Chapter 637 – Misunderstanding
“… Dirty thing?”
“Yes, that’s not a dirty thing, but what does it mean?”
“This guy has been looking at Nora’s face for so long, but he’s crossing the line. He’s insulting me. Can he be held responsible for his words?”
I got up from the sofa and glared at Evat.
“Bah, Mr. Bark. Calm down.”
Nora fidgets and stops me.
“Nora, that guy insulted me. A man has to take responsibility for what he says. But I will look at your face and turn a blind eye if that guy, Evat, gets down on his knees and asks for my forgiveness.”
“Hmph! I want you to kneel? That makes me bite my tongue.”
Even though I told him he would be lenient if I asked for forgiveness, Evat did not give in.
“Huh, I guess this guy shouldn’t talk.”
“Nora, please don’t stop me. It had to happen at some point.”
Evat’s neck was still stiff, and the atmosphere became increasingly harsh.
When the situation reached that point, Nora sighed and stepped back.
I lightly relaxed my neck and approached Evat.
“Go for it! Bark! I’ve been waiting for a day like today. This time, I’ll fix your stupid hair!”
Evat was not at all discouraged by the pressure of a large man who was incomparable to himself and shouted at me.
“…?”
What does this guy believe?
I wondered if there was something hidden…
There was no such twist.
-Puk puk puk!!
“Kek! Kwauk! Kwak!”
Evat was beaten senselessly by me and fell to the floor covered in blood.
In the first place, he was wearing a magic suppression device, so there was no way he could be my opponent.
“Eh, Evat! Are you okay?”
Nora asked worriedly when she saw Evat, who had collapsed miserably.
“Cough! No, Nora. I’m still… I’m okay… Cough…”
Evat, who was talking nonsense with blood foaming at the mouth, passed out.
“Ha… Bark. Let’s talk again next time.”
Nora probably thought she wasn’t in the mood to talk any more because of the fist fight between me and Evat, so she sighed and went back.
*
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*
After Nora left.
Within a few days, Rebellion’s Cowra came to visit.
“Why don’t you apologize to Cloud and Claire?”
She told me a strange story.
“Apology? What do I have to apologize for?”
“That’s… Because you did that to the women in that city…”
“…”
Laurent was suffering from a lot of malicious rumors because of this guy. As expected, it seemed like a good idea to explode that guy’s egg.
I felt the need to correct this malicious rumor.
“Kaura, there seems to be a big misunderstanding. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Bark, you know. The Pantheans in that city suffered from the military’s brutality…”
“If you think about it that way, the same goes for Karaz. No, it can be seen as more serious, right?”
“… Karazga?”
“Have you been to that city, Pantheran?”
“Yes.”
Kaura nodded her head.
It seems like she also went to Pantheran on a magic stone convoy.
“Which do you think lives a more satisfying life, the residents of Karaz or the Pantherans?”
“That’s…”
Kaura seemed speechless.
“If you’ve seen that city, you would know. Even if the military created the Panterans for impure purposes, they are living a more satisfied life than not only Karaz, but any other city in Zephyria.”
“…”
“The people of Karaz, like the people of Pantheran, have been living here their whole lives, unable to escape. Rather, they live in much worse conditions. If you Liberions sympathize with the people of Pantheran, why don’t you say anything about the people of Karaz? Isn’t it true that Panther citizens are that special?”
“That’s…”
“It’s okay for me to have sex with Karaz women, but it’s not okay for me to have sex with Panteran women? Isn’t there something strange?”
Am I a little persuaded?
Cowra was silently listening to my story.
“Moreover, I have a good relationship with them. Even when I meet them face to face, I can laugh and talk with them. But I don’t know why her third party, Cloud, is making such a fuss.”
〈Then why did you do that to Laurent? 〉
‘It’s because of you, Cosmos.’
〈Are you saying this is my fault? 〉
‘It’s not a fault, it’s a fact.’
Until Laurent framed me, I had no idea what to do with him. It was also Cloud’s fault for kicking me out after being incited by him.
However, when Cosmos told me about Laurent’s atrocities, the devil inside me awakened.
〈Shameless.〉
After hearing what I said, Kaura thought for a moment, sighed lightly, and spoke.
“… Maybe you’re right. But I hope you understand Cloud and Claire’s feelings.”
“Do you understand?”
“I can’t tell you the details because I’m not a party, but Cloud and Claire have been very close to each other since they were young.”
