Chapter 273 – A Beautiful Night (2)

Cale stood on top of a roof and looked down. He could hear Choi Han's voice.

"As expected, the Mercenaries Guild building is bright even during the night."

The location of today's safe looting was vibrant.

Leeb-An City's Mercenaries Guild building was located a bit away from the eastern pleasure district. The current situation made its location very fitting.

The building was still full of light even though it was night time, and didn't look as if they were going to sleep anytime soon. The reason was obvious.

"It's a pretty intolerable situation. The Mercenaries Guild people have to work."

The Leeb-An City's Mercenaries Guild was able to influence the underworld by partnering with Mostue.

The Merchant Alliance and the Mercenaries Guild shared control of Leeb-An City. The Mercenaries Guild was much stronger than the Merchant Alliance, however, they lacked funds.
The way to resolve this issue was to protect Mostue's organization and receiver some dirty money from the underworld through them.

But Arm appeared and started to eat away at the underworld. The Mercenaries Guild was angry at this, however, it was difficult to do anything to Arm who moved very slowly and cautiously.

Arm was the Eastern continent's underworld's strongest player. That was why the Mercenaries Guild had to be wary of Arm as well.
However, Arm moved completely openly this time.
In that case, the Mercenaries Guild now had the justification to act in order to protect their pride and their money.

That was why they would have started to move, however, it had only been one day since the incident.

"There is a good chance that the Mercenaries Guild has not decided how they should react to Arm just yet."

A large monster like the Mercenaries Guild was going to get involved in the small Leeb-An City's underworld matter, so they probably had to think hard about how grand of a reaction they would have.
Thanks to that, it was likely that Arm would not have noticed the atmosphere around the mercenaries right now.

"Furthermore, Mostue's faction is guaranteed to be busy looking for that internal spy."
"What do you need me to do?"

Cale did not look back at Choi Han, who was looking at him, and put the map in his hand back in his pocket.
This was a new map based on the map the former bandit leader gave to him but filled with information that Ron had gathered.

He pointed down with his now empty hands.
He was pointing at the entrance of the Mercenaries Guild building, which still had a lot of people going in and out.

Cale turned toward Choi Han and gave the order.

"Turn it into a mess."

Choi Han took out his sword and slightly bowed.

"I will do as you commanded."

Choi Han's pupils were cloudy as he raised his head back up. He should have understood what Cale meant.
Cale opened his arms after seeing Choi Han's reaction.

"Meeeeeow."
"Meeow."

He continued to speak once On and Hong were both in his arms.

"Raon."
– I understand, human!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
Cale, On, and Hong all slowly turned invisible. Choi Han jumped off of the building as soon as they were completely invisible.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The early spring wind brushed past his cheeks.

"Huh?"
"What, what is that?"

The guards outside the guild building entrance noticed the suddenly falling individual wearing black clothes and clenched their weapons. Even the people who were going in and out of the building with serious expressions on their faces flinched and looked at the unknown assailant who had suddenly appeared.

Choi Han, that unknown assailant, looked around before raising his sword up.

"A, aura!"
"I, it's those bastards!"

Someone who knew about the Arm and Mostue incident shouted that they were the same people. It was at that moment.

The black aura that violently shot up contrary to the calm night covered the area underneath the magic lights with a black shadow.

Baaaaaang!

The black aura struck down on the wall surrounding the guild building.
A curved boomerang-like attack cut the wall into two.

"Gasp."
"S, son of a! Go tell the guild leader-nim!"
"He really was a s, sword master. I didn't know the Mostue bastards were telling the truth!"

The shouts of different mercenaries in the area could be heard.

Clack. Clack. Clack.
The closed windows of the Mercenaries Guild building started to open. The people who were trying to determine the source of the loud noises by sticking their heads out the windows could see the unknown assailant wearing black outside the guild entrance.

"Do you know where this is? Attacking the Mercenaries Guild is an act that will turn every mercenary on the continent into your enemies!"

One of the mercenaries walked through the darkness and shouted out loud.
He was looking at Choi Han, the unknown assailant covered in black.
Choi Han heard a young Dragon's voice in his head at that moment.

– Choi Han, we'll be back! See you soon!

It was now time for the invisible Cale and children to sneak into the Mercenaries Guild building.
He heard the mercenary's voice again.

