Love Letter From The Future

4. Rynella’s fate is decided by Rynella (29)

The ‘swindlers’ of the ghetto were a type of moneylender.

Of course, it was not a self-proclaimed expression, but belonged to the derogatory term given by people in the slums. It was because the main source of income was to extort money by deceiving the ignorant rural people.

It was a parasite-like organization that could be found everywhere.

However, as can be seen from the fact that I was unaware of their existence, they were a new force that had settled in the Percus Territory not too long ago.

Loan business was basically a business for those in need of money. It was customary for merchants with delivery dates just around the corner to visit to borrow money.

Therefore, for the appearance of moneylenders, a prerequisite was necessary.

It was the existence of a market.

If the market is not formed, the lending business will not be a business. And permanent markets existed only in large-scale estates.

It was because the demand for a permanent market to exist was necessary to sustain it.

There was no reason for moneylenders to enter the rural Percus territory.

However, as Lia actively went up, some changes took place.

Materials were systematically supplied and decent jobs were created. And thanks to Lia’s efforts, a currency economy gradually began to emerge in the Percus Territory.

As a result, a small permanent market was established in the Percus territory.

Of course, this was only a recent thing.

The economic situation of the Percus Territory was still poor, and the size of the market was not large. But once the market existed, it caught the attention of a few swarms of flies.

Although still small, it was a place that was gradually developing.

It wasn’t bad to reserve a seat in advance.

In particular, the guys called ‘swindlers’ belonged to the worse quality. They were an organization that had separate bases and ran a loan business across several territories like a branch.

Of course, its power and capital power were different from other municipal miscreants.

Even so, Yangachi was just a Yangachi.

Nevertheless, Lia did not touch the ‘swindlers’ for various reasons.

First of all, from a short-term perspective, the inflow of capital in some way has a positive effect. First of all, it was because money had to circulate in the market.

In the long run, one would have to worry about capital outflow through high-interest loans, but now, the Percus domain was in an urgent situation.

I couldn’t afford to worry about such a distant future.

Also, the unavoidable reality that the Percus family couldn’t afford to take care of the ‘swindlers’ was one of the main reasons for neglecting them.

If you put your mind to it, you could do it.

The Empire’s laws were strict.

It was unimaginable that the neighborhood bullies would oppose the aristocratic lord. If he did, he would have to face the severe judgment of the nearby lord or the central army of the Empire.

It’s just that the ‘con artists’ weren’t causing enough trouble to do so.

They too had years spent in the back alleys.

He was well aware of the fact that nothing good would come from touching a noble.

That’s how the ‘swindlers’ were exploiting the simple-minded people of the territory, watching the Percus family’s notice.

I heard that there are more than tens of people who have already been caught in their tricks and become debt slaves.

It wasn’t bad news for me.

If it went wrong, it would have been enough to go out with the mindset of exterminating pests.

However, fortunately or unfortunately, the ‘swindlers’ immediately took a low profile despite my unexpected visit.

“Aigoo, Bocchan! If you had told me beforehand, I would have treated you a little more properly… … .”

At the same time, the man who glanced at me was a middle-aged man with shaggy hair.

Probably the head of the branch, as soon as he heard the news, he jumped out like a thunderbolt and led me to the drawing room. It was a shabby building, but the reception room was surprisingly tidy.

It’s probably to give credit to people who take out loans.

If not, to make a good impression when treating VIPs like me.

Either way, it wasn’t a reason I liked it.

I asked straight forward.

“Recently, there have been many cases of disappearances in the slums.”

“… … yes?”

The middle-aged man tilted his head at the sudden question.

It was a face that was completely unremarkable.

Regardless, I slumped down on the table in the drawing room. The middle-aged man, who had been staring blankly at me, was startled and sat across from me.

At the gesture of a middle-aged man, one of the big ones rushed out.

It didn’t take long for a cup of tea of decent quality to come out.

“Do you know anything?”

The expression of the middle-aged man became strange at the blatant questions thrown in succession.

My speech was quite direct for an aristocrat.

In the first place, I wasn’t a smart person like Retonaria. She didn’t have the capacity to mobilize a high degree of political rhetoric like Delphine’s seniors and the saintess.

That’s why my way of speaking was always faithful to a straight line.

The more I did, the more difficult it was for the other person to grasp my intentions. The words were so plain, the only information that could be inferred was the question I threw.

The middle-aged man, who had been thinking for a while, soon smiled.

“Oh, can that be? Even though we are lowly bastards who do nothing but bullying, we have not forgotten the grace of the Percus family. But human trafficking!”

I shook my head and agreed with the middle-aged man’s words.

Then, the furry middle-aged man continued his speech with a more relieved expression.

“I don’t do anything that goes beyond that! You can ask the rest of the Percus family about this… … .”

“Well sir.”

At my innocent recognition, the middle-aged man put on a slightly puzzled expression.

Like it or not, the words that came out of my mouth were always simple.

“Then, could you possibly get information about the debtors? It seems that there are not many cases in which people in slums have publicly registered their personal information… … .”

“No, of course!”

The middle-aged man hurriedly got up and took out a bunch of papers from the drawer. I read the document without saying anything.

Many of them were included on the list given by Arthur, the magistrate of the empire.

This meant that there were many missing persons.

Of course, this alone was insufficient evidence. Knowing this, the other party must have also submitted the documents.

But there was one thing he didn’t know.

“… … There are many people who are missing.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t it? People who have debts they cannot afford are bound to run away at night.”

“Will that cancel the debt?”

