Bodo told me in detail about what had happened that day. Bodo has connections everywhere, so he knew many people in the brothel district. He gathered rumors through acquaintances and kept close watch on slum people who gave off a different feel than brothel district residents.
Finding Nixe was pure coincidence.
Bodo, with his sharp instincts, happened to spot an acquaintance from Schlange.
Due to the secretive nature of slum organizations that don't operate in the open, Bodo knew one of their members—he was his mother's regular customer. So after tailing him when he happened to spot him, Nixe came up.
After observing all day, he managed to catch contact between Schlange members and suspected nobles, and Bodo quickly left. When passing information to Oscar at The Pauper's Crown, Bodo didn't specifically tell him that the organization involved was Schlange.
He planned to sell that information to me separately for more money later.
What a cunning little guy. But that night, when a fight bordering on urban warfare broke out on the northern street, he sensed something had gone wrong. So he waited to make contact with Oscar again, but Schlange members burst in.
And a one-sided massacre followed.
Bodo managed to escape with his mother's help, but...
"My mom died! Dammit! This is all your fault! Why did you have to drag me into this!"
It's not unreasonable for Bodo to resent me.
I'd commissioned an investigation from someone unfamiliar with this place, and as a result, his beloved mother and family died. In effect, it was no different from me killing them. What kind of chain reaction is this—Rüdiger dying I can accept, but for Bodo's family to be massacred too?
There's a strong possibility those Schlange men knew Bodo was tailing them.
Because investigations were being conducted by the Finance Department or whoever due to the recent fence case, they'd probably planned to use Bodo's information against him—luring the investigator, me, to Nixe and eliminating him there. So they had organization members lying in wait, but who showed up instead were Rüdiger and the inspector unit.
The result was the nighttime urban warfare that caused dozens of deaths and casualties.
If my guess was correct, Bodo had suffered retaliation from Schlange. But why did Adelbert estimate it as Treppen? Perhaps Schlange had deliberately made it look like Treppen to frame them. Phew, things were spiraling in a complicated direction.
But questions still remained.
Why did Schlange go out of their way to lure me in and eliminate me? There's nothing to gain from targeting nobles and bureaucrats. With the Deputy Inspector General of Finance dead, this could trigger a large-scale crackdown on slum organizations. What reason did they have to take such a risk and carry out the attack?
I met the dejected Bodo's gaze.
"Bodo, come with me. I'll take responsibility for your life."
"Sir Knight, for me? Why?"
Bodo's eyes were full of distrust, but I wanted to fulfill my moral responsibility. It was cleaning up my own mess, but since his life had fallen apart because of me, I decided to take this child out of this district. It was a kind of compassion and meddling, but—
I'd nearly been attacked myself, and no one had expected things to turn out this way.
As I tried to leave the district with Bodo, suspicious people followed us. When Bodo told me they seemed like Schlange members, I used Hans's large frame to hide Bodo. But when we entered a certain alley, over ten men surrounded us from both ends and closed in.
Ted and Oscar guarded our rear.
The eyes of the man leading them glinted like a viper's.
Schlange means snake.
Cunning and cruel, snake-like people.
They boxed us in from both sides, targeting Bodo.
"Good day, noble sir. Have you perhaps seen a small rat bastard?"
"I wonder? Small rat bastards are common on this street, aren't they?"
"Ha ha, sir. The rat bastard we're looking for has a name. Goes by Hurensohn."
"That's different from the name I know. Aren't you the Hurensohn yourself?"
Hurensohn is an insult meaning son of a whore.
This viper-like bastard. He was deliberately asking just to mock me.
But I suppressed my emotions. Excluding Bodo, we had four people who could fight, but they seemed to have over ten. If I were alone, I would've somehow fought my way out, but I couldn't retreat since I had to protect Bodo. I activated the Manager Scouter.
The guy's name was Lloyd von Frost.
He was actually of noble birth. Why was a nobleman acting as a low-level slum executive? To mock others? This bastard must have been hiding his noble origins. The title of Schlange's action captain told me what role he played.
"Sir seems to enjoy raising small rat bastards as a hobby. Thanks to that, we received a nice gift at Nixe. We never imagined we'd be used either."
Were used?
What the hell did that mean?
"It's unintentional on my part, but you bastards won't listen anyway."
"As expected, noble sirs' methods are utterly ruthless. So we'll repay it tenfold."
