Chapter 84: Underworld Raid

Step step step.

“Are we going the right way?”

“You know what’ll happen if you’re messing around, right?”

“I-it’s here.”

The adventurers stopped in front of the rusty door pointed out by the criminal.

Thud!

They kicked the door down and stormed inside.

“Who the hell are you?”

Shing—

The startled organization members drew their swords, but Vitus stepped forward and said.

“You’d better put those swords away. Or you’ll have to deal with me.”

“H-high-rank adventurer Vitus?”

The guys who had boldly drawn their swords moments ago flinched and backed away.

They were the type who couldn’t resist money, but they didn’t dare covet the golden pendant around Vitus’s neck—instead, they trembled in fear.

High-rank adventurer Vitus? What is he doing here?

Sweat beaded on the thief leader’s forehead, hidden among the group. 

No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t recall committing any major crimes recently.

Whatever it was, the alarm bells in his head screamed that he needed to escape this situation first.

First, get out of here.

Slink slink.

As he tried to slip away unnoticed.

“Urgh.”

Someone was dragged out from behind the adventurers.

A familiar face.

“Who’s your boss, you bastard?”

“W-well… that is.”

“Answer properly!”

“I-it’s that guy over there.”

Flinch.

The thief leader’s body stiffened.

“You there.”

“Yes?”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Oh, no, it’s just… something urgent came up.”

The thief leader rolled his eyes desperately.

Vitus asked the thief leader again.

“Is this guy your subordinate?”

“Y-yes, but.”

The thief leader’s eyes shook uncontrollably.

That guy was the one he’d ordered to sabotage the herb shop not long ago. 

What the hell is going on here?

“This bastard caused trouble at the herb shop in Alburton. He says you ordered him to do it.”

“M-me?”

“Who else?”

Under Vitus’s murderous glare, the intimidated thief leader swallowed dryly. 

His head was spinning.

“Why did you do it?”

In times like this, it’s best to quickly hand over the information they want to protect yourself.

“I-I was asked to do it!”

“Asked? By who?”

“A-Austin!”

“Austin?”

“Yes! He’s a moneylender in Alburton!”

Hearing this, Cayton furrowed his brow deeply.

“So it was him after all.”

His anger boiled over, impossible to hide.

“N-now that I’ve given you the information you wanted, I’ll just….”

As the thief leader tried to slip away again, Vitus stopped him.

“Who said you could go?”

“What? I confessed everything you wanted!”

“You’re part of the gang, so you’ll share the responsibility.”

“What do you mean….”

The leader looked around. The place was full of adventurers.

He decided that begging would be better than resisting here.

“Sir! Please turn a blind eye just this once. It’s just a herb shop, after all?”

“…”Just?”…”

Flinch.

The leader panicked under the adventurers’ murderous glares.

“Did you just say ‘just’?”

One corner of Cayton’s mouth curled up, who had been silent until now. 

He murmured lowly.

“It’s not ‘just.’ You’ve touched our lifeline, basically.”

“Eek!”

The leader shuddered at the adventurers’ sinister smiles.

Only then did he realize the gravity of what he’d done.

He had firmly poked the adventurers’ sore spot, something he should never have touched.

The thief leader bit his lower lip hard. 

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t see a way out.

The damage was done. 

At this point, it was all or nothing.

The thief leader shouted to his subordinates.

“What are you doing! Attack them all! Now!”

“Huh?”

“Stop being idiots and attack! If they catch us, we’re done anyway!”

“To hell with it! Die!”

Dozens of thief subordinates charged at the adventurers with their swords.

A large-scale battle erupted in the area.

“Idiots.”

Shing—

Vitus drew his sword. 

A pointed rapier.

Swish swish—

Vitus’s needle-like sword pierced through the guys’ shoulders and legs in an instant.

“Aaargh!”

The enemies, struck precisely in their weak points, became incapacitated one by one.

Cayton also drew his sword. 

The neat sword given to him by Fabir stood straight.

“Die!”

Clang!

Cayton lightly parried all the enemy’s attacks. 

His swordsmanship wasn’t flashy, but it was clean, without excess, and heavy.

It was the fruit of his daily, silent training.

“Not bad at all.”

Vitus glanced at Cayton and smirked. He had enough composure to fool around during battle.

On the other hand, Cayton was so focused on the fight that he didn’t hear it.

Swish—

“Aaargh!”

Thud.

The battle ended all too anticlimactically. 

The difference in combat power between the two groups was overwhelming.

The adventurers trained daily and faced monsters in dungeons. 

