Chapter 784 – Apocrypha 287) the Chaser(186)
287) The Chaser(186)
“Okay. What do you want to say?”
“Cooperate in killing Tal.”
“… Ride?”
To be honest, I didn’t expect to be asked to cooperate in killing Tal. To hear more explanations, I looked at Swamp, who still had only the lower half of his body.
Squeak-
Then the mud from the floor began to rise up the lower part of the body and reconstruct the broken body. Shortly thereafter, a Swamp appeared that looked just like it did when it first appeared.
‘It’s a good psychic power.’
In addition to regenerating the body, the clothes are also regenerating. Swamp has pretty good psychic powers.
‘That psychic power… Maybe it was the [King of the Swamp]?’
Since there are only a few psychic powers related to swamps, I was able to quickly figure out what psychic powers Swamp had.
Anyway, it didn’t matter what Swamp’s psychic power was, so I talked to him.
“Do you have a grudge against Tal?”
“The lord of the castle has a grudge, not me.”
“Castellan?”
“Here they are called scavengers.”
“Ah… Is that him?”
Only then did I know why Swamp was aiming for a mask.
Scavenger lost his only brother to Tal. Of course, it was the scavenger’s younger brother who provided the cause, but where did the villains care about the causal relationship? Whatever the reason, I only have a grudge because I killed my flesh and blood.
“So what’s your relationship with the scavenger?”
“He owes it.”
“I have a debt…”
I muttered as if pondering Swamp’s answer. Currently, Swamp can be seen in two forms in my eyes.
One is a scavenger who sees the body of an alter ego, and the other is a Swamp who sees the body of a doppelganger.
‘Let’s see…’
Sitting on the rooftop, I (doppelganger) used [Memory Stalker] Psychic powers toward Swamp. Because he owes the scavenger, it is to check if his words to help are true.
‘What is this bastard? Aren’t you from the Dark City?’
After checking Swamp’s memory, I learned that he was from Dark City, not from Red Town.
About 10 years ago, Nom, who was active as a villain in Dark City, moved to Red Town to escape the relentless pursuit of heroes. Of course, he had to pass through the land of monsters, so while he was heading to Red Town, Swamp received numerous threats for his life.
However, because he possessed so many fraudulent psychic powers, he was able to safely arrive in Red Town and settle down here.
Swamp, who came to live in Red Town, had a hard time at first. In Red Town, where Asians are the majority, Swamp, who has the features of a Westerner, was just an outsider to be wary of.
Wherever he went, people followed him, and every time Swamp felt like a monkey in a zoo. However, the ruling families of Red Town were too violent to use superpowers recklessly.
Still, the heroes of Dark City treat them humanely, but not here. If they didn’t like it, it was the ruling family who executed them on the spot.
One day when he was living such a frustrating life, Swamp, who couldn’t stand the intrusiveness, did something. It caused the talented people of the entire family to drown in a swamp.
As a result, Swamp was pursued by the former family, one of the ruling families, and was helped by a scavenger in the process.
‘Hmm. It is true that there is a debt.’
After confirming Swamp’s memory, I confirmed that his words were true. Apparently Swamp is a conversation partner. In Dark City, he was a hot-blooded villain, but after experiencing many dangers, he became more patient.
“Mr. Swamp. The debt you owe to the scavenger… Do you really have to pay it back?”
“…”
He replied in silence. He seems to have the personality to repay debts.
“It is impossible to cooperate in killing Mr. Tal.”
“Then the negotiations are broken.”
“I’m not done yet, so could you listen a little longer?”
“…”
This time, silence means that you will listen to me more.
“Currently, Mr. Tal is closely related to what we do. He is the only villain in the Commons who is cooperative with us.”
“So?”
“So I have a counter-proposal to Mr. Swamp.”
“…”
This silence means that you will listen to my proposal. No, but can’t this bastard just talk? Why is Agari so expensive?
“As I said earlier, Mr. Tal is an indispensable person for the project we are working on. He also agreed to move with us when the common area is safe in the future, which means Mr. Tal will become our person soon. “
“The introduction is long.”
‘This bastard?’
I got annoyed for a moment, but I held it in. Swamp has the upper hand in negotiations right now. Even if he releases his psychic powers, the bodies of the people behind me will be split in two.
Since I, who has the body of a doppelgänger from above, will not lose my life, but the problem is that Nayeon will suffer from having her lower body cut off.
Therefore, the Swamp should be pacified in the most peaceful way possible. Resolving by force is the last resort to use when negotiations break down.
