Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 203 : City of Outlaws (3)

City of Outlaws (3)

I could feel it for sure.

There was definitely a demon's touch on this Alcatraz.

And it was deep and sticky.

'Just looking at the rules of this Alcatraz...'

Outlaw city Alcatraz. In fact, this place was more akin to a small nation.

The tattered guidebook you could pull out like a pamphlet upon arriving in Alcatraz explicitly stated that no laws of any country, including those of Europe, were valid here.

Instead, the rules of Alcatraz were briefly listed.

Of course, being a lawless zone, it was obvious there was nothing detailed.

Those rules were, so to speak, like the final warning.

'The strong killing the weak is only natural.'

A world of survival of the fittest.

Even so, none of the people walking the streets trembled in fear.

They must all have confidence in their own abilities.

'The architectural styles of these buildings, I've seen them before over there.'

Of course, I wasn't a builder, so I didn't know how the buildings were constructed.

But their arrangement felt extremely familiar.

The Royal Capital Keset, where I went to kill the Demon King, had this kind of atmosphere.

A city of the demon realm built on human land.

This Alcatraz closely resembled the buildings I'd seen in Keset.

Shiiik!!

While I was having those thoughts, something flew at me from behind.

I lightly leaned my head back and dodged, seeing a sharp dagger pierce the wall.

"Oh, you dodged?"

Turning toward the direction the dagger came from, a man waved his hand as he walked over.

His face and gestures were ordinary, but the scars all over his body showed he was anything but ordinary.

'So it was this guy.'

About two hours had passed since I arrived in Alcatraz, and every time I walked down the street, eyes followed me from every direction.

It was only natural.

It was as if a sheep was wandering among a pack of beasts bearing their fangs.

Given the ecology of Alcatraz, it would have been normal for them to pounce and bite with their teeth right away.

Yet, not a single person had attacked me.

There was only one explanation for this.

"By the looks of it, you're not an awakened—so what brings you to a place like this?"

No one could lay hands on tasty prey until the ruler of the district made the first move.

Especially if the prey looked delicious.

'Even the rules pretty much say so.'

Some regions had their ruler, and the rulebook 'warned' that attacking recklessly could bring retaliation.

"A snazzy suit, a luxury watch, shoes. You don't look like you came here to fight, do you? You even brought a designer bag. You here to hand out donations? Are you some kind of suicide wannabe?"

The man approached, giggling, placing the daggers in both hands under my chin.

At his actions, I pulled a pistol from inside my jacket.

Upon seeing that, the man gave a small snicker.

"By your look, you seem like you rolled around with some mafia or something. This isn't a place for regular people. Even if you unload that pistol of yours, you wouldn't even scratch me. Don't tell me you've never even met an awakened before?"

He said that, then withdrew the dagger from under my chin and spread his arms wide.

"Go on, shoot. Since you made your way here, you should at least get to fire a shot before you die, shouldn't you?"

He acted as if he was entertaining a child.

At that attitude, I aimed the pistol in my right hand at him.

The distance from the pistol's muzzle to his head was less than 30 centimeters.

"Look at this wimp, look at his face. Are you scared?"

Smiling mockingly at him... I pulled the trigger.

With a piercing gunshot, the bullet fired—and at the same time, my left fist shot toward his face.

"Huh?"

Focusing on the muzzle, he belatedly noticed the fist swinging from his right.

That was the end of it.

Kwaaanng!!

With a thunderous crash, his body spun through the air, smashed through a window, and crashed into a building.

"......"

The people who had been watching the scene unfold while giggling alongside the man fell silent.

A heavy stillness hung over the street, to the point where you could hear the debris falling from the shattered building.

"Hoo."

I put away the gun I'd drawn.

His reaction to my fist had been a half-beat late because he was too focused on the muzzle.

"They call that an A-rank?"

Certainly, as the guy ruling this district, his level as an awakened was high enough—but that was all.

It was obvious he'd only ever picked on those weaker than himself.

'But still, it wouldn't be a bad place to brush up on real combat sense.'

Should I bring the kids next time?

It seemed like just the right practice for Soo-ah or Alencia.

"At any rate."

I slowly approached the man who was groaning and getting up from the collapsed building.

Brushing aside bricks pinning him down and barely raising his upper body, he looked at me with confused eyes.

As if he just couldn't accept what was happening.

***

Johnny Craig.

He was the man who ruled Sector 13, near the entrance to Alcatraz.

Nickname: Gatekeeper of Alcatraz.

A grand title, but in fact he was little more than a local bully out on the edge of Alcatraz.

Still, as an A-rank awakener, he was pretty formidable, and quick on the uptake—so he never bothered anyone obviously stronger than himself. Instead, he picked off the newbies who had just entered Alcatraz, shaking them down for money and sometimes killing them—a rather satisfying lifestyle until today.

"At least until today."

"So, you're saying you don't know anything about demons?"

"Y-yes. I really don't know."

His whole body ached.

He couldn't remember how many times he'd been hit.

There, scattered on the floor, were the remains of his daggers, snapped in half.

Costly daggers made of mithril.

In all his fights up until now, they'd never broken even once, but a single punch from that man had shattered one each time.

"Maybe you'll remember if I hit you some more?"

Was his name Park Jung-woo? He felt like he'd seen him somewhere before, but couldn't recall.

