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Chapter 12
Most wandering knights were deadwoods.
They fell into one of two categories: either they had no skills to speak of, or their characters were simply terrible.
If a knight was skilled and had a good character, someone else would have already taken them, so it might be natural.
For this reason, people generally considered wandering knights as individuals with some problems.
‘But sometimes there are jackpots among wandering knights.’
Once in a few years, an outstanding knight emerged from the wandering knights.
‘For example, like the chief knight of the royal family’s founding generation.’
The first chief knight of the royal family roamed the continent, unable to find a master he deemed worthy of his loyalty, and then after encountering the founding emperor, he finally pledged his allegiance to him.
After that, he became the emperor’s first knight and made significant contributions to founding the empire.
Having accomplished many exceptional feats, he remained a legendary figure who knights most respected, even though he died hundreds of years ago.
Since there was such an excellent precedent, it wasn’t too bad to choose a good person among the wandering knights.
‘But it’s still a gamble with slim odds of success.’
If I got to get the right person, I would gain a skilled and well-behaved knight who would be loyal to me, but if not, I would only see those with poor skills or characters.
Well, I didn’t urgently need a guardian knight yet, so it was fine to look for one slowly.
‘Should I entrust the Information Guild?’
If I entrusted the Information Guild, I would be able to find information about wandering knights faster and more accurately than searching on my own.
Since I had enough money, I would be able to catch a big fish eventually as long as I had the time to search.
So, I would take it easy and slowly––
“You arrogant brat!”
In a dark alley, a loud shout accompanied by thud sounds, and beating noises echoed.
“What’s going on?”
It sounded like someone was being hit.
And not only did I hear it, but the people passing by also stopped momentarily.
“A kid is being beaten?”
“A kid?
What kind of vile scoundrel would do that!”
A few people with a sense of justice were about to step forward, but someone stopped them.
“Stop!
Don’t you know who they are?
They’re the Black Scorpion gang that’s been expanding their influence lately!”
“Yikes!”
“The Black Scorpion?
The ones who’ll beat you so badly that you’ll be bedridden for months if you get into a fight with them?”
As soon as they learned the identity of the ‘vile scoundrels’, those few who were about to step forward backed off and disappeared, as if their sense of justice had suddenly dwindled away.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Among them was a man who was twice my size.
‘What a waste of size.’
While I clicked my tongue, the sound of beating continued from the alley.
“What a persistent bastard.
He doesn’t even let out a single moan!”
The child receiving the beating didn’t react, which seemed to make the attackers more aggressive, increasing the intensity of the blows.
“Gosh.”
I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
“My lady!”
As I strode toward the alley, Belle blocked my way.
“No, not this time!
This could really turn into a big problem!”
“Don’t worry, Belle.”
“Ah, no, you can’t, my lady!”
Belle shook her head with a determined expression, showing no intention of stepping aside.
She didn’t seem to willingly move out of the way, so what should I do now?
For situation like this, I deeply felt the need for a guardian knight.
If he stepped in, Belle wouldn’t be able to stop him, and those mere thugs would be subdued in a blink of an eye.
No, there was no need for a guardian knight.
If I could just summon a spirit, I would be able to stand here and restrain those thugs.
‘But even without a bodyguard or the ability to summon a spirit, do I have to just stand idly here?’
I thought of ways to overpower several burly adult men.
By surrounding myself with mana to strengthen my body, I should be able to easily handle a couple of regular thugs.
‘But if they all attack at once… It could be risky.’
Still, it was worth a try.
And I also thought of another way.
“Don’t worry and just wait here.”
In the narrow alley, a bald man, who appeared to be the leader, was beating a small boy while three men with sinister expressions, who looked like his henchmen, stood there, watching the scene.
“What the f…”
I unwittingly let out a quiet curse, my eyes involuntarily narrowing at the sight before me.
One of the thugs’ henchmen, hearing the sound, approached me with heavy footsteps.
“What do you want?”
“… I have a question.”
Staring at the thugs who had paused at my sudden appearance, I asked, “What are you doing right now?”
“Ha!
What kind of nonsense is this girl…”
Clink!
When the gold coin I threw fell to the ground, making a small noise, the henchman’s eyes widened.
“G… Gold coin?”
“Let me ask you again.
What are you doing right now?”
“What… What do you mean…”
“Still not enough?”
I dropped two more gold coins.
“I asked what you were doing.
I’d appreciate it if you could return the value of the gold coins I just dropped.”
“What a hilarious girl!”
The bald man, who appeared to be the leader, stopped punching the boy and approached me.
Up close, this bald man was quite tall.
He seemed at least a head taller than his henchmen standing beside him.
Plus, he had a considerable physique, and his face and body were covered in scars… making him look quite threatening.
‘Well, he should be at least this imposing to pass as a back-alley gang leader.’
While I calmly assessed him, the bald leader responded like a typical back-alley thug.
“You asked what we were doing, huh?
Can’t you see?
I was teaching this arrogant brat a lesson!”
“Teach?
Why?
For what reason?”
“Why are you asking that––”
Clang!
Seeing the glittering gold coin that fell to the ground, the bald man furrowed his brow and obediently answered to my question.
“Because that brat was acting cocky.
