Chapter 37

The back alleys of Albius Free City are divided into several districts. Among them, the area where I made contact with those guys was surprisingly bright and spacious, sometimes even frequented by ordinary citizens. But as I ventured further in, I found drug addicts lost in their own worlds and people consumed by gambling and pleasure sprawled all over the place.

After walking a bit deeper, an extravagant building caught my eye, clearly out of place in such a back alley. Sure enough, Esher stopped in front of the building and said to me,

“Here it is.”

“Let’s go in.”

Since we were on familiar terms, I didn’t need to be polite enough to knock, so I kicked the door open and stepped inside. A bunch of guys with surprised expressions looked at me, clearly on edge. Esher and the members of my crew who followed closely behind drew their weapons.

Not to be outdone, the members of the Shark Gang also grabbed their weapons. Among the men, one man with a long scar across his face stepped slowly forward. Judging by how everyone else moved aside, he was likely the leader of the Shark Gang.

“What’s this, Esher? Have you finally lost your mind?”

“Not a chance.”

“Then have you found a reliable backup?”

“….”

“How interesting. Who’s that Maid next to you?”

“You’re talking too much.”

I really wasn’t in the mood to chat with thugs who prey on the city’s security and taxes, so I drew my twin swords and charged at the man. The startled guy tried to block my blade with a dagger he had, but—

“Ouch, you think you can stop me?”

As I spun my wrist, powering my strike, I swung my blade with a speed he couldn’t possibly match, severing his wrist clean off.

“Ahhh—!”

“Hey, what are you doing? Are you just going to sit there and take it?”

“Uh, guess he wasn’t the boss after all.”

So, he was possibly just a squad leader. I kicked the now-weaponless guy down and dove into the crowd of men. The basics of swordsmanship begin with the legs and end with the wrists. If my footing wavered even slightly, or if my wrist went wayward, the power of my swordplay would drop drastically.

Especially as someone who used twin swords, leg training was crucial for me. Because with twin swords, it’s all too easy for your center of gravity to throw you off balance. All those bloody hours of training and efforts, even sacrificing my sleep, would not betray me. Of course, it was partly by my own choice, but still.

With every flash of my sword, a member of the Shark Gang fell. Meanwhile, Esher and the rest handled the ones who managed to stagger around, injured. Watching me swing my blades with unyielding ferocity, the Shark Gang members began to tremble in fear.

Maybe it was time to strike. I pushed my way through the members who were losing steam and approached the guy who had just rallied them.

“You’re the boss, right?”

“Um, yikes!”

Swish! I slashed at his thigh to keep him from escaping and stepped down hard on his foot. Naturally, I had trained my blade, not my body, so he could throw me off if he tried hard enough. But the man just stared at me with a terrified look on his face. Maybe he realized that if he fled now, he’d be dead for real. Smart guy.

“So, are you the boss or not?”

“Y-yes, I am. Heh, heh.”

“Nice. So from now on, this place will be… um, what was your gang’s name again?”

After knocking him down, I turned to ask Esher, who looked at me in disbelief. What are you staring at? When I met his blank face with my own expressionless stare, he sighed deeply.

“We don’t really have a name. We’re just stragglers anyway.”

“Stragglers is a bit harsh, how about… Dark Moon Society?”

“Dark Moon…? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Esher tilted his head, clearly baffled, so I raised a finger.

“It means the moon in darkness. Cool, right?”

“….”

Why did Esher’s gaze seem to darken all of a sudden? Just my imagination, right?

“What’s the matter? You got a problem with it?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Then from today, the Shark Gang is going under the Dark Moon Society. Got it?”

When I shot a glance back at the leader of the Shark Gang, he looked startled and stared at me.

“Y-yes?”

“Um, it seems our Shark leader isn’t paying attention. Should I help you focus?”

“N-no! I got it! Yes, yes! We shall join the Dark Moon Society!”

Watching the panicked guy, I narrowed my eyes. Wait a minute, what was this guy’s name again? Whatever.

