Chapter 499
Simon's group safely arrived at the Harlem district of Tarados.
Looking around, Simon was shocked to see conditions far worse than he had imagined.
The people in the Harlem district sat along the roadside like dried-up zombies, simply waiting for death. Their ribcages stuck out clearly, their bodies in extreme states of malnutrition.
Buildings were decrepit, alleyways unbearably narrow, and the dried-up river was clogged with garbage.
Corpses were not an unusual sight on the streets. Flies swarmed, stray dogs gathered, and yet no one bothered to chase them away.
A city where no hope could be seen.
That was the Harlem district of Tarados.
[Wait! Wait! Wait! Why did we come to a place like this!]
The necklace shook as Kal's clone shouted.
[Compared to when we first entered Tarados, I think the connection with the main body has gotten even fainter! Haven't we come too far?]
"We need to gather information first, otherwise we won't know where to go."
Now that they had entered a closed-off fiefdom cut off from the outside world, information-gathering wasn't a choice, it was a necessity.
If Kal's clone could report in real time whether they were getting closer or farther from the main body, that would've made things easier. But it turned out he couldn't sense with that much precision.
For now, the only option was to put in the legwork and hear firsthand accounts from locals. Erzebet had also scattered with her spiders to gather intel.
'It would be good if we could meet the client in this town.'
The client who had asked the Keyzen students for help.
Simon wanted to know who they were and what kind of person they might be.
Surely that person would know better than anyone the situation in Tarados. Simon felt that finding them was the "key" to this evaluation mission.
"This city has changed so much…."
The coachman, who had said Tarados was his hometown, looked around in disbelief.
"Back in its prime, Tarados was a city of vitality and youth, with countless adventurers and merchants coming and going. Now, there's hardly a trace of that left."
"That prime you speak of,"
Kajan said, walking beside Simon and glancing back.
"must've been when the Gold Mine Dungeon still existed, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
Simon also looked back.
"Does that dungeon still exist?"
"Of course not. I heard it vanished without a trace after the Dungeon Master was killed…."
Thud!
At that moment—
A ragged little girl, looking about seven or eight years old, suddenly leapt out, shoved the coachman, and darted into an alley. The coachman stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Are you alright?"
Simon hurried over to him.
"Y-Yes! I'm fine."
"More importantly,"
Kajan scratched at the scar on his right cheek as he spoke.
"Check your belongings first."
"Eh?"
The coachman stood back up and patted himself down. Then he cried out in alarm, frantically searching through his clothes.
"M-My coin pouch!"
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
The little girl ran deeper into the alley, panting heavily.
The alley was so narrow that most adults would be wedged against the walls, but with her small frame she could still run through it.
'Yes! Yes! I did it!'
Hope flickered in her eyes.
'With this money, I can save my brother…!'
"Hello."
As the girl rounded a corner, she screamed in fright.
A blue-haired boy was crouched there, smiling kindly.
"Stealing is bad. Why don't you give that back?"
'What? What? H-How did he catch up so fast?!'
She took a step back, then turned and bolted in the other direction.
But she didn't get far. Another man was blocking her way.
"In the Harlem district, it'd be strange not to run into pickpockets."
He was a terrifying-looking man, covered in scars. Even in the cramped alley, he slithered forward like a snake—more like a mollusk than a human.
"Now."
Simon opened his palm.
"Give it back."
"N-No!"
The girl clutched the coin pouch tightly to her chest and hunched over in a full defensive posture. Simon gave a troubled smile.
"W-Wait a moment!"
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Panting heavily, the coachman finally arrived. He looked at the girl.
"Lisa! Lisa, is that you?"
The pickpocket girl finally raised her head.
"U-Uncle?"
* * *
"Hahaha! Sorry my house is so shabby! I don't have much, but please make yourselves comfortable!"
Simon, Kajan, and the coachman accepted the little pickpocket girl's invitation and entered her home.
Simon couldn't help but gape.
'Someone actually lives here?'
It wasn't even a proper room, just a makeshift space crudely carved out of the side of a building.
The environment was wretched and filthy. A moldy stench lingered in the air, the thin mat on the floor was torn to shreds, the wallpaper hung in tatters, and the window had long since lost its use.
"Would you like some water?"
She brought water in an old cup. Simon saw the yellowish color and floating particles, and politely declined with a smile.
"Lisa! Where's the bathroom?"
The coachman shouted, clearly in a hurry.
"If you go outside, walk straight to the dried-up fountain, then turn right! That's the public restroom!"
"…Public restroom?"
"Yes! Everyone in this town uses it! If you're lucky, you only have to wait three hours! If you're in a hurry, just do your business anywhere on the ground!"
Simon forced a bitter smile. It pained him to hear a girl her age speak so casually about such things.
The coachman trudged off toward the public restroom with a look of resignation, while Kajan inspected the house.
Now only Simon and the little pickpocket girl remained.
"What's your relationship with the coachman?"
"We lived in the same village for a while. I used to play with his kids."
Then, almost in a whisper, she added:
"They all died. His wife too. After that, I had no idea where he went. I never expected to see him here."
The mood sank sharply. Simon wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced around.
"Do you live here alone?"
"I live with my brother."
Her expression darkened further.
"But he was taken by the soldiers."
"..."
No matter what Simon said, every answer led to despair. No wonder the people in the Harlem district had sat blankly without a shred of hope.
At least this girl, called Lisa, was still articulate and fighting desperately to live. In Tarados, she was an exception.
"Why was your brother taken by the soldiers?"
She lifted her head and stared into Simon's eyes. Though she still seemed wary of him as an outsider, Simon met her gaze earnestly, waiting patiently.
"...You must never, ever tell anyone else."
"I promise."
"My brother—"
Her lips parted.
"—was captured while trying to seek help from outside."
