NOVEL NEXT Chapter 73
Chapter 73
The room right next to where Lian was staying.
Unlike Lian’s room, which was decorated like a cozy bedroom, this place was set up like a luxurious living room.
On the main sofa sat a muscular man slightly taller than a dwarf, with a cigar in his mouth, speaking up.
“You mean to tell me you couldn’t handle a bunch of kids playing house until now?”
“Th-that’s… each of them is stronger than a decent skilled person…”
BANG!
A veiny forearm slammed down on the sofa threateningly. It was so hard that a creaking sound echoed from the couch.
“In such an important time, you can’t even clear out a sloppy organization that those kids formed! Take hostages, set traps, bring in strong mercenaries… do whatever it takes to wipe them out!”
“Y-yes!”
Dwarf Boss.
That was the nickname for the man who, despite being way shorter than the average person, had taken the boss position of a large organization through sheer charisma and brutality.
‘Of all times for those irritating little pests to show up, it just has to be while we’re at war with those Leviathan bastards, tsk.’
The man clicked his tongue, taking a deep drag on his cigar before exhaling.
‘I heard the leader of that kid group is pretty cute… if we put her on the market, she could be quite useful. Or I could just play with her myself. Keh heh heh…’
The man chuckled to himself and shouted at the subordinate leaning against the wall.
“Go grab me some alcohol.”
As his subordinate left to follow the order, just as the man was about to light another cigar—
KAPOW!
A massive explosion happened, and the wall of his accommodation was blown apart.
“C-calm down!”
“Kyaaaong!”
As a beast-like cry filled the air, Jess popped through the dust, water dripping from her head. She was dressed in nothing but a shirt that reached her thighs, crouching low and glaring at something.
“What the hell…?”
While the startled boss stuttered, suddenly, white steam gushed into the room. The steam that had filled the bathroom spilled out, flooding even the boss’s space.
Thanks to that, Jess’s lower half was completely obscured. In a gag world, this was a perfectly normal scene, but here, it looked extremely bizarre.
With the wall suddenly collapsing, a stranger barging in, and a thick fog obstructing vision, it was chaos.
From the boss’s perspective, surrounded by enemies, it was only natural to see everyone as foes. He jumped up from the sofa, shouting,
“An enemy! Get out here!”
As soon as his words finished, the door that had been tightly shut swung open. It was his escort unit. The boss hissed in irritation.
“How do you only show up after being called when there’s such a ruckus!?”
“What’s going on… there was no noise from inside at all!”
“Did they even use noise-canceling magic? Ha, they’re serious about catching me alone!”
The boss sneered with malice while eyeing the neighboring room where white fog was pouring in and something was scampering about like crazy.
By now, the fog had filled the room up to his chin. For an average person, it had risen just above the thighs.
“I don’t know what you’re prepared for, but you won’t be getting out alive. Hey! What are you standing around for? Hurry up and catch that little brat!”
“Y-yes!”
The escort, hastily drawing their swords, charged towards Jess, who was darting around the room, their expression tense.
SIZZLE!
Just as they approached the nimble silhouette, a gray rat leaped into the air and plopped right onto the escort’s face.
“Kyaaaong! Prey!”
Crouching low, Jess dashed after the fleeing rat. She unsheathed her sharp claws, aiming to slice the rat that had landed on the man’s face. Just before her claws could make contact with the rat,
SQUISH!
The rat squeaked and jumped away. But Jess’s claws were already in motion and couldn’t be stopped.
“Gyaaaaaak!”
SLICKE!
Jess’s claws ripped a long gash across the man’s face. It was too intense of an attack to be from a stray cat or dog, and the man collapsed, bleeding out.
With her eyes fixated on her prey, Jess leaped off the fallen man like a springboard and flew toward where the rat had escaped. The rat was clinging to the back of another man.
“Kraaaak!”
“Kyaaaaak!”
“Hiek… w-wait… ugh!”
Screams erupted as the escorts fell one by one, engulfed by the white fog.
“D-damn it! What’s happening! They’re just brats!”
The boss stuttered, watching his team get swiftly picked off and absorbed by the fog. In a panic, he pulled out an expensive scroll from his pocket.
“Damn it… damn it…”
His eyes followed the swift silhouette dashing through the fog. He was staring hard enough that blood vessels in his eyes were about to pop.
