Chapter 228 – Neighborhood Book
“Hey, what is this again…”
Inside the empty office, Roxy sighed and touched her forehead.
It’s only been a few days since the white bones appeared.
Within a few days, all businesses that had been feeding the thieves’ guild were suspended. The guild members were afraid to work, saying that it might be their turn next, and the business partners all hid from the vicious rumors.
Thanks to this, the damage to the guild was not the only one.
‘Harold boasted that if he fought properly, he would win unconditionally, but…’
The reality is that we cannot even see our shadows, let alone face each other. Because none of the guild members who saw their faces survived.
“What are the guards doing? There have been several murders, but they won’t come forward!”
Even though she knew that the thieves’ guild would be in trouble if the guards moved, she got angry for no reason. It was because it was such a frustrating situation.
‘Even if only the inducement suggested by Harold had succeeded..!’
As the hit-and-run strategy of the White Skeletons continued, Harold proposed to hit the bait and hit the White Skeletons caught in the bait.
Roxy gave permission, and under Michelle’s leadership, the operation proceeded thoroughly.
She first enticed one of her clients on the condition of reducing the cost of the drug.
I deliberately leaked information about the meeting place and carried many medicines at once. Make it look like you’re going to make up for what you’ve lost so far.
Of course, an ambush was set up around the meeting place.
It must have been a desirable food for the White Skeletons.
Stealing an enormous amount of medicine would not only harm the thieves’ guild, but would also be of great benefit to them.
However, while the transaction was postponed, the white bones did not appear. The next day, only the face skin of the customer who helped was placed in front of the guild. It was like playing completely in their hands.
Roxy sighed as she leaned back in her soft chair.
“Haa… Yes, it can’t be helped. If you have a hole in the back of your hand, it will be cheap.”
Maybe not one, but two. Still, it’s better than shutting down the whole business. Roxy decided to prepare her heart for the return of her men who had gone to call for her meteor.
It was then.
– Aaaaagh!
Terrible screams came from the hallway beyond the door.
“What?”
Her face returned to its usual cold expression at the noise outside her.
Her bird breasts jumped.
‘…No way? I don’t think so…’
No matter how lucky you are…
Roxy walked slowly and opened the door.
-Stop! Aaaaan!!!
An occasional scream.
Roxy quietly closed the door and locked it.
‘Haha. It looks like the white skeletons have invaded. Are you okay. Because Harold said he was confident. I’ll take care of everything. Huh. I will.’
Please.
* * *
“What a fuss is this!”
Harold kicked in the door and came out.
Michelle followed him behind him, and it was because the screams were heard as the two were devising post-mortem measures for the White Skeletons.
“Harold! It’s the backbone! The White Skeletons… Kuck…”
A blade pierced the guild member’s chest.
Cool. After vomiting blood once, he fell forward helplessly.
“Dogal!”
The dead guild member was one of Harold’s favorite guild members named Dogale.
The man who killed him stood behind the fallen dogal. He is a man with a skull pattern painted on his face with white rosin.
The man who pulled the sword from Dogalle’s back grinned at Harold and Michelle.
“You seem to know where you belong without having to tell me.”
Harold strode toward the man without hesitation.
The man let out a sneer at Harold, who did not take any stance even though he came within range of the sword.
“He’s in good shape in front of women.”
The white bone man swung his sword obliquely at Harold. The powerful sword moved to cut Harold’s body in half.
Ting.
The sword could not touch Harold’s body.
I was blocked by his knuckles and just trembled.
Puck. Wooddeuk.
Harold’s knuckles stuck in the man’s side. His ribs are broken and the man’s back is bent.
A brief gap like that.
A knuckle-clad fist hits the man’s chin. At the man who was unconscious and reeling, Harold stabbed him five times.
Paba Baba Park.
The middle of the man’s chest was hollowed out.
Leaving behind the man who collapsed, Harold turned his back.
“Michelle, let’s go. We need to find Roxy.”
“Roxy-sama would be in the office!”
The two head to the office to find Roxy. The hallway that the White Skeletons had already passed through once was a mess. Blood and internal organs were scattered and there were corpses with cloudy eyes, but most of them were members of the Thieves Guild.
