WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor: Joy
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 50: Panteleon
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“I’ve heard a lot about you from Roichi.”
A cigar thicker than a thumb was burning down. The scarred, middle-aged man with a black eyepatch over his left eye looked the man over as though appraising him.
“I heard you handle jobs cleanly. As long as the work matches the grade you ask for, you rarely back out, and once everything is settled, you do not whine about money.”
Just as the Righteous Heavenly Alliance had its Five Great Families and Five Great Sects, the Black Dragon Society had its Six Evils.
Haomun was one of the great sects belonging to the Six Evils. In sheer numbers, it was considered the greatest among them, but its martial strength was not especially formidable.
Haomun specialized not in martial arts or combat, but in information. All manner of information gathered in Haomun, which had deeply infiltrated the underworld.
At the same time, Haomun brokered requests that could not be handled in the open.
“Well, if Roichi introduced you to this old man, then both your ability and character must be vouched for. So, did you hear about me before coming?”
“Guzen, the One-Eyed Badger.”
The man with his hood pulled low answered.
“I heard you are a raccoon-like old man. You like money and have a tendency to rip people off, but you handle your work reliably.”
“You have a filthy mouth for a young brat.”
“And what about your manners, speaking informally from the start?”
Guzen’s eyebrow twitched at the reply.
He took the cigar from his mouth, held it between his fingers, and glared at the man. Eyes gleamed beneath the deeply drawn hood.
“Aren’t you the one in need here? I am not especially desperate. Countless people in this district would like a private meeting with this old man.”
“Then keep diligently sorting gems from the countless common stones that cannot pull strings or make it on their own.”
“Hmm.”
Guzen’s furrowed expression relaxed.
“Roichi said you were no fool. It seems he was right.”
The cigar returned to his lips. Guzen blew the smoke rolling around in his mouth upward and grinned.
“Yuri. Would you rather I call you by your name? Or would you prefer Thunder Cloud?”
Yuri continued staring at Guzen with an indifferent expression, his hood still on. He waved away the smoke drifting toward his face.
“Thunder Cloud is better.”
“Mm, I think so too. Yuri is not a bad name, but it sounds a little weak.”
Guzen chuckled and rested the cigar in an ashtray.
“Good. Let us get straight to business. No need to be tense, it is simple. We need to know exactly what each of us wants, do we not? Thunder Cloud, you came here knowing what kind of place this is, correct?”
“I know.”
This was Panteleon, the great city ruled by the Orsia Family, the head of the Cartel.
Among the great cities, it was the largest. By area and population alike, it was as large as a decent-sized nation.
“Panteleon.”
Grinning, Guzen opened the window. At that moment, a scream rang out.
“Aaah!”
Guzen closed his eyes and listened to it with satisfaction before nodding.
“You must have seen and felt plenty on your way here, but once you leave the Central District and pass District 3, screams are commonplace. Still, screams are better. Around here, most ordinary problems end with screaming.”
The Central District, home to the Orsia Family, the Selvis Mage Tower, and a branch of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance, looked different from the other districts from the scenery alone. The higher districts, such as Districts 1 and 2, had relatively decent security, but as Guzen said, once one passed District 3, security was so thoroughly ruined that screams became commonplace.
The Orsia Family, which had ruled as the head of the Cartel for generations, were nobles among nobles. They truly ruled the city according to aristocratic principles. To them, the citizens of Panteleon were only the residents from the Central District through District 2.
In fact, Panteleon citizenship was issued only up through District 2, and even then, District 2 citizenship was differentiated from that of the Central District.
There was a reason the Orsia Family could not simply be condemned for this.
Until fifty years ago, only the Central District had been Panteleon. In the beginning, Panteleon had not even been a great city. It had merely been an ordinary city.
Fifty years ago, a Rift appeared in the nearby great city of Ranalsa. The suddenly appearing Rift produced monsters that had no business existing in a great city. Even small city animals such as sewer rats, and even buildings, were affected by the Rift and became monsters.
The problem did not end there. The ranks of monsters produced by a Rift were determined by how much of the Evil God’s divine power had pooled within it, and the Rift that appeared in Ranalsa held divine power far stronger than anything in Logos.
That divine power perversely defied even death. Anyone who died in Ranalsa’s Rift became a living corpse, an undead.
Rifts had first begun appearing in this world fifty years ago. Ranalsa’s was not the first Rift, but the people of this world were still unfamiliar with Rifts and did not know how to deal with them.
