A Couple Hours Later
After sitting pitifully outside for a while, the gangsters made their way out the door with flushed faces, reeking of booze.
"Hic… those military police bastards… trying to threaten us."
As they stumbled out, I prepared myself.
The one complaining at the back of the group was the most isolated, so I decided to make him my target.
But most likely, he has the least money out of the bunch.
Anyways, it's not worth the risk to target the others, since not only were they more sober, they also seemed to be of a higher rank within their group.
Meaning they would be more vigilant.
Just in case, I checked my status window one more time to confirm I had enough SP.
[Name: Lucian Edelhart]
Level: 3
HP: 20/20
SP: 5/5
Stamina: 5/5
Skills: [Quickstep] [Backstab]
EXP: 0/200
Attributes:
Vigor: 3
Focus: 1
Endurance: 1
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
]
After confirming I had enough SP, I stopped resting against the wall and stood up.
Carefully, I approached until I got within close enough proximity to activate Backstab.
Assuming [Backstab] follows the same logic as the game, I would need to get within 20 meters.
Once I mentally prepared myself, I focused on my target ahead.
'Backstab.'
As those words echoed in my mind, I rapidly shifted from my original position to behind the drunken thug in less than a second.
"Woah."
I was flustered by the speed at which I travelled, so it took me a while to regain my bearings.
But I didn't have time to spare.
I quickly searched around the strap around his waist until I noticed the outline of a money pouch in his pocket, as well as a pistol inside its holster.
I roughly stuck my hand in that area and managed to grab the money.
Of course, I didn't forget that there was also a flintlock pistol.
I tried to carefully pull it out of the holster, but…
"Huh… w-who is that?!"
With all of my fiddling to get the gun out, I was bound to get noticed.
Luckily, I managed to snatch the gun just in time.
'Quickstep.'
And just like that, I vanished before he could realize what was missing.
Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't even get caught.
"Hey, quit your yellin' and hurry up. We have another job tomorrow!"
"A-alright, boss!"
***
"Let's see… 3, 4, 5 bronze coins, a few rolls of cash, and a gun! I really hit the jackpot."
Although it isn't much in the grand scheme of things, besides the gun, it should make do for now.
I'm not really in a position to complain.
This amount of money should be enough for a couple of good meals, or at least a place at an inn to rest up.
For context, one bronze coin is enough for a meal, while one silver would be worth ten meals.
They also use paper notes down here along with coins, with one note being the equivalent of a bronze coin.
What I'm really happy about is this flintlock pistol.
Using a gun in combination with Backstab, I can easily defend myself, even in the worst-case scenario.
For now, the best use of this money would be at an inn to wash up and eat.
Because I still have the hygiene standards from my previous life, every day feels like torture.
And so, I went to an inn to rest for the night, then eat some food and wash up.
The next day, I went to the Commercial District again after I robbed another gangster.
He also had a gun, so I stuffed it inside my clothes and made my way.
There's a black market where people buy and sell illegal items.
As I walked towards it, the amount of shady people increased.
Some were blackout drunk on the floor, some were gambling, while others were shouting and fighting.
They were glaring at me, but it looked like I managed to slip through due to my small size.
My steps on the damp, cold floor gradually echoed as I turned into a narrow alley.
There, I found a shop made of yellow stone bricks with a wooden sign.
"A pawn shop, perfect."
Jingle
"Welcome! … A little kid? What are you doing here? It's quite dangerous, you know that, right?"
I didn't say anything. I just placed the gun on the table.
"What do we have here? A gun… I find it difficult to believe you got this legitimately, but who am I kidding? Everything in here is illegal."
"So how much for it, then?"
I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to, so I pressed him for a price.
"Hmm, how about 2 bronze coins?"
"Are you taking the piss? This should at least be one silver coin!"
"Calm down, little boy. I don't know where you got this from or what enemies you made when you stole it. You should be grateful I'm even buying it in the first place. Others would've turned you down. I'm actually giving you a good deal."