Harold bit his lip at the brutal sight.
“Shit..! These bastards…”
These are the guys that Harold did his best to teach.
Not only did he become attached to them, but he was also proud of them. Since they collapsed in an instant, Harold’s anger was indescribable.
“Harold, be patient. The priority now is to find Roxy-sama.”
“…Shit.”
Harold, a former war mercenary, knew how to control his emotions. Roxy’s safety takes precedence over his own anger. He looked away from his dead men.
‘I’m sorry… I’ll make sure to get revenge.’
I will grind the bones and flesh of the White Skeletons.
Harold made a promise and a promise in his heart.
And it didn’t take long to get that opportunity.
That was when he climbed the bloody stairs and arrived in front of Roxy’s office. In front of the office, there were passengers who arrived before the two of them.
“The pink-haired girl’s loyal dogs have finally arrived.”
Standing at the door of the office were three people.
A guy with a big body and a giant with a lot of muscle.
And a man standing in the middle of them holding a curved sword with a curved blade.
They all had one thing in common: they had white skulls painted on their faces.
“Why are you guys in front of Roxy-sama’s office? Surely you didn’t harm Roxy-sama?!”
“Wow, calm down. Because I have no intention of touching her yet. The reason I waited here is because I wanted to meet you two.”
“…You mean us?”
“Okay. I wanted to know what the pink-haired girl believes in and stretches out like that. So I was going to take a look… But the male side is pretty disappointing. The woman’s side is true. It would be better to see it from my bed.”
“Boss, I also want to try with that bitch.”
“What’s not going to happen? I’ll put it in the front, so why don’t you put it in the back hole?”
“What about the boss?”
“You write this. This.”
The white bone leader tapped his lips with his index finger. At that, two of his men laughed out loud as they left the hallway.
Roxy and Michelle.
Harold couldn’t stand the insult towards the two of them any longer.
He didn’t even have to put up with it.
“Beastly bastards. Is that all your will?”
Harold walked towards the three white bones.
“No, there is only one left. You’ll be tied up and fucked while we fuck that bitch.”
During the boss’s load, the man with muscles loosened his hands. The white bone leader held up his hand to stop him from going to face Harold.
“I do it myself.”
“You mean the boss?”
“Uh. I’ve always wondered if he had enough skills to reach out against me. See you somewhere.”
The head of the Baekgoldan put the curved sword on the floor.
He turned his shoulder and walked towards Harold.
“Don’t you use a sword?”
“Aren’t you using it too? It wouldn’t be fair to use only me.”
“You will regret it.”
When the distance between the two was close enough, Harold stretched out his fist.
First light jab.
The moment he stretched out his fist, the mana stored in his elbow exploded.
A catch technique created by Harold, who is not capable of strengthening his body with mana.
Even light jabs can become inconsequential with this catch technique.
However, no matter how strong the attack is, it is useless if it does not hit.
“Oh, your fists are quite heavy? They’ll end in one hit. Things like you.”
Baekgoldan boss avoided the first jab as well as the subsequent hits. It was a light movement, as if he knew where his fist would come from.
“Shut up!”
Harold launched a regime full of power.
It was an intention to break the jaws of the chattering and noisy White Gold Team leader.
“By the way…”
Tup.
The palm of the white bone leader blocked Harold’s fist.
Harold’s regime, which had enough power to break the chest of a white bone henchmen, was held on to the point of futility.
“Even the guys behind me do this.”
The white bone leader pulled the fist he was holding onto his body. Harold loses his balance and falls forward. The white bone leader’s knee is stuck in his abdomen.
“Keep it..!”
Harold knelt down, holding his stomach.
“Oops, you shouldn’t try to stretch already. This is just the beginning.”
The leader of the white bone team started beating Harold.
In fact, the fight had already ended when Harold’s fists could not even touch the skin of the leader of the White Skull.
Harold noticed that too early on. Even so, it did not stop because of his coming. And that coming also collapsed in the ensuing one-sided assault.
