**#141. Amon Family (1)**
—
The merchants gathered in one corner of the market whispered as they watched the hooded boy disappear into the distance.
“He looked like a kid who doesn’t know anything.”
“Shouldn’t we have said something? That he’s doing something extremely dangerous right now.”
Just moments ago, the hooded boy had shown them an item along with a question.
It was a black card.
Two of them, in fact.
> “By any chance, where would I go if I wanted to alter the pattern on this card?”
The merchants had all flinched at the sight of the cards and mumbled their answers.
> “W-We don’t know anything about that.”
> “Yeah. We’re just guys who sell stuff.”
The Nostra Clan of the North.
And the Amon Family of the East.
Everyone in the black market knew about the fierce conflict between these two groups.
Especially the recent mass killings of card technicians—there was no way to not know.
One of the street vendors shifted restlessly and said,
“We should at least warn him. Tell him to get out of here if he doesn’t want to get hurt.”
Just as he was about to move—
**Smack!**
Others immediately grabbed his arm.
“Have you lost your mind? What if we get dragged into this and end up dead? Just pretend you didn’t see anything.”
“He’s right. Don’t stick your nose in. You know how on edge the Amon guys are these days.”
The one who tried to follow the boy couldn’t argue back.
Because he knew too.
Life was too harsh to offer kindness without considering the consequences.
Doing something kind, unaffected by the situation.
That kind of thing was only possible for children who hadn’t yet been tainted by the world.
“……”
The man, burdened by too many things to act freely, could only watch.
Watching the boy disappear at the far end of the market—
—with eyes full of conflicted sorrow and guilt.
*
*
*
“Eat it and gain strength! A mystical cure-all that’ll help you live to 200 years old!”
*Live to 200?*
Ray instinctively stopped turning his head.
He consciously tried to ignore the noise around him and walked faster.
*…It should be about time for a response.*
It had been 20 minutes since he started asking around about the card technicians in the Amon Family’s main territory.
A short time, depending on how you looked at it.
But considering the size of the organization—two to three hundred members—and the structure that came with it, it was enough time for word to reach the higher-ups.
He had also felt several presences observing him closely before vanishing.
*And yet, still no response.*
Maybe he needed to be more aggressive in getting their attention.
“Selling a loudspeaker so powerful your voice echoes across sector lines!”
“How much for—”
Just as he was about to ask the price—
**Step, step, step.**
He sensed multiple presences rapidly approaching.
Not just random passersby.
They were coming with clear intent.
*They don’t seem to be from the same group.*
Excitement, anticipation, joy—
Mana resonated with Ray’s emotions and quickly surged through his body.
**Crackle—**
Faint currents flickered across his skin.
It was a natural effect due to the high purity of the mana.
During the three weeks in Sector 46, Ray had devoted all his time to mastering the gemstone’s mana. Thanks to that, he had achieved a decent level of resonance.
In other words—
His maximum usable mana had significantly increased.
At least twice as much as before.
Of course, it still required his full focus while using it.
But even with that limitation, his combat power had risen dramatically.
Against ordinary people, the number of attackers didn’t matter.
The only real threat was other mages.
And unless there were multiple skilled 2nd-circle mages, or even 3rd or 4th-circle ones, Ray didn’t consider them a threat.
“Excuse me.”
Ray pushed through the crowd and entered the alleyway.
He wound through multiple alley bends, keeping just enough distance so his pursuers wouldn’t lose track of him.
**Tap.**
He reached a deep clearing at the end.
A space with multiple entrances.
Moments after stopping in the center, the men chasing him burst in from the path he’d taken.
“Hey, kid. Mind chatting with us a bit?”
“Your wallet looked pretty thick earlier.”
The lines used by those who chase others with dark intentions never change.
However—
*No visible tattoos.*
It was said the four major organizations marked their members with visible tattoos.
These men had none.
No tattoos on their hands, arms, necks, foreheads, or even inside their noses.
Which meant—
They weren’t affiliated with the Amon Family. Just random back-alley thugs.
*Wrong people came chasing after me.*
Then, a second group spilled into the clearing from the opposite entrance.
Ten of them, just like the thugs.
But the age difference was clear.
Mid-teens to early twenties.
A younger, more diverse group.
And among them were Circle Holders.
One 2nd-circle and four 1st-circle mages.
The moment Ray registered that, the sparks crackling around him intensified.
“Oh crap—it’s the Amon kids!”
“Shit! We were gonna snatch him before anyone else showed up! Move! Back off now!”
The thugs bolted the moment they saw the newcomers.
*The Amon kids.*
Ray recalled the voice of a Nostra Clan member.
> “What do you mean, they’ve got ‘em. The Amon Family’s got their kids too. They’re mages, those kids….”
“……”
Though the new group didn’t have visible tattoos either, it seemed clear from the situation that they were part of the Amon Family.
Ray opened his mouth.
“You guys with the Amon Family?”
He had been expecting a fight, but that didn’t mean he *had* to fight.
His goal was to meet someone higher up in the Amon Family and make contact with card technicians.
