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Chapter 51: Freedom

“It seems so,” said Crockta with a nod.

Crockta and Jeremy had taken the Haedong Balhae clan members by surprise and raided their building. This was the last room. They were in the third city after Chesswood. The Haedong Balhae clan members that Jeremy had captured had resisted, but they were quickly restrained. Some even begged Crockta and Jeremy for mercy.

“Don’t do it! I spent so much money developing this character. Please don’t do it!”

“Shut up,” Jeremy said and struck the back of a pleading clan member’s head.

Undaunted, the player continued to twist his body in an attempt to escape from the rope binding him, but Jeremy continued to strike the player’s head.

Meanwhile, Crockta just shrugged his shoulders. He could tell the player had put in a lot of effort into growing his character. His equipment was expensive, and he was quite strong compared to the other clan members. However, Crockta and Jeremy were stronger.

The player continued to struggle, so Jeremy kicked him in the face, and the player’s teeth were sent flying into the air. Jeremy then gagged the player’s bleeding mouth. The player’s body went slack, and Jeremy wrapped up his body.

After executing the concrete method on the player, Jeremy stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Whew, there’s a lot of them,” said Jeremy.

The Haedong Balhae clan members that Crockta and Jeremy had tied up together wiggled on the floor behind them. Then the door opened to reveal that Derek’s emissary, who had been sent to do the clean-up, had arrived.

“Good work, gentlemen,” said the emissary.

Crockta and Jeremy didn’t know what methods Derek had employed, but he had managed to yield huge profits from this situation. According to the emissary, Derek had made arrangements to gain power over the city by pushing out the Haedong Balhae clan members. Crockta didn’t ask further questions because he didn’t want to know what Derek did behind the scenes.

“Hey, how is Derek doing?” asked Jeremy.

The emissary glanced at Jeremy and nodded. “He is well.”

“It has been a while since I last saw him. Tell him I will return with a gift.”

“I will. Derek has prepared a gift as well.”

“Derek prepared a gift? I’m excited. What is it?”

“I don’t know the specifics.”

Jeremy approached the emissary and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve captured a lot of cursed ones. Are they being taken care of properly?”

“Yes, don’t worry. Most of them have been taken to the stars.” NPCs described characters completely disappearing as ‘taken by the stars.’ Most of the Haedong Balhae clan members who had been dealt with using the concrete method had created new characters or quit the game entirely after deleting their accounts.

“What’s the next destination?” asked Crockta.

The man politely said to Crockta, “Crockta, there is no next time.”

“How come?”

“The Haedong Balhae clan is no longer active. The members have dispersed. It seems they have disbanded the clan.”

“...Is that so?”

“Yes. The Haedong Balhae clan is done.”

‘The dissolution of the Haedong Balhae clan... happened before I knew it. It’s not surprising considering the number of home bases and sites of operations I raided though. It’s not odd at all that they decided to disband,’ Crockta thought.

Then he walked toward the window. He tripped over the bodies of the clan members, but he didn’t mind and stepped on them to reach the window. The sky was blue. Crockta opened the window, and a cold breeze flew in as he gazed at the sky outside. He hadn’t expected the time he had spent chasing Lenox’s revenge to come to an end like this. It was a strange feeling.

“Is this really the end?” asked Crockta.

“Yes, Crockta. We aren’t hiding anything from you.”

‘From me, huh,’ thought Crockta.

He looked at the face of the emissary, who continued speaking, “If you look at it, it’s an inevitable outcome. You and Jeremy have been cutting off their arms and legs. It’s impressive that they have endured this far.”

“Is that so?” replied Crockta.

Jeremy whistled. “Brother, congratulations. You succeeded in avenging your instructor.”

Crockta shrugged. Had he really succeeded in getting revenge? He had been unable to capture the traitor Grom, and he still hadn’t captured the master of the Haedong Balhae clan who had abetted royal NPCs. Now that the clan had disbanded, it would be even harder to track those two down. Crockta smiled bitterly. He had only achieved partial revenge. Nonetheless, the Haedong Balhae members probably thought they had lost most of what they had. In the same way that they saw what Crockta had lost as worthless, the possessions of the Haedong Balhae clan didn’t have any value to Crockta.

‘I think I can take a break now,’ thought Crockta.

