Meaty Bone

"Marnie Lineage? Fine, they did indeed get their start in maritime shipping. It was understandable that their business conflicted with ours.

Deya Lineage are military nobles. They should have been a nail driven in from Walin Fortress to Seapeak Port back then. Their support for you was likely meant to counterbalance the Wealth Church.

Your circle really is a mess. A tiny Seapeak Port has seven or eight different factions."

Heka sighed.

"I remember you were just a little beggar. The Graytooth Gang taught this too?"

Scarface Deko's brows instantly furrowed. He had never been able to make heads or tails of these little brats, and that feeling made him deeply uncomfortable.

If the boss had not demanded it, then so long as he could not kill them, he would definitely have stayed far away from them.

When hunting, encountering prey one could not understand was even more dangerous than encountering a predator.

"The library. Knowledge changes fate, understand?

I want to work overtime today. I'll be staying by Carpenter's place this afternoon.

Before meeting that guest from the Deya Lineage, I want to see the boss first."

Heka's request was not excessive. Deko nodded to show that he understood, then left the room.

Tuft of Hair, who was rinsing a rag, laboriously carried the bucket over to the doorway.

The bucket of water had changed from crystal clear into its present murky gray-black color.

There was a well within the Black Mountain Merchants' compound, so they did not lack clean water here.

But because this was already the outer district, where the sewer system had not fully reached, drainage still meant carrying buckets downstairs and emptying them into the filthy water channels.

As for where that wastewater ultimately went, it would be guided through channels aboveground or half-underground into the sewer system, before finally being discharged into the sea.

"Boss, are we in danger now?"

Tuft of Hair turned to look at the boss lying on his back on the bed and asked in a low voice.

There was clean water here, plenty of food, and decent lodging.

But he could sense that the boss was different from how he had been in the sewer shelter. He had been keeping a string taut the whole time.

"As a bone, being eaten by one dog means, at most, a slow death. But if two dogs fight over you, then you might die fast.

What should we do now?"

Heka reached out and pinched the little bit of flesh Tuft of Hair had finally put on his face.

"Run?"

Tuft of Hair quickly glanced back at the corridor, then lowered his voice and asked.

"Have you ever seen a bone escape from a dog's mouth?

All we can do now is make the dog biting us reluctant to let go. I only hope that after swallowing this mouthful of meat, their appetite does not grow too much.

Otherwise, we'll be swallowed alive and skinned whole."

Heka patted Tuft of Hair's shoulder, then waved him off, signaling that he could return to work.

"It's all right, Boss. I'll eat properly. I'll definitely eat back the money we sold our lives for."

Tuft of Hair paused, then made the promise earnestly.

Seeing that the boss finally seemed amused, he immediately skipped back to the bucket, picked it up, and left the room.

Only after Tuft of Hair had left did Heka sit up from the bed.

Now, he had to go prepare meat soup for the Black Mountain Merchants—the big dog that, feeling pain, was preparing to share the meat-covered bone in its mouth with other wild dogs in exchange for a brief moment to catch its breath.

"If you need the table, remember to wipe it clean."

At Carpenter's workshop, Carpenter, who was at work, pointed at the bucket beside him when he saw Heka arrive.

Heka stood on tiptoe and looked at the table in the corner. A layer of bloody water covered it, along with a few chunks of flesh.

Because Carpenter's workshop was dry and had several large tables, it was usually used as an operating room.

At least thirty percent of the Black Mountain Merchants' current troubles had come from him.

Heka knew that many people were deeply dissatisfied with him, the source of all this trouble, but had held back out of respect for the boss's authority. He did not complain. Instead, he first used a rag to sweep the bloody water from the tabletop, then asked for some sawdust to increase friction and scraped away the grease coating the surface.

When Heka pulled out the bucket used to hold bloody water, he discovered that a severed hand was still bobbing up and down inside.

Having finally spread out his things, Heka laid the maps he had finished drawing before him. Most of them were second copies, since Deko had already collected the originals.

Heka opened the notebook whose cover had nearly been thumbed to pieces and began following his earlier clues, matching them against the spots he had circled on the original map.

Although he had not yet fully mapped the Dungeon, he had borrowed several mission reports and travel journals from the library.

By cross-checking them, Heka had found several places that might be located high up, spacious enough, and possibly serve as warehouses for local Lineages.

Although his deliberate dawdling meant the Dungeon map was still a distant prospect, it was easy enough to mark the other side's approximate locations and possible routes in.

Just as Heka was concentrating on this, a faint stir arose in his heart, and the pencil wrapped in a layer of rag immediately stopped.

The boy calmed himself and carefully savored that feeling. Following it, Heka reopened the notebook beside him, then pressed the completed portion of the Dungeon map over the map of the city district.

Suddenly, two identical stretches of lines entered Heka's sight. His hand paused, then he continued shuffling the two maps apart and sorting them back into their original places.

It seemed he had matched a Dungeon sketch to a location aboveground—and not one of the places he already knew, but somewhere near the main city district.

It was like suddenly lighting a lamp in the darkness, or finding several puzzle pieces that could fit together.

Heka focused and opened the panel. He had felt the same stirring when he first acquired the skill Sweeping Strike. Sure enough.

[Skills]

Theft (7180/10000)

Slashing (When using daggers/short swords, damage increased by an additional 20%)

Sweeping Strike (4389/10000)

Sleight of Hand (796/10000)

Valin (1997/10000)

Investigation (1/10000)

There was a new skill beneath the skills section. He just did not know how he was supposed to train a skill as broad-sounding as Investigation.

The commotion from outside instantly shattered Heka's thoughts. The boy looked into the distance and saw several people already carrying buckets to scrub the courtyard floor, while white cooking smoke had begun rising from the kitchen across the way well before mealtime.

Clearly, that honored guest would arrive soon, and the time left to him was already running out.

Heka circled the final two possible locations, gathered up the papers on the table, and hurriedly left Carpenter's workshop.