If they were willing to talk, there was no reason to waste energy.
“If you are, I’d like to speak with one of your higher-ups.”
No answer came.
The group all turned to look at one girl among them, as if waiting for orders.
*Is she the leader?*
A girl who looked about Ray’s age.
She held a brown-covered book in her hand.
Hair the color of deep blue, reaching her waist.
And the only 2nd-circle mage among them.
Her face was expressionless, like a doll.
…….
…….
In the suffocating silence,
The girl lifted her book to chest height and opened her palm—
**Flutter.**
—as the book opened on both sides—
**Bang!**
Two 1st-circle mages in front shot forward.
The distance between them closed rapidly.
**Swish—! Swish—! Swish—!**
Fists clad in iron knuckles stormed at Ray’s face, abdomen, limbs.
*Body enhancement magic. Close-range mages.*
Ray also drew upon red mana and activated strengthening magic.
His muscles tensed.
His pupils dilated.
His heart pounded.
**Swish! Swish!**
The punches didn’t even graze his clothing.
A look of confusion flickered across the attackers’ faces.
Ray was about to draw his knife in response when—
“……”
He noticed something.
The capacity of the ten opponents in the clearing.
No black mana. No clear malice.
Or rather, it existed—but only in minuscule amounts.
No killing intent.
Unlike the thugs from earlier.
At most, it seemed they wanted to subdue him.
Even the two attacking him now were the same.
Their technique was sharp, but their intent was passive.
Ray knew this pattern well.
*When someone is forced to act under orders.*
His hand, which had been reaching for his knife, instead dipped into his bag.
And what came out was—
“A… a book?”
“What the hell…!”
A massive book.
Bound in red leather.
Tension rippled through the enemies.
They had all been taught once.
Some magic types use long incantations written in books to greatly amplify power.
And a book *that* thick…?
Just how powerful would the spell be…?
As they all panicked—
**Whoosh──!**
*Cromwell’s Encyclopedia* sliced through the air.
**Crack—!**
“AAAAAH—!”
One enemy clutched his shoulder and collapsed to the ground.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
“W-What kind of magic is that?”
“H-He shattered the bone in one hit.”
“Don’t tell me—it’s an ancient magic from the old era…!”
One of the two boys still engaged with Ray—
**Whoosh──!**
—dodging the red blur with a cold sweat, screamed at the others.
“That wasn’t even magic! He just swung the damn thing, you idiots!”
To be fair, a metalization spell *had* been used.
Which meant the encyclopedia was now effectively a heavy hunk of metal.
**Whoosh!**
“This crazy bastard! It’s not even a knife or a gun—just a book! Getting killed by a book?! That’s too humiliating to even talk about!”
He hadn’t killed anyone.
But even if he did, they wouldn’t be able to talk.
That was Ray’s logic as he silently swung the encyclopedia again.
*Maybe a year or two younger than me. Fourteen or fifteen, maybe.*
The boy’s skill wasn’t bad.
He was small due to his age, but didn’t seem tired despite all the movement—probably from consistent physical training.
The way he threw punches and dodged attacks showed seasoned experience in street fights.
And he adjusted the output of his enhancement magic with precision.
*Impressive.*
He was compensating for the limited mana of a 1st-circle mage with other strengths.
And judging by his matching hair and eye color with the girl casting spells nearby, they were likely siblings.
*What kind of magic is she preparing? The element she’s using is…*
Just as Ray’s interest deepened—
A shard of mana, icy blue like a frozen tear, dropped from the girl’s hand.
The moment it touched the ground—
**Crack—!**
A crystal of ice bloomed.
**Crackle-crackle-crackle—!**
An icy road instantly formed and charged toward Ray.
As if some invisible force were laying a frozen path toward him at high speed.
Ray’s attention shifted completely from the boy to the girl.
He raised the output of his enhancement magic—
**Whoosh!**
—and swatted away the incoming knuckle like a fly with the encyclopedia.
**Clang—!**
“……!”
The boy, sent flying through the air—
**Thud—!**
—crashed into the wall and slid down, unconscious.
Meanwhile—
**Crack-crackle—!**
The icy road was right on Ray’s heels.
He surged forward with strength infused into his legs.
**Tap-tap-tap—!**
**Crackle-crack!**
The icy road chased after him like a nimble serpent.
Watching random objects along the path freeze solid, Ray could easily imagine what would happen if it caught him.
He briefly scattered his focus.
Tried to unravel the elemental structure of the ice road.
*As expected, no good.*
So this was 2nd-circle magic.
Ice-element spells already had stronger cohesion than most, but more than that, the spell itself was just well made.
However—
**Crack-crackle—!**
*The response time is too slow.*
Despite its quality, the control was lacking.
Every time Ray changed direction, the icy road turned a beat too late.
“……”
Ray glanced back.
At the girl, fully focused on maintaining the spell.
And he thought:
*That’s… not how you do it.*
Elements gathered in Ray’s hand.
Exactly the same type the girl was using.
—
