One of the few things ‘The City’ promotes is stability in its domain,
Away from the ‘Outskirts’, where one's life is protected from the harm of outsiders who don't resemble humanity in any way.
In other words, ‘safety’ is something they harness.
However, in the same way those words can come swiftly like a bird, they too can be discarded as one.
The Backstreets,
Often known by many local names, in which case they are called ‘The Discarded lots’, ‘The mound’, or ‘The den of wastes’.
A remarkable title for something that shouldn't be worth the prestige.
Lies beneath a ‘Nest’ where the haven of a district resides.
The backstreets are a place where danger approaches from every corner.
A looming threat that exposes one to those ignorant of its rules.
Gangs, thugs, and numerous threats reigned over these regions.
In particular, ‘Sweepers’ that hunt through a certain hour of the night, where they are free to clean the streets of their filth.
Through this cycle, the city was able to keep the population at a stable rate.
Even though dozens of deaths occurring at each second, the city wouldn't mind as long as the ‘safety' of its nest is secured.
But even so, why would I be uttering some grand nonsense?
Because I, too, was nothing but filth; No, a stowaway from a place where only the backstreets of the city's ‘lake’ lurk.
After all, I was just…
A wasted vagrant.
…
“Ah… Ah… Argh! Hurl the sails! Hurry! Get it all over and done, if not, we are all going to die!”
“Right on it, sir! And please don't fucking panic! We are already working on it!”
“Do it faster then, you knuckleheads!”
In a nameless hunk of steel and voyage, a wavering steel boat made of compressed rusted sheets and decaying iron, floated above a lake.
A lake that sprang upon horizons with sections creating divisions with each distinct myriad of colors.
A lake with grandiose expanse and different hues of water segments.
It was known to the city as The Great Lake.
The lake is notoriously known for housing various unwritten laws and regulations only accessible to a wayfarer in certain parts.
It was a dangerous chunk of the city where the backstreets are in the deep waters of the lake.
But to those who dwell in these seas,
Has dangers beyond mere people.
Calamities,
A term given to wretched beings that couldn't be measured by standard measures.
Though the city doesn't keep a strict eye on them, most denizens of this part of the nest know what they are.
Threats that make even a simple fisherman tremble from their names.
The harbingers of catastrophes, the calamity known as the ‘whales’.
Coming from the outside of the city, they are intruders that slaughters everything in their way.
—-Crash!
As thunder and lightning growled, the murky skies began to dim even further.
The crew started to move even faster, and sweat began to bloom all across their body.
‘It's coming… No, ‘they’ are coming.’
One of them spots something from a distance. Hundreds of large, bluish, and cyan scales glow upon the water.
Each is getting closer, slithering like snakes.
The crew trembles as each one loses faith and hope…
And then, what proceeded was,
—Thamp!
A huge bump hit the nameless ship; it was enough to shake everyone aboard.
A distress signal came welling up as the crew felt something crawling up into the rear side of the ship.
—Grooargh…
A nasty sound emanates below the hull.
For a minute, all signs of life stopped before ‘it’ emerged.
—-Woop!
A large echo of a soulless husk resonated on top of the deck.
The people stationed within it all lost their minds as they collapsed in sheer fear and agony.
As the thing latches onto the ship with its massive hand, with a bluish black mucus flowing down.
It slowly embedded itself towards the ship, seemingly grasping it tightly, as if reclaiming it as if it was its own.
Then, as the crew was about to settle, ‘it’ opened its eyes.
Right from the thousands of pores within the hand, dozens of eyes emerged to stare upon the ship's residence.
Moreover, it also started to spew out large mucus sacks that pulsated before turning into a creature of semi-humanoid and beast-like appearance.
Figures that can only be described as abominations.
“Ah… Ahh… AHHH!”
Panic began settling in as those aboard were slowly being exterminated one by one.
There wasn't a fight to be brought in, as those who tried all died in the same manner, being devoured or slaughtered.
‘Damn it… I knew I shouldn't have made this contract.’
From a distant corner, a young man barely of age witnessed the horrors happening right in his eyes.
He thought of plummeting down and puking, but with death having its way with your throat couldn't let one do something as simple as that.
‘Please don't come after me, please don't come after me, please do not see me!’
