Stigug

The town of Stigug lay on the border of the Kingdom of Fiore.

In this town,

the people who gathered here in the greatest numbers weren't Mages, but all kinds of mercenaries, hunters, and assorted other characters...

Mercenaries and hunters belonged to the "Mercenary Guild" and the "Hunter Guild," respectively!

Although both guilds were only briefly mentioned in the original story, they were far from nobodies in this world. On the contrary, the "Mercenary Guild" and the "Hunter Guild" were both renowned organizations.

The "Mercenary Guild" was made up of powerful fighters skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Its guiding principle was to use physical combat against magic.

The people gathered in the "Hunter Guild," on the other hand, were a more mixed bunch. Some were Mages, while others were powerful fighters who couldn't use magic.

Mages made up only a small portion of the population in this world, after all.

In terms of numbers alone, the people gathered in these two major guilds might not be all that fewer than those in the Mage Guild...

Ul walked along the streets of Stigug, drawing plenty of glances!

The main reason was that his bearing seemed a little out of place here. He was a bit too "refined"!

Most of the people on Stigug's streets had a fierce air about them. Many carried weapons, and when they looked around at passersby, their eyes were instinctively wary.

Compared with them, Ul looked far too young and innocent.

He looked just like a pretty boy...ahem, a Mage!

Feeling all the various "ill-intentioned" gazes around him, Ul suddenly understood why Jericho had chosen to flee to this place!

He'd seen Jericho's face on the wanted poster. He had to admit, someone like Jericho, who had clearly grown up crooked, could blend in perfectly with this crowd.

But Ul couldn't!

Here,

a handsome man was practically a beacon in the darkness, completely out of place among everyone else!

Ul also spotted some soldiers patrolling the streets, but compared with other cities, patrols here were clearly much less frequent.

Obviously,

the kingdom knew what kind of people had gathered here.

Ul guessed that as long as no one was killed in Stigug, the patrols would turn a blind eye.

That was why,

though the town seemed chaotic, it still had its limits...

As Ul gradually approached the center of Stigug, the number of people around him began to increase...

At one point,

"Smack!"

Ul suddenly reached out and caught a black hand sneaking toward his pocket. Then he yanked hard, pulling out a skinny boy.

"Kid, you've got some nerve!"

Ul looked at the golden-haired boy he'd caught and spoke coldly.

"Let go of me! What do you want? A robbery! Someone's robbing me!"

The moment Ul grabbed him, the golden-haired boy began struggling. As he fought, he shouted loudly. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was the victim!

But how many people living here were fools? Before long, a crowd had gathered around them!

Yet not one of them tried to save the golden-haired boy. No one even stepped in to break up the fight. They all looked like spectators in the front row, ready to enjoy the show.

The golden-haired boy was about the same size as Ul, but he obviously couldn't match Ul's strength!

No matter how desperately he struggled, Ul's grip was like an iron vise and didn't budge in the slightest.

Finally,

the golden-haired boy seemed to be pushed to the limit. He opened his mouth and tried to bite Ul's arm...

Fortunately, Ul reacted quickly and dodged at once. Then he grabbed the golden-haired boy with his other hand and hurried away.

Just as Ul was leaving,

several small figures in the crowd quietly followed after him...

"Thud!"

In a certain alley, Ul tossed the golden-haired boy to the ground and began slowly, "Kid, I want to ask you something..."

"Help! Someone's robbing me!"

As soon as the golden-haired boy hit the ground, he opened his mouth and shouted. At the same time, he tried to run out of the alley.

Seeing the golden-haired boy's shameless behavior,

Ul's expression slowly turned cold...

Just as the golden-haired boy ran past Ul, Ul suddenly kicked him with a roundhouse kick, sending him flying back.

"Cough, cough!!!"

Ul hadn't put all his strength into the kick, but for the golden-haired boy, the pain was still unbearable. He almost immediately fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and rolling around, his face deathly pale.

"Kid, I have limited patience. I'm going to ask you something now. If you give me a good answer, then I'll let you off for stealing from me. Otherwise, you can spend the rest of your life as a cripple!" Ul spoke with a cold expression.

Ul could tell the golden-haired boy was a poor kid.

But...that didn't give him the right to steal things without being punished.

"Do you know this person?"

Ul crouched in front of the golden-haired boy and unrolled Jericho's wanted poster, showing him the portrait.

"Cough, cough!!!"

The golden-haired boy continued rolling on the ground in pain without even lifting his head, as though he hadn't heard Ul at all!

Seeing how stubborn the golden-haired boy was, Ul's gaze turned even colder. "Good. Looks like you're useless to me. In that case, you can spend the rest of your life as a cripple!"

With that,

Ul slowly stood up and raised his foot, ready to teach the golden-haired boy a lesson.

But just then, several dark figures suddenly appeared behind Ul. At the same time, a childish voice cried out angrily,

"Stop! Don't you dare bully Big Brother Gu Yi!"