"Even if the knot is cut, the thread remains.
Just as the people remain even after the leader dies."
“Reflections on the Gordian Knot by ???.”
______________________
Balagu fiddled with his pistol, estimating the remaining bullets.
One shot for the idiot trying to climb the wall.
Three shots for the fools peeking at the entrance.
Two shots for the idiots trying to open the sewer lid.
Did I fire all six shots? No, I think I shot two at the one climbing the wall...
Perhaps it was the smell of gunpowder, but his head wasn’t working right.
In the end, he gave up on counting the bullets and leaned his back against the wall.
The cold concrete’s touch along [N O V E L I G H T] his spine brought forth the fatigue he had been suppressing all this time.
“...When do you think this chaos will end?”
It was a disjointed question, but Josef, who had been watching outside the window, answered.
“Either those targeting this place die, or we all die. It’ll end before then.”
“....”
“Cheer up, it’s just a joke.”
Josef fiddled with a long rifle, something like an AK, as he spoke.
Though it didn’t look like a joke, Balagu pulled his back off the wall and stood beside him at the window.
The window they were guarding — no, the one they had to guard — was a central second-floor window overlooking the inn's front door. Originally, a bulky man with a machine gun was supposed to be here.
But that bulky man had the misfortune of being shot in the shoulder by a blind crossbow, and now it was up to the backup forces, Josef and Balagu, to hold this position.
Josef patted Balagu’s shoulder and spoke.
“Why? Are you worried about dying? If that’s the worry, you don’t need to. We’ve got a first aid kit... And, there won’t be any more idiots rushing in after seeing the bodies around the inn.”
Balagu didn’t answer, turning his gaze outside the window.
As Josef said, the inn’s perimeter and the entrance, wrapped in barbed wire, were filled with bodies.
Gangsters, thieves, robbers... all the corpses of lawless men who had targeted the heavily-armed inn.
Among them, there were also the bodies of self-proclaimed guards and vigilantes who had demanded weapons for security, but after being chased off, they tried to infiltrate through the sewers. Clearly, the city’s security had collapsed.
‘In times of chaos, it’s always the lowest lives that suffer...’
While Balagu was lost in these ambiguous thoughts, staring at the bodies, Josef spotted something from the alley and raised his gun.
Had it only been a moment since she passed by? A woman holding a newborn swaddled in cloth, raising it high.
She cautiously moved toward the inn’s front door, confirming that no bullets were flying.
“Stop! If you come any closer, I’ll shoot!”
By the time the woman reached the entrance, Josef shouted, unable to wait any longer.
The woman froze in fear, raising the child higher.
In a desperate voice, Josef responded with a bullet.
Bang! The bullet struck just a few meters in front of her, sending up a cloud of dust, and the child started crying.
“Josef!”
Balagu called out in surprise, but Josef answered without even looking at him.
“Look behind, not at the damn kid.”
“What?”
“Damn, look at the alley where that woman came from.”
Only then did Balagu squint and turn his gaze toward the alley the woman had walked through.
This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēwebnovel.com.
Between the shadows of the buildings and the trash bins, there were secretive gazes watching from the alley.
Filthy children, women with a similar appearance, and... Rat Beastmen wielding weapons.
Had Balagu not been accustomed to nomadic life, he might not have noticed how thoroughly they were hiding.
‘By headcount alone, there must be dozens...’
Balagu was about to ask how Josef had spotted them, but Josef cut him off first.
“...Are there others?”
Not based on what he saw, but just a guess? Balagu nodded in surprise.
Josef gave a twisted grin.
“South America or here... the trash thinks the same way everywhere.”
He spat out of the window and shouted to his men.
“Everyone, alert status! Paraguay style! Shoot anyone coming close, be they kids or women!”
Instead of answering, the sound of guns being loaded echoed throughout the inn.
The woman holding the child seemed to be scared, stepping backward at the sight of the guns, but she didn’t get far.
Before she could take a few more steps, a scream echoed from the other end of the alley.
It was far too well-timed to be a coincidence.
The woman, still holding the child, looked terrified as she alternated between looking at the alley and the inn, trembling.
“Using humans as shields... there’s no way the Rat Beastmen are that clever...?”
Balagu gripped his pistol tightly and spoke, but Josef, licking his lips with his tongue, answered.
“A smart mutant, or maybe humans taught them. Either way, it’s shit.”
“....”