He kept mumbling to himself, and he wrapped his arms around his body in his futile attempts to evade the horror.
Munching on his fingertips, the young man fidgeted like a child. Desperation was found through his actions, but it was useless.
Because there is no such thing as a ‘miracle’ to be found in this place.
—Plop
Something squishy fell down as the young man cast his gaze towards the fallen object.
It was the corpse of his fallen comrade, ripped to shreds, with half of its body fallen prey to the horrid creature coming his way.
‘Ah… please…’
He pleaded for mercy. But alas, no one heard his voice.
The creature lunges upon its way as it stretches its morbid, disfigured hands towards the young man.
‘I'm sorry… mother, father, sister, I…’
As his thoughts in his head were about to stop.
“I'm so—Hic, I-I'm so sorry…”
He desperately apologized one more time.
Was it a decision of a coward?
Was it just a nonsensical plea of a corpse?
Who knows?
At least he was able to utter what he wanted before going out.
He closed his eyes as he awaited his impending doom.
—Croak!?
Suddenly, within the dreadful moment, the creature shook.
The young man slowly opened his eyes and was astonished by the sight.
Did it perhaps understand human speech?
Why did its movements halt for a bit?
Numerous questions sprang, but it was better to leave those be.
For now, one must only be subject to what is in the present.
No longer than a second, the hesitation of the creature stopped, and aggression began swooping in as it sharpened its hand once more.
‘S-Shit—’
—Ting!
“Huh…!?”
—Croak!?
Three seconds.
It only took quite a while for both the young man and the creature to realize what happened.
A sharp blade tore apart the creature's head as it was vertically split apart.
Its hands were sliced off cleanly as if they had never existed.
The young man, who was in a daze, looked forward as the silhouette of a person appeared.
A man clad in a navy blue long coat bearing a cravat, with a black cavalier hat patterned with crossbones.
His face was sharp, and his eyes were slitted like a cat's.
Long curly gray hair swayed in the air as he held a revolver and a rapier in his hands.
He was something so foreign in the lake, yet, at the same time, someone who knew its structure quite well.
The young man never knew him, but deep in his gut. He was familiar with the design in his hat.
‘A crossbone cavalier hat…? No way, could it be?’
Far from a savior and a hero,
He was a person with a broken moral who stood upon these violent waves.
He who hunts dozens of these horrid monsters,
And someone who must be careful that he himself must not become one.
The urban plague that catches those who wander the lake in isolation and the beasts lurking in its midst.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
One of the U corporation's backstreets’ blight,
The Terror of the Lake,
The man known simply as,
“Lafitte”
…
…
—Tick
—Tock
—Tick
—Tock
—Tick
—Ting!
“...Oh, it seems like the Captain has found its next course.”
Playing with a pendant watch, a man lets out a short sigh as he waits for the impending ‘moment’.
Inside a vessel of a massive metallic ship with three other ships bound towards its rear and sides.
It was more than just a ship; it was a fleet with numerous compounds.
Its structure was megalomaniac—No, it was beyond absurdity.
Its size almost matched that of five large transport ships of the U corporation.
Rather than a transport vehicle, it was a moving behemoth.
[Attention, everyone aboard!]
From the intercom scattered throughout the ship, a single voice ensues.
[Although we have already collected plenty of ‘spare’ materials. It seems there is a hurdle up front. It seems to be a waste to leave it be so…]
The uttering stops for a while, and then.
[I'll be heading off first, so uh, see y'all there. So uh, Bye bye~]
Leaving a playful remark like someone who is clearly irresponsible.
A man in one of the ship's cabins, tinkering with a watch, had his vein pulled out.
“...I knew it, he cannot contain his urge, huh.”
His eyes looked similar to those of a rotten fish, and his face was murky as well. As he wore a black long coat with a cravat. He equipped himself with a long rifle that was as large as a harpoon.
Despite his need for haste, he made his way at a leisurely pace for himself.
Wearing each of his arsenals, from his gloves, boat shoes, and lastly, his beloved rifle. He took his time with everything.
A person who could only be described as meticulous.
As he walked down the corridors of the ship, he spotted someone who could address the current situation.
“Oh, it seems like you have prepared quite well for a small skirmish, Glass?”
The woman with brown short hair and an eyepatch uttered his name.
