Chapter – 08
Streetlamps broke and glass shattered. The guard’s screams and sharp bursting sounds repeated.
In the middle of the square turning into a scene of chaos moment by moment.
Rustle.
Mikhail pulled out the contract scroll from his clothes. When he untied the ribbon, the scroll emitted a pale blue light as a sign of activation.
“I’ll help you. Right now, 5 gold should do it.”
“What do you…”
“The cost of handling the problem.”
When Mikhail spoke as if it were obvious, Kobi scrunched up his face and waved his hands vigorously.
“What kind of bullshit is that! 5 gold is enough for a top-quality suit! Some punk I don’t even know what he does is asking me to fork over big money!”
Mikhail shrugged his shoulders once and tucked the contract scroll back into his clothes.
“If you don’t want to, I can’t help it. I’m not forcing you.”
When Mikhail crossed his arms and turned his gaze toward empty air, Kobi glared at him as if to devour him and ground his teeth.
“You arrogant little shit, are you playing games right now? What the hell do you do?”
Crash!
“!”
What followed was a bursting sound on a different scale. Everyone looked across.
The guard had broken through a clothing shop window and was roughly tearing off a decorative music box fixed to the display stand.
Crack!
The music box was in the guard’s hands. The guard tore off the mana luminescent body that had been glowing at the bottom of the music box, then threw the music box body to the ground.
Crash!
The music box shattered and flew in all directions. Sapphires, rubies, and pearls scattered through the air.
Kobi and the other merchants turned pale.
“G-go back! Lock the shop doors first!”
“Bar the doors! Move the expensive items inside!”
Nearby merchants moved in panic.
They placed carts in front of shop doors and brought wooden boards to cover the interiors. The hands moving items trembled.
Fear and terror covered the atmosphere. Kobi screamed viciously at his subordinates with bloodshot eyes.
“No match or whatever, there are seven of you! Seven! Even if you die, go die there! Make that monster settle down right now!”
The subordinates who couldn’t withstand the urging hesitantly moved forward, but stopped immediately upon facing the terrible scene.
The miserable state of several subordinates who’d been hit by the guard.
Someone vomited blood, and someone else clutched their broken arm and groaned.
“S-sir. It’s really not possible.”
“You idiots…!”
In the midst of all this, the guard continued to rampage.
The commission office’s door was torn off and the general store’s display stand broke. Damaged items rolled on the ground.
Less than a few minutes had passed, but the number of damaged shops instantly increased to three.
“What the hell kind of disaster is this…!”
That’s when it happened. A man from the woodworking shop stomped up to Kobi and grabbed his collar, shaking him.
“You bastard! What the hell did you bring! Can’t you make it stop right now? There’s no reason to ruin other people’s business!”
When angry merchants crowded around him, murmuring, Kobi’s eyes began darting around.
The sight of his fallen subordinates and shattered items.
As if calculating how much it would cost to cover all the damage, Kobi’s rapidly moving eyes landed on Mikhail.
Kobi, who’d been looking back and forth between the chaos and Mikhail, shook off the grip on his collar and approached Mikhail.
“Fine, okay! I’ll give you the 5 gold like you said, so let’s see how well…”
“Right now, it’d be 10 gold.”
Mikhail cut off Kobi’s arrogant words with a calm tone. Kobi glared at Mikhail.
“What?”
“The cost of handling the problem.”
When Mikhail gestured toward the square and crossed his arms, Kobi snapped with veins bulging at his temples.
“Don’t be ridiculous! It was 5 gold just a moment ago!”
“Terms change depending on the situation.”
“You shameless bastard…!”
Kobi got heated with his toad-like face scrunched up, but Mikhail just smiled cheerfully and watched the situation.
Clang!
This time, the weather vane in front of the surveyor’s office shattered.
Crying sounds mixed in among the ear-piercing echoes.
“Damn it.”
Kobi trembled, shoulders shaking, and clenched his fist, then turned his head toward Mikhail as if to say something.
However, it was Mikhail who spoke first.
“20 gold.”
“What? Are you playing games with me right now…!”
Crash!
“30 gold.”
āAaaah! Lamp fragments! I got hit by lamp fragments!
“40 gold.”
Someone’s shout. A vicious sound cutting through the air.
Sharp striking sounds and bursting sounds continuing in succession…
Crack! Cra-ack!
“50 gold… Oh my, it’ll be quite expensive to pay for all the damages.”
“No way, you son of a bitch…!”
With Mikhail leisurely muttering to himself beside him, Kobi huffed hot breaths.
To be toyed with by a wet-behind-the-ears brat.
He’d never experienced this since getting his hands on so much gold. He felt like he’d die from frustration.
At that moment, a shrill scream burst out.
“Aaaah! Mr. Bitron! Please calm down! It’s dangerous to go into the shop right now!”
“Lina, let go! Denver, Denver hasn’t escaped yet! If there’s an accident… I have to help…!”
“N-no! You’ll get hurt too!”
The guard was approaching Fioned’s Early Autumn.
Bitron turned deathly pale and tried to head to the shop, but Lina clung to Bitron’s sleeve with all her strength.
It was a natural reaction. Just turning one’s head revealed many fallen people. The monster before their eyes wasn’t someone who could be stopped.
“Grrk, grrrrk.”