His sly grin irked me, but he was making a good point. And since I don't want to stay here any longer, I'll just accept it.
"Tsk… fine. Just give me the money."
"Haha, you've got a good brain on you, kid. Here you go."
After that interaction, I left the shop feeling like I got scammed, but I should be grateful I'm able to sell the guns in the first place.
***
A few months later
Over the course of the last few months, I couldn't really focus on killing rats for XP.
However, I did still kill the occasional one here and there.
With how common rats are down here, I reached level four quite easily. I used the stat point I gained from leveling up on Focus.
However, the majority of my time was actually just spent pickpocketing and saving up some money. A lot of it came from selling the guns I stole in the black market.
Currently, I'm at 30 bronze coins, 12 silver coins, and a roll of paper notes.
I tried selling guns at the other pawn shops, but they denied me, so I just continued selling guns to that scammer.
But recently, he looked scared whenever I came in and even offered me higher prices.
So it's pretty safe to say I'm in a far better financial position than I was not too long ago.
Although… I believe I've gotten overzealous recently.
I've been hearing rumors about pickpocketing occurring in this area.
And given my targets are all thugs, and the fact that guns are both expensive and hard to come by are going missing, word spread quickly.
So even though my skills in pickpocketing have gotten more proficient, I'm operating even more carefully than before, and my profits are stagnating because of it.
There seems to be a concentrated effort to look for me.
I've even heard of the title 'Ghost' since my method is so quick and silent, it's like no one was even there when it happened.
This can be owed to my latest skill, [Conceal], which completely masks my breathing and footsteps.
Practically erasing my presence.
Anyways, currently I'm going for a drink.
The stress of working has gotten to me, and I'm also quite thirsty.
There's no clean source of water down here, unless you count sewage water.
Some get desperate enough to drink it, but I'm not one of them.
Rainwater can come through the tiny gap at the top, but it's practically negligible.
I'm sure drinking alcohol daily isn't healthy, but is there another option?
"Boss, give me a cup of red wine along with a plate of food."
I was sitting at a table in a bar. It was quite packed here, but this was the cheapest place I know.
"Here, kid. But you better pay first. I've had enough of you rascals dining and dashing."
"Ha, don't worry. I got plenty of money."
When I said that, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he leaned in closer.
"You don't wanna say that around these parts."
"Ah… You're right."
I looked around and saw some thugs glaring at me when I mentioned my finances.
I handed him a few bronze coins, and they clattered onto the wooden table.
But when he was about to grab the coins, a bald, burly man across from me stopped him.
"Let me have a chat with this kid."
"A-alright."
After a while, the area around his eyes darkened.
"Hey… kid."
Click.
He signaled to others to lock the door.
"Uhh, what's wrong?"
"Where did you get those guns you sold at the pawn shop from? If you tell me now, I might let you live."
I was confused. How did he know I sold those guns? Was I followed here?
"Oh shit…"
How reckless am I?
"Hey! Are you gonna answer me or not? The boss has been real angry with the thief stealing all of our guns lately."
"Uhh, it's not what it looks like. I just happened to find them on the floor."
"Hmm, so you happened to find them on the floor? Don't joke with me, kid!"
He slammed my table as he interrogated me.
"I'm gonna ask ya one last time, shrimp. Where did you find those guns?!"
"W-what can I know?! I'm just a little kid!"
"Many of my gang members had somehow 'lost' their guns in the outer district. Then one day, we got word that they were being sold in the black market. When we interrogated the shop owner, he didn't hesitate to tell us a blonde brat was selling them to him."
That stupid scammer! Are there no confidentiality laws down here?!
"I don't know who you're working with and how they've managed it… But you better tell me who it is!"
"…"
"Why aren't you telling me?! If you don't fess up, I'll blast a hole in your head."
At that moment, the cold metal of a loaded flintlock was pressed against my forehead.
