Volume 2 - CH 5

As soon as they heard that sound, the old man’s face changed drastically. At almost the same time, with a loud crash, the window behind the two thieves shattered, and a dark figure swiftly rushed in.

The two thieves reacted quickly and ran towards the other window, but just as they did, an ice hockey puck flew in through that window, and upon landing, a chaotic mess of ice spikes sprouted up like a thicket, blocking their escape route.

Suddenly, a roar shook the room, and Saul and the others finally saw that the dark figure that had entered earlier was actually an intermediate-grade magic beast—a bat leopard with a strange, fiery red pattern on its forehead. Its membrane-like wings spread open, and the bat leopard crouched down slightly, threatening the two thieves with a fierce growl.

At that moment, a man walked in from the door and spoke up, “Mr. Gallein from the Thieves’ Guild, we meet again.” Hearing his voice, Saul recognized that it belonged to the same man who had spoken outside the door earlier.

Upon seeing him, the old man named Gallein was both shocked and angry, “Lurette, it’s you.”

The person named Lurette was quite young, about the same age as Kress. He was very handsome, but looked a bit worn out with a lot of stubble on his chin, as if he had been traveling for a long time. He was dressed in old leather armor and had a long sword hanging from his waist. The scabbard was very old, with only a complex emblem on the hilt.

To Saul’s surprise, Lurette had black hair, which was messy and tied up with a large headband. He was the first person with black hair that Saul had encountered in this world, and he immediately took a liking to this guy.

As everyone was still sizing him up, they suddenly saw two hands climbing up the edge of the broken window, followed by the sound of heavy breathing. Seeing who it was, Lurette gave a helpless smile. Then, to the amazement of Saul and the others, a girl in a long skirt struggled to climb over the windowsill and fell to the ground with a thud.

“Uh…” Tears welled up in the corner of the girl’s eyes. She bit her lower lip and got up, brushing the dirt off her knees.

This was a 15 to 16-year-old girl with some faint freckles on her face. Her big eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, giving her a hazy appearance. Although she wasn’t particularly pretty, she looked quite cute. The girl was wearing a long black skirt that resembled a school uniform, extending all the way to her ankles. She was carrying a big, bulging shoulder bag with a complex magic circle drawn on its surface.

As soon as she entered the room, the girl looked around with a bewildered expression, as if there were nobody else there. Jessica frowned and asked, “May I ask who you are?”

Embarrassed, Lurette scratched his head and said, “I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m Lurette, from the adventurer’s guild. I’m here to protect Mr. Zhang Anbu.”

“Hehe.” Suddenly, the girl laughed and looked at Saul, saying, “What a weird name.”

Lurette cleared his throat and scolded her, “Meine, don’t be rude.” Then he introduced her, “This is my companion, Meine.”

Ignoring Lurette’s reproach, Meine shouted downstairs, “Laris, are you coming up?”

“No.” A cold and clear voice came from downstairs.

Lurette’s eyes darted around as he spoke to the old man, Gallein: “Mr. Gallein, I advise you not to move. Cardow’s arrow is aimed directly at your heart. I think you should be well aware of his archery skills.”

Following Lurette’s gaze, they noticed a man proudly standing on top of a large tree in the garden, facing the room, holding a long bow while a cold arrow was pointing straight at them.

The old man snorted and resigned himself to not moving anymore.

“Mr. Zhang Anbu, are you okay?” Lurette asked Saul.

Saul nodded and pointed at the old man, asking, “Who are they?”

“The Thieves Guild, old friends,” Lurette said with a slight smile.

Jessica was puzzled, “The Thieves Guild? How come I’ve never heard of this organization?”

While squatting on the ground and holding a piece of broken glass, Meine drew on the ground and muttered as she raised her head, “It’s a secret organization that many people don’t know about. Last year, we met them at the Stone Golem Mine in Sivah Highlands…”

“Okay, Meine,” Lurette interrupted her and said, “We just need to take care of them. The guild will take full responsibility for everyone’s safety during the commission.”

Just then, they heard the young thief say, “Master, we can go now.”

“!?” Lurette was shocked and quickly turned his head.

