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#017. Children of the Street (7)
“uh?”
Veronica came down the stairs in surprise.
The boy was nowhere to be seen.
Did it take too long and just go away?
At that time, regret and disappointment were raising their heads.
“Stay here.”
“Whoa!”
Veronica looked back at Ray, who was coming out from behind the stairs, startled.
“Oh… I was looking around the store.”
“Aren’t there any books on magic? I looked for them, but I can’t find any.”
Veronica’s eyes widened.
“Can you read? Did you skim through all the titles?”
“any.”
“That’s strange. Oh! It’s not that it’s strange, it’s just like that. I didn’t know how to write either until I met my grandfather.”
Veronica spoke flusteredly, but Ray didn’t really react.
“What about grandfather?”
“Oh, right. I don’t think I can meet Grandpa right now. He’s fast asleep.”
Veronica looked at Ray.
“Could you come back tomorrow morning? I’ll tell Grandpa about you.”
Ray nodded.
There was no rush.
Because bookstores won’t run away somewhere overnight.
Also, isn’t there a different place that we were originally going to today?
“Okay. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Ray turned around and headed towards the bookstore door without hesitation.
“Oh, but.”
The voice of a girl who caught her footsteps.
Ray turned back and looked at Veronica.
“Why do you want to meet my grandfather? You’re talking as if that was your purpose from the beginning.”
“… … .”
A moment of thought followed.
Finally, the boy’s lips opened.
“rainbow….”
“huh?”
“I’m looking for a rainbow.”
*
Ray entered the 2nd street.
Like 8th Street where the bookstore is located, it was an area where the ‘Zephyr Gang’ were eating.
Zephyr the big one.
I have never seen it in person.
I heard that it was very large and strong enough to knock over an adult.
Isn’t it about time for that guy named Zephyr to show up?
An enemy who is running wild in his territory and bullying his subordinates will usually not be left alone.
Ray walked towards his destination, keeping a close eye on his surroundings.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound of busy footsteps echoed through the alley.
Finally arrived at our destination.
It was a street lined with buildings in their 30s, located on the outskirts of the sector.
I checked the note again.
“Number 2 street.”
“Building 32-1. Empty store.”
“Name unknown. Male.”
“Between 30s and 40s.”
「… … .」
Ray looked around.
It was a deserted street, but there were still people there.
I walked down the street, mixing in with the pedestrians.
I glanced around and found the building where the man lived.
‘That’s the building. 32-1.’
Before long, we could find a building with an old sign.
I checked the note again.
“He goes out every day without fail between 7-8 in the morning and 6-7 in the evening. When he returns, he fills his basket with groceries and goes down to the basement. I don’t know what he does.”
“Informant – Johnny, Manager of Meshfood Restaurant Hall.”
32-1 As I turned my head to the other side of the building, I was able to find a restaurant.
─Messifood restaurant.
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─Excellent taste! Easy meal!
Although it was not a small restaurant, it had an overall shabby atmosphere.
The hot dog-shaped sign was old and faded, almost looking like it had rotted away.
“… … .”
Just looking at it makes me feel sick and my appetite is gone.
It didn’t matter to Ray.
I didn’t feel any particular interest in food, and eating wasn’t my main purpose in the first place.
Daughter─
Ray opened the door and went in, sitting in the window seat.
It was a position from which the entrance to building 32-1 could be monitored.
The employees glanced at Ray and took the order sheets.
Sloppy clothes and a strong odor.
But I had no intention of kicking him out.
The restaurant itself wasn’t very clean to begin with, and one of its main customers was a homeless person.
It didn’t matter who it was.
If only I could afford it.
“I’ll go!”
A boy jumped out from among the employees and ran to Ray’s seat.
Freckles and messy orange hair.
The faded uniform had a name tag that read “Johnny.”
Johnny’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Ray.
Johnny whispered softly.
“You’re a hunter, aren’t you? It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. I heard about you from Philip too. My name is Johnny.”
“… What an honor.”
“Huh? You don’t know the rumors about you? You’re like a hero.”
Johnny smiled a genuine smile that he could hardly bear.
“You’ve been breaking all the kids these days. Without distinction. All the kids who used to be a little strong and used to fight back and fight back.”
We continued talking while spreading the menu on the table.
“So you’re a total hero among the weak kids right now. Especially the kids living at the Philip Hotel. Before you came to the hotel, there wasn’t a single kid who hadn’t been lynched by another group. In severe cases, they were crippled or killed.”
“… … .”
I roughly understood the situation.
The underdogs of Sector 49 were vicariously satisfying themselves through the hunter’s actions.
“What do you want for dinner? You don’t have to pay. I’ll pay. And don’t leave a single penny as a tip.”
“There’s no need to do that.”
“Please do it for me.”
“… … .”
Johnny’s gaze was burdensome.
“Okay, whatever you want to eat is fine. But there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Of course! I can even tell you the safe password here!”
Shouldn’t we tell you that?
“The guy who lives across the street from here. You don’t know anything more than what you told Philip?”
Ray spread out the note on the table and asked.
“Yeah. That’s all it says. I look at it every day, every time…”
Johnny trailed off.
He looked as if he had sinned by not being able to provide more information.
“How accurate is this guy’s schedule?”
