Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 88

Underground Search

That evening, Irena removed the bandages that had been wrapped around her hands.

“Ugh. They feel weird.”

“That’s probably because new flesh has grown back. But still, all your calluses should be gone too.”

At Tanya’s words, Irena looked over her hands from different angles.

“I… guess you’re right.”

Her hands had once been damaged to the point where the bones were visible. There was no way any calluses could have remained.

Irena showed a slightly disappointed expression. One visible mark of all her hard work had vanished just like that.

“And while you were recovering, it looks like the puppets from the other organizations have all been decided.”

Kairus glanced over some documents and let out a small sigh.

“Does that mean they’re not going to be easy to deal with?”

“Lukas hired the hunters way too early, and on top of that, the arrival of a Lunaseeker agent was practically confirmed.”

Kairus’s team had even gone as far as wiping out three of those hunters.

“Not just the Lunaseeker agent—those hired by the other two organizations have impressive résumés too.”

All of those factors seemed to have acted as a catalyst, stirring up the other groups.

Everyone invested more resources than initially expected and brought in formidable fighters.

“Areumdri Pawnshop looks like they’re going all in on brute force.”

Instead of hiring a pre-established team, they brought in four individual powerhouses and forced them into a makeshift unit.

“They went purely by skill.”

Irena, who was also scanning the documents, frowned. The four hired by Areumdri Pawnshop were indeed skilled, but calling them mentally sound would be a stretch.

“Well, of course. Areumdri Pawnshop is run by criminals who fence stolen goods.”

It wasn’t unusual for criminals to hire villains. Besides, Kairus himself had too many misdeeds under his belt to be judging others.

“Still, this is excessive. I doubt those guys can even work as a team.”

“Such compassion. You’re worried about the enemy’s ability to cooperate.”

Kairus wasn’t wrong.

If those guys rampaged without coordination, it’d actually be a relief.

“Honestly, the chances of that are low.”

Areumdri Pawnshop clearly paid them handsomely. And just because the owners didn’t show up in person didn’t mean they weren’t watching closely.

“If they mess things up by fighting among themselves, it’s obvious what comes next.”

They wouldn’t escape Areumdri Pawnshop’s retaliation.

“So we can’t count on them falling apart.”

Still, that didn’t mean a split wouldn’t happen. Irena, now wearing her gas mask, took a few breaths to make sure it was working properly before replying.

“But they’ll fight each other too.”

This wasn’t going to be a simple battle between Kairus’s team and the other three. It was a free-for-all where everyone was everyone else’s enemy.

“And if we manage to enter the Dimensional Maze, we’ll definitely gain an edge over the other teams—except for Lunaseeker.”

At Kairus’s words, Irena let out a curious “Oh?”

“Can you explain why?”

“To put it simply…”

The final organ implanted into direct descendants of the Featherwing is called the rear node. It means ‘migratory bird.’

Like migratory birds that travel thousands of kilometers without losing their way.

Thanks to the rear node, Kairus’s sense of balance and direction was absolute.

“I won’t get lost in the maze.”

Since he couldn’t talk about the Featherwing, Kairus could only give a simple explanation.

Having packed everything, Kairus turned to Melvin who was approaching from a distance.

“So once we’re underground, we need to find the path to the maze as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Melvin took a deep breath and responded.

“And remember this well, Doctor. Even if we have injured people, we’re not going back to the surface until we run out of supplies.”

The reason Kairus had gone back to the surface previously wasn’t out of compassion—it was because he judged it to be acceptable.

But not this time.

If possible, Kairus wanted to wrap up the Pontus assignment with this expedition.

And so, Kairus and his companions once again made their way into the city’s sewer system. Naturally, this news was also relayed to the teams hired by the other organizations.

“Alright, I’ll get moving too.”

Nora Galatea, who had been sipping cocoa topped with a heap of cream at a café, stood up and spoke to Shaun.

Shaun, reading a newspaper and smoking a cigarette, gave a small nod.

The moment she got the go-ahead, Nora headed straight into the sewer system—unlike the other teams, she hadn’t even bothered to pack any supplies.

‘There’s nothing to worry about.’

The dark sewers were an ideal environment for a Lunaseeker agent.

It would be an insult to even compare her to the three hunters who were wiped out fighting on unfamiliar ground.

“The others… don’t seem like much of a threat either.”

The criminals rooted in this city had permitted the Lunaseeker agent’s entry but that didn’t mean they had agreed to leak information.

Shaun put down the newspaper and rose from his seat. If he did anything remotely suspicious, he’d be abducted immediately and subjected to something horrifying.

‘The client is Lumis & Wesson.’

In return for dispatching a Lunaseeker agent for this mission, the cost was 350 people whose disappearance wouldn’t cause trouble.

For Lumis & Wesson Transport Company, which specialized in human trafficking, that was a perfectly manageable number. The deal was sealed.

“Hello. Would you mind stepping aside a little?”

On her way into the sewers, Nora Galatea greeted the men surrounding her politely.

Their intentions were clearly malicious.