They saw the floor beneath the feet of two thieves suddenly collapse, and their figures were rapidly falling down. The young thief held an empty glass bottle between his fingers, with the mouth of the bottle facing downward. Apparently, he had used the acidic liquid of the black dragon to quietly corrode the floor.

Before they fell, the young thief even made a proud farewell gesture to them. At the same time, the old man waved his dagger and deflected an arrow that had shot in from outside the window.

Chipp’s eyes shone as he closely watched the movements of the two thieves. In a flash, he leaped forward to grab them, but unfortunately, he was still one step too late, and the two successfully fell into the room below.

“Fleur, catch them!” Meine shouted toward the bat leopard.

With a roar, the bat Leopard pounced into the hole, while Lurette rushed to the edge and peered down. He saw the bat leopard spinning around in the room, frightening a couple who cowered at the head of the bed, staring in terror at the monster that had descended from the sky. But there was no sign of the two thieves.

With a bitter smile, Lurette turned around and said to Saul, “They got away again.”

Scratching his head habitually, Lurette continued, “It seems like everything is fine for now. For your safety, please move to the guild tomorrow so we can protect you better. Alos, please rest assured, there are people all around this location, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

As he walked towards the door, he said, “Meine, let’s go.”

“Okay.” Meine, who was peering into the hole, responded and waved her hand. A ball of light drifted up from the room below and into her palm, the bat leopard beast had been retrieved.

Unexpectedly, this drowsy girl turned out to be an extremely talented summoner.

After the two left, Saul looked at the hole in the center of the room and the two broken windows, the door without a panel and couldn’t help but wryly smile: “How can we sleep like this?”

Jessica glanced outside the window and said, “It’s almost dawn anyway.”

“It’s a shame those two thieves got away.” Kress spoke with resentment.

Chip spread his hands, “I grabbed this.”

It was a pair of leather gloves that the old man wore when he unlocked the iron chain. Saul took a look and saw that there was nothing special about the gloves. They were made of leather but embroidered with a peculiar pattern on the back of the right hand.

“Has anyone seen this pattern before?” Saul asked, but after seeing everyone shaking their heads, he stuffed the gloves into his pocket. “Let’s go ask Manson when we get back, he might know.”

Then he became proud again, “See, I knew someone was eyeing our magic core.”

Jessica snorted, “It was just a fluke.”

Saul shrugged, “Believe what you want. Oh, and what about the magic core?”

Hearing his words, Jessica’s face suddenly turned red for no particular reason.

“Why are you asking about that?”

“We’re supposed to hand it over to the adventurers’ guild tomorrow, I just want to double-check.”

But Jessica seemed a bit anxious, “There’s no need to check; it’s very safe.”

Saul looked at her strangely, “What’s wrong with you?” “No…nothing.” Jessica bit her lip and suddenly turned around. “Don’t you guys dare peek.”

She was seen with a flushed face, reaching into her clothes in front of her chest. As she moved her hands a few times, she turned around and suddenly held two magic cores, one red and one yellow, in her hands.

Kress widened his eyes and couldn’t help but scan back and forth between the magic cores and Jessica’s towering chest, while Chip turned expressionless and looked out the window.

Saul was stunned, “No way…”

Jessica was both embarrassed and angry, stomping her foot and saying, “You dare to say that! If it weren’t for you insisting that I keep them and hide them in a place where no one would think of, how could I…”

“Yes, yes, you hid them well. See, we didn’t even consider that place,” Saul quickly comforted her.

Taking the magic cores, which still had Jessica’s warm body temperature, Saul stared at these two small things that had been in a place that could make countless men gush with blood. Suddenly, he inexplicably brought them to his nose and took a quick sniff.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but there seemed to be a faint fragrance lingering.

“What are you doing!?” Jessica exclaimed in anger.

“I’m not doing anything!” Saul almost instinctively denied.

“Nonsense, I saw it. Did you…did you just smell them…?”

“What? How could I? You must have seen it wrong.”

“Shut up, you pervert.”

“Wahhh, help me!”

