Chapter 29

Ding-dong-ding

The moment Renox saw the call from an unknown number, he hung up without hesitation.

The phone had rung dozens of times. All the calls were from Dyke Corporation.

Since Renox had not responded to the compensation offered by the other side, they were getting restless.

Once the amount, which was more than double the originally agreed success fee, was deposited into his account, he was not satisfied with just this.

If trust was not established from the beginning of the operation, how could there be any guarantee that it wouldn't happen again?

It wouldn't make sense financially unless he could get much more than what Panora had promised.

If Dyke thought he would be satisfied with just this, Renox was prepared to abandon the collaboration without hesitation.

In the end, it was Panora who raised the white flag first.

[Dyke has contacted me. They want me to visit the headquarters in a week. I'm trying to set a bottom line for what we need to get from them. If you have time, come by and see me.]

Renox had expected it would take some time to determine the incentive for him, but he didn't think they would ask for a week's grace period.

Panora clearly understood that time was not the issue.

By now, she must have realized that Renox needed something more than just money.

If that was certain, waiting a week wouldn't be a big problem.

Thinking this, as soon as he opened the door to the bar, Renox noticed that the atmosphere inside was very strange.

"......"

Jenny's bar wasn't always noisy, but it was different from the times when the noise of drunkards was incessant.

In the middle of the bar, which was unusually quiet, someone was sitting with their back to the door, quietly sipping a drink.

Sebastian

Jenny was watching him with an annoyed expression, and Jordan was standing beside her with a blank face.

But what was more noticeable was the attitude of the other customers in the bar.

Until now, the customers who never paid attention to any visitors were now subtly on guard against the person sitting at the bar.

The man had a tall, thin build, with legs that seemed to stretch out as if they could kick out the sides of the bar.

He was wearing a suit, but there were noticeable wrinkles on his arms and legs, and a strong perfume scent was spreading around.

The man slowly turned his head, noticing Renox's approach.

"Oh, you finally came. I've been waiting."

"......"

A stern and rugged appearance. Various unknown tattoos were visible on his neck under his shirt.

He was so tall that the glass in his hand looked small, and he smiled at Renox.

"Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"I see. But you should remember from now on."

Whoosh!

As the man finished speaking, a strong aura enveloped Renox.

A sharp, magical intent that would have made a normal person unable to breathe, but it failed to penetrate Renox's shield and dissipated into the air.

The man smiled with interest, looking down at Renox, whose expression didn't change.

"I'm someone who lost a lot because of what you did this time."

Tap, tap.

Renox pushed the aura away with a wave of magic, as if brushing off dust from his shoulder.

"Did you work with Paul Ackerman?"

"I was a businessman who received investments from him."

"So, you're a weapons dealer."

"......"

The man narrowed his eyes and glared at Renox.

Now, the bar was filled with a deathly silence.

"So, are you here for revenge?"

It was faster than expected, but he had anticipated such a situation.

The moment he disrupted the tightly formed profit relationships in the 40s district, it was inevitable that he would make enemies.

Until now, he had tried to avoid unnecessary conflicts, but Renox no longer wanted to pretend to be clean in this dirty back alley.

He had to take what they held to rise higher.

A clash was inevitable.

Perhaps sensing something from Renox's expression, the man slowly shook his head after staring at him.

"At least not today."

As he slowly stood up from the bar, his head almost touched the ceiling.

A giant, easily over 2 meters tall. Even when sitting, he was strangely tall.

"I'm here to give you a warning."

"......"

"Kid, we don't see you as a child. We can overlook this once, but if you try to interfere with our business again, you'll have to be prepared."

Whoosh!!

Once more, a surge of magic from the man fiercely pressed down on Renox's shoulders.

He seemed to be the type who wouldn't be satisfied until he broke the other's spirit.

Renox wasn't about to just take it.

Boom!!

He fired a shock magic spell, reduced to the size of a fist, directly at the man's abdomen.

