Chapter 10: The Thieves’ Guild Threatens Me, I’m So Scared!
“Where is he going?”
Nadia watched Shelley leave the Temple District and gradually head towards the filthy and chaotic slums, her expression growing increasingly puzzled.
She couldn’t understand why a noble scion, noble and elegant, would run to such a place full of beggars.
Compared to the clean, tidy Noble District patrolled by guards, the slums were like the other side of a gold coin.
Filthy, impoverished, and reeking of various excrements. The people here could barely sustain their own lives, so naturally, they had no energy to care about whether their doorsteps were dirty.
Thieves and beggars could be seen everywhere, staring intently at passersby, seemingly waiting for an opportunity to strike.
“This place is really… dirty… almost catching up to a troll’s lair!”
As a Sorcerer who had experienced many adventures, Nadia wasn’t unfamiliar with such conditions, but she certainly didn’t like them either!
After turning a corner, Shelley put on a tattered hood full of patches, hunched his body, and walked slowly towards a dark alley like an ordinary pauper.
Every city had its gray areas: the Thieves’ Guild, the Dark Brotherhood… or even cults formed by followers of certain evil gods.
Their goals were either money, satisfying desires through slaughter, or pleasing the deities they served.
Shelley walked to a dark, deserted alley, observed the secret signs on the wall, and knocked seven times on a dilapidated door.
A pair of cold eyes appeared in the crack of the door frame. After observing Shelley’s attire, a low voice said: “Who?”
“Where there is light, there is shadow. The world is divided into two poles.”
A deliberately hoarse voice came from under Shelley’s hood. After speaking, he stood quietly in place.
The eyes behind the door disappeared, and the door was quickly opened. Shelley lowered his head and walked in.
After he entered, the guard poked his head out to check the outside before slowly closing the door.
“The gray area? Isn’t he a Paladin?”
Nadia tilted her head, looking at the dim and damp underground structure before her, and the shadowy figures wearing hoods and masks.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with such places either. Before growing into her power, Nadia had also mingled in these circles, taking missions and earning rewards to eventually improve her strength.
Nadia didn’t detest evil, though she certainly couldn’t be said to like it.
But now she was very curious why Shelley would come to such a place.
“Is it because of the Charm… the demonic bloodline?”
Otherwise, there was no explanation. A Paladin who had just come out of a temple turned around and ran familiarly to the turf of the gray area.
And not to purify evil!!!
If the good deity he believed in saw this, a bolt of holy light would surely strike him into ash!
Shelley didn’t guess Nadia’s inner thoughts. Bringing her here was simply because his original itinerary was like this, and he hadn’t changed it because of her.
He wanted to display a relatively true self to Nadia “unknowingly” to satisfy her curiosity.
“Having a few flaws is best; being too perfect makes people resistant! Besides…”
“When a person makes a fool of themselves in front of others…”
Thinking of Nadia crying her heart out, Shelley also felt some strange emotions rising in his heart.
“I also have to give Nadia some opportunities to grasp my weakness, so she can feel balanced!”
“This is called strategy!”
Shaking his head gently, Shelley walked to the counter in the center of the hall and sat down. He tapped the wine glass with his finger and said to the boss dressed as a bartender:
“I want to post a mission.”
“Haha, no problem. Say it directly or write it down?”
The bartender, wearing a mask, grinned exaggeratedly and pulled out a blank commission form from under the counter.
“I’ll say it directly; you write.”
“The target is Congreve Bell, the eldest son of the old Duke Bell.”
The laughter stopped. The bartender lowered his head to scrutinize Shelley and said:
“The price for this person isn’t cheap.”
Shaking his head, Shelley said calmly:
“Don’t worry, I don’t want his life or his money.”
“The mission requirement is, within today, I want him drugged! And then…”
“Then stripped naked and delivered to the banquet hall of Marquis Rupert.”
“No! That can’t be done!” The bartender refused immediately after hearing the request, leaving no room for discussion.
This was the heir of a Grand Duke! Making him lose face so badly meant he would definitely seek revenge on people like them afterwards.
“Don’t be in a hurry to refuse. I guarantee he won’t have the leisure to care about you afterwards.”
“The Bell Ducal House won’t retaliate against you either.”
“Besides, don’t you want to hear the reward?”
Perhaps the desire for money was too strong, or perhaps Shelley’s attitude was too calm. The bartender stopped trying to see him out and whispered:
“What guarantee do you have? And what exactly is your offer?”
“He will soon lose his qualification as an heir, so naturally, he won’t have the ability to retaliate against you.”
Seeing the shock and greed in the bartender’s eyes, Shelley laughed out loud for the first time:
“Want to know? I can use this news as payment.”
Nonsense! This was big news!
The bartender’s throat moved as he quickly weighed the pros and cons of this information in his mind.
“The eldest son of a Grand Noble losing his inheritance rights? This will cause fluctuations in many aspects!”
“We… can gain a massive amount of resources through this news! Whether in money or infiltrating the upper circles!”
“This is an opportunity!”
Putting down the glass he was wiping incessantly, the bartender leaned his hands on the counter, stared at Shelley, and said in a deep voice:
“Deal! We accept this mission! But…”
The bartender and the surrounding thugs all looked at Shelley sitting steadily on the stool, staring at him with greedy and fierce eyes. The bartender threatened viciously:
“If you dare to deceive us… your corpse will appear in the stinking ditch of the slums sooner or later!”
[The Thieves’ Guild initiates a threat]
The crowd around Shelley, whether onlookers or guards of this place, stared at him with malicious intent.
Anyone threatened like this must be someone with secrets or strength, no matter what!
Otherwise, the Thieves’ Guild wasn’t some benevolent organization; killing and looting were the norm!
“Then it’s settled. After the matter is concluded, send someone to the gate of Duke Bell’s house at seven tomorrow morning to collect the item.”
[Threat Check Failed!]
Pushing the wine glass he was playing with back onto the table, Shelley stood up straight, glanced at the bartender, and laughed low:
“Very lucky. You didn’t choose to finish me off here.”
“Otherwise…”
“Your corpses would be appearing in the stinking ditch right now.”
[Shelley initiates a threat]
“You! You… Ah! Ahhh!”
Hearing Shelley’s threat, an agitated bald muscular man rushed forward. Before he could curse, he was directly knocked to the ground by Shelley.
Shelley stepped on the muscular man’s shoulder with a calm expression, pointed the machete he had snatched at the man’s eyes, lowered his head, smiled, and asked:
“Excuse me, what did you want to say just now?”
The bartender stopped the thugs who wanted to rush up and said in a deep voice to Shelley’s back:
“Let go of my man! Leave here immediately!”
Ignoring the crowd behind him, Shelley still stared at the bald man on the ground and asked softly:
“Not answering?”
“I ask for the last time, what did you want to say?”
Watching the blade gradually approaching him, the muscular man sweated profusely and shouted loudly:
“I! I wanted to say sorry! I said…”
“Too slow~”
“Ah!!!”
The tip of the blade stabbed straight into the ground next to his ear. Shelley moved his foot off him, walked towards the door, and said casually:
“Forget it. I didn’t want to know anyway. It doesn’t matter.”
“How much truth can come out of the mouths of people like you anyway?”
The main door closed again. In the quiet hall, only the terrified panting of the bald muscular man could be heard.
“…Who is he?”
Crack!
Everyone looked at the wine glass Shelley had played with, watching as it could no longer maintain its integrity and turned into a pile of shards.
Everyone stood still in place, silent.
[Threat Check Success!]
[Mass Intimidation!]
