Once she was out on the streets after splitting from the group, Leona started thinking.

‘Hard to say…’

The Reavers were casually roaming the streets, and the Group didn’t seem all that evil. It seemed rather generous of them to use their troops to protect the citizens.

But having prejudice wouldn’t serve any purpose. Each had a mission to fulfill, and Leona was going to do everything she could to complete hers.

She had been bullied in her hometown, but she was actually a kid with a lot of experience. As such, it was easy for her to tell where the kids hung out with just a casual scan of the big, free city.

It was often the case that adults didn’t see children as other people, but to children, adults were definitely other people.

The world belonged to the adults, and the children were acutely aware that they lived in the grown-ups’ world. The children understood very well that their world was being controlled by the adults.

Leona didn’t think like that, but she was smart enough to recognize the logic behind people’s behaviors.

The behavior of children under the control of the adults was predictable.

They desired their own little world, free from adult control. People’s desires didn’t change much, and the children were the same way.

Children wished for a hideout, a secret place only they knew about to hang out at. In that place, they would create their own little world and share it with other children.

Just like Leona and her friends had used an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city as their hideout, the children here would be doing the same.

Since she was a kid herself, it was easy for her to spot the best hideout locations.

Quite simply, they were places that she, herself, would use as a hideout.

A concealed underground space just outside the city was best, but if the place was too deep in the ground, there wouldn’t be much sunlight, and that would be no good. The children didn’t have the resources to pay for electricity. As Leona walked around the city of Shane, she carefully scanned the periphery.

When she reached an area away from the sanitation wall with many abandoned buildings, Leona felt confident.

‘This is the place.’

Because the buildings were not habitable, people were not around. And because the area was filled with wreckage from demolished buildings, access seemed difficult. Those things would make that place off-limits to adults.

On top of that, thick piles of rock blocked the view of anything that was happening inside the abandoned buildings, which was an ideal setup for a hideout. Leona climbed to the top of the rock pile and entered an abandoned building. Getting there was difficult, but once she was inside, the path was flat.

She scanned the area as she passed through the structural remains of the building. She had not seen anyone, but her sixth sense told her that she was on the right track.

‘Something is definitely here.’

Then, she noticed a child’s head poking out and retreating through an opening in the alleyway. His movement was quick, like a child removing his hand from a hot stove after burning his hand.

Leona smiled widely.

“Yes, I’m a genius.”

She guessed that the child, who had just quickly run off, was the look-out for the hideout.

Farther in, Leona saw a narrow passageway in between the two abandoned buildings. There was enough light coming through to distinguish the objects around, and the path seemed to widen as she walked along it.

Soon, a small, dim, open space appeared. Rising dust in the sunlight made the place look like a scene out of a film noir.

About twenty kids were inside. They were all watching Leona with either their backs leaned against a wall or their heads cocked to one side.

At the end of the alley, was a boy sitting on top of an army supply container with his legs wide open, his elbows over his knees, and his chin cradled on top of his interlaced fingers. A ray of sunlight was hitting just below his chin.

He posed like a mafia boss from an old movie. The other kids stared at Leona with weary or nervous looks on their faces, but no one dared to speak before the boss kid opened his mouth.

The boy looked about fifteen or sixteen years old.

With his voice lowered and a blase look on his face, he said, “What are you doing here, kid?”

Because the boy was trying very hard to sound like a grown-up, Leona had to bite her lip with everything she had. She could burst out laughing at any moment if she were not careful enough.

But the boy, with what he thought was the meanest look on his face, continued, “I know everyone around here. Are you a foreigner?”

“Y-Yes…”

Trying to suppress her laugh, she stuttered, but the gang thought she was acting that way out of fear.

The boss boy seemed happy to see her afraid.

“Don’t be scared. We’re not bad people.”

‘Perhaps not bad but weird…’

She bit her lips even harder so she wouldn’t blurt out what she was thinking. However, the boss and the gang were starting to have a silly snicker on their faces as they took her silence for her trepidation.

“Everyone, relax. Don’t look so mean.”

