I Became a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 302

There was quite a distance from the elixir farm to the place called the Black Forest.

By the time I arrived, the sun had already set.

Then I saw a forest ahead of me, with trees that grew taller than the rest, completely blocking out the sunlight.

"……That's the Black Forest? That's a good name for it."

The old man clicked his tongue at the sight of the Black Forest, which could be said to be a dark place.

"It certainly looks like a place that dark spirits would love, with the lack of light and the shadows everywhere."

Such a place would certainly have a geographical advantage, making it easier to fend off attacks from others.

I could see why they hadn't targeted it.

"But are you sure you want to go there on foot? I don't think they'll welcome us."

The old man strokes his chin as he says this, looking worried but I was not without options.

"Well, they won't welcome us from the start, but we can talk it out, right?"

"That's what……."

──If it doesn't work, I'll make it work.

With that, I started walking toward the Black Forest.

Eventually, the old man and the young man reluctantly followed me.

And just like that, I crossed the border of the Black Forest.

……!

In an instant, the temperature of the surroundings plummeted and I felt goosebumps rise.

"It's a completely different world from here, isn't it?"

I knew that this was no ordinary forest, but this temperature difference was beyond my imagination.

"It's a barrier."

The old man who walked in after me rubbed his palms together.

"A barrier? Was that the effect of a barrier?"

The old man was more sensitive to Aura and mana than I was, so he could recognize it immediately.

"Yep. It seems to be a crystal that grants all sorts of bad abilities to those who enter it, but it doesn't seem to work on us, does it?"

"Well, we're not normal people."

"Ugh……I'm very cold." An aura master with shoes made of a high-level dark spirit and a Shinrok called the Forest Spirit.

It seemed that such a barrier had little effect on us, though Dulchan seemed a little colder.

"At least cover up."

I pulled a coat from the cube and draped it over him.

"Oh, thanks, big brother!"

"Don't fall off the old man's side, just in case."

"Yeah……!"

"Let's go inside first, they're the ones who broke away from the Spirit Realm after all, so they're probably living in a building somewhere, right?"

With that, I said, and walked to the location in my memory.

If the ‘ruins' in the second half were a village, this must be it.

"Do you know the way?"

"Just a hunch, but staying here won't change anything."

We walked through the forest, glancing around once in a while.

The trees were oddly shaped, each one growing taller and taller to see the sunlight, and now completely blocking the sky.

Could it be that? I'm hard-pressed to find any other vegetation besides the trees.

There were some mushrooms, but they weren't particularly valuable, so I ignored most of them.

"Hey, that's a poisonous mushroom."

"Oh, it's okay, I've eaten them often!"

However, there was one guy who couldn't ignore the poisonous mushrooms.

Is Shinrok immune to poison as well? This was news to me.

"I think there's something up ahead."

The old man with his hands in his pockets stopped walking and said.

I listen to him and peer through the trees a little more intently.

"It looks like a cave……doesn't it?"

"It looks more like a giant crypt than a cave, and judging by the other holes around it, there must be a village there."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Sure enough, there was a huge cave that matched my memory.

Apparently, towards the latter part of the cave, there were only traces of civilization left, but now there were even wooden fences around it, so it must still be inhabited.

"Old man."

"……I'm not sure."

"What?"

"Because in my experience, you always do weird things when you call me in situations like this. That's what makes me nervous."

……Spooky.

"What is it this time?"

"I'm about to run a straight line into that……cave, but I was wondering if you could come with me?"

The old man's eyes widened at my suggestion.

"You're just going to run straight in there, no scouting?"

"As long as we get in, we're good to go."

"Eh, I'm sure you have an idea, then let's do it."

Saying that, the old man heavily lifts up the bundle standing next to him.

"You run first, and I'll follow."

"Please."

I took a deep breath and looked toward my target, the mouth of the cave.

It was a village of dark spirits, or was it? I felt more relaxed than I expected.

With a light jolt of energy that bounced me from place to place, I began to run.

-Intruders!

-Intruders are running toward the cave! Stop them!

No sooner had we emerged from the gap in the trees than we heard a shout from behind, perhaps one of the others who had been watching the cave.

"Eugene! Trap!"

"I know!"

Already bouncing in place, my aura sonar had picked up most of the traps.

Jumping on the spot and stepping over others to avoid the traps, I managed to enter the cave in a flash.

At the same time, a swarm of black-clad creatures rushed toward me.

-Intruders!

-Just kill him! He knows where our village is!

The creatures glared in this direction, weapons raised in their hands as if ready to kill.

