She looked ahead and saw someone standing behind the thug that was abusing her. She couldn't see his eyes or hair as half of it was hidden completely by his huge hood. His coat was covered with red blood everywhere that didn't look too fresh.
Just by looking at him, her spine shivered uncontrollably.
She knew that the thug was also having the same feeling as hers as he didn't answer to that unknown man's provocation. No, everyone here had the that same feeling.
A feeling of fear.
"So are you going to or not? You see, I am quite curious about your house. Will you take me there?"
The unknown man asked again in a cheerful tone but the part of his face visible to her showed otherwise.
He was not smiling.
***
'I wanted to scare them a little but I didn't imagine that my coat would do such a good job. Luckily, I didn't wash it.'
"You... What the hell do you want?"
'What the hell was he thinking? I thought he was going to say something interesting as he was thinking so long and hard about it, but then decided to go with that simple line again?'
"I told you. I just want your time."
"You don't... um... sound like a girl. "
'This dumb bastard. Did he think a girl was interested in him? Where do these guys get their confidence from?'
The woman on the ground who he tortured for a while also looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
'I... I really doubt if this guy knows anything'
Seeing me approaching him slowly, he grew tense and took out a dagger.
"Don't come near me! Say what you want from there! "
'Wow! He's really scared'
An old dull sword appeared in my hands emitting a slight ethereal glow. It was risky to use my jian or sabre in front of so many people. There was a chance they may connect it to Marcel Mistmer based on his time of visit to Springbell.
Mr. Thug gathered some courage and ran directly in a straight line to stab me. I slightly moved my sword and blood dripped down from both his wrists as he dropped his dagger.
"Keukkk... Ahh! Ahh! "
Crash!
I kicked him to the ground and placed my foot on his head.
"Shut up! Say one word other than what I ask and you will die. Do you understand?"
He was still wriggling in pain and didn't answer me. I stabbed my sword in his palm again.
"Ahhhhh!"
"Did you not understand what I said just now?" I repeated myself.
"No... No...I-I understand. I will say what you ask... Spare me..."
"Where is your base? "
"T-the broker's shop. Y-you have to go half a mile straight."
"How many people?"
"About twenty. Yes, about that much."
"Who is your leader and who is backing you?"
"We... we call him Brother Dilly. He only orders others. I-I haven't really seen him in person. I just collect the tributes and hand them over to his underlings."
'Dilly? That's the name of a gangster? I expected something like Bob the Wild Dog or Bumpy the Hound'
"How many people did you kill?"
"N-no one really. I haven't kil- "
"I can tell when you are lying. I can hear your heartbeat."
Of course that was a lie. But he didn't know that.
"S-seve-"
Thud!
[You have killed a named Human Lvl. 12]
'What the hell? How can someone fall for that bluff?'
"T-thank you... Umm... Mister"
I gave a slight nod to the woman and made my way towards their basement. I had to use the back alley as everyone's eyes were following me with awe and fear.
It took me less than ten minutes to reach there. I climbed up a nearby tall building and started scanning them. Though they were quite a lot in number but their formation was nothing like the ones Sylas and I fought.
Nine people were playing cards outside the broker's shop and seven others were just in their own world of thoughts.
I could basically reduce them to half with my bows and no one would even notice that something was wrong.
'I thought the Nobles backing them played a major part in why the adventurers didn't accept this. But I realised after seeing them that not only did it play a major part, it was the only reason they didn't accept this job.
'Because they even look weaker than a goblin'
I was not in a hurry but still I thought it was good to get a good night's sleep. I had another job in the morning so I would like to wrap this up soon.
I quickly marked the thugs that would be easiest to kill being noticed and loaded my bow with the ethereal arrow.
'Hah! Killing these guys secretly at night from a tall building with a dark hood covering my face. Doesn't that sound cool though?'
Involuntarily, my lips turned slightly upwards with these stupid thoughts.
Twang!
***
"I'll go all in, your turn." The man playing cards with his other colleagues yelled.
They were not actually colleagues, but low lives like him who enjoyed looting and killing people. And playing cards and betting was another leisure for them apart from killing people.
