He had three potions but only brought two with him. Climb responded that he understood.
“… You’re surprisingly considerate of others.”
“You making fun of me, Evileye? … Sorry for keeping you, Climb. Basically, what I want to say is to always be prepared beforehand.”
“I understand.”
Gagaran nodded deeply.
Part 3
Lower Fire Month (9th Month), Day 6, 6:15
Nine men and women sat around the circular table.
Despite the leaders who commanded each section of the Eight Fingers gathering in one place, none of them made the effort to meet each other’s eyes. They simply looked over the documents in front of them or talked with their own subordinates.
It was like a gathering of completely separate organizations. Although the situation wasn’t so bad as to call it explosive, the guarded caution they had for one another was apparent , like one between enemies. However, from each of their respective points of view, this was the obvious response. Even if they were one group and working together, in reality, they would often steal assets from one another and rarely joined forces.
For instance, the drug trade manages and operates everything from a drug’s production to the moment it hits the market. Something the smuggling group had no part to play in. The groups did not openly interfere with one another, but it was common to see them attempt sabotage while the other had their backs turned.
Such actions held absolutely zero merit for an organization as a whole. This was one of the pitfalls of multiple criminal groups banding together to form a larger one.
These people attended the routine division meeting of the Eight Fingers despite having such terrible relations as they had a good reason to do so.
The reason was: any who did not attend was considered to be a possible traitor and targeted for purging. That was why even those who had no business in the Kingdom went out of their way to attend the meeting.
Even those who normally secluded themselves in safety stepped out onto the spotlight. Needless to say, their fear of being assassinated meant that they brought bodyguards with them. These were two of their most skilled men that they were allowed to bring to the meeting, selected carefully from their own group.
—All except for one person.
“Everyone is present. Let’s begin our regular meeting.”
The chairs creaked loudly as the man’s voice caused everyone to sit up straight.
The one who opened his mouth was the speaker for this meeting and also the leader of the Eight Fingers. Adorned with the mark of the Water God, the man who looked to be in his fifties wore a gentle expression on his face, the type who did not seem to belong in the underworld.
“There are a number of topics for discussion, but the first that needs to be sorted— Hilma.”
“Yes~?”
The one who responded was a woman in white.
Her skin was sickly pale and her clothes were white as well. A tattoo of a snake crawled down her right arm, starting from her shoulder blades and reaching to her hand holding a pipe that gave off poisonous, purple fumes. Wearing purple mascara and lipstick, the thin garments that hung loosely around her body gave her the decadent aura of a high class prostitute.
She yawned deliberately.
“Can’t you start a bit earlier?”
“… I heard that your drug cultivation facility was attacked.”
“Yep, it’s true, a village that was used as a production plant. Cost me a pretty penny too. I might cut down on distribution.”
“Were you able to find information on the ones responsible?”
“Nope, it was perfect …Well, it’s not like I don’t have any leads.”
“Their color?”
Everyone knew what he meant by that question.
“Don’t know. It’s just starting to become clear; I haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“I see. As you’ve all just heard, this is the current situation. Raise your hand if any of you have any information.”
There was no response. It was unclear whether they didn’t know, or simply had no desire to answer.
“Then next is—.”
“—Hey.”
The man’s voice rang low, holding an incredible amount of power.
All of the eyes in the room gathered in one spot. In that place was a bald man with half of his face covered in tattoos of beasts. Everything about him was large; the outlines of his muscular figure obvious even through his clothes. The cold glint of his eyes belonged to that of a warrior.
Although the other group leaders had brought bodyguards with them, the man had no one standing behind him. It would be meaningless to bring along people who would be of no use. That much was obvious.
The man glared at Hilma, the leader of the drug trade. No, he probably did not intend to glare at her, but his knife-like eyes made it appear that way.
For a moment, the bodyguards behind the woman drew in their breaths. They could feel the overwhelming difference in power between them.
They knew that the man was a monster capable of killing everyone in the room.
“How about employing our services? It’ll be hard for you to protect your assets with those small fries of yours.”
Zero. He was the representative of the security division that accepted a wide range of jobs, from bouncers to bodyguards for nobility. What made him even more famous was that he was the strongest member of the Eight Fingers. But the offer from a man of his caliber—
“No.”
—was rejected.
“It’s fine. I can’t reveal my key positions.”
That was the end of it. As if he had lost interest, Zero closed his eyes, making it seem as if he had turned into a boulder.
“Then I’d like to take you up on that offer.”
A skinny man opened his mouth. His soft demeanor contrasted harshly against Zero.
“Zero, I want to hire your guys.”
“What’s this, Cocco Doll. Can you afford it?”
While Hilma’s drug trade was on the rise, Cocco Doll’s slave trade was on the decline. With the slave market outlawed by the efforts of the Golden Princess, he and his group were forced to hide deeper underground.