In the end, the great city of Ranalsa was destroyed by the Rift overnight. The Orsia Family, the Selvis Mage Tower, and others were urgently dispatched and barely contained the monster outbreak, but the fall of the great city created millions of refugees.
The refugees wished to move to Panteleon, but the Orsia Family initially refused. Their circumstances were pitiful, but taking in so many refugees was not a decision that could be made lightly.
Even after the Orsia Family refused, many refugees occupied the area outside Panteleon’s walls, and a refugee camp formed.
That refugee camp became what was now District 1.
‘In the game, District 3 was the end.’
Panteleon now had districts up to District 5. It would have been nice if taking in the refugee camp fifty years ago had been the end of it, but there had been no shortage of people besides the refugees who wanted to benefit from Panteleon, a city seen as belonging to the nobility. People who came from all over slipped into District 1 pretending to be refugees, and the districts gradually expanded.
The fact that only residents through District 2 were currently treated as citizens of Panteleon ultimately meant that the Orsia Family had given up controlling the districts. Starting from District 3, its residents were not treated as citizens of Panteleon.
Yet the districts continued to expand.
Partly because birth rates were high in the lower districts, and partly because of fools who held the vain fantasy that they might somehow enter Panteleon’s center.
There were also many drawn by the idea of a lawless zone.
“I do not understand why you would want to go to District 4 instead of the relatively livable District 3, but if you want to go, I should send you.”
Guzen smiled.
“But I cannot get you an entry pass for free.”
“Of course not.”
“If you solve a few minor problems, I will get you an entry pass.”
“Are you certain you can get one?”
Guzen’s smile deepened at Yuri’s skeptical question.
“I am Guzen, the One-Eyed Badger. One of Haomun’s branch leaders in Panteleon’s District 3. Five, how about it?”
“Five?”
“The minor problems you will solve. Solve five of them, and I will get you the entry passes cleanly.”
“You are insane.”
“I am... what?”
“I have no intention of cleaning up someone else’s shit five times. Three.”
“You plan to haggle with audacity? Ha ha. Thunder Cloud, are you not taking a Haomun branch leader too lightly? I am not a joke, but I like your youthful spirit, so I will make a small concession. Four.”
“Three.”
“Four!”
“Three.”
“Zero.”
At the sudden interjection, Guzen’s eyes widened. Yuri wore a similar expression. He tilted his head, then flinched in surprise and felt around his waist.
“...?”
Guzen blinked, then glared at Yuri. He was, after all, a fourth-tier martial artist. He could feel a presence by the window.
The fact that he had only noticed it now sent a chill through him. Someone had spoken and deliberately revealed their presence. They must have been concealed there from the beginning, yet he had failed to notice them. That meant the other party was a high-level assassin who had mastered stealth techniques.
“Do not tell me, Thunder Cloud, you bastard... Did you come here to kill me?”
“You have the wrong idea.”
“The wrong idea? If it is not a misunderstanding, then what is it? If you do not call off the assassin by the window right now, Haomun...”
“No, I am telling you, it is a misunderstanding.”
“What exactly is the misunderstanding? Thunder Cloud, you treacherous bastard. How far back did you plan this? Do not tell me Roichi was in on it too?”
“It really is a misunderstanding, so calm down...”
“Why do you have that expression if it is a misunderstanding!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Guzen shouted.
It was only natural that he would see it that way. A voice had suddenly come from the window, followed by a revealed presence, yet Yuri’s face held almost no surprise.
“I am the One-Eyed Badger! I will not die so easily!”
Guzen shouted as he grabbed the sword lying at his feet and swung it at Yuri. It was an emergency draw, but sword energy formed in time and covered the blade.
Watching the sword draw a clean arc toward his neck, Yuri let out a deep sigh. At the same time, inner power rose from his dantian and spread as lightning.
Crackle!
With the sound of electricity sparking, Yuri’s fist moved. His bent fist crushed through the sword energy and struck the blade.
Clang!
The blade split cleanly into two pieces. The piece struck by Yuri’s fist grazed Guzen’s cheek and embedded itself in the wall.
“Ghk...?!”
Lightning energy flowed along the blade to the hilt, making Guzen’s hand tingle painfully. Startled, Guzen had no choice but to drop the sword immediately.
‘What... what was that?’
He had heard about Thunder Cloud from Roichi. His estimated rank was fourth tier, a martial artist who used lightning-attribute martial arts.
Guzen was fourth tier as well.
Yet in a single clash, his sword energy had been crushed as easily as tofu, and his sword had been split in two.
And there was the lightning energy that had robbed his hand of sensation. It was not impossible for a fourth-tier martial artist to use the technique Thunder Cloud had displayed, but the fact that he had brought it out in an unprepared strike was astonishing.
