Chapter 16: Guide Thompson

He sent them away swiftly.

“Oh, come on, you promised in the name of God, didn’t you? Now, go on, just quickly put it in and come back. Sir Shuttle, no, Priest.”

“How did I end up like this?”

“It’s only hard the first time; the second time is easy.”

“You’re going to make me do it again?”

“Ah, you caught me.”

After sending Varmilo away, I took Karls and Tirvaen into the city.

Whoosh…….

A damp wind blew from somewhere, sweeping past us.

Seeing the old and crumbling buildings and city walls everywhere made me feel strange.

‘Aurax.’

Countless memories of roaming this place flashed through my mind.

Aurax, the center of the revolutionary army’s camp, was a place of deep significance to all players.

‘In the story, it was the continent’s powder keg, and in the game, it was a graveyard for high-level players.’

Although various quests and events were prepared, considering class and level, Aurax was exceptionally harsh on high-level players.

‘It’s like they deliberately designed it to mess with the veterans.’

The screams of anguish were natural, given the incredibly powerful hostile NPCs and quest monsters.

Even I, a veteran among veterans, had quite a hard time in that place.

But that was only after the game’s scenario had progressed sufficiently.

‘On the contrary, in the early stages, there’s no easier place to gain benefits than here.’

A city that was as strict as a father to high-level players who had played the game for a long time, but as benevolent as a mother to low-level players who had just started the game.

That was Aurax.

Just look at the magic glasses incident right now, for instance.

‘If you have the guts to sneak into the Commander’s study, couldn’t you just get it as unearned income?’

In other words, it was a total gain.

There were several items that could be acquired this way in Aurax.

Of course, they were items that could only be obtained if specific conditions were met, like when I had Varmilo do it, but considering the effort and trouble, it was still a total gain.

And another piece of evidence that this city was kind to newbies.

“Hey, hey! New faces, aren’t you?”

“There’s a toll on this road!”

“Judging by your attire, you must have some money! Hehehe.”

The appearance of three thugs, with thoroughly cliché lines, was precisely that evidence.

Look at him, leaning on one leg and swaggering.

‘How can he be so cliché?’

But at the same time, they were very welcome presences.

These thugs were about level 4 or 5.

So, they were the perfect opponents for my current level, and at the same time, they had suitable linked quests.

But.

“Your Highness! I’ll take care of them!”

Karls, who had finally found something to do, instantly rushed out.

Before I could stop him.

[Attack Skill: Bear Hunt]

Thump!

That cruel bastard is using a bear-hunting skill on people?

Fortunately or unfortunately, Karls’s blow did not take their lives.

It merely shattered all the crude daggers they were holding, and the thug in front, Thug 1, was neatly knocked out.

[You have subdued ‘Novice Street Fighter of the Back Alley’.]

That was the result of casting a skill without even drawing his sword from its scabbard.

“Hey! You! Stop it!”

I hastily called Karls back.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

What do you mean, what’s wrong!

“Where’s my experience points, you rascal? You’re a 6-star, how can you do that? I’m going to fight, so get back quickly. Hurry!”

As I fumbled to draw my sword and stepped forward, Karls’s expression crumpled.

“Your Highness, are you now preventing me from fulfilling my duties as a loyal knight?”

Unexpectedly, his voice was filled with so much disappointment that I was a bit flustered.

“No, hey. It’s not that…….”

“Where in the world is there a Prince who fights thugs directly?!”

“He’s right here. If I can fight, I’ll fight, there’s nothing I can’t fight for, right?”

“No! He’s not here! You can’t fight! I am a guard knight, for goodness sake, I cannot let you cross swords with such ruffians! Move aside!”

Ugh, what a tedious fellow.

He still doesn’t seem to fully grasp that my growth comes from gaining experience points.

I was scratching my temple, too lazy to explain, when.

“Sir Silion, let the Prince fight directly.”

Tirvaen was speaking to Karls.

A question arose on Karls’s face at the witch’s rather serious voice.

“Now Giloshian must learn to protect himself. The imperial family can no longer protect this child, and even the imperial palace and imperial territory, which seemed like safe zones, weren’t truly so, were they?”

“That’s true, but Lady Sui and I are by his side, aren’t we? So why insist?”

“Of course. I intend to do my best for the Third Prince. But how long can I do that?”

“We are human, and we are destined to part ways someday. That’s just how farewells are.”

A subtle emotion was evident, as if she remembered her farewell with the previous Tirvaen.

“Let him fight and feel, let him learn. I believe that is another way, Sir, for you to show loyalty to your liege.”

“…another way of loyalty.”

Karls thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I understand what you mean, Lady Sui. I was short-sighted. Your Highness.”

“Huh? Oh, right, well. Please think long-term from now on.”

Honestly, it didn’t seem like such a grand reason was needed to gain experience points, but anyway, thanks to him, I saved myself the trouble of explaining.

And Tirvaen looked different to me now.

‘So, even if she’s a child, a witch is still a witch, huh?’

Anyway, that aside, there was one thing to point out.

“But Karls, I’m not saying don’t step in at all.”

“Yes?”

“Just in case, watch carefully and if it looks like I’m getting overwhelmed, step in. Got it?”

[You have subdued ‘Novice Pickpocket of the Back Alley’.]

[You have subdued ‘Novice Swindler of the Back Alley’.]

“Ugh. Quite strong.”

“I don’t know where these guys rolled in from, but they’re decent.”

The two still spouted cliché lines while lying on the ground.

Their beaten faces were quite a sight to behold.

But in reality, I wasn’t doing much better.

‘This hurts.’

