One of the five men there spotted Sebas and asked roughly.

“I thought it was a bit noisy.”

“You want to be taught a lesson too?”

The men moved to surround Sebas, revealing the thing they were kicking. It was a boy. Whether it was from the mouth or the nose, blood flowed from his face as the boy lay sprawled out. He was unconscious from being kicked for a long time but was still breathing.

Sebas gazed at the men. The smell of alcohol hung in the air around them, as well as from their breaths. Their faces were dyed red and it was not from exercise. Perhaps they could not control their violence because they were drunk.

Sebas spoke to them with a blank expression.

“Though I do not know your reasons, I believe you have done enough.”

“Ahn? He dirtied my clothes with his food. I’m supposed to just let that go?”

At the place the man was pointing to, there was indeed a slight smudge. However, their clothes was dirty from the beginning. Looking at it that way, the spot wasn’t even that noticeable.

Sebas turned his eyes to the one who looked to be the leader among the group. Although the difference was indistinctable, almost impossible to notice for a human, Sebas could perceive it with his outstanding senses as a warrior.

“Truly… this city has terrible public order.”

“Ahn?”

From his remark that seemed to be confirming something far off in the distance, one of the men felt that he was ignoring them and let out a voice filled with anger.

“…Get out of my sight.”

“What? Gramps, what did you just say?”

“I will tell you one more time. Get out of my sight.”

“You bastard!”

The face of the man who appeared to be their leader became dyed red. He raised his fist to strike and— collapsed.

Voices of surprise rang out from every direction, and of course, from the four remaining men as well.

What Sebas did was simple. He used his fist to hit the man’s chin with pinpoint accuracy— at a breakneck speed barely visible to the human eye— and rattled the man’s brain in his skull. Although he could have blown him away with a speed indiscernible to the human eye, but he would not be able to instill fear in the others. That was why he restrained his strength.

“Will you continue?”

Sebas asked quietly.

As if his calmness and strength rendered them sober, the men retreated a few steps while collectively apologizing. Sebas thought that the one they should be apologizing to was someone else but did not express it.

Sebas turned his eyes away from the men as they helped their comrade up from the ground. He then tried to approach the boy but halted midway.

What was he doing?

Right now, he had his own problem that needed to be taken care of immediately. But he was trying to shoulder yet another burden. How foolish. When it came down to it, were these not precisely the types of thoughtless actions and kindness the reasons why he was in such a mess in the first place?

The boy was saved; he had to be satisfied with just that.

Despite such thoughts, Sebas approached the boy who was lying on the ground. He lightly touched the boy’s back and poured in his Ki. A complete recovery would be simple if he were to use his full strength, but that would be exceedingly conspicuous.

Having decided that he should stop at just the bare minimum, Sebas motioned towards the person who happened to be in his vision.

“…Please take this child to the temple. It’s possible that his ribs are broken. Be wary of this and please carry him carefully on a board so that he does not move around too much.”

Seeing the man he gave the instructions to nod his head, Sebas moved on. There was no need for him to squeeze through the crowds. Wherever he walked, the crowd parted before him.

As Sebas was about to be on his way, he sensed that the number of people following him had increased.

However, there was a problem. It was the identities of the new followers.

The five who were tailing him from the residence were without a doubt, Succulent’s men. Then just who were the two people who began following him after the incident with the boy?

By their stride and the sound of their footsteps, they seemed to be adult men. But he could not guess as to whom.

“Thinking about it will not yield an answer. Then I should first… capture them.”

Sebas made a turn on the road and walked deeper and deeper into the darkness. Still, he was being followed.

“…It makes me wonder if they really have any intention of hiding themselves.”

They showed no signs of hiding the sound of their footsteps. Sebas wondered whether it was because they were not skilled enough to do so, or if there was a different reason. Regardless, he could just confirm it for himself. As the presence of passersby grew faint, Sebas was about to make his move when— as if matching his timing— the voice of a man still young flowed from one of the followers.

“—Excuse me.”

Part 3

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), Day 3, 10:27

On his way back to the palace, Climb was lost in thought as he moved his feet.

In his head, he thought of the bout with Gazef and repeatedly imagined how the fight could have gone better. As he was deciding which moves to try if he were to get another chance, a shout rang out. A crowd had gathered. Two soldiers stood next to them and awkwardly looked on.

Rowdy voices could be heard from the center of the crowd. By the sound, it did not bode well.

Climb’s face hardened as he approached the soldiers.

“What are you two doing?”

From the sudden voice coming from behind them, the soldiers turned around and looked at Climb in surprise.

They were equipped with a chain shirt and spear. They wore a surcoat bearing the Kingdom’s coat of arms over their chain shirt. Although they were the standard equipment for a guard, these two did not seem to be very well trained.

For starters, their bodies seemed out of shape. They were not cleanly shaven and their chain shirts were poorly maintained and appeared dirty. As a whole, they gave off the air of a lack of discipline.

“Who the…”

Seeing Climb who was younger than him speak to him out of the blue, the guard spoke in a confused voice with a hint of irritation.