Inside the Adventurer's Guild lobby which was now clear of corpses, though the stench of blood still lingered faintly, Selvi worked at full speed. The receptionist's hands moved nimbly over the parchment sheets, recording the names of adventurers who had passed Arvin's mental selection.
"Young Master..." called Selvi with a voice much more respectful and slightly trembling. "I have completed the escort mission application you requested. Everything has been recorded."
Arvin received the list and read it briefly. His eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.
Of the 19 adventurers remaining who had great guts, the composition was quite impressive: 8 Rank C, 6 Rank B, 3 Rank A, and...
Arvin's eyes were fixed on one name at the very top.
1 S-rank person.
Wow! Is there a S-rank adventurer willing to join an ordinary convoy escort mission? Arvin thought in amazement. Rank S is an elite tier. Her presence will greatly guarantee the journey's safety. But I'm curious why she didn't act when the chaos happened here earlier.
"Which one is the person named Gina?" Arvin asked loudly, his eyes sweeping the line of adventurers standing upright in front of him.
A tall woman stepped forward from the shadow of a pillar. She had long dark blue hair tied high, giving a mysterious and cold impression. Her outfit was tight black leather armor that allowed her to move in silence, and at her waist hung a pair of twin daggers gleaming sharply. Her aura was thin, almost undetectable, the hallmark of a high-level Assassin.
"I am Gina." the woman answered calmly. Her voice was flat but authoritative.
Arvin stared at her sharply. "You are Rank S, aren't you? Why didn't you act when the chaos happened in the lobby earlier? Why did you let those Iron Fist trash threaten me? Isn't it a senior's duty to maintain guild order?"
Gina was not offended. She looked Arvin straight in the eye.
"As an Assassin, I wait for the right moment to strike from a blind spot." Gina answered honestly. "However, just as I was about to draw my daggers to finish them off, you had already moved first. You withstood the greatsword attack and beheaded them in the blink of an eye using a light magic sword."
Gina smiled thinly, an acknowledgment. "Your reaction speed is beyond reason. I am sure you are no ordinary academy student. If I intervened, I might have disrupted your rhythm."
"Reason accepted!" Arvin answered flatly. "But next time, I hope you can act faster as an initiative! You became an adventurer to protect people, not to be a spectator. What if they were ordinary people who couldn't do anything? They would definitely die instantly!"
Gina fell silent for a moment. She realized the young man in front of her possessed the instincts of a true leader.
He is right! I should have acted faster to preserve the guild's good name before blood was spilled.
"I understand." Gina bowed her head slightly. "I apologize for my delay in acting. My daggers will be yours during this journey."
Arvin sighed, then turned back to Selvi.
"Selvi, listen carefully!" ordered Arvin. "Tomorrow morning, make sure these 19 adventurers gather inside this guild first for a briefing, before moving to the assembly point in front of the Merchant Guild at twelve noon!"
"Y-Yes, Young Master." Selvi took notes quickly. "If I may ask, what is the reason?"
"The reason is simple. Payment issues!" answered Arvin. "Before they leave for the front of the Merchant Guild, pay a down payment of 30 Gold to each of them! So they have working spirit. The remaining 30 Gold will be paid when they return here safely!"
"Understood, I will carry it out according to your instructions."
"Good. I will await your arrival in front of the Merchant Guild tomorrow noon!"
After taking back his identity card from the reception desk, Arvin turned around and walked out leaving the guild building.
As soon as the double doors closed and Arvin's figure disappeared, the silence in the lobby broke instantly. Many people immediately swarmed the reception desk, dying of curiosity.
"Selvi! Hey, Selvi! Who exactly is that handsome academy student? He is crazy! He could even easily defeat the strongest Rank A party alone!" aksed an adventurer.
"He is Arvin Vedegra." answered Selvi, her voice full of awe. "The first son of Duke Melvin Vedegra!"
Silence...
The expressions of Gina and all the adventurers who heard the answer changed drastically. Their faces paled.
Just like what happened at the Merchant Guild, they all didn't expect the handsome but rude academy student to be the son of the most influential and strongest nobleman in the Astoria Kingdom.
Outside the guild, the sun had begun to tilt to the west. Arvin walked quickly along the stone pavement, feeling slightly annoyed.