Knock, knock.
As Guzen stiffly tried to retreat, he heard a quiet knocking sound by his ear. Unfortunately, it was not the sound of the subordinates outside. It was someone knocking like at a door from the window he had yet to turn toward.
“If you are finished, may I come in?”
Only then did Guzen turn to the window. A short-haired woman with the lower half of her face covered by a black mask was staring in at them.
“...”
Guzen could not guess the figure’s identity at all.
“You may come in.”
Yuri answered with another deep sigh.
The window opened.
Without lowering her mask, Haryeong lightly vaulted over the windowsill and entered. She did not spare Guzen, who was glancing at her, a look. Instead, she lightly waved at Yuri.
“Yuri, your older sister is here.”
“...”
“It has been a while. I am happy, excited, and glad to see you. Is your older sister the only one excited?”
“...”
“Your older sister was so excited that I could not help humming, but our Yuri does not look pleased. Our Yuri? Your older sister’s sense of rhythm is insane.”
“Are you really insane?”
Guzen’s face twisted at their exchange.
“You son of a bitch, you said it was a misunderstanding?”
“It is a misunderstanding, so stop swearing.”
“It does not look like a misunderstanding. She is calling herself your older sister!”
“I suppose she might be my older sister.”
“Then what is the misunderst..."
Slap!
A hand suddenly flew in and struck Guzen across the cheek. It was not unbearably painful, but it was a sharp, stinging slap. Clutching his struck cheek, Guzen stared at Yuri with a bewildered expression.
“I am the one who feels the most troubled, confused, and complicated right now, so shut up.”
“You... you...”
Slap!
Another slap struck him, turning Guzen’s head again. As he was hit, he thought, ‘Is this bastard really fourth tier? It did not seem so. It is only a slap, but I cannot even see it properly. It is natural for a fourth-tier martial artist’s fist to be fast, and it would be even faster if he learned lightning-attribute martial arts, but this is far too fast...’
“One more word, and I will just...”
He had been slapped twice in quick succession. His cherished sword had also been split in two. And there was an assassin in the room who certainly looked like they had come to kill him. On top of that, this was a Haomun building. Though Haomun’s martial strength was not especially strong, it was still a great sect among the Black Dragon Society’s Six Evils. Its branch leader was being oppressed in the building of that great sect, and he was about to die...
All of it made the One-Eyed Badger, Guzen, miserable. He kept his mouth tightly shut because he did not want to be slapped again, but his shoulders trembled as he glared at Yuri. Yuri, however, could not pay attention to Guzen’s gaze.
Just as he had told Guzen, Yuri felt troubled, confused, and complicated. Letting out a deep sigh, Yuri turned to Haryeong.
“What is with suddenly calling yourself my older sister?”
“Calling you big brother would be a little much.”
“Let us just use what we used to.”
“Two years must have been a long time.”
Haryeong clapped at the blade still embedded in the wall.
Instead of answering, Yuri glared at Haryeong with narrowed eyes. Her expression did not change even under that blatant stare.
“I would like to catch up, but I think we should change locations first. There is a saying that birds hear words spoken by day and mice hear words spoken by night. If we talk here, a raccoon will hear us instead of birds or mice.”
With that, Haryeong turned around. She strode up to Guzen, drew a dagger from her waist, and held it before his eyes.
“...!”
Guzen recognized the crest engraved on the dagger. A snake and a scorpion. It was the crest of the Dang Family, which ruled Salmun.
Haomun and Salmun were both among the Six Evils, but their status was different. Unlike Haomun, which handled information, Salmun dealt exclusively in the arts of killing.
The Dang Family ruled the fearsome Salmun. The Dang Family was Salmun, and Salmun was the Dang Family. In Salmun’s history, no one outside the Dang Family had ever become its leader.
‘The Serpent-and-Scorpion Dagger belongs only to the Dang Family’s main house, and among them, only to the direct line...’
Guzen swallowed at the chilling fear. As nothing more than a branch leader, it was impossible for him to defy the Dang Family.
[Take what happened today to your grave.]
Instead of answering, Guzen swallowed once more.
[Zero.]
“...?”
[I will return tomorrow, so have two entry passes ready.]
At the continued words, Guzen hurriedly looked at Haryeong. But Haryeong no longer had any intention of speaking with him.
“Let us go.”
She had entered through the window, but she left boldly through the door.
Yuri still felt troubled, confused, and complicated, but for the moment, he followed Haryeong outside.
Footnotes:
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