Chapter 54. Was a Problem.

‘Isn’t this the first time his hunch has activated when there was no problem?’

The ability Pol possessed was extraordinary, but Pol himself was astonishingly thoughtless.

Thanks to that, analyzing Pol's ability to utilize it was my job.

His bad premonitions had come in the form of problematic situations, and his good premonitions had led to solutions for those problematic situations.

Therefore, until now, I had thought that it reacted to 'problems'.

In fact, in uneventful situations, his premonition had not activated.

In that case, how should I interpret this sudden 'good premonition'?

‘Thinking normally, I should see it as an unexpected piece of luck waiting for me.’

I did not believe in my luck.

If I had been lucky, my life on Earth would not have been so painful.

The second chance I got in another world would not have started as a wanted criminal either.

Everything I did going wrong was my life.

The things that came to me under the guise of luck were nothing but Trojan horses.

Of course, since Pol's ability had never been wrong, luck was probably waiting for me—but the standard would be Pol.

It might not be luck for me as well.

‘But to ignore it for that reason is a bit much.’

In any case, Pol was an ally.

If it was luck for Pol, there was a high probability that it would ultimately be helpful to me in the end.

“Let’s go!! Brother!!”

Pol strode ahead with great vigor.

He advanced through an unfamiliar alley without hesitation, and the place he finally arrived at was a tavern.

‘The atmosphere is quite different from Dejong.’

I had rarely drunk alcohol since coming to this world.

It was because I wasn't the type to enjoy alcohol in the first place, and I was also worried about making a slip of the tongue while drunk.

To add one more relatively unimportant reason, it was also because the taverns in Dejong were not very good.

Dark, dirty, smelly, and noisy.

By Korean standards, there were plenty of places that would have been shut down for business a long time ago.

I only realized what it meant for something to ruin the taste of alcohol after coming to this world.

However, the taverns in the Imperial Capital were different.

‘This is nice.’

Even if it wasn't as bright as a fluorescent light, the amount of light was sufficient to distinguish people's faces.

At the very least, it was an environment where food waste wasn't rolling around mixed with vomit, and you could talk to the person next to you without shouting loudly.

From my perspective, with my standards having been lowered significantly, this was a high-class tavern.

Indeed, the saying that you should send your horses to Jeju Island and people to Seoul was not for nothing.

Regardless of the world or country, places where many people gather are bound to develop.

“Pol. It's not just that you found a good tavern, is it?”

Accidentally finding a good restaurant or tavern in an unfamiliar travel destination was a stroke of luck, if you could call it that.

But I wasn't relaxed enough to be drunk yet.

“Umm! Please wait a moment! Right now, it’s on the tip of my tongue-!”

Pol shouted urgently.

Pol, closing his eyes and concentrating once again.

...Was closing his eyes the right thing to do?

Looking at the precedents so far, it seemed that checking with his eyes had produced more accurate results.

In any case, the one feeling the sensation was Pol, so it wasn't my place to argue.

And there was also something called the placebo effect in the world.

Just believing that his senses had become sharper could increase the accuracy.

“This way……!”

Pol, walking with a serious face.

I carefully cleared the way so that Pol would not bump into other people.

And soon enough, I found the source of the good premonition he had felt.

“...Ah, don't even get me started! He was a guy who went around wearing a helmet like a snake's head, but he was incredibly strong. Our boys got beaten without even being able to lift a finger.”

“Hah. For goodness sake. Some mercenary brat who rolled in from the countryside is causing a ruckus in our territory?”

“That's what I'm saying!”

“From what I saw, this guy, this is not the first or second time he's done this. It's clear that he came to the Imperial Capital with the intention of luring people in with his shabby appearance and then shaking them down in reverse.”

One familiar voice, and several unfamiliar voices.

“That’s right. Before more victims appear, we need to teach that guy a lesson……”

Leon, who had been passionately arguing for a strong response, trailed off as his eyes met mine.

“Teach, him a……”

“Why did you stop? It was interesting. Go on.”

* * *

This bastard, Leon.

He was so subservient in front of me.

Well, it wasn't particularly surprising.

He was a guy accustomed to yielding to power.

It wasn't something I couldn't have predicted, that he would return to his original group the moment I was out of his sight.

“...Hahaha. Sir. It's a misunderstanding.”

Perhaps because he was extremely flustered, the title he used to address me was also elevated.

“A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”

“W-Well, as you know, we also have th-this, a rule. If the boys got hit, they have to report it to their superior, don't they?”

“Oho.”

“As I was explaining the situation, my emotions got a little heated, I'd say-”

Leon, quickly rattling off excuses.

I wasn't particularly angry, but it seemed there was a slight misunderstanding.

“Huh? What are you? Why are you butting in?”

A guy who looked like the leader of the group stood up, spouting a typical punk line.

Instead of answering, I tapped my helmet.

“Ah. Snake head. It's you? You're the one who messed with my boys?”

“You should get your facts straight. It was your side that approached first.”

Although I had deliberately lured them, they were punks who preyed on naive people in the first place.

So you should have lived a good life, shouldn't you?

Who told you to live a bad life?

“You’ve got guts.”

The punk leader grinned and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“That’s my line.”

I didn't know what he was trusting in to be so confident even after hearing that his subordinates had been beaten.

‘Is this the luck Pol felt?’

In any case, this was their home ground, so if they set their minds to it and laid a trap, I would have no choice but to fall for it.

