The Blade of the Backstreets (2)
“V-Very well. I understand, so calm down, Melvin. I will do as you say.”
“……”
“You mean the Volcanic Anvil Smithy, correct? I will purchase the weapons there and deliver them to you in ten days. In the exact quantities you just requested! A-Are you satisfied now?”
“Excellent. Do not worry. I will pay you properly. You know I am not the sort of man who refuses to pay his debts, Selwin.”
The way Melvin smiled at the sweating Selwin as though he had never threatened him was chilling.
So that was Melvin, the leader of the Wyvern Brotherhood—the man currently plunging the city into chaos.
“I knew you were a good friend. I look forward to continuing our business together. Ha ha!”
Melvin laughed heartily and patted Selwin on the shoulder.
Unlike him, however, Selwin and his subordinates merely shrank back with anxious expressions. They looked like frogs caught before a snake.
Amid the suffocating tension, Hakon spoke quietly beside me once more.
“They are right in front of us, my lord. This may be our opportunity. Should we make our move now?”
“That would be reckless. Look at their numbers. Do you truly believe the two of us can defeat all of them?”
“That is….”
“Besides, you saw Melvin yourself before. You said he was exceedingly fast and agile, did you not? He cannot possibly be weak. Fighting them here would be too dangerous.”
Having reached that conclusion, I had no intention of acting rashly.
More importantly, unless something disrupted the plan we had devised, there was no reason not to proceed as intended.
“For now, we remain still. We now know that Selwin conducts business with them, so he must possess useful information. We will follow the plan.”
“Understood. I will do as you say.”
Hakon quietly fell silent, apparently convinced.
A short while later, Melvin’s men finished loading the goods onto the wagon and departed.
“I will see you in ten days, Selwin! Do not forget my request! Ha ha!”
As Melvin’s cheerful voice faded into the distance, Selwin trembled with rage, his fists tightly clenched.
“Damn it! Damn it all! One of these days, I will teach that bastard Melvin a lesson! That arrogant son of a—”
“……”
“Phew… In any case, everyone did well. Go downstairs and collect your payment.”
Only after some time had passed did Selwin regain his composure. He descended into the underground storeroom and paid everyone as promised.
They all accepted their wages and left with pleased expressions.
Everyone except the two of us.
“What? Why are you two still here?”
Selwin spoke to Hakon and me, who remained inside the storeroom.
“If you are asking for more work, return in three days at the same time. It will be the same task as tonight—guarding me.”
“What about another kind of work?”
“Another kind?”
“You said you wanted to teach that man Melvin a lesson. Why not leave it to us?”
Selwin’s eyes widened.
Even I had to admit that it was a bold proposal. I was suggesting that we strike at an infamous gang.
‘If Selwin agrees, he will provide us with information about them and perhaps even offer assistance.’
I waited for an answer while watching the conflict spread across Selwin’s face.
Unfortunately, the response that came a moment later was not what I had hoped for.
“Ha! Forget it. You expect me to trust a pair of nobodies like you with something like that? Do you think those men are merely a group of neighborhood thugs?”
Selwin shouted while waving his hands dismissively.
Judging by his stiff expression, he was clearly terrified of Melvin and the Wyvern Brotherhood.
He might curse and rage at them openly, but deep down, he did not even dare consider opposing them.
“Stop talking nonsense and get out of my sight! If you intend to continue saying such things, you had better leave the backstreets immediately. The Wyvern Brotherhood will turn you into corpses before a single day has passed.”
“Is that so? Then there is no other choice.”
I signaled to Hakon with my eyes. He strode toward Selwin.
“What is it? Why are you suddenly—”
THUD!
Hakon’s fist struck Selwin squarely in the face and sent him sprawling.
I was reluctant to use violence against a man who could not quite be called evil. However, our first option—persuading him through words and securing his cooperation—had failed.
We had no choice but to proceed with the more forceful second option.
“W-What is this, you bastards? Why are you suddenly doing this?”
Selwin staggered upright while clutching his bloodied nose.
Instead of answering, I looked around at the cargo crates stacked throughout the storeroom.
“It is hardly common for an inn to keep so many valuable goods hidden underground. Would you not agree, Selwin?”
“What are you talking about, Doumar? What is the meaning of this?”
“Let us simply say that I am a law-abiding citizen. Seeing all these goods stacked here has suddenly made me want to report them to City Hall or the nearest Guard Post.”
“W-What?!”
Selwin’s eyes widened before I had even finished speaking.
That was undoubtedly what he feared most.