His will was strong, but his body was not. Harold collapsed, unable to withstand the blows of the white bone leader.
“Whoa… He looks like a tough guy. Thanks to that, I lost some energy after a long time.”
The head of the white bone team smiled refreshingly, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead.
“Harold!”
Michelle ran towards the fallen Harold.
“Oops, no.”
The white bone leader kicked Michelle.
Unlike Harold, Michelle couldn’t stand up with a single kick from her meager boss.
“Turn it off…”
“Michelle! You bastard!”
“What is it, man? Do you still have energy? Do you really have to admit one toughness?”
The leader of the white bone team evaded Harold’s counterattack and beat him again. Before long, Harold lost the energy to fight back and collapsed completely. The leader of the white bone team sat with his butt on Harold’s head.
“Keuk… Get out of the way…!”
“Ugh. Stop. If you’re not capable, don’t try. I will give you a good suggestion.”
“A suggestion…?”
She barely managed to get her voice out as Michelle held onto the area where she had been beaten.
“Yes, suggestion. It’s a much better option than rummaging around here. Come under me, both of you. We guarantee you better treatment than here.”
The leader of the white bone team crossed her arms and spoke triumphantly.
Harold’s fist was sharp enough. He ridiculed them for being similar to the guys behind them, but those guys are his own henchmen. In other words, Harold deserves to be his henchman.
He also knew that Michelle, the woman who was knocked out with just one kick, was not in charge of combat. Because the preliminary investigation has already been completed.
Michelle, with her excellent administrative skills, was a necessary talent for the white bone squad, which would prey on the thieves’ guild and increase its ranks.
So, as long as the two didn’t rebel, I thought I’d accept it.
“Poof…”
“Kuh… Kuh haha!”
Okay. If only I hadn’t burst out laughing like I do now.
“What is funny?”
The head of the white bone team did not hide his displeasure and showed it on his face. But Michelle, and even Harold, who was on his butt, couldn’t stop laughing.
“You accept? Who wants to come in?”
Michelle was quite a famous thief.
If she put her mind to it, there was no place she couldn’t rob, whether it was a nobleman’s house or a merchant’s house.
Even she made one mistake. Thanks to her, she was hurt and she managed to escape and she hid in the slums.
She had survived but her body was jaded.
Her consciousness was fading, and she had a premonition of her own doom.
Because she was a beautiful woman like herself, wounded, and she was scattered in a slum where there were only animals. No matter what happened to her, she wasn’t weird.
But when she opened her eyes, what she saw in her eyes was neither Heaven nor Hell, but a girl.
A girl with a cold face unbefitting her age.
And a girl who is also the leader of a small gang.
The girl told her to leave as soon as her wounds healed, but Michelle can’t live without debt. Especially if she is a small child. She decided to help the girl because only she paid for her life.
As it continued, she was able to find herself still helping the girl even though at some point she had paid for her life.
Michelle wondered why she was doing this, and she was smart enough to understand why.
Even though the girl lived in the beasts’ den surrounded by beasts, she was not a beast.
It was because it was strange.
So Michelle made a promise to herself. She’s a girl and if she lets herself down even once she sleeps then leave. And that promise she kept until the girl became a mature woman.
“…Do you want to die?”
“It’s long past time to waste her life. From the moment I choose to serve Roxy, my life is his.”
Harold was a war mercenary.
Unlike adventurers who kill monsters or run errands, they kill and kill people in war.
In such an environment where his heart and emotions are dying, there is only one person he admires, and that is Roxy’s father.
A man who is calmer than anyone else on the battlefield, but warmer than anyone else in normal times.
The day he heard the news that such a person retired and committed suicide, Harold quit the war mercenary service.
He immediately set out to find the man’s family.
He was someone I deeply respected. His family was willing to help in any way possible.
After a long time, Harold was able to find the man’s family.
But… His family, his daughter, was not what Harold had thought. Because his cold face and voice were the exact opposite of that person.
And he’s running a gang…
Disappointment was not the only thing.
Still, wanting to keep what he swore as a man, he joined his daughter’s gang.
It’s simple to do.
