“Achoo!”
A sudden chill swept through Ryan Delaney’s body, making him sneeze.
“President Ryan, the weather’s getting cooler. You should put on more clothes.”
The heavily made-up woman in his arms twisted her waist, rubbing against him like a little cat. “If that doesn’t work, I can always help warm you up instead~”
“What nonsense. I’m the president of the Light Society. How could I get sick just because the temperature dropped a bit?”
Ryan pulled the woman closer but didn’t take any further action.
His mind wasn’t entirely on pleasure right now.
He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but ever since night fell, he had felt an ominous premonition in his heart.
Recently, he had not only bribed the city official of Crisel but also recruited quite a few stray adventurers from the Adventurer’s Guild. Business was booming. If this trend continued, he estimated he could open a Light Society branch in the neighboring city soon.
The future of the Light Society looked bright. So why did he have this inexplicable bad feeling?
“President, that E-rank adventurer who borrowed ten silver coins from us last month died. The brothers who went to collect the debt said he couldn’t pay and hanged himself in the inn. What should we do now?”
A subordinate walked in to report.
Ryan frowned.
Generally, people in their line of work followed the principle that when a person dies, their debts die with them. But the Light Society had forced quite a few people to death over the years through debt collection. If they really did “debt dies with the person,” wouldn’t they lose a fortune?
The reason the Light Society had grown so big and strong in just a few years wasn’t because they did charity work.
“I’ve said it many times—when someone dies, go after their family for the money. Do I still need to teach you how to get the money back? Useless!”
Ryan scolded his subordinate harshly.
Doing business with a conscience could earn big money, but losing your conscience could earn even more.
“U-understood, President. There’s one more thing…”
“Speak.”
“The woman named Eileen you told me to keep an eye on went out of the city early this morning and hasn’t come back all day…”
The subordinate said nervously.
Eileen had always been very low-key in the Adventurer’s Guild—more accurately, she usually left early in the morning to accept commissions and only returned just before the guild closed. That was why not many people noticed her.
Otherwise, with her figure and looks, pursuers would have lined up all the way out of the city, and it wouldn’t have been Ryan’s turn.
It was lucky that he had noticed this beauty by chance and had Gillian set a trap for her so she would fall into it herself.
When Eileen couldn’t repay the money and couldn’t withstand the Light Society’s violent collection methods, she would soon deliver herself to his door.
In the few years since founding the Light Society, Ryan had used this method to obtain countless top-tier beauties. Once he got tired of playing with them, he could sell them at a high price to the Little Room and make another fortune.
“Didn’t I tell Gillian to keep a close watch on her? What the hell is she doing?!”
Ryan was furious.
Once a beauty like Eileen was exposed to the public eye, his competitors would be either noble young masters or high-ranking adventurers. He wouldn’t even get a sip of the soup.
“She probably took advantage of Lady Kate coming to the guild today to slip away…”
The subordinate offered his guess.
A few days earlier, Frank had repeatedly warned that on the day Kate visited the guild, there must be no violent incidents. He also required everyone to dress properly and not dirty Kate’s eyes.
Because Kate was the world’s youngest recognized S-rank adventurer and had many followers, the Adventurer’s Guild had been crowded with people that morning.
As long as Eileen wanted to run, it would have been impossible for anyone to notice.
“Fine. Hurry up and send people to find her. Also, tell Gillian to come back to headquarters immediately. I want to—”
Bang!
A loud crash interrupted Ryan’s words. The room door was violently smashed open, and a figure flew inside.
Upon closer look, it was none other than Gillian.
The three people in the room stared at each other in bewilderment.
Gillian really is convenient. She flew in before I even finished speaking…
Ryan stared in horror at Gillian lying unconscious on the ground.
Her body was twisted into an extremely unnatural position. Her arms and legs were bent in opposite directions at the joints. There was a deep, sunken fist imprint on her chest. Her face, which was already more masculine than most men’s, now had two palm prints and was swollen like a pig’s head.
“This…”
Although Gillian carried the E-rank adventurer title, anyone who knew her understood that her real strength was solidly D-rank. She simply hadn’t gone to take the guild’s promotion assessment.
Who could have beaten her into this state? A C-rank or B-rank adventurer?
But that didn’t make sense!
C-rank and B-rank adventurers were all busy people. Where would they find the time to deal with them?
Besides, he had already bribed the city official. Even if they wanted to intervene, the official wouldn’t allow it.
“So this is the Light Society’s headquarters? Quite fancy. Just how much high-interest loan money did they squeeze out to afford this?”
An unfamiliar voice came from outside the room.
Ryan felt like retreating, but remembering the city official’s guarantee, he steeled himself. He pushed the woman in his arms aside and shouted sternly, “Who are you? You know this is the Light Society and still dare to cause trouble!”
“I think you should recognize me.”
The figure approached, and the person’s face gradually became visible in the candlelight.
It was three women.
Two of them Ryan was very familiar with.
Eileen, the one he had been targeting, and the dwarf girl Gillian had tricked into selling to the Little Room.
As for the other woman, he had only seen her in portraits.
“How dare you be so rude in front of the President! I think you’re looking for death!”
Seeing the other party acting so arrogantly, the subordinate immediately drew his knife and charged at the speaker.
This action nearly scared Ryan’s soul out of his body.
“Idiot, stop!”
Unfortunately, the subordinate’s knife had already swung out.
However, the bloody scene the subordinate had imagined did not occur.
The other party simply raised her hand slightly and extended two fingers.
The blade suddenly stopped, and the edge was caught between those two fingers, unable to advance even an inch.
The subordinate was shocked. He tried to pull the knife back, but it was as if the blade was welded between the other party’s fingers. No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t free it.
Before he could react, he saw a leg whip toward his side like a lash.
Bang!
In the next second, the subordinate flew out like a missile and directly smashed through the wall, his life or death unknown.
Seeing this, Ryan’s legs went weak and he dropped to his knees with a thud.
“K-K-Kate-sama… I-it’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding…”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.