“You intend to report me? What would you gain from that? Did the mayor send you—”
“I told you. I simply possess a strong respect for the law. How could I stand by while someone openly runs a smuggling operation and harms Zilvergard?”
“Enough of that nonsense! What do you want from me?”
Selwin shouted, his voice filled with urgency.
His subordinates were no longer present to protect him, and the business he had spent years building was in danger of collapsing in an instant. His desperation was understandable.
“This business is everything I have. I will give you as much money as you want, so please do not do anything foolish. How does that sound?”
“……”
“Y-You do not want money? Then what do you want? I will do whatever you ask!”
“Will you truly do anything?”
“Yes. Anything! If it is within my power, I will do it!”
That was the answer I had been waiting for.
I spoke gently to Selwin’s desperate face.
“Then I have a favor to ask….”
An enormous sewer system had been constructed beneath Zilvergard.
As with any sewer, channels filled with every kind of filth flowed between walkways on either side. The dim space reeked, while rats and vermin swarmed everywhere. It was hardly a place fit for human habitation.
There were exceptions, however.
Fugitives and criminals sometimes hid there to escape pursuit.
People like the men we were going to meet.
“Are you certain their hideout is somewhere inside these sewers?”
“I already told you. That rumor has been circulating throughout the backstreets for a long time. No one knows the exact location, though.”
Selwin answered Hakon in a tense voice.
Unlike the unarmed Selwin, Hakon carried a fairly large wooden crate. It was the bait we intended to use to lure out our targets.
With the two of them walking ahead, I continued onward.
The air was thick, foul, and unpleasantly damp, while the squeaking of rats echoed around us. I checked the Minimap floating at the edge of my vision.
[Zilvergard Underground Sewers]
The map before me was extraordinarily complex—quite literally a maze.
Only now did I truly understand the mayor’s claim that even a hundred soldiers would struggle to search this place.
Furthermore, ordinary people rarely entered the sewers. Even Selwin, an information broker familiar with the backstreets, would have found it difficult to discover the precise location of their hideout.
‘Judging by how frightened he is of Melvin, following them and investigating would also have been impossible.’
As I considered the situation, we continued deeper into the sewer.
Eventually, Selwin stopped.
Marks resembling claw scratches had been painted on the walls beneath the occasional burning torches. Four waterways converged there, forming a cross-shaped intersection.
“This is the rendezvous point. Whenever I have business with them, we always meet here.”
“Then do we simply wait?”
“Yes. They should arrive soon. I do not know how many of them will come….”
Selwin answered nervously, perhaps fearing that Melvin himself might appear.
The moment he finished speaking, I sensed a presence within the darkness ahead.
STEP, STEP, STEP.
Footsteps approached, followed by the light of a torch.
A voice soon emerged from the darkness.
“Well, well. Selwin.”
Three cloaked men approached while carrying torches—the same number as us.
That was all. I sensed no one else nearby.
‘Good. Just as I expected.’
Hakon and I quickly exchanged glances.
Unlike the encounter outside the inn, three against two was a manageable number.
“What is this about? You suddenly claimed that you had something to give us.”
“Th-That is what happened. I apologize for troubling you.”
After answering in a somewhat servile tone, Selwin gestured with his hand. Hakon stepped forward, looking exactly like one of Selwin’s subordinates.
“I promised yesterday that I would provide you with weapons, did I not? These are samples. I brought them for you to inspect.”
“What? Samples? The weapons being sold are all the same. Why would we need to inspect samples?”
“Indeed. There hardly seems to be a reason.”
“You summoned us for something so trivial? We told you to contact us only when the matter was truly urgent.”
The three men openly displayed their irritation as they complained.
Their behavior made the nature of their relationship with Selwin perfectly clear.
“Ha ha. Even so, your journey will not be wasted. Swords may not matter much, but you know that quality is important when purchasing crossbows. Inferior ones can warp their bowstrings or crack their frames after only a few shots.”
“……”
“Come now. Take a look. Go ahead. Ha ha.”
Selwin urged them with a hollow, awkward laugh.
Hakon stepped forward and held out the crate with both hands. Although their expressions remained displeased, the three men reached out to open it.
Watching them, I quietly drew the mace from my waist.
CLICK!
“What is this?”
“There is nothing inside.”
The expressions of all three Brotherhood members hardened the instant the lid opened.
The crate was completely empty.
“Selwin, what kind of trick is this? You—”
THUD!
Hakon shoved the crate into them and drew his greatsword. At the same time, I charged forward.
