Chapter 37 – The Place Where the Fire Went Out (Two)

That late evening.

“We’ll stay at the hotel while we find a new hideout. If you cause even the slightest harm to Philip or the hotel kids, I’ll personally deliver the punishment.”

Dozens of boys lined up in one corner of the hotel gulped down their saliva.

They were Cedric’s gang, now Ray’s subordinates.

They were already thinking they needed to be careful with their actions, but hearing the direct threat made the hair all over their bodies stand on end.

“And from now on, Cedric is the Vice Captain of the gang. Most of my orders will be relayed through Cedric. Consider Cedric’s words as my own.”

There was a bit of murmuring, but the overall atmosphere was one of acceptance.

─Looks like the issue from yesterday when they rushed in has been resolved.

─Cedric was originally the sub-leader. He probably got dragged away for some ‘education’ or something.

The atmosphere completely flipped when Ray’s next words followed.

“And I’ll return all the money you bet. What I take from the other gangs will be enough.”

What did that mean?

At first, they couldn’t understand.

Even seeing Cedric bring the money bag following Ray’s order, they were bewildered.

Plop.

Only when bills and coins landed in their palms did their minds snap to attention.

“Y-you’re giving the money back? Really?”

“That was all the money we’d saved up until now…”

Faces that couldn’t believe it.

Uncontrollable excitement and joy began to spread instantly.

“……”

Ray watched the scene.

To be precise, he was watching the emotions surging within his subordinates’ Vessels.

‘He said to use appropriate rewards to gain true loyalty.’

It was an action following Philip’s advice.

In fact, using rewards to elicit loyalty might not hold much meaning in the current situation.

After all, Sector 49 was likely a place they would stay only briefly before leaving.

Since they wouldn’t all be leaving together, there wasn’t a great need to solidify the gang’s foundation.

However, the reason Ray made this investment with uncertain returns was curiosity.

He wanted to actually apply the reward method Philip mentioned and observe the results that followed.

If it seemed like a good method, he could likely apply it to various situations he would face in the future.

Since the reason for the expenditure was clear, thinking of it that way made the money worth spending.

“Ray. We also need to deal with the Jepper and Lotsson issue.”

Philip, who had approached unnoticed, whispered.

Ray left the scene in Cedric’s care and followed the guidance to move.

“Mmmp! Mmmmp!”

“Mmmmp! Mp! Mmp!”

Arriving at the opposite corner of the hotel, Jepper and Lotsson were flopping around like freshly caught fish.

Despite having been bound since last night, they didn’t seem to have lost much energy.

“Mmmmp! Mmmmp! Mmp?”

“Mmp! Mmp! Mmp! Mmm! Mmmmp!”

Translated, it roughly meant:

「You fucking bastards! How dare you treat me like this?」

「You sons of bitches! Untie me now! Even if I’m a prisoner, you have to feed me meals!」

Their eyes were fiercely rebellious and full of resentment, but upon seeing who had appeared before them, their pupils couldn’t help but shake violently.

“……”

“……”

The opponent was a Hunter.

Jepper and Lotsson, feeling cold sweat run down their backs in an instant, humbly bowed their heads to avoid meeting Ray’s gaze.

Thud. Thud.

Ray approached without hesitation, grabbed Jepper by the hair, lifted him, and immediately slapped his cheek.

Smack──!

Blood burst from inside his mouth at once, splattering onto the floor.

Ray turned Jepper’s trembling face straight and removed the gag, then spoke.

“Jepper. I’ll get straight to the point. I don’t have much time.”

“Wha, what, what do you want. Mo, money? The, the district? If not that─.”

“Bookstore Veronica. You know it, right?”

Jepper’s pupils shook.

“I, I don’t know. What’s─.”

Ray, catching the tremor of emotion in Jepper’s Vessel, immediately took the next action.

Smack──!

“Looks like you still haven’t grasped the situation. Your underlings aren’t coming. I crippled all their limbs, so how could they come? Right?”

“Sorry, so… sorry. I, I was wrong…”

Smack──!

This time, a tooth flew out.

Jepper’s attitude, which had shown a shred of pride, was corrected in an instant. Philip, watching the scene from behind, felt a chill run down his spine.

