Chapter 56

"Brat, it's been a while."

"......Yeah."

Despite the rough music that could deafen the ears, his voice pierced Renock's eardrums clearly.

It had been a long time since they last met, but the thrill he felt back then had never faded, not even for a moment.

Since meeting Kroken, he had fought countless battles, but each one only made him realize more and more what a monstrous creature this giant was.

If he let his guard down, it wouldn't be surprising if his head exploded.

He intended to raise his shield to full power to be ready for any attack.

After staring at Renock for a while with his characteristic vertical pupils, Kroken chuckled.

"You've changed a lot. You seem like a completely different person from when I saw you with Dylan."

"......"

"Did you have some kind of epiphany? Well, you wouldn't have survived this long otherwise."

The old mercenary laughed, muttering something chilling as if it were nothing.

If he said that, it seemed Renock had indeed made visible progress since he first came to this world.

Renock slowly calmed his fear and gathered his thoughts.

What should he say here?

Sitting and occupying half of the VIP room, the alligator giant, surrounded by dozens of whiskey bottles, gave Renock a sense of extreme discomfort.

The indescribable pressure he felt at the factory was gone, and his scaly body now exuded a greasy laziness.

Noticing Renock's gaze, Kroken chuckled and said,

"Mercenaries live like this. Didn't Dylan tell you?"

"I did hear that."

Dylan had mentioned that Kroken spent his days buried in alcohol, but Renock never imagined he would meet him in the middle of such a noisy club.

"It's not a place where I come to play and drink."

Renock had climbed up to the VIP room with a lot of tension, but Kroken seemed indifferent to his presence.

Though surprised, Renock quickly understood.

Their meeting was simply a matter of business. Once the job was done, there would be no lingering resentment.

The mercenary's perspective, driven solely by money.

Renock was getting used to it.

Kroken laughed heartily at Renock's words.

"Brat, you seem to have potential, so I'll give you some advice."

Flashing his yellow vertical pupils, Kroken continued.

"People like us can make business just by moving. As the scale of money involved grows, you inevitably get entangled in useless matters."

"........."

"If you don't want to be used for nothing, it's best to use your head. If you can't understand the game, you'll only end up losing."

"Is that from experience?"

Kroken nodded slowly.

"It's also the reason I joined the Demon Market."

...It felt like he was hearing something very important, but Renock forced himself to ignore it and change the subject.

Talking to this unpredictable monster for too long would only harm his mental health.

Now, he seemed to be showing Renock some goodwill, but he was still a member of an international criminal organization.

In terms of good and evil, he was closer to evil, and in terms of friend or foe, he was definitely someone to avoid.

But there was one reason he didn't end the conversation and leave immediately.

Suppressing his fear with a strong sense of reason, he asked,

"I'm looking for the black mages. I understand they are staying here."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because I think your business might be related to them."

"......You're a sharp one, brat."

Grrr!!

When Kroken stood up, a heavy thud echoed from the wide, round sofa he had been leaning on.

The vibration was enough to surprise not only the woman sitting next to him but also the bodyguards standing guard.

It must have been due to Kroken's enormous weight.

But the alligator giant paid no attention to such things and looked down at Renock from his perch on the sofa.

"Right. I also have business with the black mages staying here. Specifically, I'm interested in their well-being."

From his words, it seemed Kroken knew about what was happening among the black mages.

It was strange that a figure of his stature would care about the internal conflicts of mages, but Renock had his suspicions.

"Is it because of a Demon Market colleague?"

"What? Hahaha!!"

"......"

Renock's guess was clearly off, but Kroken's hearty laugh was unexpected.

The force in his laughter was so strong that the club's floor shook for a moment.

If Renock hadn't quickly cast a noise reduction spell, the people below might have fainted with blood streaming from their ears.

A club staff member, looking flustered, was running over from a distance.

"Hmm... I haven't heard such an interesting answer in a long time."

Kroken chuckled, ignoring Renock's reaction.

"You seem to have some strange fantasies about the Demon Market, but this organization is nothing like what you think."

"......Thank you for telling me, even now."

"From your words, I can guess who you met, but do you really think that slick black mage would ask me for a favor?"

