Robbery

Riyao walked into the town he had just seen.

"Looks pretty much the same as Earth-land."

He clasped his hands behind his head, tilted his head, and looked around the street, his tone tinged with disappointment.

He wandered around aimlessly, sometimes squatting down to touch the lampposts by the roadside made of some unknown material, sometimes tilting his head to look at the strange and unusual goods in the shop windows.

Sensing that someone was following him, he deliberately turned into a secluded alley.

The alley was dimly lit, with mottled walls on both sides, broken bricks and sewage scattered on the ground, and a damp, musty smell permeated the air.

Three NPC-level thugs spawned, and the leader of the three was extremely arrogant.

He stood with his hands on his hips in the middle of the alley, chin held high, a blade of grass he'd picked up from somewhere dangling from the corner of his mouth, acting as if he were the boss of this place.

Behind him were two henchmen, one fat and one thin. The fat one was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, while the thin one was leaning to one side, peeking out. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on Riyao.

"Hey kid, you look pretty rich, how about lending a few bucks to the brothers?"

The thug stretched out a hand, spread his fingers, and waved it in front of Riyao. He had a roguish smile on his face and spoke with practiced ease, clearly having done this job more than once.

Riyao's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth slightly agape, and he froze for a moment before a big smile spread across his face. He clapped his hands, almost jumping for joy.

"Great! Finally, we get to see that iconic scene of someone being robbed in an alley!"

He rubbed his hands together excitedly, his eyes sparkling, like a player who had waited a long time for an Easter egg.

The big thug paused, his outstretched hand freezing in mid-air, his roguish smile freezing on his face. His lips twitched, and he turned to whisper to his younger brother. The three heads huddled together, their voices low and urgent.

"Hiss~ Is this kid out of his mind? Maybe we should just give up. My last shred of conscience is starting to bother me."

The thug shrank back, glancing furtively at Riyao quickly looking away.

"What my brother said makes some sense."

The skinny boy nodded repeatedly, his head bobbing like a chick pecking at rice.

Me too.

The chubby younger brother mumbled in agreement, scratching the back of his head.

Riyao's lips twitched. How dare he talk about crickets in front of me? I must be out of my mind. His smile vanished, his chin lifted slightly, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.

"You have already chosen your path to death!"

The thug turned his head, looked Riyao up and down, looked at Riyao with pity, and even shook his head slightly, letting out a sigh.

Wow, that look in his eyes! I can't stand it.

Riyao's face darkened, he clenched his right fist, and slammed it into the stone pillar beside him. His fist sank half an inch into the pillar, and cracks spread wildly from the point of contact with his fist outwards.

The entire stone pillar shattered with a deafening roar, sending fragments flying, dust billowing, and even causing the ground to tremble.

"Robbery! Hand over all your money!"

Riyao withdrew his fist, dusted off the stone powder on his hands, put his hands on his hips, raised his chin, and exuded an aura ten times more arrogant than the three thugs combined.

The three thugs stared at the shattered stone pillar, their mouths agape in shock. Their jaws snapped open, and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Without hesitation, the thug frantically pulled out the money he had on him, held it out to Riyao with both hands, his fingers trembling.

"Hehe, big brother, please keep this."

He was bent over, his smile more like a grimace, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Seeing their leader's decisive action, the two underlings exchanged a glance, then, not daring to delay, quickly took out their money and handed it to Riyao.

When the chubby boy took out his money, his hands trembled so badly that the coins clattered all over the ground. He then squatted down and frantically picked them up, tumbling and crawling as he handed them to Riyao.

Riyao nodded in satisfaction, gathered the three sums of money together, weighed them in his hand, and a smile crept onto his face.

"Good, good, you've got good judgment. Don't be so rude next time."

He held up his index finger and wagged it, speaking as if he were disciplining a schoolchild who had made a mistake, but with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Okay, okay, have a safe journey, brother."

The three thugs bowed and scraped, their faces beaming with smiles, and they all stepped aside to let Riyao pass. They smiled as they saw Riyao off to the alley entrance, even waving as if they were saying goodbye to a distinguished guest.

The younger brother asked his older brother, tilting his head and looking puzzled.

"Big brother, why don't we use magic to fight him?"

The eldest brother stood with his hands behind his back, chest puffed out, looking inscrutable, a slight smile playing on his lips, his gaze fixed on the alleyway entrance.

"When you're out in the game, you need to have a good eye. That guy looks like a super-strong idiot. Winning against him would be embarrassing, losing would be shameful, and it would just be a waste of precious magic."

He paused, then added.

"Besides, that stone pillar is harder than my head. He shattered it with one punch. Do you think your heads are harder than a stone pillar?"

Upon hearing their leader's explanation, the two underlings exclaimed in admiration and gave him a thumbs-up.

Riyao spat twice, wet his thumb and forefinger, and happily counted the money, muttering to himself. The more he counted, the brighter his smile became.

"I'm actually hungry, let's go get something to eat first."

He stuffed the money into his pocket, patted his stomach, and his stomach rumbled in perfect unison.

I randomly picked a shop that looked popular and went inside; the food smelled really good.

Without looking closely, he pushed the door open and went in. Before he could even assess the situation, he shouted, his voice echoing in the small space.

"Hey boss, bring me a copy of all your signboards!"

The shop fell silent for a moment as everyone turned to look at him.

"Uh... this is a clinic."

A middle-aged man wearing glasses behind the counter adjusted his glasses, his expression indescribable.

Riyao feigned composure.

"Okay, don't do that again next time."

Riyao muttered something nonsensical, then turned and walked out, appearing quite calm.

Leila laughter came from behind, along with a muttered word that was lowered but not completely suppressed.

Is this person not quite right in the head?

This time, Riyao observed carefully, standing on the street and looking at the signboard for a long time before pushing open the door to confirm that it said "restaurant".

He sat down and ordered a lot of food, intending to try everything, since he was quite curious about what food in another world tasted like.

Hearing conversations nearby, Riyao's ears twitched. He held his chopsticks in mid-air, tilted his head slightly, and casually picked up some food.

"Have you heard? The Royal Army has discovered Fairy Tail and is on their way to wipe them out."

"I know, I even saw it; Royal Army headed west."

"Do you think we should go take a look? Just in case there are any lost magical items, we could resell them for a good amount of money."

Riyao quickly devoured the food on the table, his chopsticks flying, plates disappearing one after another, his mouth bulging as he kept stuffing more food in, and in no time he had the whole table cleaned.

He slammed the money he had just stolen onto the table with a loud "thud," making the bowls and plates next to him jump.

"Don't bother looking for me, boss! I have an urgent matter!"

He jumped up, slid the chair back, and rushed to the door.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

The owner peeked halfway out from the kitchen, his hands still covered in flour.

"I already said there's no need to look anymore."

Riyao, who had run far away, responded with a single sentence, his footsteps thumping as they faded into the distance.

The boss stomped his foot in anger, grabbed the money on the table, counted it, and his face turned green.

"No, this little bit of money isn't enough, you little rascal!"