David's eyes fluttered open slowly. He didn't know why, but he had suddenly been hit by a heavy wave of drowsiness and went to his room to lie down. He only intended to rest his eyes for a few moments, not expecting to fall asleep.
"Ugh, all this stress must be killing me."
David scoffed as he pulled out the pocket watch from his jacket.
"Hm? I've been asleep for more than four hours?"
He got up from his bed, a frown on his face.
"Strange, something feels off..."
David immediately felt a sense of unease wash over him after he got up. He glanced around his room as he absentmindedly patted his pockets and waist.
"...Where are my keys?"
Cold sweat started to form on his forehead as his gaze shifted to the foot of his bed, where his reinforced chest was slightly sticking out.
"Did I leave it sticking out like that?"
David stooped down as he pulled it from under the bed. Seeing that the box was still locked, he breathed a little sigh but still felt an unnerving sense of unease.
Getting up, he checked his bed where he found his key lying in the sheets.
"Did it fall off my belt while I was asleep?"
David had several doubts about such a notion, since he knew that he usually slept like the dead, unmoving and silent.
Picking it up, he felt the sweat from his palms rub against the copper metal.
The strange feeling of unease continued to strengthen as the seconds ticked by, his gut feeling like a void had suddenly grown in it.
Unable to stand the feeling, he stooped down and opened the box, and immediately noticed that its contents had been altered.
"Where are my ledgers?!"
Alarms blared in David's head as he quickly got up. Since the ledgers were missing, he didn't have to think for a second to know that someone had broken into his room while he was sleeping.
He got up and rushed out the door.
As he swung the door open, his gaze immediately landed on the sleeping forms of Dale and Bale.
"These incompetent fools!"
Rage filled his mind as his face turned as red as a tomato, but he didn't stop moving as he swiftly approached them.
Swinging his leg, he gave a fierce kick to the stool Dale was leaning on, causing him to fall off it and land harshly on the floor.
"Ow! Who the fuck-?!"
Dale's eyes sprang open from the pain to his back and neck as he glanced up to see who knocked him over.
Despite being abruptly awoken, he still felt slightly drowsy, but upon seeing the fierce expression of David, all that unshed sleep vanished as his face turned pale.
"B-Boss..? What's the matter?"
"You fucking idiots! Both of you fell asleep and someone broke in during that time!"
As David shouted, he slapped the back of Bale's head, jolting him awake as their commotion attracted the attention of the girls working downstairs, along with the few customers who had shown up.
"What's going on?"
"Sounds like someone broke in while the guards were asleep."
Hearing the gossip spreading downstairs, David's already grim expression turned uglier as he barked at Bale and Dale in a more suppressed voice.
"Prepare an escape route immediately. We're leaving the slums. I'll check the office and gather some funds."
Dale quickly got to moving as Bale groggily got up. The two of them quickly headed downstairs as David flung the door to his office open.
"..!"
The scene inside could only be described as if a tornado had torn through the room.
"...Damn it! Did they ransack my office too?!"
David felt his blood pressure rising as he thought about the sleeping Dale and Bale who allowed someone to break in.
He silently promised to get rid of both of them after they escaped as he rushed to his safe in the corner of the room.
Turning the combination, he unlocked it swiftly and started offloading some of his funds into a leather bag.
The leather bag quickly filled up with several thousand crowns, gradually gaining weight until David judged any more would be too heavy to carry or might risk tearing the bag.
Shutting the safe door, he got up and flung the bag over his shoulder, rushing out the office and heading downstairs.
As he entered the ground floor, he saw several patrons and even some of the girls looking at him with curiosity, but he didn't bother to give them a look and quickly ran out the back, where Dale and Bale were already waiting.
He flung the bag to Bale who caught it firmly in his grip.
"Lead the way. I don't want to stick around for a moment longer."
Dale nodded as he started walking through the back alleys of the slum, navigating its maze-like structure with ease.
After almost thirty minutes, they had long since left the vicinity of the slums and were nearing the bridge that led to the Upper City.
David hastily followed behind Dale as Bale guarded the rear. He could already see the large river separating the slums from the Upper City, yet his sense of dread still hadn't subsided.
Gripping the pocket watch in his jacket, he lowered his head as he sped up his pace.
As they were about to leave the alley, someone stepped out from a crack to block their way.
Everyone froze in their footsteps, going on high alert as Dale's grip on the knife hidden in his sleeve tightened.
"...Hey fucker, you mind getting out of the way or do I have to bust open your skull for you to move?"
Dale walked forward, his expression fierce, but the person only smirked as a few other men started appearing from around the corner.
Knowing that the situation was quickly escalating, David turned to run the other way but was left frozen when he saw that they had surrounded him from behind as well.
However, instead of panicking, David took a deep breath and straightened his suit.
Turning to face the one who first turned the corner, David calmed his voice and eased his expression to stillness.
"Gentlemen, may I know why you're stopping us?"
"..Heh, as expected of a snake."
Suddenly, a snarky voice sounded out as a neatly dressed businessman appeared from the group, a subtle smirk on his face where a scar marked the upper corner of his lips.
David's expression visibly darkened when he saw the man appear from the crowd.
"...Derek. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Hmm...I wonder, David? Why don't you tell me?"
Derek's smirk remained just as friendly, but his eyes were icy cold as he looked at David.
"I don't know what you could possibly mean. Didn't I send my dues earlier this week? Is there something the guild is unsatisfied with?"