The smile on the alligator giant's lips was unshaken and confident.

"I only move as I please."

"......"

From that one sentence, Renock could tell that the two monsters didn't get along very well.

He thought about asking Kroken about the black mages' whereabouts, but after hearing his answer, Renock quickly abandoned the idea.

There was no need to invite unnecessary danger in front of this monster.

"Well, anyway, I understand you have business with those guys. If it's not a harmful request, I'll let you see them."

Who could have blurted out nonsense after hearing Kroken's promise to guarantee their safety?

In the end, Renock only managed to ascend to the upper floors of the club Learta after giving him a satisfactory answer.

A simple carpet-lined corridor, resembling a hotel lobby, with countless guest rooms on either side.

The space, originally designed to accommodate guests at a high price, was now filled with all sorts of indescribable clutter.

Unnamed bone fragments, scrolls on the verge of disintegration, half-broken crystals, and various trinkets...

To an outsider, they might look like trash, but Renock, with his improved discernment, recognized that they were magical tools.

The black mages, who had moved their business tools to avoid inspections, seemed to have settled here and were staying.

There were a few ambiguous numbers in the address given by Jenny, but they must have been the room numbers here.

As he walked down the middle of the corridor, he found an open space.

It appeared to be a resting area for guests, with a few chairs and tables.

About a dozen people were sitting there, chatting, but they immediately stopped talking as if on cue when they saw Renock.

"......Hey."

A man in his thirties, with his arms crossed, spoke with an uncomfortable look.

"This is a space where outsiders are not allowed to enter freely."

Renock ignored him and carefully observed the people gathered there.

He had expected the black mages to be more sinister and sticky, but their magical auras were surprisingly clean.

They belonged to the Enchantment School, and it seemed their auras and dispositions generally matched that.

Perhaps the kind of mages Renock was thinking of belonged to the opposing faction.

When Renock didn't respond, a young woman with a flushed face stepped forward, grinding her teeth.

"There are always people who don't listen to words."

"........."

"If you don't want to walk, I'll make you crawl."

She immediately summoned her magic, and something rose from the floor.

A black disc floating in the air.

The disc, spinning fiercely and pushing the surrounding air up and down, rushed straight at Renock.

Whoosh!!

Its speed was considerable. By sheer power alone, it was something Renock couldn't take lightly.

Though they were a faction of non-combat mages, it seemed there were still combat-capable members.

But magic isn't just about being fast and powerful.

Renock's battle sense, honed through countless battles, had already glimpsed a different realm.

He casually caught the disc with his left hand.

Crack!

"......!!"

The woman, who had been staring at him in shock, was ignored as Renock immediately summoned his magic.

Terror Live

The moment he saw the magic, he had long since memorized the magical structure and composition of the disc.

It seemed to have been modified to simplify the structure and increase speed, but this made it more vulnerable to external interference.

For someone like Renock, who had started to develop an eye for the structure of magic, such modifications were almost useless.

He tore apart the joints and reduced it to a pile of powder.

Crack!!

There was no need to describe the expression on the woman's face as she watched her magic disintegrate before her eyes.

"Unbelievable..."

"To dismantle Amari's magic so easily...?"

None of the mages gathered here were foolish enough to not gauge Renock's level after seeing what he did.

A fierce tension filled their faces as they encountered someone far beyond their imagination.

"Never seen you before. Who are you?"

The elderly man sitting at the far end spoke slowly.

"Elder...!"

"This is a living space we have temporarily occupied with permission. If you have no business here, I would appreciate it if you left."

"I came with Kroken Arillas's permission."

The moment he mentioned that name, the people's expressions changed.

It was clear.

These were the black mages of the Enchantment School.

"I have business with you."

"......What kind of business?"

"I want to talk about what happened at the Palmus Research Institute."

"........."

The moment he said that, a cold silence fell over the room.

One young man was glaring at Renock with a murderous intent.

He knew it was a sensitive topic, but if he had to, he couldn't avoid it.

This was the best topic to draw their attention.

The elderly man, who had been staring intently at Renock, sighed deeply as if there was no other choice.

"This is not a topic to be discussed here. Let's move to another place."