……

※※※

The next morning, Saul and his companions arrived at the Adventurers Guild. The official who received them was shocked to see Saul’s bruised and swollen face and exclaimed, “Mr. Zhang Anbu, what happened to you?”

“I was beaten up by thieves last night,” Saul replied, on the verge of tears.

“What audacious thieves!” the official cursed. At the same time, he wondered why last night’s report from Lurette didn’t mention any injuries to Mr. Zhang Anbu.

After settling their accommodations, the official took them to see the martial arts arena under construction. It was located on a wide open space north of Ferry City. The arena was a circular platform several dozen meters in diameter, with a clay base and two-inch-thick stone slabs on top. Around it was a trapezoidal spectator stand that could accommodate about 20,000 people.

A large caravan transported various building materials back and forth, while some dwarves directed craftsmen with blueprints, creating a bustling atmosphere. It was evident that the Adventurer’s Guild spared no expense for this sensational martial arts tournament.

“Mr. Zhang Anbu, how do you feel? Are you satisfied with the arrangements?” the official inquired.

“Well, it’s pretty good,” Saul nodded. “But I’m curious, why build such a big audience stand?”

The official couldn’t answer, so he called over a dwarf foreman. Saul looked at the sturdy and small dwarf, who looked exactly like Manson in his eyes, and repeated the question.

The dwarf rolled his eyes and said in a muffled voice, “Of course, it’s for aesthetics. If it was just a lonely arena, it would not be in line with the beauty of architecture. We dwarves will never build ugly buildings.”

“Just for that?” Saul felt a bit dizzy. Dwarves were really a crazy architectural race. But thinking about it, he could understand. It was like how humans liked beautiful women. There probably weren’t many men who would want to face a dinosaur.

After thinking for a moment, Saul said decisively, “Since it’s already built, let’s not waste it. Let’s sell tickets.”

“What?” The official was taken aback.

Saul pointed to the surrounding stands and said, “Sell tickets; let the audience come in to watch the tournament. It can liven up the atmosphere, and we can also make some money. It wouldn’t be fun if the competition was held in an empty arena, right?”

With a thud, the official almost fell to the ground. He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and even his gaze towards Saul changed. It turned out that Saul wasn’t looking for adventurers, but rather came to make money.

Saul continued to persuade him: “Your guild has already invested a lot of money in this arena. We should try to get some of the investments back. How about we charge each audience member half a gold coin, which is ten silver coins, and then split the profits evenly between us? What do you think?”

Indeed, the Adventurer’s Guild had invested hundreds of thousands of gold coins in this martial arts arena. Being able to recover some of their investment would be a good thing.

Thinking about this, the official finally nodded: “I will report this to my superiors.”

“How much longer until it’s finished?” Jessica asked at this point.

The official proudly declared: “We hired the best dwarf craftsmen for this job. They will finish building everything in five days. Then we’ll have two days to prepare and three days for registration. The martial arts tournament will start in ten days.”

This kind of efficiency was already considered high, and then everyone looked a bit around before heading back home.

On the way back, Saul once again experienced what it was like to be in a big city. The Ferry city was now buzzing with excitement because of the upcoming martial arts tournament, and the streets were filled with adventurers carrying all kinds of weapons, some large and muscular, some of whom were orc warriors, while others were slender elves or sturdy dwarves.

Saul even saw several upright walking lizards carrying spears in their hands and constantly spitting out saliva. According to officials, they were the lizardmen tribe from the swamps in the south of the continent. Even in Ferry City, they were rarely seen, which showed how enticing the two magic cores were.

Groups of adventurers entered and exited weapon and armor shops, while robed magicians patiently bargained with the shop owners at some magic shops. There were also many travelers who came specifically to watch the exciting event, as well as opportunistic merchants who wanted to make a profit, and the bustling crowds flowed like water, leaving Saul feeling amazed.

Compared to this place, Lowell, with a population of just over two thousand, was really poor. Oh, when will my territory be able to develop to this scale?

As soon as he entered the guild, a female attendant approached him and said, “Mr. Zhang Anbu, a guest has come to visit and is waiting for you in the lounge.”

