Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The Warrior and the Magician

Leon’s recollection ended quickly. He was not a genius — rather, he was closer to a slow learner.

From just a single sparring session, there was only so much one could realize.

“Whatever it was, looks like you’re done now.”

Retina asked. In this world, Leon’s act of “recollection” was something strange.

And yet, she had patiently waited for him. Mikelan too — the strong ones of this world didn’t seem to think in ordinary ways.

“Thank you for waiting.”

“By the way, I heard the Black Dragon moves from place to place, completing various commissions. Does that mean Ryan and I will also be wandering around?”

“No. For now, you and Ryan will move together with me. I may look free, but I’ve got a commission to take care of too.”

“May I ask what kind of commission it is?”

“It’s simple. We’re just going to straighten out the back alley folks a bit. It’s a job entrusted to us by the Emperor. No matter how many times the underworld gets cleaned, new filth always pops up. Whenever they have the chance, they crown a new king of the shadows. Our task is to keep the underworld in check.”

Leon’s eyes widened. A direct order from the Emperor? No — she had called it a commission.

There was a big difference between being ordered to work for free and being paid to complete a request.

Leon once again realized just how extraordinary the Black Dragon Mercenary Corps was.

For the Emperor himself to personally assign them missions — they truly were a group with ties to the Imperial Family.

“A commission from the Emperor... I’d like to hear more about it.”

“Our corps consists of five members in total — not counting the retired former commander. Now that you and Ryan have joined, we could say there are seven of us.”

Retina continued with a serious look.

“Since you’re one of us now, I’ll keep it simple. From this base in the back alleys, we take turns carrying out commissions. For the time being, you’ll be managing this area.”

“The Emperor didn’t set a deadline. He only said, ‘Quit when you can’t handle it anymore.’ So in practice, it’s a lifetime job. But that doesn’t mean you’ll rot here forever — you can swap assignments with someone returning from a long-term mission.”

Leon nodded. It was quite an efficient system.

The “long-term missions” she mentioned must’ve been the typical mercenary jobs people knew — traveling across the land to fulfill requests.

Each member of the Black Dragon was said to be comparable to a quasi-knight.

Handling regional commissions alone wouldn’t be a challenge for them.

“So this base must’ve been established for the Emperor’s commission. The back alleys are ever-changing — without someone stationed here, an incident could erupt at any moment.”

That was likely what the Emperor was concerned about.

Running operations while maintaining a central base — a wise approach indeed.

“Then, if you take another mission, will we go with you?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, nothing. It’s just that people don’t usually use that kind of title in the mercenary world. You caught me off guard.”

Despite her casual words, Retina’s earlobes were red. Leon tilted his head slightly.

She was stronger than him, and had been part of the group longer — wasn’t it natural to call her senior?

“Anyway! For now, you’ll be managing the back alleys. I’ll be taking the long-term missions myself. I’m not the only member of the Black Dragon, you know — you’ll have to get to know the others too.”

Leon accepted easily enough. He’d forgotten one of the basics of group life — establishing rapport.

Especially for such a small organization, meeting everyone face-to-face was essential.

“Well, managing the back alleys isn’t an easy task, so who knows when you’ll graduate from it.”

Retina spoke with a meaningful smile.

After receiving her explanation, Leon went to Ryan to relay the new arrangement.

Once he finished explaining, Ryan said,

“Okay, got it. But I can’t move right now, you see?”

Leon took one look at him — Ryan was wrapped in bandages from head to toe.

It didn’t look like his bones or muscles were damaged, nor that any organs were injured.

Then why all the bandages?

Still, Leon didn’t ask. Ryan’s expression made it clear he didn’t want to explain. When he was ready, he’d tell him.

“Then I suppose I’ll head out alone today.”

At his words, Retina nodded.

“Exactly. Let’s go. Lately, too many people have been getting high on drugs. We’re going to investigate the cause.”

