Chapter 18: An Acquaintance Big Brother (1)
“What did you say?”
Ralph, hearing the black-haired beggar's words, asked back as if he had misheard.
However, he hadn't misheard. Harang spoke again, filled with sincerity.
“I asked if you could call the person named Eddy, not Iron Fist Kennedy.”
“…Crazy bastard. You’re completely nuts!”
To say it again, Ralph wasn't a proper thug.
He lacked the guts and ability, merely a loafer who put on airs in front of mere beggars.
Compared to him, ‘Iron Fist Kennedy’, a regular member of the ‘Eddy Family’ that held sway over Marzen, was an existence so high up he couldn't even dare to look at him.
And yet, even after mentioning that name, there was no particular reaction?
Instead, he went a step further and asked him to bring ‘Eddy’?
‘What should I do in this situation?’
Ralph furrowed his brow.
It went without saying, but he didn't have the ability to summon Eddy.
Even if it were possible, he absolutely shouldn't do it.
It might be different if they had been beaten by the Travion Gang, but it was obvious what kind of treatment he'd receive if he said he was thoroughly beaten up by a beggar whose name he didn't even properly know.
‘But, there’s no need to tell this guy the truth, right?’
That's right. He just needed to lie.
First, he would agree to the fellow's wish to bring Eddy, and then everything would be solved if he came back here with Boss Kennedy's gang.
A faint smile touched Ralph's face. The image of the beggar fellow, belatedly regretting his mistake and grabbing at his trouser legs, formed in his mind.
Having finished his thought, he said.
“F-fine. I’ll bring him.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yes, you bastard! Just don’t whine when I really bring him. No, just don’t run away! Don’t bolt, stay right here!”
“Of course. I asked for it first, didn’t I? I definitely won’t go anywhere, so I’d appreciate it if you could call him as quickly as possible.”
“…Damn it, just you wait!”
Ralph, like the thugs in Kuchen Village, moved after spitting out typical villain lines.
As Harang watched his retreating back with a pleased expression, a commotion arose behind him.
“E-Eddy?”
“That Bloody Eddy?”
“He’s crazy. Completely crazy… W-we have to run!”
“Right! If we get caught up in this while lingering here…!”
“U-ughhh!”
The beggars trembled violently, as if struck by panic.
They all muttered in fear-stricken voices before vanishing into the corners of the alley in an instant, like a swarm of rats encountering an eagle.
The only one remaining was Glen.
However, since he too was trembling visibly with fear, Harang couldn't help but ask.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean, what’s wrong! It’s Eddy! That… Bloody Eddy! Don’t you know Eddy?”
“I don’t.”
“Ah…!”
Seeing the utterly nonchalant Harang, Glen slapped his forehead with his hand.
Where on earth should he begin to explain?
That Eddy was the boss of one of the organizations dividing the Commercial City Marzen?
That despite being the boss, he was an incredibly vicious figure who always swung his fists at the forefront of battle?
How terrifying and dreadful it was to dare summon such a person?
Thinking this far, Glen grabbed Harang's collar.
“R-run away!”
“Why?”
“Just run away! No matter how strong Big Brother is, you can’t face Eddy. Eddy is, Eddy is…”
“Ah, I see. Everyone misunderstood and ran away.”
Harang, nodding as if he finally understood, smiled and said.
“I’m not going to fight Eddy, you know?”
“Yes?”
“I just called him because I wanted to talk.”
“Aigoo…”
Glen slapped his forehead again.
He was wrong. He had briefly reconsidered his assessment due to fighting skills unimaginable for a beggar, but this Big Brother still had a screw loose.
Daring to try and converse with the boss of a major organization.
And not even going to him directly, but trying to summon him!
It was a way of thinking completely incomprehensible to Glen, who had lived the life of a beggar having to watch everyone's expressions on the street, but Harang remained nonchalant.
“I told you. I’m not a beggar anymore. There’s no need to think and act like a beggar.”
“Ah…”
“And I originally intended to go find him myself. But every time I asked if people knew someone named Eddy, they all ran away, so I couldn’t help… Ah, there they come. Hm?”
“Hic!”
Glen hiccuped at the sound of footsteps approaching from afar, and Harang's face lit up.
