"Whoa, well, if it isn't my dear niece Celia! What brings you to see your uncle all of a sudden?"
Martin stepped outside with his underlings. Seeing Celia approaching, he put on a sleazy smile.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your parents. I promised them I'd look after you if anything happened, but when I went to find you, I learned you'd already found a job."
Then Martin noticed Lin Hao behind her and offered an extravagantly theatrical bow. "Oh, this must be our human hero from the Great Swamp, who fought so bravely against the Lizardmen.
"Our renowned Baron Link. Please take good care of my little niece."
William, who carried an axe on his shoulder, stepped forward and shouted crudely, "What? So it's a noble lord. I thought another gang had come to attack us. I was wondering when gang members started wearing full plate.
"Now this is a rare sight. The noble lords on high want to come roll in the mud with us?"
William's words brought another round of laughter from the people behind him, who spoke in glib voices. "Scared me to death!"
"Who knew we'd offended a noble lord?"
"But it's certainly rare for a noble lord to visit a bunch of peasants like us."
"People would laugh if word got out."
"Haha!"
"Stop laughing. Are you looking down on a noble lord?"
"Sorry, I really can't help it."
"Don't tell me another down-and-out knight wants to steal our gang's livelihood."
"Don't talk nonsense. This is a baron."
The gang members all wore cheeky, sleazy grins.
Having survived in gangs for so long, they naturally had their own ways of staying alive!
They had their methods for dealing with commoners. With honest commoners, they used viciousness, malice, and cruelty to frighten them off.