It was certainly a good thing to discover and eliminate the embers in advance.

Leon hesitated for a moment between me and the punk, but eventually sided with the punk.

Well, he must have thought that getting on the bad side of the punk, whom he would have to keep seeing if he lived here, was a bigger deal than me, whom he might not see again.

“B-Brother! That guy is really, ignorantly strong! We need to bring in the Big Brother!”

There was another Brother?

Since they just called all their superiors Brother, I couldn't get a good sense of their rank.

“Hey. If I ask for the Brother’s help for something like this, what do you think he'll think of me? Just watch, you punk. I'm going to make it so that flimsy bastard can never walk again.”

Nod, nod.

The punk, approaching while shaking his neck.

It was a shallow provocation.

After having bickered with Simon, who was an expert at getting on people's nerves, he looked relatively cute.

“What, you bastard? Who do you think you're talking to! Do you want to die?”

However, Pol fell for that simple provocation hook, line, and sinker, and a vein popped on his forehead.

“Brother, leave that guy to me! I will fix his bad habit!”

This time, I didn't even feel like stopping him.

“Don't kill him.”

“Yep!”

Shing.

Pol, drawing his sword right away.

The rest of the small fry—were hurriedly creating distance.

A wise choice.

Wouldn't it be unfair to be killed or crippled by a stray blade?

Naturally, a one-on-one confrontation between Pol and the punk was formed.

‘I’ll just watch.’

It didn't seem necessary for me to actively intervene.

If it seemed like Pol was being pushed back, I would step in then.

“Leon. Where are you going? You watch with us.”

I grabbed the scruff of the neck of Leon, who was trying to sneak away.

To think he was trying to leave with such a good spectacle right in front of him.

What an unaffectionate friend.

“Ah- I have something urgent to do. I feel like I should be going now, or maybe not……”

Leon, stammering.

A pathetic sight.

“Sit. I have something to ask you.”

“……”

“Don't make me say it twice.”

“Yep.”

Leon sat down with his legs neatly together in a stiff posture.

* * *

“Die-!”

“Yaap!”

Clang!

The punk and Pol finished their probing of each other and began to clash.

Sparks flew as sword and sword met.

With my gaze fixed on Pol and the punk, I asked Leon.

“There are guys who have already left, right? Their purpose is probably to inform the person called Big Brother.”

“...That's right.”

The one who took the upper hand in the first blow was Pol.

The punk's sword was pushed back significantly.

In the ensuing offensive from Pol, the punk couldn't keep up.

However, Pol, following my instruction not to kill the guy, had a limited number of places he could aim for, while the punk, as if he wasn't even thinking about the consequences, desperately aimed for Pol's vitals.

If they both landed a hit, it would be Pol's loss.

If things went wrong, he could lose his life.

Due to that difference, the outcome between the two was not easily decided.

‘The Imperial Capital really is different in some way.’

In Dejong, even the somewhat famous Joshua was no match for Pol.

No matter how much Pol was fighting under somewhat disadvantageous conditions, being able to continue an evenly matched fight was a great thing.

If he used his swordsmanship, he could win easily, but that was beside the point.

“The guy called Big Brother, how strong is he?”

He would be stronger than that punk, so wouldn't he at least beat Pol?

It meant he was a guy I would have to face directly.

I needed to figure him out.

“H-He's incredibly strong. You should prepare to apologize right now-”

“I don't get a good feel from those words.”

I shouldn't expect a rich vocabulary from back-alley thugs, but wasn't 'incredibly' too vague?

Leon, who had been contemplating my words for a moment, suddenly brightened up as if he had found a way to express the 'Big Brother's' strength.

“Ah! He was a knight in the past! Now you get it, right?! You must know that fighting a knight is a suicidal act, right?!”

“A knight? Why is a knight playing gangster in a back alley?”

Weren't there things in the world that could be understood and things that couldn't?

A knight was a swordsman, an irreplaceable military force by this world's standards.

That's why they were desperate to tie them down, either as a knight order or as a vassal.

But for such a knight to have ended up in a back alley, did that make sense?

Did he commit some terrible crime?

“Th-That is……”

Leon licked his lips nervously.

The answer came from somewhere else.

“Why? Do you find me funny too? Are you looking down on me because I was stripped of my knightly status?”

A man, stumbling as he entered the tavern.

Bloodshot eyes, and a bottle of liquor in one hand.

It was a shabby appearance that clearly showed he had been drinking heavily somewhere and had just come from there.

“Sons of-bitches. I'm already miserable enough to have become this bottom-feeder, and now you're ordering me around.”

Crash.

The man kicked the table next to him.

The table broke, and splinters flew in all directions.

Pol and the punk, who had been clashing swords, were startled and turned around.

And then they both began to pour out a storm of words.

“Brother! You're here!? These are the guys who caused trouble in our territory! Please teach them a lesson!”

“What?! You think you're the only one with a Brother?! Right?! Brother!”

“Hah! My Big Brother is so strong!”

“What, you punk?! You don't know how strong Brother Ben is? Your Brother is a one-punch-KO, you bastard!”

“You son of a bitch, how dare you insult my Brother?!”

Are you guys elementary schoolers?

It was a level that was hard to think of as an adult's conversation.

“Brother!!”

“Brother, Brother!!”

“Brother, Brother, Brother!!”

“Brother, Brother, Brother, Brother……!!”

Please stop, you crazy bastards.

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