After the Fall of the Demon Race, Reincarnated as a Demon Girl - Chapter 28

The man clad in white robes had been standing on the train platform for a long time.

He lifted his wrist slightly, his gaze falling upon the exquisite mechanical watch. The hands on its face clearly showed it was already the middle of the night. Yet, the person he was eagerly awaiting was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, it seems this trip was destined to be a waste of effort, like drawing water with a bamboo basket – all for nothing.”

He had waited here at the station for this entire evening and more, his patience worn thin by the passage of time. He knew clearly that continuing this pointless wait would only delay his research further, with no substantial gain to be had.

He simply couldn’t figure it out. What exactly had “Deduction” seen to take such an interest in that guy?

“Enough, enough. I don’t want to wait any longer. ‘Deduction’ must have made a mistake. That guy probably left Mobius City long ago, or got off the train early!”

He muttered angrily, a frustrated scowl on his face as he turned around, intending to leave this deeply disappointing place.

Just as he stepped out of the station’s main entrance, his path was blocked. A burly, tall man, accompanied by four or five companions with equally menacing expressions, stood boldly in front of him.

“Hey! You there, stop! Our hands have been a bit tight lately, pal. Be smart and hand over anything valuable, now!”

The leader spoke viciously, rubbing his fists together as he spoke, adopting a posture ready for a fight as he slowly advanced towards the man in white.

The white-robed man seemed still lost in his own thoughts, paying no mind to the unwelcome guests before him. He continued walking at his own pace, as if they simply weren’t there.

Seeing such utter disregard, the leader flew into a rage.

Just yesterday, he’d run into a similar character in this area, someone who had also looked down on them. Now this white-robed guy was acting the same way? How could he not be furious?

That guy yesterday had managed to take them all down in one move. But this one today looked weak and frail, just some pretentious scholar type.

Eyes blazing with anger, he strode forward, grabbed the white-robed man by the collar, and was just about to shout an insult when he suddenly sensed something strange – an aura, cold and sinister, as if from the depths of hell, carrying a chilling pressure that instantly crawled all over the leader’s body.

“I-It can’t be… this unlucky again, can it?”

The leader’s voice trembled. His previous arrogance had vanished without a trace, replaced by unease and terror.

He swallowed hard, his eyes darting around before finally landing on the lackeys behind him.

He whipped his head around and barked at the four underlings:

“What are you idiots standing around for? Apologize, now!”

The four lackeys exchanged glances. Without much thought, as if they’d rehearsed this many times, they dropped to their knees in unison with a series of thuds, pressing their foreheads tightly to the ground. Their voices, squeezed from their chests, shouted in chorus:

“We’re sorry! We were wrong!”

This spectacle left the white-robed man completely bewildered. He hadn’t expected these thugs to suddenly pull such a stunt.

He had initially thought they might be formidable enemies, but they turned out to be just a bunch of clowns.

The strange aura that had tightly coiled around the white-robed man slowly dissipated.

The leader felt the immense weight crushing his heart vanish instantly. He let out a long sigh of relief, as if waking from a terrible nightmare. Then, as if burned, he hurriedly released his grip on the white-robed man’s collar.

He retreated two steps, positioning himself in front of his kneeling crew. He dropped to his knees, supported his upper body with his hands, and buried his head deep into the ground, shouting:

“I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

An involuntary smile found its way onto the white-robed man’s exasperated face.

So it was true – one really could laugh when utterly dumbfounded.

Seeing the white-robed man wasn’t making a move against them, the leader secretly turned his head and gave his four underlings a look. They understood immediately.

We run on the count of three, right?!
As expected of the boss!

“Three!”

The leader’s eyes were fixed on the white-robed man ahead. The moment he shouted the number, he sprang up as if propelled by a spring.

His legs pushed off forcefully, his body shooting forward like an arrow from a bow, leaping right over the four still-kneeling lackeys, and sprinting with all his might towards a dimly lit alley not far away.

The four lackeys, still kneeling in confusion, were momentarily stunned upon hearing the boss’s shout. Then, as if waking from a dream, they scrambled to their feet.

“Wait, you can just shout ‘three’ directly like that?!?!”

Their eyes wide, seeing their boss’s retreating back, they too mustered all their energy and dashed after him.

The white-robed man did nothing. He simply stood still, watching the five perform their farce. Only after they had fled into the distance did he continue on his way towards the base.

The five rushed headlong into the alley, as if fleeing flood or wild beasts. When they finally stopped, it was as if all the strength had been drained from their bodies. Their legs gave way, and they slumped down one by one, leaning against the damp wall.