As the men recoiled, the greatsword sliced through the air.
SLASH!
“Aaargh!”
The man at the front collapsed in a spray of blood.
None of them wore armor, so there was no possibility of surviving a direct strike from a greatsword unscathed.
“What the hell, you bastards?!”
“You traitorous son of a bitch! I will kill you, Selwin!”
The remaining two shouted after Selwin as he hastily fled. Then they charged at us, each taking one of us as an opponent.
CLANG!
My mace struck the sword thrusting toward me.
A dagger immediately followed, aiming for the opening. I quickly twisted my shoulder and avoided the attack.
CLANG! CLANG!
The rapid succession of attacks forced me backward.
My opponent fought with a Shortsword in one hand and a dagger in the other. As he relentlessly pressed his assault, I could do little more than defend.
Hakon was struggling as well.
His greatsword was long and heavy, preventing him from swinging it freely within the narrow sewer. He could not bring out its full power and was barely managing to block his opponent’s attacks.
Our enemies, meanwhile, carried short weapons and wore almost no armor. They maintained the initiative with a relentless series of swift attacks.
As expected of a gang from the backstreets, they were accustomed to fighting within confined spaces.
‘This is not what I expected.’
Sweat ran down my back.
They were far stronger than anticipated. If I lost focus for even a moment, we might actually be defeated.
“Die, you bastard! Selwin’s damned lackey!”
SWISH!
The dagger cut through the air toward my neck.
I swiftly raised my shield to block the attack, then drove it forward with all my strength.
THUD!
“Ugh!”
The shield struck him squarely in the face, sending him staggering.
A shield was not merely a defensive tool. It could also serve as a dangerous weapon.
In my surprise, I had momentarily forgotten that.
WHOOSH!
I swung the shield even more forcefully. My opponent narrowly avoided the blow and retreated.
I could not allow him another opening.
I continued pressing forward with my shield and mace. Now it was my opponent, rather than me, who had been forced onto the defensive.
CLAAANG!
A sharp metallic crash rang out beside me.
Hakon had struck his opponent’s Shortsword with a powerful swing of his greatsword, knocking it from the man’s hand.
Without allowing his startled opponent time to recover, Hakon rapidly closed the distance. He raised the greatsword over his head and brought it down.
SLASH!
Blood sprayed through the air and splattered across the wall.
The man before me hesitated, his face stiffening as he watched his companion collapse without even managing to scream.
I did not miss the opening.
I swiftly swung my mace and struck his right shoulder.
CRUNCH!
“Aaargh!”
The sound of something breaking accompanied his scream.
He collapsed to the ground and howled in agony. Judging by the injury, his collarbone had been shattered. He would survive, but he could no longer fight.
“Aaargh! You damned bastards! I will kill you! I swear I will kill you!”
Leaving the man grinding his teeth and screaming curses, I turned toward Hakon.
“Are you all right, Hakon?”
“Of course. And you, my lord?”
“As you can see.”
Hakon wiped his blood-covered greatsword against the cloak of the man lying at his feet.
He appeared calm at first glance, but a cut marked his cheek. It was proof that his opponent had not been easy to defeat.
“They were certainly fast. Just like their leader.”
“Yes. They were formidable. If the remaining eight are equally strong, the battle will not be easy.”
Their strength was difficult to believe of mere backstreet thugs.
Perhaps they were retired soldiers or former mercenaries.
“In any case, these two appear to be dead. It seems we will have to make that one guide us.”
“It would appear so. Then shall we persuade him to cooperate?”
I crouched on the ground and stared at the man screaming in pain.
His eyes were filled with tears from the agony of his shattered collarbone, but they still burned with rage.
“You murderous bastards! Melvin will kill every last one of you! He will tear you limb from limb!”
“You may die before that happens, unless you cooperate with me.”
“Go to hell, you son of a bitch!”
Despite my threat, the man did not waver. He merely continued cursing with venomous fury.
“No matter what you say, I will never tell you anything! You will learn nothing from me!”
“Is that so? We shall see.”
It did not appear possible to persuade him with words alone.
In that case, we would have to use another method.
“Hakon, I have a task for you. You know what to do, correct?”
“Leave it to me.”
Hakon strode forward and kicked the man’s injured shoulder without hesitation.
“Aaaaaagh! W-Wait!”
“If you refuse to answer, I will destroy the other shoulder as well. Where is your hideout?”
Fear spread across the man’s face at Hakon’s cold voice and expression of ice.
It appeared that securing his cooperation would proceed smoothly.