Chapter 99: Look at this Guy?

‘It's that woman.’

There was no proof, but he had a gut feeling.

The assassin who had targeted him.

The one who clearly belonged to that family.

‘Aslan? Aslan is involved with this back-alley organization?’

As he ran through the secret passage, a conclusion that was hard to accept came to him.

The kingdom's largest ducal family was the backer of a back-alley organization in the capital.

Wasn't the difference in status too great?

Or.

‘Was that woman not from Aslan?’

His certainty was shaken by the unexpected turn of events.

Tadadadak.

He felt the slope of the passage, lined with fading torches, gradually steepening.

And then, he saw a wall completely blocking the way ahead.

‘No other passage……’

And he hadn't even seen the shadow of the enemy yet.

‘In that case…….’

Muno looked at the wall and didn't stop, but rather sped up.

And.

“Hap!”

He charged straight ahead and rammed the wall with his shoulder.

Thwang!

Considering his current weight, speed, and the strength of his armor, it should be more powerful than an average knight's lance charge.

As he had expected.

Urureureung.

He succeeded in breaking through the wall with a heavy feeling in his shoulder.

And.

“Don't you dare escape……!”

He was about to shout, but then his eyes were filled with light.

Thump.

Kwaaang.

Urureung.

He could only stare blankly around as he watched the large rock, which he had half-destroyed and pushed aside, crash somewhere in the forest.

He had felt like he had been running for a long time.

‘Outside the outer castle?’

He hurriedly closed his eyes and concentrated, but the metal he felt in any direction, front, back, left, or right, was…….

Right in front of him?

“This is……!”

Pabak.

He hastily pushed aside the bushes, and there was only a single quiver left abandoned.

“……Damn it!”

He had missed her again.

Thwang.

He could only vent his anger by kicking and shattering the half-destroyed rock again.

But he knew there was no point in dwelling on what he had already missed.

Judging from the quiver, it was definitely her, but…….

“Hmph.”

He shook off his lingering attachment with a light sigh and tried to think positively.

“……Well, I got rid of some annoying trash, and I made some money……”

Still, he couldn't help but feel his attention being drawn to the forest.

‘If we meet again next time.’

Then I will definitely…….

Promising himself for the future, Muno re-entered the passage he had broken through.

Fortunately.

When he returned to the deep underground of the enemy's base, the scene of the chaos was still the same.

The vault with one side cut off, and the trash, presumed to be executives, lying unconscious with their neck bones or spines broken.

But when he looked at the vault again, he felt a sense of regret.

“Ah, I should have left a few of the able-bodied guys…….”

The gold coins alone in the man-sized vault looked to be worth over ten thousand gold, and it seemed it would be difficult for him to carry the rest of the jewels by himself.

‘Ah, wait……?’

That's not it.

“……Why am I using my head when I have a good body.”

Right after he realized he was still bound by the common sense of his past life.

Kwadeudeuk.

Muno ripped off the dangling door of the vault.

And.

“Hnngcha!”

Geugeugeugeuk.

He ‘stood up’ the vault.

And with the open part facing upwards, he lifted the vault.

“Hoorah!”

Thump.

As expected, it was a little heavy, but it was manageable.

Thump.

Thump.

He cleared everything in his way with his chains and moved forward with heavy steps.

“Ah…….”

He soon realized that he didn't even need to struggle using ‘two hands’.

“Am I an idiot……”

Chwareureuk.

The chains moved again and wrapped around the vault, lifting the huge load in place of his two hands.

‘As expected, if the body is good, the head doesn't have to suffer.’

Since the chains were also his body, the weight was still there, but it was definitely easier to move with the load distributed among the four strands of the chain.

‘I don't feel any other large metals inside the building.’

And so.

Muno picked up the vault and walked out of the building.

And soon.

He met the North Outer Castle guards who surrounded him.

“That chain and armor, it's the Street Dest…… Ahem, are you Sir Muno Drasen, the Black Knight?”

A gaunt man with a stern impression, who looked to be over fifty at a glance, stepped forward from among the soldiers.

“……That is correct.”

During the magician search operation, he had not visited the northern guard post.

