Hopefully, this clerk is more honest than the last one, if not I will just have to kill more thugs. While I don't want to draw attention to myself, something like that shouldn't be too bad. Even if I draw a little attention, since I am leaving tonight, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Instead of worrying about it, I head into the market and start looking around. For the most part I ignore the smaller stalls, even if they have what I want they won't have enough of it. Instead I am looking for the bigger merchants who will have supplies in bulk.

Thanks to that I am able to get enough food for a thousand people for a few months with a few thousand gold. Although, after that I am starting to run low on gold, I can always steal more. In fact, I can probably restock tonight when I am freeing the elves in the noble quarter.

Those nobles that have and abuse slaves definitely deserve to be robbed. Everything I ordered will be delivered to the inn before dark so I have nothing left to worry about. After eating lunch at a street stall I just aimlessly wander around the city.

Scanning the city let me learn the layout, but seeing it with my own eyes is different. It is very relaxing and enjoyable to just wander around looking at the city. I am really enjoying this and it has put me in a good mood, but a sudden scream ruins it.

When I turn I see the body of a human male on the ground and a young girl is the one screaming. She is currently being carried into an alley by four large men wearing masks. From what I saw of them earlier, the dead man was the girl's bodyguard.

Between that and how well the girl is dressed it is obvious she is from a noble family. Normally I would leave her to her fate, but she only looks to be eleven or twelve. Despite the fact that she is human I can't just stand by and watch a child being taken.

As I dart towards the four men I notice some city guards out of the corner of my eye. The citizens standing around not doing anything is normal, but guards not doing anything is strange. It probably means that the four men aren't common thugs, they work for someone.

That someone has enough power and influence to keep the guards from acting. This kidnapping is probably politically motivated, but that doesn't matter to me. Unlike everyone else in this city, I don't need to worry about offending their backer.

The kidnappers have just entered the alley when I catch up to them and duck down. As I move to position myself under the girl and in the middle of the men I give my hand a shake. Then I spin in place while holding the dagger out, cutting into the four bodies in sequence.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

As the four bodies fall I gently catch the girl with my other arm, she is still screaming. It takes her a minute to notice what happened and finally stop screaming. As I set her on her feet it becomes even more obvious she is from a noble family from her jewelry.

Zoidya says "Thank you, adventurer! I am Zoidya, if you can return me to my father he will definitely reward you!"

"Lady Zoidya, my name is Ash. Lead the way, I will protect you."

Zoidya says "Thank you!"

She first turns to glare at the city guards as if memorizing their faces, then walks away. As I follow behind her I can immediately tell that she is heading towards the noble's district. It looks like I was right about her origin and the reason someone wanted to kidnap her.

The walk back to her home is uneventful, it looks like whoever is after her didn't have a backup plan. Her house is a large estate, surrounded by a fence, but the guards open the gate when they see her. The uniform they are wearing is different from the city guards, probably her family's personal guards.

They give me strange looks, but they don't try to stop me from following her inside. However, they apparently have a way to notify the main house when there is a problem. When we reach the stops of the main house twenty guards rush out and surround me.

Zoidya yells "Stop!"

The guards look confused, but they stop and start looking at each other. Before they can come to a decision the doors open and an older gentleman comes out. He looks to be in his fifties with a very well groomed, silver hair and beard.

Doma says "What is going on?!"

Zoidya says "Father! I was attacked in town! This adventurer saved me from being taken!"

Doma yells "What! Who dares?! Where is your guard?"

Zoidya says "He died. I don't know who they were, but the city guards just stood by and watched!"

Doma says "What?! Which guards? Where did this happen?!"

Zoidya says "It was in the eastern zone just outside the market. They were regular patrol guards."

"I don't know if it helps, but all four attackers wore very high quality enchanted chainmail under their clothes."

Doma says "It actually does! But if they had such quality armor how were you able to kill them?"

"I had a very lucky encounter and got an ancient weapon. It is enchanted to pierce any armor."

Doma says "That is quite impressive! May I see it?"

With a shake of my hand the dagger appears, as soon as it does the guards get ready to attack. Luckily, Doma stops them with a single hand wave, then he stares at the dagger. I didn't really want to reveal it, but I can't exactly tell him that with my stats their armor was like paper.

Doma says "That's a beautiful weapon! I don't suppose you want to sell it?"

"Sorry, I can't. It is a cursed weapon. I can't remove it or go a certain length of time without killing. Luckily, beasts count."

Doma says "How unfortunate! That explains why you are an adventurer."

Zoidya says "Dad, I promised him a reward if he brought me home."

Doma says "And he will absolutely have one!"

A few minutes later a butler hands me a large bag of gold and I am escorted out. From the weight of the bag I am guessing it is around ten thousand gold. I don't bother counting it and just pour the gold into my pouch once I am out of sight.

Then I make my way back to the inn and go into the stable to check for my deliveries. The stableman hands me a list of the deliveries with an inventory of the crates. I am happy to see that everything that I ordered has been delivered and I start checking it.