But at least he wasn't a famous awakener of great skill.

If so, he would have known.

From the beginning, he couldn't sense even a mana hall from the man's body.

So of course, he had just assumed he was a regular person and planned to take him out easily.

"S-seriously, I don't know! B-but, I know someone who might!"

"Who?"

"In Alcatraz, the lower numbered sectors have more authority. Those in sectors 8 and below gather for regular meetings. So... if these demons did make contact, wouldn't it have been at one of those meetings?"

At those words, Jung-woo folded his arms and fell into thought.

'So the ones ruling the sectors meet up regularly, huh?'

And depending on the case, the sector rulers often had organizations under them.

If the demons, who rarely revealed themselves, wanted to do something, it was highly likely they'd use those people.

'Looks like I'll have to visit sectors starting from 8, one by one.'

If word got out, some could run—but if he searched all of them within two days, it should be fine.

"Oh, right. I heard there's an auction in Alcatraz. Do you know where it is?"

"If you mean the Alcatraz auction... Are you talking about the Black Auction?"

"Probably."

"That, that's in Sector 4. It's run by Garan, the ruler of sector 4."

Sector 4. Jung-woo memorized the information and turned away.

He didn't think there was anything more to hear.

"Next time, choose your targets more carefully, yeah?"

"Y-yes, sir!"

Worried about what Jung-woo might do to him, Johnny finally felt relieved once he realized Jung-woo only wanted information and then left quietly.

"Ugh, damn. Thought I was really gonna die."

Never thought a guy like that would just drop into Alcatraz.

Thinking about how thoroughly he got beaten, he figured the higher sector guys were in for a nasty shock.

"Hey!! Now that it's over, will someone bring me a drink already!"

Kwaang!

Johnny kicked over a nearby table and slumped in a chair.

His throat was parched from being interrogated at the bar he'd crashed into after being punched through a wall.

"Why the hell is no one—answering me...?"

Sitting in the chair, Johnny belatedly realized how deathly quiet it had become.

'What the...?'

He couldn't smell blood.

That meant the people nearby hadn't been killed.

"Johnny."

At the sound of a voice behind him, Johnny's shoulders locked up.

He couldn't not know that voice.

'Shit...'

At last he understood why the area had fallen so silent.

Everyone must have been holding their breath, trying not to rile up the man.

"Isn't he quite benevolent? To let off someone who tried to kill him this easily."

"O-old man..."

Turning his body slowly, he saw a man standing there.

His appearance was that of a man in his early thirties, but in fact he was the oldest mage of all.

Ivan Hunt.

The worst great mage in history.

"So I'm here to give punishment on his behalf."

"Please... I-I'm sorry. I didn't know he was from UnderStellar."

Was that man also from UnderStellar?

Was Ivan here to kill him because he attacked someone from UnderStellar?

"UnderStellar doesn't matter. In fact, I left there a long time ago."

"What?"

It was the first time Johnny heard Ivan had left UnderStellar.

Ivan's position in UnderStellar had never been minor.

"My purpose is to fulfill the Goddess's will."

Swish!

Ivan waved his hand lightly.

Johnny's head rolled to the floor.

"Eliminate anything that blocks his path."

UnderStellar was the same.

No, the Goddess had taken Ivan's hand so that he could kill everyone in UnderStellar.

So that the hands of that man, and of those with him, would not be stained with blood.

Because his own hands were already stained.

"Really, what a coincidence."

To think that he would come to Alcatraz just when Ivan did.

Given things had turned out this way, Ivan thought it might be fun to follow his trail.

Ivan glanced once at Johnny, who stared up at him with indignant eyes, then vanished without a trace.

So he wouldn't lose track of him—Park Jung-woo.

***

Alcatraz really brought back memories.

Well, "memories"—to me, it hadn't even been a year yet.

"So you don't know either?"

"Ah, yes, yes."

"Then try to live righteously from now on, all right?"

"O-of course, hehe."

Just in case, I swept through sectors 12 to 9, and by now, there were some who recognized me.

There must be some sort of system to share information internally.

'It'd be a problem if the demons catch on and escape.'

I clicked my tongue briefly and unfolded the Alcatraz map I'd been gifted by the organization at Sector 10. Sectors 9 to 13 basically made up the outskirts of Alcatraz.

From sector 8 on, you approached the island's center: the districts got smaller, but the population density shot up.

'Now then.'

Having confirmed the location of the next sector—Sector 8—I folded the map and glanced behind me.

'How long are they going to keep following me?'

At first, I'd wondered if I was imagining things.

But I wasn't foolish enough not to notice the belated disturbances each time I crossed into a new sector.

'No killing intent.'

And it was someone very skilled.

At least an S-rank awakener, possibly even higher.

I first suspected surveillance—but that wasn't it either.

'Who are they?'

I remembered feeling this presence once before.

On Gwehyeoldo.

After defeating Benadic, this presence had briefly appeared and then vanished.

Perhaps sensing my gaze, the faint presence disappeared entirely.

I narrowed my eyes at that, but did not bother to chase after it.

It wasn't a direct threat for now.

'In Sector 8, I should meet them at least once.'

Since I needed to know why they were tailing me.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Ah-yeon/Estella gained a fanatic.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】