novelraw Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Not drawing the longsword he had favored until now and instead deliberately gripping the dagger in a reverse hold was something closer to instinct, done without even his own conscious intent.
‘The distance is roughly about 30 meters.’
The width of the alley was just a bit too narrow to fit three well-built adult men. After spitting out the cigarette he had smoked down to the end with a ‘Ptoo-’, he stared straight ahead with a vision that had grown even clearer.
Kkigigik!
The moment the umbrella-holding middle-aged man issued his command, something close to a mechanical sound rang out from the knees of the suited man, and almost simultaneously, Jin Crow rotated the inner Triple Gear.
‘As expected, it’s lacking compared to Pentacle, but the stability is definitely different.’
If Pentacle felt like being flooded with mismatched voltage in a short burst like madness, this felt like steadily receiving exactly the capacity needed.
Even if the analogy wasn’t quite right, the result was the same.
The burden on his body was noticeably reduced.
‘Now that I’m in real combat, I can tell.’
His thinking changed.
One way or another, before leaving this planet, he would have to create a means of contact.
To do that, surviving came first.
‘It’s coming!’
Without any grand roaring noise or flashy techniques to disrupt his vision, the thing simply kicked off the wall and flew through the air, charging straight at him.
Following its trajectory, blue glowing eyes drew a long line through the air, and in an instant, a massive hand filled his vision, looking as though it would crush his head at any moment.
‘Left, three steps.’
But Jin Crow did not panic.
Whether it was because facing Penta Gear had bolstered his nerve, or because this drug stabilized his body and mind, he couldn’t be sure—but there was one thing he knew for certain.
‘Now!’
Kagagagang!
He knocked away the sharp wires scattered by the thing with his dagger and ducked his head to evade the machine-laden hand.
The thing immediately planted its feet on the ground, twisted its waist, and aimed for his abdomen, but he took the blow with his shoulder. Then, as if sensing something amiss, the cyborg revealed the blade hidden beneath its hand—and as Jin Crow stared at it, he whispered softly, just loud enough for it to hear.
“It's over.”
The cyborg’s blade headed for Jin Crow’s neck, but he had already slipped into its embrace, swinging the reverse-gripped dagger.
Clearly, not even a full minute had passed.
But considering how many exchanges had occurred in that brief span, it was truly astonishing reaction speed.
But that was all.
“That’s imposs—…!”
And that was the last sound it uttered in its long, resentment-filled life.
Srrk, thud-.
Rrrroll…….
From the split cross-section, something white tinged slightly with blood burst out and splashed onto his face, but the steadily thickening rain washed it away in an instant.
“Haah…….”
Leaving behind the man whose throat had been cut and whose body had ceased functioning, Jin Crow brushed back the rain-soaked hair that obscured his vision.
As his long hair was swept back in a single motion, the pale, impassive face that had been hidden until now was revealed. Seeing that cold gaze—and the complete absence of even the slightest agitation despite having killed someone—Miller bit down hard on his lip and spoke.
“……I’m sure Consigliere didn’t have a hitman like you. A freelance mercenary?”
“I’m an academy instructor.”
“Bullshit.”
Jin Crow had spoken the truth without realizing it, but perhaps unsurprisingly, Miller showed clear discomfort, apparently thinking Jin Crow was deceiving him.
But that, too, was just another form of deception.
‘The opponent is a superhuman, or a cyborg. Then…….’
After finishing his cold calculation, he pulled out the gun he had tucked into his clothes and, without hesitation, aimed it at the traitor leaning against the wall.
And the moment he pulled the trigger—
Taaang!
“Ghk!”
Along with the gunshot echoing through the alley, Jin Crow had already closed the distance in an instant and slashed the man’s wrist.
The wrist holding the pistol scattered blood through the air as it tumbled away, but this time, Jin Crow had no choice but to admit that he’d taken a hit as well.
“Keugh! Cough!”
The man he had been trying to save groaned in pain, a bullet lodged in his chest, while the middle-aged man who had fired the gun, despite having his arm severed, twisted his face, injected something into his thigh, and sprinted quickly down the alley.
