Chapter 33

Rapid footsteps pursued from just behind.

If I stopped, it would be over.

I strained my eyes in the dim view.

Pushing my tangled feet forward, I ran with all my might.

I walked with the guild members down the dim road.

Only the voices of children could be heard from far away.

The adults must have gone to work, as there was no one around, and the area was eerily quiet.

Looking up, I saw light leaking through the gaps between houses, illuminating my face in patches.

Suddenly, the bracelet grew hot.

I stopped in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

At Luke's voice, the guild members turned to look at me.

Suddenly, one of the guild members sharply warned us.

"Watch out!"

Reacting quickly, Luke grabbed me and pulled me to the ground.

A slicing sound echoed above my head.

Another one was coming.

I moved my body forward, half-crawling, as Luke dragged me along.

One of the guild members went to confront the attacker who had just assaulted us.

That's right. We were attacked.

Another guild member was engaged in combat with a man in a black cloak who had come from the front.

We were surrounded.

"Over here!"

I stood up with Luke and entered a side alley. It was so narrow that only one person could pass through.

We moved forward, threading through the gaps between walls.

What happened to the guild members? How many are there?

Such questions flitted through my mind, but I couldn't think. If I thought, I would stop.

I chased after Luke's back with all my might.

Rapid footsteps pursued from just behind.

We turned right, then entered another gap, turning right again, and then left.

We hid in the hollow between two houses.

I was panting, but I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the sound.

"Hey, who are you?"

A voice suddenly came from above. A man's face appeared from a window. He was a local resident.

"Over here!"

He shouted, perhaps signaling to his companions. The echo made it hard to tell the distance, but they would surely find us soon.

"Let's go!"

Luke whispered, and we started running again.

We ran through the alleys in a zigzag pattern.

The bracelet grew hot again.

"Luke!"

I shouted to Luke, who was ahead.

Suddenly, a man jumped out from the side.

The man stumbled for a moment. It seemed he had accidentally run into us.

Luke didn't miss the opportunity.

He swept the man's feet, and the man hit his head on the wall as he fell to the ground.

Luke stepped on the man's hand and skillfully took his sword.

"Wow..."

While I was admiring, another man appeared from the same alley.

Luke pushed me.

"Run!"

I moved forward, pushed by him.

I almost fell into the mud but continued running through the maze-like streets.

I could hear footsteps chasing me.

Had they come around Luke? Or were they new attackers?

I resisted the urge to look back and kept moving forward.

If I stopped even for a moment, it would be over.

I strained my eyes in the dim view.

Just a little more, just a little more to the main street.

The view suddenly opened up, and the brightness made my eyes hurt.

Still, I didn't stop running.

I stepped into the square, a space cut out in a distorted square, with a stone-paved ground.

"Alice!"

I shouted with all my might.

Alice descended from above, her cloak billowing.

She landed in front of me and faced the man who had entered the square.

"It will be over soon. Stay back and wait."

I leaned against the wall and nodded.

As Alice said, the man was neutralized almost immediately.

"Thank you. You saved me."

While we tied up the man together, I thanked Alice.

Knowing I would be working in the third ward, Alice had been guarding me from a distance.

Luke and I had investigated the entire area, so we could use the narrow alleys to confuse the attackers.

Honestly, I could only move as far as Luke led me.

"Let's move to a safe place."

There were two exits from this square.

One was the path I had taken. The other led directly to the main street.

In a maze-like area, if we were surrounded, we wouldn't be able to move.

We had to escape to this square, where Alice could fight more easily, and it was a straight path.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

I was startled by a sudden voice and my shoulders trembled.

Turning in the direction of the voice, I saw Luke's face peeking out from the path the man had taken.

He dragged the unconscious man, as if nothing had happened, and entered the square.

"Luke! You're injured!"

I could see blood seeping through a tear in his shirt, running diagonally from his shoulder.

"It's nothing, really. Come on, let's get to the main street."

Pushed by Luke's smile, I temporarily put aside my worry about his injury and walked down the straight path.

With Alice leading, followed by me and then Luke, we reached the main street.

We dragged the two captured men along with us.

As we stepped onto the main street, the lively town scene suddenly filled my eyes and ears.

"What's going on?"

"Marlo, Captain."

Just as we were about to relax after escaping the abnormal situation, Marlo appeared with his team, and Hans was with him.

The atmosphere tensed again.

"These men attacked us. I was with the Smith team, but we got separated while escaping here."

I briefly explained the situation.

Just as Marlo was about to speak, Captain Smith appeared.

"Noah, are you alright?"

Captain Smith had brought the two guild members who had been attacked with him.

The men the guild members had faced scattered and fled when we entered the side alley.

The guild members chose to go to Captain Smith and call for backup rather than chase the men. Captain Smith had immediately rushed to our aid upon hearing the story.

"I'm fine. But Luke is injured."

"Let's treat the injuries right away. What about these men?"

"I'm fine, really. They are also part of the group that attacked us."

Luke handed the men over to the guild members.

"Hey! What's going on!"

Marlo barged into the conversation.

"What's going on? What were you doing? Your shift is over."

Captain Smith spoke sternly to Marlo.

"It wasn't a long time. Right, Hans?"

"Yes, no problem."

I thought there were plenty of issues.

"I'll take these thugs. I'll make them regret what they did."

He even demanded that the men be handed over to him.

