The Blade of the Backstreets (3)
“Understood? At dawn, take these goods to the Marcus Trading Company and hand them over, just as I told you.”
Melvin, the leader of the Wyvern Brotherhood, addressed the subordinates standing before him. Behind him, crates filled with Mersia Tea Leaves were stacked almost to the ceiling.
“They are bringing the payment tomorrow as well. It should go without saying, but do not lower your guard. Those bastards may try to double-cross us.”
“Understood, Boss!”
“If they attempt anything, we will teach them a lesson. Once we cut off a few heads and throw them into the street, they will come crawling, will they not? Ha ha ha!”
The excited voices of his subordinates echoed from the walls and ceiling.
The chamber, as spacious as a large barn, was an old warehouse located within the sewers.
In the past, it had been used to store supplies in preparation for a siege. However, after Zilvergard became a Free City and enjoyed a long period of peace, the warehouse had been abandoned.
It was the perfect place for criminals such as the Wyvern Brotherhood to hide.
“Good, good. In any case, once we receive the payment, we will first pay Selwin for the weapons. Keep that in mind.”
“Boss, do we really need to pay him? Selwin is nothing more than an innkeeper.”
“That is right. He is already frightened of us. If we ordered him to hand over a few weapons for free, he would not dare complain.”
At those words, the others nodded in agreement and added their own remarks.
They were not entirely wrong.
The Wyvern Brotherhood had only ten members, but every one of them was an experienced fighter who did not hesitate to harm others. No matter how many mediocre mercenaries Selwin hired, they could easily dispose of them.
Nevertheless, Melvin shook his head.
“No. Leave him alone. He is the most reliable supplier we have for obtaining the goods we need. He will remain useful in the future.”
“……”
“Besides, once we finish what we are about to begin, we will never have to worry about money again. There is no reason to create unnecessary trouble. Do all of you understand?”
“I-I see.”
“Understood, Boss.”
His subordinates quickly accepted his decision and fell silent.
It demonstrated that Melvin maintained firm control over his organization as its leader.
“Good. As I told you before, I asked Selwin to obtain those weapons because of what we will soon be doing. If the operation succeeds, we will become the kings of this city. No one will dare oppose us.”
“Indeed! Ha ha ha!”
“We will be the kings of this city? I like the sound of that!”
“Long live Boss Melvin! Long live the Brotherhood!”
The cheers of his subordinates echoed throughout the hideout, and Melvin smiled with satisfaction as he watched them.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
At the sudden noise, everyone stopped cheering and turned their heads.
It had come from beyond the door on the far side of the chamber. Since the room had originally been a warehouse, the enormous wooden door was fitted with a sturdy-looking bar.
“It seems Claude has returned.”
“Indeed. Heming and Luther went with him, did they not?”
“Selwin contacted us, did he not? I believe he said he had something to deliver.”
His subordinates’ words reminded Melvin of the matter.
Claude and the others had left approximately an hour earlier after receiving such a message.
“Who is it? Claude?”
“Yes, it is me. Open the door. This thing is killing me with its weight.”
A strangely strained voice came from beyond the door. One of Melvin’s subordinates walked over and removed the bar.
As Melvin watched, his expression slowly darkened.
‘Something feels wrong.’
He could not explain why, but a sense of unease had taken hold of him. It was the instinct he had developed during his years as an outlaw.
Selwin had suddenly asked to meet because he had something to deliver. Claude had also returned somewhat sooner than expected.
They were minor details, but they felt suspicious, especially after the friction between Melvin and Selwin the previous night.
The instant that thought occurred to him, Melvin shouted,
“Wait! Stop! Confirm whether anyone besides Claude is out there!”
However, the door had already opened with a CLACK, and Claude stepped inside.
“W-What?”
“Claude!”
Instead of Heming and Luther, an unfamiliar black-haired man entered with a blade pressed against Claude’s throat.
Everyone recoiled in alarm and hurriedly drew their weapons.