With that, Retina stepped outside, and Leon followed her.

The back alleys truly were vast — enough that Leon understood why the Emperor had made it an official concern.

It was hard to believe that the underworld of the Imperial Capital could be this large.

After walking for about twenty minutes, Retina stopped.

“What should I do now?”

“Just observe. Today, I’m only showing you what kind of work we do in the back alleys. You don’t need to act yet.”

Leon gave a short reply and looked around.

If the areas they’d passed earlier felt sinister, this place was merely dark.

Children begged on the streets. Men lay sprawled across the ground. Not one of them looked healthy.

Several appeared pale, like the terminally ill.

‘This place feels more like a slum than a back alley…’

What exactly was Retina planning to do here?

As Leon watched silently, she began to move.

She glanced at the nearby children, then muttered something under her breath.

It was an unfamiliar language — a chant preceding the use of magic.

Her murmuring continued until she had walked through the entire slum.

“I came here because there were rumors of an epidemic spreading, but I don’t see anything strange. No one seems drugged, either.”

“You observed everyone here in that short time?”

“Observed? If you mean checking their physical condition, yes. In filthy places , diseases spread easily. The Emperor’s commission also included investigating possible outbreaks. I just decided to check while we were at it — but it seems fine.”

Using magic as she had done in the slum, Retina strode through the back alleys.

Wherever she walked, people stepped aside. Perhaps her face was well known among those who ruled the shadows.

Yet their eyes held a wary, uneasy fear — as if watching something they didn’t wish to touch.

Retina’s eyes flashed.

“As expected — those bastards.”

“The Oblis brothers. Famous drug dealers. They’re experts at running, so I’ve never met them directly. These ones here are probably just their small fry.”

“I see. But how do you know that?”

Leon looked around. There was nothing nearby — only a few passersby wandering the streets.

To be honest, it didn’t even feel like a back alley anymore.

When he had first seen the streets of the Imperial Capital, Leon had thought they were quite beautiful.

This street was no different. It was bright like a sunlit thoroughfare rather than an underworld alley, and the passersby gave impressions far too mild to be residents of the shadows.

A place , and they called it a back alley?

When Leon asked Retina about it, she gave a short laugh and said, “Of course. This place is staged.”

“This street is made up of passersby, people inside the houses, and, lastly, the children.”

The chill wind peculiar to the back alleys brushed past Leon’s nape.

At the same time, Leon’s face stiffened from the eyes he felt watching from every direction.

“They’re all men from the Oblis brothers’ crew.”

A hollow laugh escaped Leon at the murderous intent felt from all sides.

Staged. He hadn’t understood it a moment ago, but now he did.

‘This pleasant atmosphere… it was all fake.’

He recalled having heard that drug peddlers often wore a kindly face, and behind that courtesy they did heinous things.

For example, they would approach a poor child warmly, give food, and offer a place to sleep.

At that moment, the child’s fate was already sealed. While moved by the warm kindness, the drug peddler would have already made the child’s body dependent on the drug.

‘But I never expected to meet not just one or two of those scum, but so many of them here.’

Those were merely rumors he had heard. Even in his past life he had heard such tales—perhaps the world of humans was the same everywhere.

Here too, the same acts were being carried out.

“Hey, you there. What kind of people are you?”

A passerby approached with a menacing face. The pleasant expression he had been wearing a moment ago had shifted in an instant.

“Retina… One of you looks unfamiliar.”

As expected, the man recognized Retina’s identity.

“Retina, Oblis isn’t here today. Come back another time.”

“When have those bastards ever actually seen my face? Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Knew you’d say that.”

The passerby raised his hand. From behind him, a burly man strode forward.

“He’s the champion of the back-alley arena. Even you would have trouble handling him.”

…… ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel·fire.net

Retina did not reply. She only looked at them with a derisive expression.

Provoked by that gaze, the passerby shouted with a reddened face, “Kill them!”

