novelraw Chapter 27 : I am Not a Psychopath (4)
Chapter 27 : I am Not a Psychopath (4)
Chapter 27 - I am Not a Psychopath (4)
Seopung-gae took something out from his waistband.
“This is the price for holding back.”
It was a round metal object. With a hesitant look, he fumbled with it in his hand several times.
It was an old-fashioned coin(?).
Then, as if having steeled his resolve, he scraped the wooden floor with the coin and held it out to Lee Taebaek.
“E-Elder! Th-Th-Th-That's!”
The one who was horrified by this was Jin Sobang. His spirit, which had been weakened by [Nerf], snapped back to attention at once.
“Your eyes say you have a rough idea of what this is. So, will you accept it as the price for this friend Jin Sobang's life?”
Lee Taebaek stared down at it blankly. It was a moment later that he raised his head and looked directly at Seopung-gae.
“Is he your son or something? You don't look alike at all.”
“Members of the Beggars' Sect are all family. For a family member's life, a price like this is a bargain.”
“If that's the case.”
Lee Taebaek extended his fingertips to take ‘it’.
However.
“What the.”
Why isn't it coming?
It was because Seopung-gae was holding on tightly and wouldn't let go. His reluctance was as thick as the dirt under his fingernails.
Vrrrrr.
The coin, held between the fingers of Lee Taebaek and Seopung-gae, trembled.
They wrestled over the coin for a moment. With a sigh, Seopung-gae released the strength concentrated in his fingertips.
“I'm just asking, just in case...,”
He slyly tested the waters.
“The amount you demanded… do I have to give that too?”
Have you ever seen such a greedy beggar?
He's asking an obvious question as if it's not.
Lee Taebaek answered without hesitation.
......
At dawn, the doors of Eunko Bar opened.
Two men walked out, parting the double doors. It was Seopung-gae and Jin Sobang. Four hours had already passed since they entered.
The wind, carrying the bluish air of dawn, brushed past the cheeks of the two beggars.
Jin Sobang's jowls, sagging like laundry, fluttered pitifully.
Trudge, trudge.
After taking about thirty steps, Jin Sobang stealthily looked back.
Stead-i-ly.
Lee Taebaek was watching them leave, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
Creeeeak.
When the two thieves had gotten far enough from the shop to be covered by the palm of his hand, only then did he close the shop door.
THUD!
As if to say that was enough business for one day.
Clank.
The metallic sound of a bolt sliding shut followed.
'Vicious bastard.'
Jin Sobang muttered in his head and continued on his way.
His steps staggered, like a man who had met a nine-tailed fox in the middle of the night and had his life force sucked out.
His haggard face evoked a sense of sorrow. Seopung-gae looked at Jin Sobang with pity before finally, with difficulty, starting to speak.
“Branch Master, don't make such a face. If you think of it as the price for your life, 300 million isn't that much money.”
“Yes… Elder.”
Jin Sobang nodded his head. His head drooped heavily, like a withered flower. His answer was also far from spirited.
But Seopung-gae overlooked his rudeness.
It was because he had accompanied him that the Branch Master's 300 million had vanished in the blink of an eye.
300 million was an amount that would get you VVIP treatment at a gambling den in the lower districts.
Seopung-gae glanced at Jin Sobang again. The sense of debt he felt soon became a rock, sinking heavily.
'Didn't Jin Sobang accompany me to protect me, who had violated the Orthodox-Demonic Non-Aggression Pact?'
Seopung-gae felt a renewed sense of apology for having treated Jin Sobang so narrow-mindedly.
The Beggars' Sect had split into two factions simply due to a difference in ideology. There was no bloody infighting whatsoever.
It was just...
The man whom Seopung-gae himself had saved and brought into the Beggars' Sect.
Seopung-gae had only shown his personal disappointment at Jin Sobang's move to convert to the Clean Clothes Faction.
'To think that I, a beggar who aims to achieve enlightenment through non-possession, have become entangled in personal feelings.' He was ashamed.
