On the 3rd floor of the tavern, where the Apple Narak team always gathered, Raven let out an uncharacteristic sigh. The reason for this sigh was the absence of one person from the meeting due to unforeseen circumstances.

"Well, we're all here, as promised, but we won't be able to do the distribution in this lineup.

It had been 3 days since they had returned to the city. On behalf of the absent leader, Raven visited Commelbi and sold all the loot herself. The amount was 152.4 million stones.

"100 million?!" I've never heard of such an amount before!

"Wow, is this the amount even minus the equipment we took?"

"Well, it was the same as selling equipment collected from seven mid-rank researchers. The numbered item "Foxflame Knot" had only been listed on the stock exchange and had not even been sold yet.

— ... Of course, I expected a large amount, but it's really incredible.

As soon as they heard the amount, everyone gasped. This was exactly the reaction she was counting on, but why did she feel like something was missing? Raven unconsciously looked at the empty seat at the table.

I didn't notice him when he was here, but it's kind of boring without him.

Bjorn, Yandel's son, is the leader of the Apple Narak team and a barbarian warrior who served as the team's guardian. If he were here, they would already be fighting a war of nerves over the distribution coefficient.

The conversation would go something like this:

"Do you want to get 40% of the cost of the Manticore essence because it's a special loot?" What a strange calculation. Maybe if we had won at dice that day, but it was obtained from a dwarf, so it would be fair to distribute it equally.—Then what about the 20 million stones received as labor pay?—You will certainly get back the value of the test tube. But 40% of the labor pay? As far as I remember, the agreement on the distribution of special booty did not contain a clause on payment for labor?!

He would have laughed and, as always, would have offered a new compromise. At the time, she thought it was just for profit, but maybe it wasn't.

"Aruru, what are you thinking?"

"Well, about nothing.

Raven brushed off her thoughts and interrupted the chatter.

"If no one needs urgent money, I'll hold it until Mr. Yandel returns."

"Good, of course. Einar can just borrow money from me.

"Again?" Do I have to borrow money again!?

"In any case, you don't have enough money to pay back the debt. If you take the money in advance, it will only complicate the calculations for Aruru. So just wait until then, okay?

"Good!"

"Hmph, they said 20 days, right?" Now there are a little more than two weeks left.

For some reason, Raven felt strange. She herself suggested it, but is it okay to just agree to one person storing goods worth more than 100 million stones? Usually not. As a mage, Raven couldn't resist asking.

"Aren't you all worried?" I said that I would keep them.

"Hm?

"Worry?" Why would that!?

The reaction was as if she had asked a strange question. That made her feel even stranger. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it was hard to understand.

Maybe that's why that mage used Awakening magic back then?

When she first heard this story from Bjorn, she thought he was too naïve. After all, a Magus from the Magic Tower would never do anything like that. But now she could understand his decision. Not by much, but maybe by 1%.

— In any case, the agenda for today is exhausted.

After the purpose of the meeting was fulfilled, they ate together and chatted about various things. Naturally, most of the conversations were devoted to their absent leader.

"Arrung, what is this place, Biphron?"

— ... Bad place. There, even virtuous people become vile.

"That's what poverty and hunger do to man.

"Mr. Urikfried, have you experienced this yourself?"

— ... In my 3rd year, I had an incident where I lost all my gear. I had to live on stone bread for a whole year just to barely save money and get back on my feet. And I paid taxes with difficulty.

The atmosphere became a little heavier. Mike said cautiously:

"He should be fine, right?" With Bjorn?

"What are you worried about, Miss Karlstein?" He is strong, he has money. What difficulties can he have? He is probably now relaxing like on vacation.

"Mm... I hope so...

Raven smirked and shook her head. What can you say to a girl in love to console her in such a situation? At that moment, Misha seemed very cute to her.

She is a year older than me...

For some reason, she even became jealous.

Will I ever be able to make such a face in relation to someone?

It was not easy to imagine now. Mike turned her head, embarrassed that they were looking at her, and innocently pinched Ainhar's side.

"Ainar, stop eating meat and say something." Aren't you worried about Bjorn?

— ... And? About Bjorn? Why should I worry about Bjorn? Bjorn is a great warrior! Without the law, he will live better!

This was a truly barbaric response.

Usually, at this moment, you should shake your heads as a sign of disapproval.

—…

But everyone was silent, as if on command. The reason was simple.

It seemed that it would be so. After all, he was a man who skillfully circumvented the law and did whatever he wanted.

***

I screamed.

Louder than ever.

'Behellaaa

At the moment, I was on the terrace of the 4th floor of the old administrative office building of the 14th District. At ground level, there were 514 people in a row, and now they only had to take one action. Since I shouted first, their job was to shout back.

"Behellaaa!"

This was the result of my achievements during my 3 days in this place. I became the boss of the Western Alliance, which occupied the western district of Bifron. It was not difficult. Because where there is no law, it would be natural and logical for force to become law. In short, I just came and smashed everything.

"Too quiet!"

'Behellaaa

"Louder!"

'Behella

Now that I had subordinates, I taught them the battle cry of the barbarians, but they were not very good at it. I guessed that it was because there was not a single barbarian among all these people.

It will take some time for me to be satisfied. If someone were to ask the fundamental question why I teach them this at all, I would only have one answer: I was a Korean barbarian who inherited a humanitarian spirit. Of course, good things need to be shared.

'Behella

It still wasn't up to my standards, so I grabbed my mace, which made their shouting even louder.

Okay, that's enough.

"We're done for today!" Go and have fun! Just don't do anything that could hurt others!

"Yes, sir!"

Having finished the regular morning gathering, which began for the first time today, I dismissed my subordinates. Many of them were on crutches due to broken legs, but with the help of their colleagues, they were able to safely leave the premises.

