Published at 7th of February 2023 10:58 am

Chapter 148: The Nobles Attack

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Although it was now rather late, the streets were still surprisingly crowded, although the number of wagons on the street diminished by quite a bit. And it seemed the few who were still around had either just returned from making a last minute delivery to other settlements, or had just made it to the city to rest for the night before setting out the next morning.

Although the street was illuminated by lanterns and the light leaking from the various buildings that lined them, the streets were oddly dark, and this wasn't just because it was night time. After glancing at the sky for a moment, Merlin noticed that it was because the moon was being blocked by large dark clouds that were looming overhead.

'Oh, great.' Merlin thought to himself as he quickened his pace as he made his way towards the slums.

He eventually made his way into the slums, but as he traversed the glum streets, he became the witness of a strange sight.

A few meters down the street were four young individuals, all dressed up in rather gaudy clothing that was only ever worn to showcase one's wealth.

Four young noble men were walking through the slums, throwing insults at any of the residents they came across, and threatening violence if their victim spoke back. Unfortunately their karma was still high enough to be considered not evil, as they hadn't actually done anything yet, so Merlin couldn't attack them without suffering penalties.

Merlin pulled his cloak's hood over his head as he continued on his way towards the thieves guild. He was walking behind the nobles, but didn't get too close as he didn't want them to turn around and start annoying him.

"There's another brat over there." One of the nobles remarked out loud.

The group of nobles approached another individual, although Merlin couldn't see the victim yet, he could only assume it was someone young as the word brat was used.

"Hey pipsqueak, what are you doing out here without your parents?" Another noble mocked, "Do you even have parents?"

The group all began laughing at the one guy's insults, but they stopped laughing rather quickly.

"What the hell, are you some kind of mute or something." Yet another noble remarked, and Merlin watched as the man went to shove the individual that he had yet not seen.

From what would have realistically been a classic bullying scene was immediately flipped on its head as Merlin heard a loud snapping noise, followed by a pained cry from the noble who had just acted out.

Merlin caught a glimpse of the supposed victim of this event, moments before he kicked another noble in the head, causing several teeth to fly out onto the street.

'Jeez, Bell is overpowered.' Merlin thought to himself as he watched the kid destroy four men before reaching into their pockets and stealing their coin purses alongside any other valuables he could find and reasonably fit in his own pockets.

"Good job." Merlin praised as he approached Bell, stepping over the nobles who were groaning in pain on the floor.

Bell gave Merlin a small nod before he started running back towards the thieves guild. Merlin followed behind him, glancing back at the nobles that the kid had just ruined for a moment before looking forward again.

The two entered the run down tavern just as it started to rain pretty heavily outside.

'That was a close one.' Merlin thought as he closed the door behind him.

"Bell, you're back!" Fae spoke up with a happy tone, "You finished your task already? Good job!"

Bell nodded after she spoke. He gave her a high five before disappearing down the cellar.

"You're back too I see." Fae said as she turned to Merlin, her voice was a lot less energetic than when she was interacting with Bell, but it was still friendly and upbeat. "I assume you've also had a successful mission."

Merlin nodded in response, to which he was given praise by her as well.

"Good job!" She said before she made her way back to her spot behind the counter.

Merlin stuck around, because he thought she was going to make her way down into the cellar like normal, but she didn't seem to do anything this time around.

"What, are you waiting for a high five too?" Fae asked.

"No... But, is that an option?" Merlin asked in a tone that was intended to obviously portray that he was joking.

"Are you a child?" Fae asked in a lighthearted tone.

"Technically." Merlin quickly responded.

"What?"

"Nevermind." Merlin muttered as he walked towards the cellar.

He made his way into the thieves guild. The sound of rain hitting the roof of the building above him became muffled as he climbed down the stairs and entered through the secret door in the cellar.

He closed the door behind him as he walked down into the gambling den. He weaved through the tables as usual and sat down besides the thief lord.

"Before you ask, no. I don't have a task for you to do right away." The elf sighed. "Although I would like to inform you about a situation that has recently occurred."

"I'm hearing several reports about groups of noble children making their way into the slums and harassing the residents here. Some of which have turned violent very quickly and several people have gotten hurt." The elf explained. "The biggest concern that I have is that the family names of some of the nobles we have identified, those who have come into the slums to cause issues and attack its residents, can also be found within reports I've received of noble families who have been blackmailed with the use of that new drug that has been circulating around the city."

"Meaning this isn't just a new trend for noble children to suddenly attack those less fortunate. Someone is forcibly encouraging them to attack the slums for whatever reason... But there must be a reason. I'm not sure what their end goal is just yet, but there is no way that it can be good." The elf mumbled.

"When did this start?" Merlin asked.

"About three days ago." The elf answered. "Although the issue was light at first, just some insults and sneering, but it slowly began snowballing into larger groups brawling in the middle of the street."

"We believed that the incident was dying down as some of the city guard started breaking fights up, but it seems to have picked up once more." The elf growled. "It has gotten so bad that we've actually started turning to more extreme measures to keep the residents of the slums safe."

"Oh, and we accidentally killed one of Kilo's puppets..." The elf said with an annoyed tone. "They were beating an old man to death when we caught them, we only figured out their identity a couple days after the fight. So good news, you've only got five more enemies to kill."

"But you're going to need more time figuring out their identities and weaknesses?" Merlin asked, realising the pattern that was going on with this quest line.

"Correct." The elf nodded his head, "I've got as many talented people as I can reasonably stuff onto a task looking into any and all information about the rest of the spider's legs. I should have a new task for you by the end of the week, maybe sooner. But for now, just watch out for the nobles hanging around, they're prone to violence."

"Alright, thanks for the heads up." Merlin thanked him. "If I have a week, I might head back up to Megalopolis. I've got to pay a visit to someone by the name of Baron Doolmet, since his name showed up during the trafficker case."

"Oh, you are already familiar with the slave trader's customer?" The elf asked with a curious expression.

"Yeah, I've seen him a few times around the ranger's guild. He's a really sketchy guy, and I suspect that he's probably plotting against Callisto, the leader of the ranger's guild." Merlin started rambling, "The two of them don't seem to get along at all."

"And you're also familiar with the princess too? You really are always full of surprises." The elf remarked. "Well, it sounds like you've got your work cut out for you, so I'll let you go... Good luck out there."

Merlin laughed a little before standing up, saying his farewells and making his way towards the exit. The sound of rain picked up once more as he opened the cellar door and reentered the shabby tavern.

"Leaving so soon?" Fae's voice rung out as Merlin approached the door. "It'll probably rain for a few more minutes, feel free to sit around while you wait for it to stop."

"I should be alright. I'll be back in a week or so." He waved goodbye as he pulled up his cloak hood and stepped out into the rain. The feeling of cold water soaking into the cloak and then touching his skin caused his body to shiver uncontrollably.

'This weather is perfect for the warm panther cloak, why did I have to use it for a disguise...' He thought to himself. He wanted to wear it, but didn't want to risk the extra identification chance while five of the legs, as well as Kilo herself, were still alive.

Merlin made his way out of the slums quickly. He walked by where Bell had recently showcased his skill in hand to hand combat, much to Merlin's surprise. Although Merlin wasn't quite sure why he was surprised that Bell was skilled at fighting, considering his father was Pelear, the guild's trainer. Maybe it was just his small stature and unoffensive appearance that made Merlin underestimate him.

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