Do Your Own Revolution

#032.

“This wraps things up nicely.”

In a dilapidated underground storage room with scorch marks scattered about.

Three men were kneeling side by side in what used to be a cattle shed.

“Mmph…! Mmmmph…!”

“P-please spare me…! Please…”

“Nnnngh…!”

Ah, what was I thinking?

I hadn’t gagged Dallas.

After yanking his hair up, I grabbed a handful of straw and stuffed it in his mouth.

Now it’s finally quiet.

I looked at the three men in turn, then checked the modest spoils obtained from them.

‘Gold bars, drugs, bearer bonds, and jewels… Less valuable than I expected.’

I roughly assessed the items piled in one corner of the storage room.

I’ll keep the gold bars, burn the drugs… Otto can handle the rest properly if I hand them over.

But more than these things, there was an unexpected windfall.

A list of nobles who dealt with these guys and their transaction details.

Looking at the names of the nobles listed, it was clear just how corrupt the so-called nobles of Kalhyram were living.

‘Most of the purchased items are banned monster byproducts, and drugs made from them…’

This could get quite interesting if I hand it over to Keiren.

I put the ledgers obtained from the three organizations into my bag.

‘Now that I’ve gathered everything, time to wrap this up.’

After finishing that thought, I activated the mechanical device that remained in my memory.

Along with the sound of a cultivator, what started turning was a grinder used in meat processing plants.

The very thing that had ground up Eugene Lorentz’s parents.

“Hans said this. If I don’t bring the money by next week, he’ll grind me up and scatter me next to my mom and dad.”

“Mmph?! Mmmmph~~!”

Of the three who heard my words, Valks’ face in particular turned deathly pale.

The furiously spinning grinder, the shabby storage that used to be a pig pen.

It seemed he finally realized where this place was, and what I intended to do.

‘Come to think of it, I wonder if this is really necessary…’

Looking at the frantically spinning grinder and the faces of the three men covered in tears, that thought suddenly crossed my mind.

After all, the one who lost his parents was ‘Eugene Lorentz’ in the game, not ‘Seong Yu-jin’.

Honestly, I personally had no particular feelings about these people.

Yet I deliberately sought out this place and this grinder, and deliberately captured these three people alive and tied them up in this storage room.

I had to admit it.

Right now, I was acting uncharacteristically irrational.

“Kuhk?! S-sorry! I’m sorry! I committed a mortal sin! So please, please…!”

The gag must have come loose while being dragged, as Valks’ voice burst out while in my grasp.

“My parents probably made similar sounds too, right, boss?”

“Ah, aah…! Please, p-please…!”

Unexpectedly, an agitated voice leaked through between my teeth.

Along with that came this unpleasant feeling, and a dark pleasure.

When I felt that, I became quite confused.

No matter how immersed I was in this game, I was originally an outsider to this incident.

There was no reason for me to feel such emotions.

‘Come to think of it, it wasn’t just now.’

The slight anger I felt when I saw Claude’s face at Knifehead.

The sense of familiarity I felt the moment I met Maximilien.

Even the bitter aftertaste I felt when killing him.

While they were all dramatic moments in their own way, the emotions I felt from them had some degree of dissonance for ‘Seong Yu-jin’ the gamer to feel.

‘Does this mean the emotions I’m feeling now aren’t those of ‘Seong Yu-jin’? That ‘Eugene Lorentz’s’ personality is partially mixed in?’

Even as these thoughts continued, my body didn’t stop.

My hand holding Valks threw him into the grinder without hesitation-

“N-no…!”

With that final death cry, Valks literally became minced meat scattered across the pig pen floor.

“Mmph… Mmmph…!”

“Mmmmmph–!”

Valks’ blood and minced flesh spurting from the grinder’s outlet covered the bodies of the remaining two.

There’s a scene in the movie ‘War of the Worlds’ where aliens spray human blood everywhere – it was exactly like that.

Ugh, disgusting.

While it was satisfying, I didn’t think it was worth doing twice.

“Hm?”

When I heard strange sounds coming from the other two, I turned to look.

In the blood-covered pen were Dallas and Jake, lying dead.

“One bit his tongue, the other smashed his head in to commit suicide.”

Rather than end up like Valks, they must have thought it better to die first.

After checking their causes of death by prodding the corpses with my foot, I gladly got up from my spot.

It’s a gain for me since there’s less work to do.

Now I should grab the goods and ledgers and get out of this storage room quickly.

***

As in any detective or mystery story, the police arrived an hour after everything had wrapped up.

Police spread throughout the alley, and criminals being arrested one after another.

Those who wouldn’t bat an eye at whatever happened in the alleys in the game are now acting like this just because they heard a magic noble was involved.

“To think that the young master of the Buckenheim family would be involved in such an unfortunate incident!”

“For a young lord of a magic noble family to personally step forward to uphold justice in these back alleys…!”

“As expected of Lord Keiren’s son. You’ve done a truly great deed!”

And what surprised me most of all was the police chief who came with all those police forces.

‘We don’t have a single officer to spare for trash like you!’

‘Get your hands off! You parasites of the empire!’

