air as if he didn’t know where to point.

Along with a faint sigh.

“No, fuck…… isn’t it true. Who would pay money to view the seaside? And Brakenport’s seaside at that.”

“…….”

“In the first place, the south is an avoided area to the outside. Kidnapping those people was really just pure luck.”

Tiaro pointed at the corpses.

A few days ago, Ellen’s gang discovered a merchant couple wandering and barely clinging to life after meeting bandits in the northern plains leading to the west.

The two requested help from Ellen’s gang, and their interests aligned with Ellen, who just happened to want to spread the tourism business widely to the outside.

The corpses sprawled beneath their feet right now were that very couple.

“It’s not kidnapping. They were people who would spread rumors about our business.”

“Ellen!”

“Shut up. This is the only way for us to live.”

Ellen looked down quietly at the couple.

They had fallen holding hands side by side with their eyes open.

Deep stab marks were vivid on their abdomens.

“……Let’s look for some sturdy people this time.”

***

An alley in the abandoned port of Brakenport.

It was called the abandoned port because ships didn’t actually come in and out, and the name eventually stuck.

However, the most bustling place in Brakenport was exactly this place.

Pubs, gambling dens, fighting arenas, and brothels were swarmed by almost everyone in Brakenport and seethed day and night.

“Fuck! Look who it is! It’s the fucking rookie, Ellen!”

A man holding a liquor bottle in one hand blocked Ellen’s gang. He was clearly revealing a belly big enough for two Ellens to fit inside.

“Ellen, you bastard! I heard you’re up to some strange tricks lately?! Burp―”

The man belched into Ellen’s face.

Ellen closed his eyes tightly, and the boys around him quietly turned their heads and pinched their noses. A few gagged.

“Cute bastard. How long do you think your childishness will work?”

“…….”

“Before that, take care of that stiff neck of yours first. Practice controlling your facial expressions too. Tsk.”

The man drank from the bottle while tapping Ellen’s cheek with one hand.

Only after he passed did Ellen exhale the breath he had been holding.

“Son of a bitch. One day, I will surely slice open that belly fat with my own hands.”

Ellen continued moving his steps.

It wasn’t just one drunken man. All sorts of jeers and mockery poured out from both sides of the street.

“Whoa, whoa― The rookie is passing by.”

“He looks lickable, the fucking bastard. Giggle.”

“The back is mine.”

“Ellen~ Give us a greeting~”

Men and women who freely occupied spots here and there giggled.

Ellen’s gang ignored them as if they were used to it and walked on.

Even within the abandoned port, this was the central district, the territory of the ‘Ruler of the Port’ Alkabang’s gang.

There was nothing good about provoking them.

The reason Alkabang’s gang openly checked Ellen and tried to tame him was clear.

Dominate or obey.

In Brakenport, which strictly followed the logic of the survival of the fittest, the conclusion for a young expert like Ellen was eventually one of these two.

“……Old Man Luke?”

Ellen, who had been walking busily, stopped abruptly.

He stared intently at a corner of the alley with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, it’s him. Old Man Luke.”

“Why is he in such a dangerous place? Alkabang’s gang are guys who don’t know anything about respecting the elderly.”

The boys following behind threw out worried words one by one.

Ellen approached quickly.

A scrawny old man was staring blankly at the sea visible through the alley with his mouth open. His focus was blurry.

“Luke, what are you doing here?”

Ellen shook Luke’s shoulder.

Luke only blinked his eyes. Instead of an answer, drool trickled down his chin.

A bitter look crossed Ellen’s face. He signaled to two boys with his eyes.

“Escort him back.”

Two boys supported Luke and left the alley.

Ellen stood still and watched their receding backs.

“…….”

Tiaro and McRay glanced at Ellen from both sides.

There was resignation in their eyes, as if saying he was incorrigible.

“Let’s go.”

Only after confirming they had completely disappeared did Ellen speak. He moved his steps again, accompanied by two boys on either side.

The place they arrived at like that was Alkabang’s office.

“What? You want to be allowed to go outside again?”

“Yes.”

Alkabang rolled his eyes sharply.

He pointed at Ellen with the pocket knife he had been using to trim his nails.

“You, this bast…… Hey, why are you trying to crawl out so often?”

“Do I even have to explain that?”

“This arrogant bastard, just because I’m going easy on you……. Is it a tourism business or whatever?”

“…….”

“Bullshit, fuck. You can’t do that, bastard. If you did something useless once, end it there.”

Instantly, Ellen’s eyes turned ferocious.

“Was it you, Boss, who made those people like that?”

“I didn’t kill them!”

I didn’t even ask if he killed them outright. Ellen muttered inwardly.

That’s right, this son of a bitch.

“Anyway, stop doing things that stand out. There’s a limit to me covering for you.”

“No, Bo…….”

Tang!

Alkabang slammed the office desk. The pocket knife rolled away.

“Read the room, you bastard. Some bastard touched something and the Goddess Statue became strange. We’re all about to be fucked right now.”

“…….”

“If you understand, get lost quietly. I’m already agitated enough.”

Ellen couldn’t argue anymore and just rolled his tongue.

Eventually, the three were kicked out.

“Ha, seriously, what kind of crazy bastard is it? Why touch the Goddess Statue of all things and cause a mess. It’s not like we all want to die together.”

Ellen roughly dragged the grumbling Tiaro and McRay.

There were many eyes watching and ears listening.

One had to be careful with idle talk in Alkabang’s territory.

The moment they were caught on a triviality, it would be the end.

After confirming they were at a suitable distance, Ellen said to the two.

“Let’s find a chance tonight and go out.”

“……What? Where?”

“Outside. We have to look for people.”

Tiaro and McRay’s gazes met. Groans almost burst out simultaneously.

“Ellen, if Alkabang finds out, this time we’re really finished.”

“Going out isn’t the problem, finding outsiders once we go out is the problem. It’s practically like picking stars from the sky.”

Ellen shook his head.

“We can find them this time. If it really doesn’t work, we can just go to Tarnholt and kidnap them.”

The two were speechless.

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