The same move that had broken Ericson's back in the undeveloped area.

But the man, surprisingly, only flinched and then recovered, looking at Renox with a surprised expression.

Renox met his gaze and calmly replied.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm just letting you know in advance."

"......What?"

"If you try to solve problems in such a dirty way, our clients won't just sit by. I don't think you believe Paul Ackerman was stupid enough to leave no trace of his body, do you?"

The man's eyebrows twitched at Renox's words, which were hard to ignore.

He might have guessed that Renox had some backing, but he didn't expect him to threaten back like this.

Renox, for his part, looked steadily at the man, his mind busily calculating.

He was prepared to take the risk, but he didn't need to foolishly bear all the burden alone.

If necessary, he was willing to use Dyke's name to divert some of the attention from himself.

The man's eyes briefly flashed with dirty malice, but he quickly suppressed his emotions, realizing he wasn't in a position to cause a scene here.

"......Fine. Let's call it a day. Got it?"

He also didn't forget to threaten Jenny.

"Jenny, the same goes for you. I'm not touching your bar because of Kaise's name. If you do anything foolish, like covering for this guy..."

"Beck, you talk too much."

"......"

"Get out of my bar now."

Jenny's sharp reply left Beck, the man, without any further response.

He gave Renox one last glare and then left the bar.

The tension that had been building up dissipated only after his tall figure had completely disappeared.

"Phew...."

Renox let out a small sigh and sat down at the bar.

Jenny silently poured him a glass of whiskey and handed it to him.

"So, who is he?"

"A member of the Siger Vang gang, Beck Clinton."

Jenny answered indifferently.

"The most active gang in the 48th district recently."

"So that's why."

A gang that dealt directly with Paul Ackerman and operated in the 48th district.

It was natural for them to be enraged by his death in the port they managed.

He hadn't expected them to wait for him at the bar.

"Almost a thousand members, and their business scale is not small, making them one of the top-funded gangs."

"......"

"It won't be an easy opponent if it comes to a clash. I recommend you work with Dyke to balance the numbers."

Gang, gang...

He had taken on various clients, including corporations, mercenaries, criminal organizations, and scavengers, but this was his first time dealing with a gang since the Amunak pharmaceutical company.

Unlike others who followed certain rules and fit into the underworld's order, these were lawless from the start, criminals steeped in violence.

He would need to prepare for a certain level of burden.

How much help would the support from Dyke be?

Regardless of his resolve, it was always best to prepare for the worst.

He needed to start preparing now, assuming he would face Siger Vang alone without any support from Panora.

This needed to be done before Dyke's second mission began.

While Renox was organizing his thoughts and picking up the whiskey glass, Jenny brought a laptop and turned the screen towards him.

"Take a look at this."

"What?"

"I've compiled about five requests, combining the anonymous requests for mages and the named requests for you. Check them out."

He hadn't planned to take on any jobs yet, but if Jenny said this, it wasn't just idle talk.

Renox immediately grabbed the laptop and scanned through the list of requests she had compiled.

Two from corporations, one from an office.

The first three requests were typical, requiring mages for common disputes in this line of work.

The fourth was another request from scavengers, looking for a capable red mage for underground water exploration.

And the last one. Renox paused, recognizing a familiar name, and looked up at Jenny.

"......"

Sebastian.

The name of the broker he had given his card to last time.

Given that it was a named request for Renox, it was likely the same person.

"Do brokers do business like this these days?"

"Maybe not. But the amount offered isn't just for business."

Sebastian had offered a down payment of 22 million cells to recruit Renox.

This was too much to be just for attracting his attention.

"Maybe he really has a job he wants to give you. Could it help with this situation?"

"Hmm....."

Renox rested his chin, lost in thought, but he couldn't help being curious about this unexpected client.

According to what Jenny had told him before, many of his clients were wealthy individuals, not organizations.

And among those clients, there were certainly many who were well-versed in