“...Hello, Ms. Trey. May I ask if the captain has already sailed on his own?”
“Uh…”
“...So, he already did…”
“Yeah… Well~ you can't stop that guy in the first place. Once he set his eyes on something. No one can fill his insatiable desire to possess what he saw.”
“...I see, can you give me the coordinates?”
“Alright.”
As the two created a simple discussion, time passed. Meanwhile, on the other side.
Lafitte, who had already boarded the dock of the nameless vessel, smiled.
“Come at me, you wretched younglings of the calamities. I'll entertain all of you before sending y'all back to your mother's dear womb.”
Vulgar speech befitting a pirate came out of his mouth.
Such intimidation would've worked against people, but against creatures?
They only see the other as either ‘prey’ or a ‘predator’.
Which, in this case was,
Neither.
—Swoosh!
As he dashed into the hordes of enemies, he slashed through the moving hurdles on his way.
From the scales, down to the bones, and finally, the other side of their body.
Lafitte had ripped them all to shreds in a matter of a few seconds.
His face was filled with ecstasy, enjoying the thrill of the massacre.
On the other hand, the young man tucked in the corner inside the captain's cabin was looking at the scene with horror and wonder.
‘That man, he is… also a monster, isn't he?’
No normal human grins in a perilous situation!
This guy… does he not fear death?
The young man's thoughts were slowly spiraling out of control. From worry, relief, and fright.
He was contemplating whether what he was seeing was real.
The man who fought his way against the crowd of abominations, who was seemingly winning, was a sight that gave the young man a sense of epiphany.
‘Am I hallucinating because I'm already dead?’
“Ha… Ha… Hahahaha aha…”
He opened his mouth as tears flowed down his face; he was going insane.
With his mind afloat, something crawled behind him.
“Ah— eh?”
Only after snapping out of his thoughts did he notice the thing behind him.
—Swish!
A blade was swung downwards but missed its mark.
“Huh!?”
The young man stared blankly.
Upfront, he saw the corpse of his friend covered in mucus, staggering as a small hole was punctured right beneath their forehead.
“What is this—”
“Oi, you useless dimwit. Get the hell out of here!”
“What–?”
—Bang!
—Bang!
Two shots were fired from Lafitte's revolver as he aimed right at the disfigured crew.
The young man only then understood the situation as he got out of the cabin.
Despite Lafitte's merit for slaughtering the horde.
Those who have died upon their grasp slowly awaken as a ‘reformed’ being.
‘Tch, ‘mermaids’…’
Mermaids,
Offspring of the ‘whales’.
Although the calamities are a large disaster on the lake, they mostly spend their time away from the city's embrace and embark on a journey outside it's premise.
However, just because they were gone didn't mean their chaos perished.
The calamities are vile, as those whom it touched would soon forget their meaning of its existence.
An object loses its value as it is stained by the whale's materials.
A plant loses its environment as the ecosystem is seized by the whale.
And a ‘living’ being loses its rationality as its existence is swallowed up by a whale.
And through those processes, a being with no intelligence is born. But a creature that seeks to convert everything to its domain.
An abomination that tramples life.
—Tsk!
As Lafitte tried to fire his revolver, a bullet jammed one of its chambers, rendering it unusable.
“Uwah!? What the heck—”
Noticing his troubled look, one of the mermaids swoops in for a kill.
—Bang!
—Ka Sploosh!
The brains of the mermaid scattered, its body shattered as if it never existed.
There, lying in the ground, was a splatter of blood with origins that no longer belonged to the world.
“Oh ho~ Right on time!”
Lafitte's face glistens in joy as he looks towards the horizon.
“That guy sure does never miss, even though that distance is quite wide. Hah, I knew that investment was worth every Ahn.”
He comments for a bit as he raises his blade and sharpens it before staring back at the foul creatures quivering by instinct.
“Ho, don't y'all worry. My gun may have stopped responding, but my blade sure isn't~ So, how about we take care of this quickly before things get spoiled, shouldn't we?”
Drowning in the thrill of the hunt, Lafitte drew his blade and assumed the stance of a duelist.
“Come on, let's share this final course!”
He bore one last smile as he dashed forward with blood trailing past each of his steps.
…
‘...Shitty captain, always going out with the flow with no regard to the aftermath.’
