Chapter 97
The Greedy Seven (II)
There was one particular thing that was extremely different compared to the previous time the party ventured into the Tower -- the path they were taking had a lot of other people on it. In fact, it felt more like a busy, downtown street rather than something one would see in a Tower.
Though Cain wasn’t surprised -- as this was the most efficient way to reach the entrance to the second floor -- others weren’t as nonchalant about it all as he was, especially considering that their party was eyed frequently. It wasn’t because they looked strong, though, or even necessarily because of the items they were wearing... it was, instead, because they were all wearing masks to hide their faces.
It worked wonders as virtually everyone aside from Cain, even Daniel, were furiously flushed in embarrassment. In the end, however, nobody took the mask off as they understood it was a cautionary measure handed down directly from Cain.
Though their real identities would eventually leak out, he wanted to delay that for as long as possible. And though crude, the masks were perhaps the best way to do it short of equipping some really over-the-top, largely cosmetic helmets -- which wouldn’t even truly start showing up until the third floor.
As such, the group looked like a band headed for a masked ball, with the only thing lacking the musical accompaniment. Ever so often, they’d pick up on the chatter of the surrounding people, most of which included words such as ‘weird’, ‘creepy’, ‘pompous’, ‘self-centered’ and so on. The seven, however, didn’t have the heart or the pride to argue, taking it all in stride -- to the best of their abilities.
Cain enjoyed their awkwardness and embarrassment somewhat, as he was more than used to wearing something to cover his face. It was especially essential to a ‘Scourge’ like him who used to do a lot of shady stuff in the past; if his real-life identity ever leaked out, there’d be hordes of people after his life.
Eventually, though, a good number of people in the Tower -- Scourge or not -- would adapt to wearing masks or helmets that covered their facial features as it was just one of the ways to protect oneself on the inside.
“God, I just some of them to start shit with us,” Jamal growled. “So we can wipe their butts with the dirt and have people stop looking at us.”
“We aren’t here to start shit, though...” Cain said.
“We aren’t -- they are!” Jamal said.
“I agree,” Daniel added with a faint scoff. “Lower lifeforms talking behind our backs because they lack the courage to face us. Humph, not impressed.”
“It’s not good to fight.” Lukas said.
“We wouldn’t fight,” Emma said. “We’d beat their asses.”
“... if you lot don’t shut up,” Cain said in a slightly chillier tone. “I will beat your asses right here and now in front of everyone. Got it?”
“...”
The chatter died immediately as the group continued walking straight. They were currently moving up a sloped hill surrounded by a dying forest on one side and a rather muddy-looking lake on the other. The road itself was fairly wide, so much so that it could fit roughly ten people standing side by side. Because of it, despite the number of people, there wasn’t much congestion on their way forward. The entrance to the second floor, luckily, wasn’t too far and they were already three-fourths of the way through.
The group’s wish, however, did come true -- almost immediately after they reached the top of the hill and entered the dip. There was finally some congestion, an almost artificial one from the looks of it, as groups upon groups of people were stuck.
Cain charged Body into his eyes and peered past everyone, all the way to the front, where he saw the source of the congestion -- a group of seven were lining the path with weapons at a ready, roughly ten people lying around them, injured. Oh? A tollbooth? That’s pretty quick, damn.
“What’s going on?” Jamal asked.
"There are some thugs blocking the road," Daniel scoffed. "Idiots. Humph. So weak, yet trying to play the central stage." Wow, this dude needs to chill...
“Should we go around?” Emma asked.
“Why?” Cain replied, a strange and slightly greedy smile emerging on his lips. “From the looks of it... they’ve been here for a while.”
“Yeah...? Where are you going with this?” Emma asked, frowning.
“They musta collected some decent items in the meantime...” Cain said as everyone caught up to his intentions.
“No...”
“Yes.”
“We’re not gonna become common thieves...”
“Is it a theft if we’re stealing from the thieves?”
“Yes!! Yes it is!”
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“Daniel?” Cain turned toward the young man.
“No,” Daniel replied. “It’s justice.”
“See?”
“They could have very nice items,” Jamal also felt something awake within him as he spoke out. “Shit that, you know, could help us in the future.”
“I--I think so too.” Diya said, though the struggle was clear in her voice.
“What’s got you all feeling pissy over it?” Senna joined with a scoff. “These scumbags are lucky we aren’t playing tollbooths. You don’t even have to do anything; I’ll go and slice the swords in just the right ways to strip them all naked.”
“... yeah, you always take it just an inch too far.” Cain said, sighing. “Let’s go to the front.”
The group slowly pushed their way through the crowd as they made it to the front where they saw another group that refused to comply with the 'tollbooth's rules' being beaten, the seven arrogantly standing still. Cain glanced over them disinterestedly, ignoring them right after; most appeared to be somewhere in their early twenties, with the leading man appearing to be in his thirties. Serendipitously, their levels just about echoed the same line.
“You look new,” the man in his thirties spoke out. “The rule’s simple -- two items per one person. It used to be one, but we’ve expended too much energy dealing with idiots so, now we’re upping the price.”
"... you do realize we can just go around, right?" Senna spoke out, tilting her head. "What? You got another few gangs covering every inch of this place? No, wait, you don't look nearly smart enough for that. What the fuck are high-school dropouts and gangbang-rejects acting all high and mighty here for? My God, it's more embarrassing than this stupid-fucking-mask that I'm forced to wear."
“Oi, I picked that for you!!” Cain exclaimed, hurt.