"Hey... Umm... I think I heard something..."
"Shut up! You swine, now that you are about to lose your money, you say you hear something! "
"No... I-I mean- "
Thud!
The man couldn't finish his words as an arrow suddenly hit him out of nowhere.
"What? A-an intruder!"
Darlo looked at the guy ahead of him who had a hole in his head. He thought he was talking nonsense about sensing something when Darlo was finally about to win a match.
"E-everyone gather! What the hell are you bastards doing?"
He shouted again but no one responded to him.
Darlo was the one his leader entrusted with the duty of collecting money for betting.
Betting was not actually a crime but Darlo and the others used this opportunity to freely commit crimes under the names of Nobles.
This was something that even their leader, who rarely showed any interest in them other than the money they collected, knew about.
Darlo collected their so-called tribute from everyone and preyed on helpless women.
He always felt great pleasure doing it. As if he was the strongest among these world of weaklings. He thought he would torture the intruder to death for interrupting his game of making money.
"Where are the others?"
"L-looks like we are the only one left."
"What? You bastards! What the hell are you saying?"
He had gathered almost twenty men for his purpose but now, there were only seven of them. He couldn't understand what was going on. Are they all dead?
Gulp!
He understood that it was no ordinary person.
And just then, a figure slowly emerged from the dark. Wearing a bloodied dark coat hiding his whole existence and holding a silver jian, he was walking without even looking at his enemies.
'W-who the hell are you?'
Darlo realised that his words didn't come out of his mouth. Always living at the top of others in a small place, this was the first time he was facing someone like this.
Someone that defined him what fear was.
The man gripped his sword and walked slowly in his direction. He tried to grab his sword from the side of the table but he couldn't move. His hands were shaking vigorously.
Slice!
The man slowly walked past him and he realised his vision was getting darker. He quickly retraced his hand to his neck and saw his own blood soaked hand. He didn't even know when his neck was sliced.
Darlo fell to the ground without even getting a chance to resist. Before closing his eyes for the eternal slumber, he saw two deep golden eyes emitting murderous intent behind that large hood.
****
Thrust!
[You have killed a named Human Lvl. 11]
I had no doubt that these people had never held a sword before. I assumed that they joined their leader only to experience the benefits of being supported by the Nobles. That way they could commit a number of crimes without fear.
'Looks like this was the last one'
The broker shop that 'Mr. Thug' from before mentioned was actually a small shop in a really bad condition.
'It looks like they weren't trying to settle down here'
I slowly made my way to the shop. I didn't know if there was anyone inside but it wasn't like they were any threat to me. But if a stronger guy was preparing an ambush inside, it would be a little troublesome.
Although the chances of such an event were very slim.
I looked inside through the half opened door. Luckily, there was no ambush but it wasn't like it was empty too. There was a little bulky guy sleeping above piles of pages. It looked like he was forced to work there until he fell asleep.
I poked my sword into his cheek but there was no reaction. Well, he didn't wake up even after all that commotion so I didn't have much expectations.
'Should I kill him? Maybe I should talk to him first. He may be able to help me get my money.'
"Hey! Wake up!"
'This guy... '
"Wake up!!!"
"Ahhhhhh! What..what happened? Huh!"
He jumped up hearing a loud cry that echoed through the room. Though he still looked confused about his situation.
"Umm...Who are you? "
"Shut up! I ask questions and you answer."
I spoke in a cold tone pointing my sword at his neck. He flinched a little then slowly nodded his head.
"What are you doing here?"
"Ah! I am working on the betting papers. The bets regarding the competition."
"Which Noble assigned you to do so?"
"I-It wasn't a Noble. Actually, this is just one of the small betting places among the many present in other towns. We were ordered by the one guy who called himself Yuhan. The Nobles are simply supporting this betting because they get a percentage of revenue from the income."
"Yuhan?"
"Ye-yes! He said he belongs to the K-karma."
"Now what the hell is Karma?"
He quickly grabbed his mouth with his hands as if he said something that shouldn't be said.
'Looks like the roots of this incident grow deeper than I thought'