Mere petty thieves were no match.

“Urk!”

After the fierce battle, dozens of thieves lay sprawled on the ground. 

Their groans echoed loudly.

These crazy bastards!

Amidst it all, the leader, pretending to be knocked out, only thought of his own escape.

Slink slink.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Grab.

“Eek!”

The thief leader tried to flee but was quickly caught by the scruff by Vitus.

“You’ve wasted our time. Let’s go.”

“Aaah! Spare me!”

He begged desperately, but in the end, the thief leader was grabbed by Vitus and forcibly dragged outside.

Vitus dragged the leader around the underworld, shouting loudly.

“Look closely, all of you! This is the end for anyone who touches the herb shop!”

A strong warning not to mess with the herb shop echoed through the underworld.

Murmur murmur.

“The herb shop…?”

“Is there another herb shop in Alburton? You know, the small one that’s been run for three generations.”

“What? They ended up like that just for messing with a herb shop like that?”

“Shh! You wanna get in trouble? Can’t you see? The rumors were true—the herb shop is incredibly important to the adventurers now!”

“I thought it was just gossip. Who knew it’d turn out like this.”

After this incident, at least in Alburton’s fringe underworld, no one would dare touch the herb shop again.

The next morning.

***

Austin’s office.

“Arrogant bastards. This is what happens when you mess with me.”

Austin sat on the sofa with a smug expression, legs crossed, looking pleased.

The rumor that the vitality drink was poisoned had spread everywhere, and the herb shop had been closed for three days already.

For a store selling food, trust is everything. Once trust with customers is broken, it’s a straight downfall.

If things continued like this, even a herb shop that produced mysterious health foods wouldn’t be able to return to its former glory.

“This is just the beginning. I’ll nibble away at them bit by bit.”

Austin chuckled, indulging in pleasant fantasies. It felt like the pent-up frustration was finally easing.

Step step.

At that moment, footsteps approached the office.

“Who is it at this early hour?”

Bang!

Cayton burst through the door forcefully.

“W-what?! Barging in like this—you’re no adventurer, you’re a thug!”

It was obviously about what happened at the herb shop.

But that was done in the underworld.

They might suspect him based on circumstantial evidence, but without proof, they couldn’t do anything.

Unless they stormed the underworld and interrogated the leader themselves, they wouldn’t find evidence linking him.

What could a mere iron-rank adventurer do?

Heh—

Austin sneered vilely.

“Oh ho. You came because of the herb shop rumor, huh. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with me. If they’d just handed over the herb shop when I asked, it would’ve been good for everyone, right?”

“It’s not too late now, so think it over.”

“You fraudulent criminal bastard.”

“What? What did you just say!”

Austin furrowed his brow deeply.

This newbie adventurer still hadn’t learned his lesson after all that.

“Yeah! You’ve walked right into it today. I’ll make a proper complaint this time. Be ready!”

Austin glared at Cayton and headed straight to the adventurers’ guild with gusto.

Bang!

“Is this how adventurers treat civilians!”

Austin burst into the guild office and immediately started yelling.

But.

The atmosphere among the adventurers was icy.

It felt like they had been expecting him.

“W-why is the vibe like this?”

Austin looked around in confusion.

“Oh, Austin!”

A voice called his name from among them.

“!!”

Austin’s eyes widened when he saw the face. It was the thief leader he’d commissioned for this job.

“I-it can’t be. W-why are you here?”

Why was the leader of the Petty Thieves’ Den, who should be in the underworld, sitting right there in the adventurers’ guild?

Who the hell dragged him out of the underworld? He wasn’t someone who could be easily caught by a few adventurers.

More importantly, did they already know everything and were just toying with him?

That thug bastard…

Tremble tremble.

Austin shook with overwhelming humiliation.

“From your expression, you seem thrilled to see a familiar face.”

Cayton, who had followed him in, now blocked the door.

“You came here on your own without knowing your place. Thanks, you’ve saved us the trouble.”

“You bastard? What the hell have you been up to?”

“That’s what I want to ask you.”

Cayton said as he locked the door.

Click.

“But before that, my colleagues have something to say to you.”

“…?”

Step step.

“You’re the one who dared to mess with the herb shop?”

“You must be dying to get killed, huh?”

The adventurers approached Austin, their eyes gleaming with madness.

“H-hey, everyone calm down. L-let’s talk this out.”

Soon, Austin was surrounded by the adventurers.

“A-aaargh!”

A man’s pitiful scream echoed through the adventurers’ guild for a long time.