There are three factions that control this city.
The Imperials.
The Mages.
And finally…
The Beast man Market.
The one I'm most concerned about is the Beast man Market. Those bastards practically rule the lower districts—the slums where people like us are trapped.
Illegal trade.
Smuggling.
Black markets.
Protection rackets.
If money changed hands in the lower city, chances were they had their claws in it somewhere.
And honestly?
I wanted in.
Who the hell wants to spend their whole life fighting over stale bread?
When I first opened my eyes in this world, I woke up half-dead in an alleyway while snow fell over my body.
I almost died that winter.
Ever since then…
I've hated starving more than anything.
Right now, I run a small gang of four people, but even so, I've already taken control of most of the lower slums. The smaller gangs either work for me now or disappeared entirely.
It took years to build up this much influence.
And yet…
Compared to the real powers in this city, I was still just a small-time crook.
Normally, messing with one of the Big Three would've been suicide.
That was true until three days ago.
Leo Manie.
The de facto leader of the Beast man Market.
He was Assassinated.
The entire kingdom was in chaos right now.
The streets still looked calm on the surface, but underneath? Every major faction in the city was moving like starving wolves tearing at each other for the empty seat Leo left behind.
Internal conflict.
External pressure.
Power struggles.
And in the middle of all that chaos…
I started making moves.
If the Beast man Market was distracted, then this was my best chance to uncover the location of their main warehouse.
That place held everything.
Money.
Weapons.
Contraband.
The most valuable goods in the entire lower district passed through that warehouse at some point.
The problem?
Nobody knew where it was.
Not officially.
I'd tried everything to find it.
Bribes.
Surveillance.
Tracking routes.
Interrogations.
Every lead vanished into thin air.
It was like they had some method of hiding the location itself.
Then yesterday, I finally got information claiming today's shipment would contain clues about the warehouse.
Turns out…
That was probably fake too.
What a waste of time.
"Roy," I said, tossing a bag filled with useless loot across the table, "take the junk and sell it to the dealer down south. After that, we'll get lunch."
"Got it, boss."
Roy grabbed the bag and headed upstairs. Lily silently followed behind him, her rifle resting over her shoulder.
Once they left, I leaned back in my chair, balancing it on two legs while turning the sapphire over in my hand.
Something about this whole situation bothered me.
"Boss, we'll get them next time," Alice said with an encouraging smile.
"Yeah… next time, huh?"
I stared up at the cracked ceiling above us.
I had a bad feeling.
After a while, Roy finally returned carrying a small pouch of coins.
"It's done, boss."
He tossed the pouch lightly into the air before catching it again. The sound of coins clinking together echoed through the hideout.
Perfect.
"Alright," I said, standing up. "Let's go get some food."
Alice immediately followed behind me while Roy and Lily trailed after us as we headed back toward the streets.
"…Man."
I shoved my hands into my pockets with a sigh.
"A burger sounds really good right now."