12
Faced with the question, the blond man merely wore an inscrutable smile and remained silent, making Rossi raise a hand to rub his chin.
If it was string, that really was much easier than using a blade.
As for Vergo... as long as he was happy.
"Everyone, hold on tight."
Holding the Eternal Log Pose, Oni checked their heading and the ocean currents, then her voice rang out clearly:
"Our journey home to the North Blue starts now!"
North Blue,
Spider Miles, within the Kingdom of Rafal.
Though called a "town,"
this industrial district, with its forest of smokestacks and roaring machinery, fully warranted the scale of a "city."
More than five hundred thousand people lived here, and countless families' livelihoods were closely tied to its factories.
The Double Dragon Flag flying openly over the docks and factory buildings controlled the fates of most ordinary people in this city-its authority weighed far more heavily than that of the unobtrusive City Hall.
"Hiss... easy..."
Dock One, this private domain that belonged to the Family, had lain abandoned for several years.
A haphazard shantytown had gradually spread along its edges.
At that moment, two workers wearing hard hats were helping an injured companion into one of the low shacks.
The cramped space was packed with signs of daily life: bedding, cooking utensils, an old lamp mottled with grease. It seemed to have everything it needed, except every item looked like something defective salvaged from a rubbish heap and repaired over and over.
"What happened?"
A middle-aged man stood up inside the shack. Another worker at the bottom of the ladder, he shared this dilapidated corner that offered shelter from the elements with the injured man.
"At the construction site... I slipped and broke my leg."
The man with the broken