Instantly, everyone’s faces turned more cheerful. Leona found that strange but also funny as hell.

“Excuse us. We’re on edge these days,” said the boy, having grossly misread Leona’s response.

“Oh… OK.”

On edge these days. Feeling very proud for having used that phrase, the boy stroked his imaginary beard as he stood up. He walked very slowly toward Leona.

“So, what’s your business here, foreigner?”

“U-Uh… N-Nothing… W-We’re staying in town for a few days.”

Leona decided to use the gang’s misunderstanding to her advantage. Boys like him had big egos and didn’t like their imagined authority threatened.

A frighten child would be easier for them to accept. If she were to behave in her typical foolhardy way, it would only result in fights, and she wouldn’t be able to complete her mission.

Ordinarily, she would’ve blurted out something like, ‘You bastards, what the fuck?!’ and then run off, but this was different.

She had a mission to complete and she shouldn’t let her filthy mouth get in the way. Playing along wouldn’t be too hard.

Leona lowered her gaze a little and considered her words carefully.

‘They’re really trying hard to act like adults. Can’t stand them, but I can manage. It doesn’t seem like they have any weapons. Maybe knives at best. I have my gun so I’m set…

‘What should I say? Let’s play? No, they wouldn’t like that because that’s what kids do. They’ll tell me to get lost. I want to be a member of your gang? Nah, that may seem suspicious. I just told them that I was only here for a few days, so they’ll think I’m lying.

‘If they want to act like adults…’

Leona organized her thoughts. No one had taught her how, but she had been learning a thing or two. She was becoming more like Zin and was able to evaluate the situation like him.

‘If I need to befriend them and boost their egos… then, it would be better to act serious and sincere. I don’t want to be the one to say it, but oh, well… I guess I’m just being really honest…’

With a serious look on her face, she stared at the boy and said, “I need information on Shane.”

The smiles disappeared from the children’s faces, and Leona’s face began to look more like the face of a Wargrave soldier carrying out a top secret mission. Actually, her facial expressions resembled Ramphil’s.

—————

Naturally, the gang wasn’t too receptive at first.

“Information? Why does a foreigner need info on Shane?”

“My teammate is a hunter. He needs to know what kind of place Shane is in order to carry out his mission smoothly.”

She wasn’t lying, but it would, no doubt, sound like a lie. Having heard so much about hunting, she could throw the words around easily.

“If you don’t believe me, we’re staying at the four-story hotel over that way. You can come check it out.”

Of course, they wouldn’t come. The children had their own world here, but once they were outside, they would return to being children. It was important that she gained their trust here. The gang mulled over it momentarily.

The boy, who seemed to have the final say, said, “I don’t quite trust you. If you were me, would you give up information to someone who just burst into the scene?”

‘Son-of-a-bitch, he’s being difficult.’

Leona’s insides were starting to turn a little.

“OK, what if you gave me some time to gain your trust?”

Since the gang let her hang out with them, she did her best to act like an adult. Zin would probably decide to stay there for a few days to gather info. Rather than rushing and messing up, it would be better to move cautiously.

Besides, she could learn what she needed to know from just hanging out with the children. Since they didn’t want to hand over the info, she needed to buy time until they would. Give a little to get a little. It was a simple strategy.

The boy considered it with a serious look on his face, and then nodded in agreement.

“Fine. It’s not polite to be rude to our guest. We’re not like the others.”

Leona winced.

‘There are others besides them?’

How could there be more than one gang like this in Shane? For the first time, Leona suddenly became concerned about the future of the free city she was visiting.

————–

While Leona was playing along with the children’s street lord, Cho-yul was heading to a bar. He had just borrowed some chips from Zin for research purposes.

“Ah, come on… this is it?”

Cho-yul sighed before going into the bar.

Zin had only given him two chips.

“This would be enough for one drink, right? Two chips would get you at least one drink even if it’s overpriced.”

“Ah, but if I want to hang out with the others…”

“Use it wisely.”

