Chapter 97: The Ted Family

“I heard that a new information broker recently set up shop in the northern alleys of Ironheart. And that they're quite competent.”

“Hmm?”

“If the place you're looking for is ‘L’, then that should be it.”

The now much more docile thugs began to guide him.

The place Muno had entered was the southern alley where the market was, so the destination was further than he thought, but there was no problem finding the way.

“Hey, this is our territory……. Ah, please pass.”

Perhaps there was friction between the back alleys, as thugs appeared to block his path wherever he went, but upon seeing Muno's armor and weapon, they all meekly backed down.

Of course.

“The Street Destroyer……”

“If you get caught, he breaks everything……”

“He looks younger than I thought……”

“Shh.”

Slightly annoying words were occasionally heard, but he didn't want to pay them any mind.

However, there were some things he couldn't tolerate.

“Spare a coin.”

“Sir Knight, just one coin……”

Were they five or six years old?

The grimy children looked too young to be just beggars.

“Get lost, you beggar brats……!”

Thwack!

The thug who was about to curse and strike the children was sent flying 3 meters by a kick from behind, his back bent backwards as he slammed into a wall.

Thwang.

Jureureureuk.

“Heok.”

“Heek.”

At that, the other thugs who weren't the target of the attack screamed and began to cautiously observe the situation.

Never mind the bloodstain left on the wall where the guy had slid down.

“Kkeueueu…….”

The guy whose back was bent in a way it shouldn't be, even if he survived, probably wouldn't be able to function as a person.

Of course, the one who created the situation felt no guilt whatsoever.

“That crazy bastard, to the kids……”

Muno forced a smile at the young children who had frozen as if petrified while trying to beg.

“Heek!”

“P-please spare me!”

“We were wrong!”

……It seemed he had only managed to terrify the children even more.

So he decided to use a remedy that was effective for everyone.

Cheureureuk.

“Here, take this.”

“……Yes?”

After partially disarming his armor, he took out silver coins from his bosom and placed one in each of the children's hands.

He knew that giving them a lot of money right now wouldn't change the lives of these children living in the slums.

Therefore, this might just be a deception close to self-satisfaction, or self-comfort.

Still.

“Here, buy something delicious to eat today.”

“……Th-thank.”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you, Sir Knight!”

He couldn't help but feel proud seeing the children, who bowed their heads repeatedly in gratitude, smile brightly for a moment.

Even though he knew that such slums would never disappear unless the social structure itself changed.

And even though he knew he didn't have the ability to do so.

“Thank you, Sir Knight!”

“Thank you!”

He smiled back at the children who were moving away with bright faces, but he felt a lingering sense of unease.

‘This is frustrating…….’

In his past life in Korea, he had of course never seen children begging, and even in Drasen, there were no such children.

But to see such a sight in Ironheart, which was known to be much more prosperous than Drasen.

‘If it weren't for Father, would I have become like those children?’

Perhaps his situation would have been even worse.

No, it definitely would have been.

‘A chained-up beggar kid with a demon in his head.’

Just imagining it, the bleak future was vividly drawn.

He was grateful to his father once again, and it hit him that this fantasy world was indeed a shitty place.

In that situation.

“An artifact……”

“Wow……”

Perhaps they saw him transform his armor, as he heard an annoying sound.

He wanted to just ignore it if possible, but.

“The Ted Family kids, they’re pretty good, huh?

Robbing a knight’s pocket……”

He couldn't just let that kind of talk slide.

“What did you say?”

At those words, the whispering thug flinched and avoided his gaze.

But the moment Muno took a slight step, he had no choice but to speak hastily.

“Th-those children are part of the Ted Family!

This northern alley organization!”

“……What?”

What kind of children’s organization……. Ah!

‘Come to think of it…….’

An old saying he had heard in his past life flashed through his mind.

‘Aengbeori (Child beggars used by gangs)…….’

Hah.

“So, they make the kids beg and……”

“The Ted Family will take that money too.”

The thug who had brought it up unnecessarily added hastily, as if making an excuse.

“Then the kids?”

“Since they paid the silver coin, they’ll get warm bread and soup today.”

“Haaa…….”

Yes, that would be it.

The rulers wouldn't care about the security of these back alleys.

Then the future of the children raised here would eventually be.

“……It’s, it's not us, it's a different organization! Here.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Not much different from these hideous-faced trashes.

‘Those young children, like this…….’

Just imagining it roughly.

……It was the worst.

“Hmph. Do you guys do that too?”

“Our, our territory is not a slum like this!”

As if he had some kind of intuition, the guy who seemed to be the leader of the thugs suddenly shouted and shook his head violently.

“……Right. A human should be. Hmph. Let’s go back for a moment.”

“Yes?”

“That organization that rules this slum. Guide me there.”

He would have to play the role of a hero of justice for today.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the children's lives would change just by crushing one back-alley organization.

But for now, he had to release this surging anger.

Whether he would become a hero of justice or a hero of wrath, he didn't know.

“……Yes?”

“You don't know? If you don't know, I'll find someone else.”

Woddeuk.

The moment he clenched his fist again, the boss’s gaze quickly scanned the form of his former companion who was slammed into the wall with his back bent backwards.

“Ah, I know!”

“Yeah, you should know.”

“Th-that is……”

This bastard.

Just as he was about to glare at him for constantly finding fault.

“I’m, I’m not worried about us. I’m worried about you, Sir Knight.”

