#144. Amon Family (4)
—
“Allow me to introduce myself properly.”
While Amon handed his business card to the mysterious boy,
Binjin still hadn’t recovered from the confusion and shock.
The unconscious Khan, who had collapsed alongside the other disciples, was brought over. Binjin grabbed his arm and injected detection mana.
‘The *circle* really has been destroyed.’
At first, he thought it had to be some kind of trick.
But Khan’s circle was gone without a trace.
…Is such a thing even possible?
He prided himself on having lived a life deeper than most mages and accumulating extensive knowledge, but he had never encountered a phenomenon like this before.
“Master, I—I thought circles couldn’t be damaged or destroyed?”
“Y-Yes. Since they’re containers for mana, they’re supposed to have absolute durability…”
The disciples’ shock and confusion echoed.
“Master, y-your orders…?”
“S-Should we call in reinforcements?”
…Along with immense fear and dread.
Though their words suggested immediate action, their faces clearly pleaded for the opposite—for their *master* to not command them to fight.
A hollow laugh escaped Binjin.
‘These are the same disciples who boldly faced 3rd-circle mages and wasteland monsters… and they’re supposed to be my best students?’
Just as he was thinking that, Binjin suddenly noticed his own trembling hand.
“……?”
The shaking grew worse, and no matter how much he tried to stop it consciously, it wouldn’t obey.
Though his mind tried to maintain rational thought, his body was reacting with instinctive terror.
‘Damn.’
It was, in a way, a natural reaction.
The destruction of a circle wasn’t just a matter of strength or power—it was a direct threat to the very foundation of a mage.
As the tremors spread up to his forearm, Binjin felt a sense of dismay.
“─I run a small organization called the Amon Family.”
Amon was desperately buying time, talking to the black-haired boy.
He was giving his ally, Binjin, time to assess the situation and reach a conclusion.
‘Hurry up and decide—whether this is someone we can defeat, or someone we must bow to.’
Receiving Amon’s look, Binjin pulled his thoughts together.
‘I’ve never heard of a mage this young with such skill operating in the 30s sector.’
A boy presumed to be a mage, wandering around the black market with a black card.
When he first received the report, he hadn’t thought much of it.
It was a good opportunity for his inexperienced disciples to gain real combat experience.
He’d merely seen it as a chance to flex the Amon Family’s power.
‘But circle destruction…’
Who could have predicted someone capable of such absurd abilities?
Of course, the outcome of a battle wasn’t determined solely by someone’s technique.
There were still 15 disciples in the building, excluding Khan.
All of them were 1st-circle mages with proper circles, and unlike the first 10 who went out, they had much more combat experience.
With the special training they had received, they could even handle 3rd-circle mages if they kept proper formation.
‘It’s absurd to think he’s surpassed the 3rd circle at that age…’
And then.
As Binjin struggled to suppress his trembling and calmly analyze the situation—
…….
…….
His eyes met the boy’s.
Eyes black as if they would swallow you whole.
Within them—a deep void.
It was an abyss.
Staring back at him as if to drag him in.
One could never know what lay within it until one stepped in.
But unfortunately—
A mage with many circles of experience—
“……!”
—saw something lurking inside.
*Click! Clackclack! Clackclackclack!*
A chill ran down his spine, and his body’s trembles exploded uncontrollably.
“M-Master…?”
“A-Are you all right…?”
He couldn’t hear the voices around him.
His mouth went dry.
His eyes trembled endlessly.
Suddenly, his revived thoughts were engulfed by a flood of dreadful possibilities.
He was receiving an overwhelming, instinctive red alert—unlike anything he’d felt in his life.
‘How foolish of me… Even the concept of circle destruction is something that defies all sense and logic.’
What if this boy had used some unknown method to hide his real age and power?
What if he far exceeded the 3rd circle and had intentionally approached them?
What if even with every disciple combined, they couldn’t subdue him—and in the end…
‘What if *my* circle is destroyed?’
With each cowardly thought taking flight, Binjin’s breathing grew faster and more erratic.
“Take Khan and return to the estate for now.”
At Binjin’s order, the disciples visibly relaxed.
They quickly gathered the unconscious Khan and rushed out of the room.
*Creeeak—Thud!*
The door closed, and Binjin rose from the sofa.
He stepped forward, bowed deeply to Ray, who had been listening to Amon, and spoke.
“I—I don’t know where you’re from, but I understand now that cheap tricks won’t work on you. I sincerely apologize. If you wish for compensation or punishment for the damage we inflicted, we’ll carry it out however you prefer.”
A heavy silence fell.
It was the moment the power dynamic in the room became crystal clear.
“Let’s save the talk of compensation and punishment for later. First, I’ll finish speaking with him.”
Receiving Ray’s glance, Amon flinched and quickly replied.
“Yes, we were discussing the black card. You said you wanted to meet a card technician to modify the registration pattern. What are you doing, you bastards?! Why haven’t you brought me a damn technician yet?! No, wait! Get the best! The one with the most skilled hands!”
Binjin, the organization’s top force, had bowed his head.
There was no longer any need to assess the situation.
*Creeaak—Thunk! Tap tap tap tap tap!*
“You slow bastards! Move your asses!”