"Hurry up and drop your sword! Do you want to see the scariness of the mercenaries?"

Choi Han clenched the handle of his sword. He then answered back to the mercenaries who were looking at him.

"I'm not sure if you really are that scary."

He really meant it.
The only thing Choi Han feared in this world was his surroundings being destroyed.

Ooooooong-

The black aura rumbled as Choi Han lightly stomped his foot. His body was heading toward the Mercenaries Guild.

'No killing. Buy us time.'

Cale's orders were always easy to complete.

The black aura cut through the night.

Baaaaaang! Baaaaang!

The walls surrounding the guild fell and the front yard was turning into a mess. A real monster appeared in front of the Mercenaries Guild that the Leeb-An City's underworld feared.

While all of that was going on, Cale started to think after hearing the noises coming from behind him.

'Looks like Choi Han is doing things properly.'

He was usually good at doing things like this well.

– Human! Choi Han seems to want to destroy everything! Choi Han is really good at destroying buildings!

Cale ignored Raon whom he couldn't tell whether he was praising or badmouthing Choi Han as he quickly started to move.

"Arm really showed up?"
"Crazy! The sword master came on his own? Why would a sword master come to a place like this?"
"Son of a bitch, am I going to die?"

The entire guild building was in a mess.
A sword master had appeared and was causing a mess. How many people could remain calm in such a situation?
Fear and despair filled their hearts as they all quickly started to move.

The only common action was that they were all heading down the building.

However, Cale watched them leave as he headed up. His quick movements were stealthy thanks to Raon's flight magic and the Sound of the Wind.

– Human! To the left!

Raon also served as his GPS.

Cale quickly arrived at a floor and could see a fancy door in front of him.

– Human! The strongest human in the Mercenaries Guild is here! This must be the guild leader's room!

Cale held back a happy hum from coming out of his mouth as he headed toward the fancy door.

Baaaaang!

The door opened at that moment.

'Ah, so scary.'

A couple people darted out of the fancy door as Cale flinched in shock.

– Oh! It is the strongest human and the strongest ones after him!

Cale started to smile.
This must be the Mercenaries Guild leader and his subordinates. Cale moved to a corner and the guild leader and his subordinates naturally did not notice Cale, who was invisible thanks to a Dragon's magic, and continued heading down.

"…Boss Mostue was not lying."
"Guild leader-nim, it's a sword master, what do we do?"
"We can't avoid it. We will lose face if we do. We need to fight him even if we face some losses. We can't do anything even if some people end up dying."

Cale listened to the conversation between the guild leader and his subordinates as they walked past him.

"Guild leader-nim, but isn't it weird? Unless Arm really went crazy, would they openly kill mercenaries?"
"He's right. Guild leader, according to Mostue, their outfits were shabby as well. Are we sure they are from Arm?"
"We'll know once we see him."

The building shook at that moment.

Boooooooom-

A loud vibration came from the ground.

"Gasp!"
"Hurry, we need to hurry down!"

The guild leader and his subordinates quickly headed down. Cale had a serious expression on his face once the corridor was empty.

'Just how much of a mess is Choi Han causing?
Why is the building shaking?'

Cale was confused, but he needed to move as he heard Raon's voice.

– Human! There seems to be a magic safe!

'Hooo.'

Someone at the Mercenaries Guild leader's level should be able to have a magic safe instead of a regular safe!

– Human! If it is a magic safe, then the great and mighty Raon Miru can open it without breaking it!

Dragons really were great and mighty.
Cale put On and Hong down on the ground and leisurely walked into the guild leader's office. He then stood in front of the desk that Raon guided him to.

'They always hide it in a place like this.'

There should be a safe underneath the desk instead of hidden in a wall. He just needed to loot that safe. Cale pushed the desk.

It did not move.

– Sigh, you're so weak. Move.
"Meeow."
"Meeeeeow."

Cale heard the voices of the children averaging nine-years-old, however, he did not move and pushed hard once again. The desk finally moved.

– …Alright, weak human. I understand.

Cale ignored Raon's comments. He watched the desk slowly moving as he waited for the safe to appear.
He then became anxious.

"Huh?"

A door appeared.
It was a door and not a safe.

'Is the safe inside here?'