Though I was barely standing, my mind was reeling from the throbbing pain all over my body.

It was a completely different fight from when I dueled the Marquis.

It was clearly a duel then, but the Marquis had no intention of killing me.

And I also had no intention of killing the Marquis.

‘Of course, I don’t have the ability to either.’

However, this time, the situation was different.

The thugs, who had lost a comrade to Karls, attacked me as if they genuinely wanted to kill me.

No one used swords, but a messy brawl broke out.

And after a long fight, entangled with the two of them, I finally secured a victory.

“Hah, hah.”

“So, did you learn anything from fighting directly?”

Tirvaen extended a hand to me as I was breathing heavily.

[Healing Magic: Warm Light]

As the magic poured over me, my body felt languid, and my bruises and cuts began to heal rapidly.

But my mind became a little complicated.

Did I learn anything?

Of course, I did.

“…I realized that fighting people wouldn’t be easy.”

To survive in this world in the future, I would have to fight like this constantly.

I had spared the thugs for now, but someday, I would have to take someone’s life.

The game I knew, , was surprisingly quite cruel, and such incidents were truly common.

“You’ve learned a good lesson. Survival and struggle are always close at hand.”

Hearing that from a kid not even twenty years old makes me feel a bit strange again, doesn’t it?

Anyway, the job wasn’t completely finished yet.

“Hey, novice thugs of the back alley.”

I slowly approached the guys sprawled on the muddy ground.

Then, I saw the two who had been feigning complete exhaustion briefly exchange glances.

They intended to escape and call other thugs.

This was a common pattern that newbies unfamiliar with Aurax often fell for.

‘But as a veteran of this area, I can’t fall for it.’

I quickly drew the sword I hadn’t drawn until now.

[Attack Skill: Sadistic Taste]

As the attack skill activated, a faint light enveloped the blade.

This was the last skill given to me by the F-grade Fate Card, Slave Gladiator.

‘Actually, it was a truly useless attack skill, so there was no use for it.’

But now, I could try using it here.

It’s innovative! Revolutionary!

A counter-intuitive skill that causes massive bleeding to the opponent while actually reducing damage!

‘Did they really design such a thing as an attack skill for a tank?’

I couldn’t tell if the game’s planner was in their right mind.

Well, it’s an F-grade card for a reason.

Each and every one of them must be a gem of a skill to be considered a true garbage Fate Card!

‘Come to think of it, since it’s a slave gladiator, it makes sense for a skill with this effect to exist in the lore.’

Anyway, its effect was excellent right now.

I set the attack power to the minimum and swung my sword.

Whoosh!

A massive fountain of blood gushed from Thug 2’s chest, who was slowly trying to escape.

Blood splattered so much that it soaked one side of the alley wall, even startling me.

“Axt, axtōt!”

“Hey! I told you to learn and feel while fighting! When did I say to turn them into corpses?!”

Karls and Tirvaen shrieked.

“It’s okay, he won’t die! It just looks that way, that’s all.”

I casually gestured to them and turned away.

…But seriously, he won’t die, right? He’s really bleeding too much, isn’t he?

Of course, the most surprised was Thug 3.

“Whoa, whoa, whoaaaaat!”

He was moonwalking on his backside across the alley floor.

His pale face was a bit pitiful.

Indeed, it must have been an excessively horrific sight for a ‘Novice Swindler of the Back Alley’.

[Status effect ‘Extreme Fear’ is applied to ‘Novice Swindler of the Back Alley’.]

He probably wanted to get up and run away immediately, but his legs seemed to have given out from the status effect, and he couldn’t stand up properly.

‘He’s falling and stumbling all over the place.’

Thanks to that, despite being some distance away from me, he failed to escape.

Swoosh.

I calmly walked over and pointed my sword at him.

“P-please save me. Please save me!”

Thug 3, gripped by fear, began to scream wildly.

In truth, Thug 2, who was hidden behind my back, was perfectly fine, just covered in blood.

He himself couldn’t understand why he was bleeding so much yet still alive, only wearing a dumbfounded expression.

“Please, just spare me! Sir! I’ll do anything you say!”

Unable to see this, Thug 3 sobbed and bowed his head to me.

“You’ll do as I say? You definitely said that, right?”

“Yes? Yes, yes. If you just spare me…….”

“Then, of course, I’ll spare you.”

I smiled faintly and began what I intended to do.

“Name.”

“…Huh?”

“What’s your name?”

“T-T-Thompson.”

“Thompson? Your name is cliché too.”

“Sorry, sorry! Sir! I’ll fix it!”

“Huh? How do you fix a name?”

“My deceased mother gave me this name, but I’ll try to change it!”

“Ah, no, don’t. It’s cliché, but it’s easy to remember, and I like it. Don’t do that.”

This guy suddenly trying to play the ‘deceased mother’ card?

Anyway, I subtly gestured with my chin towards the end of the alley.

“Thompson, I need a guide. Can you do it?”

Then Thompson’s eyes wavered.

“Oh, a guide, you say? What kind of guide are you talking about?”

I grinned at his question.

“A back alley guide, of course. You don’t seriously think I’d ask you to guide me through a museum, do you?”

“…?”

Doubt grew steadily in his eyes.

He had a look on his face as if he utterly didn’t understand why this person was acting like this.

Instead of explaining, I gestured towards the outside of the alley.

“Come on, no time to waste, let’s go.”

“Yes, yes.”

The moment ‘Novice Swindler of the Back Alley’ Thompson got up, looking as if he was about to burst into tears, a message appeared.

[Event ‘I Am the Guide of This Area’ begins.]