“What?”

The answer that came back was just absurd.

“Do I look like someone who can be handled just because you gather a bunch of trash like you?”

“Th-that’s not it……”

A smirk appeared on his face as he looked at the guy rolling his eyes.

‘He really thinks so.’

Come to think of it, there were people like that in his past life in Korea too.

People who watched movies and mistakenly thought that gangsters were really good at fighting.

Of course, experience makes a person grow, so it would be better than not having fought at all.

But people who are truly good at fighting don't act like thugs.

‘They fight in the ring and cage for big money.’

If there was a talent needed for a gangster, it was a dirty personality that could stab a person with a knife if things went south and a conscience that was numb to all sorts of illegal acts, not a talent for fighting.

Like the old friends Han Munho of his past life had often seen and experienced, and used as a negative example.

Moreover, in this world where superpowers run rampant, unlike in his past life, such a misunderstanding was not even a joke.

“Is there a thug in that organization who has learned Corporeal Arts?

An idiot who prefers being a thug to being a high-level mercenary or a knight and extorts money from children’s begging?”

However.

“But the numbers……”

“And, th-the Ted Family is rumored to be connected to a powerful noble in the royal castle! No, it’s certain from the circumstances!

Those guys, they’re like they’ve received some kind of training……”

The words that followed were a little concerning.

“Hmm? What family?”

Well, no matter what he heard, he wouldn't change the decision he had already made.

He had just asked just in case.

“That, that, how would guys like us know that. It’s just that their behavior is so strange for a rumor……”

As expected, it didn't seem like there was anything to worry about.

Pfft.

What kind of big shot would a noble who joined hands with back-alley thugs be?

“If you say one more useless thing, I’ll make you like that immediately.”

“Heup…….”

The boss, who had once again looked at the thing made ‘like that’, soon gulped and then nodded his head like crazy.

“Just guide me.”

And he began to lead the way, guiding the direction with a gesture of his hand.

Ah. Come to think of it, no matter how shitty a fantasy world this was, there was a good point.

That was, no one would say anything even if he summarily executed trash like this.

* * *

“Hey, I heard there’s a knight who gives money……”

“Hurry, hurry. Us too.”

The slum children who were flocking down the alley.

Jeobeokjeobeok.

Stopped in their tracks when they saw a man in black armor approaching at some point.

Even though they knew that the knight was the person they were looking for.

“Uh……”

“Hey, that person……”

“Uh, yeah.”

The children who had been begging since they were young naturally had to develop a sense of tact.

They instinctively felt that they should absolutely not talk to that knight who was said to be handing out money to children right now.

Into the alley where the children had hastily hidden, Muno and the gang of thugs guiding him entered.

And soon, in front of Muno's eyes, a giant structure (?) in the form of what looked like slum shacks piled up and fortified with bricks appeared.

“It’s there.”

“Hoh……?”

As if to deny the fact that the northern alley slum was the shadow of the magnificent Ironheart, the building that looked shabby from a distance looked like a fortress up close.

And the thugs who seemed to be guarding the place that looked like the entrance in front of the building exuded a deadly aura like soldiers.

“……Look at this?”

Though he was puzzled by the atmosphere that was a little different from what he had expected, he walked on alone.

“Stop.”

“Who are you?”

The thugs, who seemed slightly taller than him, suddenly drew daggers or short swords and blocked his path as if to question him.

“You seem to be a knight, but this is not a place for a noble person like you. Please go back.”

The way he spat was like a thug, but his manner of speaking was surprisingly polite.

He wondered what was going on, but he wanted to be sure.

“Ah. I have something I want to ask.”

“Then you should go to an information broker.

It seems the novices behind you have given you the wrong directions.”

The thugs’ deadly gazes turned towards the southern thug gang left behind.

Of course, Muno didn't care about that.

“Do you guys happen to make a living by making children beg and taking their money?”

At those words, the thug's face contorted.

“It seems the Sir Knight is very interested in our business, but please go back and have a talk with the ‘higher-ups’ and come back.

It will be a big problem if a young man like you acts like this here.”

A strange confidence was tinged in the smirking thug’s face.

No matter how he looked at him, he didn't seem to be a Corporeal Arts user.

‘……Huh?’

In that moment, Muno's gaze was directed behind the guy.

“Ah, you have a backer?

So you……. exploit children like that?”

In a corner of this large fortress (?), in front of the thugs collecting money, he had found some of the children he had given alms to.

“I’m telling you again, it’s not your business to be concerned with, your excellen……!?”

Thwang!

The smirking thug was crumpled by a single kick and sent flying backwards.

At that, the guys behind him, instead of the guy who couldn't even scream, began to shout.

“It’s an attack!”

“It’s a knight!”

“Emergency!”

Ding ding ding.

A loud bell rang inside the building, and as the children who were paying their dues scattered in surprise.

“Kill him!”

“It’s one guy!”

Muno frowned as he watched the thugs who began to pour out of the building.

‘What are these guys?’

Why were neighborhood thugs charging at a knight without even being afraid?

He had his doubts, but.

“Does the young punk want to play the hero of justice!!”

A deadly smile automatically appeared on his face as he watched the thugs who were shouting mockingly and rushing in.

“I don't know if I'm a hero of justice, but……”

Chwareureureuk.

“……I can't rest until I get rid of the things that get on my nerves.”

Soon, the chains that stretched out from his four limbs began to mercilessly strike the charging thugs.