“What in the fuck are you going on about, dickhead?” I asked, my temper starting to rise.
The entire group looked at me incredulously as if I was the one being weird. Even the bystanders nearby looked at me like I had just eaten their babies. What in the actual fuck was going on?
“Don't you know who I am?” the red-haired young man exclaimed.
“No. With how many assholes I meet every day, all your faces are starting to get mixed up,” I said, and I heard gasps and laughter from nearby people.
“You dare?!” the young man shouted as he drew his sword. “I'll give you one chance to beg for forgiveness, you filthy rabble, or I'll cut you down!”
My mind immediately snapped to a sharpened state when the bastard drew his sword. “Do it, you fucking pussy,” I growled.
The young man's eyes widened in sheer rage, and the bastard really did swing his sword at me.
And he was fucking fast.
Before I could even try to dodge it, his blade bit into my shoulder but stopped at the bone. Everybody at the scene seemed shocked that the man had the balls to do it, even the fucker's companions. Heck, even the young man seemed surprised at what he did.
But unlike them, I didn't waste the time gawking. This fucker just tried to kill me, and I was gonna kill him back.
With one hand, I caught Red Hair's wrist in a death grip, and with the other, I held his neck and started squeezing as hard as I could. The fucker's eyes started bulging like a fish. “You shouldn't have done that, asshole.”
“Protect the Young Master!” the middle-aged man shouted, and the two other armored companions charged in. I'm gonna call them Tin Can 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
Tin Can 1 moved even faster than Red Hair did, and when he swung at my hand holding Red Hair's neck, his sword glowed magically.
And then my hand got chopped off easily.
Tin Can 2 and 3 were not far behind, and they stabbed their swords at my torso. This time, though, I used my Class Skill for the first time and hardened my entire torso.
A fat lot of good it did for me.
The swords still managed to pierce through me like I was butter and hit my heart and lungs. That was probably not good.
I heard a lot of shouting in the background, but my mind was too far gone in my rage and pain to process it. All I wanted was to kill the motherfucker who started all this shit.
I yanked Red Hair towards me, my eyes focused on his neck bruised from my previous stranglehold. With my other hand chopped off and two swords stabbing into me that prevented movement, I settled with using my mouth.
I was gonna rip the fucker's throat out with my teeth.
However, moments before I could seal Red Hair's fate, a powerful concussive force suddenly hit me like a truck, sending me flying. I smacked into the stone wall of the Slayer's Guild courtyard wall hard and fell on my ass. Everything hurt, but at least the sword stuck in my heart was lodged out, allowing my precious organ to heal.
The next few moments were a blur as my head suffered from a bad concussion. I think my impact on the wall cracked my skull.
My dizziness didn't last long, and within half a minute, I was already standing back up, my wounds closing quickly. My hand was still missing, but it was already starting to grow back.
My eyes locked on Red Hair a few meters away, who had been sent flying from the force the same way I did.
Before I could even take a single step forward, somebody blocked my view. It was a huge man wearing mismatched armor, though not as big as me. He held a palm in my direction. “Easy there, big guy. That's enough. The Young Master already got what he deserved.”
“I don't give a shit,” I growled as I moved forward. “Fucker tried to kill me in broad daylight. I'm not letting that go.”
“Oh you will, Mister Dinkle, or you'll have me as your opponent,” a voice called out from the side. When I looked over, a reed-thin old man stood there with a dissatisfied expression on his face. He was dressed in an immaculate gray suit, which matched his graying hair.
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“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?”
“I am Morgan Thorn, Guildmaster of the Shieldhold Slayer's Guild,” the old man said. “There are plenty of witnesses here today, Mister Dinkle—”
“Bob,” I interrupted. “Call me Bob.”
“Fine. There are plenty of witnesses to the incident, Mister Bob, and all can testify that what you did was an act of self-defense,” Morgan continued. “However, if you try to continue the fight, this will be seen as an assault against the Governor's nephew, which will be punished severely.”
“The red-haired fucker is the Governor's nephew?” I asked, my rage quickly subsiding. “Well shit.”
“Indeed, Mister Bob. The situation is already as delicate as it is, and I suggest you take the opportunity to walk away from this without punishment,” Morgan said.
“How about that asshole?” I said as I gestured at Red Hair, who was now being tended by multiple healers. “He gonna get away with this without repercussion too?”
“He is going to get away with this indeed, Mister Bob,” Morgan said, then his eyes turned harsh. “But not without repercussions. Rest assured that justice will be dealt with accordingly, Mister Bob. Now please, I'd like you to leave the vicinity as soon as possible before the guards arrive to complicate things.”
“How about my payment for the bear, though? I literally got no money on me.”
