Chapter 105
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Volume 2 + Chapter 105: Utterly Ordinary
In the lower district of Corolle, there was a certain butcher shop.
No one really knew the owner’s real name, but most people called him Ajin.
Ajin was a middle-aged man in his forties.
He was a bachelor, always looking disheveled, a cigarette perpetually dangling from his mouth as he cut meat. Sometimes the ash would fall onto the meat—he’d been scolded by countless customers for it, but he never changed, only listened in silence.
He slept through the mornings, never opened shop early, and didn’t really get to work until late afternoon or evening. A total slacker, he didn’t care much about business.
Most of the meat he sold was water-injected.
The one redeeming thing about his shop was that his prices were incredibly cheap. Even with the poor quality, the meat was affordable—even for the poorest of the poor.
Dragons had huge appetites. They couldn’t go without meat.
Someone once estimated that even if his meat was diluted, Ajin barely made any profit—sometimes he even sold at a loss.
Strangely, despite the chaos of the lower district, no thug ever dared cause trouble at his shop.
Everyone thought Ajin was mysterious. No one knew anything about his past. The slum-dwellers didn’t know what he was after either—perhaps he was just a man with a story.
Many believed that, but Ajin never spoke of his past.
Night had fallen, though there was still a little time left before closing.
Ajin sliced up a few remaining chunks of meat on the cutting board, laid them out neatly, and lit another cigarette.
He was waiting for someone to buy up the rest of this watered-down meat before calling it a day.
But tonight felt… off.
He heard a commotion in the lower district. It sounded like an earthquake, and even fireworks being set off.
“Is there a festival today or something?” Ajin muttered, confused.
He looked outside and saw a crowd of people running in the same direction.
Among them was one of his regular customers.
“Ajin! You’re still here?” the man shouted as he ran up. “Something’s going down!”
“You’re making a fuss,” Ajin said lazily. “What is it this time?”
“There’s a massive bounty out! Some rich guy’s offering a reward for the death of a young dragon! A huge sum!”
“A young dragon?”
“Yeah! Everyone in the lower district’s gone mad! If you kill that dragon, the reward is enough to move out of here—straight into the central district!” the man said, eyes gleaming. “This is our chance to change our lives! Let’s team up—bring your butcher knife and let’s take it down! After this, you won’t have to sell meat anymore—we’ll be living like nobles!”
“Not interested.”
The regular’s face twitched. “Well, if you’re not going, I am. The whole damn district’s on the move!”
The man took off, heading toward the source of the earthquake.
Ajin leaned back in a lounge chair, eyes closed.
The lower district really was noisy tonight. On any other night, you wouldn’t see this many people outside.
“…Forget it.”
Ajin got up, slipped on his flip-flops, took off his jacket, and lit another cigarette.
“Guess I’ll go out for a walk.”
…
Xia Yi had a bad feeling—more and more dragons were flooding the streets.
Like a tidal wave, they clogged the entire block.
They were all slum-dwellers from the lower district.
Their eyes gleamed with a dangerous light as they stared at Xia Yi.
“Sorry, little miss,” one of them said. “There’s a bounty on your head. That kind of money… we couldn’t make it in a hundred lifetimes.”
“What? A bounty?”
“If we kill you, we can finally leave this hopeless place—move to the central district.”
Xia Yi’s brows furrowed.
That bastard Qiansha had used a signal flare to lure all these people here—was this his plan to cause her more trouble?
“You’ve been deceived,” Xia Yi said. “You’re being used.”
“Kill her! Kill her and we’ll live like nobles in the central district!”
The slum-dwellers didn’t listen—they rushed at her.
“Annoying,” Xia Yi muttered, irritated. She had no intention of wasting time on this.
All she wanted was to find Qiansha and beat the crap out of him.
“Fireball!”
She controlled her chant and raised her Rose Staff, casting Fireball.
At first, her staff was aimed directly at the crowd.
But then she paused. Though furious, her plan to clean out Corolle’s upstart nobles wasn’t complete—and a key part of it involved the lower district’s residents. If she started a massacre here, it could ruin everything…
FWOOOSH!
“Firewall!”
She changed the spell’s nature. The fireball exploded on the ground before the crowd, flames roaring into the sky, forming a wall of fire that pushed the slum-dwellers back.
“She’s a mage!”
“So what!? I’d rather take the risk than rot away here!”
Some backed off, frightened. Others charged ahead recklessly, determined to take her down.
The magic had some deterrent effect—but it didn’t turn the tide.
Xia Yi had only two choices now:
Stand there and wait to die…
Or fight her way out.
“That’s enough! Anyone who doesn’t want to die—stand down! From this moment on, the Hechi Gang is in charge here!”
Xia Yi suddenly heard Jiye’s voice.
She looked up—many dragonkin in matching suits descended from above, landing around her like a personal guard.
On rooftops all around, members of the Hechi Gang appeared, looming over the street, monitoring everything. They held ranged weapons ready to fire if anyone dared move.
Gang members also blocked the street’s entrances, holding weapons in open threat.
The Hechi Gang’s movements were orderly and disciplined—clearly the work of a top-tier syndicate.
“That’s the Hechi Gang of Corolle!”
“What’s that gang doing in the lower district?!”
“We don’t stand a chance against them!”
The slum-dwellers were instantly cowed by the gang’s arrival.
“Miss Twilight, I came with the boss as fast as I could,” Jiye said, bowing his head. “Sorry we were late and put you in danger.”
“Is Serra back too?”
Jiye nodded. “Boss just notified me. The assassin who attacked you has been captured. There’s no need to worry.”
“Serra really is dependable,” Xia Yi said with relief.
“Miss Twilight, what should we do next? About these slum-dwellers who tried to harm you—should we…”
“No need. They were just being used,” Xia Yi replied. “Tell the Hechi Gang not to harm them. I’ve still got plans for the lower district.”
“Understood. I’ll inform everyone now.” Jiye began relaying the order.
Everyone’s eyes were on Xia Yi.
They all saw the leader of the Hechi Gang show great respect to the silver-haired girl—and the way she gave Jiye direct orders was something they’d never forget.
That night, everyone remembered her codename—Twilight.
And Xia Yi had a strange feeling.
She was really starting to run a gang now.
As she was being escorted away by the Hechi Gang members, Xia Yi felt a strange gaze on her.
She turned and looked back. Across the slum crowd, she saw an unkempt dragonkin.
A middle-aged man in a tank top and flip-flops, a cigarette dangling from his lips—locking eyes with her, deep and unreadable.
Utterly ordinary… yet standing out in the crowd with a strange aura.
“What is it, Miss Twilight?” Jiye noticed her distraction.
“Oh… nothing,” she said.
