Lyon POV:

Eight broken fingers, two broken thumbs, ten broken toes, one broken arm and one broken leg. I tapped the sober man’s cheek as his sunken eyes rolled towards me.

“P-please...”

The moonlight peeked through the clouds, revealing his youthful face that only seemed a few years older than my own. He whimpered while looking at me with pleading eyes.

“Quit and live quietly.”

I peered down at him and adjusted my hood.

“I-I promise!!”

His head bobbed up and down rapidly while his light brown hair clung to his forehead. My gaze shifted to the residue left behind by the man’s constant tears that had accompanied his ear-piercing screams.

I was convinced.

I was convinced that this would be enough to make him seriously rethink about what he had been doing.

‘Now then, the drug—’

I looked around but sure enough, the suitcases had vanished. No one had passed by despite the loud commotion I had caused. So, that left me with only one logical suspect: Mr Cruiser.

‘...’

I pulled down my mask and left the scene.

***

“Not bad, boy.”

Mr Cruiser leaned back in the chair as his feet rested atop the table. A trail of smoke drifted up to the ceiling while his lips curved into a wide smirk.

“It’s your turn now. Tell me about this place.”

I pulled out a chair and sat opposite him. He examined me closely for a few seconds before taking his feet off the desk. He took the pipe out of his mouth and stood up.

I watched him swivel the blinds shut behind him as his lips parted.

“The South is split into four districts and each district has a leader. These leaders essentially own the nightclubs, or should I say all the entertainment businesses and more? Regardless, a portion of the money earned is given to the Ruler of the South monthly.”

I made mental notes as he spoke. As expected, there was a chain of command.

‘Ruler of the South...’

That person wouldn’t be my target for now. It’d be better to take over a leadership position first.

“Every district has 20 local dealers and they distribute drugs among the civilians. Can’t pay with money or favours? They’ll take your body instead. Harvesting organs and the like is nothing new here.

They also run an extensive prostitution ring that frequently sells off women, for high prices, to twisted nobles from Inner Astril.”

“Inner Astril?”

That was the first time I had heard someone refer to Astril that way and it piqued my interest. Mr Cruiser took a deep breath before continuing on.

“Inner Astril refers to the country people like you would see if you visited via the normal channels. Outer Astril is essentially the slums. This issue wasn’t caused by the Emperor, but by the king of Astril himself.

I imagine the Emperor didn’t want to use force to solve this issue so soon after the Empire was formed and so here we are.”

I pondered over his words for a while. Maybe public opinion wouldn’t have favoured the Emperor if he directly intervened even if the cause was just? Or perhaps there were more pressing matters to attend to at the time?

I dispelled those thoughts quickly; this wasn’t something I should worry about.

“Where can I find the leader of this district?”

He raised an eyebrow at my question and tapped the desk lightly. He cracked a smile before parting his lips once more.

“Now that you’ve gone ahead and taken out one of their key drug dealers; they’ll be looking for you.”

“...”

‘How sly.’

That meant the target wasn’t bluffing about their uncle holding some sort of importance. I leaned forward and thought about the next step. I wasn’t annoyed with Mr Cruiser for two reasons.

Firstly, the target he wanted me to take out showed that our interests aligned and secondly, the information I was able to gain from this short talk was worth it.

“However, before you can get to the District Leader, you’ll have to deal with him.”

“Him?”

Mr Cruiser looked slightly troubled as he placed the pipe back down on the desk. It was my first time seeing him with that kind of expression.

“We call him Copycat.”

***

Len POV:

My eyes flickered open as I looked down at Marina’s head resting on my lap. She would hurt her neck if she stayed in her current position, so I slowly placed her head on the mattress—propping it up with a new pillow I bought for her.

I watched her sleep soundly as her long blond hair draped over her shoulders, sprawling out onto the bed before falling off. She pressed her head deeper into the plump pillow, unconsciously moving into a more comfortable position while the corners of my mouth rose faintly.

I yawned and stretched my body as I made my way to the bathroom. It was a relief that I still had a few more days before I needed to get back to work.

I removed my clothes as my feet came to a stop in front of a large mirror embedded into the wall beside the bath. My gaze swept over my body when a strange thought suddenly came to me.

‘Am I attractive?’

It was something that I had never stopped to think about in my whole life. If I wasn’t looking after Marina, I was working. Compared to her looks, I was just...

I let out a sigh and looked away.

‘What am I doing?’

These were such pointless thoughts. I shook my head and shifted my attention back to far more pressing issues. I still didn’t have enough money to cross the border up north—even getting there would be difficult.

Each district was separated by a boundary that the District Leaders turned into borders and crossing over those boundaries required a fee. As a result, the already ridiculously high cost of that fee was further amplified depending on the district you lived in.

‘Tch.’

I let out a frustrated sigh while sitting down on the edge of the bath. District 4 was relatively calm compared to the other districts in the South which was a sign of just how bad things were in general.