The official frowned and said, “Didn’t I order that no one with an unknown background should be allowed in?”

The female attendant hurriedly whispered something in the official’s ear. His face changed drastically, and he pulled Saul aside, saying in a low voice, “Mr. Zhang Anbu, the person you’re about to meet may make some unreasonable demands, but please don’t agree to anything he says. Trust that the adventurer’s guild can fulfill your request.”

Saul became interested when he saw the official’s nervous expression. If the adventurer’s guild was so tense about something yet couldn’t just turn the person down, he had a strong desire to see what the person looked like.

Led by the female attendant, Saul arrived at the meeting room, where a man in a gray robe, dressed like a mage, was waiting for him. The man was about forty years old, refined and cultured, with a neatly trimmed beard that suggested he spent a lot of time with books.

As Saul walked in, the man immediately greeted him, “I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Zhang Anbu. I am a representative from the mage guild, named Schnett.”

Immediately, Saul understood what was going on. No wonder the Adventurers’ Guild was so nervous. It turned out that the Mage Guild had come to discuss a private transaction. And what could be more attractive to a mage than the two supreme-grade magic cores?

After greeting everyone, Schnett, the representative of the Mage Guild, got straight to the point. “I came here this time to talk to Mr. Zhang about a private transaction.” It was clear that he was quite eager for the magic cores as he didn’t waste any time.

“What is it?” Saul decided to hear him out.

After hesitating for a moment, Schnett embarassingly said, “Mr. Zhang must be very clear about what the two magic cores in your hand mean to us mages. I have an shameless request on behalf of the guild. We hope that you can hand over the two magic cores to us. Of course, no matter what your requirements are, the Mage Guild will do its utmost to fulfill them.”

As expected, Saul thought to himself. The Mage Guild was no less influential or powerful than the Adventurers’ Guild, and of course, they would not want to sit idly by and watch the magic cores fall into someone else’s hands.

Before he could respond, Schnett eagerly continued, “If you agree to our request, in addition to completing your commission, we will also grant you lifelong honorary membership of the Mage Guild. In the future, when shopping at any magic store, you will enjoy an 15% discount and a quarterly lottery draw…”

“Stop! Stop!” When Saul noticed that the other party was speaking gibberish, he interrupted him. What use is this honorary membership to me? Unscrupulous businesses were rampant in my time, and they had plenty of these consumer traps.

Given his uneasy expression, Schnett thought Saul had concerns and said, “Please trust the strength of our guild. Except for slaying dragons, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.”

Saul couldn’t help but smile wryly. I’m precisely here to slay a dragon. When facing a dragon that is almost immune to magic, your mage guild would only pose as a side dish. Besides, it’s more profitable to cooperate with the Adventurer’s Guild than to get your 15% discount.

“We have already entrusted the Adventurer’s Guild with our comission. Even if we agree to your request, it may be difficult to explain it to them,” Jessica timely spoke.

Schnettimmediately promised with a Solemn gesture, “You don’t have to worry about that. Our guild will be responsible for mediating and ensuring that it won’t cause you any trouble.”

“So, what you mean is…”

Saul pretended to hesitate and shook his head, “I’m sorry, but my family motto is to be honest and trustworthy. Therefore, I cannot help your guild with your request. Of course, if you are interested in participating in the martial arts tournament and winning the championship, the magic core will still be yours.”

Schnett didn’t disguise his disappointment: “It’s a pity. I hope you can reconsider. If you change your mind, you can find me at the Mage Guild office in the city.”

As soon as Schnett left, the official from the Adventurer’s Guild rushed in. When he learned that Saul had not agreed to their request, he laughed so hard that his teeth were almost all visible and praised Saul as the best customer.

Saul laughed with him but secretly muttered to himself, “Laugh while you can. You won’t be laughing when I abscond with the money after the tournament is over.”

※※※

A few days later, the arena was finally completed, and after two days of preparation, registration began immediately. Saul had anticipated that many people would participate, but he didn’t expect this large number. From the first day, the registration site was so crowded that it seemed like all of Dinar’s adventurers had rushed to Ferry city. However, this also meant a rapid increase in gold coins, as registration fees soared, leaving Saul grinning from ear to ear for three straight days.

