After three hours of "training," I was finally released.
I rubbed my sore body as I walked through the streets toward the slums—the place where I ran most of my operations.
Eventually, I arrived at a decrepit warehouse hidden between abandoned buildings. From the outside, it looked completely deserted, like a forgotten ruin no one would bother entering.
Perfect.
I slipped inside and made my way toward a hidden staircase tucked beneath broken crates. Descending into the underground hideout, I was greeted by the warm glow of lantern light.
A small table sat at the center of the room, surrounded by a few familiar faces.
"Boss! You're back!"
Alice immediately ran toward me, giving another overly serious salute.
Honestly, where did she even learn that from?
I patted her head before turning my attention to the others.
A boy with black spiky hair and dark eyes sat calmly on one of the benches, flipping through several reports spread across the table. He had the kind of cool, composed look that would probably make him popular with girls someday.
Roy.
"How'd it go?" I asked.
Roy adjusted the papers in his hand before answering.
"Boss, the mission almost failed. We barely managed to grab anything before retreating." His expression darkened slightly. "They had guards… strong ones. Stronger than usual. I think our previous suspicions may have been correct."
Hmm.
I expected resistance, but not to that extent.
Something felt off.
Almost like they'd known we were coming.
I leaned against the table slightly.
Maybe I'd been played.
I shifted my gaze toward the final member of our little group.
"Lily, how about you?"
The girl with light green hair looked up briefly from the sniper rifle she was cleaning. Her dark green eyes and pointed ears marked her as an elf.
"Okay, boss."
…Yeah, that definitely meant things went badly.
Lily only answered with one-word responses whenever she was annoyed.
I took my seat at the head of the table and leaned back in the creaking chair, looking over the three people who'd stayed loyal to me all this time.
The whole operation had been a disaster.
The Beastman Market.
That's what people called them.
They controlled one of the largest underground markets in the city, selling all kinds of goods—but their real specialty was meat.
A luxury in this city.
Most people living in the slums could barely afford stale bread, yet somehow the Beastman Market maintained a constant supply of fresh meat year-round.
Which shouldn't have been possible.
Not in a place like this.
They currently held a monopoly over the entire district, and for months I'd been trying to uncover the source of their supply chain.
But no matter what I did…
They always managed to stay one step ahead.
Every route I investigated turned cold.
Every ambush failed.
Every plan leaked somehow.
It almost felt like they knew my moves before I made them.
A traitor?
No.
I doubted it.
I recruited these idiots personally.
"Boss," Roy said, breaking the silence, "what's the next move?"
"First," I replied, "let's see what we actually managed to steal."
I began sorting through the loot scattered across the table.
Most of it was junk.
Cheap trinkets.
Low-grade materials.
Nothing worth risking our lives over.
Then I noticed it.
A light-blue sapphire resting near the corner of the pile.
Even in the dim lantern light, it shimmered beautifully.
…That definitely looked expensive.