Now it was time for me to start my morning.

"Tea is ready."

Entering the room, a man with a jellyfish haircut, without the top of his head, bowed and served me brunch.

Until yesterday, he was the boss of the Western Alliance. He suffered from severe hair loss, so he usually wore a wig, but I told him to stop wearing it from now on. A subordinate shouldn't hide anything from his boss, right?

"Tea and bread, right?"

When I saw breakfast served on the table, I couldn't help but sigh.

"Are you kidding?" Bring me wine and meat.

"What?" Oh, yes! Forgive me. I didn't know what you wanted, so I served what I usually ate...

"Because you eat something like that for breakfast, even though you're still young, your hair is already falling out."

"Th-it's because of the witch's venom!"

yes, of course. If that were the case, then everyone here would be bald.

"Don't make up stupid excuses.

—…

After a short wait, grilled grilled meat with a crispy crust was served on the table.

As usual, I ate it with my bare hands. Thanks to the thick leather on the hands and high fire resistance, this was not difficult.

"What is your name?" I don't remember.

"That's because, you didn't ask...

Is this a riot?

Just when this thought occurred to me, he realized his mistake and quickly corrected his words.

"Jincasar Feldjain."

— Unusual. Where does this name come from?

"It comes from the south-central region.

Oh, so his ancestors were desert dwellers. No wonder his skin was so dark.

"Hmm...

I watched him for a while and pondered. Jincasar Feldjain? It was too difficult to pronounce. For practicality, it should be shortened. Well, since he was Mr. Gene...

"Jinjin." Yes, Whiner* sounds good.

In Korean, Jinjin means "whiner."

— ... Forgive me?

"From now on, I'll call you Whiner.

The answer came only after a long pause.

— ... I do.

"You should have added 'boss' at the end."

— Da, boss...

Whiner didn't seem to like his new name at all, but what could he do?

If I didn't like it, I shouldn't lose or at least manage my subordinates better so that they wouldn't start fighting me.

— Water.

"Excuse me?"

— Water.

"Oh, yes!

After eating, I swallowed the antidote that the knight gave me, washed down with water. Not knowing what it was made of, I was wary of it, but since Raven had guaranteed its safety, I was sure it was okay.

Not accepting it, I became even more worried.

Bifron was the county where the protective magic circle had been damaged. The witch venom that had brought the world to an end was seeping inside even at this moment, and all the inhabitants of this county were exposed to it. Witch venom could be mistaken for radioactivity, but as befits in this fantasy world, it has its own peculiarity.

It does not affect people under 15 years old. After that, the likelihood of its manifestation increases depending on the time of exposure.

If we explain it in a playful sense, then Bifron is a place covered with probability traps that can cause instant death. For adults, life expectancy after deportation was 8-9 years, and that was only because the protective magic circle worked halfway. If they left the castle walls, they died within a day.

Although, no one has ever left the city.

The world outside the city was also unknown to me. Even in the game, it was completely locked by the system.

"I'm full. Let's take a walk.

— ... I will accompany you.

I took Whiner for a walk and walked aimlessly in one direction, asking questions that interested me. Since he had once been the head of the organization, he was more knowledgeable than the kid who had guided me on the first day, and even answered strange questions sincerely. He even put his soul into making me a real boss.

"Ask me anything you want to know." I, Jincasar Feldjain, will answer everything.

Well, his ulterior motives were all too obvious. He probably thought he would only have to endure it for 20 days, after which I would leave. And if he tries to stab me in the back, he'll probably be killed.

Should I thank this guy?

Of course, I did not plan that I would be exiled to Bifron, and that I would swallow the Western Alliance, but it was not without a plan either. Like it or not, I'll be staying here for 20 days. I reasoned that it would be less of a hassle if I got a little comfortable here. In addition, I wanted to check something personally. Well, I can't say that I wasn't bored.

"But, boss, how far are you going to go?" We are already in the eastern district.

"Just follow me."

When the morning walk dragged on for more than 2 hours, Whiner expressed doubts.

"But there are only city walls farther on...

"This is the destination.

An empty city wall? Why?

The question ran through his mind, but Whiner asked no more questions. In one day, he learned to talk to me.

*Top!*

So we found ourselves on the street near the city wall. I climbed onto the roof of the tallest building, and began to watch the wall.

Everything is the same here.

As in other districts, there were soldiers standing on the wall.

I always wondered: Why were the soldiers watching this side and not outside?

I asked Whiner about this, but the answer was as follows.

— I don't know exactly. Probably in case someone tries to go outside.

To be honest, I thought so too. And everyone else thought so too.

But...

Why do it in Bifron?

From the point of view of the royal family, it would be better if these people disappeared.

Moreover, if they died from the witch's venom while trying to climb over the wall, it would only help prove the legitimacy of the royal family.

It's all strange.

This contradiction caught my eye as soon as I arrived here. The protective magic circle of Bifron was broken, so even the sentinels on the city walls had to be supplied with antidote. And yet they are wasting their resources to post Marines here?

There is something here.

It was my intuition, the same intuition that allowed me to discover countless hidden parts. But no matter how much I looked at the walls, no matter how much I put my thoughts in order, the answer did not come. I had a plausible hypothesis, but there was still not enough evidence to support it.

"Let's go back." I'm hungry.

"Yes, boss.

Soon I looked up from the wall and turned around. At that moment, a group of several dozen people appeared on the street below.

"Oriental bastards. It looks like they've found out you're here. What will you do?

Although he asked a question, it was clear from Whiner's eyes that he expected me to crush them as well as his group. Too easy to read.

"It's all right. Lead me back to our territory. It's better not to get involved in this...

Just as I was about to leave, I froze like a rock. There was a familiar face among the oriental bastards.

… Amelia Reinvales?

Why is she here?