Morgan snapped his finger, and one of the Guild staff, which I realized was Hera, came over to hand me a large pouch. It jingled quite nicely to my ears.
“That's twenty gold total, Mister Bob. Ten in gold coins, ten in silver coins,” Hera said, her demeanor nervous as she spoke to me.
“That's a lot of money,” I muttered. I think. I had no idea about how much it really was. “Thanks, Miss Hera. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Hera simply nodded at me before walking away.
“Five gold for the bear, fifteen for the inconvenience caused while you were in Guild grounds,” Morgan said as he looked me up and down. “And for what it's worth, I apologize for having to use force magic on you. If I didn't, then you'd have probably succeeded in biting the throat out of the Governor's nephew.”
“That was you?”
“Indeed. Fortunately, you seem to be the resilient type.”
“Yeah, I'm hard to kill,” I said as I secured the coin pouch in my satchel that had probably seen better days. It was completely covered in dried blood, all of it mine. “Anyway, I'm leaving. Here's to hoping that this is the last time I set foot in your Guild.”
“I doubt that, Mister Bob. Have a good evening.”
•••••
As the giant man walked away, Morgan sighed as he walked toward the Governor's nephew and his bodyguards. The old man was the only one who knew how lucky everyone had been that he was still in the Guild Hall to finish some paperwork. If he hadn't been there, the situation would have turned a lot bloodier. He didn't want to imagine what he would even say to the Governor if she learned of her nephew's demise.
“Young Master Camaro,” Morgan said as he approached the young noble. The man was seated on the ground with wide, terrified eyes as he absently clutched at his neck. There was a hideous hand-shaped bruise around it.
“The Young Master is occupied for the moment, Guildmaster,” the head bodyguard said brusquely as he blocked Morgan's path.
“The law does not care for such trivialities,” Morgan said with a flat expression. “The Young Master Camaro has violated the rules of the Guild while staying within our grounds. The Guild will be pursuing charges against him for the attempted homicide of one of our probationary members. As the Guildmaster, it is well within my rights to act as an enforcer of the law given that the crime occurred within my jurisdiction. If you try to hinder me, I can also charge you with obstruction.”
The head bodyguard gritted his teeth but reluctantly stepped aside. His eyes tried to bore holes into Morgan's back, but the old man was unperturbed.
“Young Master Camaro,” Morgan said once more as he stood before the young man, who refused to look him in the eyes. “The city guard is probably on their way to pick you up. As much as we all know that I am well within my rights to have you arrested for the crime you committed, your status as the Governor's nephew will ensure that you remain out of bars. Hence, I will tell you this: from now on, you and your immediate family are blacklisted from any and all services of the Shieldhold Slayer's Guild, up to and including the application for membership. Our doors are forever closed to you. Good day.”
“Wait! You can't do this!” Camaro shouted, his voice hoarse from the recent strangulation. “I-I'll pay any fine you ask for! Please, just don't blacklist us! I want to join the Guild!”
“You can avail the services of other Guild branches, Young Master Camaro. But never with ours,” Morgan said coldly before walking away. “Have a pleasant evening.”
The city guard arrived just in time. Morgan didn't even bother arguing with their captain and just ordered his people to hand over the young noble.
As the Young Master was escorted away in a carriage, Morgan sighed once more. He had a feeling that the days ahead were going to be bumpy.
“Got a lot on your mind, old man?” a voice asked. It belonged to Derric, leader of the gold-ranked slayer party called ‘The Bravers.’ He was also the one who stood in Bob's way before the man could do something he'd regret.
“Show respect to your elders,” Morgan said, though there was no heat to his voice. “It's because of you young ones that my hair is going gray.”
“Gray looks good on you anyway. Fits your ‘stick-up-your-ass’ persona,” Derric chuckled. “Anyway, that new guy had some big balls on him to stand up to that noble and survive. Where'd you find him?”
“I didn't. He just came to the Guild right now to sell a whole Eluvian bear carcass in pristine condition, which the Young Master Camaro probably wanted to obtain to gain Guild membership,” Morgan said. “I know absolutely nothing about him, yet my guts are telling me to keep a careful eye on him. He seems like the type to cause trouble wherever he goes.”
“Yeah, I think so too. That guy has some serious issues. Did you even see the bear carcass for yourself? Its head was mangled beyond recognition, and Amara is telling us it was killed by repeated blunt trauma to the head. I don't think you've noticed, but the new guy didn't have a weapon on him.”
Morgan frowned. “I'm hiring your party. Keep an eye on that man and report anything suspicious back to me.”
Derric grinned. “Now that's what I like to hear. But first, let's talk payment.”