This seemed like the final ending. However, on the day that he and the Haedong Balhae clan would come to meet once again under the Elder Lord sky, they would realize that the orc they had forgotten about had come to complete his revenge.

“This is Derek’s gift for you,” said the emissary as he handed a document to Crockta.

It had the name of a city and an address written on it, as well as symbols that appeared to be some kind of code. The document was titled ‘Contact Method.’

The emissary continued, “Use this if you want to chase after the remaining members. It has the Information Guild’s location and the contact method. This is all we can do for you.”

“Thank you,” said Crockta.

Crockta tucked the piece of paper away. His relationship with Derek had been a transaction for mutual benefit anyway. The rest was his responsibility to take care of alone.

“Thank you for all of your hard work. You’ve done a lot,” Crockta said to Jeremy.

Jeremy grinned widely. “You are the one who did all the work, brother. You did an admirable thing, avenging your instructor.”

“Will you be returning to Derek?” asked Crockta.

“Yes. My place is by his side.”

“I see,” Crockta said. Then he walked toward Jeremy and whispered in his ear, “Watch out for Derek.”

“Huh?”

“A person only raises a hunting dog while he can control it. Once it tries to break its leash, it gets eaten.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying it’s not a bad thing to be careful.”

Crockta glanced over at the emissary, who was warily observing Crockta and Jeremy whispering to one another.

Then Crockta grinned and turned away from Jeremy, patting his shoulder. “Bul’tar! Great job. Stay alive until the next time we meet.”

“It’s already time to say goodbye? That’s a bummer,” said Jeremy.

“We will see each other again one day.”

“Yes. Brother, if you visit Anail, come see me.” Jeremy extended his hand as if trying to shake hands, but he smiled and scratched his head instead. He then extended his fist the way orcs greeted one another. “I’ve always wanted to try it, to be honest.”

Crockta beamed and bumped Jeremy’s fist.

“Bul’tar! Is this correct?” asked Jeremy.

“Wrong. Your voice sounds weak. Put more strength into it. Bul’tar!”

“Haha, you’re funny. Fine, bul’tar!” Jeremy smiled as he dropped his fist. “Are you leaving right now?”

Crockta nodded in response.

“I see. I have to return with that fellow over there,” said Jeremy. He then wrapped his arm around Crockta’s shoulder and made a request to the emissary, “Please take care of the clean-up here. I will come back after sending him off.”

“Sure,” the emissary replied.

Crockta and Jeremy left the room. On the way to the entrance of the building, they saw the Haedong Balhae clan members struggling under the ropes. A few had already disconnected from the server. Crockta and Jeremy chuckled as they looked at the clan members’ resentful eyes.

Before long, the two of them arrived at the entrance. They exchanged looks and firmly grasped each other’s hands. The farewell was brief—just a quick handshake and eye contact. Then they patted each other’s shoulders, turned around, and proceeded toward their own paths. Crockta and Jeremy both knew they would see each other again someday.

***

After Jeremy sent Crockta off, he re-entered the Haedong Balhae building. This building would soon be Derek’s property, so Derek’s subordinates were cleaning up the remaining Haedong Balhae clan members.

The emissary from earlier approached Jeremy. “Jeremy.”

“Yeah?”

“Here is a letter from Derek.”

“A letter?”

The emissary handed Jeremy a white envelope. As always, the envelope was secured with red candle wax with Derek’s signature seal on it. Jeremy whistled as he opened the envelope. The wax crumbled and scattered on the ground.

“Hmm... What does he need me to do this time...?” Jeremy muttered.

He read the letter and doubted his eyes for a second. The content of the letter was unexpected.

Jeremy was about to ask what the hell Derek was talking about when Crockta’s voice came back to life in his mind, “Watch out for Derek.”

Although Jeremy was unable to rationalize the situation, his survival instinct allowed him to wear a mask of composure. He calmed his rapidly beating heart and forcefully curved his lips into a smile.

‘Don’t reveal how agitated you are. Just say it with ease as if you had predicted it all along.’

“As expected...” began Jeremy.

‘Your voice is trembling. Calm down, Jeremy.’

“...As expected of Derek. He is thorough. Isn’t he?”

“...”

“He has to get rid of all the risk factors, just as he has always done.” Jeremy grinned.