Who would have thought that this embodiment of authoritarianism, who used to spout such lines as naturally as breathing, would possess such excellent ass-kissing skills?

If he were dealing with someone who enjoyed being entertained, he would have the technique to increase the sensitivity 3000 times and send them to Hong Kong in just 2 seconds.

“Y-you killed them all? Every single one?”

“Strictly speaking, not everyone.”

After pushing aside the police chief’s song of praise.

To Otto’s question asked with a dumbfounded expression, I waved my hand with an embarrassed face.

“I only directly dealt with the leaders and executives of each organization. I did it in front of the regular gang members, so there shouldn’t be anyone trying to run a gang for a while.”

Especially in Valks’ case.

When I showed them the blood and minced meat saying ‘Say hello, this is your boss,’ some of them fainted on the spot.

Even if they pop up again, they’ll probably be no more than neighborhood thugs.

Hearing my words, Otto shook his head with a somewhat dejected expression.

“To think that those who ruled the back alleys for over ten years would be exterminated by a single magician…”

“It’s not that they couldn’t do it. They just left it alone because it didn’t harm them.”

Not much different from the real Korea.

No matter how much they boast about being a nationwide organization or an underworld big shot, the moment public authority steps in seriously, the underground world crumbles.

The reason they don’t disappear isn’t because of lack of ability, but lack of will.

‘The scraps they bring from that side must be pretty sweet too.’

If there’s a difference to be found, it’s that in this world, it’s nobles who wield public authority, not judges.

And right now, I was, at least in name, a member of those nobles, and moreover, a magic noble, and among them, a magician who had reached quite a high level.

In other words, I had both the ability and will to clean up the alleys.

“I was worried, Young Master. When you went off alone, to think you would do such an incredible thing…”

The one who approached me saying those words was Walter, the butler who had directly called these police officers.

He had the police handle the cleanup right as I finished my work.

In other words, this person had been watching me since I arrived here.

It sends chills down my spine. Why?

Because I couldn’t detect that person even while using ‘Eye of Horus’.

“…Still, thanks to you, butler, I feel relieved. You called the officers at just the right time.”

“I was worried it might have been too late. It would be a serious matter if Lord Keiren’s son were to be hurt in such an incident.”

Now, let me translate this noble conversation into my style:

‘Looking at the police’s timing, you deliberately left me alone, didn’t you?’

‘If you can’t handle even this much alone, how dare you enter the military academy as Keiren’s son? What, should I spoon-feed you next time?’

The big bones hidden in the exchange of pleasantries.

Learning as I go, but these noble bastards really live in an exhaustingly complicated way.

“Since you seem to have handled your personal business, I’ll escort you to your lodgings now.”

“Yes. Please do, butler.”

‘If you’re done with your work, return to base.’

‘OK’

After this exchange, I got into the carriage Walter had prepared.

“Ah, right. Butler.”

“Yes, Young Master Eugene?”

Before closing the door, I called Walter and took out a ledger from my pocket to hand to him.

“This is…?”

“I found it during my personal business. I thought it might be useful to father. And…”

Lowering my body slightly, I whispered in Walter’s ear.

And shortly after. Walter’s gaze, after examining the ledger I handed over, turned toward the police chief standing far away.

What was written in the ledger was details of underage human trafficking, and the police chief’s name written at the end.

“Well, this is unexpected information.”

“I leave it in your hands.”

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

Walter, saying this with a smile, closed the carriage door with an even more polite gesture.

Police chief bastard, you were planning to quietly take credit for the gang cleanup, weren’t you?

Sorry, but the only thing you’ll be eating is black bread in the Northern Prison.

***

The carriage carrying Eugene left Grey Quarter at twice the speed it had arrived.

It was understandable that the driver was scared, as this was a high-crime area that no sane Imperial citizen would even think of entering.

“I didn’t expect to find you here, Otto.”

Walter, changing his tone after the young master he had to serve disappeared, turned his gaze to one side.

Otto Klautz, the back alley doctor in worn medical gown.

He, too, seemed quite surprised, looking at Walter with a strange expression.

“Walter… Major.”

“Don’t add the rank anymore. We’re both civilians now, after all.”

Saying this, Walter looked in the direction where the carriage carrying Eugene had disappeared.

“It seems you’ve been working as a doctor here.”

“For about 10 years.”

“So you came here right after discharge. You really…”

Walter’s gaze, trailing off, looked at Otto.

The worn-out medical gown, disheveled hair. Even the glasses with rust covering the frames.

Though he no longer wore a military uniform, he was still the same military doctor who had shared hardships on the frontlines 10 years ago.

“You seem to be acquainted with Young Master Eugene as well.”

“That’s what I wanted to ask. Young master, you mean… could it be that the one who took in that child was…”

“Your guess is correct.”

It was truly a strange connection.

Who would have thought that those whose spirits were broken after ‘that incident’ on the frontlines would meet again in a place like this?

And that at the intersection of that meeting would be one boy?

“So with that in mind, I have a proposal for you.”

“A… proposal?”

With those words, Walter stepped closer to Otto and spoke.

Exposing the police chief’s crimes was secondary.

The first task Eugene had instructed him about was related to Otto.

“Would you become Young Master Eugene’s personal physician?”