Moonlight fell across the young man. Havent's aura grew increasingly intense, and Keke, frightened out of his wits, went weak at the knees and collapsed helplessly to the ground.
"Please, please, don't kill me. I still have children to support."
Ignoring Keke's pleas, Havent coldly raised his longsword.
"No. You don't know you were wrong. You only know you're about to die."
As Havent's words fell, two flashes of sword light streaked through the air, and blood sprayed directly from the severed wounds.
Looking at the five bodies on the ground, Havent wiped his blade on Keke's corpse, sheathed the longsword at his waist, and left without looking back.
After a while, a patrolling guard approached. Seeing the people sprawled all over the alley, he assumed they were drunkards who had passed out again. He was about to wake them up; letting them freeze to death would be bad.
But as he drew closer, the smell of blood in the air made the guard realize something was wrong. He approached and raised his torch, only to feel as if he had stumbled upon the site of some cult ritual.
Whee! Whee! Whee!
As several piercing whistle blasts rang out, Havent, already tucked beneath his blankets, wriggled comfortably a couple of times and gradually drifted off to sleep.
After sleeping soundly through the night, Havent had an excellent dream. After squirming beneath the covers for quite some time, he finally climbed out of bed and glanced at the crude clock hanging on the wall.
"Damn, how is it already noon?"
After getting dressed, Havent pulled the rope beside his bed. Before long, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in. It's unlocked."
With a creak, the door opened.
Bru walked in absentmindedly. For some reason, Linda's eyes had been swollen from crying all morning, and no matter how he tried to comfort her, he could not soothe her.
Seeing Havent look at him, Bru showed great respect toward this generous guest and bowed politely as he asked,
"Hello, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Are my clothes dry? I'm leaving, Bru."
Hearing that this generous guest was leaving, a look of regret briefly appeared on Bru's face, but he quickly composed himself.
"They're ready, sir. I'll bring them up right away."
Soon, Bru returned carrying Havent's clothes. He placed them neatly folded on the table and respectfully asked,
"Is there anything else you need?"
Havent rubbed his empty stomach, pulled out a Silver Grol, and tossed it to Bru.
"Bring me something to eat. The stew I had yesterday was pretty good. You seem to be in a bad mood, Bru."
Already feeling upset, Bru was deeply moved when this generous guest showed such concern for him. He immediately poured out everything that had been bothering him.
After listening to Bru's grievances, Havent wore a strange expression. So what happened last night was somehow his fault for showing off his wealth? Still, this young man really was pitiful. Havent sympathetically said to Bru,
"Yeah, women can be pretty strange. But I think she'll be fine in a few days. You're a decent, honest man, after all."
Hearing Havent's assessment of him, Bru was extremely grateful. He bowed and went downstairs to fetch Havent's food.
After eating a quick meal, Havent gathered his things and left the Sleeping Giant Inn to meet up with the Gale Mercenary Group.
"Will, Will, why are you only getting here now? Did you know there was a bloody battle in town in the middle of the night?"
Seeing Havent enter, Paimon put down the chicken leg in his hand and came over.
"What bloody battle?" Havent asked, pretending not to know.
Paimon pulled Havent over to the table and sat him down, then eagerly began telling him about it.
"You have no idea. The whole town is going crazy over it today. In an alley on Redfruit Street, five dismembered corpses were found. The town guards investigated all night. After dawn, they confirmed the identities of those people."
Havent listened to Paimon's explanation with interest. After last night's simulated swift slaughter, he had not left behind any evidence, so he wanted to hear what everyone else was saying.
"Those guys were locals from Streamwood Town. They were basically a small mercenary squad, but they had a terrible reputation and often threw their weight around.
So the local residents did not feel much about their deaths. The tavern owner even thought it was karma for all the evil they had done.
Still, I went to take a look this morning. That person was definitely an expert, though it might have been two people. Either way, they were incredibly skilled. According to the guards, those guys barely put up any real resistance. There were even two low-ranked warriors among them."
At that moment, Wells and Baki returned from outside and found empty seats. Listening to the younger members discuss the battle from before dawn, they smiled. Young people always loved stories about heroes and chivalry.
Watching Havent listen to Paimon's boasting with a smile, old Wells vaguely felt that the method of attack being described sounded familiar.
"Boss! Boss!"
Hearing Baki call him, Wells snapped out of his daze.
"What is it, Baki?"
Having recovered his senses, he turned toward his deputy.
"The merchant association sent word asking whether we can leave tomorrow. Their goods are ready."
"Right, right. Are our things ready too?"
Baki flipped through his notebook and said,
"Okro and the others have already spoken with the stable owner and paid the money. We can take the horses whenever we want."
After hearing Baki's report, Wells nodded and rose to his feet, walking over to the table.
"Boys, pack your things. We'll have a good meal tonight. We leave tomorrow."
That evening, after eating his fill, Havent had originally planned to follow Paimon and the other young men in the group out to broaden his horizons. However, old Wells stopped them, saying they would be leaving early the next morning.
With nothing better to do, they started wrestling in an open area. After roughhousing for several hours, Wells drove them off to rest. Even lying in bed, Paimon still had no intention of sleeping.
"Will, where are you from? It would be great if you didn't leave!"
Havent froze for a moment at Paimon's question.
"Hm? I never said I was leaving. I only just joined."
"Really? But Uncle said—ah, no, the captain said... Wells is my real uncle. Forget it, I'll just call him Uncle."
Paimon leaned against his blankets and stared at the ceiling as he continued,
"Uncle said you aren't one of us. You only joined us temporarily, and maybe you'll leave once we reach our destination. But when that happens, we'll still be friends, right?"
Looking at the young man in the opposite bed, Havent smiled. He really liked this straightforward fellow, even though they had not known each other for long.
"Of course, Paimon. We'll always be good friends."
The young man let out a long breath, then turned toward Havent and flashed a row of neat teeth.
"That's good. We'll always be good friends."
Before you continue