Despite living a life barely better than living in a gutter, he was being so high and mighty all by himself, which was also annoying to watch!”
“Oh.
Really?
So you’re beating him like this just because you don’t like his attitude?”
The boy, leaning against the wall, had wounds all over his body that weren’t covered by his clothes––from the bruises and welts that had just formed to the old scars.
His face was hidden, but it was probably similar.
He would have swollen areas from being beaten hard.
“That’s right!
He dared to offend my feelings, the feelings of the Black Scorpion, so he has plenty of reason to be beaten!”
The bald man pointed to the scorpion tattoo on his arm and bragged.
The onlookers had mentioned the Black Scorpion earlier; they seemed to be quite notorious thugs.
“Anyway, you.
If you hand over all the money you have, I’ll let you go nicely.
No.
Since you have a pretty face, we could have some fun before––”
“I can’t listen to this anymore.”
Feeling like my ears were getting dirty, I interrupted the man, who then frowned angrily.
“What did you just say––”
“Are you deaf?
I told you to shut up.”
“You, you!”
The bald man, who seemed to have issues with anger control, threw a punch at me.
I didn’t dodge and just stood still, making him smile smugly.
‘Does he think I got scared?’
But that was not why.
Thud––
“Eh?”
When I blocked his punch lightly with my mana-infused hand, the bald man’s eyes widened.
And the moment I tightened my grip around his fist…
“Ughhhh!”
With the feeling of his fist being crushed inside my hand, the bald man screamed in pain and fell to his knees. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Ugh, sob, sob.”
As I let go of his hand, the bald man began to cry, cradling his crushed fist.
Just a moment ago, he was acting like an unbeatable gangster of the century, but now, he was pathetically sobbing over a mere hand injury.
“B… Boss!”
When the bald man was attacked, his underlings, who were standing behind him, rushed toward us, weapons in hand.
“I don’t really like violence, you know?
But I would rather be the one delivering blows than receiving them.”
My words made two of the three thugs stop in their tracks.
They didn’t seem to have forgotten how I had easily overpowered their boss just moments ago.
Then, one of the thugs taking the lead encouraged his hesitant comrades, “After all, she’s just one girl!”
The underling’s eyes fell on me.
Apparently, they thought they might have a chance against just one girl, so they started moving hesitantly again.
Three of them…
‘If there are three, it might be a bit more challenging, but I can still win.
But, if possible, isn’t it best to win without getting hurt?’
I decided to proceed with my plan I had prepared earlier.
“Do you really think I came here alone?”
I glanced behind me on purpose and grinned.
“You saw it earlier, right?
That I possess not just one or two gold coins.
A person with such wealth could hardly be considered ordinary, don’t you think?”
The thugs hesitated again, and at the same time, their eyes landed on the shiny gold coins, not losing their brilliance even on the dirt ground.
Their shoulders slumped even more.
“You would have to be pretty dumb not to understand the situation by now.
Would someone as wealthy as me walk around alone?”
“N… No way!”
“Exactly.
My guardian knights are already surrounding this area.”
There were, of course, no guardian knights around this place.
The only ones around were onlookers, who were busy running away at the mention of the Black Scorpian, a waste of their big figures.
However, my bluff on the thugs, who were unable to discern that I was lying in the slightest…
“Yikes!”
Worked perfectly.
No longer willing to confront me, the three underlings threw their weapons to the ground and prostrated themselves.
“We’re sorry!
We were wrong!
Please forgive us just this once!”
‘It could have been a little annoying if they turned out to be recklessly bastards… But thank god, they aren’t.’
I cheerfully asked the completely defeated thugs, “Do you really think you were wrong?”
“Yes!
For real, I believe that from the bottom of my heart!
I was so foolish earlier that I want to shove my head into the ground!”
“Then do it.”
At that moment, the previously pleading thug, who had been begging as if his life depended on it, became speechless and stared at me blankly.
I beamed at him with a bright smile.
“Uh, yes… yes, of course.”
Sensing that he was unlikely to persuade me, the thug obediently began dropping his head onto the ground.
As one began, the other two beside him followed suit, exchanging a quick glance before lying face down on the ground next to him.
With my arms crossed, I posed a question to the sweating thugs who were prostrated on the ground with the top of their heads touching the ground.
“Hey, you aren’t going to do that anymore, right?”
“Yes, yes!”
“What are you not going to do?”
“Uh…?”
The thugs who just answered first couldn’t understand the meaning of my words and just mumbled.
‘I guess I should show them some kindness.’
I decided to guide the thugs one by one with a generous heart.
“First, apologize to that boy you beat up over there.”
“Sorry!”
“Why are you speaking informally?
You all made a mistake, so you should obviously speak politely.”
“But… But that brat…!”
“That brat?” I deliberately lowered my voice and muttered, “Indeed, is it still not enough?
They say that disobedient animals need to be beaten before they start listening…”
“We apologize!
We apologize!” The thugs apologized to the boy with a powerful voice they mustered from deep within.
Despite the thugs’ apologies, the boy showed no particular reaction and just crouched against the wall.
‘Did he lose consciousness?
If so, then he needs treatment quickly.’
I was worried about the boy’s condition as he didn’t move at all.