‘I’m getting goosebumps myself. That’s Ray’s true nature.’

He felt newly grateful to be on Ray’s side.

“The, the bookstore on 8th Street, right? Ah, I know it. I, I got a request to harass them and drive them out because the, the shop location was coveted.”

“Who was the client?”

“The, the CEO of Fred’s General Store on 3rd Street…”

Ray nodded.

Then, he kicked Jepper in the stomach with all his might using Enhancement Magic.

“Kuh-huk…!”

Jepper made a choking sound and rolled on the floor.

“Huh… what’s that?”

“It’s Jepper and Lotsson. The guys captured as prisoners.”

Ray chased after them and relentlessly delivered kicks. The gathered kids murmured and crowded around.

Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!

For a while, only eerie thudding sounds could be heard in the area.

What is received is repaid.

Whether it’s repayment or retaliation.

Ray’s actions were based on principle, but behind them was also thorough calculation.

First, he had no intention of killing them.

If the Captains disappeared, the two gangs would fall into internal strife, and the resulting chaos would spread here, causing trouble.

Suppressing unnecessary disputes takes time and effort.

It’s better to leave these two controllable guys as Captains.

‘Also, killing people might instill unnecessary fear in the hotel kids.’

Since they had a Contract, they needed to maintain the best possible relationship with the hotel.

There was no reason to leave unpleasant feelings with the hotel members.

Thud─! Thud─!

Ray was rather intending to leave a better impression through his current actions.

He glanced around.

He saw the anger and fury contained in the hotel kids’ Vessels raging wildly.

The hostility and resentment accumulated towards Jepper and Lotsson were no small matter.

On top of the usual bullying, this time the hotel itself had almost been invaded.

If they had lost the war, the hotel wouldn’t be standing intact like this now.

The kids probably knew that too.

Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!

Jepper, under the massive impact beating his entire body, couldn’t even moan and just gasped for breath.

He just curled up as much as possible.

He only wished for this painful moment to pass quickly.

The kids couldn’t take their eyes off the sight.

The anger and fury in their Vessels gradually decreased, replaced by rising elation and pleasure.

They didn’t have the courage to directly harm Jepper and Lotsson themselves, but they felt great vicarious satisfaction through Ray’s retaliation.

“Think about it! What would have happened if they had gotten into the hotel!”

“They deserve to be beaten like that!”

Watching the kids’ emotional changes, Ray confirmed that the situation was proceeding as designed.

It was a definite change from when Ray was in Sector 50.

Even back then, he would have beaten up Jepper and Lotsson the same way.

However, it would have remained simple retaliation, without considering the surrounding factors like now.

The new place, Sector 49.

Meetings and interactions with many people.

The boy who had lived his whole life in the closed world of Sector 50 had opened the broken door and stepped outside.

There was much to think about.

And much to be mindful of.

Amidst the incessant flow of variables.

The boy was learning to choose actions while considering other people’s emotions as well.

Thud─!

Ray grabbed the fallen Jepper by the hair, lifted him, and whispered in his ear.

“I’ll give you a task. Use whatever means necessary to ruin that general store. Be careful. If any damage comes to this side, I’ll find you to the ends of the sector─.”

What is received is repaid.

Whether it’s repayment.

“─I’ll kill you.”

Or retaliation.

Jepper, with unfocused eyes, nodded his head like a madman.

Thump!

Jepper’s head dropped.

Ray got up from his spot and turned his gaze.

There was Lotsson, trembling, waiting for his turn for correction.

That night.

Members of the two gangs, having received word, came to the hotel.

“G, goddamn. The Captain’s condition…”

“Id, idiot! Shut up and take care of the Captain first. The Hunter might change his mind.”

They were choked up seeing Jepper and Lotsson in critical condition, but there was nothing else they could do.

They were the losers of the war.

They had to be grateful just that Jepper and Lotsson were being sent back alive.

Creak── Thud!

The gangs left, and the door closed.

A huge cheer erupted in the hotel.

Regardless of which group they belonged to, all the boys shouted loudly.

Only now did it feel real.

They had won the war against two gangs.