It was the moment he had that mistaken thought.

– Human, move! I will remove the magic lock! But this safe is really big! The mercenaries are rich!

'Oh.'

The corners of Cale's mouth continued to go up. Raon opened the magic safe as his mouth had curved into the shape of a crescent moon.

Screeeech-

The heavy iron door was opened. An area the size of a small room at an inn appeared.
There were things inside that were shining. Gold, jewels, and money filled this safe that was the size of a room.

– …Oh…what glorious sight. I never expected to see something like this in my life, sob, no, I mean after death! Sob, oh, beautiful!

The fiery thunderbolt's teary voice could be heard. Cale slowly headed into the room that was shining with a golden light. He then took out the potato sack.

"Let's pack it all."

"Meeeeeow."
"Meeow."
– I'm so excited! I mean, alright, human!

Cale could not see them, but he could feel that the children averaging nine-years-old were excited as they moved. He removed the smile from his face and slowly stuffed gold bars into the potato sack.

'How fun.'

It was enough to wash away all of the stress from the past war.
Cale felt someone patting on his leg at that moment. He couldn't tell who it was until he heard On's voice because they were all invisible.

"This seems to be important."

On handed him a small glass box with some papers inside.
Cale could not see On, however, he could see the glass box and picked it up. He stared at the glass box for a while before closing his eyes and then reopening them.

He then handed a gold bar to where he expected On to be. Silence filled the area.

"This is for all of you."

He could hear them gasp.

"I don't know why he is doing this! Even I don't know why he is doing this this time!"
"Something's fishy! Noona, I don't think you should accept it!"
"Human, are you okay? You can't go crazy just because you are too happy! Didn't you see that lunatic Clopeh? You become weird if you lose your mind!"

The children averaging nine-years-old were in shock.
However, Cale hugged the glass box and started to laugh.

"Hahahaha!"

The loud voice echoed inside the safe.
The document that was visible through the glass box.
It was a five-year-old document with a simple title.

< An Agreement Regarding Leeb-An City's Eastern Businesses >

He could also see the signatures on the document.

< The Merchant Alliance, Mercenaries Guild, Mostue >

Cale's eyes started to sparkle.

'These punks really did all sorts of things in the dark.'

Why would the merchants and the Mercenaries Guild need an agreement about the underworld?
Especially one that involved a thug-like group such as Mostue?
It meant that they all worked together to scrape up all of the dirty money.

'No matter where you go, there are always corrupt people in guilds.'

Whether it was Korea or this world, the rotten ones were all similar. This was why the good guilds were suffering. One of Kim Rok Soo's jobs back on Earth was to quietly take care of these rotten ability users' guilds. That was the way to lessen the chaos.

'Looks like I can quietly take care of them.'

Cale was drawing up a future beyond the mayor election in two months. This was something he could use at that moment.

The safe was completely emptied while he was thinking about that.
Raon, who had been shocked at the gold bar that Cale had offered, quickly used his magic to store everything away because he was worried that Cale would give them away if he didn't do it quickly.
Cale picked up the gold bar that the children averaging nine-years-old were ignoring on purpose. He put it in a different small spatial pocket bag as he started to speak.

"I'll keep this here, so let me know if you need it. I'll give it to you then."
"I don't need it!"
"I agree with her!"
"I have not lost my mind!"

'They throw a fit when I give them too much too.'

Cale could not understand these children averaging nine-years-old. That was why he looked around the empty safe and asked Raon.

"Is there anybody upstairs or downstairs?"
"No! They are all on the ground floor!"
"Is that so?"

Cale was relieved as he pointed to the safe and nonchalantly added on.

"Just blow this place up then."

The fireworks to start the true chaos were about to begin.

* * *

"Aaaaaah!"

One of the mercenaries grabbed onto his leg and fell to the ground. The guild leader peeked toward that mercenary and raised his voice.

"Everybody gather together! Don't wander off! We will first prevent him from getting any closer!"

The mercenaries gathered together under the guild leader's orders and pointed their swords at the unknown assailant in a black outfit with a red star on it.
There were bloodied and fainted mercenaries all around them. They would see that none of the injuries were severe if they went up to look, however, that was not something that these people could do while in a state of chaos.