“Anyway, if they come closer, I’m shooting. If it’s hard to see, fall back.”
A near-kind remark. Instead of retreating, Balagu hesitantly spoke.
“Josef, do you think we should go out and save them...?”
“Shut the hell up, say that shit in the bathroom.”
“....”
“You want to give up the strategic advantage over some unknown woman and kid? Huh? Do I look like some kind of superhuman to you? Or a hero?”
Balagu couldn’t argue or criticize.
Hadn’t he been the one who used to capture and sell slaves until recently?
It didn’t matter if he had a reason; his past as a slave trader couldn’t be erased.
Now, to save some woman and child, wasn’t that the height of hypocrisy?
But...
“...Then I’ll go alone and at least bring the child.”
“....”
“If I shoot that woman, it’s just going to continue—there’ll be more, and more. Isn’t it better to at least save the children from the start?”
Josef fiddled with the trigger for a moment, then sighed deeply.
“If you want to do it, do it. But, just bring the kid. Don’t bother with the woman.”
“....”
“And if there’s a threat here... I can’t guarantee your life. I prioritize business over some petty sense of justice. Got it?”
“...A bit too considerate, but thanks.”
Balagu bowed his head toward Josef, then grabbed his pistol and jumped out of the window.
****
The heavy orc landed on the ground, and the woman standing at the front door trembled.
Her eyes, filled with hope, despair, and every emotion in between.
Balagu approached her, extending his hand.
“Give me the child.”
“...What about me?”
“Sorry. If it’s a child, I can take them inside, but I can’t let you in.”
The woman closed her eyes tightly, as if resigning herself. After a brief moment, she shivered and held out the swaddled child.
Just as Balagu carefully took the child, the woman’s hands were freed, and she quickly pulled a long canister from her coat.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Balagu realized it was something like a smoke grenade, smuggled by Josef, and reached out to stop her, but the woman was quicker to pull the pin.
Fshhhhh— A white smoke rose between Balagu and the woman.
That was the signal.
In the next instant, Rat Beastmen from the alley rushed out.
They carried the same kind of smoke grenades as the woman, awkwardly pulling the pins and tossing them toward the inn.
Though their throws were clumsy, not many smoke grenades flew far, but quantity has its own quality.
In no time, the inn was filled with white smoke, and countless footsteps and shouts echoed.
Balagu bit his lower lip and reached his hand through the smoke. His eyes stung and his throat burned, but there was no time to hesitate.
“Kyaaah!”
He grabbed the woman who had thrown the first smoke grenade — the one who had brought the child — and sprinted inside the inn.
Moments later, bullets rained down where he had been standing.
Josef and his men had started firing at the rats rushing toward the front door.
But the Rat Beastmen weren’t idiots. Instead of going through the front door, they pushed aside the barbed wire fence and poured into the inn through the walls.
“Go in!”
Balagu shoved the woman into the inn and locked the door just as the lead Rat Beastman charged at him.
Bang!
Without hesitation, Balagu pulled the pistol’s trigger. The charging Rat Beastman staggered, but that was all.
The Rat Beastman, still tough, bared its large fangs at Balagu.
“Die! Orc! Die!”
Balagu pulled the trigger again, but only heard a clicking sound.
Damn, only eight bullets left?
Balagu threw the pistol at the Rat’s face. As it flinched, he grabbed its neck.
“Let go! Let go!”
The Rat Beastman twisted its body, resisting, but in terms of toughness, the orc wasn’t far behind. Balagu threw his weight into it and slammed the rat to the concrete floor.
Thud—! The Rat’s head snapped, its body slumped.
“...Damn.”
But there was no time to enjoy the victory. Hearing the noise, more Rat Beastmen rushed toward him.
“Orc! You killed our comrade!”
“You die too!”
This time, the rats rushing toward him weren’t just charging blindly. They had swords and shields.
Proper weapons, not makeshift junk.
Balagu locked the door behind him and thought.
So, this is how I die. Trying to do something good, and causing an accident.
Nothing ever works out in my life.
I couldn’t even meet my previous owner, and now I’m going to die trying to save an unknown woman and child.
No regrets, but guilt. Especially for the thousand men who trusted me and Josef.
With that thought in mind, Balagu charged at the Rat Beastman.
He wasn’t sure how long he could fight with bare hands against an armed opponent, but at least he was sure about the two in front of him. He planned to drag them down with him.
He was about to...
