Black Iron’s Glory
chapter-103

After leaving Hurian’s store, Claude took the alley that led to the lake when he left. The store was located at the intersection of the four alleys, and Claude no longer felt interested in traveling back the way he came. The alley ahead was connected to the old street and was in the opposite of where he wanted to go. He didn’t wish to waste any time and energy taking that route.

The upper left alleyway headed to the crowded downtown area. Given his getup, not many people on the old street would notice him. However, not many took the alley to to reach that area and it would be far too noticable if he did. As he didn’t want to catch any attention, he didn’t pick that route as well.

That led him to settle on the last alleyway that led to the lake. Claude had used that path numerous times. Even though it also necessitated a detour of a few hundred meters, that route wasn’t used by many during such late hours. There weren’t many residents beside the alleyway either and past the residential area was a small forested area through which the lake could be reached. Claude could remove his robe and shawl in the forest before heading home and pretending he was on a simple walk at night.

Currently, he was considering how he should carry out the trade tomorrow now.

He didn’t dare to bring a large sack of shaliuns to Hurian’s store. That carried the risk of hm being found out to be a magus.

The hearts of others were hard to fathom. Hurian seemed like he lusted after money a whole lot and was the greedy type. Claude didn’t feel safe with letting him know his true identity. Otherwise, it was hard to say what the consequences would be. Perhaps the old man might sell the truth about him for a good amount of money. After that, Claude would ‘coincidentally’ bump into a rogue magus and all hell would break loose…

Alternatively, he could dress as he did tonight to prevent others from recognizing him. But the goods he bought would be packed into a large sack and it wouldn’t be light in the slightest. How should he bring such a large sack back home by himself?

Any kind of transport was out of the question as it risked exposing his identity. Whether it was borrowed or one of his own, anybody with enough diligence would be able to find out about it easily. He couldn’t disguise himself while he went to rent a wagon or horse, right? There was no doubt that he’d sooner be reported to the police than allowed to rent one.

He couldn’t go by day either as his getup had the opposite effect in broad daylight and would only make him stand out more. Though, while he could hide his identity, there was no saying what kind of accident he’d bump into on the way. Carrying such a large sack of things would prove to be inconvenient.

While Claude was glad about being able to find the necessary materials for an alchemical formation array and he didn’t mind the more expensive price, he realized that bringing the goods back itself would prove to be a challenging problem. Additionally, he wondered whether he should have a meal with his family tomorrow first or go there directly from the wood.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he felt. If he wanted to go directly from the wood, he’d have to think about how he would go about hiding the fact he went out. The Sioris wouldn’t think it weird for him to leave, but without any transport, he would have to walk all the way from the wood on his own two feet. If he chose to go home to have dinner before leaving for the shop, his father would definitely ask him why he came home for dinner two days in a row and lecture him about not slacking off on his work.

Sometimes, one would be so occupied with a thought that no solution would come about, and that was where Claude was currently. He realized that it wasn’t possible for him to bring a large sack of ingredients back to the wood. The lack of transport, the presence of pedestrians on the street, the time of transaction and his personal safety were all beyond him.

All things aside, the alley heading towards the lake was quite quiet with very few others passing by. Usually, the others would hurriedly move to the side of the road when they saw him dressed up like that. Maybe I can use this path again tomorrow after I finish the trade… But there’s no way I can carry such a large sack all the way back to the wood, right?

Just as Claude was still wracking his mind over it, he saw a group of people surrounding a two-story building up ahead. Using the candlelight leaking out of the windows, he could see that two groups of people were engaged in a huge argument and loud cries and laughter could be heard from afar

Claude slowed his steps down and approached slowly. He couldn’t turn back nor circle around the group as the people watching the two argue had blocked most of the street. What piqued his curiosity was how not a single person living beside the alley came out to look at what the commotion was about.

It wasn’t like nobody was home either. Claude noticed a few lit rooms through the windows and some silhouettes walking about within the buildings, but none of them came outside to watch.

He stopped right that instant and hid himself in a dark corner some ten meters away from the commotion. Gradually, he got a grasp about the situation after hearing the loud arguing.

The side with more people belonged to Blacksnake gang that lurked in the slums and the side with only four was part of Shark gang, some of them were women too. There were around eight people from Blacksnake and they were teasing the women while mocking the members of Shark gang. Given their smaller numbers, those of Shark only argued back without daring to lash out. The standstill had lasted for about half an hour so far.

Blacksnake and Shark were two slum gangs that Claude had heard of. Blacksnake comprised many ruffians and Windmoon Street was said to be their territory. The harlots working on that street had to pay the gang a protection fee.

Shark on the other hand was something Claude heard about from Eriksson. They were a group formed by the sailors and workers at the docks to protect themselves which soon evolved into an underground violent local power. The public docks were controlled by them and they forcefully took part ownership of all seven taverns near the docks. All ships docked there had to pay a monthly fee to the gang.

