Gate: Thus the Sorcerous Kingdom Fought There

CHAPTER 16: Thug Life and Anomalies, Let's Take Over

The Sorcerous Kingdom and the JSDF's activities in the Imperial capital had begun. In order to gain the support of the common folk, both faction expeditionary force had set up several bases of operation throughout the capital.

They were places like the warehouses of the ALC's Imperial capital branch or the second floor of a tavern or a downtrodden bar in the middle of the red lamp district, the thing they had in common was that they were places where people could move in and out without being noticed.

But the most obvious of these were the new shops, inns and the rented mansion near the capital's southeastern gate.

It was technically within the capital's city limits, but there were all kinds of different races and species here. Ordinary citizens would never go near this place.

Every few steps, a pickpocket would try their luck, and behind there would be people following. It could be compared to Hong Kong's Kowloon district or the red light district in Carne the capital of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Almost none of the rows of shops belonged to proper businesses.

They sold all sorts of lewd tools, various drugs, and slaves captured from all over the continent.

Of course, people had to live here, so there were also shops which sold food and clothing. However, everything on sale here was strange. The clothes on sale might be stained with blood or rent from a cut, and the shops even sold grass from the roadside. As for the butchers, one always had to be suspicious of their purchases, lest one accidentally end up buying human meat.

Because this place was called Akusho, a lot of the men here were either humans with blades bared, Werewolf Beastmen who was every bit as ferocious and bloodthirsty as the weapons they carried, or Four-Arms. One could also see the odd Goblin or Ogre in the distance. Many of the remnants of the Coalition Army came here to be thieves, enforcers, mercenaries, or to do some form of violent work. In any event, they were all villains.

As for the women, there were girls who looked lewdly around their surroundings or those who stared blankly into the distance like vegetables as fragrant smoke wreathed them. None of them had a proper job, and most of them were prostitutes.

The species present included: Humans, Warrior Bunnies, Catpeople, Dogpeople, Lamias, several horned species, and winged species like Harpies or Winged Men. The men in the streets ogled them lasciviously, while the women responded with bewitching smiles, and a coy offer of, "Want to play?"

In this place, the strong feed on the weak. Therefore, the people here paid no heed to corpses on the street. Did it appear yesterday? Today? Well, even if it happened tomorrow, nobody would care, because this was a way of life for the people here. This was not Arnus or even Dalnus.

Thus, neither the JSDF nor the Sorcerous Kingdom peacekeeping forces can do anything against the stain in the district without risking war.

It absorbed the very worst elements of the Imperial Capital and continued festering in the darkness.

The JSDF and the infiltrator units of the Sorcerous Kingdom chose this place for a simple reason: in this melting pot of people, nobody would notice an extra strange fellow or two. There were other gates where many people came and went, but the people there were ordinary city folk, and anyone who stood out would attract a lot of attention.

This place, on the other hand, was where people who did dirty work lived. It was important that these people were here.

The thing was, whatever happened in Akusho would not make it out of the district. In that sense, it was perfect for secrecy. However, the flip side of that was that there were several notable individuals in Akusho.