At the same time the burly man lunged at Retina.

“Newcomer, this is your mission. Survive.”

Dozens of passersby surrounded them. Each of them was two ranks stronger than the thugs who had tormented Rahan.

Leon sighed inwardly.

Leon slowly drew his sword and raised his concentration.

Leon’s blade moved like an arrow and severed the enemy’s neck. As blood burst from the corpse, the head flew up into the sky.

At the same time Leon stepped into Dawn-Drifting Falcon Step and charged toward the enemies.

His new-form surged forward at a speed like a spear of light.

Leon’s Infinite Void Heart Fist drove into a man’s chest. Bone-crushing sounds echoed; the heart must have burst as well.

Meanwhile, the head Leon had sent skyward a moment before dropped back to the ground.

Retina and the burly man collided.

A wave—no, for Retina it should be called a flux of mana—rippled outward.

Her entire body emanated a ferocious mana unlike anything he had felt before. If a mana avatar descended into the world, would it appear ?

It was a wave that could justifiably be called a human weapon.

What surprised him more was the burly man who stood before Retina. He was absorbing the terrifying convulsions of mana across his entire body while still advancing.

Unlike Leon, it seemed the mana waves had little effect on him.

‘He’s stronger than me. Not by just one or two steps—he’s far above me.’

He had been called the champion of the back-alley arena—Leon had not expected citizens of the shadows to be so strong.

He felt like a frog in a well.

Magic struck the burly man again and again. Sharp ice spears that could pierce armor, scorching flames that could annihilate the surroundings.

The burly man withstood them all.

As Leon fought his own enemies, he watched Retina’s battle out of the corner of his eye.

Her magic was unfamiliar, but she lived up to the reputation of being quasi-knight level. Each spell she cast was threatening enough to take a life.

On the surface the magic had a beautiful look that might prompt a casual observer to call it elegant—yet anyone who could read the mana’s concentration would never call it that.

Disaster sprang to mind; each of her spells churned with mana that felt catastrophic.

‘So that’s why that burly man drew my attention. How on earth is he enduring that magic?’

Even while fighting, Leon increased his perceptive force and watched the man intently.

‘He’s wearing a protective array over his whole body. Does the concept of a protective array exist in this world?’

A protective array wrapped mana around the body to guard against external attacks—one form of martial art. When perfected, people called it a protective-strong instrument.

Leon was shocked by the scene before him.

Though people in this world instinctively developed combat styles suited to themselves, a protective array was beyond his expectations.

He thought there was nothing left in this world that could startle him—yet there was still more to be surprised by.

He couldn’t help but laugh softly.

‘This world really is interesting.’

That said, the fight ended briefly.

Leon’s foes were no real threat. Thanks to his experience so far, he was stronger than he had expected.

Contrary to the assumption that he would struggle, his battle finished quickly.

Retina fared equally well. Though strong in the back alleys, she was a veteran mercenary who had been through hell and back.

There was no way she would lose to shadow-dwellers.

When things had been mopped up to a degree, Retina said, “If we go straight ahead a bit, we’ll find a large building. It’ll be their drug factory—let’s destroy it.”

As Retina had said, after walking about five minutes they reached a large building—one so vast it reminded Leon of a noble’s mansion.

Retina set the building ablaze with magic. A splendid residence vanished in flames. Still, her expression remained impassive.

“Ah—what are you doing now? We were supposed to get drugs from the Oblis brothers.”

A young man notable for his blue hair spoke in a disappointed tone.

The youth—who carried a longsword at his waist—asked Leon and Retina, “Did you do this?”

“If so?” Leon answered in a flat voice. The youth stroked his jaw.

“Hmm… I didn’t expect this. Well, the boss asked us to protect the Oblis brothers’ factory, so—”

At that moment the ground around the youth cracked like a spiderweb. With a chilling murderous glare he said, “Then I guess I’ll have to kill you.”