Suddenly, sharp ice pierced the hearts of the Rat Beastmen charging at him.
The ice spears he had seen in the desert, from the thousand men.
Balagu let out a sigh of relief, but what appeared through the smoke wasn’t the thousand men. Instead, it was Rat Beastmen in peculiar outfits.
“Damn it...”
As he raised his fist again, a Rat Beastman holding a hammer interrupted him. The voice was all too familiar.
“Damn, that’s my line.”
“...Hong Seti?”
“I’ve seen everything you did back there. Good work. I’ll see you after this is over.”
“....”
Balagu chuckled, but the Rat Beastman with the sword spoke in the voice of a thousand men.
“We’ll talk about responsibility later. Let’s deal with the raid first.”
“This time, it’s the thousand men? What the hell is this...?”
“No more questions. Seti and Pinel, take care of the inn. Balagu... you’re coming with me. Balagu? Bring your sword and follow me.”
Balagu was happy to do so.
****
A Legion of Rat Beastmen Surrounded the Inn—About Forty in Total.
Dealing with them wasn’t difficult; the only problem had been the smoke from the grenades obscuring visibility.
It had taken Yeomyeong at most five minutes to wipe them out on his own.
“...Have you grown even stronger?”
Balagu asked as he watched Yeomyeong swing his sword, turning the last Rat Beastman into a literal rat/beast/man.
Yeomyeong neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, he flicked the blood from his sword and began walking in the opposite direction of the inn.
“Balagu, how many Rat Beastmen do you think would be needed to occupy the sewers and the entire western district?”
“....”
It was an abrupt question, but Balagu quickly gave his answer.
“At least a thousand.”
“And if we assume we move beyond the western district, seize all key locations in the city, and control all its entry points?”
“Then at least five thousand, at the very least...”
Hearing that daunting number, Yeomyeong fell into brief contemplation as the two arrived at their destination—the alleyway.
“This place...?”
Balagu narrowed his eyes as the smoke in the alley slowly cleared.
It seemed familiar. Wasn’t this the alley where the Rat Beastmen had first appeared?
There, huddled in terror, were children and women—all citizens the Rat Beastmen had rounded up to use as human shields.
“...Are you planning to save them?”
Balagu asked, just in case. But Yeomyeong shook his head.
“No. Do we look like we’re in any position to be saving anyone?”
“Then...”
“We’ll use them.”
Use them? How could these weaklings be of any use?
As Balagu tilted his head in confusion, Yeomyeong’s face shifted once again.
It was the face of a stubborn old man—one that no citizen of this city could fail to recognize.
It was Count Nam.
Even without a mirror, Yeomyeong could tell from Balagu’s startled expression that Bloody Tears' illusion magic had worked perfectly.
Without hesitation, he swung his sword, dispersing the lingering smoke, and shouted.
“Everyone, pay attent... Ahem! You wretched scum! Rise, all of you!”
His voice was slightly awkward, but in the midst of the smoke, with Count Nam suddenly appearing before them, no one in the alley was in any position to question it.
The more perceptive women dropped to their knees first, followed swiftly by the rest who lacked the same awareness.
Yeomyeong let the silence stretch before addressing them again.
“You wretched scum, gather before the inn! Immediately!”
The women and children fidgeted, frightened, unable to move.
They were staring at the corpses strewn around the inn, paralyzed with fear.
Just as Yeomyeong was about to speak again, Balagu stomped the ground and roared.
“You damn rats! Did you not hear Count Nam’s command?! If you don’t move now, I’ll skin you alive one by one!”
That did the trick. The women let out something between a cry and a scream before bolting toward the inn.
Yeomyeong gave Balagu an incredulous look. In response, Balagu simply shrugged.
“Uh... wasn’t this the kind of act you were going for?”
****
Fortified Inn, Third Floor—The Room with the Largest Bed.
Seti sat by the window, looking down at the inn’s entrance.
The chaotic scene below was proof of the fierce battle that had taken place not long ago.
Josef and his men were disposing of the corpses, while the ragged children and women were carrying dirt sacks, building barricades.
But that wasn’t what caught Seti’s attention.
It was Count Nam—or rather, Neti, using telekinesis to set up tents.
She arranged wooden poles in a circular formation, draped waterproof fabric over them—a setup reminiscent of the desert nomads’ tents.
Of course, compared to a real nomadic tent, these were barely a fraction of the size.
