While Sand Crab Byrus and Elder Light Breeze were holding their discussions quietly, another pair of surrept.i.tious hunters were waiting, seated at another table in the same area!"Blacksword" of the Four Lords of the Underworld, Susano the Cruel! Along with his guide, tracker and information specialist, Karel Sharpeye!
However, they were right rejoicing at their luck, whispering under their breaths as they watched Sand Crab Byrus and overheard their very conspicuous conversation!
Karel, now changed out of his attention-grabbing black a.s.sa.s.sin"s garb was dressed like a refined young man, perhaps from a minor n.o.ble or well-to-do merchant"s family. He was seated beside the cruel-faced but suave-looking Susano who had doffed his supple wyvern-hide armour and was now wearing a relaxed brown s.h.i.+rt and pants of good cutting.
"Hey boss, we"re in luck! Looks like we won"t even have to make a move for that Lars boy to be taught a lesson he won"t survive to learn from! Look...!"
Karel then gestured with his chin, trying not to be too obvious as he drew Susano"s attention to the elderly pair seated at the table nearby theirs. But he needn"t in the first place, for the Disciplinary Lord of the Underworld in charge of executions was well-aware of the conversation going on.
However, that was not what he was paying the most attention to. He was attracted by the fact that the bandit leader"s wyvern-hide armour seemed higher quality than his!
Unwilling to accept that a random scoundrel from the countryside could have something better than him as one of the leading crime lords of Gorun City, he scoffed (softly of course).
"Hmmph... Mine is still better... Being bigger and thicker doesn"t mean it"s better! Mine is more flexible! It"s not the size that matters, it"s how you use it and how practical it is!!"
"...Yeah. Well, cough, yes, your, ahem, thing is better despite not being as big and... Erm... Thick... Yeah!" Karel as usual had no choice but enthusiastically agree with whatever his boss" boss said. Though he was seriously uncomfortable agreeing.
"Ahem, boss, well, as I was saying. We"re in luck - the boy seems very talented, so my hunch is that he has some special background and we might be in trouble if we take him on--"
"Nonsense! It doesn"t matter what type of backing he has! Don"t forget, worm! We, the mighty Underworld of the City, are backed by the tyrannical Laughing Man and even the Royal Family of the Kingdom! Whoever it is, we"ll still crush them for daring to meddle in our business!"
"Ah... Yes, yes sir... We"ll definitely do so... Just that we might be beaten to the punch. Wait, look! There he comes! The boy we"ve been looking for - Lars!"
Susano smiled evilly and began to rise as he saw the boy waltzing in and waited for him to sit down, his gaze s.h.i.+ning with wicked lightning! Then just at the same moment that Sand Crab Byrus and Elder Light Breeze noticed Lars and Charley sitting down by them, Susano reached down to his sword to make a move!
*BANG!!!*
"IS LARS HERE??! COME OUT!!! WE THE CITY GUARD UNDER THE ORDER OF DUKE LEANNE ARE HERE TO GET YOUR HELP FOR INVESTIGATIONS!!!"
Susano and Byrus" move to capture Lars were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door being kicked down; followed quickly by the roaring voice of a guardsman!
"Dammit!!!" "Curses!!!" The two men with ill-intentions were furious at their plans being messed up - they did not wish to get in trouble with the malicious city guard!
As vile as the Underworld and as much power as they had, they were also subject to the local tyrants - the Houses of Trenel and Jamal which had the city guards and the local courts in their pockets!
And as bold and daring as Sand Crab Byrus was, he was just a leader of a small raider group starting up - he didn"t have the capital to take on the local garrison and their countless soldiers!
"Grrrr!!!!!! Brother! You"ll have to wait a bit longer for revenge...!"
"d.a.m.n!!! Why now of all times for those b.l.o.o.d.y p*ssies to come?!! If only... Wait! Things might be different from what I expected!"
Lars and Charley looked up curiously as they heard the obnoxious roaring of the small group of city guards" leader, Private Lyam. The dull-looking man unceremoniously clambered up the stairs followed by his 5 guardsmen, then waited at the staircase and yelled out, "WHO IS LARS??? COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF!!!"
Then a man of average height and shaky, yellow teeth ran up the stairs behind Private Lyam and looked around frantically, before noticing Lars. He pointed straight at Lars and exclaimed, "Sir! Sir! That"s the man! That"s the man who a.s.saulted me and tried to kidnap a boy right in front of me!"
He put on the look of a victim as he spoke, though his hideous face only made him look like a villain!
Lars was stunned and bemused as the play unfolded before him. He chuckled slightly and stood up before walking over to stand in front of the group of city guards.
He quickly took note of their strength - one Adept level and the other five only at the peak of Normal level...
What a joke! They expected to capture him with just these forces? Even if he *WERE* in disguise, he was posing as a peak Adept level with a Silver-rank quester badge! They should have at least sent over some Elite level warriors to arrest him!
"h.e.l.lo, I"m Lars. How may I help you...?"
"Sir! Sir!!! Don"t let his polite and handsome appearance fool you! H-He"s a savage brute, a m-monster I tell you! He raped the girl right in front of us, boo hoo...! And then, and then... He raped me too!!!" Masra, the foolish looking buffoon by Private Lyam"s side, waved his finger agitatedly at Lars and spouted out some top-form nonsense, causing all those listening to feel slightly ill just at the level of bullsh*t this idiot was spouting!
Wasn"t it just a boy you were talking about who was kidnapped earlier??! And who would believe that anyone would want to **** you!??
Even Private Lyam who was trying to keep a straight and stern face was so irritated that he felt like slapping the fool! But he calmed himself down with only his face looking even more fierce as he spoke to Lars.