“My apologies.”
Seopung-gae once again expressed his shame.
“I should have paid it for you, but I couldn't because I'm a beggar. Branch Master, if there's anything you want, tell me.”
“No, sir. Please raise your head, Elder Seopung-gae. How could I expect compensation from my benefactor? At the very least, you don't need to worry about favors and grudges with me. Think of all I owe you, Elder.”
“Those words just make my heart heavier...”
Seopung-gae said self-deprecatingly with a bitter smile.
Jin Sobang quickly shook his head.
“Rather, it is I, Jin Sobang, who is sorry to you, Elder. Isn't it because of me that you lost the 'Hero's Coin' to that atrocious bastard.”
Then he ground his molars.
“The Hero's Coin, that Hero's Coin...!”
Jin Sobang bared his teeth fiercely and seethed. He was genuinely enraged, as if his own belongings had been stolen.
'The Hero's Coin of the Beggars' Sect.’
What is a Hero's Coin? It may look small and sallow, but it is a treasure among treasures that can be used to request help from all branches of the Beggars' Sect.
'To all beggars.'
'Clean Clothes Faction, Arts Faction.'
It encompasses all factions.
Region doesn't matter either. Lake City, of course, and even the few remaining beggars in the Central Plains can be summoned if desired.
Moreover...
Of all things, the Hero's Coin that had belonged to Seopung-gae... no, that had now become Lee Taebaek's property, was a Third-Rank coin. Jin Sobang felt his world collapsing.
There are fifty thousand members below the rank of Six-Knot alone. From the moment the Hero's Coin fell into that robber's hands...
'A whole fifty thousand people.'
...Fifty thousand innocent beggars will have to listen to that bastard's request without a word of complaint!
And because it's a Third-Rank coin, three times!
That number, fifty thousand, included Jin Sobang himself.
'Uwaaaaaaaaaah!'
His mechanical hand raked through its master's hair. At the same time, that face flashed through his mind.
— Grin.
The sneer that had hung on his lips when he took the Hero's Coin!
— Since you're giving it to me, I won't refuse. Ah, Jin Sobang, you, hold still. I think it needs a wipe.
Those were the words Lee Taebaek had said as he took Jin Sobang's sleeve and wiped the Hero's Coin with it. He was definitely a psychopath.
'The Hero's Coin has fallen into the hands of the one person who should never have had it.'
The Elder is known as a wise sage in the Beggars' Sect. The macro-level direction of the entire Beggars' Sect in Lake City is generally decided by a nod of his chin.
Is it a difference in perspective? Or is it because the insolent face of the one who had just ripped off his entire pocket came to mind?
Just this once, it was hard to erase the thought that the Elder had made the wrong choice.
If you were to grab any passing beggar and ask, a hundred out of a hundred would surely vote for Jin Sobang's opinion.
A heart demon visited him. Congested blood passed through his solar plexus, liver, and stomach before finally surging up to the root of his tongue.
He tasted iron.
Amitābha, Amitābha.
Let me try being possessed by the Wudang Clan for a moment to calm my insides...
“I can't let this be, Elder!”
In the end, he turned around. The sagging skin of his jowls followed.
“I will go back right now and retrieve it. And while I'm at it, I'll take back the promise of 300 million, too! That impudent daylight robber bastard!”
Seopung-gae grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.
“Now, now, my good man.”
“But, Elder...!”
“I am fine.”
But I–!
Fifty thousand beggars are not fine!
Great Warrior, no matter that you're a Six-Knot.
Can you really just hand over the power of life and death over all the beggars spread throughout the land, just like that, huh?!
'How could you be so indifferent!'
Since when did our Beggars' Sect start being run like some shitty company, Elder!
“Gnnnnn.”
Resentment welled up from the depths of his heart. At that, Seopung-gae let out a hearty laugh.
“Hehe. Those are the eyes of someone asking for an explanation.”
“Please...”