But from that gaunt body, he felt a similar sense of mass as the South and West Gate guard captains.

‘Probably a 4-Star.’

Given the situation, it was obvious who this man was.

However.

“I am Karun Rockefeller, the captain of the North Gate Guard. May I ask why you have caused such a disturbance here?”

It didn't seem like this man with a disagreeable impression had come for a good reason.

The way he kept glancing at the vault was also suspicious.

But since he had nothing to hide, the answer came easily.

“Ah. I was passing by on business and saw some guys making slum children beg and extorting money from them, so I gave them a proper lesson.”

“By a proper lesson, do you mean killing a dozen and seriously injuring 60 to 70 people?”

Hmm?

“……I don't think I killed anyone.”

“The members of the Ted Family who were lying in front of the building were killed by the vagrants of the slum. It cannot be said that Sir Muno has no responsibility for that.”

Look at this guy?

The more he listened, the more his tone of voice bothered him.

“The Ted Family. So you knew this organization's name. You, the guard captain. But you just left them be?”

“We cannot control every single thug in the slums. It is more efficient for the guards to leave most organizations alone and manage them so that they don't cause any major incidents.”

“Aha, so an organization that makes kids beg is fine?”

“Begging? Ah, well, what's the problem with slum children working a little?”

……It's getting.

Annoying.

“……So, according to Sir Karun, I came to a place with no problems, inflicted serious injuries on innocent people, and extorted their property?”

Let's see how far he goes.

He asked sardonically with that thought, but Karun nodded without hesitation.

“That is correct.”

“That is…… What?!”

He was dumbfounded.

“Are you out of your mind!?”

As he shouted, Karun's expression crumpled for a moment.

But he soon forced his expression back to normal.

“Ah. Of course, I do not wish to blame you for punishing an unjust group as a knight. However, it is right that the property this organization has extorted over the years be confiscated by the state.”

He cast his gaze at the vault, tied up in chains and floating in the air.

“Aha, you're after this money?”

“After it? Watch your words, Sir Muno! I am talking about the proper procedure.”

“What if I don't want to?”

At that provocative remark, Karun's eyes narrowed even further.

But soon.

“……About 30 percent will go to Sir Muno as a reward. Be satisfied with that.”

He proposed a strange compromise in a low voice.

A very clumsy stick and carrot.

‘Why is he doing this?’

Naturally, Muno had no choice but to take a closer look at Karun again.

His eyes, constantly darting between the vault and himself.

His tongue, constantly licking his dry lips.

And his palms, soaked with sweat, despite his confident tone.

The opponent's state, examined with his keen senses, was clearly strange somewhere.

‘He’s nervous. Why?’

Because he might have to fight me?

‘No, that's not it.’

On closer inspection, it seemed Karun was consciously turning his eyes, which kept going to the vault, to himself.

A vault full of gold coins.

But there were too many eyes watching for him to be openly coveting the money.

Unless the entire North Gate Guard was corrupt and colluding.

Even if that were the case, the amount of money per person would be small, so it would be an insufficient reward for taking such a risk.

In that case…….

In that moment, something he had seen in the vault flashed through his mind.

Thump.

“Ah, well if that's the case……”

Muno naturally pulled the vault closer and, pretending to sort the gold coins and jewels inside, scanned the documents piled in a corner.

And with a smirk, he picked one of them up.

“Are you perhaps looking for this?”

Sender, Karun Rockefeller.

The moment he held up a letter with a seal on it.

Karun's body disappeared from in front of him in an instant.

However.

Paaaaaaaaang!

Kakang.

When their chains and fists crossed in an instant, Karun had no choice but to retreat with a frown.

And as he glared at his opponent and was about to draw his sword again.

“You want to have a scuffle with me in front of your subordinates?”

At those words, he ground his teeth and put his sword back.

He seemed to be a speed-type evolver.

‘Karina is much faster, old man.’

Although he was a 4-Star, he was an opponent worth fighting.

On the other hand, Karun must have felt that his opponent was not to be trifled with from the brief exchange.

So.

“What do you want?”

He had no choice but to back down.