Instead of answering Nora, the man let out a chuckle, drew a sharp blade, and said,

“Hey, do you even realize what’s going—”

His sentence was cut short as the hand holding the weapon was severed and fell to the ground. He didn’t get to finish what he was saying.

It was a near-certain encounter that awaited any girl in expensive clothes who strolled cluelessly through the streets of this city.

But the result turned out to be far from what the men had imagined.

The knife that had been in the man’s hand was now in Nora’s. She addressed the rest of them.

“Just run. You don’t want to die like this, do you?”

Faced with a sudden and incomprehensible situation, the men scattered without hesitation. If Nora had pursued them, they’d all be dead but she had no intention of doing so.

“Hmhm.”

Humming to herself, Nora Galatea spun the knife in her hand and gazed absentmindedly up at the sky before letting out a sudden exclamation.

“I shouldn’t be messing around—oh right, the sewer!”

Only just recalling her objective, Nora wiped the blood splattered on her face with her hand and hurried toward the sewer entrance.

At nearly the same time that Nora Galatea entered the sewer system, the other agents hired by the remaining organizations also succeeded in getting inside.

“By now, they’re all probably moving around.”

Naturally, Kairus—who had entered the sewers first—had already formed a rough idea of the current situation.

“Unless they’re slacking off, that is.”

Irena agreed with Kairus’s assumption.

“This is extremely unsettling…”

Melvin, examining the marks left on the walls and floors, spoke to Kairus hesitantly.

“You know there’s nothing to do but for you to keep pushing ahead.”

At Kairus’s words, Melvin swallowed hard and nodded.

Though he looked composed, Kairus was in fact extremely on edge.

‘Of all places, we have to face Lunaseeker in this kind of battlefield.’

If they were guaranteed to be fighting Lunaseeker, the very least they could have hoped for was a battleground that wasn’t like this.

The hunters had been dragged into unfavorable terrain to complete their mission and that’s why they had been easy to dispatch.

‘But this... this is different. Fighting Lunaseeker in a dark, enclosed space?’

If what Kairus knew was correct, it would actually be less dangerous to face hunters on high ground in open terrain.

“Still, last time wasn’t a complete dead end.”

The winding sewer system was constructed based on a specific logic. What Melvin was attempting was to interpret that logic.

With Dersos civilization’s architecture, examining part of the structure could provide clues about the whole.

Melvin was recording things like the length and width of the passageways and the directions they led in, and also marking symbols left behind by the Dersos people in the sewer.

“At this rate…”

Melvin slowly began drawing a map using a large sheet of paper, a pencil, a ruler, and a compass.

He had already gathered enough samples.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Over the years, there must have been several reconstruction projects. What I’m drawing is just a speculative blueprint.”

Still, Melvin had a fair amount of confidence in its accuracy.

“If it’s a structure built by the Dersos, then its architectural self-similarity is absolute.”

It was a nation that embraced a culture and philosophy centered on balance and repetition. The sewer system of Bennett City would be no exception.

“The area closest to the Dimensional Maze entrance would be…”

Melvin scanned the map and circled a spot with his pencil.

“This is the closest point. But like I said earlier…”

Over time, the city’s sewer system had undergone repeated reconstruction and collapse.

Original passages had crumbled, and new ones had formed over the years.

“But the location doesn’t change.”

Blocked paths or newly formed routes didn’t really matter to Kairus.

He knew the distance and direction, so as long as they followed the route, they’d reach the general vicinity.

“If a path’s blocked, that just means it collapsed—so we break through. If a path isn’t on the map, it’s newly formed—so we ignore it.”

The mission itself wasn’t particularly difficult. They simply had to reach their destination. The real issue lay in the dangers waiting along the way.

“What the hell is this now.”

Kairus scowled before he could even realize it.

“It’s sludge. It forms when wastewater stagnates in the sewer, rotting over time…”

“Tanya, I know what sludge is. But look at this—it’s a damn swamp.”

As he spoke, Kairus shone his addon light over the squelching black mire.

The amount was beyond imagination. Its depth was unknown.

But the sheer mass of rotting waste accumulated over the years had turned into a swamp that wasn’t just filthy—it looked outright toxic.

To make matters worse, gases produced by the actively decomposing waste made the black swamp bubble ominously.

“… So we have to cross this, huh.”

At Kairus’s words, Tanya pulled out a gas mask and replied.

“Let’s start by putting on our gas masks.”

The gases released by decomposing organic matter were dangerous. Following Tanya’s lead, everyone obediently donned their gas masks.

“The problem is actually crossing this swamp.”

“What about Mistral?”

At Irena’s suggestion, Kairus gave her a look of disbelief.

“Do you know how much mana that drains from the battle gear?”

Flicker was an excellent battle gear, but even so, casting Mistral properly once would drain a full quarter of its output.

Using a quarter of their output to freeze a sludge swamp—in a sewer where Lunaseeker and other dangerous agents hired by the committee’s organizations were lurking—was out of the question.

It was practically suicide if they ended up in a fight afterward.

Freezing the sludge swamp with Mistral and crossing it just wasn’t a viable option.