It was truly a historic moment where the street hierarchy, unchanged for a long time, was being reestablished.

Philip released the hotel’s stockpiled food, and in a festive atmosphere, everyone ate and drank their fill.

“Where is the Hunter-nim?”

“Can I give him chocolate?”

“Huh… I’m sure I saw him over there earlier.”

The kids murmured, looking for Ray, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The person in question had slipped quietly out from among the kids and was now on a sofa far in a corner of the hotel.

Plop.

Ray, sinking into the worn-out sofa, stared at the center of the hotel with his characteristic emotionless face.

Late at night, the scene before him, lit by bulbs placed here and there, was quite dreamlike and beautiful.

The regrettable point was that Ray couldn’t sense beauty or ugliness.

The scenery merely provided information about what was where; it didn’t evoke any particular sentiment.

“……”

Therefore, although his gaze was directed forward, he wasn’t actually observing the scenery.

Ray’s thoughts were focused on a subject he hadn’t had time to fully resolve due to the continuous series of urgent situations.

「A person who can help without any price. And a person who can receive help. That’s a friend.」

The definition of ‘friend’ that Philip gave in the duel arena was different from what he had known.

‘I thought a friend was someone I’ve known for a certain period.’

According to Philip’s words, you could become friends even without spending a long time together.

Anyone with whom you could give and receive help without any price.

‘Helping without a price must be possible only if you have a feeling of worry. Wanting to look after someone just because they are that person is worry.’

In other words, it meant that friends are those who sincerely worry about each other.

Hum─

When he recalled memories of the kids under the bridge, White Mana in the air clung to his grasp.

Pale and the younger ones.

They were probably the only beings he had ever felt the emotion of ‘worry’ for.

And perhaps the only beings who fit the definition of friend.

‘I’d like to include Niles as a friend too.’

…Can you be friends with someone over twenty years older?

「This is read as ‘Hyung’, try repeating it. Hyung. The cool, handsome, smart, and good-natured Niles Hyung.」

「…Stop giving weird word combinations as examples while studying vocabulary.」

Usually, Niles begged him to call him Hyung like that.

But he always called Niles ‘Mister’.

Hyung…

For some reason, he felt resistance.

Was it just that he didn’t want to easily grant what Niles wanted?

‘I don’t know.’

His thoughts drifted, and the question continued.

Could beings called ‘friends’ come into my life again?

“……”

He pondered briefly, but the conclusion that the probability was slim was easily reached.

Because he was a being without emotions, unlike others.

Although recently, if he concentrated his mind, he could sense emotions, it was momentary and limited to a few specific ones.

Being different was not a particularly advantageous trait for living in the world.

「You’re a bit weird. It’s scary.」

「You don’t shed a single tear.」

It was common to not be accepted by the group, followed by discrimination, contempt, and fearful gazes.

The only ones who treated him sincerely without any prejudice were Niles and the kids under the bridge.

‘Can I meet people who understand me again? Or at least those who try to understand.’

The answer was ‘No’.

No matter how much he thought about it, that was the answer.

As Ray was reaching that conclusion, the sound of sofa leather crumpling came from beside him.

Sink─

Turning his head, it was Philip.

He held two cups in his hands.

“Guess you prefer quiet over noisy? Here, this is yours.”

A sweet scent wafted from the cups steaming with vapor.

“It’s cocoa. You seem to like sweet things.”

Since he had no particular likes or dislikes regarding taste, he couldn’t say he liked sweet things.

But he did eat them often.

He consciously consumed things like chocolate or candy for energy replenishment.

‘So he thought I liked it.’

As Ray accepted the cup, Philip smiled faintly.

The two boys silently gazed at the center of the hotel together.

The bulbs in the scenery still shone brightly, and the laughter of kids could be heard from afar.

─Gulp.

Tilting the cup, the warmth-imbued liquid flowed smoothly down his throat.

It was a pleasant warmth.

Enough to momentarily forget the hollowness he had been feeling in his heart for some reason.

─Gulp.*

He took another sip.

The hotel’s night deepened like that.

“Oh, by the way, what are those magazines we put in the safe?”

The cocoa Philip sprayed embroidered the scenery sparkling under the light of the bulbs.