Seopung-gae pretended to scratch his beard.
“You experienced it firsthand, so you should know better than I. When that man released his [Presence Concealment], weren't you, the Branch Master, overwhelmed by his qi and your spirit broken?”
“......”
Silence was an admission.
Because Jin Sobang was the one who had yelped the moment Lee Taebaek changed his aura.
'The reason my guts are so twisted up.'
Perhaps it's because of the petty pride triggered by the helplessness and embarrassment of that moment.
Recalling that time, Jin Sobang's lips felt parched. That feeling he had then...
'It was the first time since I met the Dragon Head Clan Leader, one of the 10 Wings.'
The Clan Leader of the Beggars' Sect, the Dragon Head Clan Leader, Geojon.
He is a member of the 10 Wings, which consists of the 'Three Calamities and Seven Existences', and is a legend of the Beggars' Sect.
Suddenly, he recalled the time he had an audience with Geojon.
His overwhelming presence made it difficult to even breathe. Nevertheless, he had held onto his reason.
'The Elder who had arranged the introduction even patted my shoulder, saying I was admirable just for enduring it.'
Even giving him the highest possible praise, it was self-evident that Lee Taebaek was weaker than Geojon. But why?
'To break my spirit with his aura alone.'
It meant one thing.
The quality that bastard was born with.
'It means his potential as a supreme ruler is greater than the Great Venerable One's!'
A heaven beyond the heavens.
“A Heaven Beyond the Heavens.”
Jin Sobang muttered unconsciously. Could he really have monopolized the love of the universe?
Shake, shake.
He shook his head. It was too much.
A thought that had gone too far.
However, a suspicion once planted is not easily washed away. Because sometimes, beings who defy providence appear in the world. A mere mortal cannot pass judgment on the will of the universe.
And a prime example of that was currently living with his feet planted in the same city as Jin Sobang.
The Master of the Kergel Mage Tower.
One of the Three Calamities and the greatest demon of all time.
'The Heavenly Demon.'
It was for a moment.
“Branch Master.”
As if sensing his turmoil, Seopung-gae rubbed Jin Sobang's back.
“You don't have to look so glum.”
It was warm. A hand that seemed to carry the weight of years.
“Elder.”
His heart at ease, Jin Sobang smiled softly. It would have been better if there wasn't a booger.
“Hehe. I told you not to make that face.”
“It's not that… Never mind.”
“If I were you, Jin Sobang, it wouldn't have been much different.”
“But, Elder Beggar of the Arts—”
“I know what you're trying to say. You're right. If it were me, my spirit wouldn't have broken, but I'm telling you, I definitely would have been flustered too.”
Seopung-gae turned his gaze. A different horizon from the Central Plains. It was a feast of jagged skyscrapers.
“The Great Venerable One ordered the move to this desolate city, thinking the Central Plains were too small. But even this place, which I thought was an ocean, was merely a Lake.”
“Then, Elder Pung-gae, was your willingness to give him the Hero's Coin an investment?”
“That's part of it, but not all of it.”
“Then.”
“The fact that a death row inmate recently killed all the guards and escaped from the Neuro-prison, but the news reported it differently. That will soon reach the ears of the Clean Clothes Faction as well.”
The information network of the Arts Faction is the best in Lake City. The information-gathering ability of beggars has a long and storied history since the days of the Central Plains. The Resistance's 8th Battalion has been catching up recently, but the reality is they still fall short.
“Yes. I saw a few photos of the scene, and it was absolutely gruesome… Gasp!”
Jin Sobang's face turned deathly pale.
“D-Don't tell me?”
“According to what I've heard, 'that death row inmate' was a young man with black hair, black eyes, and a beautiful appearance.”
“Ha, haha.”
“Doesn't someone come to mind?”
“......”
“I hear the megacorps, starting with Siesta, are racing to track down the death row inmate's whereabouts. As always, they're not stepping forward themselves, but pushing the city government to the front. Just like how the government uses its constables.”