And Jin Crow was not so naive as to fail to guess that it was an awakening drug mixed with a kind of painkiller and adrenaline.
‘To think he’d shoot this man even in that moment.’
Jin Crow briefly considered giving chase, but the problem was that the condition of the man leaning against the wall was not good.
In the end, after much deliberation, he decided at least to hear the circumstances and placed one awakening drug—the one he had bought on the first day to check market prices—beside the groaning man.
“Ghk!”
It would be a lie to say it didn’t feel like a waste, but since he was already involved, it was clear he had to grasp what kind of situation this was.
As if responding to his thoughts, the man’s complexion gradually grew paler, yet he forced his dry lips to move.
“……You, cough. Who are you?”
“Are you Mafia?”
At the question he voiced just in case, the man slowly nodded.
On Mercato Planet, even in an alley like this, there was only one family that could kill people without hesitation.
“Genorua.”
“……Th, cough. That’s right.”
At Jin Crow’s low mutter, the man nodded, then slowly reached into his clothes and pulled out a small rectangular object.
“Cough! Please, deliver this to Messina Pub……. Hhk.”
In the man’s request, a shred of hope and unease were mixed together.
Naturally so.
No matter how much the other person had saved him, entrusting something this important to someone he had never even met was bound to be burdensome.
But there was no other way.
“Please, the reward…… Consigliere will…….”
There was no dry coughing or pain-mixed groaning now, but his slowly closing eyes and the body growing cold made his condition clear.
‘He got soaked by too much rain, and lost too much blood.’
On top of that, the final gunshot had pierced straight through his chest. In truth, the fact that they could even have this short conversation was thanks to the awakening drug Jin Crow had given him—and the man’s own will.
Jin Crow stared briefly into the eyes looking up at him so desperately even as they grew cold, then let out a short sigh, took what the man handed him, and said,
“Rest.”
“……Thank. You.”
Soon, the man’s head drooped, and Jin Crow, standing beneath the cold rain, gazed at him as he stiffened alone, then pulled out one Black Star—the brand he usually smoked—and put it in his mouth.
Chik, hiss-.
As Jin Crow’s lighter spun, the tip of the cigarette glowed red. After taking a few drags, he reached out and gently placed it between the slightly parted lips of the other man.
Then he picked up the black umbrella he had thrown aside before the fight, placed it over the man’s head, and left the alley.
He immediately hailed a taxi that was parked on the street.
“Welcome, customer. Where shall I take you?”
At the question from the driver—a knight who, at a glance, didn’t seem human, with brown skin and eyes that were entirely black—Jin Crow brushed the moisture from his shoulder, lit a cigarette, and said,
“To Messina Pub.”
“Understood. But, sir.”
At that moment, the taxi driver silently gripped the steering wheel, looked into the rearview mirror with a sharp, killing gaze, and spoke.
“Smoking is prohibited inside.”
“Oh.”
Jin Crow, who had been spacing out for a moment at those words, soon realized what he had done. With his face slightly reddened, he quietly stubbed out the cigarette in a portable ashtray.
The Genorua Family was quite a peculiar organization.
The phrase “melting pot of races” was commonly used to refer to America, but at least in this world, the true melting pot of races referred to the Free Planet Alliance.
Just how many species existed in the galaxy?
And how many sapient beings could be called ‘people’?
Most of them lived their lives as colonial inhabitants of the Empire or the Composite State, but being sapient beings, they could not lack ambition or desire.
And for them, there were two choices.
Either collaborate with the state that ruled their species, or make a new start in a place where freedom was guaranteed.
And among this vast, boundless galaxy, the only place where that freedom was guaranteed was the Free Planet Alliance.
-Keep it free!
Including not only those officially registered with the Free Planet Alliance, but also illegal immigrants, the number of different species easily exceeded tens of billions.
Naturally, there was no reason for each faction not to make use of them.
But the Genorua Family was different.