Their chests heaved violently as they gasped for air, their foreheads slick with cold sweat that dripped down their faces onto the grimy ground.

Each face was etched with the joy of having narrowly escaped disaster, their eyes still holding the deep fear from their encounter with the white-robed man.

They looked at each other, seeing the same mix of relief and lingering terror in each other’s eyes.

“That was so close… just a little bit more, and we would’ve been finished by that guy…”

The leader wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Thank goodness they had rehearsed their strategy for dealing with people they couldn’t afford to mess with.

As for yesterday… that was just an accident. Rinnys hadn’t given him a chance to strike a pose.

“But Boss Kors, what are we supposed to do now? From the start until now, we haven’t managed to steal a single coin. If this keeps up, the little money we have left won’t even be enough to scrape by…”

One of the lackeys, pressed tightly against the damp wall, spoke with a worried face. As he spoke, he reached into an inner pocket of his clothes and pulled out a wallet. A few sparse silver coins lay inside, glinting faintly in the dim light. This money, he estimated, might barely last the five of them another week.

Kors’s face flushed red with anger. He suddenly kicked out at a garbage can hidden in the corner of the alley.

With a loud clang, the bin was sent flying, spilling its contents everywhere. He seemed to be venting all his frustration and resentment – towards his useless self and all those who looked down on them – onto the unfortunate trash can.

“Hmph! Those high-handed guys looked down on our abilities and kicked us out like garbage; those pretentious guys looked down on us for being illiterate… Anyway, I’ll never go back to those crappy factories again, even if I die!”

Another lackey pinched his nose, frowning. The overturned trash can was emitting a pungent, unpleasant smell.

“But if we don’t go to the factories, what else can we do… Really live like this, surviving as thugs who rob people?”

“Yeah… and about this robbing business, boss, you gave a strict order: only target the rich, those snobby educated types, and those who steal and extort. But those people… either their pockets are emptier than their faces, or we can’t catch them, or they’re even tougher than us and we just can’t win…”

As these words hung in the air, the surroundings fell silent. The only sound was the faint clink and jingle of the silver coins as the previous lackey put his wallet away, the noise unusually clear in the quiet alley.

“Osas.”

Kors’s gaze slowly fell upon the lackey who had just spoken, the one near the overturned trash can. His eyes held both anger and a hint of helplessness. Then, his gaze shifted slowly to the right, landing on the lackey next to him, Grogo.

Hearing his name, Grogo flinched, hurriedly zipping up the inner pocket of his clothes, his eyes full of nervousness.

“Jaeger.”

“Kurt.”

Kors called their names one by one, pausing after each, as if giving them time to think. “We can’t go back yet… I want you all to think hard. Remember why we came to this city in the first place!”

His voice was low and forceful, carrying an undeniable authority that echoed in the narrow alley.

“To earn money! To survive! For our families!”

They shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices bursting forth from the narrow, dark alley.

Each of their eyes was slightly red-rimmed, filled with a raw desire to live. It was true – they’d been out here for so long without earning a single coin. How could they face their expectant families back home empty-handed?

It would just be humiliating.

“Hey… it’s the middle of the night. Stop yelling your heads off out here… You’re disturbing our rest.”

A shriveled, crushed soda can flew out from the deep shadows of the alley, landing with a clang right on Kors’s toe.

Squinting in the faint light, he finally noticed them – a dozen or so vagrants lying haphazardly in the narrow, dim alley. They were all dressed in rags, their faces haggard, hair a tangled mess like clumps of weeds.

These people had no jobs. They survived day to day by begging and scavenging through trash in the city. If Kors and his men couldn’t find a means to live, they would end up just like them.

“S-sorry.”

After apologizing, the five looked towards the alley’s exit. Seeing that the white-robed man had left at some point, they cautiously made their way out of the alley.

Watching them leave, a discussion broke out in the alley, a sound not heard for a while:

“Reminds me of us back in the day. Kids with some spirit.”

“Hey, Zeke, I bet they’ll end up just like us soon enough… Wager a piece of bread?”

“You’re on.”

…

The five wandered aimlessly through the streets. Though their resolve felt strong in the moment, when they tried to translate that vague, burning drive into concrete action, they were shocked to find every step felt like struggling through deep mud, incredibly difficult.

The earlier burst of motivation had vanished completely in just a few seconds, like a pricked balloon.

“Alright… you four, keep looking for work tomorrow morning. Just skip the processing plants.”

“As for me… I’m thinking of checking out a real gang.”