September 21, 1496, Age of the Sea Circle
It was one in the morning, and everyone was asleep at the Herewood house.
Orion got up quietly and left the house without making a sound.
He wanted to go see Ren Shimotsuki, to ask her about the situation in the slums.
He hadn't forgotten his goal of obtaining tone dials for Doll, but if he had asked openly during the day, when Gion was present, she would surely have wanted to accompany him on his search.
It was better for Gion not to come into contact with the world the smugglers lived in; no matter how precocious she was, she was still a child.
Orion quickly arrived at Ren's house, and before he could knock, the door opened, and the woman appeared with a small pipe in her hand, looking at him with interest.
"Oh? Orion, what are you doing here at this hour? You're not coming to declare your love to me, are you? I have no interest in a little boy," Ren said in her classic tone of voice, which was a mix of sensuality and teasing.
Orion didn't play along; he didn't have much time, as he wanted to finish the tone dial business tonight.
"I wanted to ask you about the situation in the slums," Orion said directly.
Ren took a puff on her pipe, then entered her house without closing the door behind her.
Orion entered the geisha's house and closed the door.
" I'll be curious. Why do you want that information?" the geisha asked as she sat down on a comfortable cushion.
Orion told her about the tone dial with the rock song, and that he was looking for tone dials similar to it.
Ren tapped his pipe lightly on the floor, looking thoughtful. Then she stood up and walked over to a small chest in the corner. Upon opening it, Orion could clearly see the contents, and he couldn't help but show surprise on his face.
The chest, which couldn't be considered small by any means, was packed with tone dials!
"These are all the tone dials I own. I'm not familiar with this style of music you call rock, but feel free to browse through these dials. If you find one that you need, you can keep it," Ren said generously.
Orion approached the chest, picked up a dial, and listened to its contents.
Soft, melodious music resonated in the quiet room.
"That's a piece I recorded myself. Some of those dials were recorded by me," Ren said indifferently.
Orion looked at the elegant woman and thought, "It's to be expected of a geisha! Her mastery of the arts is exquisite!"
Orion checked the dials in the chest one by one, but didn't find a single one that was a rock song.
It was a shame; there were many beautiful pieces of music among these dials, but Doll probably wouldn't be interested in them. After all, she was a high-society lady who had grown up listening to all kinds of exquisite music, but her heart was only moved by rock.
Orion shook his head bitterly and put the tone dials in their original place.
"Thank you for your generosity, Mrs. Ren, but it's not what I'm looking for."
Ren hit him on the head with her pipe and said with a smile.
"Call me, Miss Ren."
"Um... Miss Ren, could you give me some information about the smugglers in the slums? Do they have tone dials?"
"Honestly, I don't think you'll have any luck. Tone dials aren't very common in this part of the world. This chest is all the ones I've accumulated over the past 30 years."
"But if you want to go take a look, you can do so at ease. There's no one in this city who could endanger you with your current power."
Hearing Ren Shimotsuki's words, Orion raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had come to ask her about the situation in the slums because he didn't know anyone else in the city, and he knew she was a trustworthy person, but… didn't she know too much?
She could assure him with certainty that there was no one who could stand up to him in this city, so she should have extensive knowledge of all the people who inhabited this large city, right?
Thinking of another of his objectives, Orion asked another question.
"Miss Ren, are there criminals with bounties in this city?"
Orion had almost no money at the moment, and couldn't even afford a den den mushi. When he thought about ways to make quick money without resorting to illegal means, the only thing that came to mind was collecting bounties on the heads of infamous criminals.
However, it was difficult to encounter wanted criminals on a daily basis. If he had to conduct an investigation to find the whereabouts of wanted criminals, it would surely take more time than he had available.
On the other hand, if Ren truly had extensive knowledge of this city, things would change. With the information she could provide, it wouldn't be impossible to locate a criminal and capture him, then collect the bounty.
After all, there was a Marine base very close by, where he could go to claim the reward.
Ren walked to a desk, opened a drawer, and took out some papers. Then she placed them on the table in Orion's view and said,
"These are the five criminals with a price on their heads currently in the city. If you plan to eliminate them, you should be careful. Even though they're no match for you, it never hurts to be cautious."
Orion approached the table and saw the five wanted posters, which featured five different men, all with rather vulgar appearances.
Although it wasn't advisable to judge a book by its cover, these guys seemed to be good-for-nothings. Simply the lowest link in the criminal world's food chain.
"That's all you're going to find in this city; after all, this is my turf. As soon as any criminal starts acting too wildly, I usually have no choice but to eliminate them."
"Although I don't interfere too much in the island's security matters, there is a certain boundary that must be maintained, otherwise people like Gion and her family, who come looking for a new beginning, will never have the chance to improve their lives" Ren said calmly, taking another puff on her pipe.
Orion's perception of Ren changed once again. This beautiful woman, who spent her days writing poetry and creating music, was far more complex than he had initially thought.
Orion picked up one of the posters to examine it more closely, and an alarm sounded in his mind. A new notification appeared on the system screen.
