The curtain hanging in the corner swayed without any wind, and a tall, thin shadow squeezed silently out of the gap between the window and the bookshelf.
"Tsk tsk. A noble Marchioness throws herself into your arms and you still turn her away? You really do have a heart of stone. Can't you two still hop into bed together after a breakup for some pleasant activities? So heartless. What a disappointment — I was really hoping to watch a good show tonight. Sigh..."
The shadow shook his head as he walked, seemingly lamenting
"Haha." Lorist chuckled softly. That might have been true before, but now that he had broken through to the realm of dark force, his senses were razor-sharp. Within a range of fifteen feet, let alone hiding a person, even a mouse scurrying past couldn't escape his spiritual perception. The room was only so big. The shadow thought he was being perfectly stealthy — holding his breath, not moving a muscle — but he had no idea that his heartbeat and the rush of blood through his veins were like a beacon in the dark, long since drawing Lorist's attention.
"After the Young Lady came up and blew out the candle, you slipped in through the door once she sat on the floor. You used the darkness to hide in that corner and covered yourself with the curtain. Am I right, El?" Lorist laid out the shadow's movements point by point.
"Hey, that doesn't make sense. When I came in, weren't you watching your little sweetheart? I specifically avoided your line of sight." The shadow strolled casually over to the desk and glanced at the five high-level combat force manuals in the drawer. "Not bad. These five manuals aren't easy to come by on the open market, and they're not freshly copied either. Look at this beast-hide paper — it's probably about a hundred years old. That girl of yours really went to a lot of trouble for you. These manuals were probably stolen from family archives by some degenerate noble heir looking to sell them for cash. Even going cheap, you'd need at least three or four thousand gold Forde to get your hands on them."
The shadow was none other than Lorist's good friend, El — whose full name was Brennan Evanport, the nephew of Brennan Garrilando, owner of the Red Crow Tavern. He was a Silver Two-Star, and the gang boss who ran the territory across three nearby districts.
As for how Lorist and El first met, it was quite the dramatic story. Back then, Lorist was only nineteen, and he frequently teamed up with
Fatty Shi had business to attend to at the academy, so he asked Lorist to take their haul to the house they rented together and store it properly, then find a buyer for the loot once he got back. The rented house was small — they mainly used it as a place to freshen up after being out on missions, and to store tools and equipment they needed for tasks, so they wouldn't have to lug them around the academy.
Lorist entered the room and forgot to close the door properly. He tossed his stuff aside and stripped to take a bath. After spending days out in the wild, eating rough and sleeping rough, he was filthy and miserable — he practically wanted to submerge himself in water. He was just enjoying his bath when he heard the door open and close behind him. He assumed it was Fatty Shi returning and called out a few times, but got no answer, so he went to check.
The moment he stepped out of the washroom, Lorist got the shock of his life. A young woman with brown hair was leaning against the door, panting heavily. The sight of Lorist nearly made her scream, but she clamped her hand over her mouth just in time, her wide eyes fixed squarely on his most exposed area.
Lorist was mortified. He quickly grabbed a chair to shield his bare behind, then threw on his clothes in a flurry. Before he could even button his shirt, the woman lunged forward, dropping to her knees in front of him and clutching his legs, pleading in a low voice: "Please, sir, have mercy. Help me, I beg you."
Lorist had just finished bathing, and in his rush he'd only pulled on a pair of trousers. With the woman kneeling before him, her face pressed right against his midsection, even the slightest movement sent a jolt through him. He was young, after all, full of blood and vigor. Panicking, Lorist tried to help the woman up and asked what was going on.
The woman refused to rise. Clinging to his legs, half-sobbing and half-wailing, she poured out her story. It was the same old tale — a young bride whose beauty had caught the eye of a local gang boss. The boss had set up a scheme to lure her husband into gambling, racking up a massive debt. In the end, the husband was sold into slavery on a merchant ship, and it still didn't cover what he owed. Now they were coming for her to be sold off as well. With nowhere else to turn, she had fled in desperation and ended up here.