"Lars, family name unknown! A report has come in from reliable sources that you have obstructed Leocadius Trenel"s official business, stolen his property, injured his representatives and inflicted severe financial loss to House Trenel"s business! On the authority of Captain Eniev of the City Guard, I hereby place you under arrest for further questioning until we can ascertain the charges and evidence brought against you!"
Private Lyam delivered his prepared speech loudly and clearly to Charley"s shock.
Then as the 5 soldiers moved to surround Lars and bring him into custody, Charley turned to stare at Lars, wondering since when he had had the time to offend the Trenel family! He also wondered why were they still spouting out Leocadius Trenel"s name... Didn"t they know that he was a traitor to the city and the human race? Or perhaps the mark of shame was too great for the family to admit and they had decided to keep it under wraps...
Lars merely smiled as even those downstairs of the establishment and those outside on the streets looked on in fascination, pity and also disdain. Looked like one more victim would be falling into the hands of the Trenel family and their slave trade...
Then Private Lyam gave a glance at Charley and realised that their target"s companion would be quite a good catch as well, probably worth a fair penny to the slavers! So he pretended to look through his sheet of unrelated doc.u.ments and then looked back and forth between his papers and Charley, before saying, "Aha! No wonder I felt you were so familiar! You"re Lars" accomplice! Men, ensure to bring him in as well!"
At the sides, Sand Crab Byrus and Blacksword Susano looked on with interested expressions. They weren"t quite sure what to make of things as they were, but one thing they were certain of - this boy was done for.
Only... They did regret that they wouldn"t be able to carry out their vengeance personally... Though they smiled in satisfaction that their enemy would soon be slain before their eyes!
Sand Crab Byrus was just about to propose a toast to Elder Light Breeze (despite the man not being of any use at all in the end) when he heard Charley"s voice call out to him.
"G-Great Lord Mikael...! I"m so glad I found you! Look, these guys are trying to kidnap your disciple in broad daylight!" Charley was looking at Byrus with glistening and puppy dog eyes, full of sincerity and innocence!
Sand Crab Byrus was shocked - what was this boy saying all of a sudden?! He was just about to brush off the boy"s desperate attempt to cling onto his thigh to save himself when the crowds began to murmur loudly.
"W-what!?? Is that truly the saviour of Gorun City, Great Lord Mikael...?" Some of the spectators seated downstairs as well as onlookers from outside began muttering out similar words at the same time.
Then one of the braver patrons of the high-cla.s.s inn sneaked nearer to take a closer look, drawing the ire of Byrus. But to his horror, he heard the man then exclaim, "It is! It really is our Great Lord Mikael! How come we didn"t notice him earlier...?"
One man slapped his thighs as he spoke, as if he had just gotten a revelation and said, "I know! He was sitting with his back facing us, right?"
It was at that moment that Byrus realised it was too late to redeem himself - a great roar resounded out as more and more people began to gather around the expensive inn, eager to take a look at the mighty near-Mythical warrior who had saved the lives of General Weres and Yusof Jamal!
"...Why are you guys so excited...? Isn"t it just another high and mighty warrior?" One youth said to his excited friends.
"Idiot! Don"t you know...? It"s not everyday you can meet a hero so great and yet so kind!" His friend explained.
"Yeah! He not just killed 2 Devil-Lords, he even rescued 10,000 children and 500 virgins from the depths of the Abyss!"
Byrus began to sweat in panic, wondering just how he had gotten himself into this situation just by sitting there quietly and not doing anything. Then his eyes flickered in rage as he realised it was all Charley"s fault! His face turned red and he was prepared to smash the boy"s head into a pancake when he realised that right now, more than a 200 people had gathered and were watching him!
He didn"t dare make any overt moves in front of such a great crowd!
Flabbergastered and so stunned he didn"t know what to say, he even forgot to defend himself, merely coughing in shame and rage!
"Wait, why are you guys trying to arrest Great Lord Mikael"s disciple right in front of him! How dare you! Just because House Trenel has the City Guard in their pockets doesn"t mean you can just do as you like! I"ll have you know, Great Lord Mikael has no tolerance for slave traders! Why, just yesterday he defeated a red dragon and rescued 500,000 newborn babies from the clutches of the slavers!" Various of the braver and more pa.s.sionate spectators began to lambast Private Lyam and his squad of guards whose faces turned beet-red from embarra.s.sment!
Wasn"t this supposed to be a simple arrest of a weak newbie quester??! Since when had he turned into the disciple of a G.o.dly existence???
Just who set them up here???
But upon hearing those incredible exaggerations, even Lars couldn"t help but begin to sweat. How did the numbers become so incredulous??! And where did the dragon even come from?!!
Snapping in desperation, Sand Crab Byrus exploded in anger and decided to go with the flow.
"BOY! Let"s get out of here! We"re too weak to clash with the n.o.ble houses! Come, I"ll bring you to escape!" Byrus, the wily man, shouted out loudly and leapt towards Lars to grab him, pretending to be bringing his disciple far away to escape!
And so he sped into the distance with an unresisting Lars in tow, leaving behind Charley, Susano and Private Lyam, as well as Elder Light Breeze and countless spectators scratching their heads!
Why was a near-Mythical combatant running away from just a mere n.o.ble house...??!
Wait, why was a mere junior of House Trenel picking a fight with the mighty saviour of Gorun City"s disciple??!
Whatever it was, the people"s eyes glittered with excitement.
It looked like the hideous underbelly of the city would soon be exposed and cleaned out by the coming conflict.* * * * *Meanwhile, the mastermind of the confusion and misdirection, Charley was crying as he was being dragged away by the City Guard, abandoned by his buddy!"W-what about me...??? At least bring me away too!!!"At the same time, the bandit raider carrying Lars was smiling as he headed for a secluded spot to erase the boy forever......The boy who was also smiling mysteriously.