On the other side of the ticket booth, the audience also made a killing, with all twenty thousand seats selling out in an instant. Many people bought tickets for the entire tournament, making Saul regret not doubling the prices, knowing now how wealthy the citizens of Ferry were.

On the last afternoon, Saul and Jessica, bored out of their minds, lounged at the registration booth. Almost everyone had registered in the first two days, so the booth was now quite deserted. While idly chatting with the registration staff, Saul suddenly saw Lurette and his group walking towards him.

There were four of them, including Lurette and Meine, whom Saul had met before, and two men dressed as an archer and a wizard respectively. As they approached, Lurette greeted Saul and handed him a small bag of gold coins.

“Are you guys participating as well?” Saul was surprised.

Lurette scratched his hair and smiled, “We also want to try our luck.”

Saul inwardly cursed, as he had already heard that Lurette had quite a reputation among adventurers these days. Apart from managing and publishing missions, the adventurer’s guild also had its own teams, which were all above average in strength, and Lurette’s team was one of the best.

Although the guy’s team had only four members, each one was a top-notch expert in their respective fields, with formidable strength. Despite being formed only a few years ago, they had already completed many challenging missions and were highly valued by the adventurer’s guild. If they were to participate and win, Saul’s plan to embezzle the funds would be ruined.

Seeing Saul’s strange expression, Lurette asked curiously, “Mr. Zhang Anbu, what’s wrong?”

Saul was taken aback and quickly changed the subject, “Who are these two?”

“This is Cardow, and this is Laris,” Lurette introduced. “They are my partners. They were there that night, but they didn’t show themselves.”

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Saul also carefully observed the other two members. The one called Cardow was an archer, carrying a large black bow, and had sharp elven ears, indicating that he was a half-elf. He caught Saul’s gaze and flashed a friendly smile.

The other member, a wizard named Laris, was even more striking. He had long, snowy white hair, a handsome face with chiseled features like a Greek sculpture, and clear blue eyes without a hint of impurities. However, unfortunately, his expression was as cold as if he were a frozen statue, standing there in his black and blue mage robes with a demeanor that seemed to keep people at bay.

Long white hair; a cool and handsome guy to the extreme; this style is so tacky. Saul thought with some malice. But then he realized with frustration that he probably couldn’t match the other guy’s appearance, and when it came to strength, there was a world of difference between them.

Oh no, my protagonist Aura has encountered a tough opponent. Looks like I can only compete with him in terms of intelligence, but wizards seem to be very smart. Personality? I’m not necessarily better than him, I need to come up with a clever idea…

Just as Saul was lost in thought, Jessica gave him a bump. Startled awake, he saw Lurette bidding him farewell as he went to familiarize himself with the arena. After seeing Lurette and his group off, the registration booth welcomed several batches of adventurers. As it was getting late, Saul was about to give the order to end the registration when suddenly he stared straight ahead as if in a daze.

There was a woman walking slowly across the street towards them, with a seductive face and an extremely hot figure. She appeared to be no older than twenty, but she had an almost perfect devilish figure, with a magnificent chest, a slim waist, and long slender legs. As she walked, her body swayed and the waves on her chest rippled in a way that was dizzying and mesmerizing.

Her features were not as delicate as Marlene’s and Jessica’s, but she exuded a wild and tempting allure that made people’s blood boil. Her curly blue hair was cascading down her back. What was even more deadly was her clothing, which, whether intentionally or due to damage, clung tightly to cover only the essential parts. Her long and beautiful legs were almost bare up to the thighs; her shoulders were completely exposed; and her chest revealed a white expanse of skin.

Completely oblivious to her criminally tempting outfit, the girl strolled leisurely down the street, curiously looking around as if she had just arrived in the city for the first time. All the men on the street were staring dumbfounded at this beauty, and some even walked into walls while trying to catch a glimpse of her.

A group of adventurers at the registration booth were dumbfounded. Several of them were signing their names while looking around, causing their papers to become a mess. Just as Saul’s soul was about to leave his body, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his waist. It was Jessica, who had an angry expression, elbowing him in the waist.