However, his bright expression soon darkened.
Because the person at the very front of the five individuals Ralph brought back uttered words different from his expectations.
“Is it you? You dared to act boldly even after hearing the name of Iron Fist Kennedy, a regular combatant of the Eddy Family?”
“Uh… I didn’t act boldly.”
“I heard you beat up my precious younger brother like catching a rat? What is that if not acting boldly?”
“E-excuse me… Mr. Ralph? Didn’t you say you would call Mr. Eddy?”
“Crazy bastard! Do you know who Boss Eddy is! He’s not someone the likes of you can dare mention!”
“Ah…”
Harang wore a regretful expression.
He thought he could finally complete Mr. Carter's request from Kuchen Village, but things had gotten twisted again.
What was the problem?
He couldn't figure out where things had gone wrong, so Harang could only let out a deep sigh.
The problem was that this action irritated Iron Fist Kennedy and the other thugs.
“This bastard, daring to sigh in front of me?”
No more words were needed.
For them, whose fists flew before words, having held back this much was already a lot. Iron Fist Kennedy crudely swung his fist, wearing studded knuckles. Though clumsy due to not having properly learned boxing, the sound cutting through the air was even more menacing than a sword strike.
Of course, it didn't reach Harang.
Swish
Thwaaack-!
Thud!
Dodged.
Struck.
Collapsed.
Kennedy fainted in one second.
The thugs were so surprised their eyes nearly popped out.
Who was he?
He was a remarkable talent recognized for his skills by none other than Eddy. Thanks to his fists as strong as iron lumps, he had even earned the nickname ‘Iron Fist’, meaning he was one of the Eddy Family's skilled members.
And yet…
‘That Iron Fist fainted from one blow? Really?’
‘To a guy like that?’
‘Does this… even make… sense.’
They weren't the only ones surprised.
Ralph, who had brought Iron Fist, was the same.
‘What the hell happened!’
He hadn't thought even for a shred of a moment that the Boss would lose.
It couldn't be helped; the beggar fellow before him still felt easier to handle than a stray dog roaming the streets. Seeing him scratch the back of his head with a blank expression, confidence surged that if he just wasn't careless, he himself could fight again and win.
However, he couldn't do that.
The fear his body, not his head, remembered was barely suppressing his reckless courage.
“……”
“……”
“……”
What should they do?
How exactly could they escape this crisis?
Violence wouldn't work. Their strongest, Boss Kennedy, had fallen in just one second. Although they didn't know how that foolish-looking fellow had done it, since the result had already happened, there was no room for doubt.
‘However, thugs absolutely don’t solve everything with just violence.’
That's right.
The three major elements that make a thug complete.
Fists, Gao (a slang term for 'form' or 'posture'), and finally…
‘Backing!’
The thug, whose mind worked instantly, straightened his previously slumped shoulders and neck, and spoke as if shouting.
“You bastard! Do you know who the Boss we serve is!”
“…Boss?”
“Right! W-we are very close friends with Boss Bloody Fist Thomas! When he finds out what happened to us, huh? He’s the type who would rush over even barefoot!”
“……”
“J-just wait right here. I’ll go bring Boss Thomas right now. Don’t you dare run away anywhere, stay right here!”
With those last words, the thugs hastily left the place.
Their appearance, constantly looking back to see if they were being followed, was extremely undignified, but Harang paid no mind to such things.
He looked at Glen and asked.
“Glen.”
“Yes, Big Brother…”
“Is this person called Bloody Fist Thomas also part of the Eddy Gang?”
“Yes…”
“What, what rank is he?”
“I think I remember him being Rank 31…”
“Since it’s the Eddy Gang, Mr. Eddy must be Rank 1?”
“That’s right. B-but is it really okay for us to keep staying here?”
Glen asked, trembling uncontrollably.
For him, it was only natural. Having spent his life avoiding predators and bowing his head to avoid getting into fights, today's events were an overwhelmingly large stimulus and crisis.
Of course, Harang wasn't like that.
Right now, nothing was more important to him than the thought of solving Mr. Carter's request.
He said.
“After unranked comes Rank 38, after Rank 38 comes Rank 31.”
