Chapter 49

On the way back home after meeting with Aris, Renok arrived at his studio apartment, lost in thought, and suddenly stopped as he was about to grab the doorknob.

"......"

There was evidence that someone had tried to penetrate the security magic.

The lax vigilance in his mind instantly shot up to the maximum.

Slowly letting go of the doorknob, he quickly scanned the surroundings.

Upon closer inspection, there were faint bloodstains on the doorknob. It seemed that someone had tried to break in and got a taste of the bolt magic he had set up.

Although they couldn't breach the weakest part of the barrier he had installed, it was clear that there were burglars who had tried to rob his place.

As expected, the security in this area wasn't that great.

Wooh!

Slowly drawing up his magic, he spread it out in all directions, centered on the studio apartment.

The search radius was 2 kilometers. If the thief was still in the vicinity, he could identify the culprit by comparing the bloodstains left behind with the ones on the doorknob.

[Bloody Chase]

He used the magic he usually reserved for tracking down criminals. The bloodstain on the doorknob turned into a thin thread and lifted its head.

It immediately pointed in a direction. Where?

Renok slowly turned his head in the direction the red thread was pointing.

Third floor. The thread was crawling toward his neighbor's apartment right next to his.

It even tried to squeeze its head through the door crack and slipped in.

Loud laughter seeped through the solid iron door, humming in the empty corridor.

"......"

There was no need to see more.

The only response to noise complaints was to make even more noise.

BOOM!!

"AAH!!"

After a few simple shock spells, the door burst open, and Renok frowned at the thick cloud of cigarette smoke that spilled out.

He didn't mind the smell of his own cigarettes, but the smell of others' always made him wrinkle his nose.

Having fully internalized the irony of being a smoker, Renok used his magic to create a wind pressure that pushed the smoke back into the room.

Loud shouts were heard, and soon someone appeared from inside the room.

A giant, easily two heads taller than Renok, with a face full of scars and a beard, and eyes brimming with malice.

"You little punk... Where did you learn to knock on someone's door like that in the middle of the night?"

Renok ignored the man's words and immediately looked down at his hand.

Sure enough. The bandages wrapped around his thumb and index finger indicated that it wasn't a minor injury.

The fact that the man only suffered a slight injury from the bolt magic suggested he was a tough thug, but it made little difference to Renok.

The man also seemed to realize that Renok was his neighbor and quickly scanned his appearance.

A thin body in a white shirt, a bag slung over his back, and a revolver on his hip. A small smirk appeared on the man's face.

"Heh heh... There's always one. Someone who underestimates their opponent and ends up getting beaten to a pulp."

"That's a bit hard to believe."

Renok replied calmly.

"Isn't that the kind of talk that fits a fool who tried to break into someone's home and ended up bleeding?"

"What?"

"You don't seem to understand."

Zzzz...!!

Renok laughed as he generated a bright blue current between his fingers.

"What I want to hear from a thief isn't that."

The giant's face turned pale as he witnessed the clear existence of magic right in front of him.

"GAH!!!"

A bizarre scream, as if his tongue was paralyzed, filled the corridor lined with studio apartments.

"Jason!!"

"Shit, what the hell!!"

"Who the hell is causing this commotion!"

Seeing the other giants, similar in build to the man, rushing out of their rooms, Renok sighed deeply.

It seemed that tonight, he had something to do to ensure his neighbors' peaceful sleep.