“They accept only humans. Most of their affiliated forces are also human, and they’re exclusionary toward other species. But it’s not hard to understand. In the early days, they say hate crimes against humans were that frequent.”
The Human Composite State originated on Earth and, over the past two centuries, had trampled countless species as invaders.
So in the early days, how likely was it that those who had migrated from the colonies could forget everything humans had done to them and live together laughing and chatting?
“Don’t even get me started. I only heard it from my father, but whenever a riot broke out, the number of humans who died was said to be in the tens of thousands.”
And at that time, a young wealthy man named Arthur Genorua gathered his family, his acquaintances, and even formed a self-defense militia to protect an entire district.
Calling himself a patriarch, he protected humans, adopted orphans, absorbed other militias, and stabilized society by sending armed household men back to their homes.
“And that was the beginning of the Genorua Family. The intent was good. These days, well……. Ahem.”
Having said that much, the taxi driver let out a light, awkward cough, as if there was nothing more worth saying, and spoke to him.
“You seem to be an outsider, so don’t get involved with them. Since you’re human, they won’t kill you right away, but just because someone was born with good intentions doesn’t mean they’ll stay good to the end.”
At the taxi driver’s concern-filled advice—kind and unexpectedly good at telling stories, unlike his first impression—Jin Crow nodded and got out of the taxi.
Relighting the cigarette he had only been able to take a single puff from earlier before putting it out, he gazed at the shabby signboard located on the outskirts of District 17 and muttered softly.
[Messina Pub]
“Messina Pub, huh.”
It was a somewhat classic name.
Leaving behind that brief impression, he tossed the half-smoked cigarette to the ground and stepped inside. Soon, along with a classic chime, warm air—so different from outside—brushed against his cheeks.
“…….”
Inside was quite quiet. Instead of the various hyper pop that usually assaulted the ears, a calm, lyricless piece of music was playing.
And inside, there was only a black-haired woman with long hair, drinking coffee, smoking, and reading a paper newspaper, along with the bartender.
After briefly scanning his surroundings, he sat at the bar and spoke to the young bartender who was wiping a glass.
“Manhattan. No garnish.”
The bartender glanced at him, then set down the glass he was holding and asked,
“It’s raining heavily outside. Looks like you lost your umbrella.”
“I brought it out.”
After confirming that there were no no-smoking signs anywhere, Jin Crow took out a Black Star, put it in his mouth, and lit it.
“Then?”
“I left it with a dying friend, as ferry fare for the afterlife, along with a cigarette.”
At Jin Crow’s words, the bartender closed his mouth for a moment, then calmly began mixing the Manhattan he had ordered.
However, Jin Crow—whose senses were sharpened since the effects of the cigarette hadn’t yet worn off—could feel it.
That the gaze of the woman who had been silently reading the newspaper behind him had turned toward him, and that the bartender’s muscles were tense beyond necessity.
Clack-.
The bartender set down the drink without a cherry, as ordered. After taking a sip, Jin Crow rinsed his mouth with the water beside him and said,
“I’ve come to see Genorua’s Consigliere.”
And at that moment—
Chkak-.
As if he had been waiting for it, the bartender lifted a shotgun that had been placed beneath the bar table and aimed it at Jin Crow’s forehead. The black-haired woman, who had been silently holding her coffee and newspaper, slightly removed the cigarette from her red lips and said,
“I am Genorua’s Consigliere, Tita Genorua. Who are you?”
Under the slightly dim lighting, wearing a white shirt, a suit, and a fedora, she put a Black Star—identical to Jin Crow’s—back into her mouth, crossed her legs, and exhaled smoke.
“A victim who got dragged into your business.”
Meeting her gaze, Jin Crow responded by placing a small rectangular object he had already been holding onto the bar table.
“I came to file a claim for damages, Mafia.”
At his words, the bartender looked at Tita Genorua with a dumbfounded expression. She, too, stared at Jin Crow for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Now that I look at you, you weren’t a customer—you were a creditor.”
And that was quite an amused murmur.