*Ding*
*Bounty poster detected*
*Activating Bounty Hunter screen*
*The Bounty Hunter screen has been successfully activated. On it, you can find information about criminals you know. You can also use the "Find Criminals" feature to find anyone with a Bounty nearby.*
Orion read the notifications with surprise and opened the screen for the newly unlocked feature.
The information on the five posters Ren had shown him appeared in the "Known Criminals" section, and next to their names was a caption that read: "His location can be found. Cost: 50 SP."
Orion used 50 SP to test how this location search worked.
Immediately, a small map, which had been minimized in a corner of the screen, expanded, and a bright red dot appeared in the city.
Orion hadn't explored that part of the city, so on the system map, that area appeared covered in a dark fog, but he could infer that this criminal was currently in the slums.
This new system feature was a pleasant surprise for Orion. Now that he had the assistance of this feature, it would be much easier to find criminals in the future, if he so desired. Perhaps he could consider working as a bounty hunter if he needed some quick cash.
Finally, Orion saw a small text on the side of the screen, which read:
"This feature can only identify criminals who already have a bounty on them. Criminals who have not been identified cannot be found using this feature."
Orion immediately understood the implications of this reminder. Basically, it was a way for him to not let his guard down by using this feature.
Although he could identify criminals using this feature, not all dangerous criminals would have a bounty on them, so he shouldn't get complacent if he didn't find any criminals using this feature in a certain area.
Ren saw that Orion had been lost in thought after seeing the bounty posters and thought he was hesitant to go after those criminals.
"If you're scared, I can go with you," Ren said with a smile.
Orion put aside his thoughts about the system's new feature and shook his head.
"No need, Miss Ren. I can handle it myself."
Then he bowed politely and added,
"Thank you very much for your help. I'll be leaving now before it gets any later."
"Haha, no problem. Come visit me if you need anything," the geisha replied with a smile.
Orion nodded and left the area.
Seeing the red dot on the map, he decided to take a look before going to see the smugglers.
However, when he reached the location of his target, he realized it was the same place where the smugglers had their hideout!
Orion smiled bitterly and shook his head. At least he wouldn't have to make two trips.
He approached the entrance door of the place, which was indistinguishable from the surrounding houses except for the presence of a gloomy-looking man standing by it as if on guard.
The man, seeing Orion, who was in his child form, wasn't too surprised. All sorts of strange people used to come here. Once, he'd even seen a talking animal.
The smugglers' den also functioned as a sort of clandestine black market. Although it wasn't very active, several people came here every day looking for all sorts of things. Most of them were criminals, but there were also people like Orion who came looking for hard-to-find items.
The guard watched him enter without saying a word; his job was to keep an eye out for the possible arrival of the marines. On the other hand, Orion's presence didn't bother him too much. After all, what trouble could such a small child cause? He'd be lucky if he could escape unharmed after entering.
Once he passed through the door, Orion found himself in a large open-air courtyard, where several people were arranged in groups.
There were several people playing dice and betting in a corner, others sitting on the ground drinking happily and talking loudly, and still others fighting with knives, being encouraged by several people.
Orion walked without paying much attention to the people in the large courtyard and entered the dilapidated two-story building, which was where the red dot on the map indicated the presence of his target.
Inside the building, Orion saw several people sitting on the ground, displaying their wares on blankets, in a sort of makeshift market.
He walked around, observing the items each person had, but didn't find anything that caught his attention.
Generally speaking, the most sold items here were weapons and drugs.
Orion didn't see the man with the bounty poster anywhere, so he decided to go to the second floor. However, as he was about to go up the stairs, he was stopped by one of the smuggling gang members.
"You can't go to the second floor," he said in a sullen voice.
Orion stopped and looked at the man closely. Then he smiled and said, "I've been sent here by a nobleman. I want to ask your leader to do a job."
Orion surmised that the second floor was for the exclusive use of gang members, but perhaps if he was a client, he could go in.
However, the man looked at him suspiciously and didn't move out of the way.
"You can't go in, go away," he said in an aggressive tone.
Orion sighed. He didn't want to make a scene before seeing his target, but there was no other option; he didn't want to continue wasting his time talking to this petty criminal.
Orion moved quickly. He drew his cutlass and, using the blunt end of the blade, incapacitated the guard, who fainted with a single blow.
Then, without waiting a second, he ran upstairs.
On the second floor, he found a large room, just as dirty and gloomy as the lower level. There were about ten people sitting around a table, arguing about something Orion had no interest in hearing.
He identified his target, who was sitting in the center position, and acted decisively.
Within a few moments, all the criminals in this room had fainted from Orion's precise blows.
Only the leader, the man in the poster, remained standing, because Orion wanted to ask him a question.
"Good evening. I wanted to know if you have Tone Dials here," Orion said with a smile.
The man couldn't believe what had happened before his eyes. This little boy had moved with the speed of a demon and had taken out all his men in seconds. He was definitely no match for this creepy kid!
