Chapter 174
Chapter 174
Walking Lottery (2)
About a week had passed since Kairus officially became an Operations Committee member.
Everyone in the city had been on edge, curious about what the survivor Kairus’s first move would be.
The Representative Cecilia Longhorn had invited the city’s celebrities to her mansion in Rose Garden and treated them to a meal.
The boss Lukas Volphid had taken over an arena and faced a hundred challengers for three days without rest.
The elder Donovan Bonaparte had fully displayed his resourcefulness and made it impossible to find flour anywhere in the city for a week.
Barenza Onui had held a grand wedding in the city plaza and even spent her first night there on the spot.
The survivor Kairus’s first move had been to utterly crush several organizations that had operated under Tapas Aiola.
“He’s not gathering members. And it doesn’t look like he’s trying to take over any territory either.”
One of the drunkards talking about Kairus in a bar drained his beer and muttered.
The organizations Kairus had wrecked had been considered mid-tier within the city. They had even been assigned a district by the Lantern Gang to manage.
He smashed such groups to pieces, yet there was no follow-up move. He didn’t take them in as subordinates, nor did he collect protection fees.
“Fuck, what else would you call a boogeyman?”
He suddenly showed up out of nowhere, beat everything to a pulp, and then just vanished again.
“You know that butcher shop incident. Some bastard spilled a story about it.”
“What story?”
In this city, talking about Kairus was a good way to get a free drink.
As soon as the guy who first opened his mouth cleared his throat a few times, a glass of beer was automatically placed in front of him. He gulped it down in one go and wiped the foam from his mouth before speaking.
“They say he did it because someone asked him to.”
“Huh? What the fuck are you talking about, you crazy bastard. Want me to make you spit that beer back out?”
Bennett City did not tolerate bullshit. The moment it was judged to be nonsense, the guy who had bought the drink immediately pulled out a machete.
“No, you fucking asshole. Just hear me out.”
After glaring at him with the machete drawn for a moment, the other man slammed it down on the table with a bang! and sat back down.
“Among the groups the survivor visited, there was that bar, right?”
“You mean Charcoal Festa?”
“Yeah, that place. That’s what one of their action captains said.”
If it was said by someone who had actually seen it, the credibility shot up. The man who had been threatening with the machete let out a low hum and put it away.
“Go on. He granted a request? What the hell does that mean?”
Operations Committee members didn’t move like that. At least, the Operations Committee members they knew didn’t.
But Kairus was a newly seated Operations Committee member. It was not impossible for him to walk a path different from the previous committee members.
“They said the survivor asked if there was anything they wanted, and their boss asked him to smash up the butcher shop.”
“So he granted that?”
One of the guys listening to the story, wearing a look of confusion, walked over to the radio and turned the volume down.
“Hey, it’s not like that bar was the only place the survivor visited. Then did he grant all the other guys’ requests too?”
“Doesn’t seem like it. A guy I know belongs to Ulala Laundry, and he said the survivor came by, took everything he asked for, and then just left.”
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
“Maybe he just does whatever he feels like?”
In the end, that was the only conclusion people could reach. The survivor Kairus showed up whenever he pleased and took what he needed. And if he felt like it, he granted one request.
“Fuck, so if you’re lucky, an Operations Committee member might solve your problem.”
An irresistible calamity in human form might turn into a fairy that granted wishes at his own whim.
The point was simple. They had to make Kairus say with his own mouth that they should tell him what he wanted. Of course, no one could force him.
The rumor that he had tried to blow Bennett City off the map while fighting to become an Operations Committee member had already spread widely enough. There was no one who could force anything on Kairus now. Even negotiating with him on equal footing was impossible unless you were an Operations Committee member.
“The survivor doesn’t belong to any faction, and he has no intention of forming an organization.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t have his own people. At best, there are just two staying at his nest.”
And one of them even belonged to the Republic’s Lunaseeker Agency.
In other words, there were no subordinates who would feel slighted if Kairus took care of another organization or an outsider.
‘If we do the job he gives us damn well and satisfy Kairus, we might be able to ask for one favor.’
It was only a possibility. But even that was enough. If one of the strongest in this city handled something they couldn’t do themselves, the profit would be beyond belief.
Conversations similar to the ones in this bar were being passed around in alleys all over Bennett City.
“What do you think, Representative?”
And regarding Kairus’s recent movements, Cecilia Longhorn had also received reports.
“He’s trying not to get shackled. I think I understand.”
“Shackled by an organization? If Kairus made up his mind, he could build a sizable organization in this city.”
Just as a magnet pulls in iron, the strong draw subordinates to them.
“The head of an organization gains responsibilities and obligations. Our little sparrow friend has no intention of becoming one of this city’s big shots.”
For him, the Red Ticket and the position of Operations Committee member had merely been steps to remove the expulsion order placed on him in this city.
Cecilia Longhorn spoke while gazing at the pale golden champagne in her glass.
“My goal is wealth and glory. I want this city to last forever, and I want to keep enjoying this position here with all of you for a long, long time.”
