The factories in the eastern district were old.
Most of them had probably been standing for decades, even the newest among them.
And yet they had stayed lit day and night for all those years, running without pause and feeding their share of soot into the choking haze above Zaun.
Most of the factories here worked for the chem-barons. They bought up alchemical waste dirt cheap, fed it into massive furnaces belching smoke and steam, and turned it into alchemical products that still had some value left in them.
That was why, despite not covering much ground, this district was rich with profit, and why the gangs had fought over it for years.
But more than ten years ago, a powerful figure had appeared here and gradually swallowed up the entire factory district by sheer force.
Few people knew the truth of how she built her empire. Some said she was ruthless. Others said she was cunning. Some even claimed she had risen through cozy ties to other chem-barons.
The truth had long since stopped mattering.
What mattered was that from that point on, this place had a true ruler.
...
...
"Turn that music off, Clifin!"
Renni strode into the tavern, barked the order, and headed straight upstairs.
It was called a tavern, but it was obviously a converted old factory. The whole place, from its layout to its heavy steel frame, still looked like an industrial workshop, with a strong steampunk feel to it.
Before going up, she paused to stroke the hair of her six-year-old son, who sat on the stairs staring blankly into space.
She had fought and clawed her way through half a lifetime before she finally had a son. The moment he was born was the first time Renni had truly started thinking about her own life.
That was why, even though the boy was still so young, she kept bringing him out in front of everyone. He clearly did not like it, but Renni did as she pleased.
It was all for his future.
She would not be able to protect him forever, and being the son of someone like her was a danger in itself.
"Stay here and don't move."
Renni climbed to the second floor and dropped into a chair at a round table, then carelessly propped both legs up on it, not a trace of that motherly warmth left in her.
Seated around the table were her most trusted and capable subordinates, the core leadership under her.
"How did you manage to screw up something that badly?"
"Boss... Smitch has been getting in our way the whole time. We've taken some heavy losses too."
"Heh. Just as I thought. The second Vander's gone, all these rats come crawling out."
Renni gave a contemptuous snort, not even realizing she had just insulted herself along with them.
"What, he wants a cut too?"
"Yes. And he seems serious about it."
"I don't care how serious he is. If he's in my way, kill every last one of them. I shouldn't need to spell that out for you."
"Yes... It's just... Silco's side—"
At the mention of Silco, Renni frowned.
She was sensitive to that name.
Word was that Vander had fallen because of him. From all the stories going around, Silco sounded like a venomous snake.
What made him worse was how little anyone really knew about him. He stayed out of sight, never showing his full hand, which only made him harder to judge and more dangerous to ignore.
But with Vander gone, the Undercity was practically paved with gold. If she hesitated now, someone else would take it all. And by then, it would be too late for regrets.
"Forget Silco for now. Deal with that rat Smitch first."
Her head already hurt from thinking about it, but in the end, the temptation won out over caution.
"Clifin! Didn't I tell you to turn the music off?! It's driving me insane!"
"Huh? I... I did turn it off."
The big man called Clifin answered blankly, then turned in confusion toward the gramophone sitting in the corner.
It had already been switched off.
And yet somehow, an unfamiliar young man was now standing beside it with his back to the room, casually fiddling with the machine.
"Hey! Kid! Turn that off!"
Leaning over the second-floor railing, Renni shouted down in annoyance.
"Shut up. It took me long enough to find a good one."
Without even turning around, the young man cut straight across her scolding.
"If I leave here tomorrow"
"Would you still remember me"
"For I must be travelling on now"
"There's too many places I gotta see"
"And if I stay here with you girl"
"Things just wouldn't be the same"
Swaying slightly with the music, Van slowly turned around and looked at everyone in the room with a cold, unreadable expression.
"Torvan?! Vander's brat?"
Van was still very young, barely over sixteen. In the Undercity, people grew up fast, but even so, Torvan counted as someone who had made a name for himself early.
With strength ordinary people simply could not match, fighting power that had nothing to do with his age, and the kind of vicious edge only a young man could carry, he had become one of Zaun's clearest examples of dangerous talent.
At the very least, Renni knew exactly who he was.
"What? Vander's dead, so now you're looking for a new boss too?"
Her tone softened slightly, as if his rudeness a moment ago did not matter at all, putting on a show of generosity.
"Yeah. I should be looking for one."
Eyes half-lidded, Van tapped his fingers in rhythm against the haft of his axe.
As he shifted his footing, the massive iron axe leaning against the gramophone came fully into view behind him.
"But have you ever seen a hound bow to a rat?"
"Hm?"
Renni's eyes landed on the giant axe, its blade as wide as a cartwheel, and something in Van's words began to put her on edge.
"Take him."
She gave a cold snort and issued the order to her people, still holding onto the idea of bringing the boy under her wing if she could.
Everyone gathered here was one of Renni's core people. None of them hesitated. One by one, they raised their weapons and closed in on Van.
As the crowd pressed toward him, Van showed no fear at all. If anything, there was something faintly pitying in his gaze.
He reached out, wrapped one hand around the axe haft, then slowly closed his eyes.
His other hand rose and came to rest against the bluebird pendant.
"Forgive me. Janna above..."
"Hey, kid! What the hell are you waiting for?!"
Clifin grabbed a chair and hurled it at him, but Van tilted his head and let it whip past.
Then he straightened.
His eyes opened again, and all that remained in them was cold brutality.
"May the wind guide your soul... if you still have one."
"Lord knows I can't change"
"Lord help me I can't change"
"Won't You Fly High Free Bird Yea"
As the song burst into its wild guitar solo, the room filled with pounding rhythm, metallic scraping, and rising violence.
Van charged with the axe.
The blade tore across the floor in a streak of sparks.
He planted one foot on the table, used it to launch himself upward, and sprang several meters into the air, like a bird spreading its wings for flight.
And in Clifin's frozen, horrified stare, the massive cast-iron axe came crashing down at him like a guillotine.
"Aaagh!"
[End of chapter]