Huff puff puff...
The sound of footsteps echoed in a narrow alley as three men ran frantically.
All three were breathing heavily, tired, scared, and anxious.
"Hey! You think running this way was a good idea?!" one of them shouted.
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Remember, this is the path the drug traffickers use, so it's highly secret!" the man leading the group replied confidently.
Finally, they arrived at a dead end.
Seeing there was no way forward, the man on the right angrily glared at the one in front.
"This is your secret path? If I die, I swear I'll haunt you!"
"Idiot! Do you think I'd call this a secret path for no reason?" the man in the middle mocked, walking up to the wall in front of them.
He placed his hand on it, and his hand immediately passed through.
"M-Magic?!" the other two exclaimed in shock.
"What are you waiting for? Get in now!"
The three men stepped into the secret passage, vanishing without a trace.
Inside, they found themselves facing two guards standing at a gate.
"Identity verification," one of the guards demanded.
Hearing this, all three handed over verification tickets.
The guard examined the tickets, then glanced at the trio.
"...Proceed."
The two guards opened the gate, and the three men eagerly rushed inside.
After they entered, one guard turned to the other.
"Hey, those guys seem to be the ones Dark Days is hunting. Why'd you let them in?"
"Look, the black market is a place of extreme freedom with no management. It doesn't matter who they are—if they have a ticket, I let them in," the other guard explained.
"Man, you're terrible at being a guard."
"But hey, you're still doing your job, and I respect that," a voice suddenly interrupted.
"Ah, thank you—" the guard began to respond, but quickly realized the voice didn't belong to his colleague.
Both guards turned to see a young man standing before them.
He had short purple hair, eyes the same color, and wore an elegant outfit.
The only feature that clashed with his sophisticated appearance was a large scar over his right eye, giving him an unintentionally intimidating aura.
The guard swallowed hard, regret creeping in over allowing the three men to pass earlier.
The young man, expressionless, handed over a verification ticket.
The guard barely glanced at it, knowing full well who stood before him, then handed it back.
"Thank you, but I hope you'll delay people for a bit next time to help out, alright?" the young man suggested.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
With that, the two guards opened the gate for him.
As the gate closed behind him, the guards sighed in relief.
"At least Dark Days isn't a completely ruthless organization. Imagine if it were another group with the same power level."
"That would be a nightmare for the two of us..."
***
"Just keep running! Once we cross the border, we'll definitely escape their pursuit!"
The three men dashed through rows of stalls, each one selling bizarre items found only in the black market.
The leader spotted the stall he was searching for and rushed over, throwing money at the vendor.
"Give me an identity change ticket! Right now!"
The vendor glanced at the three, then pocketed the cash. He walked over to a strange machine and pressed a button.
"State the information you want to change."
"JUST DO IT! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!"
"Tch, you guys are really..."
The vendor sighed, pressed a few buttons, and three identity tickets were instantly generated.
He grabbed the tickets and tossed them at the group. Without hesitation, they snatched the tickets and bolted.
"Now we need to hire someone who can teleport us to the neighboring country!"
"Damn it, if we hire him, we'll lose all our remaining money!"
"But it's the only way to escape! There's no way I'm dying here!"
The three turned into an alleyway, spotting an old man smoking a long pipe and holding a magical staff.
"There he is!!" They ran toward him as if clinging to their last hope.
Before they could reach him, a rapier landed in front of them, its blade crackling with purple lightning.
The energy radiating from the sword paralyzed the three men and even the old mage with fear. A violet light began to glow, revealing the figure of a young man with short purple hair and a large scar over his right eye.
With a flick of his wrist, the young man tossed a platinum coin to the mage.
The old man caught it, his eyes lighting up with satisfaction. Without a word, the mage vanished into thin air, as if understanding the unspoken command.
The three men stood frozen, panic etched across their faces.
"...Damn it," one muttered as the young man approached.
"Viktor, 32 years old. Ruk, 34. Cull, 29," the young man began, his voice calm yet chilling.
"You should've known borrowing money from a mafia organization is never a good idea, no matter how benevolent they seem."
"Of course, we gave you hope, but perhaps we expected too much from you." He sighed deeply.
"Honestly, we could've just handed you over to the knights and been done with it. After all, we prefer to play by the rules to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"Unfortunately... you're nothing but societal trash. Domestic violence, theft, murder, disrupting public order—you name it. We don't like any of it."
The man lifted the rapier from the ground, the purple lightning dancing around the blade.
"Luckily for us, you owe us money, which means the knights won't intervene unless we give them the green light."
"B-Bloody hypocrites!" one of the men spat, mustering the courage to stand. "The mafia thinks they're heroes now? Playing judge and executioner?! You're no better than us!"
"...Not quite," the young man replied, closing his eyes as more purple lightning enveloped his body.
"The mafia is still the mafia. We're far from good people."
"But that's precisely why we can deal with filth like you. It's not about justice or morality."
"It's about building a clean, orderly city. That's all there is to it."
Hearing this, the other two men reluctantly picked up weapons and charged toward the young man.
The scarred young man stepped back, gripping his rapier tightly, then opened his eyes. In an instant, he dashed past the two attackers with blinding speed.
The last man, standing frozen in fear, watched as the two others stood motionless like statues.
"?!" He blinked, confused, until both men suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.
The wounds? Precisely through their hearts.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" the last man screamed, turning and sprinting away.
The young man watched him flee, then raised his rapier, lightning surging around it. With a mighty throw, the blade shot forward at breakneck speed, engulfed in purple energy.
The fleeing man ran with everything he had. But as he glanced back, all he saw was the rapier hurtling directly toward his head.
"Fuck."
A deafening crack filled the air, followed by a splatter of red liquid across the alley.
The rapier broke under the force, its blade shattered by the immense power of the throw.
The young man scanned the area, his gaze falling on an old man with a sinister smile approaching him.
"Sir... do you need me to clean up the bodies? Of course, my services aren't cheap~"
"Enough talk. Take this." The young man tossed three gold coins at the old man, who caught them eagerly, grinning from ear to ear.
"Thank you for using my services! I promise they'll disappear without a trace~"
The young man ignored him, walking away without another word.
Halfway down the street, a device in his pocket beeped. He paused, looked around for a secluded spot, then pressed a button on the device.
A crackling female voice came through.
[Done yet? I'm betting you broke your new weapon and wasted your money on something unnecessary again.]
"If it was necessary for the mission," he replied curtly.
[Sure it was... Anyway, Boss has a task for us. I'd suggest you head back ASAP since you're the closest to the base.]
"Boss? Understood. I'll return immediately."
The young man switched off the device and activated his magic, vanishing from the spot.
Within seconds, he exited the black market through the secret path and appeared outside.
A few more seconds later, he stood before an enormous mansion—the base of Dark Days. On the surface, it was advertised as a student boarding house with unbelievably low rent.
He entered the security room, where the guard gave him a quick glance before pressing a button. A hidden elevator rose from beneath the floor and opened its doors.
Stepping inside, the elevator descended deep underground.
Ding ding.
The doors opened, revealing a detailed wooden door crafted with intricate designs. The young man knocked a few times.
"Come in," a voice called from inside.
"Understood."
He opened the door and stepped inside, his eyes landing on the man behind the desk.
The Boss, with brown hair, sat writing on a mountain of documents. Next to him, a blonde secretary casually read a newspaper with a cheerful expression.
"Boss, you called for me?" the young man asked.
The Boss looked up, meeting the gaze of the purple-haired man before speaking softly but firmly:
"Find me everything about the farm girl invited to Fairy Tales Academy. Quickly and thoroughly."