The woman could clearly feel the change in Lorist's body, and she pleaded with him in a soft, coquettish voice — if he saved her, she would repay him however he wished. She even licked her lips as she spoke.
By now, someone outside was pounding on the door. Lorist hurriedly told the woman to get up and hide. As long as he was here, no one would take her away. Then he grabbed his sword and headed out.
This was the first time Lorist met El. At the time, El was bare-chested, his bony ribcage on full display, with a jacket draped lazily over one shoulder. In one hand he held a large chicken leg with several bites already taken out of it, tooth marks clearly visible. He was cursing up a storm, reeking of alcohol, as if he'd rushed over mid-meal after getting word from one of his men that things had gone sideways. Standing in front of him were several dejected-looking men whom he was berating one by one.
"It's not expensive — one big silver coin, that's all. Be smart and don't cause trouble for yourself."
Lorist naturally shot back, telling this filthy thug El to get lost and not assume everyone was as sleazy as he was. Within a few sentences, the two had worked themselves into a rage and started throwing punches. What surprised Lorist was that this gang boss El actually seemed to follow some kind of code — he didn't let his men swarm in. Instead, he picked one subordinate who was also at the
The Black Iron subordinate was no match for Lorist. After several men went down one after another, El refused to believe it and decided to step up himself, arrogantly telling Lorist to just surrender since he was a Silver One-Star. And then... he was flat on the ground at Lorist's feet.
The first time he went down, El wasn't willing to accept it, claiming he'd been careless. One after another, by the fifth time he hit the floor, El finally admitted that he'd had too much to drink and couldn't keep his footing, so Lorist had taken unfair advantage. Lorist didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this scoundrel — the man had clearly been beaten black and blue but simply refused to admit defeat, pestering him endlessly. In frustration, Lorist kicked him a few times and told him to scram, saying he wanted to go back inside. But El grabbed onto Lorist's leg and refused to let go, claiming he'd gone to get reinforcements. If Lorist could defeat his backup, El would leave for sure, consider the matter settled, and never bother the woman again.
At that point, Lorist had no choice but to stay — especially since El was lying on the ground hugging his leg. He couldn't very well chop the man with his sword, so since El wouldn't let go, Lorist simply planted a foot on his chest and let him hug to his heart's content. El didn't seem to mind at all. He kept hold of Lorist's leg while casually chatting with the neighborhood onlookers who had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Lorist felt he was truly out of luck — how had he ended up dealing with someone like this? They'd basically become a pair of performing monkeys for the crowd. However, he did notice that the old men and women watching from the sidelines weren't the least bit afraid of El, the local gang boss. Instead, they were teasing him about getting beaten down. El kept up his tough talk, insisting he'd drunk too much and that he'd definitely reclaim his pride the next day.
That was when El's uncle, Garrilando, showed up. Seeing Lorist standing over El, he naturally assumed Lorist was the one doing the bullying. Without a word, he drew his sword and attacked. Lorist, seeing that the backup had arrived, kicked El aside and faced Garrilando, who was a Golden One-Star.
Poor Lorist had assumed El's reinforcements would be Silver rank at most — who would have guessed a Golden-rank expert? At that time, Lorist hadn't even reached the peak of Black Iron. He practiced his family's inherited Inferno
Bruised and battered, El climbed to his feet with a smug grin and, without a word, drove two punches into Lorist's stomach. "How'd that feel, huh? You enjoyed beating me earlier — now it's your turn!"
Lorist, getting punched, naturally wasn't going to take it quietly. He erupted into a string of curses, accusing El of being heartless and forcing women into prostitution. El fired back, calling Lorist an ingrate who abused his strength to bully others. Garrilando, standing off to the side, grew increasingly confused as he listened. He stopped their mutual tirade and asked them to lay out exactly what had happened. When they compared their stories, both of them were stunned. It was a complete mismatch — they'd been talking about entirely different things.
