The Open Conspiracy

Chapter 50: The Overt Conspiracy

On the gray-white flagstones, stained with specks of dark red, crowds of people walked back and forth. Every person cast glances of tension and wariness at those passing by. The merchants on either side of the street no longer wore their usual jovial expressions; beside them were weapons stained with blood.

The commoners hurrying along the street also looked rushed. Beneath their patched clothing, they too concealed weapons. In the street corners, a group of dirty children stared intently at the passersby. When they spotted a suitable target, they would quietly follow.

Crack!

"Ah!!!"

The sudden noise caused a brief pause in the bustling crowd on the street. Upon seeing a figure completely shrouded in a gray-black robe standing before a youth lying on the ground, the adventurers in armor revealed smiles of interest, as if they knew something behind the scenes.

The commoners, however, were long accustomed to such sights and quickly lowered their heads, walking away into the distance.

"Kid, what do you think you're doing?"

A voice, slightly childish yet filled with chilling intent, rang out. Sally, peering through the gap in her hood, looked at the youth lying on the ground before her, his face contorted in pain. One of his arms was completely broken, white bone exposed to the air, connected only by shreds of flesh.

Just moments ago, as Sally was silently observing her surroundings, this youth had bumped into her. As the youth was about to leave, Sally, without hesitation, broke his arm.

"Help! Help! An adventurer is bullying a commoner!"

The youth did not answer Sally's question. Instead, he lay on the ground shouting, even raising his injured arm high. Coupled with his frail body and tattered clothes, he looked like a weak commoner being bullied by an adventurer, trying to garner sympathy from the onlookers.

"Hmph!"

Sally snorted. Seeing the youth completely ignoring her, she directly kicked him over. With a crack, the youth's only remaining hand was reduced to pulp. Two people who had just arrived from outside the crowd saw this scene, and the expressions on their faces shifted slightly.

"Speak, who sent you?"

Sally looked down at the youth beneath her feet and questioned him. Then, she raised her head, her purple irises sweeping coldly over the surrounding onlookers. The adventurers, seeing Sally look their way, sneered as if looking at dead men, showing no intention of leaving.

"Esteemed adventurer, that's enough."

At this moment, two men in black clothes walked out from the crowd. One of them approached Sally, glanced at the groaning youth on the ground, and then looked up at Sally expressionlessly, saying.

"Was this your doing?"

Sally ignored the man in front of her. Instead, she deliberately began to crush the youth's wound with her foot in front of the man. Bright red blood stained the sole of her shoe, and the youth's groans instantly became more and more piercing.

"Esteemed adventurer, you must be new to Grant. If you're willing to let him go, perhaps we can become friends. After all, you wouldn't want anything unpleasant to happen, would you?"

The man in black watched the youth on the ground groan louder and louder. He glanced at him, his face darkening, and said word by word. However, his calm tone was not a threat, but rather like stating a fact.

"Hmph! Be more careful next time. If something like this happens again, I'll kill him directly!"

Sally looked at the man in front of her, snorted, then bent down, retrieved a cloth bag from the youth's clothes, and turned to walk out of the crowd. The man in black did not stop her. He merely waved his hand, and several youths emerged from a corner, carrying away the person lying on the ground before turning to leave.

However, before leaving, the man in black made a gesture to the youths taking the boy away. When the sun rose the next morning, the only place the boy would appear was in the city's sewers.

After all, for them, the boy, whose hands were now crippled, was useless. As for giving him healing potions, it was out of the question; their values were simply not equal.

A smart one, after all.

From within the crowd, the man in black chuckled softly as he watched Sally's retreating back, then blended into the crowd and disappeared. As for coming to find trouble with Sally this time, it was merely them carrying out routine duties under orders from above. The boy was just a pawn used for testing; no one cared about him.

"Alright, Sally, those watchful eyes are gone."

Inside a tavern, Lu Minghao jumped out from Sally's hood and looked at the bustling crowd outside the window. He turned to Sally and nodded. Ever since entering the city, Lu Minghao had noticed the prying eyes in the street corners.

Following these gazes, Lu Minghao saw the children hiding in the corners. Every time Sally passed a place, there would be similar presences. Because of this, Lu Minghao guessed they were being targeted. As for who was targeting them, it was most likely the rulers of this city.

The army of the Kingdom of Ister.

Lu Minghao was not surprised by this. If it were him, and someone acted strangely and presented a clearly fake identification, he would certainly target them and send people to test them.

And just as Lu Minghao had thought, shortly after entering the city, Sally encountered the boy who had stolen her coin purse. Lu Minghao had directly instructed Sally to break his arm and act arrogantly yet pragmatically.

Ignoring the boy, or killing him outright, would only bring trouble to Sally and Lu Minghao. If they let him go, the other party would assume Sally's strength was mediocre and then find an excuse to capture Sally and throw her into the mines.

Killing the boy would give the city guards a perfect excuse to act forcefully. Lu Minghao had noticed the city guards watching from not far outside the crowd earlier.

The current situation was ideal. It demonstrated a certain level of strength without losing control. This would cause those people to temporarily relax their surveillance, especially since Sally's stated purpose for entering the city was to participate in a war mission.

"However, these guys really don't hide their actions at all."

The next second, Lu Minghao looked at what was happening on the street. Just like what Sally had encountered, a man completely wrapped in a black robe was surrounded by a crowd. However, after having his wallet stolen, he directly killed the boy and was then defeated and captured by the city guards who had coincidentally arrived.

As for what would happen next, he would most likely be forcibly made to sign a magic contract and become cannon fodder. The adventurers nearby were already accustomed to this, as eleven out of ten people who came here hiding their identities had some kind of problem.

"Minghao, why are they doing this? Aren't they afraid that adventurers will stop coming to this city if they find out?"

At this moment, Sally walked over, picked up Lu Minghao, and looked at the dispersing crowd below and the man being taken away by the city guards, asking. She knew that if adventurers found out their city's rulers were doing such things, they would definitely not choose to come here again.

"Sally, haven't you noticed? The adventurers who entered the city with you haven't encountered this. Only those who hide their identities, like us, have."

Lu Minghao had already discovered earlier that only those who hid their identities were being targeted. After all, those who came here and hid their identities must have problems. They were either like him and Sally with their own objectives, or they were wanted in their own kingdoms, or they were thieves, bandits, and the like.

For such people, if they had strength and could be controlled, the rulers of this city wouldn't mind turning a blind eye. For those without enough strength, or those who, like the one being taken away below, failed to understand the situation, no one would care if they died, were captured to mine, or became cannon fodder.

As for the adventurers and merchants with legitimate identities, they wouldn't encounter such things. In fact, they were well aware of such matters, otherwise, why would they have the look of watching a show?

Moreover, many people hiding their identities also knew about this, meaning that only those who didn't understand the current situation or lacked strength would be captured.

Something happened yesterday, and Daidai returned home, so the update was delayed until early this morning. Normal update times will resume today. I also ask for your continued readership.

With enough readership, Slime might get recommendations next week, and this book will have a future. Thank you all for your support!

Additionally, let's set up a bonus chapter rule: one bonus chapter for every 100 monthly votes, one bonus chapter for every 1000 recommendation votes, and one bonus chapter for every 100 investment.

Starting from tomorrow's update, Daidai will explain the situation after each update. If the conditions are met, bonus chapters will be added immediately!