Still, it was a space large enough for at least one person to lie down comfortably.
For refugees, it was a more than adequate shelter.
“...Isn’t that a waste?”
Seti turned her head as she spoke. Her blue eyes locked onto Yeomyeong, who was sitting on the bed.
Yeomyeong didn’t deny it.
“It is.”
“...Huh?”
“But it’s a necessary waste.”
Seti folded her arms, as if inviting him to explain.
Yeomyeong reached into his clothes and pulled out the World Tree Crystal, about the size of a clenched fist.
“How long do you think it’ll take to absorb this crystal?”
“Well, logically, over five years, but...”
You don’t follow logic.
Seti didn’t say the last part out loud, but Yeomyeong could hear it anyway.
A small smile crossed his lips.
“It took me three days to absorb a shard no bigger than a fingernail back in Manju. Even accounting for my growth since then... absorbing this whole crystal would take at least a month.”
As Yeomyeong spoke, the World Tree Crystal gleamed faintly.
“But a month is too long. Kahal Magdu will likely find us before then.”
“...That’s true.”
Kahal Magdu.
They had crushed him under a tank in the underground armory, but what if they had faced his true body?
At the very least, one of them would have died.
Unless they became stronger, there was no certainty of victory.
Yeomyeong clenched the crystal tightly.
“So I’m going to break it down into fragments about the size of a finger. That way... it’ll take roughly three days to absorb each piece.”
To an ordinary person, the idea of absorbing even that much in three days would be unthinkable.
For anyone else, it would take at least a year.
But Yeomyeong had already been acknowledged by the World Tree. Three days was him being generous with the estimate.
“...And what does that have to do with taking in refugees?”
“I’m going to use them as an early warning system while I absorb the crystal.”
An early warning system?
Seti glanced outside the window. The tents were forming a ring around the inn’s outer perimeter.
“There’s nothing stopping the Rat Beastmen from using civilians as human shields again. With those people here, we can at least counter that strategy.”
“....”
“And besides, we have you, Neti, and Pinel... but one hand can’t block ten swords, right?”
Seti didn’t argue.
Even counting Josef’s men and Balagu, they barely had twenty people guarding the inn.
While their weaponry and individual skills were strong, numbers alone could be a fatal weakness.
Especially when defending.
Now, Seti understood. She tilted her head slightly.
“...If we provide them with tents and food, they’ll fight, to some extent. Even if they’re not real combatants, at least the kids can act as scouts.”
A short-term investment for just three days of security.
It was both a wasteful and a logical move.
“...Still, wouldn’t it be better to hire other thugs?”
Yeomyeong let out a dry chuckle.
“Seti, do you trust anyone in this city?”
“Ah....”
She couldn’t.
The upper ranks had to be clean for the lower ranks to follow, but this city was rotten from top to bottom.
“Enough bodies to hold the perimeter, and enough sense to throw a smoke grenade... Yeah, these people are our best option right now.”
Even as she said it, Seti decided to believe that this was Yeomyeong’s way of showing kindness.
Maybe killing the Player had softened his heart just a little.
She truly hoped so.
She didn’t want him to become a fire that burned himself to ash.
She wanted him to find happiness when all this was over.
With that thought, she stepped away from the window and walked toward him.
Burying her face against his neck—to hide her expression.
“You’re going to eat it now, aren’t you?”
He was always desperate when it came to getting stronger.
The world, the situation—everything had always been pushing him forward.
“...Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?
Yeomyeong smiled slightly and tightened his grip on the crystal.
With a soft crack, a small shard broke free.
He tucked away the rest of the crystal and picked up the shard.
But he didn’t swallow it immediately.
Instead, he quietly patted Seti’s back.
Because she was holding onto him even tighter.
Seti held onto him firmly, her warmth pressing against him.
The soft scent of her skin, the unmistakable human presence.
She wanted nothing more than this.
Because if she desired anything beyond this moment, she wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore.
After a brief silence, Seti finally released him and left the room.
As she reached for the doorknob, Yeomyeong spoke to her back.
“...Don’t be too hard on Balagu.”
“Oh? Then should I punish the woman who threw the smoke grenade instead?”
“....”
“Yeah, I thought so. Guess I’ll stick to scolding Balagu.”
And with that, Seti stepped out of the room.
Yeomyeong watched the spot where she had stood for a moment—then, without hesitation, swallowed the World Tree Crystal shard.