The blood moon hung in the sky as the night deepened.
Both of them, still fully clothed, lay on their respective "beds."
It was still early. Perhaps it was because she had slept until noon, or perhaps she was nervous from the display Leon had put on, but Lucrezia felt no sleepiness at all.
She tossed and turned on the hard wooden board, flipping back and forth like a fish in a frying pan. Finally, she couldn't help but start muttering to herself in a low voice:
"How am I so unlucky... just out of the swamp and into trouble again..."
"I finally have money, but I can't even take a bath..."
"That old fox... when I get powerful, I'm definitely coming back to burn his shop down..."
Leon listened as her complaints dissolved into indistinct murmurs, gradually shifting into the steady, rhythmic breathing of sleep, accompanied by a faint nasal whistle.
In the end, she was just a carefree little brat; she had talked herself right to sleep.
Leon, meanwhile, sat cross-legged on his floor mat. He slowly closed his eyes, his breathing becoming long and hidden as he entered a state of shallow meditation—neither truly awake nor fully asleep.
Within the darkness of his sea of consciousness, over a dozen invisible 【Mana Threads】 fanned out like a spiderweb, quietly waiting for prey to touch them.
...
In the latter half of the night, the moonlight was as pale as bone.
The main hall of The Sleeping Dwarf was a mess. Several dead-drunk patrons were slumped over tables, snoring heavily.
Behind the bar, Raymond, the dwarf owner, was dozing against a wine barrel on a small makeshift cot.
Ding-ling—
The crisp sound of the doorbell was exceptionally piercing in the dead of night, like an ice blade slicing through the air.
"Who is it? In the middle of the night..." Raymond grumbled, rubbing his bleary eyes with a heavy dose of grogginess.
However, the only response he received was a flurry of dense, hurried footsteps.
Something was wrong!
Raymond snapped awake. His instincts from years as an adventurer made him reflexively reach for the short axe at his side.
But before his fingers could touch the handle, a hand as large as a palm-leaf fan slammed down onto the bar with a thud, pinning the rising Raymond back down by force.
A cacophony of hurried yet deliberately muffled footsteps poured in, instantly filling the shadows of the hall.
"Shh—"
Leading them was a burly werewolf of a man with a face full of rough features.
He wore an open leather vest, his black chest hair faintly visible. He didn't immediately resort to violence; instead, he held a finger to his lips. His amber beast-like pupils glinted with a heart-chilling cold light in the darkness.
"Hey! Kofman! What do you bastards from the Black Tail Gang think you're doing!"
Raymond’s sleepiness vanished instantly. Recognizing the group, he roared in a low voice, "This month's protection fee—whether it's for the city guard or for you lot—I, Raymond, haven't missed a single copper! You want to break the rules?!"
"Quiet down, old man. Don't wake the guests."
Kofman, the boss of the Black Tail Gang, nonchalantly pulled a gold coin from his pocket. He flicked it with a fingernail, making it hum, before tossing it onto the bar.
Clink.
"Take it. This is compensation for the emotional distress from scaring you just now. Now, shut up."
Kofman's voice was raspy and low, carrying an unquestionable weight of authority. "Tonight has nothing to do with you. You just need to tell me honestly: where are the tall, thin guy with black hair and eyes and that silver-haired brat with twin tails staying?"
"What do you want with the guests in my shop!"
Hearing this, Raymond straightened his back instead. His copper-bell eyes bulged and his beard shook with rage. "I'm warning you, Kofman! I, Raymond, am no pushover! If guests stay with me, I'm responsible for them! If you cause trouble here, watch out or I'll smash your dog head! Don't forget, I was a gold-rank adventurer back in the day!"
"Oh~ is that so?"
Kofman didn't get angry; instead, he chuckled, his fanged mouth curling into a gruesome, mocking arc.
He slowly lowered his head, leaning close to the dwarf owner's ear. His voice dropped even lower, dripping with threat. "My respected 'Iron Hammer' Raymond, if you hadn't reminded me, I almost would have forgotten your past glory."
"But... are you sure you want to offend the First Young Master for the sake of two unrelated brats?"
Boom.
Raymond's flushed face froze instantly. The fire in his eyes was extinguished as if by a bucket of ice water, leaving only terror and internal struggle.
Leon Hawthorne.
The legitimate first heir of Kent Town, the eldest son of Baron Gareth Hawthorne.
As the old baron grew elderly and increasingly muddled, this First Young Master had already begun taking over the family's power. Although rumors circulated that the old baron privately preferred the ambitious and restless Second Young Master, Ovind—a sibling rivalry that left this border town smelling of gunpowder—at this moment, in this place, the name Leon Hawthorne still represented the "law" of Kent Town. It represented absolute will and irresistible power.
One could even say that because the situation was so unstable, the consequences of siding with the wrong person were even more miserable.
Still, if I take this money, my family could use the opportunity to get away from this storm, move to another city, and start over...
That seems like a pretty good option, doesn't it?
"For the sake of this gold coin, it would be quite nice to be a blind man tonight, wouldn't it... elderly Raymond, who still has a wife and children to support?"
Kofman straightened up and slowly pulled out another gold coin, tossing it between his fingers.
"Damn it!"
Raymond’s expression shifted rapidly. His fingernails dug deep into the wood of the bar.
He hesitated.
He was afraid of offending the ruthless First Young Master, but he also worried that his reputation would be ruined, making it impossible to stay in this business.
"If you do this... how can I keep running my shop if word gets out..."
"Don't worry, old friend. We are law-abiding citizens."
Kofman seemed to see through his concerns and clapped his hands lightly.
A subordinate, quick on the uptake, stepped forward and unfurled a piece of parchment.
"We are assisting the city guard in apprehending a serious criminal who escaped from the Akhtar Duchy, aren't we? Look at this warrant."
Kofman pointed at the paper, smiling like a fox that had stolen a chicken.
Raymond leaned in to look. There it was, stamped with the bright red seal of the city guard. The ink on the signature below wasn't even fully dry.
Though the excuse was as foul as sludge in a ditch, the procedure was... impeccable.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Raymond's beard shook with fury. He knew he had no more excuses.
He glared at the two gold coins, gritted his teeth, and squeezed the words out from between his lips: "Three gold coins! Not a copper less, or I'll fight you to the death! Also, you're responsible for the subsequent repairs to the tavern!"
"Deal. Give them to him," Kofman said without hesitation, acting as generous as a philanthropist.
Raymond snatched the three gold coins and spat venomously on the floor. "Third floor! The room at the very end on the right!"
With that, he cursed as he tucked the coins away, ignored the gang, and bolted straight for the kitchen. "Vile scum! I hope that mage lord's magic blasts all your sons-of-bitches' heads into dust!"
He quickly woke his wife and children. The family, clutching small bags like startled quails, fled out the back door of the tavern.
"Heh, no need for a greedy old thing like you to worry about that."
Watching the dwarf flee in panic, Kofman gave a disdainful sneer and waved his hand.
"To work."
Over a dozen subordinates immediately fanned out, quietly guarding the front and back doors as well as the windows, surrounding the small building completely.
Kofman personally led five other well-equipped experts. Drawing curved blades that glinted with a cold light, they moved like a pack of hunting wolves, silently treading up the creaking wooden stairs.
Rate on N.U.