“No, of course I am getting it from my family. We also have to eat and live… ha ha ha.”

Not just my family, but anyone with a relationship would visit and harass them.

I was familiar with their methods.

The academy was not a flower garden, and there were a lot of ugly people who went bankrupt after being caught by bad guys who would indulge in gambling and entertainment.

Even so, I did not deliberately pretend to doubt the words of the middle-aged.

He just nodded, thumped the papers, and set them down on the table.

“… … Did you get the information you were looking for?”

“Yes, roughly.”

Whoa, a sigh of relief leaked from the middle-aged man’s mouth.

He soon began to please me in a servile tone.

“I heard that the second prince of the Percus family is a pacifist. Most of the time, people who come to visit us often intimidate or intimidate us… … .”

“Where is the need to do that?”

At my nonchalant answer, the middle-aged man smiled brightly as if it were indeed so.

And as I cautiously pointed at the papers on the table, my keen senses caught a fleeting change in the middle-aged man’s expression.

It was a mockery.

A smile filled with joy that he had tricked the blue kid. The unfortunate fact for him was that I hadn’t come here for the purpose of interrogation in the first place.

I was already certain.

‘I’ from the future never gives useless information.

Even more so, it was only after he had repeatedly acquired the conviction that the disappearance case was related to some kind of criminal act. There was no way it would work even if he made an excuse for his whereabouts being unknown due to a simple runaway.

A connection point existed.

However, in order to hear this, a more ‘peaceful method’ was needed.

The hatchet was slammed, the furry middle-aged man screamed, and the table was smashed, splinters of lumber flying in all directions.

The hatchet had already mashed the shoulder of one of the hulking that surrounded me.

While the pieces of wood were scattered, my body ran like a wild beast.

The first man caught in my hand was the man in front of me.

I used all the strength I had been running and put my fist into my face. The man’s face crumpled around the center of the dot with a goosebumps sound.

The sound of banging on a leather drum resounded.

“Phehe… … !”

And along with him, blood and teeth splattered his vision.

Even the big ones didn’t sit still.

The reaction of the two hefty men assaulting me was instantaneous.

It meant that they were not.

At least, they were not hired by a single moneylender in a country estate, from a mercenary background.

That’s probably why Leah left a warning that it was dangerous.

However, it wasn’t my current opponent.

With a snap, a hatchet flew from the side and slammed into one of the man’s forearms. The man’s body leaned sideways, unable to overcome the force.

The man had eyes in disbelief.

It was only natural that the hatchet stuck in his colleague’s shoulder moved freely.

It was the trick of Jeong Jung-dong.

Although it was only once, it was a sword circle secret technique that twisted the trajectory and created new momentum. It was a group of risers who had no clue about the bullies in the back alley.

Helplessly, three of the giants collapsed.

The other one that rushed at me was enough to bend down to avoid the swinging bat. It was enough for me to directly hit the pit in the arms I was digging into.

The fist that squeezed through the gap in the skeleton delivered a terrifying amount of impact to the inside.

Blood gushed out from the mouth of the man bent over my shoulder. I easily passed over the giant man with only physical strength.

Now, there are three remaining.

I screamed and pulled the hatchet from the shoulder of the hulking man as he tried to fall. The man looked in great pain, so I didn’t forget the consideration of hitting him in the temple with the blunt side of the axe.

A big guy who collapses with a thump without even screaming.

My hand fired a beam of light without hesitation.

A moan of pain flowed out along with blood. The hatchet, which broke its trajectory before it had time to react, immediately slashed another man’s knee and took care of the two.

The remaining one hurriedly ran and pulled out a dagger from its bosom.

Even though he would not be safe if he touched a knife or a nobleman, he used a real sword.

That meant I felt threatened.

Of course, I had no intention of getting hurt.

Vision diagrams space. Space was disintegrating like threads.

My hand tugged at the thread.

The trajectory of the stab that was stretched out was twisted along the trajectory of the torn space.

The arm of the man with a bewildered expression was naturally caught in my hand.

Then, as he pushed his arms down and kicked his knees, a scream rang out from the man’s mouth along with the sound of his bones being crushed.

“… … aagh!”

“shut up.”

With a plaintive word, I plunged my elbow into the back of the man’s bent neck in pain.

The man’s body twitched, then stiffened and collapsed.

It didn’t even take a few minutes for the seven-year-old man to collapse.

The furry middle-aged man was terrified and trembling.

It was an organization that included many former mercenaries, no matter how gangsters they were. It must be embarrassing to be incapacitated without being able to resist properly.

I pulled out a hatchet from the knee of one of the henchmen.

Only then did the blood that flowed in a row spurt out. There was an unconcealable fear in the eyes of the hulking man clutching his knees.

It didn’t seem like he had any intention of resisting me, so I didn’t bother taking an extra hit.

“… … Stretch, peace!”

At one shout from the shaggy middle-aged man, my eyes moved to him.

I waited for the next words to come.

I just wanted to see what he would say.

“He said he was a ‘pacifist’!”

The expression of the middle-aged man who shouted like that looked very unfair.

Only then did I say “Oh,” and let out a faint exclamation.

Come to think of it, that was my nickname.

“Huh,” came a simple answer from my mouth.

“… … You are at peace now.”

It was a joke thrown to lighten the mood, but the middle-aged man’s reaction was different from what I expected.

His complexion turned pale.

Those eyes looking at me, surprisingly, I haven’t seen in a long time, so I ended up with a bitter smile.

It was the eyes of a madman.