“You bastard! Who are you? Who sent you?”
“Release Claude at once, or I will slit your throat!”
Shouts and curses flew from every direction, but Dieter did not so much as blink as he held Claude before him and issued a warning.
“None of you move. If anyone attempts anything, your companion dies. Not only the man here, but the other two as well.”
“How dare you, you wet-behind-the-ears bastard!”
“Do you think we will listen to that? I will put a bolt through your skull!”
Despite their words, no one dared charge forward.
The claim that not only Claude but also the other two men would die left them shaken. Melvin alone maintained his composure.
‘Now that I look at him, he seems familiar.’
After studying Dieter carefully, Melvin shifted his gaze toward Claude.
Claude’s hands were tied behind his back, while a splint and bandages had been wrapped around one shoulder. It was obvious that he had received emergency treatment after being wounded.
“I see. I remember you now. You were with Selwin yesterday, were you not?”
Melvin pushed through his subordinates and approached Dieter.
Their gazes met sharply.
“But Selwin would never do something like this. He does not have the courage. That means you are most likely one of the mayor’s lackeys.”
The mayor.
Every member of Melvin’s group flinched at the word.
Dieter did not outwardly react, but Melvin did not miss the slight tremor in his eyes.
“Yes, of course. I already knew the mayor wanted to eliminate me. It seems Selwin was working with him as well. That rat….”
“……”
“However, Heming, Luther, and Claude are not weak enough to be defeated by Selwin’s collection of worthless lackeys. That means you must be fairly skilled.”
Interest entered Melvin’s gaze as he examined Dieter.
The uncommon Drake-scale shield was noteworthy, but more telling was the fact that Dieter remained expressionless despite standing before seven enemies.
It was proof that he was accustomed to fighting at a disadvantage.
His face might have appeared somewhat youthful, but he was clearly not an incompetent rabble like Selwin’s subordinates.
“Did you trust in your abilities and force Claude to guide you here? Did you come to capture me? You truly are fearless. Or perhaps you have something else to rely upon?”
“……”
“Hmm. Very well. I should deal with the matter at hand first.”
Melvin snatched the Crossbow from a nearby subordinate and fired without hesitation.
THWIP!
“Guh!”
Claude folded forward with a brief cry and collapsed.
The bolt had pierced precisely through the location of his heart. A pool of blood slowly spread beneath his body.
“C-Claude!”
“Melvin! What have you done?”
“He betrayed us. Therefore, I had no choice but to deal with him according to our rules.”
Melvin answered his shocked subordinates with perfect calm.
“Is that not obvious? Look at the splint on his shoulder. Those men treated his injury. He surrendered to them and guided them all the way to our hideout. That makes him a traitor, does it not?”
“T-That cannot be….”
“There was no other choice. It breaks my heart as well.”
Contrary to his words, Melvin merely shrugged as though nothing significant had happened.
A chill ran through Dieter.
Selwin had described Melvin as exceedingly cold and cruel. Dieter had now witnessed that truth for himself.
“In any case, shall we return to our discussion? You do not appear to be a fool. You would not be stupid enough to charge into a gang’s hideout alone.”
“……”
“Which means, naturally, that you did not come here by yourself.”
CLICK!
Before he had even finished speaking, Melvin swiftly reloaded the Crossbow.
Dieter immediately pulled the shield from his back.
THWIP!
TING!
The hastily raised shield narrowly blocked the bolt.
Melvin immediately discarded the Crossbow and drew the Stiletto from his waist, preparing to charge Dieter.
However, he suddenly flinched and stopped.
From the sewer beyond the door behind Dieter came the sound of countless approaching footsteps.
“Waaaah!”
“Wipe them all out!”
A mass of soldiers rushed into the chamber.
They were members of the City Guard, heavily equipped with iron armor, shields, swords, and spears.
“You bastards! How dare you crawl into this place!”
“Kill them all! Uoooooh!”
