Chapter 126: Assassin from a Blind Spot
Discrimination, discrimination, discrimination! Seriously, give me a break.
Thinking about that, I ventured deeper into the Slums.
I was greeted by the members of the mafia along the way, but they all seemed busy this time of year, so it ended with just greetings.
I guess being poor means no free time. Which means I’m free every day. Sorry, but I’m going to wear a smug look. There!
And… the center of the fortress, the command room.
This is Hookclaw’s room.
I knocked and entered.
“Yo, Hookclaw. I came for the winter meeting. Here, a souvenir.”
Thump! Ten boxes of jerky were placed on the desk in the command room.
Hookclaw looked at them, gave a slight bow, and then started the conversation…
“Ah, Andrews-kun. When you say winter meeting, you mean about the epidemic, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. It looks like it’s going to be cold again this year, so there will be a lot of epidemics.”
The content of the conversation is about measures against epidemics.
In simple terms, it’s another story about discrimination.
The citizens are angry, telling me to “kick out!” the poor people from the Slums who come to my pharmacy, so I want the poor people to adjust their visiting hours—that’s the gist of it.
It’s terrible discrimination, I think, but the truth is that the slum dwellers live in the city without paying city taxes, and they also commit crimes, so there’s no helping it.
The discrimination in this world is terrible, but there’s also a problem on the side being discriminated against, like something out of a dark fantasy Western game. It might be one thing in a game, but when you actually see it like this, it’s quite depressing!
“That’s tough. What should the people of the Slums do?”
“I’ll see the citizens during the day. They can come at night.”
“Understood, I’ll let them know.”
Yes, that’s quick.
Hookclaw doesn’t try to negotiate or anything, so it’s easy to get along with him.
If it’s doing good based on general good and evil or morality, he’ll cooperate with almost anything.
“Ah… but, are you okay with that? The citizens usually think of you as an alien race who has a mansion in a seedy area, treats lowly people, and flatters the nobles. And yet, they only try to rely on you during epidemics.”
“Well, Granny Mary’s place is getting more patients than they can handle.”
“Isn’t that their problem, and nothing to do with you?”
“No, no… it does, doesn’t it? If the number of people in the city decreases and it loses its vitality, the distribution will decrease, money will disappear, and I won’t be able to live leisurely, you know? Freedom exists to the extent that it doesn’t go against the public interest.”
Here we go again with this kind of talk.
Hookclaw sometimes throws out opinions that are deliberately immoral or self-centered, like, “Isn’t this what a self-centered idea is like?” regarding my actions.
In response, I say something like, “If individuals really did whatever they wanted, society would collapse!” but Hookclaw seems to think that’s a “welcome opinion.”
It’s not a criticism of the Bible, but it’s like… verifying the content written in the Bible and being forced to deal with theological stories like, “What is the real meaning of this description?” “How is it applied in real society?”
From my perspective, I’m just a Japanese person giving Japanese-like opinions, but Hookclaw really seems to like stories like, “If each person acts with common sense, the world will be a better place!”…
“The public interest, huh…? Good words. But, won’t free service result in the other party losing their willingness to make an effort?”
“I’m not saying it’s free. I’ll get paid. And then, I’ll work as much as I’m paid.”
“Is money everything?”
“At least it’s a standard, right? Besides… any job you do without receiving any benefit, whether it’s money or anything else, will be half-assed, right? The world runs on systems, not goodwill.”
“Systems… you mean mechanisms? Specifically, how?”
“Well, at the very least, it would be good if everyone could share the value that it’s a loss to commit crimes. It’s bad because those who cheat profit, that’s what it is.”
“An interesting idea. And a good idea. Goodwill wavers, so we create a society that controls malice instead of goodwill, huh…”
“Well, even if we suddenly got rid of the culture of bribery from this world, it’s obvious that there would be chaos. We have to change things little by little, right? There’s no shortcut to going in a good direction, I think we just have to do it steadily.”
“…Hmm, you really have a priest-like way of thinking. I think you’re much more suitable than I am.”
“I don’t want to…”
And so, like always.
As I was tuning out Hookclaw’s sermon-like words, which I couldn’t tell if he was praising me or not… a loud noise.
Clang, bang. A sound like fighting.
“Whoa, is this a raid? To directly raid the place of Hookclaw-sama, the boss of the Slums, they must be underestimating us, boss!”
I, for the time being, while acting like a henchman, drew the short sword I carry for self-defense.
“Hmm… we haven’t had anything like this lately, though.”
Hookclaw also took the short sword hanging on the wall.
………”Stop! Please stop! Stop it… Gwaaaah!“
It’s Stone Eyes’ scream.
No way, Stone Eyes was taken down?
Even though he’s blind, he should have combat ability around the second level of a Strider…
The next moment I thought that, the door to the command room was broken down…
“So, it was you after all…! Holy Knight Oswald!”
A woman appeared…