“Yes?”
Glen asked back blankly, and Harang repeated.
“If I beat up the 31st rank, a higher-ranking Boss will come, and if I beat that Boss, an even higher Boss will come… If I keep beating and beating and beating them like that, won’t I eventually be able to meet Mr. Eddy?”
“Yes?”
Glen asked back blankly again, but Harang paid no mind.
“Good. A perfect plan.”
He smiled contentedly.
Although he couldn't hide his disappointment when Ralph brought back a completely different person, at this rate, it seemed like he could meet Mr. Eddy and deliver the letter within the day.
“Haha, this is turning out unexpectedly well.”
“……”
Watching him, all Glen could do was tremble violently.
* * *
“What did you say? Razor Gideon was taken down? By whom exactly!”
Ruben, Rank 3 and the enforcer of the Eddy Family, snapped at the subordinate who came to report. With the recent increase in suspicious movements from the Travion Gang, he couldn't help but be sensitive to such reports.
However, this time it wasn't the expected culprits.
“Th-that is… It’s a fellow named Harang… I-I’m not sure of his identity.”
“What?”
“When I asked the guys below, some said he’s a beggar, some said he used to be a beggar but isn't anymore, a-and amidst that, there was talk that he was looking for Boss Eddy… I really don’t know what’s what… Keok!”
“This bastard! Can’t you speak properly?”
“Enough. Don’t get worked up, Ruben.”
“…Yes, Boss.”
Ruben had roughly grabbed the subordinate's collar.
What calmed him down instantly was none other than the family's master, Bloody Eddy.
All the organization members watching this, including Underboss Pale, showed simultaneous gazes of surprise and awe. Calming down ‘Mad Dog Ruben’ held that kind of significance. Because he was a beast-like man that no one short of someone like Eddy could ever handle.
Therefore.
“Everyone present, grab your tools.”
“Yes, Boss!”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Travion guys or not. Our brothers got hit, we have to go.”
When Eddy's order fell, not a single voice of objection was raised.
This could be a trap by the Travion Gang.
This could be a deception by the Travion Gang.
No one cared.
The command of the family's master, ‘Bloody Eddy’, was truly absolute.
Thus, all the big shots from Rank 1 to 7 who were participating in the executive meeting moved in perfect order towards the beggar's den.
However.
“Hm!”
“Hmph…”
“……”
Even for the Eddy Family, united by such absolute trust in their boss, the scene unfolding before their eyes was considerably burdensome.
Starting from the organization's lowest rank, Iron Fist Kennedy, then Bloody Fist Thomas, Axe Dorian, Executioner Lucian…
Finally, even Rank 8, Razor Gideon, lying sprawled out unconscious.
And the figure standing at the center of it all was a blank-looking young man dressed like the lowest of beggars.
‘What on earth happened here?’
A bizarre and incongruous sight.
Even the Bloody Eddy couldn't help but let out a groan.
If the one at the center were a Travion fellow, or even his right-hand man Quentin, he could at least understand, he could at least be angry… But encountering a scene that defied common sense, an unprecedented fear bloomed in a corner of his heart instead.
Of course.
‘Get a grip!’
He didn't show it on the outside.
What was the most important thing for a thug?
It was gao (posture/face).
The moment one showed a loss of face, they were essentially halfway defeated by the enemy. Eddy, having thought this far, took a deep breath and was about to let out a shout intense enough to jolt his opponent's senses.
However, Harang was one beat faster.
“Mr. Eddy?”
“……”
A voice so calm it seemed like all fighting spirit would vanish, cheerful to the point of appearing foolish in a way.
While Eddy stood there, unsure what to do.
Harang fumbled in his clothes, took out a small note, and said this.
“I’ve come to deliver a letter. It’s a letter from Mr. Carter, your father.”
“……”
“……”
A development no one had anticipated.
Eddy looked around.
His gaze seemed to ask what on earth had happened, but there was no one who could answer. There was also no one who wanted to take responsibility.
In such cases, how do things usually proceed?
They flow towards the party that started the incident in the first place.
‘Fuck.’
Under the weight of everyone's gazes, Ralph, the starting point of this whole affair, cursed intensely inwardly.