The mercenaries could not do anything because Choi Han was acting as if he was walking forward without any concerns.

"Do you really want to become the Mercenaries Guild's eternal enemy?!"

The guild leader's eyes were filled with rage.
As a high-grade expert, he could not even leave a scratch on a sword master. It was worse for the other mercenaries.
The unknown assailant wearing the shabby black Arm outfit calmly started to speak to them.

"So weak."

Grind.
The guild leader ground his teeth. He could not attack nor run away. The guild leader could not hide his anger toward this enemy that was damaging his pride.

"What did-"

'What did you say?'

That was what he had wanted to say.
However, he could not say it.

Boooooooom!

A loud explosion came from behind him.
The guild leader turned around.

"…Huh-"

His office had exploded. The beautiful fire shot up and decorated the night sky. However, this was a disaster for someone like him.
His office with the safe had exploded.

Someone leisurely walked out from that fire.

He had the same black outfit and mask, as well as a single red star on his chest. That person went and stood next to the sword master. The guild leader then recalled Mostue's report.

'The sword master supposedly has a master that he follows. That person was at the core of it. Although we cannot tell if the intruders are actually from Arm, this person is supposedly a high-grade mage.'

The guild leader started to speak.

"…You, you son of a bitch! Get them! I told you to get them! Get them now!"

The two masked individuals quickly started to run.

His office and the safe inside.
The guild leader thought about the document inside the safe. It was the agreement he had made when he became the guild leader five years ago. They had profited quite a bit thanks to that agreement, however, it was a secret that nobody could find out about.

Those bastards had come out from that location.

"Make sure to catch them! Catch them as our pride is on the line!"

"Aaaaaaah!"

The mercenaries started to shout as they chased after the two escaping masked individuals.
A late-night run had started.

"Where are we running to?"

Choi Han controlled his speed while looking at the guild leader and the mercenaries who were chasing them with bloodshot eyes.
The two of them were running quickly, however, still at a pace that could be chased.

In other words, they were purposefully running away while allowing the mercenaries to chase them.

This was Cale's order.
Choi Han looked at Cale as Cale recalled the path he saw on the map earlier and started to speak.

"Leeb-An City's Arm base."

As Choi Han flinched after thinking about something. Cale had become the Pied Piper and was leading the mercenaries somewhere.

Arm's branch location that was only known to people involved in the underworld.
Cale was heading over there.

As the Mercenaries Guild was located at the entrance of the underworld, it was not too far until they reached Arm's Leeb-An City branch.

Arm's building was an average-looking five-story building.
Cale looked at the building that was as bright as the Mercenaries Guild as well as at the people who were rushing out of the building and diligently rushing toward them.

"What the…? Why are the mercenaries invading us?"
"W, who the hell are they?!"

The people rushing out of Arm's building had to face the two people running toward them, as well as the angry mercenaries chasing them.
The branch manager of the Leeb-An City branch started to frown after seeing the two people.

"Are they perhaps the people who ambushed Mostue yesterday?!"

There was no way that Arm's branch manager would not know about yesterday's incident.
Although he did not know the details, he knew that someone had invaded Mostue's branch and that the mercenaries started to move. This was because they noticed the mercenaries rushing toward Mostue's branch.
That was why they had been lying low all day while debating how to proceed from here on.

Arm's branch manager started to fall into a state of panic.

"But why are they wearing outfits that look like ours?!"

He noticed that the people being chased by the mercenaries had similar outfits as his own.
They even had red stars on their chests.

Mostue's faction had remained quiet until they found their internal spy.
The Mercenaries Guild had quietly moved because of their pride.
Thanks to that, there was only a small amount of information Arm's branch manager was able to find out.

Arm's branch manager made eye contact with the man with reddish-brown eyes. The man wearing the shabby outfit opened his arms as he looked toward the branch manager.

"Oh! You came to greet us! Thanks!"

'What? Thanks?'

It was the moment Arm's branch manager was shocked.

"Aaaaaaah!"

He could hear the angry shouts of the mercenaries. He could also hear the reddish brown-eyed man's loud laughter.

"Hahahaha! I'm so happy to see you!"

He really meant it.
Cale, who was running with the mercenaries on his tail, really was happy to see Arm's branch manager.
It really was fun to hit someone from the back.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]