"From outside?"
"Yes. To the high-ranking people outside Tarados. He wanted to let them know what's being done to us. You see, Tarados residents are strictly forbidden from contacting the outside world."
Simon straightened his posture.
"What method did he use to ask for help?"
"I don't know the details."
The girl lowered her head gloomily.
"He said that soon important people from outside would come to help us. That he'd let the Dark Alliance know what was happening in Tarados. That's what my brother told me."
Simon was starting to get the picture.
As they talked, he worked hard to draw out the answers he wanted. At some point, the girl had opened up, treating him like a friend. Clearly, she'd been desperate for someone to talk to.
"Your brother is really something."
"Of course! My brother was scouted into the Revolutionary Group!"
The existence of the Revolutionary Group.
"He saved and saved money, always saving more. He said it was to get help from outside."
Lisa continued.
"The other Revolutionary Group uncles said he betrayed them. But that's not true! He said the Revolutionary Group was rotten too, that this was the only way. So he took the money he'd collected and went outside Tarados!"
"And the method of seeking help—"
Now completely certain, Simon pulled out and unfolded the request letter.
"You mean this? The request sent to Keyzen?"
Her eyes widened.
"Keyzen? Keyzen? Yes! I think I heard my brother mumbling that name before!"
Now it was clear.
The client was a member of the Revolutionary Group.
And Lisa's brother.
"Lisa."
Simon took out his student ID with the Keyzen emblem.
"I'm the one your brother called for."
* * *
A short while later, Simon, Kajan, the coachman who had returned from the restroom, and Erzebet who had finished gathering intel, were all crowded into Lisa's small home.
Because the house was cramped, they had to sit tightly together.
"Now~ let me share the information my spiders and I gathered!"
Erzebet, disguised as a pink-haired schoolgirl, formed a V sign with her fingers, acting cheerful. Simon, knowing her real age, just smiled.
Behind them, spiders had woven cloth on the wall that read [Revolutionary Countermeasure Meeting], giving the place a strangely determined atmosphere.
"But the townspeople wouldn't even talk to us. How did you manage to get information?"
"Hoho! A charming woman always has her ways to lower people's guard."
"…What kind of method is that?"
Kajan, still stung by his failure to gather intel in Harlem, asked.
"For example, tying someone up in webs and hanging them from a high place?"
Erzebet shrugged nonchalantly.
Anyway, from the intel she'd brought back, Tarados was currently split into three factions.
First, Black Wolf Ganes, who commanded the bandit guild called the Ganes Guild.
Second, the lord of the fiefdom, who commanded the regular troops, along with his subordinate, the Iron-Blooded General Amin.
And the third—
"They are called the Executioners."
Erzebet winked at Simon.
No doubt this "Executioners" was the same insane faction holding onto Kal.
"Nothing is known about them. No one even knows their identities. But it's said they once came into the fiefdom and maintained close ties with the lord."
"Suspicious."
Simon muttered.
"I've heard their name in passing when traveling through Schoene."
The coachman interjected.
"When I was working in Eplun, I saw a lot of strange goods being circulated from outside. I believe all of it was bought by them."
Lisa also added,
"I heard my brother say it over and over. He said the Executioners are the ones behind it all! That they're secretly pulling the strings of both factions!"
"R-Really?"
Impressive.
Lisa's brother—their client—seemed to have already uncovered the truth.
"Yes! The lord's soldiers capture residents who commit crimes, while the bandits kidnap villagers. But neither side has facilities to keep prisoners!"
Kajan picked up the thought.
"So in the end, the ones actually taking the prisoners and using them were the Executioners. They must've also been the ones who ordered the bandits to abduct orphans, vagrants, and the mentally ill from outside Tarados."
"And the artificial chimera monsters wandering the Tarados wilderness. That confirms it."
They were the same ones who had captured Kal and performed experiments on him.
All the clues so far fit together into one.
"The true culprit are the Executioners. If we destroy them, it's over. But…"
Erzebet spread her arms.
"It won't be that simple. To get to them, we'll first have to deal with the lord and the Ganes Guild. Tarados is sturdier than it looks."
Their methods were clear:
The Executioners funded the lord and the Ganes Guild with vast resources.
The Ganes Guild roamed the wilderness, kidnapping people and sending them to the Executioners, but they left alone the villages and cities guarded by the lord's soldiers.
In return, the lord's soldiers "protected" residents from the bandits but levied crushing taxes. Residents had to pay by either extreme labor or equivalent sacrifice.
If residents refused to pay taxes, the soldiers abandoned them without hesitation. Then the Ganes Guild would launch a massive raid, capturing the residents to be handed over to the Executioners.
Unable to endure the bandits' assault, residents would flee their villages, only to be devoured by chimera monsters prowling the wilderness or captured by pursuing bandits.
'Vile.'
That was Simon's impression.
The soldiers and the bandits created a false rivalry to exploit the people. Many residents still believed the soldiers were their guardians against the bandits, but in truth, they were all in on it together.
The fights they staged were just for show; in reality, they rarely clashed seriously.
"For that reason, the Revolutionary Group was likely formed—to escape both factions' control and gain independent strength."
"Exactly."
They earned funds to station soldiers, prepared to fight the bandits even without the lord's troops, built self-sufficiency, and ultimately aimed to call for outside aid to liberate Tarados.
But Lisa's brother had said even the Revolutionary Group was rotten.
Their leaders must have been bought off by the Executioners as well.
"Now, what should we do? There are two options."
Erzebet turned to Simon, their leader.
"We can first eliminate the Ganes Guild and the lord, cutting off the Executioners' limbs before safely striking at their core. Or, we strike directly at the Executioners' base with a surprise attack, before they discover our presence."
"..."
Simon closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke.
"I've decided."