He managed to steady his stiff fingers and gently folded the letter. Then he placed the letter back inside the envelope and tucked it away. Although his face was smiling, he was rapidly considering the situation in his head.

The content of the letter was simple: [Kill Crockta.]

Jeremy knew Derek well. This was how he tested his subordinates. Jeremy couldn’t show the slightest sign of hesitation or surprise. He had to be a loyal dog. The second he refused to hunt and whimpered, he would be the one eaten alive.

‘But why? Why is Derek testing me?’

As soon as he questioned himself, Jeremy came to a realization. Laughter seeped out of his lips.

‘I see.’

To Derek, having doubts about the command to kill Crockta was a rebellion. It was obvious to Jeremy that Derek had already seen through him. Derek had always achieved his ways by demanding absolute obedience. In fact, Jeremy had killed the so-called traitors who had disobeyed Derek’s commands in the past, so he could understand Derek’s decision perfectly. However, Jeremy’s current mindset meant he could no longer apathetically carry out the injustices that Derek ordered.

‘As expected, Derek is amazing.’

Derek had figured out Jeremy’s true feelings, which had been unknown even to Jeremy himself. That was how loyal Jeremy had been to Derek.

This realization also made Jeremy furious though. After all, he had taken care of all of Derek’s matters without an ounce of suspicion as his direct subordinate. He had thought of himself as someone who was special to Derek. Sure, he was a dog, but he had hoped to be more than that.

Yet, the truth was that Jeremy’s arrogance had made him deluded.

“Hey, brother, did Derek say...” began Jeremy.

The emissary tilted his head curiously in response.

Jeremy grinned from ear to ear as he continued, “If I seem surprised or show signs of resistance, you should kill me immediately?”

“...!” The emissary’s eyes widened.

He quickly tried to retreat, but Jeremy’s sword had already pierced his throat before he was aware of it. Blood dripped from the emissary’s neck.

“No wonder... I did think about how you could hold your head up so high around your senior,” Jeremy remarked.

“Ahhh...” The emissary crumbled to the ground.

The rest of Derek’s subordinates surrounded Jeremy. They had a formidable presence and were quite strong. Nevertheless, Jeremy snickered to himself. There was something Derek, who was usually able to predict everything, didn’t know.

As Jeremy’s body moved like the wind, the ambushers began to collapse. Jeremy’s sword followed the movements of Derek’s subordinates and defeated them in succession. They were slain without having a chance to resist. With cold eyes, Jeremy slashed the last ambusher, killing him.

Derek didn’t know that Jeremy was now extremely strong. After fighting in battles alongside Crockta, Jeremy had grown stronger, far beyond Derek’s expectations. It was a matter of course. The one that Jeremy had spent so much time with was none other than Crockta—the orc warrior that even Derek had given up on trying to predict the actions of. The variable known as Crockta even changed his surroundings to unpredictable variables.

“You can’t help but become stronger if you hang out with the orc,” Jeremy stated.

A person had to become strong to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a reckless orc like Crockta.

Jeremy took deep breaths and walked toward the window. The corpses of the Haedong Balhae clan got in his way, but he didn’t mind and simply stepped on them. When he arrived at the window, Jeremy held the sight of the endless deep blue sky in his eyes.

“So, this is why the orc stood here earlier.”

After hearing that the Haedong Balhae clan had dissolved, Crockta had stared off into the faraway skies from this window. Now, Jeremy understood why.

“The sky is so blue.”

Derek had cast Jeremy aside, and Jeremy had also cast Derek aside. The shackles that had bound Jeremy had been released. Derek and Anail’s back alley, the two things that had controlled him, were now out of his life.

Now that those chains had been cut, Jeremy raised his head to look at the sky, and he realized the world was much bigger than he had known. Jeremy spread out his arms. The breeze flew in from the window and wrapped around him.

He would soon be chased by Derek. He would also have to find a new job. All Jeremy knew was how to wield the sword. He had no family or friends. He had been tossed into the world with just a sword in his hand. Jeremy was someone without a place of belonging or family.

As his future lurked with countless enemies, fate was solely in his hands now... but so was his freedom.

Jeremy closed his eyes.

“...Ahhh, it feels like I’m walking on clouds.”