Trudging over the scent of a bloodied field, my eyes gaze upon a singular man doing a simple ‘negotiation’.
The man's fist hurled through the sky as he struck down the poor guy lying low on the ground, bawling his eyes out.
“Captain…”
“Oh, right on time, Glass. Can you take care of this lousy brat? He kept latching onto my pants and kept begging for forgiveness. I don't have enough temper for this type of ‘assets’ ya know~.”
The man who hurled such demeaning words was my captain, Lafitte.
His origins are mostly unknown, but one could honestly not care for it.
With a detestable attitude that only sees things as his treasure or a hurdle to conquer.
Despite the countless attempts at discipline and teachings.
He was a man who didn't care for any of that.
A boastful and narcissistic person, at the same time unbothered by the vast rules of this lake.
Truly marks the scent of a ‘pirate’ wouldn't he?
“Just let him go. Besides, it doesn't look like we amassed quite the haul either. You kept saying you'll go your way to get more… how could I believe that when you merely just sweep one wave? Could you have at least waited for the mermaids to call another batch?”
“...Yeah, I could have done so. But wouldn't the other assets die and assimilate with the whale's mucus before we could even land? Besides, it's not like we are lacking in fuel and materials, aren't we?”
“But do keep in mind the ammunition I used just now cost way more than a sack of whale oil.”
Long-range weaponry, A.k.a. ‘Guns’.
They are one of the most lethal weapons within the city; they are seldom used, but if one were to possess such, the taxation and price embedded upon them weren’t something one can scoff at.
Many laws were infringed upon regarding their distribution, so people do not often come across ammunition, and encountering one was a ‘rare’ find to begin with.
Though they are capable of piercing through steel, it is taboo for one to penetrate through buildings.
“Oh, those high-piercing round calibers you've used earlier? Don't worry about that. I'll just have to call an underground workshop office for it.”
“...I'll take note of that…”
Hah…
I sighed for a bit and watched him go back to our ship with a satiated face filled with a silent, indescribable pleasure.
If it were me to decide the flow of the haul, I would have chosen to wait to allow the mermaids to convert the sailors here.
You may have thought it was a ‘cruel’ method.
But I believe it was efficient, after all, it was better for them to die as a useful extract than face an undetermined future.
“Uh… Um, sir, what should I do?”
Oh, yeah, I forgot about something.
Gazing downwards, my eyes met the shaken young man who had tears plastered upon his face.
He was looking at me, thinking I would save him, but…
“...Follow me to the ship if I see you acting suspicious. Be prepared to have a hole etched in your head.”
“-Hic! Uh, yes!”
The young man was frightened by my threat, but he still acted upon my orders.
…
As the thunder and storm slowly quelled, we eventually reached the docks of the main fleet of our ship.
—Thump
—Thump
“Um, sir, where are we?”
Perhaps he was unsettled by the large and strange inside of the vessel we entered.
But after some time, the young man wasn't governed by fear anymore, instead replaced by a head full of wonders and curiosity.
“We are inside ‘La Diligente’, the main ship of the ‘Campeche Pirates’.”
“Ah… so you guys are indeed ‘that’ famed syndicate branch.”
Syndicates.
The antithesis of the ‘noble’ associations. They are the illegal and highly dangerous individuals who governed the black streets.
Similar to the Associations, five prominent organizations also rule their social order.
The so-called ‘Five Fingers’.
Upon hearing the word ‘syndicate’, my eyes went towards him.
“...Hic! Oh, I'm sorry!”
Fearing for his life, the young man avoided my eyes and had his head slump down.
It seemed he thought I'd kill him for saying something I didn't find satisfying.
Fortunately for him, we weren't people governed with a strict hierarchy like those resting underneath the ‘thumb’.
“...We aren't affiliated with any syndicates, we are just illegal hunters working around the premises, regulating the trades in several routes, but… it seems those ‘familial’ constricted groups will soon show their presence upon us. So your assumption that ‘we’ are a syndicate branch might as well be a sufficient hypothesis for the future.”
“...”
“...That is, if the captain accepts their offer.”
Though that seems to be unlikely.
If worst comes to worst, we might end up in a situation that requires the shedding of hundreds of blood.
—Thump
—Thump
Arriving at the lower levels of the ship, the young man gazed over the few open windows the ship possessed.