"Hahaha, yes. Your 'dues' were received by the guild."
Derek laughed as his expression shifted over Bale and Dale.
"The guild has no problem with the dues you sent."
"Then what are you blocking my way for? I hope you know, I'm a very busy man."
"Heh, is that so? I wonder what you could possibly be busy with when all you manage is one simple brothel?"
"There is a lot of work going into running such an establishment. I would explain it to you but I don't want to bore you with the details."
"Is that so? Does that work also include consorting with imperial scum?"
Derek's words left his mouth with a simmering rage as he glared at David.
"...I don't know what you're talking about. I've been keeping quiet and managing the brothel for years now, and you come to accuse me of working for the royals?"
Despite Derek's accusation, David's expression remained surprisingly calm, even frowning a little as if he was actually confused.
Derek saw his reaction and was a little stunned, but his smirk soon returned as he spoke.
"Impressive. If I didn't have evidence, I might've actually believed your acting, David."
"...What?"
This time, David's expression was one of genuine confusion.
"What evidence?"
Instead of answering, Derek only raised his hand, causing the men behind him to part ways, allowing a scrawny figure to walk out from behind them.
The figure was rather short and skinny, looking no older than 12 or 13, wearing stitched-together clothes and having a generally dirty appearance—the picture-perfect resident of the slums.
However, despite his appearance, his gaze was something else. As David met the person's eyes, his expression instantly darkened as visible rage appeared on his face.
It didn't take much to figure out what had happened once David saw the brat walk out of the crowd.
All this time, even while he was escaping, he had been pondering how someone managed to break in while both he and his guards were asleep. Usually, even if he was sleeping, he would wake up at the slightest noise, not to mention someone taking his keys off his person and opening his chest right beside him.
But now, it all made sense.
Seeing the scrawny figure, David could only mutter his name through gritted teeth.
"...Kayle!"
Seeing David's visible rage, a smile crept up on Kayle's face.
"Hahaha! I bet you didn't see that coming, did you, David?"
Derek smirked as he wrapped an arm around Kayle's shoulder, pulling him slightly off-balance in the process.
"I bet you never thought that this little kid could be the reason for your downfall."
"...Damnit!" David cursed slightly but still managed to keep his intelligence in check. "I don't believe you would believe the words of a filthy brat over mine?"
"Heh, watch it, David. This little brat was the reason why we were able to get our hands on these."
As Derek spoke, he pulled a few ledgers from his jacket and threw them on the ground before David.
David instantly recognized them to be his, but he didn't dare admit it.
"...What are these?"
"Your ledgers. The ones recording your transactions with the imperial scum."
"I have no clue what you're talking about! I've never seen these books in my life! Are you seriously accusing me over something a mere brat brought you and claimed was mine?!"
"Heh, of course not." Derek smirked seeing David's outburst. "We had some of our men investigate just to be sure, and we found something pretty interesting."
Derek snapped his fingers as a few thugs dragged out some brutally beaten soldiers.
David's expression instantly turned ashen once he saw them.
"Recognize 'em? We found out that these guys were regular patrons of your store, and after a little interrogation, we got some good information."
"Such as the fact that the reason they attended your establishment was because their commander wanted to visit but was never around when they were drinking and playing with the whores. That begs the question however—why would a commander of a soldier's corps want to visit a lowly brothel in the slums? Especially if he wasn't there for drinks or whores."
Derek's smirk turned villainous.
"Although, this doesn't prove your involvement with the imperial scum, pairing this with the ledgers and the unusual source of funds we found, couldn't we at least say for certain that you were being paid by the soldiers?"
David shivered, realizing that he had been cornered. Although they still hadn't fully proven him guilty, he knew the guild well enough to know that what they had discovered was more than enough to have him tortured to death.
At that moment, David's gaze turned to Kayle, recognition flashing in his eyes.
"....Stinking brat!"
In a last-ditch attempt to save himself, David suddenly lunged toward Dale, grabbing the knife out of his hands.
It didn't take a genius to figure out his intention, so the other men surrounding them already made a move the moment they saw David grab the knife.
However, even with how fast they reacted, they were still a step slow as David sliced the blade across his throat.
Blood spurted in a rain as David fell to the ground.
"Tsk, he took the easy way out."
Derek clicked his tongue seeing David fall as blood flowed out of the cut.
The other thugs quickly detained Dale and Bale in that moment. Derek gave the order to carry them away and confiscate their items.
As the thugs around him moved about, Kayle took a few steps forward until he stood before David's bleeding-out form.
He was still alive, although he wouldn't live for much longer.
Kayle stooped down in the puddle of blood, using his hand to forcefully turn David's head to face him.
Blood stained his hands as he gazed into David's fading eyes.
"I bet you didn't expect this, did you?"
"...."
"You used to look down on me like I was trash, but look at us now. I'm the one still breathing."
As David's vision slowly turned dim and his blood ran cold, all he could do in that moment was stare into Kayle's eyes.
They were dark. Not a hint of emotion could be seen in them. There was no joy, no glory, or even fear. Just a chilling calm.
Two grey eyes staring right into his soul.
It was only in that moment that David felt regret.
If only he had seen the true nature of the brat he had under him.
If only he had been wiser to deal with the threat earlier.
They were the same, so how could he have missed it?
That was all he could do as he finally breathed his last, his eyes turning dim as his thoughts came to an abrupt stop, his last thought still echoing in his head.
To kill the serpent he had let into his home...