Cecilia’s goal was one that every member of Rose Garden sympathized with. That was why she had formed an organization in the first place. Centered around Cecilia, the strongest among those who shared the same objective.
But Kairus?
He was running toward a goal in this city that others couldn’t even sympathize with.
“That bastard probably doesn’t have a goal the people of this city could accept.”
“Is that so.”
At her subordinate’s murmur, Cecilia smiled faintly.
“If my dream had been to marry a kind and handsome man, have about two kids, and live a cozy little life, would you all have followed me?”
No matter how strong Cecilia was, if that had been her goal, she would never have been able to create Rose Garden.
“I see.”
“That’s how it is. Could you secure the item we’re supposed to hand over to Kairus as soon as possible? If we delay too long, the Republic business site we just swallowed might end up with indigestion.”
“Yes. I’ll report immediately when there’s an update on the progress.”
What Rose Garden was trying to secure was a metal box that had belonged to House Featherwing. The reason it was certain to have been their property was simple.
“A box that opens with blood. Isn’t that creepy?”
Cecilia said playfully as she took out her fountain pen and refilled it with ink. The blood of the direct line of House Featherwing changed in certain properties through a procedure.
The easiest way to create a box that only a direct descendant of House Featherwing could open was to use that blood.
“It’s just unfortunate that we don’t know what’s inside. Couldn’t we demand a little more from Kairus?”
“We can’t open it anyway. It’s true we’re handing it over cheaply, but it’s not a loss, is it?”
It was obvious what would be inside such a box. It would be something only a Featherwing could use. From Cecilia’s perspective, it was an item she couldn’t make use of; it was more profitable to hand it over to Kairus and minimize their losses in the Aylan Republic.
“I’ll make sure to report regularly.”
“Oh, and I’d like you to check what that sparrow is up to right now as well.”
Since he had been stirring things up all over the place, if he showed interest in something that might put Rose Garden in a difficult position, it would become a situation where Cecilia herself would have to step in and stop him.
“I’ll find out right away.”
“Good. Thanks for your hard work.”
After finishing his greeting, the subordinate left.
As for Kairus, whom Cecilia had requested to be investigated—he was walking through the wrecked Upside together with the two who operated with him in the nest.
“It’s turned into a complete mess. Who the hell did this?”
It wasn’t exactly something the person who had smashed Upside to pieces should be saying. Still, perhaps because four organizations had latched onto it in that brief span, at least the debris had been neatly cleared away.
“They’re building a new cabaret since it collapsed. Looks like they’re even planning to screen movies!”
At Nora’s words, Kairus let out an “Ah.”
“Moving pictures?”
Before I ended up in the Carlson Labor Correctional Facility, moving pictures had only lasted a few seconds at most.
But it seemed they were evolving into something called films. Nora appeared quite interested and went on about this and that regarding movies.
“Oh right, do you remember Melvin Istovan?”
Irena, who had been listening, spoke to Kairus.
“That archaeologist? Why?”
At Kairus’s reply, Irena answered.
“He seems to have poured some money into the Upside reconstruction. They say he’s building a structure about two or three stories tall.”
“He already has a place to stay. Even if it was provided by Rose Garden.”
“It seems he’s planning to open a museum.”
Hearing Irena’s words, Kairus let out a small scoff.
“There are plenty of things that don’t suit Bennett City. But wouldn’t a museum top the list?”
“Agreed.”
The people of Bennett City were not the type to show consideration even for others sharing the same time.
What meaning could a museum that preserved the past possibly have in this city?
“That old man’s interest in artifacts isn’t anything new.”
Because I had rampaged and flattened Upside, Melvin Istovan had been able to secure land to build his museum.
It wouldn’t be possible to make it as large as something directly built by the Empire or the Republic.
Still, the fact that he had taken a step closer to his goal was worth acknowledging.
“I didn’t know he had talent in architecture.”
I hadn’t expected him to earn enough to put up a three-story building. Then again, crime was, by nature, high risk and massive profit.
For a capable architect, it wasn’t impossible to gather enough money to put up a single building.
“Though his peers in the same line of work don’t think too highly of him.”
Kairus slowly wrapped up the conversation. There was a reason we had come to the ruined Upside, where there was no longer anything left to see.
“…I have no intention of fighting.”
A masked man approached with both hands raised in surrender.
“I figured. You wrote as much in the letter.”
Kairus replied without even drawing his sword. If the man showed hostility now, I would simply cut him down.
“One of the remnants of the Lantern Gang, right?”
“To be precise, I lead one of the remnant groups. I lack in many ways, but perhaps you could say fate connected us.”
Fate, my ass. The head of an organization wasn’t some half-baked position you obtained just because fate connected you.
“So, what is it you want to say?”
At present, whenever I discovered remnants of the Lantern Gang, I was cutting off every last one of their heads. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know that. Even so, he had insisted on meeting me—there had to be a reason.
There better be a reason. Otherwise, this man had simply come here to use me as a tool for his own suicide.