Pfft.

“Ah, me? All of this.”

“What……!”

“It was originally mine.”

“Kkh……. Hand over all the documents inside. Then I'll let it go.”

Karun, who had suddenly started to lower his voice, no longer even used honorifics.

‘As expected…….’

This guy is trash too.

“All the documents……”

“If you refuse, you will incur the wrath of the Rockefeller family and its lord, Aslan. Even if you make an issue of the documents, it will end with a few responsible people losing their jobs at most.”

Oh, so Rockefeller is a vassal of Aslan.

‘So the backer was real?’

The more he heard the guy talk, the more curious he became about the contents of these documents.

“You'll be one of those responsible people, won't you?”

“That's why there is no further room for compromise. The North Gate Guard killed a serial killer, but it turned out to be the Black Knight. I'll have no choice but to fabricate such a situation.”

It seemed Karun had decided to go all out.

In other words, the consequences of the documents being released were greater than the reprimand he would receive for killing a prodigy of the kingdom whom the king was also paying attention to.

‘This makes me even more curious.’

Muno smirked and drew his ‘Blade’.

“Well……. I don't think that will be easy.”

“Are you insisting on drinking the poison?”

Chaeng.

Karun immediately drew his sword again.

Chaeng.

Chaeng!

He saw the knights and soldiers around him also drawing their weapons.

Among them, only a few had received a signal from Karun, and the rest seemed to have followed suit with a bewildered expression.

‘Ah. This is getting out of hand…….’

A 4-Star knight in front of him, and several 2-Star knights and over 50 soldiers behind him.

Even if he won somehow, the aftermath would be severe.

No, rather, he wasn't confident he could protect the documents in the already opened vault while fighting.

“Hah……. There's no other way. Alright, Sir Karun. Let's do that.”

Muno pulled the vault in front of him and swept up the documents inside.

And he wrapped the bundle in his chains and threw it in front of Karun.

It was meant as a ‘fuck you’.

“Hmph!”

The guy’s body moved like an afterimage and snatched all the documents.

Tsk.

“Well then, if you'll excuse me……”

Thump.

He was about to naturally walk away.

“Wait!”

Karun found fault with him again.

“What now?”

He turned around, showing that he was thoroughly annoyed.

He met the eyes of Karun, who was twitching his eyebrow after looking through all the documents in his bosom.

“……Where's the ledger?”

“You want me to show you? I gave you all the documents, didn't I?”

Seureung.

He showed him the inside of the vault again.

“No, I'll have to search the gold coins.”

Karun crossed the line.

“Hey, I've already made a concession, it's a problem if you keep this up.”

Muno drew his greatsword again, and Karun also raised his sword, but.

“The soldiers will all find out, won't they? What you're looking for. Is that okay? And, what if some of my gold coins go missing?”

At Muno’s words that followed, Karun twitched his eyebrow nervously.

Then.

“……I will search it myself. I can't make any more concessions.”

This bastard, he must have a lot to hide.

Muno sighed and stepped back slightly, gesturing for him to come forward.

And while he was rummaging through the gold coins in the vault.

“Hey, you're not trying to sneak some, are you……? There, stop that hand. Are you going to take responsibility if the jewels get scratched?”

He got on the guy’s nerves with his sarcastic remarks.

In the end, Karun, who found nothing, could only turn away with a contorted expression.

Of course, he still left a warning in a low voice.

“……Don't get cocky just because of your recent meager fame, brat. It's nothing for Rockefeller and Aslan to bury someone like you.”

His expression was so serious that he almost laughed out loud.

“Yes. Yes. I'm sure.”

As he answered with a good-natured smile, Karun ground his teeth and turned away again.

Whatever his level of Corporeal Arts, if that's all he knew.

‘That guy is just a subordinate.’

So insignificant that there was no need to pay him any mind.

The feeling of irritation that had been welling up seemed to have been relieved.

‘On my way to find the information organization, I've got one more thing to request. I handed over all the other documents, but…….’

The thickest document, no, the ledger, visible in the gap of his slightly opened armor.

A slight smile spread across Muno's lips as he confirmed it.