Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 124

“We’ll make a killing this time.”

“Pardon?”

“Shouldn’t we get rid of these pest-like criminals? It’s a chance to clean up and gather travel funds. Let’s wipe them all out.”

Abelsohn looked reluctant at Choi Hyun-seok’s suggestion but soon agreed.

“I understand…”

As Choi Hyun-seok said, these people were parasites eating away at society.

Perhaps even more harmful to humans than the demons.

She didn’t intend to catch or kill every criminal in the world, but ignoring the criminals right in front of her didn’t sit well with her.

“But we can’t be too loud. We’re fugitives, after all.”

“Of course.”

Despite saying that, Abelsohn was now glaring at Lenoff with a fierce aura.

“Speak.”

“…”

Lenoff’s eyes darted around nervously.

The mace that had been slammed right next to him had pierced through the wall.

He could see old blood and flesh stuck to it, dried and sticky.

“No matter how much you threaten me, I’ll never…”

Abelsohn picked up the mace.

The moment her eyes flashed menacingly.

“I’ll talk!”

Lenoff shouted urgently.

‘She’s really going to smash my head in!’

Her eyes were saying it.

That woman was seriously planning to bring the mace down on his head.

‘Just what kind of woman is she!?’

With her looks, she seemed like a pretty, delicate noble lady.

She looked like she’d never even seen a sharp object in her life, but the power behind the mace was beyond imagination.

It was a strength comparable to a knight, a human weapon.

“Tch…”

Just then, Abelsohn clicked her tongue softly and turned away.

‘She was just disappointed!? I saw it! I saw her being disappointed!’

Lenoff felt like grabbing anyone and shouting.

That noble lady is actually a psychopath!

Please believe me!

Then, Choi Hyun-seok, who had been watching, approached.

“Ah… no. Ms. Allien, I’ll take it from here.”

He almost called her Abelsohn because he was so flustered.

That was how shocking her display had been.

Abelsohn nodded with a blank face and stepped back.

“Do as you please.”

Her voice was so calm that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been smashing the wall with a mace just moments ago.

Choi Hyun-seok gathered his wits and stood in front of Lenoff.

It was time to start the negotiations in earnest.

“Don’t worry too much. If you cooperate, it’ll be beneficial for you too.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course!”

“What kind of…?”

A hint of expectation appeared on Lenoff’s face.

Choi Hyun-seok smiled and said.

“I’ll spare your life.”

Lenoff knew instinctively.

He had run into some seriously crazy bastards.

***

Lenoff explained passionately.

Now that he knew they weren’t just some clueless nobles, he had to desperately prove his usefulness to survive.

After hearing everything, Choi Hyun-seok nodded.

“So, to summarize, the lord of this Kitton is backing a criminal organization and receiving kickbacks in return.”

“Yes!”

“And the organization you belong to is the biggest one. If anyone messes with you, the lord, whose money supply would be cut off, won’t stand idly by?”

“That’s right!”

Lenoff nodded repeatedly.

Choi Hyun-seok turned to Abelsohn.

“Ms. Allien, what’s the military strength of a territory like this?”

“The number of soldiers varies greatly from territory to territory. But if I had to guess, the number of soldiers would be from several hundred to, at most, over a thousand. There would be around twenty to thirty knights.”

Choi Hyun-seok turned his gaze back to Lenoff.

“Is that right?”

“Yes! There are about eight hundred soldiers and twenty-five knights in the territory’s knight order!”

“How strong are these knights?”

“The level of each knight varies so much…”

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes narrowed.

Sensing that the situation wasn’t good, Lenoff quickly offered more information.

“But I know a little about the knight commander, Holkman!”

“Knight commander?”

“Yes! He’s an old man the lord brought in for a large sum of money. He was quite famous on the battlefield in his younger days. Rumor has it he even defeated a battalion commander of the Demon King’s army…”

“Hmm, I see.”

“He’s old and not as good as he used to be, but he’s still the strongest of the territory’s knights!”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded.