Both Captain Smith and Luke looked stunned.

"Trying to steal the credit? That's your usual way. I have questions for them. Marlo, I can't hand them over to you."

"What?!"

If we handed the criminals over to Marlo, they would be released without revealing their purpose or anything.

Marlo's beautiful face twisted in anger.

The guild members also reached for their weapons.

"Ugh..."

At that moment, the restrained men groaned and opened their eyes.

Luke immediately squatted in front of them and slapped their cheeks.

"Hey, who hired you? What was your purpose?"

"I, I don't know."

"Not knowing means someone hired you, right? You're not just thieves. Speak up. You were just hired, right?"

Luke waved a knife he had taken from his pocket in front of the man's face.

The man, restrained by the guild members, tried to turn his face away.

The other man, who had been silent, whispered hoarsely.

"...It's him."

"What?"

The man indicated with his chin.

It was Hans.

"He hired us. He said to kill the guild staff."

"Lie! I don't know you!"

Hans turned pale and denied it.

"It's not a lie. Your servant made the request. He said you told him to get rid of the guy quickly for your sake."

Marlo's cheek twitched.

Luke asked how he knew about Hans's servant.

"Well, I can't just follow orders blindly. I wanted to know who the client was. I tailed him after accepting the job."

"Hans, you..."

"Captain Marlo! It's not true! Please listen!"

Hans desperately tried to prove his innocence, but Marlo and the others didn't believe him.

Hans was placed under house arrest as an important witness, under the supervision of the knights.

Marlo, who had close ties with Hans, was also taken away by Captain Smith.

They were to be questioned by the knights.

The guild members contacted the third ward guild. Our afternoon work was assigned to other staff, and we headed to the knights' barracks.

"The target of this attack was Noah, right?"

"Yeah, that's probably it."

As we walked to the barracks, Alice said.

Luke nodded.

"Is it really Hans who targeted me?"

"The possibility is quite high. Hans is a follower of Marlo."

Luke speculated based on what he knew about Hans.

Since I came to the capital, the relationship between Tristan and the knights has improved.

Tristan had dominated the guild with overwhelming charisma (which Marlo lacked).

At the same time, he was so overwhelming that he seemed unapproachable.

Since I joined the knights, Tristan has been showing up at the training grounds more often.

There have been more opportunities for the knights to interact with Tristan, not just in guild matters.

The atmosphere in the guild has been improving, and the discovery of a new dungeon and the knighting of Sol and Fran are also related, according to Luke.

"In other words, Hans was probably worried. He feared the centrifugal force within the Marlo faction."

He acted because he saw me as an obstacle for Marlo.

"Does Marlo know nothing about this?"

"Well, it's hard to say. But Marlo doesn't seem to be the type to plot. If he did, he would do it more openly."

"Like when he challenged Noah to a match the other day?"

That's right.

Marlo is indeed a nasty person, but he shows a sense of chivalry.

"...The carriage accident and the attack by the fake beastmen might also be Hans's doing."

Saying it out loud, it started to seem like it could be true.

"There is a possibility. Hans is a Frater believer and is negative towards beastmen."

Another Frater believer.

I might have a slight, or rather, significant bias against the Frater religion.

Not all Frater believers are negative towards beastmen.

The Frater religion has no god.

If anything, the founder of the Frater religion might fill that role.

There are twelve saints in the Frater religion who have performed miracles and great deeds, and the believers venerate each of them.

One of these saints is a holy knight who saved the country from the Dark Age.

According to legend, this holy knight was negative towards beastmen.

Therefore, those who revere him as a saint are also negative towards beastmen.

"Right, the symbol of the holy knight was two crossed axes..."

The mark on the merchant's carriage that caused the accident was the same.

However, there are many who revere the holy knight.

It can't be concluded that Hans is the culprit just because of that.

"Anyway, I'll interrogate Hans in detail. Leave it to me!"

"Okay, got it."

Luke's eyes sparkled.

He's a reliable ally. I'm glad Luke is on my side.

When we arrived at the barracks, a restless atmosphere greeted us.

"Ah, Noah! I heard what happened! Are you okay?"

Sol ran up to us.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Luke and Alice protected me."

Fran and Gerard also came over, expressing their concern.

"...Thanks, everyone."

"What are you talking about? It's normal to worry about your comrades."

Fran patted my back to hide his embarrassment.

I always need to be protected. But there are things I can do, and I can be of help and be thanked. Some even call me a comrade.

I had various experiences soon after coming to the capital and almost regretted it.

However, meeting Tristan, Sol, Luke, and Alice has made me more positive.

"Thank you, really."

"What's with the formalities? Did you get hurt somewhere?"

We all laughed at Fran's joke.

"Noah, can I have a word?"

Turning around, I saw Deputy Leader Bard and Captain Smith.

I followed them into the building.

Bard knocked on the door of the reception room and opened it.

There stood my uncle, the Earl of Essex.

Tristan was also there, but I was so surprised that I didn't notice him at first.

"Uncle! Why are you here?"

"I had business in the capital. I was planning to go directly to the castle, but after hearing from Tristan, I decided to stop by. I'm relieved to see you're doing well."

Saying that, my uncle hugged me.

I felt a warmth in my eyes and bit my lip.

"I'm fine. I'm really fine."

Tristan and the Smith team will escort my uncle from the capital to the castle.

"Well, now