The instant the gun touched me, I panicked and used [Backstab] reflexively to shoot.
"Oh shit."
I messed up.
Blood splattered all over me, and my ears were ringing slightly.
There was a brief silence before everyone erupted.
Others eating at the tables around me quickly got up.
"Get him!"
Clattering tables and silverware rang around me.
I quickly used Conceal and Quickstep to escape through the entrance.
The force from Quickstep was enough to break the wooden door open.
"Hey! What's all the commotion?!"
The noise of the gun attracted the attention of gangsters loitering outside.
I didn't have enough SP to use any other skills, so I was in a precarious position. But thanks to Conceal lasting five minutes, I managed to get far enough away to avoid detection.
"How did he vanish that quickly?"
When I was in a safe spot, I started trembling.
Despite having lived here for so long, that was my first time killing someone.
In your head, the idea of killing someone seems a lot easier than actually doing it.
I'm not naive. I knew that with my lifestyle, eventually I would have to take someone's life.
It's inevitable, but even then…
Having someone's guts spray onto your face after you shoot them at point-blank range is a horrid experience.
Eventually, I managed to calm my breathing and nausea.
But it looks like my identity has been found out.
***
Today was a day like any other. I was working at my bar, serving food to gangsters like usual.
Sometimes poor kids and beggars would come here to dine and dash, or gangsters would get all riled up and start a fight, creating a huge mess for me to clean up.
Anyways, a kid who has become a regular recently decided to enter.
Many times, he enters without me realizing, and I find myself wondering how he entered.
He doesn't seem to be affected by all these thugs eyeing him down.
"Boss, give me a cup of red wine along with a plate of food."
I went to serve him, so I went to the counter to grab his meal.
"Here you go, kid, but you better pay first. I've had enough of you rascals dining and dashing."
Even though he's a regular, you never know with these kids.
"Ha, don't worry. I got plenty of money."
Is he stupid?
Why would you, a scrawny kid, inform everyone that you have a lot of money?
It's like you're begging to get robbed.
I looked around, and I noticed Egill flash a look the moment that dumb kid spoke.
Egill works directly under a more notorious gang in this area.
He is not someone I want to mess with, and since this kid's a regular paying customer, I did him a favor and whispered a warning to him.
"You don't wanna say that around these parts."
"Ah… You're right."
But it looks like it was too late.
Egill was already walking over here.
"Wait. Let me have a chat with this kid."
"A-alright."
He's gonna rob the poor kid, isn't he...
Does this bastard not know he's reducing my profits by scaring away my customers?
But instead of robbing him, he gave a different, more serious look.
Click.
I saw him signal with his hands to one of his lackeys to lock my door, and what followed after was him interrogating the poor kid.
Can't you see he clearly doesn't know what you're talking about, you meathead?!
And after a while, he suddenly pulled out a gun and aimed it at his forehead.
Mentally, I was begging him not to pull the trigger.
That's one mess I don't want to clean up.
Bang!
I covered my eyes. Poor kid.
"Oh shit…"
When I opened my eyes again, to my utter surprise, Egill had a hole through his stomach.
I was lost for words.
Somehow, that scrawny-looking kid managed to get behind Egill with a gun and shot him in the back.
After that, chaos ensued.
Everyone in the bar got up to chase after him.
And then, I heard a crash through my door.
The kid managed to vanish on the spot from where he was standing and burst through the locked door.
I wasn't even worried about the repair bill at that moment.
I was barely managing to comprehend what was going on.
"Uhhh… get that brat. He's the Ghost the boss told us to catch."
"Egill, stop talking. You'll make the wound worse!"
Egill was bleeding out, and his underling was taking care of his wound.
I've seen my fair share of bar fights.
But today was definitely one of the craziest.
Did he say that kid was the 'Ghost' everyone was talking about recently?
The same one who's been robbing criminals and their guns in the outer district?
For some reason, after that display, I don't doubt it.