“Why is that?”
“I'm looking into it.”
Seopung-gae shrugged.
He immediately got to the heart of the matter.
“If the megacorps get serious, they'll find him in less than a month.”
“So you're acting as his shield? That man is a death row inmate. Who knows what his crimes ar—”
“Whatever his crimes, are they worse than the megacorps? And Sobang, you've gotten soft too. You haven't forgotten that the basic quality of a martial artist is ruthlessness, have you? In the Central Plains, someone like Lee Taebaek wouldn't even be considered part of the Black Path.”
“......”
“For now, the Demonic Cult and the megacorps are staying quiet because of the non-aggression pact. But a non-aggression pact, by its nature, requires a balance of power. In your eyes, do the current Orthodox Faction forces look like they're a match for the Mage Tower, let alone the megacorps? No. At least, I don't think so.”
“......”
“I see Lee Taebaek as our future hope. An unprecedented rising star. He's still green now, but I believe he will one day come into full bloom. So until then, I plan to watch over him.”
Jin Sobang asked with a tense face.
“And if he becomes a demonic person, what will you do?”
“If that happens, I will take his head myself.”
With that, Seopung-gae spun around. After that, they walked side-by-side without another word.
Trudge, trudge.
A silence fell between the two beggars.
It was just after the break of dawn, a dusky silence.
Clank.
A moment later, Jin Sobang rolled up his sleeves and gave a fist and palm salute to the Beggar of the Arts. The fist he made was his cybernetic prosthesis.
“You are truly a wise man, Great Sir. I, Jin Sobang, will join you in your endeavor, however meager my strength.”
“Thank you for saying so. Anyway, get to it.”
“Get to it, you say...”
Ah, right. The 300 million.
Seopung-gae kindly added.
“You also promised to provide a terminal, didn't you.”
Thank you for reminding me, Elder.
Hehe, hehe, hahahahahahahahahaha!
......
At that same time.
In Eunko Bar, Lee Taebaek was lying in his usual posture. With his thumb, he was flipping the Hero's Coin high into the air.
Fliiiip.
He snatched the Hero's Coin from the air as it reached its peak, almost touching the ceiling. He repeated the action, organizing his thoughts.
“A price that is too high must be met with suspicion.”
It would be a lie to say he hadn't expected the Hero's Coin as compensation. That's why, even while cornering Jin Sobang, he kept throwing glances at Seopung-gae.
Fliiiip.
Lee Taebaek stared at the spinning Hero's Coin.
Even giving a generous estimate, he had expected a First-Rank one at best, but the highest grade, a Third-Rank Hero's Coin, had fallen into his hands.
Snatch!
Even if he had been told to cough up the money in exchange for a First-Rank Hero's Coin, he would have gladly done so.
But at Seopung-gae's strange reaction, he had switched his stance to swallowing the 300 million as well.
“Ever since the electric chair, things have been going surprisingly smoothly.”
His luck was so good it was suspicious, and the feeling of unease wouldn't go away. At times like this, the phrase 'Favor of the Chaos Goddess' echoed in his mind.
The horse race incident, and now this continuous string of bizarre good fortune. Due to these events, he had designated the Chaos Goddess as a prime suspect.
“I'll have to move up the search for the Lilith cult.”
He set his main quest. The Hero's Coin hit the ceiling and fell back down even faster.
Fliiiip.
“Heads.”
Snatch!
Lee Taebaek immediately opened his hand and then ended up laughing foolishly.
What kind of stupid thing am I doing?
“Where would an old coin have a heads or tails.”
Lee Taebaek put the Hero's Coin in his pants pocket and zipped it up all the way.
Perhaps because they were special pants provided by the Resistance, they had two or three sturdy zippers.
After tidying his bedding, he soon fell asleep. It was a deep sleep, the kind that felt like it could smooth out the wrinkles in his brain.
It was noon the next day that the 31st District's Branch Master, Jin Sobang, had a subordinate send over the 300 million and the terminal.