SQUEAK—
With a baby rat’s cry, a gray rat zipped right in front of the boss.
“Eek…!”
The boss froze, reaching for his scroll when suddenly—
“Stop.”
“Gah!”
With a voice like rolling pearls, the red-haired intruder floated into view.
“Brother, I caught this.”
“Iris, good job!”
Even before the escorts got attacked, Lian was trying to dash into the next room to stop Jess, but he kept hesitating since Jess was running around with her lower half exposed.
Just a step closer, and he’d end up tripping over clothes he couldn’t see (good thing Iris caught him) or getting hit in the face by flying clothes that would block his vision.
In the chaos of continued screams from the escorts, Lian had no choice but to ask Iris to restrain Jess.
“Jess, you need to wear clothes properly when wandering around!”
“Ung… I’m s-sorry, Master…”
Only after Lian scolded her firmly did Jess regain her senses, her ears drooping in apology.
THUD.
As Jess calmed down, Iris loosened her grip and released Jess. Iris had washed up and was now dressed in luxurious attire—a dazzling sight, even at her young age.
“Huh…”
The man with the scroll stared blankly at Iris.
‘Wow, she’s absolutely beautiful! More stunning than any of the others I’ve caught so far!’
The boss, who would normally unleash a torrent of insults, was so taken aback by Iris’s beauty that his eyes went wide. He expressed emotions he shouldn’t feel and spoke.
“Hey, if you just wiped out another’s escort and left the room in shambles, there’s a price to pay.”
“Ah, I’m sorry!”
Finally able to move freely after Jess got dressed, Lian scratched the back of his head and stepped into the boss’s room.
“Our kid was a bit rude. Ah, I’ll cover the hospital bills.”
The boss flashed a deep smile, amused by Lian’s unexpectedly gentle demeanor, which was nearly impossible to see in this area.
‘What a sucker.’
He relaxed his tense body and took on a cocky attitude.
“Is that all? You think you can just leave with a few coins after causing this much damage?”
“Ah, that…”
His expectation of a threatening retort came true, and the enemy made an awkward face like a fool. The boss gulped nervously and eyed Iris hungrily.
“Well, if you hand over that silver-haired girl over there, I might let this slide.”
“…”
At the boss’s words, Lian’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open in disbelief. The absurdity of the statement made his expression utterly ridiculous. The boss fixed his gaze on Iris, his eyes glimmering temptingly.
“I’ll personally cherish and take care of you. You’ll be happy with that too. Clothes, jewels, anything you want! All you have to do is look pretty in bed—”
CRACK!
The man couldn’t finish his sentence as he collapsed onto the ground, his face pixelated. Iris stared wide-eyed at Lian. Lian stood there with a twisted expression as if he had just hurled something.
“That son of a b*tch dares to… ah.”
He stopped his curse abruptly, suddenly coming to his senses. Lian glanced down at the boss on the floor, now pixelated, his gaze trembling. A demonic sword was elegantly embedded in the boss’s head.
“Uh, um…”
Lian hesitated for a moment before approaching the boss, who was already cold and dead.
‘W-well, in a dark fantasy, isn’t it normal for people to just kill each other? So it’s okay, right? Right?!’
He broke into a cold sweat, desperately trying to justify his impulsive act.
‘But… the residents in this dark fantasy world are really weak. Who dies from something like this?’
SWISH.
As he pulled out the demonic sword, he could hear Gargandoa’s whiny voice.
[Yuck, why is this blood so tasteless? Partner, I want to rinse my mouth, so hand over some blood!]
‘You don’t even have a mouth.’
[That’s just a saying!]
‘I’ll give you blood later. This commotion is too big… we should probably jet outta here.’
With that, he returned the demonic sword to his palm and hurriedly packed up his things to exit the inn. Given how common fights and raids were here, the innkeeper had already vacated the premises immediately after the loud noise. —He learned that from the gossiping passersby.
Anyway, he quickly escaped the inn and fled Jiso’s territory.
*
A few days later, in the city of Cardishian, where Noah had established her base.
“What? That organization is collapsing? Why?”
“They say the boss was killed in another region during an attack. Infighting has broken out over the next boss position.”
“This is our chance… Let’s sweep it all before the other organizations get involved, and claim that land.”
With Lian’s help, Noah’s organization began to steadily engulf the underworld.