“Yeah, obviously,” Senna scoffed at him. “No sane person would have taste this lame.”
“... Emma..”
“She has a point.”
“... I don’t care anymore,” Cain said, sighing, and walked over to Daniel. “Nothing matters, anyway.”
“Word, brother.”
“...”
“He he,” the leading man of the group of seven chuckled strangely. “You aren’t the first to come here with the attitude. But... don’t you worry. Soon enough, you won’t have it. I guess we really need to make an example of you people and not just beat you slightly. Don't worry, though -- we aren't murderers."
“Oh, well, if you aren’t murderers...” Senna rolled her eyes and withdrew, disinterested in dealing with them. Emma, Lukas, and Diya drew back as well, leaving Jamal at the front. He glanced back hatefully at the group for a moment before shrugging. Hey, at least I get the spotlight to myself... maybe I get a cool nickname -- something like ‘Eternal Sword’ or ‘White Sword’--wait, would that be racist? Huh... never thought about it...
“Ha ha, looks like your friends abandoned you. You look semi-strong; if you ask us nicely, we might let you join us.”
“You know,” Jamal said, slowly walking toward them and taking out a sword, charging it with starlight. “I’m really not good at holding back. So, I pray to God, as should you, that your thick asses can back up your tough talk. Otherwise, I am not paying for the hospital bills.”
"Oh? We have a bad---" Jamal shut their voices off as he swiped the sword horizontally, once, at the distance of roughly thirty feet from the group. A blinding-white array of swordlight burst forth with an explosive sound, ripping up the dirt from beneath and warping space itself as it made its way over the group. The latter, horrified, scrambled almost instinctively to put up a defense -- one that was, to their terror, cut through cleanly like paper.
“Oh, crap--”
“Diy--uh, Foxy, heal them!!” Cain exclaimed anxiously as he charged Wind and swiped a massive arm made of it upward, cradling the seven that were sent flying. Diya hurriedly began healing the seven, her cheeks flushed over being called her ‘nickname’, ‘Foxy’, because of the mask she was wearing. Luckily, she was just in time and none of the seven died.
“You idiot!!” Emma exclaimed as she ran over to Jamal, slapping the back of his head. “We literally, literally, fucking trained for this!! They aren’t monsters, but people!! The fuck are you not holding back for?!”
“I--I did, I swear!!” Jamal cried out. “But... but... they are so fucking weak!”
"Well, duh!! Would anyone strong actually act like some random thug instead of exploring this place further?"
“Hey, good idea!” Cain suddenly exclaimed.
“W-what?!”
"Khm, khm," Cain charged Wind into his back and made makeshift wind, lifting himself up under the absolutely horrified gazes of a fairly sizeable crowd and charged Body into his throat so his voice boomed out. "You can call us the 'Greedy Seven'. True to our name, we really like stuff. Especially items. Khm, we won't rob you guys, though -- we only accept donations! Remember! Only if you feel like donating, do so! You’ll be forever in our good graces! But no pressure! Again, we may be greedy, but we aren’t bullies! We just really like items, you know? It’s like a disease...”
“What is that idiot doing?” practically all the other six crouched in embarrassment yet were unable to hide. Every one of his words stung like a bullet and they truly did feel like the most basic bullies at that moment.
“So, remember -- we only accept donations! You can pass just fine if you don’t have anything to give to us.”
“...”
"..." there was a brief lull -- a truly brief one, less than two whole seconds before items began flying in front of the six that were on the ground. In the midst of them were also the words of praise, 'Greedy Seven are really nice', 'take all my donations', and occasional 'could you guys bully me please' that they collectively chose to ignore. Cain's eyes lit up like lanterns as he saw the small pile of items appear, so much so that he struck a bashful pose.
“Oh, you guys~~ you are so nice... you really didn’t need to...”
“W-we did, of course! You guys deserve it!”
“Yeah! You helped us with those guys!”
“A-anyway, I just remembered I need to see my mom...”
“I wanna get back with my ex...”
“I left my stove on...”
Just as quickly as the mountain of items appeared, the crowd dispersed -- nobody, however, went any deeper into the Tower, instead turning around and bolting away. Cain landed and stared pridefully at the pile of items he secured.
"People are so nice, aren't they?" he said, glancing at the six who were hiding their faces -- well, their masks -- with their hands. "E-eh? What's wrong, you guys? Do you... do you like, need to go to the bathroom or something?"
“You do things differently,” Daniel took a deep breath and spoke out. “I respect it.”
“M-me too...” Diya said.
“Well... at least... at least he did secure us some items...” Jamal said through gritted teeth.
“I genuinely wanna kill myself...”
“Hey, who was that?!” Cain exclaimed, pretending not to have realized it was Senna. “Those are dangerous thoughts to be having! Suicide is never a solution! Anyway, let’s rest here for a while, guys.”
“H-huh?” everyone swallowed a mouthful of saliva as they had a sudden bad premonition.
“What? We can’t miss people being so generous, can we?”
“You aren’t serious, right?” Emma asked with trembling lips.
“... yo’, you... you guys do realize that I’m just joking around, right?” Cain asked, feeling genuinely hurt for a moment. “Just... just how low of a person you think I am?!”
“Pretty low...”
“The lowest...”
“Scum of the earth...” Emma, Jamal, and Senna spoke out respectively with the other three just looking away, whistling.
“... clean these guys up,” Cain said dispiritedly, pointing at the seven who had sealed their lips shut in horror. “And let’s go. Don’t talk to me for a few hours. I’ll be brooding.”