For a moment, he felt a strong gaze from above.
Panicking, he quickly tried to change the subject.
Whether Ragar had no interest in his excuse or simply didn't care, he didn't respond.
Instead, Ragar silently turned his gaze away and resumed walking, as though nothing had happened.
Rocco looked up at him, noticing that Ragar's expression remained unchanged.
Despite having his hand being held by him, Ragar didn't pull away or show any sign of discomfort.
His calm indifference made Rocco smile softly, feeling his anxiety ease just a little.
The fear of walking through the slums was, if only a little, alleviated by the reassurance of having Ragar by his side.
After twenty minutes of walking through the slums, Rocco and Ragar arrived at their destination: deep within the ruined outskirts of the city.
It was a vast dumping ground known as the Senza Nome Graveyard.
This was a place where not only garbage piled up in rotting heaps, but also the corpses of thugs and rogues who had lost their lives in the constant conflicts of the slums.
The stench of death was overwhelming.
In the novel, it was described as a place where even the air reeked of despair.
Here, among the oppressive miasma, the infamous killer—barely clinging to life—had hidden himself.
Somewhere in this graveyard of trash and death, that man was lying in wait, unaware that the protagonist of the novel, Sylas, Rocco's brother, would soon arrive to save him.
"Ragar, there's someone I need to meet here. He has crimson hair. If you find a living man, report back to me immediately," Rocco instructed, his voice slightly muffled as he covered his nose with his sleeve.
"Understood," Ragar replied.
Even though Rocco had prepared himself for this moment, the stench of death surrounding him made his legs tremble slightly.
Facing the grim reality of this world struck him deeply.
The fact that he could find some relief in the knowledge of being born into a wealthy family—connected to the novel's protagonist—seemed almost grotesque.
As Ragar searched the area using his heightened beast-like senses, Rocco stood back, idly watching.
He reflected on his plan to recruit Georgio the Ripper, the man who was meant to become one of Sylas's key allies.
Rocco had been debating what to say when he finally met Georgio.
He knew he could simply parrot the words Sylas had used in the novel to win Georgio over, but somehow it didn't sit right with him.
It was a minor hesitation in the grand scheme of things, but with his survival on the line, he knew there was no time for doubt.
"Master. I've located the crimson-haired man," Ragar suddenly announced.
"…Oh. Already? That was fast," Rocco stammered, caught off guard.
The rain, which had started to drizzle, added a somber note to the atmosphere as Rocco tried to maintain his composure.
No, this wasn't the time to lose his cool.
Following Ragar's lead, Rocco found himself approaching the man in question.
His heart pounded loudly in his chest as a mixture of nervousness and fear bubbled to the surface.