Chapter 304

Chapter 304

“You want me to find them?”

“I know it’s shameless, but yes.”

“Why me?”

Zeon looked as if he did not understand.

The North District was one of the greatest powers in Neo Seoul.

Naturally, it had many people, and the number of Awakened it possessed was enormous. With so much combat strength available, he could not understand why she had come to an outsider like him.

Borin’s answer was simple.

“Because it is you, Mr. Zeon.”

“Pardon?”

“From what we have learned, you have already encountered Scavengers several times. Naturally, we believe you understand the nature and movements of Scavengers better than anyone in Neo Seoul.”

“And?”

“The people Lady Eli is contacting are also Scavengers.”

“So I’ll find them well?”

“That is one reason, but......”

Borin bit her lip hard.

That was because, from this point on, she had to speak about the North District’s shame. But if she wanted Zeon’s cooperation, she had to be honest.

“For nonhuman races like us, approaching Scavengers is not easy because they are wary of us. Because of that, it would be fair to say we have no points of contact with Scavengers at all.”

“Hmm! I suppose that makes sense.”

Zeon nodded.

Scavengers were several times more cautious than ordinary humans. They even distrusted fellow humans, so nonhuman races went without saying.

Elves and beastfolk at least looked similar to humans, but Scavengers could distinguish them with ghostly precision.

To most Scavengers, nonhuman races were not beings to negotiate with, but nothing more than prey. Because of that, the North District had also designated Scavengers as enemies to be exterminated and responded accordingly.

For this reason, it was impossible for Awakened of the North District to approach Scavengers in secret.

Unless it was a special case like Eli.

Borin bowed her head slightly.

“I ask this of you.”

“Very well. However, I have one condition too.”

“Please tell me. If it is something we can do, we will do anything.”

“When I need it later, please grant me one favor.”

“A favor?”

“I do not have anything in mind right now. Just think of it as a debt.”

“Understood. We were prepared to pay a price anyway.”

This was not just anything. It was a matter related to the rebellion of Eli, the second-in-command. Borin had no choice. And judging by Zeon’s disposition, which she had observed until now, she did not think he would ask anything that would become a problem for the North District.

Zeon smiled faintly.

He had to track the Scavengers because of Briel anyway, so if he could receive compensation from the North District as well, it was like killing two birds with one stone.

If he could put the North District, one of the powers ruling Neo Seoul, in his debt, that would benefit Zeon too.

“I’ll look into the Scavengers.”

“Thank you. If you need help while tracking the Scavengers, please request it from the North District anytime. We will do our best to assist you.”

“I will.”

“Then I will take my leave.”

Borin rose with a relieved expression.

After she left, Briel opened the door to her room and poked out her head.

“She’s gone?”

“She’s gone!”

“Why did she come here without warning and make a fuss? Making an elf uncomfortable like that.”

“You avoided her on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Well, nothing good comes from meeting her face-to-face. Mandy’s the only elf whose face I need to see.”

“I see.”

Zeon nodded.

For some reason, Briel did not particularly like contact with other elves. Zeon knew her tendency well, so he did not find it strange.

Most of all, Gaia was poking its head out behind Briel’s back. She had been with Gaia inside the room.

There was nothing good about Gaia, a spirit lifeform, being discovered.

Especially if the person discovering it was an elf.

The elves would surely try to obtain Gaia no matter what.

Because of that, before Borin came in, they had completely erased Gaia’s presence and scent. That was why Borin had failed to notice Gaia’s existence.

“In any case, an elf rebelling? Eli really has gone completely insane.”

“Why? Are rebellions uncommon in the elven world?”

“They’re not uncommon. They don’t exist at all. Elves are a race that conforms to nature, and they never act against an order once it’s been decided.”

Elves never rebelled against established laws and rules.

They believed that if something was unreasonable, it was right to live by accepting it as unreasonable.

“The elves have broken the rules only once until now.”

“When was that?”

“When Kurayan perished. At that time, the elves should’ve vanished together with Kurayan. But they defied their appointed fate and chose survival. As a result, they ruined Earth too. It’s the original sin elves must carry for the rest of their lives.”

A world destined for destruction.

The fate of every being living in that world should have ended there as well. But Kurayan’s lifeforms rejected fate and tried to continue in a new world.

The result was harsh.

Earth underwent upheaval close to destruction, and more than ninety percent of its lifeforms met death.

Most of the land turned to sand, and the lifeforms that barely survived continued to endure hard lives.

As a result, both worlds were suffering because of the greed of the elves and nonhuman races.

In the past, Briel had not thought about such things at all.

She had not thought the elves had committed a great wrong either.

At the time, she had been filled with hatred toward humans, so she had instead thought it was a good thing. But after being saved by Zeon, she fully escaped her drug addiction, and as she lived among many people in the slums, she realized how grave the wrongs committed by the nonhuman races were.

‘A race that carries a deep original sin. I’m one of them too. How could I hold my head high before humans?’

Squee!

When Briel’s expression turned gloomy, Gaia carefully wrapped her in its pectoral fins.

Gaia looked at Briel with a smiling expression.

