Chapter 6: Blood Bang (2)

[Dew of Dawn]

In the center of the village.

In a place where people frequently came and went, Blood Bang boldly hung its sign and did business.

Jingle jingle.

"Welcome."

As Roman opened the door and entered, the bell rang loudly.

The interior of the building was no different from other pubs.

People were loudly chatting at round tables and at the bar, and in front of them, a man who seemed to be the owner was busily serving beer.

Judging by the number of people, it seemed to be doing relatively well in the area, with over a dozen people inside.

"Huh?"

"Ah, it's Young Master Roman."

Instantly, everyone's gaze turned to Roman.

Since no one could be unfamiliar with the face of the Royal Family who governed the Dmitri territory, the people who had been loudly chatting just a moment ago fell silent as if they had made a pact.

Roman Dmitri.

Even if he was called an idiot by people, to ordinary civilians, Roman was an immensely powerful figure whom they dared not even look in the eye.

People quickly averted their gazes.

In the silence that had settled, Roman calmly moved to sit at the bar.

"Dew of Dawn, 27-year-old vintage."

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a drink called Dew of Dawn. Would you like me to recommend something else?"

"That's fine. Give me something strong. I have a lot to do in the morning, so I need to get a little drunk."

The owner's expression stiffened.

Dew of Dawn.

Strong drink.

Morning work.

The sequence of words was the secret code set by Blood Bang.

The problem was that the person was Roman Dmitri, whom everyone knew.

In the silent space, people's gazes alternated between the owner and Roman.

Some showed pure curiosity, while others revealed complex emotions in their eyes.

In an instant.

As a smile appeared on Roman's lips, the owner, who had been hiding a dagger under the table, swung it like lightning.

"Attack... Gah!"

Thud!

Clang!

Roman hit the owner on the head with a beer glass.

At the same time, he threw his body backward, and a few of the customers who had been drinking around him attacked Roman.

Thud! Thud!

Daggers embedded in the bar table.

Under the dim lighting, the Blood Bang members revealed fierce gazes.

The information Roman had discovered was true, and several men disguised as customers rushed at Roman.

"Aah!"

"Run!"

The customers screamed and fled the pub.

Thanks to this, the enemies to be eliminated were clearly distinguished.

'Eight people.'

Roman and the men were entangled.

The daggers swung at close range threatened Roman's vital points, but he dodged all the attacks even in such a tight space.

Not only that, he immediately counterattacked, piercing a hole in his opponent's neck.

With a swift motion of the dagger, the opponent inevitably fell to the ground, spewing blood.

"You bastard!"

"Kill him!"

The peaceful pub was no more.

Instead of workers who had finished their day and were drinking beer to ease their fatigue, the monsters of blood revealed their true nature.

However.

Roman was the predator that would devour them all.

No matter how many attacked from all sides, it was the Blood Bang gang that fell.

Thud!

Crash!

He slammed the last remaining man's face into the table. The sturdy table broke, and the man immediately fainted. Roman kicked his face, which was thrown to the ground, without hesitation. The man rolled, spewing blood, and his body, sprawled on the floor, showed that no life remained.

"Is it over?"

It happened in an instant.

All the men who had attacked Roman were dead.

Only one.

The owner, who had been hit with the beer glass at the beginning, was still looking up at Roman with a bloodied face.

"J-Just what are you doing?"

"Why am I doing this? You know, right? Why I came here and why I attacked you. If you didn't know, you wouldn't have attacked me."

Roman grinned.

The owner's face, which had been filled with fear, suddenly changed as Roman brought a chair and sat right in front of him.

A fierce demon's expression.

The owner shouted in anger.

"We are Blood Bang. Even if we die, my comrades will take bloody revenge on you. Noble status? Do you think that will protect you? Not a chance! Nobles are ultimately the same as us. Noble bodies, when stabbed, will have holes just like pigs and scream in agony."

"That won't save you."

"Go ahead, kill me! Blood Bang fears no death."

Roman's smile deepened.

The more the other person resisted, the more Roman was convinced that this was the place he had been looking for.

"Right, I wanted to meet someone like you. Someone who doesn't fear death, who will keep their mouth shut even under torture, and who will guard information. Such a person is likely to have valuable information."

Roman stood up.

He looked around and then said in a very calm voice.

"Let's see now. Whether you are the kind of person who won't speak under any threat."

The owner's will was strong.

Unlike the kids who screamed and gave up information, he didn't speak even when his fingers were cut off.

However.

Roman knew exactly how to deal with such a person.

"Is this a photo of your son?"

The owner's expression turned pale.

The photo, carefully kept in a drawer, showed his son, who looked just like him, looking happy.

"No, it's not."

"It is. He looks just like you."

"You bastard! Do you think a noble would use a family to threaten someone!"

The owner struggled and resisted.

He had chosen well.