"Well, at least we got in like you said, but what are we going to do? They're coming from behind."

The old man who had followed them into the cave shouted, keeping a wary eye behind them.

"I told you, we'll do it the mafia way."

And speaking of the Mafia, this is what it's all about.

I grabbed the gem bomb in my pocket with both hands and raised it to the sky.

"You should know better than to attack me. If this thing goes off, it'll bury me and this whole town!"

A threat of force or to put it more mildly, an advanced technique called "negotiation with a bomb.”

-Da, stay away from him! I can feel a great deal of magic in his hands!

-Stay back!

I wonder if these spirits can sense mana easily.

Intuitively realizing the power of the gem bomb in my hand, they slowly begin to back away.

"You're threatening me with a bomb? I have a bad feeling about this guy!"

"It's mafia, isn't it, and it's effective."

"I don't know what the hell you're carrying, but if it goes off, it's going to hurt like hell!"

This time, I pushed An Byunghun hard to enhance it, resulting in a product that's 20% more powerful than the existing bombs.

Probably, even an A-list hero couldn't ignore it.

-Aren't they human?!

-What the hell are humans doing here?

-One of them is a divine beast! There are divine beasts mixed in!

It wasn't until they kept their distance that they began to observe us properly, and they began to realize who we were.

Yeah, it's all about keeping your distance.

I held the bomb up to give them a better view and called out.

"Bring me your leader! We have something urgent to talk about!"

‘Negotiate with the boss.’

It's the most basic of basics.

-Do you think we're going to bring him before you bomb-carrying bastards!

-Do you know how many times we've had to give up our homes because of you?

There were other humans besides us.

Well, it's not strange, the dungeon had already been surveyed.

But we didn't do it, so why should we apologize?

"If we blow this thing up, we'll be all over you and us anyway, so bring them in while you're on good terms!"

-Halt!

Just then, a new voice came from inside the cave.

-The Black Hand has come.

-The Black Hand himself has come.

-We must protect the Black Hand. We must protect the Black Hand.

As if they were supposed to, they began to change their formation, watching us warily.

It looked like they were escorting someone coming from the inside.

Recognizing who it was, I gingerly tucked the gem bomb away and stared straight ahead.

Black bandages wrapped around his body, and a reddish glow through them. If there was one thing that was unusual, it was the wide strip of black cloth that covered his hands where they should have been.

-I, the leader, am here, as you said I would be. What on earth have you summoned me to say?

Heavy mana in every word.

I could instinctively tell that he was a high-level dark elemental, like ‘Dark Spirit'.

"The ‘Black Hand', the broadest of the dark spirits, the one who controls the darkness. That's you."

-……You know that? Who the hell are you?

I slowly showed him one of the objects.

"This should explain it."

It was a silvery dagger that I recovered from him after disposing of the poison.

Recognizing it, his eyes shook.

-…..how come you have that thing!

After all, this village must have had something to do with Dark Spirit.

Right now, I'm the only one who knows what happened with Dark Spirit. Since society still thinks he is alive, here's a little lie.

"I am Eugene Han Corleone, the contractor of the Dark Spirit. I've come to you to fulfill my contract with him."

A serious voice that doesn't sound false at all.

It's been a long time since I've seen my [Orator] trait in action.

-A contractor for the Dark Spirit. You expect me to believe that he contracted with a human?!

Apparently, he's been close to Dark Spirit, as he shouts in disbelief.

Knowing that, I showed him something else I had prepared.

I placed the power of Black Mist onto lightning in my hand.

"You know who this energy belongs to," I said, "are you really going to accuse me of being a liar?"

And he froze in place.

-Ah…… ah……!

Yeah, that's the right reaction.

This must be the energy of the unquestionable Dark Spirit.

-I thought he was surely dead. What the hell is going on……!

Did he finally believe my story? The hostility I felt from him slowly diminished.

Here I decided to say something that would win their hearts completely.

"──That's because it's a contract between me and the Dark Spirit."

-Kai, the contract is…….

"To help you overthrow the Elemental Kingdom and create a new home for you, that is our agreement."

-Ah……! Finally!

"I don't think this is the right place to talk, Black Hand, but I wonder if you could invite us in, please."

-Of course. We'll take you inside, guests.

A few objects, a few words, and an instant change of demeanor.

I smiled at the obvious difference and turned to the old man and the ragtag group behind me.

"You guys are more communicative than I thought."

"If you threaten……with a bomb, who wouldn't listen to you?"

But walking into enemy territory with a coat full of bombs is an old wives' tale.

"That's how things worked out, right?"

Apparently, the old ways work.