With curiosity beckoning me, I asked a sudden question.
“You, why did you come to these harsh waters of the lake?”
“...Oh, uh, you were talking about me? Well, uh, how did you know I wasn't from here?”
“...Hah, with such naive and low awareness of your surroundings. It was a flaw that one wouldn't see to the dwellers of this vast, dangerous lake.”
“Ah… could it be that those who were born here need to be highly keen and aware?”
“Not necessarily, but if you were. I doubt you could even survive a day without those. After all, I too was the same. So, back to my initial question. Why did you come to this district? Was it a contract, an unplanned venture, or an exile?”
“Oh, I… actually heard there were job offerings in these lakes, and the income was good enough to sustain a small family. I mean, I do have a parent and a sister at home so… now that I am at the age to get employed. I took the chance to get one, and that's how I got here.”
“Leaving your district without your family? Where did you come from initially? Don't you think they'd have approved of you getting employed here without even knowing the danger this area possesses?”
“Well, my family initially tried to stop me, though, maybe, due to my will and position as the eldest of my siblings. It was my priority to provide what I could do, and being a burden to one's family is quite shameful.”
As he spoke those words, I watched him take something from his pocket. It was a pendant with a picture of a family of four, with the young man being upfront.
They looked quite happy, but they didn't seem to be a wealthy family.
Though I can infer one thing from that picture, as I saw the pale background with only white and black intertwining in the light.
“You… are from district 14?”
“Oh, yes! I am from the N. corp District, though our family is in the boonies, far from the main center of the nest. I suppose it is the backstreet area, but the town itself is safe from harm due to the influence of the inquisitors.”
Hearing those words made me feel a thorn sticking out of my heart.
I didn't know or ponder why it did so; however, there was one thing I asked that changed the course of the conversation.
“If… your town has been influenced by one of the factions in your district. Couldn't you have just joined the Inquisition?”
“Join the inquisition… me…?”
“Yes… far from the treacherous and thorny path of the sea. You could have spent a life following orders and living with sustainability…!”
For some reason, my voice was higher than usual.
Something rising from the bottom of my throat scratches the surface of my tongue.
“Job offerings…? On the nasty ports of U Corp's district? Have you ever thought about the fact that you may have gotten yourself swindled?”
It seemed something wasn't right…
“Oh, I clearly did—”
“And yet, you came in here with that half-witted attitude?”
—Smack!
“-Hic!?”
In the midst of the moment, my hand slammed against the wall.
The wall was made of steel, but the sound was strong enough to reverberate due to the way the hallway of the ship we were walking into was built.
I lashed out suddenly, my hand wished it swung towards the young man. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Thankfully, no one was walking around these quarters of the ship. Perhaps most of the crew were above celebrating or eating together.
Nonetheless, I was disappointed in myself.
Even though I changed for the ‘better’, somewhere, somehow, nestling deep inside my heart.
There is still a lack of ‘resentment’ against the world.
If this guy were just another creature or a thug, I could have swung my fist thoroughly.
Alas, I was still hesitant.
Ignoring my actions, I continued to talk.
“...You, why did you not take up arms and simply just join the regime of your district?”
Perhaps distraught by my actions earlier, the young man pivoted with fear, refusing to open his mouth.
But I waited patiently, and then, he answered me hesitantly.
“Pardon me if you are going to be offended. However, life in my district isn't as easy as one might think.
We… from the N corp. District, we're taught to obey the laws and regulations instilled in our territory.
Each day we follow through with it, guidance, and faith.
To obey the law and punish those who break the taboos.
That is one clause of our teachings.”
As I continued to hear his words, I soon stopped walking and waited for his words.
“Every day was like a wasted cycle of life. We do eat… sleep… and pray, but then again, all of it was just an endless loop of faith and pursuance to the teachings.
After I grew up, I learned that the values we were taught were used to ‘cleanse’ and value our beliefs against the heretics.”
The young man shook, as if remembering a buried memory. He held his head with both of his hands.
“That day… We were having a small communion in our town. We got a visit from the inquisition informing a ‘heretic’ who had a prosthetic bought from an illegal workshop weaponry was spotted in our town…”
“That afternoon… when I came in to see a ‘lesson’ from an officer. My heart almost fell from that sight.”