He had a rough idea now.

‘It shouldn’t be too difficult.’

The knight commander, the strongest person in the territory, is stronger than a battalion commander.

He didn’t know how strong he was, but judging from what he said, he probably wasn’t hero-class.

Besides, he was old and senile, so Choi Hyun-seok should be able to beat him now.

‘Come to think of it, Hemis said something like that recently.’

Hemis had said.

That, throughout the entire continent, including all humans and demons, there were probably no more than a thousand people stronger than Choi Hyun-seok.

At first glance, that might seem like a lot, but it was a tiny fraction of the total population.

In numerical terms, it was less than 0.0001%.

Even then, most of them were located near the Demon Realm boundary, where battles took place.

At this point, it was almost impossible for Choi Hyun-seok to run into someone stronger than him, even if he tried.

‘The problem is how to handle things quietly…’

Choi Hyun-seok stroked his chin and pondered.

What he was about to do was close to turning the territory upside down.

It was impossible for it not to cause a commotion.

He would be careful not to reveal his identity, but if the incident grew, there was no telling what kind of unexpected situations might arise.

“Ms. Allien, a moment…”

Choi Hyun-seok took Abelsohn to a corner.

“What should we do? It looks like things are going to get big…”

If Abelsohn objected, Choi Hyun-seok wasn’t planning on pushing it.

He would just take the money and leave Kitton quickly.

However, Abelsohn’s reaction was completely unexpected.

“Kill them all.”

For a moment, Choi Hyun-seok doubted his ears.

“Pardon…?”

“Ahem, ahem! We can’t let this group of evildoers continue their wickedness. They must be punished.”

“That’s right…”

He had a feeling that Abelsohn’s personality had changed, but he pushed it out of his mind.

Once a decision was made, there was no time to think about anything else.

He had to move quickly without hesitation.

“Alright. Let’s go find the money first!”

***

Lenoff stopped in front of a tavern.

“Is this the place?”

Choi Hyun-seok looked at Lenoff with a puzzled expression.

He had told him to lead him to the organization’s base, but he had brought him to a decent-looking bar.

“This is the place!”

“It just looks like a bar?”

“There’s a secret passage leading to the basement inside. That’s where our organization’s headquarters is.”

“Ah.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded and stared intently at Lenoff.

“…”

Lenoff also stared back at Choi Hyun-seok.

After about 10 seconds of exchanging glances.

Choi Hyun-seok frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“Yes?”

“You should lead the way, right?”

“Ah, I understand!”

Lenoff opened the door to the tavern with a tearful face.

‘Just you wait…’

He had no choice but to follow them now, but the situation would soon change.

Kitton was a city of mercenaries.

Naturally, the mercenary guild would be involved in Kitton’s largest criminal organization.

‘There are high-ranking mercenaries stationed at the headquarters. No matter how good this knight is, he can’t possibly win alone.’

As the organization was large, the number of people stationed at the headquarters was enormous.

Among them were mercenaries who were as high as gold rank.

Even if the knight behind him was strong, he could never handle that much power alone.

“Welcome.”

As they entered the store, a man who appeared to be a bartender greeted them.

The bald, muscular man recognized Lenoff and smiled brightly.

“Oh, Lenoff, is that you?”

“Haha… it’s been a while.”

“Who are the people behind you? Are they customers?”

At the bald man’s question, Lenoff nodded.

“Yes, they are very important people.”

“Important people…”

At that moment, the bald man’s eyes narrowed.

At the same time, the tavern became quiet, and the eyes of the people inside turned to Choi Hyun-seok and Abelsohn.

“Then we’ll have to treat them like important guests.”

Swish-!

Sharp blades could be heard from all over the tavern.

Choi Hyun-seok chuckled.

“Do you treat guests with knives here?”

“Kill them!”

“Well, it’s a relief that I seem to have come to the right place.”

Blades flew in from all directions.