“Alright, let’s lay out the plan. Shark guy, Esher, come over here.”

“S-shark?”

“Well, we’ve got to call you something, but I really don’t want to know your name. And no interrupting. One more break and…”

“Y-yes.”

Looking at the crew members tending to their wounds, the only serious injury among them was the guy who had acted all tough against me before. He gazed at his neatly severed wrist with a deflated expression. I felt a tad bad, but hey, who told him to stop me?

Feeling a bit guilty, I took the two of them into a quiet room and pulled out the map of the back alleys that I had asked Esher to prepare before coming here. I spread the map out and made eye contact with the two of them, giving a nod.

“You all know that the back alleys of Albius Free City are quite expansive. It’s hard to avoid that since the city itself is so large.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Right?”

“I want to unify these back alleys into one. I want to make some money legally and illegally along the way.”

Esher raised his hand slightly, and when I motioned for him to speak, he opened his mouth.

“Legal and illegal boundaries, you say?”

“Gambling halls and brothels, I guess? Human trafficking, murder, or assaults are off-limits. Oh, and drugs are obviously banned too.”

“Ugh.”

The shark guy swallowed hard, looking a bit meek. What? These guys were dealing drugs too? Total scum.

“Er, that was what Count Rasmus wanted. His son is a junkie.”

“And the customer list?”

“I do have it, but….”

“If you hand it over willingly, it’ll be a non-issue.”

“Right away!”

As the shark guy scrambled to fetch the list, Esher quietly spoke up.

“What are you after?”

“Information.”

“Information?”

Nodding at Esher’s puzzled expression, I clarified.

“Yeah. I need information that you can only get from back alleys.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’ve got something to protect.”

With that announcement, I rapidly made my way to the weapons department.

#

“Oh my, how pretty!”

“Thank you!”

Yulia smiled gently and gave a slight bow. Madame Cal nodded with a pleased look. In Madame Cal’s eyes, Yulia was a top-tier material—essentially a muse. If Lilian hadn’t been around, she would have gone straight for Yulia.

“So you need something suitable for soirees, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, then a bright-colored, comfortable outfit would be best. Just a moment~”

As Madame Cal hummed a tune and stepped further inside, Yulia let out a small sigh. No matter how she thought about it, she didn’t feel like such elaborate outfits suited her. It wasn’t about her looks, rather it was a matter of mindset. Yulia had spent her entire life farming in the countryside. Even with time looping back a few times, this kind of luxury still felt foreign to her.

At first, she had equated a single dress with a few boxes of potatoes, but now she had improved. Still, the idea of luxury wasn’t something she liked much. Compared to the tokens of affection she had received from men up until now, Lilian’s gifts felt like pure friendship, which was at least a silver lining.

Friendship. Friendship, huh? Even though Yulia had attracted many suitors after several time loops, she had never accepted anyone’s heart, except the first time. When the second loop came around, she simply pushed everyone away while she pondered why she was returned, and by the third loop, she thought, what’s the point of having a lover if I’m going back anyway?

Staring blankly at the ceiling of the clothing store, her mind drifted to the antique designs of the chandelier. Suddenly, she looked out the window. There stood a beautiful maid with long, black hair, gazing at her.

Thump! Yulia felt her heart race unexpectedly and smiled brightly. This smile, unlike the one she had just given to Cal, came from deep within.

“Catherine!”

“Yulia.”

When Catherine softly whispered her name, Yulia stared at her blankly. Each time Catherine’s red lips formed Yulia’s name, her heart raced faster.

What was this feeling? It was too different from the feelings she had in the first cycle to be called love. And yet, it felt too thrilling to be mere friendship. Slowly, Yulia tucked this emotion away and looked at Catherine.

In the little room that was her heart, Yulia carefully packed away her feelings into small boxes and turned her eyes away from Catherine. She found she couldn’t look directly at her. Unbothered, Catherine sat beside her, waiting for Cal.