In that sudden moment, he stopped talking. Not a single word came out of his mouth, but in that instance.
An unnerving feeling came and struck my bones.
The kid convulsed as his eyeballs spun backwards.
In an instant, I unraveled the wraps of my gun as I stood ready for something to occur.
“...And uh, we? I… I don't remember very well, but it induced me to leave the church at that exact moment. Wait, I think I remember eating something though, not really sure… about it?”
To my surprise, the young man suddenly turned normal and continued telling his story normally.
‘What the hell was that?’
That ambiguous emotion that I felt earlier…
Was I just hallucinating?
“Well, um, I don't have any memories of that time, but that was the reason I didn't continue within the inquisition anymore.”
“I see.”
“Um, how about you… Mister…?”
“What do you mean?”
“Um, did you also bring a ticket to go to this place, or were you born in the district?”
“...The former.”
“Oh, I see. Then perhaps you also looked for jobs around here?”
“...No, I just happened to be at this place. Wrong timing, wrong moment, I guess you can say, I just had my life thrown into a perilous situation back then. If it wasn't for the captain, I'd definitely…”
Before uttering something else, my mouth stopped.
I was about to say something, but then we arrived near the cafeteria's lounge.
“Oh~ What are ya doing there, Glass? Come join us and have fun as well. It ain't bad to have a bit of fun for a while. Oh, and including that little twerp too, there are quite a lot here to enjoy, so might as well~ have it!”
“...”
Staring at the man who caused all this ruckus, Lafitte was in the middle of the lounge with the crew and the people from the ship we just ‘saved’, celebrating a shallow victory he had achieved.
No one really cared for it, but it was an occasion with free liquor and a banquet of foods.
One cannot resist the temptation of indulging in such a feast.
The Campeche Pirates,
Pirates who follow the leadership of Lafitte, once a backstreet rumour who rose to a certain infamy, and now has a crew who scavenges the vast lake through their whims.
Clad in a black long coat, a cravat, black leather pants, and tight boat shoes.
Like their leader, they were shrouded in ‘dark’ colors to mask them during their voyage underneath the night.
But, it wasn't the only boon. The outfits also have comfort when it comes to the unstable weather the lake grants upon its waves.
Therefore, it is a versatile and common attire that most of us have here.
“Have you seen what those mermaids did? They scattered their dirty, greasy oil upon the ship, thinking they could plunge me into their madness. But what did I do? Of course~ I—Hicc— just beat them into a pulp!”
Lafitte boastfully shared his newly brought stories with the crew. Filled with absurdity that exaggerated his actions.
‘What a disgrace.’
I felt disgust seeing his damn figure, yet he is the only guy whose wits transcend any common bloke.
“Captain, we are nearing the extraction point.”
From the lounge's entrance, a woman with a familiar figure emerged.
“Eh… —Hicc— What is it, Trey?”
“Our clients are waiting.”
“Ah, damn it. When things were just getting fun. How long till we get there?”
“Approximately an hour.”
“Fuck, I won't get my smell off at this point.”
“That's what you get for drinking in the middle of the damn day. You drunk lout.”
Trey simply sighed as a vein popped in her head.
“Ms. Trey. Who is the one waiting for us?”
“Alexandria… That damn shitbag.”
Alexandria… huh?
A big sister of The Middle.
One of the Five Fingers.
A stalwart brute that only omits malice.
She was the one who suggested our crew join their ‘family’.
But…
Lafitte simply shot her point-blank.
All of us expected to be turned into chunks of meat.
However, she was far crazier than I thought.
“Ho~ that's more like it. It ain't fun if you attain something you wanted so easily. Ah… I want to crush and pummel you. But, I want to make you ‘mine’, first.”
It was at that moment that Ms. Trey and I looked at one another with terrifying expressions.
“Tch… I don't want to get near the damn port. But if we refuse. I doubt we can get away too easily. Argh… I should've sent the letter to Lafitte and resigned a while ago.”
Trey buckled her hands as she was horrified at the upcoming meeting.
“...I wish I had those options as well.”
“Uh, Mr. Glass. Can't you also do that?”
“Unfortunately, I do owe that bastard some unresolved debt.”
After all, if it wasn't for him.
I would've become a waste of this lake.
