Nataya

When conflict broke out, civilians had always avoided it like the plague. Who would linger? They wished they could leave at once, lest they get caught in the fallout and become the unlucky ones.

For mercenaries, however, conflict was the best thing there was. They would be the finest audience. When the four guards leveled their spears at Diya in unison, every passing mercenary stopped in their tracks. One by one, they gathered around. Those who did not know one another stood quietly, watching Diya and the four guards with great interest, while those who were acquainted began chatting.

"What's going on? The guards are actually going to fight a savage? But why would there be a savage here?"

"Could it be this savage has no money and can't pay the entry fee, so..."

"No, you've all got it wrong. This guy isn't a savage. He should be a vagrant. He came all the way here, and the guards seem to have seen some money in his purse, so they found an excuse to take it," said a mercenary who had happened to walk over with Diya, revealing the truth as someone in the know.

"Oh, so that's how it is. These City Guard bastards are all like bandits. If I didn't still want to make a living in Luo City, I'd have chopped them down long ago."

The four guards naturally heard the words of the mercenaries around them. Their hearts could not help growing a little flustered, though their expressions did not change. Only their drifting eyes betrayed the state of their minds.

Stirring up public wrath never ended well, no matter where one was.

"Hurry up! Did you hear me?" one guard snapped, panicking. He thrust his spear forward. Diya reached out and grabbed the shaft. The guard tried to yank the spear back, only to find that it seemed fixed in place, not moving in the slightest. His face strained until it was flushed bright red. The other three guards made as if to attack. "Let go!"

Diya glanced at them, then abruptly released his hand. The guard had just been pulling backward with all his strength, and as a result he stumbled back several steps and fell sitting on the ground, drawing loud laughter from the surrounding mercenaries.

"Too damn funny. So this is the City Guard? They're no different from soft-legged shrimp."

"With trash like this, I could pinch several to death with one hand. Other than relying on the City Guard's power to extort money from civilians, they can't do anything else. I heard that phantom thief Jeanne stole some more things a few days ago. It's already been several months, and the City Guard still hasn't even touched her shadow."

"Yeah, that phantom thief Jeanne really is impressive. I heard she's never failed even once."

"Which only sets off how useless the City Guard is."

Diya took the mercenaries' words in, but in his heart he muttered, Looks like Luo City hasn't been peaceful lately. Was it a mistake to come here? But since he had already come, there was no possibility of turning back. Trouble was trouble.

Diya reached toward his purse, making the four guards tense up, thinking he was about to do something. Diya's hand once again slipped into the purse, and with a release of mental power, he instantly stored all the gold and silver coins inside the Horadric Cube. The Horadric Cube had already acknowledged Diya as its master, so Diya could use it without needing to take it out.

He handed the purse over. One guard quickly took it and opened it to look, then immediately began cursing. There were only eleven copper coins inside. Had he heard wrong just now? That vagrant had just reached his hand into the purse—could he have taken the money away?

Diya understood what they meant, but he had no intention of explaining. Instead, he fixed his eyes tightly on the four guards, suddenly making them feel a wave of oppression. After they faced off for a few seconds, the guard suddenly gave an embarrassed laugh, muttered something under his breath, and stepped aside, seeming to feel that Diya was not easy to provoke.

"So it ends just like that? I thought there'd be a good show to watch."

"These City Guard guys really are cowards. They're even afraid of a savage."

It was not that Diya did not want to make those guards suffer, but he had to consider the consequences. Right now, his goal was to enter the city. If he had been leaving and would never return, he would not have minded properly teaching those guards a lesson. But reality left him no choice. Insufficient strength was one thing; being in a hurry to enter the city was another.

The setting sun sank westward. It was already dusk. Diya officially entered Luo City. Wherever he walked, the surrounding crowd automatically moved aside, because the smell on him was simply too hard to bear. Anyone within several meters would be assaulted by it.

Diya paid those people no mind. Walking along Luo City's main street, he looked left and right. Most of the buildings on either side of the street were shops. Some shops were connected tightly together, while between others were secluded little paths. Diya took a couple extra looks at those relatively out-of-the-way places. Aside from small cities like Carlos, in relatively large cities, there would always be a certain kind of people, commonly called guides.

So-called guides were pathfinders, people in a role similar to tour guides. They were extremely familiar with the city they lived in. As long as it was somewhere inside the city or anywhere nearby, they would know it. Therefore, most people arriving in a new city for the first time would choose to find a guide and have them lead the way, paying a small sum in return.

Under normal circumstances, those who became guides were impoverished commoners whose lives were extremely difficult, and among them, youngsters and children made up the majority. Their bodies were not strong enough for hard labor, and they had no craft, so they could not do skilled work. They could only familiarize themselves with the whole city and then take up guide work, which basically allowed them to barely maintain a livelihood, because cities where guides appeared usually had a relatively large flow of people coming and going.

After walking for a while, Diya felt puzzled. Did the books not say that whenever someone entered a relatively large city for the first time, guides would basically come over and ask? And as guides, they could tell whether someone was a resident of the city or not. Then why, even now, had no one come to inquire after him, an outsider who was obviously one at a glance?

After thinking carefully for a moment and seeing the passersby pointing at him while wearing expressions of wanting nothing more than to avoid him, Diya finally remembered his current appearance. He was no different from a beggar, and looked even more miserable than those guides. Under such circumstances, naturally no guide would come to ask him. In the end, all the problems still lay with him.

Diya smiled helplessly and could only take the initiative. He walked toward a corner on the left, where there was a child who looked to be about ten years old.

Slightly curly, near-black hair covered the child's head and ears. The round little face had sunken cheeks and was filthy, making it impossible to see the actual features. In that regard, the child was not much different from Diya at the moment. The body wrapped in worn-out coarse cloth was so frail it seemed unable to withstand the wind, looking like the very picture of malnutrition.

The child looked at Diya approaching with some terror, unconsciously shrinking their small body back toward the corner of the wall.

"Don't be afraid. You're a guide, right?" Diya tried to make himself seem gentler, blooming into a smile. But his dark face formed a stark contrast with his white teeth, making him look as if he were wearing a demon's smile. The child's legs trembled, and they suddenly fell backward.

Diya shook his head. Seeing that the child looked as if they had seen a ghost, he could only turn and leave, preparing to find another guide.

"Sir, please wait." A somewhat frightened voice abruptly sounded behind him, rather immature and tiny, like the hum of a thin mosquito. It was actually a girl's voice. "I'm a guide. I can lead the way for you. Wherever you want to go, I know it. I'm very familiar with Luo City. As long as... as long as you give me some food."

"No problem. First, take me to a clothing store. I need to buy some clothes to change into," Diya said, pointing at the clothes on his body.

"Sir, please follow me." The little guide walked ahead somewhat nervously to lead the way, but her voice was very gentle. Diya smiled faintly and followed.