chapter 6

While we were in a stare-down with the red-haired woman, multiple men emerged from the trees behind her.

“W-what the hell are you guys doing here!?”

While we stared each other down, Meryl opened her mouth and started to question her. The woman was about to answer her, but before she could, I spoke.

“The leader of the thieves’ guild ‘Thieves’ Fangs’… are you Seira Grundt?”

Seira Grundt smiled and clapped her hands.

“That’s right! For a newbie, you sure know a lot!”

“Sorry, but unlike some ignorant people, I keep up with info.”

As I pointed my thumb at Meryl, she grumbled, but her expression quickly changed.

“…so? What does the thieves’ guild, famous for stealing items from other adventurers, want with newbies like us?”

“We don’t care about you or the blondie. What we’re here for… is you!”

A finger was viciously pointed in Garuna’s direction.

“Long time no see, Seira Grundt. What can I do for you?”

It seems they knew each other.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten! Some of my men were captured due to your information!”

Hearing Seira’s words, Garuna stared her down, mouth closed.

“…”

“Because of Garuna’s information…?”

“Yeah! Because she snitched us out to the knight corps!”

Grimly, Seira stared Garuna down. Garuna returned the glare unabashedly.

“B-but! Weren’t you guys doing bad stuff in the first place?”

Meryl had a point.

Garuna’s decision to snitch on the Thieves’ Fangs to the knights in order to catch those who were guilty wasn’t a wrong move.

But the person who provided that information was now in the wrong place. Those guys seemed pretty angry about it….

“That’s why, today… I’ll take my revenge on you!”

The men behind her stepped forward in response to her shout and had their weapons at the ready.

As she saw this, Garuna readied her lance and turned to look at us.

“Sorry, I got you guys into this mess. I’ll handle this from here. You guys go back to Izuruli.”

This guy… it seemed like she did not plan not to involve us in any trouble.

“No way! We’ll fight too!”

“This is none of your business! As soon as I attack them, run!”

With that, Garna ran and plowed through the men. Using her large lance, she knocked one of the men away.

Those men were at least level 20. Even for Garuna, who was at a higher level, this was reckless.

However, even though she’d just met us, she was giving us the opportunity to run.

There’s no way I’d leave her alone from the start!

While wielding her lance, Garuna struggled against several men. Then, when one of them cut her foot and kicked her, she lost her footing and rolled on the ground.

Although she needed to get up, Garuna didn’t get up—no, it was more like she couldn’t get up.

“T-this is…! Paralysis!?”

That cut had inflicted paralysis. It was a common tactic among thieves.

“Battles are all about thinking ahead, right, Garuna? Boys, show her a world of pain while she can’t move!”

There wasn’t any time to get a paralysis antidote out.

Mercilessly, all the men attacked Garuna.

They didn’t know that I was between them and her, however…

Using Power Punch, I blew the first guy away and knocked the remaining ones back with Spin Kick.

My sudden intrusion surprised everyone except Meryl, who rushed to Garuna’s side. The men knocked back by me, got launched into the air, and fell to the ground with a thud.

As she saw those men, Seira Grundt glared at me.

“You…!”

“Isn’t it a bit unfair to attack just one woman with such a big group?”

“You… Why!?”

In response to our interruption, Garuna looked at me, then Meryl, while raising her voice. Meryl smiled at her. I didn’t answer.

“You lot… this is none of your business, and you still feel like getting in the way?”

“That’s right! This is my problem, and you’re not involved in it whatsoever!”

Garuna’s voice was completely different from her relaxed demeanor. She had a concerned expression as she worried about us.

So this is none of my business, huh.

Well, thinking about it normally, yeah….

But.

“Do we really have nothing to do with this?”

“Eh…”

“At the very least, you’re a party member. And if we’re allies, we don’t have nothing to do with this. Any troubles an ally might face are our troubles too.”

As she heard me, tears welled up in Garunas eyes.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Seira Grundt. I’ll handle it from here.”

“You can talk the talk, but do you really understand what kind of situation this is?”

The men I had knocked back stood up and held their weapons at the ready.

“You must be pretty tough to not be knocked unconscious. Alright then, have at me!”

The men grabbed their weapons and attacked me in unison.

“Aruto-kun!”

I heard Garuna-san’s worried voice, but…

“This isn’t a problem!”

I grinned and punched the men coming at me, barehanded.

Unlike before, I hit harder, and this time, some of them were left unconscious.

“What…!?”

Everyone but Meryl was stunned at the scene.

“W-what!? Those guys are at a higher level, aren’t they!?”

“Why are we being pushed around at such a high level!?”

At the sight of some of their number fainting, the men looked at me with irritated expressions.

“Easy to say. They might be at a high level, but… if the enemy can read your movements, then there’s no way you aren’t going to lose.”

The current world was made out of people who believe level equals strength… I’m going to overturn that assumption.

“D-don’t underestimate us, you damn brat!”

The remaining men fearlessly pounced towards me.

Their movements… were so obvious!

I engaged the men and moved them down without even using any skills.

And so, I hit the last man with a powerful straight punch to the face, and all of them passed out.

As she saw me, Garuna was shocked, and Seira’s expression was one of sheer horror…

“Y-you… what the hell are you!?”

“You said it, didn’t you? I am… a classless newbie. Come on, cat burglar… let’s have a great battle!”

The real battle starts now!