Choi Hyun-seok dodged the attacks with well-timed steps.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be a problem even if he just took the hits, but he didn’t want to feel bad.

Whoosh!

He dodged a huge axe and grabbed the guy’s nape, throwing him.

Thud!

The flying member of the organization smashed into tables and chairs, passing out on the spot.

Whoosh! Thud!

Choi Hyun-seok threw the members of the organization as they came.

He could have just punched them out like usual, but throwing them was also a good feeling.

“S-Save me…!”

Ignoring the gruesome sound coming from behind him, Choi Hyun-seok continued to throw the members of the organization.

Even though they were thrown lightly, their overwhelming strength meant they couldn’t avoid serious injuries.

Maybe they would even die.

Choi Hyun-seok didn’t really care.

His heart wasn’t generous enough to worry about the human rights of criminals who killed as easily as they ate.

Crash! Thud!

The sound of something breaking continued to be heard.

Finally, only the bald muscleman and Lenoff remained in the hall.

The bald man backed away, holding out his sword.

The tip of the sword was trembling like an aspen leaf.

“Just who the hell are you!? Do you think you’ll get away with this!? Do you know who we are!?”

“Who are you? Just a bunch of criminals.”

Choi Hyun-seok walked towards the bald man.

“I heard there’s a passage to the basement here? Where is it?”

“How do you…?”

At that moment, the bald man glared at Lenoff.

Lenoff averted his gaze.

“Lenoff! Did you think you’d survive betraying us!? Don’t even think about dying peacefully! I’ll tear you limb from limb!”

The bald man shouted with a red face.

Choi Hyun-seok quietly placed his hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Is this the time for you to be worrying about others?”

“…”

“Are you just going to guide me? Or are you going to get beat up and then guide me?”

“I-I can’t betray the organization!”

The bald muscleman shouted as if in desperation.

That was his last.

Crack-!

Abelsohn, who had approached unnoticed, smashed the bald man’s head with her mace.

“Ms. Allien…?”

“There’s no time. It’s not good to drag out the commotion.”

“Yes… that’s right…”

Abelsohn turned her gaze to Lenoff.

“Lead the way.”

“Yes! I’ll go right now!”

Lenoff desperately smiled and ran towards the underground passage.

***

“Valen, doesn’t it seem a bit noisy today?”

“Leave it alone. They’re probably just drinking and fighting again.”

“Is that so.”

“Dorf, you worry too much. What crazy bastard would dare to break into this place in Kitton?”

“I guess so. That’s true.”

Valen and Dorf were mercenaries belonging to the guild.

There were a total of 6 ranks of mercenaries, in order: ‘Orichalcon – Mithril – Gold – Silver – Iron – Copper.’

Valen and Dorf were gold-ranked, placing them in the top 5% of all mercenaries.

From gold rank onwards, they possessed skills comparable to decent knights, so their treatment was also exceptional.

So why were these people guarding a mere criminal organization?

The reason was simple.

It was cost-effective.

Simply sitting and guarding the passage brought in the same amount of money as completing a typical request, so there was no reason to refuse.

Besides, this criminal organization was backed by the lord, so there were no repercussions.

The lord – the criminal organization – the mercenary guild.

Everyone was in cahoots, sucking the lifeblood out of the city of Kitton.

“Valen, brother. Dorf, brother. It looks like you’ll have to go out.”

Moreover, mercenaries and criminals got along surprisingly well.

Many mercenaries didn’t care whether a job was legal or illegal as long as they got paid, so their image in the world was no different from criminals with decent identities.

“What’s going on?”

“Didn’t the kids get beaten up as a group earlier?”

“Oh! Did you catch that bastard?”

“That’s… he came here himself.”

“What…?”

Just as Valen was blinking his eyes.

Thud-!

The door was smashed, and a member of the organization flew in.

Following him was a giant man wearing dark red armor.

Choi Hyun-seok shouted.

“I’m here to collect the money!”

The appearance of a debt collection specialist warrior.