“Almost 100 percent. I’ve been working here for about three months. I’ve seen him going up and down the basement every morning and evening. I’ve never had to look at my watch.”
“Are all the things you take in just groceries?”
“Hmm… Ah! A notebook and a pen! I see those in the basket quite often.”
A few more questions followed.
Each time, Johnny answered with enthusiasm and sincerity.
“Wait a minute. I’ll bring out the most expensive meal here.”
Johnny smiled and disappeared.
Ray turned his head and looked out the window again.
‘It’s 6pm. There’s about an hour left.’
Not even five minutes had passed since Ray had been lost in thought.
widely!
“Okay! The food is here!”
“Uh… Already?”
“Quick and easy meals. That’s the motto here.”
Steak drizzled with sauce.
There were also celery and cherry tomatoes, so it looked pretty good.
Clang, clang.
Ray chewed his steak slowly like gum, trying to stay in the restaurant as long as possible.
Five minutes per piece.
That’s when the steak was half gone.
“… … !”
Someone appeared in building 32-1.
A man wearing an old coat and a fedora pulled down low, so I couldn’t see his face clearly.
But what Ray noticed wasn’t the face, but somewhere else.
A man’s chest.
There were two rings there.
‘… Same thing. Like the wizard with the one-eyed glasses.’
The only difference is that there are far fewer rings and the mana in the bowl has a higher percentage of red.
Additionally, the red mana glowed faintly on the man’s fingers, leaving long trails as his body moved.
‘…ring.’
The figure of the man in the coat completely disappeared across the street.
Ray immediately got up from his seat and left the restaurant.
“Are you done with everything you want to see?”
“I had a nice meal.”
“Well, it was an honor to be able to serve you.”
Daughter─
─I’m also looking forward to the fight with Cedric!
I heard something behind me, but I didn’t pay any attention.
I strode briskly toward the building across from me and ran down the stairs.
Knock-knock! Knock!
The emotions swirling in the man’s bowl were a concentrated mixture of malice, despair, and anger.
It could be said to be the most intense ill feeling Ray had ever encountered in his life.
It wouldn’t be strange to stab someone to death with a knife just because you bumped into each other on the street.
‘It was definitely the same ring.’
The story of the organization that Cedric did.
“The organization’s name is Murkred. It’s a very famous organization in Sector 45. They said that if we gather enough people, they’ll take us all in and make us members of the organization.”
When we had a conversation in an abandoned factory.
Ray felt a great sense of discomfort.
It wasn’t uncommon for gangs to scout street orphans.
But that was only a story limited to one or two elite people.
You’re accepting 66 people as members of your organization?
No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.
Why would a famous organization with so much influence take in so many orphans as members?
That’s why Ray thought that the executives of the organization must have some other purpose.
‘The ring was also given to me by a person called a manager.’
When the officer and the ring were mentioned, emotions of the same color bloomed in Cedric’s bowl.
Could he be a member of Murcred’s organization?
Could he be a manager?
Instinct sounded the alarm.
This is dangerous.
It’s much more complicated than it appears, and there’s a lot more going on deep down.
But I had no intention of backing down.
Because it’s something you’ll have to face anyway if you become the leader of the pack?
Of course, that was part of the reason, but it wasn’t a huge part of it.
Sector 49 was just a place to pass through on the way to find the city of rainbows and wizards.
The role of captain is not very long.
Even after winning the battle, they had plans to continue to put Cedric forward as the leader externally.
‘The opportunity has come.’
Rather, it was the flow that found me.
Ray remembered Niles’ words.
“There are times like that in life. Times when things that were blocked are resolved and opportunities come one after another.”
Today alone, I was able to find two wizards that I had been searching for so desperately.
“People at the bottom like us have to seize those opportunities. We have to go with the flow.”
It was a moment when I was muttering while drunk on cheap vodka.
“That’s the only way to get out of this fu*king pit.”
But Ray really sympathized with those alcohol-smelling words.
That was a fact that he had already felt familiar with.
It was a truth that I learned and realized through my own experience while living in the slums for a short period of time.
Opportunity rides on the guy’s back.
He bends down tightly and grabs the handle with all his might.
As long as you don’t fall, you can advance much further than usual.
‘It’s okay if you fall. As long as you’re still breathing. In any case, you’ve moved far.’
It was a kind of maxim and wild instinct deeply engraved in the bones of the slum dwellers.
However, it wasn’t like we were moving without a plan.
The coat man said he always leaves the basement at 6pm and returns at 7pm sharp.
The past few months.
There wasn’t a single exception.
So, he had an hour to explore the place.
I reached the top of the stairs.
A thick iron gate appeared before my eyes.
Crunch. Crunch.
The door was firmly locked and would not open.
What on earth does he do?
Looks like someone related to Murkred.
Do all adult wizards have rings?
Questions and curiosity were endlessly piling up.
I looked around, but I couldn’t see any sharp edges to get in.
“… … .”
It was then that the boy raised his hand as if possessed.
Woof─
Mana gathered in the palm of my hand.
The various colors were mixed together to create a concrete-like gray mana.
I want to open this door.
I really want to go inside.
It was a result of the boy’s instinct.
I even had such thoughts.
Gray mana was also sucked in through the keyhole.
and.
Squeak─ Crunch!
The iron door handle also turned by itself with a sound.