The guard couldn’t even make human sounds anymore. He approached the tavern, swinging his blood-soaked fist.
The outdoor tables and chairs blocking the guard’s way were breaking with a single punch.
Crash! Boom!
Suddenly, the guard who’d been advancing relentlessly stopped.
“…”
The madman’s whites of his eyes reached the purple box near the entrance.
It was something the workers hadn’t managed to move inside, and faint light was leaking through the gaps.
Kobi’s complexion instantly turned ashen.
“Th-that container has mana stones…! They’re items the guild master specifically entrusted!”
Kobi grabbed Mikhail’s sleeve.
His previously overbearing attitude melted away like snow, and only desperation and urgency remained on his plump cheeks.
“H-hey! You said you could solve it!”
Mikhail slightly raised the corners of his mouth and pulled out the contract scroll from his clothes as if he’d been waiting.
“O-okay! I get it! 50 gold? Fine, that…”
“For 100 gold.”
“A-a hundred…!”
“Plus one mana stone.”
“Hiiik!”
Kobi grabbed his neck, making choking sounds, then glanced at the tavern entrance.
The distance between the guard and the purple box was about four or five steps. There was no more time to hesitate.
“F-fine! I get it! I’ll give it, I’ll give it to you! Please do something about that bastard!”
Kobi desperately shouted and snatched the scroll from Mikhail’s hand.
Fzzzt!
The pale blue scroll floated and unfurled lengthwise, then inscribed text on its surface. The contract was sealed.
“Good. I’ll solve this quickly and be back.”
Mikhail collected the scroll with a light gesture.
He headed toward the tavern without hesitation.
Boom! Cra-ack!
Meanwhile, the guard was mercilessly striking the purple box.
The box lid crumpled like paper, and the lock fastened at the entrance was half undone and rattling.
“Grrrrr…”
The distance between the guard and Mikhail was about five or six steps.
Sensing a presence, the guard turned his body around. His whites flashed like will-o’-the-wisps as he stared at Mikhail.
“Hello?”
Restless sighs from the merchants abounded.
However, the person in question, Mikhail, only smiled leisurely and pulled out a mana battery from his clothes.
“Sorry to interrupt when you’re busy, but I have something to show you.”
“Grrr…”
Snap!
When Mikhail snapped off the top part of the mana battery, concentrated mana surged violently and burst out.
The guard’s eyes opened wide as if they’d tear at the fierce flow of mana.
“Judging by your expression, you seem to like it.”
Looking at the guard hastily getting up, Mikhail pulled back the hand holding the mana battery.
“Then if you want it, come get it!”
Whoosh!
The mana battery was hurled to the opposite side.
The guard’s head turned following the surging mana, and his desperate hand reached out toward the battery.
“Grrrrk!”
It was the moment a scream burst out.
The pale violet potion that appeared from Mikhail’s clothes cut through the air, aimed at the back of the guard’s head.
Crash!
The glass bottle struck the back of his head directly.
Transparent fragments and the pale violet liquid scattered. The droplets of liquid flowed down over the magic tool.
The guard stopped his movement abruptly and twisted his body.
Fzzzt!
Blue and white sparks shot up fiercely from the magic tool, and the alien mana that had been swirling around instantly subsided.
Crackle-zzzt!
“Aaaaaah!”
Starting with the piercing scream that burst from the guard’s mouth, thick smoke covered everyone’s view.
Thud!
In the ashen smoke where one couldn’t see an inch ahead.
The vibration spreading across the ground announced the conclusion of the situation.
The guards arrived at the scene thirty minutes later.
“No, I’m telling you I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Yes, yes. Let’s go to the guard station and talk. It seems like there’ll be a lot to investigate anyway.”
Kobi and his group were taken away by the guards. The merchants began cleaning up the chaotic street.
Swish, swish. The sound of sweeping echoed, and voices murmuring about calculating damage filled the street.
“…”
Mikhail sat on a bench at the edge of the square, watching the scene being cleaned up.
‘100 gold. What a windfall.’
Mikhail smiled slyly and fingered the scroll.
Since the contract had been successfully fulfilled, if he took the scroll to the bank like this, he could receive 100 gold.
‘I won’t have to worry about money for a while.’
Besides.
Clink.
…There was also a mana stone tucked in his clothes.
“Oh my, what chaos.”
At the familiar voice that suddenly rang out, Mikhail raised his head. Lloyd, who’d been cleaning up the street with the others, sauntered over to Mikhail’s side.
“Hey, aren’t you going to help people?”
“Why should I.”
When Mikhail replied languidly, Lloyd blinked a few times and giggled.
“Well, you’re the biggest contributor to solving this mess. You deserve to be carried on people’s shoulders, so what’s all this about cleanup. Come to think of it, Mr. Bitron seemed to be looking for you…”
Lloyd plopped down in the seat next to Mikhail.
The two remained silent for a while like that.
“…”
A gentle breeze rustled their hair.
Mikhail’s eyes resembling the deep sea and Lloyd’s eyes resembling the early summer sky.
The contrasting brightness stared straight ahead side by side.
“By the way, Mikhail.”
After a moment of silence.
Lloyd, who’d wiped the smile from his face, turned his head toward Mikhail. He slowly opened his mouth.
“Can I ask you something? About this matter.”