Hitting and threatening people.
It doesn’t kill, but it’s no different from war.
It was around the time that Harold’s heart rotted away.
A small child in shabby clothes approached him. He was a little surprised because the child didn’t like it because of the tough look, but what was more surprising was that the child bowed to him.
Thank you. Called.
I couldn’t understand it at first.
However, from the child’s words that followed, he could understand the reason for the child’s greeting.
The man who had been beaten not long ago was a vicious moneylender who had been harassing the child’s family.
After that day, Harold recognized the guys he had beaten.
Blackguard. Killer. Rapist. Hooliganism.
They were all trash that ate the slums.
From then on, Harold’s eyes were opened.
Things I hadn’t seen began to appear. Roxy was policing her ghetto on the subject of running her gang, and the residents of her ghetto welcomed her.
Roxy was the man’s daughter.
He was cold on the outside, but on the inside he was warmer than anyone else.
Of course, it’s true that taking protection money or hitting someone is bad. To ordinary people, they may all look the same.
But at least to Harold, she looked like a flower shining alone in her gutter.
Since then, Harold has come to respect Roxy like her father.
That’s why the two of them laughed when they said that they would reap the leader of the white bone team.
Can’t it be funny?
They said they would buy their loyalty with only force and threats.
After laughing out loud, the two spoke at the same time.
“Fuck you.”
“…Even if these scumbags give me a chance…!”
The head of the white bone team, whose face was distorted by anger and humiliation, pulled out his curved sword from the floor.
I approached the fallen Harold and raised the curved sword.
“Even if you give it a chance, you have to go after the idiot who kicks.”
“Who do you want?”
Quaang!
The door to the office, which had been firmly closed, opened violently.
Trudge.
Through the open door, Roxy, the owner of the thieves’ guild and the owner of Michelle and Harold, walked out.
“Who dares to say that he will kill my men recklessly?”
“Roxy! No, run away!”
“Shut up, you trash bastard.”
The white bone leader kicked Harold.
Leaving behind the grunting Harold, he smiled at Roxy.
“The owner of the thieves guild finally got off his heavy ass?”
“What are you doing? You better explain it properly.”
“What if I don’t explain? What to do? Are you going to kill me?”
“If you need.”
Roxy brought his hand to the kukri around her waist. The way she moved without hesitation even in the face of thirteen seemed to tell her that even if she was alone, she could take on all three.
‘Please step away. Please back off.’
Of course, she didn’t have the strength to do that.
Everything is false
With that bravado, it would be nice if the white bones would go away and everything would be sorted out…
‘Why aren’t you scared!’
The white bone team was slightly wary, but did not back down.
‘Mistress, I’ll just run away through the window.’
Did I kick the door and come out saying what I could do?
Roxy regretted what she had just done. But she couldn’t help it. If she hadn’t moved, Harold and Michelle would have been dead.
Mistress, why do they say they won’t follow me?
It’s good if you show some flexibility.
“Yeah, no matter how young you are, it’s not luck that you’ve come this far.”
‘No. That’s lucky.’
“Then, show that skill to this Sigurd.”
The white bone leader, Sigurd, had no smile on his face. He walked towards Roxy, holding a curved sword. She didn’t look down on Roxy and seemed to be serious about dealing with her rival.
‘Ah. It’s dead.’
Also, it doesn’t work for real people.
Eh, you’ll be satisfied with just one city.
I was greedy for no reason, but it looks like this.
It was the moment Roxy was about to give up her will to live.
Whirly Rick. Widely!
The dagger that flew in at high speed passed between Roxy and the leader of the White Bones and was lodged in the door.
Sigurd, who was interrupted in a duel with his rival, twisted his expression and turned his head in the direction the dagger had come from.
“What are you doing again, bastard?”
“Here is the guest. Then what are you a bastard doing?”
Familiar voice.
Also, at this moment, a voice that seemed like it was going crazy with joy came to Roxy’s ears.
Roxy slowly turned her head. Meteor stood at a distance of only 10m.
‘Ah, I lived.’
Yes!
Roxy secretly clenched his fists.