Damn! he cursed silently. My business at the Adventurer's Guild took longer than I estimated because of those trash.
Arvin hurried to find the nearest fabric shop. He bought up all the stock of thick brown and gray fabric sold in the shop to be made into disguise cloaks for his new troops.
Done with the fabric, Arvin went to the food ingredient market area. Instead of choosing a large store, Arvin deliberately chose the rows of small stalls owned by commoner traders.
I will buy everything they sell!
"Auntie, Uncle! I'll buy everything!"
Although the total price of their merchandise was very affordable, Arvin still paid 20 Gold to every small shop he visited. Instantly, his action caused a stir among the small traders who were grateful their merchandise sold out at fantastic prices.
However, the commotion attracted the attention of another party.
"Oh... so this is the new rich guy acting like a hero? Buying up small traders' merchandise, huh?"
A man's heavy voice made Arvin turn toward the source of the sound. He sighed deeply when he saw a group of fierce-looking men who looked like market thugs standing behind him.
"What do you want coming here?" Arvin asked lazily.
"Give your money to us!" threatened the thug leader. "Then I ensure you will get out of this market safely!"
All the traders there became frightened. Arvin realized this group of people in front of him were parasites who had been troubling many people.
"Do you always extort others like this?"
"Extort? Don't get it wrong, Kid! This is our territory and they have to pay security money to us!"
Arvin clicked his tongue. He reached into his pocket, took one Gold coin, then handed it to the big man.
"Here is the security money payment!"
SLAP! Clink!
The man slapped Arvin's hand roughly, making the gold coin fall onto the dirty ground.
"You pay us 1 Gold?!" snapped the thug. "Are you insulting us, huh? You had bags of gold earlier!"
Arvin stared at the gold coin lying on the ground. His gaze turned cold.
"You should be thankful because I voluntarily paid you. If you want to be paid more, work! Don't extort other people like this!"
They were very annoyed with Arvin's words and immediately attacked him with sharp weapons.
"DIE YOU!"
However, their attack was futile.
Slash! Slash!
In the blink of an eye, the bodies of the thug's subordinates lay on the street in a gruesome condition. Their bodies had been cut into several pieces by invisible wind slashes.
"I hate it most when people waste my time like this!" growled Arvin. "I met fools at the guild, and here I meet even more fools!"
The thug leader was terrified to death. His legs trembled seeing his friends' corpses. He turned, wanting to run away.
But as his feet stepped, his own shadow suddenly came to life.
Rumble-rumble!
Dark magic in the form of black lines like tentacles shot out from his shadow, wrapping around the man's body tightly until he couldn't move.
"Answer me and I will spare your life!" threatened Arvin coldly.
The big man nodded in panic.
"Are you their leader?"
"Y-Yes! I am their leader!"
"Is there anyone else besides you?"
"N-No! We are just a group of—"
Zrash!
Arvin immediately beheaded the man in front of everyone. His head fell and rolled on the road surface.
"I spared your life with a painless death!"
Just then, several city patrol soldiers arrived. They saw the commotion in front of them and spontaneously approached it.
The soldiers were shocked by several corpses lying on the road in a state where their bodies were no longer intact.
"Stop!" snapped the squad captain while pointing his sword. "Is this your doing?!"
"I was just defending myself!" answered Arvin calmly. "There are many eyewitnesses here. Please ask them!"
The soldiers began asking the traders separately. And the answers they got were the same: "He paid the security money but was rejected rudely and they immediately attacked him with weapons. Finally, this Young Man fought back and killed them all to save us."
Arvin was released because based on eyewitnesses, he indeed defended himself. His departure was accompanied by sincere thanks from all the small traders there.
The soldiers were surprised to see citizens thanking someone who had killed brutally in front of them.
"Why are you thanking him?" asked a confused soldier.
"He bought up our merchandise and got rid of the parasites who have been troubling all the traders here!" answered an old trader.
"So, you mean the seven people killed here were the Black Skull thugs?"
"That's right! When you, who are royal soldiers, did nothing to them all this time, he was the one who freed us from extortion!"
The nine soldiers could only bow their heads in shame after the citizens insinuated and even mocked their slow performance, while an academy student had just solved the city's security problem in the blink of an eye.