Roman walked back to the owner and, with a cold expression, shook the photo in front of him.

"While investigating Blood Bang, I found some interesting information. People fear Blood Bang because they take revenge even at the cost of their lives. However, suicide bombers have a common trait. They weren't originally part of Blood Bang but owed Blood Bang a huge debt. People who weren't originally that evil became demons. Why did they change? What happened to them to make them change?"

"..."

The owner remained silent.

It didn't matter.

His reaction alone confirmed that Roman's hypothesis was correct.

"Blood Bang commits all sorts of crimes to collect debts. In the process, they often take the families of debtors as slaves. That's the truth about Blood Bang. They aren't a group of demonic people who would sacrifice their lives, but rather, they use the families of people they've driven to the brink as hostages to force them to take revenge. What do you think? A pretty plausible theory, right?"

"Still, nothing has changed. Blood Bang will definitely take revenge."

Roman chuckled.

What foolish people.

From the moment the owner acknowledged his hypothesis, he didn't realize what trap he had fallen into.

"I swear on the name of Roman Dmitri. If you don't tell me any information, I will return to the castle and order the family's knights to find and kill the child in this photo. Not a quick death, but a slow, agonizing one. What do you think?"

"What, what are you saying?"

"Why? Can't you do it?"

"You're a noble! How can a noble...!"

"That's a prejudice. If a family is taken hostage and becomes our enemy, we have no reason to leave them alone."

A world of the strong preying on the weak.

Defeat there means death.

Justice?

It has no meaning.

To win, you must do anything, and Roman has no qualms about such actions.

Just because he treated his fiancée with respect.

Just because he accepted Hans, who was merely a servant, as his own.

Roman's essence doesn't change.

People have many facets, and as a demon, Roman also had a demonic side.

Roman said,

"Remember this. I don't care about the well-being of those I consider enemies. No matter how they die or what pain they suffer, I can regard their lives as less than a fly. So think carefully. If your family's lives are in danger, will you bet on Blood Bang, who will enslave your family, or will you give me accurate information so I can deal with Blood Bang before they touch your family?"

He spun the dagger.

Then, he stabbed it into the head of the child in the photo.

"Choose."

At that moment.

The owner was certain.

Roman Dmitri.

He was not the person he used to know.

Looking at his son's face, which was torn beyond recognition, the owner finally lowered his head.

After Roman left.

The scene, now a mess, was reached by the Dmitri knights, led by Hans.

"What is this...?"

Jonathan's expression hardened.

He had heard the witnesses' accounts.

That after Roman and the owner had a conversation, the owner and the customers suddenly attacked Roman.

But the scene after that was this.

Strong men were sprawled on the floor in a miserable state.

'Young Master Roman took care of all of them alone?'

It was hard to believe.

Roman was a weakling with no talent for combat. He trembled at the sight of blood and couldn't even swing a sword properly. The idea that he had taken care of so many men alone was hard to believe.

A sense of dissonance arose.

The Roman he knew and the Roman the witnesses described were different.

Then.

"Sir! There's a survivor here!"

The pub owner.

He was alive.

Rushing over, he saw the owner in a miserable state.

"Ugh!"

The owner spat out a large amount of blood.

His right hand was missing all its fingers, and the thick blood he spat out contained pieces of internal organs.

It was clear he didn't have much time left. But he still clung to life.

Like a person experiencing a last burst of energy, he spoke clearly to Jonathan.

"We must follow Young Master Roman immediately!"

"What do you mean?"

"I told Young Master Roman everything. That the base of Blood Bang is not here in Dmitri but in the heart of Lawrence. As soon as he heard that, Young Master Roman left. He seems to want to handle it alone, but he can't possibly deal with them on his own. Please help Young Master Roman! Help him, and we must root out Blood Bang completely!"

The owner's voice was desperate.

He had already become a traitor by giving away the information.

If Roman was to be believed, only by ensuring that Roman dealt with them could his family be safe.

The owner crawled on the ground.

Grasping Jonathan's ankle with a bloodied hand, he said in a desperate voice.

"Please, please, execute them all."

"..."

Jonathan's eyes wavered.

It was a complex situation.

The sight of a Blood Bang member calling for help to assist Roman was bewildering, but the biggest problem was Roman's actions.

'Is he really going to handle them alone?'

Lawrence.

It was not part of the Dmitri territory.

The idea that he had set out on this journey made Jonathan's head spin.

If it weren't for Hans's voice, Jonathan would have hesitated for a long time.

"Sir! We must set out immediately! Young Master is in danger!"

"Ah."

Jonathan regained his composure.

Roman.

The eldest son of Dmitri could not be left to die in another territory.

This incident was not pre-coordinated with Lawrence, but there was no time to seek permission now.

The Dmitri knights hurriedly set out.

Their destination was Lawrence.