Yelling at the retreating backs of his men beyond the open door, Amon quickly turned back to Ray, bowing again.
“Ah, s-sorry for the commotion, Mage.”
“How long will it take for the technician to arrive?”
“He’s being… er, provided room and board in the nearby building, so it shouldn’t take long. Once again, I apologize. We’ve been having trouble with a rival group lately, and we’ve been disrupting their operations…”
Ray stared at Amon, who was clearly gauging his mood.
‘I didn’t expect the boss of the organization to show up in person.’
Not a bad outcome.
It meant he could deliver his requests directly—and have them executed just as quickly.
‘Though maybe I came on a bit too strong.’
The opposition had completely given up on the idea of a fight.
It was the best-case scenario of all the outcomes he’d envisioned, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit let down.
…At the very least, he’d avoided unnecessary energy expenditure.
“For now, both of you sit down. This conversation won’t be short.”
*Pfffft—*
*Crackle!*
“I didn’t say you could sit comfortably.”
“Ah, fuck, that hurt! S-sorry! Crossing my legs is a habit—”
“Ghk! I—I relaxed too much without realizing…”
Amon and Binjin, who had sunk deeply into the sofa, jolted upright with straight backs as sparks cracked behind them.
Ray calmly looked at the two adult men, now corrected in posture.
‘They say the Amon Family has around 2 to 300 members. If used well, they could help me conduct inquiries in this sector more efficiently.’
He had changed the course of his journey.
Now, he was following the orders in the notebook.
But that didn’t mean he had given up on collecting information within the sector.
If he could assign the task of gathering intelligence to another group while his party pursued the directives—
He could save considerable time accomplishing what needed to be done in Sector 37.
‘And there’s a lot I need to learn from this Binjin guy.’
First and foremost, about the one-eyed monocled mage and the dark blue mana.
Also, everything related to the Black Rain and Murcred—targets of his group’s mission.
Considering all this, he knew today wouldn’t be the last time meeting these two.
‘I’ll need to meet them several more times—verify that they’re following instructions and slowly extract as much information as possible.’
In other words—
He had to carefully manage their *malice*.
At present, the black mana within each of them had split into two distinct forms.
One was malice.
The other, fear.
Though the color was the same, their shapes and sizes made it easy to tell them apart.
A sharp, needle-like projection aimed at him
—small and focused
—was malice.
A massive ball tightly compacted into a single point, as if hiding away from him
—was fear.
‘I need to be careful.’
These were emotions rampant in the slums—ones the boy was very familiar with.
Such dense fear toward another could, at any time, shift into equally dense malice.
“May I ask just one question?”
“I have a question as well.”
While Ray was deep in thought, Amon and Binjin carefully spoke up.
“Go ahead. Left side first.”
“Do you intend to stay long in Sector 37, Mage?”
Considering his plan, he would be here for at least a month.
Ray replied that he’d be staying for a while, and Amon’s expression grew complicated.
“Then, may I ask if you’re aware of the ongoing war between the eastern and northern organizations?”
“I’ve heard. Your Amon Family is in conflict with the Nostra Clan in the north.”
“Yes. It’s nothing more than a meaningless street brawl among thugs. Might you, during your stay, become involved in their inferior quarrels…?”
Ray, seeing the anxiety and worry flicker in Amon’s vessel, understood the intention behind the question.
‘He’s worried I might side with Nostra.’
If he answered well, he could gain the upper hand in their relationship going forward.
After finishing his thoughts, Ray opened his mouth.
“I have a different purpose for my journey. I have no reason to involve myself in that dispute. Especially since the Nostra Clan already tried to attack me once
—I have even less reason to help them.”
“Ah! I see!”
Amon’s expression immediately brightened.
“But if my goal happens to be tied to Sector 37, I might end up cooperating with a local organization. As they say, yesterday’s enemy can be today’s friend.”
“Uh… I see.”
Amon’s pupils trembled.
“I mean, with an *eastern* organization, not a northern one.”
“Got it!”
Amon’s face lit up again.
“Of course, I’m not sure any organization in the east meets my standards. When I was at the black market, the tracking skills of your information agents were… laughable.”
“Uh… I-I see.”
Amon’s face darkened drastically.
“I meant your guys were *so* skilled it made me laugh in disbelief.”
“Aha! I see! Thank you, Mage!”
“They were so good that I spotted them immediately.”
“Right… I see…”
Amon looked deeply confused.
“Mage, forgive me, but I’m not sure if you’re agreeing to cooperate with our organization… or not.”
Ray pulled out a pen and notebook from his coat and wrote a few keywords related to his party’s mission.
*Scree—*
He tore out the page and handed it over.
“Your first assignment. Gather information related to this. If the results satisfy me, I’ll watch your back while I’m in Sector 37.”
“And if they don’t meet your standards…?”
“Then the next place I’ll visit is the Nostra Clan.”
Amon turned pale, then nodded firmly with a determined look.
Ray turned his gaze toward Binjin.
“Next—your turn.”
After some hesitation, Binjin finally spoke.
“Mage… are you, by any chance… an Elf?”
It was a question the boy hadn’t expected at all.