El was furious. "What do you mean I lusted after her and set up a trap to get her husband into gambling? Her husband was a sailor who was only home three or four months out of the year! That woman was never the faithful type — every time her husband set sail, she'd go looking for other men. And she's a gambling addict to boot. The night before last, she showed up at my casino cheating at cards, got caught by my men, and racked up three gold coins she couldn't pay. I figured since she was a loose woman, I'd send her to a brothel to work off the debt. Who knew she'd steal a customer's coin purse at noon today and bolt? That's why I've been scrambling to catch her. Who the hell goes around forcing decent women into anything? There are plenty of willing women — why would anyone need to force them? Go ask any of these uncles and aunties around here — they all know about the sailor Sol's promiscuous wife."
Watching the assembled old men and women all nodding in agreement with El's version and scolding him for blindly playing hero without knowing the facts, Lorist wished the ground would split open so he could crawl into it. He was utterly mortified. It was Garrilando who reminded him: "You'd better open the door and check if she's still in there."
Lorist tried the door — it was locked from the inside, and something heavy seemed to be propped against it. He called out, but got no response. Steeling himself, Lorist channeled his combat force and smashed the door open, only to find the room completely empty. The woman was gone. His leather armor and other things from his bath had vanished too. His coin purse was gone. Everything of value in the room had disappeared, including the black-horn demon antelope pelts and trophies he'd just brought back.
She'd escaped through the back window, but how could one woman have carried all that stuff by herself?
After a long while, one of El's men brought in a carriage driver. The driver confirmed that a woman had indeed hired him. She'd claimed her husband had locked her inside the house, preventing her from visiting her gravely ill mother, and that she'd decided to take her dowry and go home. She'd had the driver wait at the back window to pass the items out, since her husband had bolted the front door. As for why her "dowry" consisted entirely of mercenary tools, weapons, and equipment, her explanation was that her husband had been a mercenary, only he spent all his time out fooling around instead of taking tasks. She had bought all these things with her dowry money, and to keep him from gambling them away or using them to settle debts, she was taking them home first, to be returned when he finally straightened out.
Everyone was suitably impressed. This woman had some serious nerve — while everyone was gathered at the front watching the show, she'd swept the place clean from behind and even called for a carriage to haul it away. The front and back of the house were barely thirty feet apart, so it could have gone wrong at any moment.
This failed attempt at playing the hero had cost him more than ten gold coins, and he could only imagine the lecture Fatty Shi would deliver. Things were going to be unpleasant for a while.
Weren't the books supposed to say that saving a beautiful woman always ended with gaining both the girl and the fortune? Lorist admitted he had been just a little bit tempted. The woman was attractive enough, with a great figure, and since transmigrating to this world, he hadn't yet been with a woman. Just having her kneel and cling to him had been enough to stir him up. Before heading out the door, he'd even been thinking that after chasing off El and his thugs, maybe he'd take the woman as his personal maid. Having someone to warm his bed and fold his blankets didn't sound too bad at all. Damn it — the books really were all lies. His grand hero-rescues-beauty adventure had ended with losing both the woman and his money. Lorist crouched on the ground with his head in his hands, drowning in regret.
The carriage driver said the woman had gotten out just two districts away, near the canal, which was why he'd been able to come back so quickly. But everyone knew there was no hope of catching her. That canal was a small dock packed with riverboats — once she got on a boat, she could follow the waterway all the way down the Silver River to any city in the Mana Hill Plains. How could they possibly track her down? It would be like finding a needle in the ocean.
El, equal parts amused and exasperated, patted Lorist on the shoulder. "Alright, alright. There's an old merchant saying: 'Lost wealth brings peace of mind.' It's usually said after getting robbed. You look miserable enough, so I'll give you that one. As for the whole beating-me-down-five-times thing — I'm magnanimous enough to let it slide. Now come on, let's get going."
That was how Lorist and El first met. Both of them came out of it looking pretty pathetic — El because he'd been beaten to a pulp, and Lorist because he'd lost every last coin.