It was a familiar scene. Faced with an invitation from a local gang, Renato felt inexplicably nostalgic.
Back in Fried City, he had entered the city as an Adventurer just beginning to make a name for himself, and the city's gangs had taken an interest in him, hoping to drag him into the maelstrom of their turf wars.
He had only just left Brekka Town then and knew little about the situation in the city. He also had an innocent little dependent in tow. The two of them had squeezed onto a small bed for the night, wondering how to save enough money to make it through the winter.
But even when Renato had been penniless, he had never considered joining those gangsters who extorted the poor and acted as lapdogs for merchants.
He knew what path he wanted to take. Security bought with so-called gang loyalty and doing other people's dirty work was never reliable.
Besides, if his own abilities could earn him a place in an official local organization, why would he mingle with city gangs that were little more than puppets in the hands of councilors?
In the past, Renato might have had to play along with these gangsters to survive, talking his way around them before making a graceful exit. Now, though, he found the invitation more amusing than anything.
Could these gang enforcers really not tell how much his equipment was worth?
Renato did not believe the man was blind or stupid. If this burly member of the Ironhook Gang still dared to block his path at the docks and deliver an invitation despite knowing he wore a great deal of enchanted equipment, either his leader was genuinely confident or the gang boss had something else in mind.
Renato personally suspected the latter. After all,