Chapter 44. It Was a Way of Life.

‘Something is wrong here.’

Leon, a delinquent of the Imperial Capital, felt a cold sweat run down his back.

There were many virtues necessary for a life as a back-alley delinquent.

The fighting skills to beat up anyone who got on your nerves, the guts not to run away when a fight was picked, a moderately broken moral compass, a stomach that could laugh off dirty situations, and so on.

However, the most important thing was something else.

It was a ‘keen eye.’

For thugs, a ‘keen eye’ meant the ability to quickly determine whether an opponent was stronger or weaker than them.

Even if you lacked fighting skills, if you had a keen eye, you just had to beat up the ones weaker than you.

You don't have guts?

Bowing down to someone stronger than you was a sign of wisdom.

If you acted with such discretion, there would be no problems, and an efficient delinquent life was possible.

Until now.

“These guys are weaklings.”

“Well, how strong can delinquent bastards be?”

Two mercenaries, who were clearly from the countryside.

One of them looked stupid at a glance, walking around with his mouth agape, and the other one was dressed in a bizarre outfit of red armor and a green snake skull helmet.

“Judging by how they charged at us even after seeing that we had weapons, they must be stupid too.”

“Hmm. I don’t think they’d want to hear that from you……”

Leon felt wronged by the harsh evaluation.

There were weapons and then there were weapons.

Carrying a worn-out iron sword of unknown origin on their waists was more ridiculous than having no weapon at all.

Originally, mercenaries did not skimp on their equipment.

This was because the standard by which clients evaluated a mercenary’s skill usually came down to the level of their equipment.

It was a trend that had arisen because mercenaries were so prone to exaggeration that it was difficult to trust their track record.

Famous mercenaries of 2nd rank or higher were free from such standards, but they would have already had excellent equipment before reaching 2nd rank, so there was no reason for them to be wearing shabby equipment.

A strong mercenary was one with good equipment.

Conversely, those guys with crappy equipment should have been weaklings.

“You’re not going to fight?”

While he was lost in thought and fumbling, his comrades were annihilated.

Leon immediately chose to prostrate himself.

“I’m sorry! Please spare me just this once!”

Pride?

He never had such a thing in the first place.

Being strong to the weak and weak to the strong was the way of the back alleys.

Those who kept their backs straight even when a strong man raised his fist were all dead or crippled.

“Wouldn’t it have been nice if we had resolved this with words from the beginning.”

“You are absolutely right!”

To have survived meant that his back was flexible.

And his way of thinking was even more flexible.

Whatever the strong man in front of him said was unconditionally right.

“You, what’s your name?”

“It’s Leon!”

“Right, Leon. Your name is decent.”

“Thank you!”

Leon groveled as if he would offer up his liver and gallbladder right away.

Ben, who was watching him, was slightly taken aback.

Ben cut to the chase and went straight to the point.

“What did I say earlier?”

“Yes?”

“You didn’t listen to me?”

At the same time as Ben frowned, Leon’s survival instinct kicked in.

Memories flashed by like a revolving lantern.

Since he had intended to just rip them off anyway, he hadn’t listened properly.

‘What did he say? I think he said he was looking for something?’

Outsiders.

Looking for.

What?

If he was just looking for directions, there was no reason to grab the delinquents and cause this mess.

And he seemed to have been angry from a while ago.

‘Did something, already happen to him?’

Looking at this violent streak, there was no way he would have just stood by and let something happen in front of him.

Then someone must have touched him secretly-

“A pickpocket! Ah! You said you were looking for a pickpocket, right!?”

“Oh- you were listening?”

Leon was once again grateful for his own perceptiveness.

As expected, a person needed to be quick-witted to survive.

“You’ll cooperate, right?”

“Yes. Of course. I don’t know who the bastard is, but we must find him and punish him!”

A pickpocket.

Wasn’t it because of those bastards who tried to fill their bellies by picking others’ pockets instead of earning money honestly that the people around them were suffering like this?

Unforgivable.

Never in his life had Leon been filled with such a righteous heart.

“Do you remember anything about the culprit’s appearance or anything?”

The number of pickpockets in the Imperial Capital was so large that any attempt to count them would be futile.

And truly unfortunately, Ben and Pol were very attractive targets.

Even if they caught the culprit, wouldn’t he just retort, ‘You tempted me first!’?

Therefore, everyone was a suspect.

Additional information was needed to identify the culprit.

“He was about this tall and had shaggy hair.”

“Yes?”

Ben’s eyes narrowed at Leon, who had inadvertently asked back.

Leon, sensing the danger, hastily added an explanation.

“No, no. It’s not that I won’t cooperate! It’s just that there are so many kids like that……”

“The state of the country is a real mess. There are so many pickpockets in the capital that you can’t even make a guess.”

Ben clicked his tongue.

He was heard muttering, ‘Then again, they said there were that many pickpockets in Rome and Paris too.’

They were city names Leon had never heard before, but Leon let the unimportant information slide.

What did other cities matter?

Right now, catching the culprit was the priority.

“Pol. Do you remember anything?”

“He seemed to have all his limbs.”

“Tsk. You’re stating the obvious.”

Ben snapped at Pol.

“N-no! Just the fact that he has all his limbs narrows down the suspects a lot!”

“What? So the guys who pickpocket usually have something wrong with them?”

“That tends to be the case.”

Leon explained as concisely as possible.

Basically, since pickpockets were at the bottom of the back-alley ecosystem, they were often exposed to violence.

Having a broken arm or leg was a common occurrence.