Zin was firm, and Cho-yul didn’t have the charms to change his mind. How ironic that a high-level sorcerer who could make rain fall from the sky had to bemoan over a few chips.

However, he had to make this work, so he carefully pushed the door open and went inside despite feeling unsure.

It was daytime, but there were already a few groups of people seated at the tables, drinking and talking amongst themselves. In a free city, the citizens were free to do whatever they wished, so hanging out in bars was OK as long as they had enough chips.

As expected, even in a bar, there was a Reaver. He was seated in the corner with his arms crossed, yawning, seemingly bored out of his mind, and didn’t seem to care much for his work.

The sour smell that filled the bar was a scent that Cho-yul loved.

An alcoholic who had drunk every day wouldn’t have lost his taste for alcohol that quickly.

The owner of the bar saw Cho-yul approach him and said flatly, “Beer. A chip for a pint, and I don’t negotiate.”

They only had beer, but that would do.

‘I can have two pints.’

With a smile of satisfaction on his face, he handed the owner a chip. Soon, a pint of beer was served in a dirty stainless glass. But when Cho-yul peered into his glass, he couldn’t help but frown.

He had seen his share of bad service, but not only was the glass only half-filled, but the beer also had no foam, and weird things were floating inside it.

“Mr. Owner, is this it?”

“If you don’t like it, throw it out and leave. No refunds.”

The owner already had the money, and he wasn’t going to give it back. Cho-yul stared at the miniscule amount of beer that was in his cup, and then stared at the owner. He thought about the insights he had gained and wondered what would be an appropriate response from a sorcerer to this shoddy service.

Speaking his language seemed like a wiser choice.

“Based on the way you conduct your business, you must do very well.”

“Ah, you flatter me.”

The owner of the bar smiled. Doing business in a free city meant serving visitors who were only there for a short time. The owner wouldn’t feel obligated to provide good service to them. The ones the owner would be nice to were his main consumers, the townspeople.

He had no idea that the high-level sorcerer had just given him a back-handed compliment. It wasn’t a curse, but there would be a few misfortunes in his future.

However, a bad service didn’t warrant a curse, so Cho-yul grabbed his glass and sat down at a table. His plan was to listen to the conversations around him, assess the situation, and then sit with a group.

If he had had enough chips, he would’ve bought drinks for everyone to win them over, but that wasn’t possible at the moment.

But first, it was time for him to taste his cheap beer. He took a sip, and then his face twisted into a grimace.

“… What the hell is this?!”

It was bitter, but he wasn’t tasting the bitterness of alcohol.

While living an idle life as a wanderer, he had grown many different grains and made alcohol with them. Once his master passed away and he had separated from his fellow apprentice, as a way to appear like an idiot, he had traveled far and wide to get a drink and often received a severe beating.

Through many ups and downs, he had tasted many different types of alcohol and he even had the knowledge to make some when the conditions were right.

Looking around, he noticed that the bar wasn’t loud. The people were conversing with each other quietly. At first, he thought it was because of the Reaver monitoring the place, but he now realized that it was because the people were not drunk; because they had been drinking fake beer.

He had tasted all types of beer and fake beer had been no exception.

Cho-yul was usually an easy-going guy who didn’t like to confront people, but there were some things he could not forgive—like duping paying customers with fake beer.

‘Skrrreek’

Cho-yul stood up from the old wooden chair indignantly, walked toward the counter holding his glass, and then put his glass in front of the bar owner.

Yet, he didn’t wish to make a scene. He stared at the owner menacingly, but the owner didn’t flinch.

“What do you want?”

“Did you think that anything that tastes nasty could pass for a beer? You may be able fool others, but you can’t fool me.” Cho-yul slowly expressed his anger.

He knew all too well that there were merchants who sold fake beer in places where there was no established drinking culture. The owner’s face cringed slightly. Cho-yul grabbed the back of his neck like a person who’s about to have a stroke and continued, “You took my money and made me drink urine, so you better make it right.”

Making faking alcohol required many different ingredients, but making fake beer only required urine. Naturally, human urine.