At this moment, the beautiful girl had walked closer and was muttering to herself with a confused expression, “Strange, it’s supposed to be around here, where could it be?”

Please let me be your dog, sister.

Suddenly, the classic saying of his admired senpai Yokoshima flashed through Saul’s mind. It was the first of the top ten things he had ever wanted to say in his life. However, with Jessica by his side, he ultimately didn’t dare to speak up.

A self-proclaimed romantic adventurer walked up and said, “Beautiful miss, is there anything I can help

you with?”

The girl looked at the mercenary, then glanced at the crowd at the registration booth, and asked with great interest, “What’s going on here?”

“We’re going to have a martial arts tournament. The winner will receive a very valuable prize,” a staff member said, unwilling to fall behind after witnessing the mercenary take the lead.

“Prize?” The girl became excited. “Is it pretty? Is it something shiny?”

“Um…” The staff member was momentarily at a loss for words. The two magic cores were valuable, but they didn’t seem to have anything to do with words like pretty or shiny.

Saul was not content with his belongings being belittled, especially by such a beautiful girl. He proudly said, “Miss, you seem to be uninformed. Those are the magic cores of superme-grade magic beasts, something that countless people dream of.”

“Magic cores?” The girl’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Are you serious?”

“Ah, of course.”

“Where are they?” The girl asked eagerly.

“Well, you need to win the tournament to get them, so…”

“Tournament? I want to participate. How do I join?”

As she seemed to be treating the martial arts tournament as some kind of game, Saul shook his finger disapprovingly, “Miss, this is not a joke. The martial arts tournament involve defeating others, such as this guy…”

He pointed to a burly adventurer with black hair all over his body, who looked like a gorilla. The foolish man was delighted when he heard Saul mentioning him, and he puffed up his chest muscles, which were as big as D-cups.

“Is it enough to just beat someone like him?” The girl seemed indifferent.

“Well, yeah…”

“Then I want to participate.”

Saul shrugged. According to the rules, anyone could participate as long as they paid the registration fee, so there was no reason to refuse her. However, nobody would dare to use force against such a beautiful woman, and she would naturally withdraw from the competition when it got tough.

He had to point to the registration booth and said, “You can participate by paying twenty gold coins.”

The girl looked uneasy, “But I don’t have any gold coins on me.”

As soon as these words were spoken, several adventurers on the other side eagerly reached for their wallets, apparently ready to help the damsel in distress. Little did they know that the next words from the girl’s mouth would leave them all stunned.

Without warning, she pulled out a diamond the size of her thumb and placed it on the table. “I didn’t have this when I came here, but I heard that these things are worth a lot here. Is it worth twenty gold coins?” she asked.

The group was too shocked to notice anything amiss in the girl’s words. One of the staff members picked up the diamond and nodded eagerly. “Of course, it’s worth at least…” he began to say before being interrupted by the girl’s excited exclamation.

“Then count me in!” she exclaimed.

“What’s your name?” the official asked.

“Bena, Erebina.” the girl replied.

“Hehehe…..” Saul couldn’t help but desperately try to stifle a laugh. That diamond was worth at least a few thousand gold coins, and now some clueless rich girl had just handed it over. They were going to make a killing this time.

At this moment, the girl, now known as Erebina, casually asked, “Where did such a precious magic core come from?”

A staff member pointed to Saul’s beaming face and said, “It belongs to Mr. Zhang Anbu.”

“Hmm?” Erebina’s face twisted into a strange smile. “Is it yours?”

Feeling a bit odd, Saul nodded, “It’s my family heirloom.”

“Hehe. She suddenly reached out and touched Saul’s face. “You’re quite crafty,”

After Erebina left, Saul was still processing the slippery feeling on his cheek when, suddenly, Jessica approached him from behind. “That woman seems a bit off.”

Saul frowned. “Stop being so suspicious all the time. Are you jealous that her chest is bigger than yours?”

“You…” Jessica turned red with anger. Suddenly, she remembered the embarrassing happening of that night and punched Saul in the eye. “You idiot, I’m done with you!”