You're a noble too!
When the viper grinned and signaled his subordinates, they drew one-handed swords similar in length to arming swords. I also drew my longsword and quickly gauged the alley's width. It was a narrow alley, but there was enough room to swing a longsword. Seven in front; five behind.
He'd brought twelve men.
Schlange seemed intent on finishing off Bodo and me for good.
[Savage Streets III Quest]
[Survive the Viper's Breath]
[Reward — 2,000 points, 20 silver coins (hazard pay)]
[Family Prestige +50]
[Danger Rating ★★☆☆☆]
Two-star danger rating?
But I trust my F-Rank Knight (military power 20%, courage 20%) title.
I absolutely won't go down without a fight.
"Ted, Oscar! I'm entrusting my back to you. If you hold out well, I'll employ you as soldiers of the Streit family. Don't die; endure as long as you can."
"I appreciate the employment guarantee, but it won't be easy."
Ted and Oscar were soldiers equipped with shields and arming swords, belonging to the Finance Department's inspector unit. Though they were rookies, as trained soldiers, they wouldn't be overwhelmed by slum organization members even while outnumbered. If the rear held, I could somehow win.
"Hans, if anyone gets knocked back or stumbles toward me, you finish them off."
"Leave it to me! I'll pull my weight!"
Hans answered eagerly, but his voice trembled with tension. Today might be Hans's first fight involving killing. The same went for Ted and Oscar, but someone from poverty and someone with a soldier's training can't be compared. The vipers slowly advanced.
The one fortunate thing was that since this was an alley, I didn't need to face more than three at once.
German swordsmanship specializes in seizing the initiative, pressing the offensive advantage, and subduing opponents. So I lunged without hesitation toward the vipers who were slowly closing in. I put full force into a diagonal downward slash at the viper in front. Zornhau, the anger cut, is the most powerful strike.
The viper's guard shattered under the weight that's nearly impossible to block with a one-handed sword.
And I deflected the sword swung by the viper on the left and drove the blade into his throat.
Psshh!
Blood gushed endlessly from the throat. I kicked the fallen viper's body back to block the next opponent's path, then pressed the viper whose guard had broken as he stumbled backward. Using the most fundamental close-range technique in German swordsmanship—binding the swords together, then rotating the blade from that position to counterattack like lightning, a technique called winding.
Clang!
"Kugh!"
"Scheisse!"
I bore the sword down as soon as we connected and stabbed his chest like lightning, pinning him to the wall. After narrowly dodging a sword arcing toward my back, I struck the opponent's hand with the pommel at the end of the longsword's handle, forcing him to drop his weapon.
I grabbed his collar and swept his legs to hurl him backward.
I passed him to Hans. Hans, with bloodshot eyes, seized the thrown prey.
"Aaaah! Die! Die!"
"Aaah!"
I heard the sounds of stabbing, but I had no time to look. Even after killing three, four still remained in front of me. But they hesitated slightly after realizing my swordsmanship was formidable. And that split second of hesitation was exactly the opening I'd been waiting for.
I lunged forward and drove my blade into the throat of the viper ahead, thrusting with full force.
"Grghhh!"
Thud!
After breaking through the vipers' formation, I kicked his stomach and wrenched the sword tip free from his throat. Stepping past the collapsed viper as blood poured out, I slammed another blade down to the ground—clang!—the sword of a viper thrusting in from the left. As soon as his balance collapsed, I slashed his throat and killed him, but I took a hit on my right shoulder.
I barely deflected the sword of the viper who'd wounded me and staggered backward.
Dammit, I got hit. It wasn't a deep wound, but since it was my first sword wound, my teeth clenched involuntarily.
With swords swinging from every direction, dodging cleanly was impossible. My expression twisted at the hot blood running down my back and the pain that flared whenever I moved my shoulder. With only two subordinate vipers remaining, the visibly rattled Frost drew his longsword and stepped in.
"Dammit, his skill is extraordinary! Don't attack alone, coordinate!"
A three-on-one confrontation formed again. Frost's stance was Vom Tag, the high offensive guard I use most in German swordsmanship. That was proof he'd formally learned swordsmanship and confirmed he was truly of noble birth. The scouter had been right.
What was a nobleman lacking that he'd joined a slum organization?
The viper Frost's sharp eyes glinted.