City blocks.
Chen Yu, with a black cat perched on his shoulder and clad in his adventurer's three-piece suit, strode with haste.
He had been targeted.
Hundreds of thousands of gold coins were enough to make many people take desperate risks. Chen Yu was traveling without guards, only a few city artisans. Anyone who saw him would consider him a fat lamb.
"Hey, sir, are you done with your shopping?"
Just outside the city gate, the guards Chen Yu had seen when entering recognized him at a glance and greeted him with wide smiles.
Chen Yu, however, did not respond. He glanced around and quickly departed.
"What's going on?" The smile on the faces of the city gate guards wavered. Meanwhile, the mole-faced guard sneered, "Cold shoulder after a warm greeting, huh? Do those big shots bother with you? You even went out of your way to greet them and got ignored!"
"Hey, what are you saying!"
As a few guards were about to retort, several fierce-looking mercenary-style beastmen ran out from the city.
"Boss, the person is gone!" The mercenary beastman focused his gaze outside the city. The lion-headed mercenary beastman scanned the surroundings, and upon not seeing Chen Yu and his party, his face turned ashen.
"Damn it!"
The lion-headed beastman spat viciously, then turned and grabbed a city guard.
"Where did the person with a cat on their head go who just left!"
"This, this, this..." The guard whose collar was grabbed involuntarily swallowed. "I, I didn't see anything either, really didn't see anything."
"Useless!"
The lion-headed beastman shoved the guard to the ground.
His face was full of rage.
Hundreds of thousands of gold coins!
If that could fall into their hands, it would be enough for them to live in luxury for the rest of their lives. The prey was practically in their grasp, yet it had escaped just like that.
Fierce light filled the eyes of the lion-headed mercenary.
"Even if you have to dig three feet underground, you must find them for me. Call all our men. I don't believe we can't find him!"
Immediately, the lion-headed mercenary grabbed the guard by the collar again.
"If you see anyone with a black cat again, stop him immediately. I won't let you work for nothing, a reward of 10 gold coins."
Gulp.
Upon hearing 10 gold coins, the eyes of several city guards widened.
"Alright, please rest assured."
"Boss~ We have a situation!!" Just then, someone among the mercenaries shouted, "There are footprints here. They probably ran in this direction."
Hearing the shout, the lion-headed mercenary glared at the guard.
"Remember!"
He pushed him hard.
The guard fell to the ground, and the lion-headed beastman also ran to his subordinates and looked at the footprints on the ground.
"Chase!"
The mercenaries hurried away.
Only after these mercenaries disappeared from sight did the guards, their legs weak, collapse to the ground.
"Am I seeing things right? Just now... that lion guy looked like a wanted criminal, didn't he? The bounty was probably 200 gold coins, right?"
"More or less!"
"The person they're looking for is that sir? What happened? Why are these bandits targeting him? I heard they each have over a dozen murders on their record."
"Comrades, they are wanted criminals. Why didn't we chase them?"
As the guards discussed, a question that seemed to come from the soul echoed in their ears.
"Uh..."
The faces of the guards stiffened.
Not intervening?
The reason was simple enough: fear.
Looking at the large scar on the lion-headed mercenary's face, he didn't seem like a pushover. Lions were among the most ferocious beasts. They, the city guards, were like sheep and cattle, naturally fearful of lions due to their bloodline.
"The wanted list hasn't been sent to our city block, has it?"
After a long silence, someone among the guards suddenly whispered.
Instantly, everyone chimed in agreement.
"Yes, yes, yes, it wasn't in our city block. If it was posted here, I would have immediately apprehended him with a grappling move!" The guards deliberately used exaggerated tones and gestures.
Only the mole-faced guard watched the mercenaries silently.
"It's fine to be scared, but coming up with excuses." The mole-faced guard looked disgusted but leaned against the city wall and slowly sat down. "Learn from me. If I hadn't been underfed at noon and had low blood sugar, I would have taken down those mercenary beastmen just now."
Despicable!
Letting criminals escape right before his eyes went against his professional ethics.
But, there was nothing he could do.
His legs had gone numb!
If there was a next time, he would definitely arrest all those mercenary beastmen.
Definitely!
The city guards tacitly found excuses for themselves. Even with their legs still weak, they couldn't get back on their feet for a long time.
It took more than ten minutes—
The guards had all recovered, and the mole-faced guard even managed to stand up with a skilled maneuver.
"Colleagues, I have something to say!"
The mole-faced guard gripped his sword and drew it.
"Punishing evil and promoting good is our responsibility as guards. Although there hasn't been a warrant issued for those bandits in our city block, we cannot just let them go. I propose that if they dare to cause trouble in our city block again, we will apprehend them!"
Righteous and impassioned.
Hearing this, the other guards seemed awakened, shouting with renewed vigor.
"That's right, it's our responsibility!"
"Don't let me see them again. If those bandits dare to show up before me again, even if they aren't on our city block's wanted list, I will bring them to justice!"
"They'd better be sensible. If they dare to come again..."
*Clang.*
Before the guard could finish, several figures suddenly appeared in the distance of the city block, led by the lion-headed man with the scar on his face.
Seeing this, the city guards immediately fell silent.
The mole-faced guard, who had raised his sword high, lowered his head and stared at his toes, slowly sheathing his sword.
"Hey, something's not right, look~"
Suddenly, a city guard raised his hand and said in surprise.
"Why are they back naked!"
The other mercenaries also looked up, and then they saw the lion-headed mercenary and his men approaching from afar, not a single stitch of clothing left on them.
The leader, the lion-headed mercenary, was bruised and battered and limped as he walked.
Upon seeing the guards at the city gate,
The lion-headed mercenary and his men rushed towards them as if they had seen family. The guards at the city gate instinctively took several steps back, gripping their swords.
The mole-faced guard even drew his sword.
"Stop!"
"Do you want to attack the city guards? Do you also want to be on our city block's wanted list?"
Who would have thought—
The lion-headed mercenary knelt down with a thud and grabbed the mole-faced guard's thigh.
"Gracious lords, you must uphold justice for us!" the lion-headed mercenary wailed, "We want to report, we want to complain, we... we were robbed."
--
Author's Say:
Good afternoon, good afternoon, have you eaten~