“I’m sorry. Anyway, Mr. Tal is pretty important to us, so we can’t help with killing him. But what about the scavenger?”
“What do you mean?”
“If he disappears, wouldn’t Mr. Swamp’s debt to him disappear? I’ll go find the scavenger myself right now and kill myself.”
“I refuse.”
Swamp refuses with a single knife. Having read his memories, I could understand why he refused outright.
“Is it because of trust?”
“Yes.”
Once a hot-blooded villain, Swamp has matured after going through all sorts of hardships. No matter how much the transaction target is a villain, he does not betray that trust.
But it’s okay.
“There is one more suggestion. We will solve the problem of the former family.”
“…”
In the end, the essence of Swamp is Villain, and the benefit that one can obtain is more important than trust.
Swamp’s eyebrows twitched when he said he would solve the family’s problems. That would also be the case, because the former family is one of the ruling families in Red Town, and to solve that problem, you must have at least the same weight as the former family.
For now, the families have agreed to wait until the number of villains in the common area decreases, but once the problem with the common area is resolved, the ruling families will try to exert their influence in earnest.
The former family hasn’t given up on Swamp yet. This is because the nephew of the head of the household is included among the powers of the previous family he killed.
When the problem of the common area was resolved, it was obvious who the entire family would target first.
“…They weren’t normal guys.”
Swamp wasn’t stupid either. I noticed at once that our social status was not normal, as I readily said that I would solve the family’s problems.
“…”
Swamp, lost in thought.
I’m weighing whether to keep my trust with the scavenger or accept my offer. After thinking for a moment, he opened his mouth again.
“Give me proof that I can solve the family problem.”
“Proof…Then will you let go of one of the people behind me? She is the proof.”
“Who is it?”
I approached the people who fell into the swamp.
“How’s it going?”
“Come with me, ma’am.”
As I put her shoulder on Nayeon’s shoulder and looked at Swamp, he lifted her drowning woman on top of her. Her pants were full of mud. I went back to Swamp with Nayeon.
“Is that woman proof?”
“Yes, lady. Excuse me, could you reveal your identity?”
“… I see.”
Nayeon, who was staring at me and her swump with her complicated eyes, nodded her head and took off her mask. Since she was away from me, I don’t know what kind of conversation Swamp and I had, but she obeyed my words because she had absolute trust in me.
Nayeon took off her mask and showed her bare face to Swamp.
“Ummm…”
Swamp checked Nayeon’s face and salivated. The second person in the Hong family, this was enough evidence for Swamp to feel relieved.
“I don’t know what this person has proposed to you, but if you accept the offer, I will do it with my name and honor. I, Hong Na-yeon’s name, swear on this spot.”
Swamp, who was staring at Nayeon, shook her head.
“… That’s not enough.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Do you think I’ve been beaten by the ruling families once or twice? All of them are different from the front and back. If there was a Hero Association here, they would have been called villains too. Dangerous.”
“What? You now…”
“Shh. Calm down, lady. I’ll take care of this.”
“… All right.”
After hearing Swamp’s insults, such as being different in front and behind her, and being rude, Nayeon became furious. I hurriedly calmed her down and hid her behind me.
And she turned to Swamp again.
Step by step, she moved closer to him. She told him at a distance close enough that if she extended her fist she could strike right away.
“I know that you distrust the ruling family, so I will pass on the rudeness I just committed to the lady. But for now, you have to accept my offer.”
“Should I accept your offer? Why?”
“Because if you don’t want to die now, then you have to.”
“Kuh-kuh-kuh… This is why I can’t trust the ruling families. Yes, as long as you can protect your precious lineage, it doesn’t matter if your comrades die, right?”
“No. That’s not it.”
When I shook my head, Swamp looked at me with curious eyes.
“Aren’t you still unaware that the grim reaper is over your head?”
“… What?”
As I pointed up, Swamp followed my finger and looked up.
“…!”
On the day he was standing on the roof of a building looking down at himself (doppelganger), Swamp’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. As a 10th-level psychic, he didn’t notice that there was someone even while he was using his ability, and he was shocked by that fact.
I continued talking to the surprised Swamp.
“There is only one reason why the grim reaper above your head didn’t take your life, it’s because you’re happy to see someone from your hometown after a long time.”
“… Trending people?”
“Yes. That’s all. But if you refuse my offer, I have no reason to keep you alive.”
I took a step closer to Swamp. If I leaned his head forward a little bit, I looked into his eyes from a distance close enough that our noses would touch and said.
“So, if you don’t want to die, accept my offer, you bastard.”