“What about the Panthera line?”
Somehow, a few predictable stories come to mind.
“… It ended up being pretty bad.”
“So you created Rebellion?”
“That’s right.”
“Claire says yes, but Cowra, what about you?”
“I’m an old friend of mine. I’ve seen up close what they’ve been through, and I thought Rebellion was doing the right thing. It’s less common these days, but in the past it was common to abuse the Pantheraine…”
It is no exaggeration to say that Kaura fell into Karaj because of her friend. However, she showed no resentment towards him.
“Bark, as you said, Cloud and Claire may be overindulging themselves. Still, how about understanding their situation and reaching out first?”
“Just… Think about it.”
At my polite refusal, Cowra let out a small sigh and left without saying anything more.
I find Claire’s situation unfortunate.
〈Really? 〉
… Actually, I couldn’t sympathize that much.
Even though I worked in Rebellion for a short time, I didn’t build great friendships with Claire or Cowra…
If the person involved in that unfortunate story had been Nehru and not Claire, the story would have been different.
However, Rebellion was like a stranger to me.
*
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*
A few acquaintances came to visit because they had heard the rumor, but most of them had a leisurely time.
One such leisurely day, a man’s face suddenly came to mind.
It’s not often that I think of a man’s face.
The reason such an uncommon thing happened was because he stole my money.
Even if it is a poor slum,
It is no exaggeration to say that it is currently ruling the slums, and if you become the boss of the Guardians, you will receive a lot of money.
However, that doesn’t mean the money wasted wasn’t a waste.
What gave me the most satisfaction when I became the boss of the Guardians was having subordinates that I could take care of.
And I ordered my men to catch Willis, who had taken my money and ran away.
I understand that Willas was taken away on a medical ship, and most of the group he created called Gamers was absorbed into the Helena Liberation Front.
Willas, who was now just another prisoner, was not difficult prey.
As I expected, not long after Willas gave the order, he was captured by the vicious members of the Guardians.
He had bruises all over his face as if someone had hit him.
“Hmm? Why is this guy’s face like this?”
“I’m sorry. He rebelled.”
A subordinate who looked like a bear looked at me and said.
“Really? Then there’s nothing we can do.”
When I seemed to have skipped over it, my subordinate quietly sighed in relief.
“Willas… If you’re discharged from the hospital, isn’t there someone you should visit first?”.
“Bah, Mr. Bark… What, what happened…”
This sloppy guy starts saying strange things again.
“What happened? Are you asking because you don’t know? Should I make you remember?”
As my face became grim, Willas’ face turned pale.
“Oh, no. I know. You’re talking about the commission fee…”
“Tsk… Even though this guy knows… I won’t talk too much. I’ll turn a blind eye to 50,000.”
“Huh?! 50,000… Well, that’s too much. The balance wasn’t even up to that much…”
“You don’t know much about the world. Did you think that you would take other people’s money and not get any interest?”
“But… You, there are too many…”
“I’ll give it a week. They said there are some jobs in the slums. Have you ever heard of a shitbag? If you can’t pay it back by then, you’ll have to build a shitbag until you do 50,000 jena worth of work.”
Willas brought me 50,000 Zena the very next day.
You need to know how cruel this guy is.
I don’t know if he took out an additional loan or had an emergency fund, but it’s none of my business.
I was embarrassed to think that I was complaining when I could have done it, but since it was also a loss of reputation to keep getting involved with the minnows, I decided to move on with a generous heart.
*
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*
“There are rumors going around that Mr. Bark is kidnapping people and extorting money.”
Shepard said something strange to me, wondering where I heard this strange story.
“Hmm? Who told such nonsense…?”
The only person I caught and took money from was Willas.
It wasn’t that I had stolen anything, it was just that I received back the money I didn’t receive.
‘Could it be because of that incident?’
It may seem a bit misleading on the surface, but I received fair compensation.
“That? He was a bad debtor. He stole my money. Furthermore, he was such a swindler that I had to get someone to catch him.”
“Is that so?”
Shepard had a somewhat suspicious expression.
That’s an expression of disbelief.
It was also funny to give a lame explanation about what happened in the Maseok Mine.
Looking at that expression, I don’t think I would believe it.
Where did the shepherd who first showed loyalty go…
After all, do people change when they take power?
If there is a loyal subordinate who gradually develops like Rania, it may be a natural phenomenon to have a subordinate who becomes increasingly corrupt like Shepard.