Since there was no way they could get proper treatment in that state, it was common for them to end up with a disability in their legs or arms.

Moreover, the punishment for pickpocketing was also one of the reasons that increased the disability rate among pickpockets.

It was because they tended to cut the tendons in their hands and feet for the purpose of preventing them from stealing anymore.

Therefore, a pickpocket without a disability was a minority who had never been seriously injured or caught by the guards.

“They continue to pickpocket even after becoming like that? They’re insane.”

To be unable to quit that habit even after becoming disabled while living as a pickpocket.

Ben couldn’t understand it at all.

“But isn’t it the same for mercenaries?”

Leon tilted his head as if Ben’s reaction was strange.

It was also quite frequent for mercenaries to become disabled for reasons such as having an arm blown off or a leg cut off during their mercenary activities.

But that didn’t mean those mercenaries quit right away.

It was more common for them to continue their mercenary work, even going so far as to use magically enchanted prosthetic arms and legs.

If you were to argue, weren’t the mercenaries who fought, risking their lives to that extent, even more insane?

“Hey, is that the same? Is it? Are you in a position to be talking back to me right now?”

“Come to think of it, I guess it’s different!”

At Ben’s dumbfounded reaction, Leon immediately tucked his tail between his legs.

He still didn’t know what was different, but if it was different, then it was different.

Whatever the strong man in front of him said was unconditionally right.

“Anyway, do you know who the culprit is?”

“With those conditions, there are about three of them.”

Ben twisted his lips at the words that they still couldn’t pinpoint just one person.

As Ben showed signs of getting annoyed again, Leon quickly took the lead.

“They all live nearby anyway! Let’s check them one by one!”

* * *

“Gramps! Gramps! Are you alive?”

The boy who had arrived at the fence’s residence shouted towards the inside.

The answer did not come back immediately.

A moment later, a voice like a rusty hinge creaking leaked out.

“You rude brat. What’s all the fuss about this time?”

“I’m coming in!”

The boy, confirming that the fence was there, jumped into the darkness.

A room where the shapes of objects could barely be made out by the faint light seeping in from the outside.

Disorganized objects got caught on the boy’s feet, creating noise.

“Turn on a light. Can you even see anything in this darkness?”

“Tsk. Didn’t I explain before? This darkness is my shield.”

He had explained it several times, but the boy didn’t seem to understand.

The fence’s residence always had to be in darkness.

It was a matter of course.

The people who came to see the fence were not likely to be upstanding citizens.

Even if a problem arose later, he could take a step back with the excuse that he couldn’t see the other person because it was dark.

Of course, that was only when it wasn’t a serious matter; if it was a really dangerous situation, such an excuse wouldn’t work.

In any case, the fence had survived that way until now.

The fence, who had gotten used to the darkness, could now live sufficiently even with his eyes closed.

“I can’t even show you what I brought like this! You have to appraise it!”

A faint expectation was contained in the fence’s previously indifferent voice.

The boy did not miss that change.

“Hehe. Want to know? Hurry up and turn on a light!”

“Alright. Alright.”

The fence, unable to withstand the boy’s pestering, lit a lamp.

It was characteristically darker compared to a commonly used lamp.

The boy held out the pouch to the fence, who did not completely give up the darkness until the very end.

That stubbornness wouldn’t last long.

After all, he would need a bright light to appraise the gem.

“Open it.”

At the boy’s words, the fence opened the pouch and poured the contents onto the table.

Thump.

A lump was placed on the table with a heavy sound.

When the light of the lamp reached it, it shone brilliantly in the darkness.

“Hmm. What is this? It doesn’t seem to be a crystal.”

The fence brought the crystal close to his eye and examined it.

It was unfamiliar even to him, who had handled all sorts of gems during his long life as a fence.

“Wait a minute.”

Thump. Thump.

A pulse felt at his fingertips.

The fence was startled and dropped the crystal.

It has a pulse?

Does that mean it’s alive?

A living creature.

And strangeness.

The conclusion that came from the combination of the two was- a monster.

“Wh-where did you get this……?”

“There was a mercenary who came up from the countryside near the city gate. He was holding it so dearly, so I swiped it.”

“You crazy bastard! Do you know what this is……!”

“What is it? I brought it to you because I didn’t know.”

The fence put his hand to his forehead at the boy’s words.

Didn’t that mean he had just stolen it without thinking?

“……It seems this is a monster’s egg.”

The fence said frankly.

The boy’s face turned pale at the words ‘monster’s egg’.

“A monster’s egg? Then isn’t it dangerous?!”

“Of course it’s dangerous! I don’t know what kind of monster it is, but just bringing a monster into the Imperial Capital is a capital offense!”

A monster was a life form that could not coexist with humans.

Attempts to domesticate monsters had failed since a very long time ago, and had always led to horrific disasters.

It wasn't for nothing that the countermeasure for all monsters was set to kill on sight.

If a powerful monster were to crawl out of the egg, it would be a joke for a few people to die.

“We don’t know when it will hatch! We have to destroy it!”

The fence immediately took out a hammer and struck the crystal.

Kaaang-!!

However, the crystal didn't even crack.

“It won’t break?! Wh-what do we do?!”

“……Damn it. It can’t be helped. Take it far away and throw it away.”

The fence made his decision with a stern expression.

“If I do that, and if it hatches……”

A monster might come out and people might die.

The fence’s hand was placed on the shoulder of the boy, who was worried about the consequences of his actions.

“It’s none of our business.”

That was the way the fence had lived.

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