I put some clean clothes on before exiting the bathroom and checking on Marina. My eyebrows quivered slightly as I stroked her cheek.

She was in good health, but it must be lonely staring at the four walls every day. I could understand her desire to go out, but her well-being was more important than those desires.

‘If we can just enter Inner Astril, we can leave for Efros. I heard the people there are extremely nice. They won’t take advantage of her.’

I sat down against the wall and stared at the ceiling in a daze. Whatever choice I’d make, Marina would always be my number one priority.

*Knock, knock*

My eyes narrowed as I approached the door quietly. I was about to check the small eyehole when a thin needle shot through it. I twisted my head to the side as it grazed past my cheek and embedded itself into the wall behind me.

‘That needle.’

There was only one person I knew who used those.

“It’s been awhile, Len.”

I clenched my teeth at the sound of that disgusting voice. What was he doing here? How did he know where I live? I had so many questions, but none of them mattered right now.

“I’m coming out.”

I felt the presence behind the door take a step back. I edged the door open, slipped through the small gap and quickly closed the door behind me. My gaze shifted to a young man wearing a mask accompanied by five other men.

“What do you want?”

He stared at me silently; his cheeks rising while his eyes curved upwards.

“How’s the retard doing?”

My hand shot forward before my mind could process anything else.

‘!’

The five men instantly pinned me to the ground before I could reach his throat. A pained moan escaped my mouth as I struggled to break free from their grip.

His green eyes were almost as dark as the overcast night sky. He crouched down while the madness in his eyes never left me as his cackles echoed down the estate floor.

“Kehehe~ Sorry, sorry. I’ve got a job for you.”

I glared at him through bloodshot eyes. I swore that I’d kill him several, no, hundreds of times over in my head.

“I’m not working this week.”

I spluttered out my words, struggling to contain the rage swirling around inside of me; I had no intention of being involved with Brunaulf. He had no respect for others and was the literal scum of the earth.

“Well, we can’t have that. Go have fun with the retard, men.”

My heart dropped to the pits of my stomach as my eyebrows curved inwards. Blood drained away from my face despite my increased heart rate.

I panicked.

“N-No! Wait! I accept! Please... Please don’t touch her!!”

My pupils dilated to the extreme while I cried out desperately. I saw the five men eagerly licking their lips as I clawed away at Brunaulf's leg.

“Kehehe~”

He giggled to himself while he placed his hand on my head. He lifted me up by my short hair, bringing me to his eye level.

“There’s a new rat running around here causing problems. Eliminate it. You have...”

His words trailed off as he counted the number of men with him.

“Five men, five days. Well, I’m sure the retard can handle it incase you fail, right?~”

I bit my trembling lip and glared at him. He dashed me against the door while I watched him walk away with his men.

“Damn... Damn it all...”

Marina had woken up due to the loud commotion and I heard her calling out my name in a panic, but I didn’t answer immediately. I couldn’t.

I brought my knees up to my chest and cried silently for a while. Whenever I thought I could get a small breather, I was quickly reminded of how things operated here.

“...”

I wiped the tears away after some time had passed and entered the room again. Marina was sitting down in the corner crying; her cheeks were red as she sobbed away uncontrollably. Her body trembled violently while she constantly called out my name.

It hurt seeing her like this.

“Marina, I’m here.”

She looked up and rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear her blurry vision. Her face lit up as her lips spread into a bright smile.

“L-Len...!”

She opened her arms and jumped up. I hugged her tightly while stroking the back of her head. She was afraid and I needed to reassure her that everything was going to be alright—that was my role.

I sat her down on the bed and held her hand gently.

“I have to leave tomorrow. There’s something I need to do. Once it’s done, we’re leaving this place for good.”

I squeezed her hand to reassure myself as I watched her eyes shake and her eyebrows crumple together.

“M-mum... S-said... The.. s-same... T-thing... N-never... C-came... Back...!”

She bit her lip as the tears continued to stream down her face. She was right. I was there when it happened; the day she left the two of us alone.

The day she wandered off with some random man promising her a bright future. I knew it was a lie. Those types of fantasies don’t exist down here and I was also there when they found her bloodied body next to a garbage bin.

“L-Len... You’re not my daughter.”

Those were the last words she said to me as she stroked my cheek softly. Her lips formed a thin smile while her lifeless hand dropped to the side of her body. She had taken her last breath and...

My heart ached.

I cried and cried until I felt something deep inside of me break apart and then... The tears stopped.

I didn’t understand. Why would she use her last words to say something like that? Why does everyone here like to hurt others so much? In the end...

I was no different.

I never told Marina what happened that day; it was a burden that she didn’t need to bear. I was grateful that I made her stay home when I received the news. Mum abandoned us, but I’d never abandon her.

“Marina, I’m not mum. You wait here okay? I will be back. I promise you.”

I gripped her hand tightly as she nodded her head while continuing to cry quietly.

‘I’ll kill the target quickly and get us the hell out of here.’