With furious shouts, the two groups collided and became entangled in battle.
THUD! CRACK!
I advanced while swinging my mace and knocking down the enemies charging toward me.
The chamber had become a battlefield, with soldiers and Brotherhood members fighting in every direction.
“Aaargh!”
“Ugh!”
Several soldiers had already fallen, bleeding heavily. Blades had slipped between the gaps and joints of their armor and pierced vital points.
Melvin’s subordinates were undoubtedly strong.
They carried light equipment and fought with weapons such as Shortswords and daggers. Their swift movements allowed them to toy with the soldiers, whose armor inevitably made them sluggish.
The three men we had faced earlier had fought in the same manner. It seemed to be the common combat style employed by the Wyvern Brotherhood.
“Ugh, these bastards!”
“Damn it! We will all die at this rate! We cannot fight here!”
Before long, however, they began to lose ground.
Their individual combat ability might have been superior, but our side had thirty soldiers. They were overwhelmingly outnumbered.
Furthermore, all thirty soldiers had flooded into the hideout, leaving little open space.
Since Melvin’s men relied heavily on speed, they could not display their full abilities in such cramped conditions.
In the end, three of them died, and the remaining members surrendered.
“Surrender! It is over!”
“Bind everyone still alive!”
As the soldiers shouted, I surveyed the chamber.
Three were dead, and three had surrendered alive.
One was missing.
‘Melvin is gone.’
My heart sank.
Had he escaped somewhere amid the confusion of the battle?
I hurriedly examined the surroundings and noticed a passage carved into one wall.
He had clearly fled through it.
“Hmph! Are you looking for the Boss? You are too late! We have already won!”
A nearby prisoner shouted.
He lay on the floor, tightly bound with rope. I approached and demanded,
“Where did your leader go? Do you know?”
“Ha! Do you think I would tell you, brat? Do you take me for a fool?”
His face twisted with rage as he spat out the words.
It was obvious that persuasion would be difficult.
“He will not talk, my lord.”
Hakon approached with a limp.
One leg was drenched in blood, apparently from a sword wound. However, since he could still walk, the injury did not appear severe.
“Judging by their behavior, their leader maintained firm control over them. They will not be easily persuaded.”
Hakon tore a strip from a fallen man’s cloak and wrapped it around his leg.
After applying the makeshift bandage, he walked to one side and stopped before someone else.
“Huff, huff… Ugh….”
A Brotherhood member leaned against the wall with a spear embedded in his abdomen.
Even at a glance, the bleeding was so severe that he appeared moments away from death.
“In my experience, only men like this can be persuaded in groups such as theirs—those consumed by pain and standing on the brink of death.”
THRUST!
“Aaaaaagh!”
Hakon pressed the shaft of the spear deeper with his foot, drawing a horrific scream.
The cry was so piercing that every soldier in the chamber turned toward them.
“Speak, and I will end your suffering quickly.”
“Ughhh! You murderous bastard!”
“With a wound and blood loss like that, you will die soon. Unfortunately for you, you have already lost too much strength to take your own life. Tell me where your leader went, and I will end it immediately.”
“Ughhh! You damned bastard! Go to hell!”
It was an excessively brutal form of negotiation.
The sight made me frown, but I decided to leave it to him for the moment. Hakon was far more proficient than I was in matters such as this.
“Speak. Where did your leader go?”
“Heh… heh heh… Why ask me? You will learn soon enough!”
The man laughed weakly as he forced out the words.
He could barely breathe, yet the mockery in his voice felt ominous.
I approached and questioned him myself.
“What do you mean, we will learn soon enough? What is he doing?”
“He went to that bastard! The man who used us for all we were worth and now intends to discard us! He went to tear him apart!”
“Used you? Who did? Where did Melvin go?”
A dark premonition seized me as I pressed him for an answer.
Unfortunately, it proved correct.
“The mayor! He went to slit that bastard mayor’s throat!”