It felt exactly as if it were comforting her, telling her it was all right.

“Thank you!”

Squee!

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Squeeee!

“Yeah!”

Thanks to Gaia, Briel quickly regained her energy.

Zeon smiled and put on his robe.

“You’re going out?”

“I received a commission from the North District, so I’m going to start moving in earnest.”

Several days had passed since he asked Argos’s Eye to find the Scavengers, but there had still been no news.

If Argos’s Eye was not incompetent, it meant the Scavengers were moving that stealthily.

Whatever else was true, moving personally and investigating was best.

Briel pulled her pointed hat low and said,

“I’m going too.”

“Will you be all right?”

“What?”

“I mean, things like trauma.”

“I’m still a little scared, but I can’t just keep trembling forever. I have to shake it off.”

At Briel’s spirited answer, Zeon smiled.

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

“It’s a world where you can’t survive unless you get stronger. Why, is that strange?”

“No, I’m proud of you.”

“Really? Hehe!”

Briel laughed shyly.

When the two prepared to leave, Gaia entered Zeon’s subspace on its own.

The two came outside together.

Darkness had settled over the street before they knew it.

In the slums, there were far more people at night than during the day.

That was because people who had stayed indoors to avoid the sun during the day came outside and began economic activity.

Zeon and Briel first headed to Old Man Kleksi’s shop.

They wanted to eat dinner and learn what progress had been made.

When they arrived at the shop, Old Man Kleksi greeted them as if he had been waiting.

“You’re here?”

“Was there any news?”

“Sit down first. Briel, you sit there too.”

At Old Man Kleksi’s words, the two sat in front of him.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“No!”

“I’m hungry!”

At the two’s answers, Old Man Kleksi placed two bowls before them as if he had known.

The bowls contained food that seemed to be gukbap.

At first glance, it looked like dog food, but in the present era, no food was as efficient as gukbap.

That was because there was no need to go through the trouble of making side dishes.

“Eat first while we talk.”

“Yes!”

“Okay!”

Zeon and Briel picked up their spoons.

Slurp!

They tasted the broth first.

As expected, it was delicious.

His skill seemed to have improved compared to when they had first met him.

“It’s good.”

“Delicious!”

The two began eating in earnest.

Old Man Kleksi watched the two of them with a pleased smile.

“Listen while you eat. I used Argos’s Eye for the past few days, but no special information came in. No information about the Scavengers came separately from Shinchon, Dongdaemun, Guro, or Cheonho-dong.”

“That is strange.”

“Strange, isn’t it? If unfamiliar bastards had entered, they should’ve stood out. So I also thought maybe they hadn’t entered yet.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I know that too. So I changed my perspective and thought again. Those bastards must know that the moment they enter Neo Seoul, they can’t help standing out to others. In that case, wouldn’t they naturally look for a place where they won’t be seen by other people?”

“There is...... such a place.”

Zeon’s gaze turned to the floor.

Beneath Old Man Kleksi’s shop was a sewage pipe that carried sewage underground.

If one went down along the sewage pipe, one would reach the sewers.

Zeon had already experienced the sewers before.

He had once entered the sewers while tracking Croker and the Crocodiles, who had stolen his magic power generator.

It was an environment so foul that ordinary people could not endure it even briefly, but Awakened could probably endure it to some extent.

“Certainly, if it’s the sewers, many people could stay there without being seen by others.”

“That’s right! Argos’s Eye does not reach the sewers where the Crocodiles live. If those bastards really entered Neo Seoul, there’s a high chance they’re in the sewers.”

It was a reasonable deduction.

The problem was that the underground sewers were far too vast and complex.

“If they really hid in the sewers, Argos’s Eye cannot find them.”

“I’ll have to go in myself.”

Old Man Kleksi asked with an uneasy expression,

“You?”

“That’s the only way.”

“Tsk!”

In the end, Old Man Kleksi clicked his tongue.

Just thinking about the sewers made his stomach turn.

In his heart, he wanted to send members of Argos’s Eye into the sewers in Zeon’s place, but he knew better than anyone that it would be useless.

Argos’s Eye displayed its greatest power when gathering information while mixed among many people.

In an isolated space like the sewers, it could not use any of its strength.

“If you need anything, tell me. I’ll do my best to get it.”

“I will.”

“Hoo! I just wish you could live quietly, but you never get a break.”

“You’re right.”

“When are you thinking of entering the sewers?”

“Since we’re already talking about it, I’m going in right away.”

“Right now?”

“There’s nothing good about delaying it.”

“Your decisiveness really is something else.”

Old Man Kleksi looked genuinely impressed.

It was easy to say, but entering that filthy underground world was not something ordinary courage could manage.

At that moment—

THUD!

A strong vibration came from beneath the floor.

Zeon and Briel frowned and focused their attention on the floor.

“Is anyone there?”

In that instant, someone’s voice faintly came from the sewage pipe beneath Old Man Kleksi’s shop.

It was a small voice that an ordinary person would not have been able to hear, but Zeon and Briel, who were Awakened, did not miss it.

Briel put down her spoon and stood.

“Someone underground is asking for help.”