Chapter 106: Make the scammers pay!
Chapter 106
The next day, the group had woken up and were currently getting ready to head downstairs to take their breakfast in the inn’s dining area. At the moment, the boys could be seen in their room.
Luckily, they weren’t bickering for once and were currently dressing after taking their baths... separately of course.
Now, they were fully ready to go about their day and the moment they opened up the door, they could see the girls and Jace also exiting their room.
"Guess the whole gang is here. Let’s go get our breakfast together then." Tom said with a cheeky smirk, but Lyra just scoffed and rolled her eyes before walking ahead. The rest trailed behind, and together they went downstairs to the dining area of the inn.
As they settled down, Lyra quickly ordered what the group would want to eat, her tone brisk and commanding as always. A few minutes later, though it felt like hours to them since their bellies were rumbling in unison, their meals were finally served.
It didn’t take long before they started devouring the food in front of them, clattering forks and spoons echoing through the room as if they hadn’t eaten in days.
Zen, although eating, had his eyes scanning the whole place. He noticed that there were also a few other people dining, which meant they were the guests of the other rooms in the inn.
His eyes lingered on the old beams of the ceiling, the polished wooden tables, and the smell of fresh bread that mixed with roasted meat.
’This feels like a hotel but much smaller.’ He thought, then turned his head back down to his food, quietly eating.
"I’m curious." Jace spoke first with his mouth half filled. He kept chewing, ignoring the way the others raised their brows at him in disgust. Only after swallowing did he continue.
"Yeah, I’m curious about how we want to catch those awakeneds. The beast, well, that’s easier to track, but the awakeneds... they’re cunning. It will be difficult to find them. So how do we even..." Jace trailed off because a loud shout suddenly broke out in the dining room. Instantly, they all spun around to stare in the direction of the commotion.
"Here! Put all the shards you have in this bag!" A man bellowed.
There were around five men, each carrying bags in their hands, and they were currently trying to get the guests in the room to hand over whatever money they had.
"A robbery?" Zen whispered with a raised eyebrow, his lips twitching slightly.
"Wh... why are you doing this to us?" One of the men dining there asked with a shaky voice, clearly terrified of the hefty men in front of them.
"Don’t you know who we are? We are from the SilverFall Clan and we are here to collect protection money for guarding this town!" One of the fake Reavers announced with a deep frown.
"But... but you haven’t protected this town since you all arrived. You’ve only been extorting us and we barely have enough left to feed our families, so how is this fair?" A woman cried out, her voice cracking in between sobs.
"Did you know that portal breaks have been occurring in this town?" One of the fake clan members asked sharply.
"No..." another resident replied nervously.
"That is because we’ve been protecting this damn town from being eaten alive by beasts! So pay up now without complaints!" The men roared in anger, their voices booming through the room. Hesitantly, the frightened residents began dumping their shards into the bags.
"Did the clan not know that there were portal breaks here?" Zen asked with a raised brow, his voice low so only his group could hear.
"That’s because there were none. It’s obvious that these guys are lying and trying to extort the innocent people here which means..." Lyra trailed off, her pink eyes narrowing as her lips curved into a scowl.
Tom completed her words with a cold smile.
"Our task of tracking them just got easier," Tom said, scanning the room before his eyes landed on one of the men approaching them. He leaned in and whispered, "Follow my lead."
"Hey you lot! It’s offering time." The man called, thrusting the half-filled bag forward like a preacher demanding tithes.
"Sure, my good sir," Tom replied politely, dipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out a handful of shards. The others mimicked him, staring at the B-ranked Reaver in mild confusion but following his cue.
One by one, the guests began dumping their shards into the bag.
"You’ve been doing a fine job protecting this town for us, and we appreciate it. Thank you." Tom smiled widely, his politeness warm and practiced. The man scoffed and turned away, muttering under his breath.
"At least some people have sense in this town," he grunted before walking off.
"What did you do?" Lyra hissed, eyes narrowing as she glared at Tom.
"Trust me. Wait a bit," Tom whispered back. The kids exchanged puzzled glances as they watched the exchange unfold.
"Yo! We got all we can here. Let’s head back now!" one of the fake Reavers shouted to his crew.
"All right. Let’s go." Their supposed leader replied, and with that they exited the inn, laughing about their haul.
"Now what?" Aria asked, folding her arms with a frown. Tom took a long swig from his drink and belched loud enough to earn disgusted stares from Lyra.
"We follow them. What else are you waiting for? Chop, chop," Tom said, clapping his hands to get everyone moving. With a sigh, they stood and were about to leave when a woman’s voice stopped them.
"That SilverFall Clan! Even with all the respect people have for them, they stoop to this? Curse them! Curse them all! I hope the clan falls and crumbles!" she cried, dabbing at her eyes as the others in the room murmured agreement.
Heat flared under the skin of the SilverFall Reavers. Their fists clenched so tight knuckles went white, and teeth ground together like a trap.
"Let’s go make those scammers pay," Tom said through gritted teeth. He stepped outside and, without fanfare, dipped his hand to his side and his greatsword flew into his grip. The rest followed suit, weapons appearing in practiced motion.
’Finally, some action,’ Vynn thought, eyes bright as he followed Tom’s lead. They kept a steady five-meter distance from the scammers, silent and precise.
Those men in front were chattering about their haul, the kind of laughter you could smell as greed. Jace’s thought was a quiet roar, ’
Those vile creatures. I will make sure to send them to their makers... in this case, the damned game lord.’ His fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword, ready.