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At the Black Mountain Merchants' headquarters.

By afternoon, the people who had stayed behind at Heka's place had begun poking their heads in to take a look whenever they passed by.

Deko soon came to Heka's side as well. His eyes lit up when he saw the sheet of paper spread across the table before him. It was a map.

Although it was only a rough draft, it already had a general outline.

Seapeak Port was, after all, a port city controlled by five Lineages. Even though the districts where most of the laborers lived were primarily ruled by gangs, the five Lineages still held extremely strong control over the main streets.

The power in their hands was far beyond anything the gangs could touch. There had been plenty of gangs who intended to challenge them, but the five great Lineages remained the five great Lineages, never changing because of the gangs.

Thus, ever since Seapeak Port's last renovation a century ago, the layout of its main districts had basically been fixed.

Among the books he had borrowed, Heka found several rough sketches. Then, based on the descriptions in the books, his own memories, and several other maps, he corrected them into this map.

This was his progress report. His last progress report had made Heka realize that the leadership of the Black Mountain Merchants did not seem to like reports that merely painted them grand pies in the sky.

If he wanted to survive—safely, at that—he still had to give them some pies they could actually see.

If he directly opened up trade routes for them, he estimated that he would soon be hung up and beaten until he either stopped breathing or handed over the gold coins.

Fortunately, as an outside power, the Black Mountain Merchants had recently run into plenty of headaches. For instance, their own warehouses had been raided repeatedly, yet they could do nothing about the warehouses of the five Lineages.

Over the past few days, Deko had repeatedly probed Heka from the side, asking whether he had made any progress locating the underground warehouses that might belong to the five Lineages.

"This is a map of Seapeak Port."

Heka did not answer him. Instead, he switched to a pencil with a slightly finer tip and began outlining the streets between the districts.

This was the area controlled by the Graytooth Gang, and the only place he was familiar with.

"Yes."

Although Deko was somewhat anxious to get a definite answer from Heka, the boy's utter concentration truly stunned him.

Afraid that the slightest disturbance might disrupt Heka's train of thought, Deko saw that he had not immediately responded and consciously shut his mouth, standing silently to the side.

Whenever a subordinate who had heard the commotion passed by the door, Deko would slash apart their curiosity with a sharp glare, then throw both that curiosity—reduced to a rag—and its owner outside.

"Get out."

When Deko saw the door open again, he strode forward, braced it shut, and barked at the person outside. But in the next instant, a familiar voice made Scarface Deko pull the door open at once.

"I have to leave too?"

"Boss, those little brats are making such a racket. I'm worried they'll get in the way of something important."

The scar on Deko's face warped as his smile pulled at it. It looked as though someone had torn open a seam in a freshly baked loaf of bread that was still soft, making him look even uglier.

The leader of the Black Mountain Merchants stood quietly behind Heka. Only after watching Heka connect the final line segment and use a dashed line to outline a corridor hidden beneath a building did he speak.

"If I want you to draw maps of the other districts, what do you need?"

The man pinched the map between his fingers, then lifted it and gave it a shake.

Perhaps because the paper was not large enough, Heka had divided the map of all Seapeak Port into more than thirty sheets.

The one in the man's hand was only a portion of the Graytooth Gang's territory.

"Just give me a little more time. There should be more information in the library.

"Also, I need a doctor. The lump on my little brother's head and the wounds on his body both need treatment."

"Deal. Deko will bring a doctor tomorrow."

Only after the man left did Heka finally relax a little. The other man—and the snake hidden beneath his dining table—always gave him a cold sensation. Being around him made Heka feel uncomfortable all over.

Scarface Deko was still better. He was ugly, sure, but that was all there was to it.

He had bought himself some more time, greatly increasing his chances of winning.

Unfortunately, he now had only a little time every morning to practice, earning roughly a hundred proficiency points each day.

At this rate, he would need nearly fifty more days to max out Sweeping Strike. By then, it would already be late April, approaching May.

There was still some time before he could begin exploring the sewers in June or July. He needed to keep feeding the Black Mountain Merchants' pack of wolves a few more grand pies.

Once wolves were fed their fill, they would turn into dogs—and they would stop thinking about eating people.

Life in the Black Mountain Merchants' ranks had originally been fairly safe. Nothing major had happened for several months, as though the storm from before had passed and the sky outside was clear once more.

But on the morning of the second day, when Heka came as usual through the night to the grounds in the middle of the Black Mountain Merchants' headquarters, a faint scent of blood instantly cleared his still-hazy consciousness.

Heka stopped, then moved toward the wall on one side, his gaze sweeping over the watchtowers above the compound.

Normally, the guards had not changed shifts at this hour. If he looked up and waited a moment, he could see the sentries behind the wooden barricades.

If the sentries were missing now, Heka would turn and run immediately. That would mean the Black Mountain Merchants' stronghold had already been breached by someone else.

Anyone capable of attacking the Black Mountain Merchants either had a grudge against him or wanted to take a share of what he had.

Whichever it was, he did not want to fall into their hands.

Fortunately, beneath the sky just beginning to pale, figures still flickered atop the watchtowers on both sides.

Perhaps the smell of blood had been brought back by people returning during the night. After all, the conflict between the Black Mountain Merchants and the local Lineages had been growing increasingly intense, and the clashes between both sides were beginning to reach a boiling point.

In this short period alone, three more bodies had appeared within the Black Mountain Merchants' compound. Only the day before yesterday, the people had hastily held a small funeral, then buried their companions' bodies in the garden behind the compound.

Heka walked a few more steps. His view soon escaped the confines of the walls on either side, revealing a carriage parked in the open space.

The carriage was loaded with goods wrapped in white cloth. Beneath it stood several fully armed warriors, who were currently pinning a man dressed as a coachman to the ground. Their long swords were drawn, and they seemed ready to behead him on the spot.

It was obvious that these men were furious.

Heka's gaze then returned to the goods in the carriage. They looked like corpses, which explained the overpowering smell of blood.

"Morning."

Just as Heka was wondering whether he should simply go back and catch up on his sleep, or perhaps finish today's practice in his room to avoid this trouble, a dense burst of footsteps came from behind him.

He turned and saw Deko descending the stairs while adjusting his clothes. The man's cheeks had been pulled completely downward, but because of the scar, that only gave him a little more fierce, heroic presence.