Those two gangs were the tumors of Whitestag’s slums and they would often engage in violent conflict. Murder and group violence were quite common and all efforts by Whitestag’s authorities to improve the security of the slums had been in vain.

If a strict comparison were to be made, one would find that Shark was far less volatile and reasonable than Blacksnake and they wouldn’t lay their hands on the poor in the slums for no reason. The income they got from the docks were enough for them to make a comfortable living and almost all the ship captains in town had a working relationship with the gang. None of them wished for their crew to refuse any orders or summons.

Blacksnake’s behavior made them more looked down on compared to Shark. Not only did they scour the harlots for riches, they also organized underground gambling rings and tempted people to join them. Most of the unrest in the slums were directly caused by Blacksnake and the thefts and violent robberies often involved their members.

It was said that a big backer of Blacksnake was someone within the town hall. Baron Robert, the current mayor, also spoke on behalf of the gang for many times. There were rumors that suggested Baron Robert and some others received many bribes from Blacksnake, hence why they were allowed to continue to reign supreme in the slums. That was also why Baron Robert didn’t inspire the respect of the townsfolk despite being the mayor.

No wonder the residents of this alley didn’t bother to come out. There’s nothing they can do about the conflict between these two gangs and they might even be worried of pissing them off… The doors of the houses were shut tight and the lights were gradually extinguished in an effort to make it look like nobody was home.

Claude listened patiently for a long moment and understood why the two sides only argued without getting into an actual fight. It had something to do with the trading fleet that was headed for Nubissia. Given that the whole venture was still supposed to be kept secret, it was told to the public that the fleet had sailed to the south of the continent to trade. That was the reason most of the crew picked to sail that voyage were members of Shark, the elite among them no less. The leader of the gang, Ironaxe Hanbas, was picked to lead their escort force.

Before the departure, some people in power promised Hanbas that they would make sure no bloodshed would occur before the fleet returned to Whitestag. If anything did happen, the aggressor would definitely come to regret the consequences. Those in the know understood that the policy was explicitly made against Blacksnake and the gang itself knew that it was best for them to lay low for the moment.

If a fallout really occurred, the extermination of Blacksnake would be within sight. Even though the mayor accepted their bribes, the actual people in charge didn’t hold their nominal mayor with high regard. They only appeared to be polite towards him to hold up appearances.

The ongoing confrontation wasn’t planned. Blacksnake’s third-in-command, Slanteye Kamadi was o the way back from dinner to the old street with a few of his minions and they were traveling through that small alley. The brother of Ironaxe Hanbas, Jerad, also happened to be bringing his girlfriend home. The two groups of people encountered each other at the entrance of the house of Jerad’s girlfriend.

Jerad’s girlfriend was one of Claude’s acquaintances, the elder sister of Kefnie, the girl admired by the former owner of Claude’s body, and the barmaid of Mermaid, Kesline. Eriksson told Claude once that Kesline stabbed a dagger through Slanteye Kamadi’s right hand once when he tried to feel her up and incited a huge conflict between the two gangs, which ended with the horrible loss suffered by Blacksnake, causing them to have no choice but to endure their misfortune.

Having met his archenemy, Kesline, out of sheer coincidence, Kamadi brought his men to surround them. Fortunately, he didn’t lose his reason from rage and understood that if the two gangs shed blood at this point in time, putting aside Shark, even the leader and second-in-command of Blacksnake wouldn’t forgive him. Perhaps they might even give Kamadi to Shark willingly to earn their forgiveness and quell the conflict.

That was why even though Blacksnake’s number was double that of Shark’s, Slanteye Kamadi didn’t make the first move because of the truce. He only mocked and cursed Kesline. His plan was simple: if he could make the other two members of Shark instigate the fight, then they could beat them up to half death on the grounds of self defense.

Jerad was well aware of what Kamadi was planning. He didn’t want to give the members of Blacksnake any reason to act and stopped his men no matter how vile the words spouted by the Blacksnakes were. Kesline, however, seemed to be fuming with rage and almost charged in to beat up Kamadi from hearing his infuriating words.

Jerad had no choice but to hold her tight. He knew that given their numbers, a fight would only end with their loss. And even though there didn’t appear to be anyone else on the street, the residents were definitely paying attention to the situation and they would witness clearly which side lashed out first. If the Sharks started the fight, even their leader wouldn’t step in to defend them.

As a result, both sides were engaged in a deadlock, with neither willing to make the first move. Jerad and the rest were stopped from entering the house by Kamadi and his men, who weren’t willing to leave as that would amount to conceding the match.

Claude looked at the skies and estimated the time to be around nine thirty at night. Darn it, are you gonna fight or not? Buzz off if you don’t intend to! Don’t hold me back here! My parents will question where I’ve been to if it takes any longer than this…

Claude stepped out from the dark corner under the roof of one of the houses and took large steps forward.