The Adventurers’ Guild entrance faced northwestern Orario, so that entire district contained the city’s greatest concentration of adventurer-related businesses.
The Hostess of Fertility was among them.
The tavern stood on West Main Street, only one road away from the northwestern avenue outside the Guild.
It would normally take very little time to walk there.
However, Ritsuka was a newcomer and had no idea where the Hostess of Fertility was.
Searching for the right road led to a few detours.
Detours led into narrow alleys, and narrow alleys made it remarkably easy to take a wrong turn and enter a dead end.
“Oh dear.
It seems I took a wrong turn.” Ritsuka stared helplessly at the wall blocking the alley before turning toward the men now standing across its entrance.
They wore ragged clothes beneath cloaks, with hoods pulled low enough to hide their faces.
“Did you guys get lost too?” Instead of answering, one of the men mocked him.
“You’re right about one thing, brat.
You’ve reached a dead end!” “But hand over all your money, and we might let you leave.” “So you’re here to rob me.” A smile appeared on Ritsuka’s face.
Despite being surrounded, he showed no anxiety.
Instead, he examined the men from head to toe and offered his assessment.
“Honestly, you’re slightly more believable than the men outside the city.” “There were too many of them, and none even bothered wearing masks.
They let everyone see their faces, then claimed they would release us.” “That was obviously a lie.
If I were committing the robbery, I’d scatter the ashes of anyone who saw my face.” Ritsuka’s rambling irritated the leader.
Every extra minute spent there increased their chances of being discovered.
“Hey, you little bastard!
What are you muttering about?
Hand over the money before we lose our patience!” Ritsuka finally returned his attention to the group, but his expression remained curious.
“The sun hasn’t even set, yet you’re already robbing people.
Aren’t you afraid the military police will arrest you?” The men blocking the alley burst into laughter.
Any concern they had felt immediately vanished.
Anyone capable of saying that had to be a useless rich boy.
No capable adventurer would threaten criminals with the military police.
This was clearly a weak newcomer trying to borrow their authority to frighten them.
“Hahaha!
The military police?
Those idiots can’t touch us!” “You’re saying the military police have no authority over you?” “That’s right!
They only watch the gates and major streets.
They couldn’t care less about little alleys like this.” “I see.
It appears the military police truly are incompetent.” Ritsuka shook his head.
His already poor impression of them became even worse.
“In that case, I’ll handle you myself.” “Huh?
Are you trying to make me laugh?
What exactly will you do?
Talk us to—” Before the man could finish, a dagger flew directly toward his face.
The previously arrogant robber flinched and desperately twisted aside, but he failed to dodge completely.
The dagger tore through his hood and exposed his face.
It also sliced away a strip of hair and scalp, sending blood streaming down the side of his head.
Within two seconds, the blood had already reached his chin.
Only when it dripped onto the ground did the man process what had happened.
He screamed from the sudden pain.
“Aaagh!” He clutched his wound with his right hand, then furiously pointed at Ritsuka with the same blood-covered fingers.
“You bastard!
You attacked without warning!” “You’re robbing someone in the middle of Orario, yet you’re complaining that I attacked unfairly?” Ritsuka pulled another dagger from his clothes.
When he left the Guild, Hassan of the Hundred Faces’ abilities had already warned him that someone was following him.
It was a classic plot: a rookie earned a fortune, got targeted by robbers, then turned the tables and humiliated them.
Ritsuka never imagined he would personally encounter such a cliché.
In preparation, he had replaced Chen Gong with Arash in his party.
Arash’s passive abilities were far more useful than Chen Gong’s while fighting aboveground.
This was exactly what that looked like!
Ritsuka flicked his wrist and threw the second dagger.
The robbers were now prepared and hurriedly dodged, but by the time they avoided the blade, Ritsuka had already closed the distance.
“What?!” “Got you!” Ritsuka grabbed the injured man by the head and smashed him face-first into the ground.
The tremendous force shattered the stone pavement and buried the man’s head inside the cracked bricks.
Keeping one hand pressed against the back of his head, Ritsuka performed a sideways aerial flip, supporting his entire weight with a single arm.
His feet left the ground before snapping outward in opposite directions, striking the chins of the two robbers beside him.
Both men’s heads whipped backward as their bodies crashed into the alley walls.
“Bastard!” Seeing three companions fall in an instant threw the remaining men into panic.
They shouted and drew their swords before attacking Ritsuka together.
To Ritsuka, their movements looked unbearably slow.
He pulled back the legs he had used to kick the two men, then wrapped them around the sword arm of another attacker.
His free hand seized the man’s lower leg.
Ritsuka pulled down with both legs, dragging the off-balance robber straight toward his waiting knee.
His knee smashed into the man’s face.
The robber’s nose shattered instantly, and his features caved inward.
Blood sprayed across Ritsuka’s white trousers.
Ritsuka released him, rolled upright, and stared with disgust at the red stain covering his knee.
“Tch.” His trousers were white!
Did they have any idea how difficult that blood would be to wash out?
Ritsuka glared at the remaining robbers.
That single look shattered their courage, and they immediately scattered toward the alley entrance.
They never had any chance of escaping.
The moment they emerged from the alley, they found another Fujimaru Ritsuka waiting outside.
Ritsuka had created the clone before confronting them, anticipating that some might attempt to flee.
The clone rushed forward and knocked them all down with movements as graceful as a gymnast’s yet heavy enough to shatter bones.
“Rotten people only become more rotten.” Looking over the bodies scattered across the alley, Ritsuka could not help sighing.
The combination of the Great Hero and Hundred Faces was incredibly useful.
At long range, he had repeated suicidal explosions.
In close combat, Hassan’s agility and acrobatics combined with the Great Hero’s Robust Health EX.
He was fast, and every blow carried tremendous force.
A Hassan with Robust Health EX!
Had anyone ever seen something so absurd?
After admiring the combination, Ritsuka studied the men on the ground for a moment before looking toward his clone.
“Go find some rope.
I’m taking this garbage to the Guild.” …