So he decided to cooperate and not anger the little beast in front of him.
"Tone Dials, I think there were a couple in our warehouses, near the dock. If you want, I can take you there to see them."
Orion smiled happily.
"Do you really have Tone Dials?" He asked again.
"Yes! There were definitely a couple. I can take you to see them, you have my word," the man said, somewhat startled by the boy's gaze.
Swish
Orion made a quick movement, and one of the man's fingers fell to the ground.
The criminal held his hand, trying to control the blood that was gushing out, and gritted his teeth to endure the pain.
"Why—"
"Silence. Don't say more than necessary. Answer me a question. Do you really have Tone Dials?"
The criminal was about to answer, but he saw Orion's gaze and the bloody sword, and his sword broke out in cold sweat.
"No—we don't have any dials of any kind; they're very rare items. When they appear, they sell out quickly," the man said, his voice slightly shaky.
"You should have said that from the beginning instead of wasting our time!" Orion said, kicking him in the knee.
*Crack*
The sound of bone breaking rang out. Orion's physical strength couldn't be taken lightly.
The man screamed like a pig being butchered and fell to the ground clutching his leg.
Orion looked at him with disdain. He didn't have the slightest sympathy for this kind of criminal. He'd seen this guy's description on the system screen, and it wasn't pretty. The system's new feature allowed him to learn about the crimes committed by the criminals he had paid SP to identify.
This man's crimes included murder, rape, arson, robbery, among others. Countless innocent people had suffered at his hands, and if it was his turn to suffer now, it could only be considered karma.
"Hey, stop screaming or I'll cut your vocal cords," Orion said in an icy tone.
These weren't empty threats. With his medical knowledge and the precision of his sword, he could easily sever his vocal cords without killing him.
The threats seemed to work. The criminal gritted his teeth and endured the pain without another cry. Only muffled moans escaped his mouth.
"Tell me, where is the money? I want you to give me all your money, and I promise not to kill you."
The criminal felt hope after hearing Orion's words and spoke with difficulty.
"On the wall, there's a safe," he said, pointing in the direction where the money was.
Orion found the hidden safe and opened it after receiving the code from the criminal.
His eyes lit up when he saw a little mountain of Berry inside!
Finally, his days of poverty were over. At least he wouldn't be unable to buy a simple snail anymore!
Orion took out two bags he had prepared beforehand and placed all the money in one of the bags. He felt no remorse at robbing such human scum!
The criminal saw that Orion had emptied his safe and felt a great anger inside, but he didn't show it on the outside. The most important thing now was to survive! Once he could get out of this situation alive, he would find a way to get revenge on this damned boy! He would seek out his family and mutilate them, rape all the women close to him, make him feel that it was a mistake to have messed with him!
Orion turned around, a smile on his face, and drew his sword again. Then, he began to slowly approach the criminal, who was staring at him with fearful eyes from the ground.
"W-what are you doing? Didn't you say you'd let me go?" the terrified criminal said, seeing Orion already standing in front of him.
"Recently, someone taught me that the powerful don't need to keep their promises to the weak," Orion said, and the criminal's face went completely pale.
"But I don't agree with that statement," Orion continued, and the criminal felt that perhaps there was hope after all.
"I believe that it doesn't matter whether a person is weak or strong, a promise is a promise. It's a matter of honor. I wouldn't be very strong if I couldn't keep even a small promise, would I?"
"For example, if I have people under my command, and I continually make promises that I don't keep because they are weaker than me, how can I expect people to follow me? I could only rule through terror, and that is never a long-term solution."
The criminal, on the ground, nodded repeatedly at Orion's words, and was on the verge of developing a kind of religious fervor toward them. He just wanted to survive.
"However, there are times when it's okay to break a promise."
Orion paused, and the criminal's face paled again.
In his mind, he was shouting, "Why don't you just make up your mind!"
"When a promise is made to someone unworthy of respect, there's no need to keep that promise."
The criminal opened his mouth angrily, intending to insult Orion's twisted logic, but before he could say anything, the sharp blade of the cutlass pierced his neck cleanly, putting an end to his tumultuous life.
*Ding*
*You have eliminated a threat to the people of Gray Harbor. 35 SP earned*
The smile disappeared from Orion's face, and he sighed bitterly.
No matter that he was a heinous criminal who undoubtedly deserved to die, ending another person's life was still a bit difficult for him.
Being the executioner would probably never be entirely easy, but someone had to do it. Someone had to step forward and cleanse this world, and he wasn't about to run away from that responsibility.
If he had been smiling until a moment ago, it was because he refused to give the criminal the satisfaction of perceiving that his death caused him the slightest emotion.
He took the smuggler's head and placed it in the other bag he had prepared beforehand. From the beginning, the man had no chance of escaping this fate. Ever since Orion had decided to come here to see him, his fate had been sealed.
Orion climbed out the second-floor window and disappeared into the night before anyone realized what had happened.
Then he hurried toward the port. He had a short trip to make.
It would be his first time at a marine base.