"Business?
What business do you have so late at night? Let's hear it … "Claude suddenly felt a little happy.
He ignored the two figures blocking his way and asked in a low voice as he continued to walk forward.
"Screw you! Didn't you hear me telling you to scram?!"
One of the black figures roared. He rubbed his fist as he strode over, looking like he wanted to teach Claude a lesson.
Claude had seen his fair share of people like that. In less than five seconds, he knocked the man to the ground and stomped on him with his foot.
"Tell me, what's your gang up to this time?" Claude exerted force on his foot, causing the man to rub his face against the ground.
The other black figure took two steps forward. He didn't think that his comrade would be taken down so quickly. He stood there, not knowing what to do.
Seeing Claude torture his comrade, he mustered his courage and yelled, "Stop! Let him go!"
"Oh, I forgot there's another one."
The one on the ground was rather tough. His scalp was already bleeding from the rubbing, but he still didn't make a sound. Claude felt that he might as well change targets.
He kicked the head of the one on the ground and he fainted with a grunt.
Claude walked towards the figure in front of him, who panicked and pulled out a dagger from his waist. "You … Don't! Come here! I … I have a knife."
Claude ignored him and continued walking forward.
The figure in front panicked when he saw Claude approaching. He tossed the dagger in his hand at Claude and turned to run. As he ran, he yelled, "Quick, help! There's … there's … there's …"
A Magic Missile hit him in the buttocks and he collapsed on the spot. "Ouch …"
That was painful.
Claude sweated profusely. He had been aiming for his thighs, but he didn't think that the fellow's legs would be so short. He ended up hitting his buttocks instead.
Even if he was saved, he would be paralyzed for work.
Before Claude even got close, the fellow fainted from the pain.
After some thought, he searched the bodies of the two fellows on the ground. Regrettably, they didn't even have a single thale on them.
"Darn it. You're so poor and you still have the face to come out," Claude muttered.
The sound of hurried footsteps came from the corner in front. Obviously, the cry of the guy who fainted from the pain had alarmed the people who were working in front.
The alley was dark and he could only vaguely make out silhouettes. Claude was rather impressed by the four Blacksnake members for their keen eyesight to be able to tell that he wasn't one of their own.
Claude's robe made him look like a black bat, while the two on the ground were wearing worn-out woolen garments. It was only natural that he would be able to recognize them.
Seeing their two fallen comrades fumbling through their robes, the four gang members were enraged and drew their weapons as they charged over.
"F * ck this bastard to death! He actually dared to rob us!"
It was a pity that they didn't have the chance to get close to Claude.
Claude, who was already prepared, shot out four Magic Missiles with a flick of his wrist. For him, that distance was more than enough to take down the four gangsters.
"Ouch …"
"Ah!"
"Ugh … Ugh …"
The first two fell to the ground while clutching their wounds, but the third was rather unlucky. He happened to be in front of his comrade and took a Magic Missile for him.
He grunted and fell to the ground, dead.
If one Magic Missile could be saved in time, then two Magic Missiles would definitely kill him.
After all, it was the same as being shot by a flintlock at close range. Even a thick wooden door would have a hole in it, let alone a human body that was weaker than that.
Even though Claude mostly aimed for the abdomen and lower abdomen, he didn't mind if he hit a vital spot. At such a close distance, he only cared about whether he hit the target or not. He didn't really care if he killed them.
In any case, the more Blacksnake bastards that died, the better. He already had quite a number of gang members on his hands, so a few more wouldn't make much of a difference.
In the blink of an eye, three of his comrades fell to the ground. The last member who managed to dodge a Magic Missile was so frightened that he didn't dare to charge forward anymore. He looked at the black silhouette that was less than three to four meters away from him and couldn't help but tremble.
At that moment, a crack appeared in the dark clouds in the sky and a ray of moonlight shone through.
The alley became a little brighter.
He finally got a good look at Claude's attire. He wore a dark-colored robe, a hood and a black mask. His mind flashed as the terrifying scenes and rumors from his memories flashed through his mind. He immediately knew who he was facing.
"Thud."
His hand axe fell to the ground and he immediately knelt. "Don't, don't kill me. Lord … Lord … I surrender …"
Just as Claude was about to fire another Magic Missile to knock the remaining gangster down, he didn't think that the remaining gangster would be so cowardly. Not only did he kneel down, he even begged for mercy.
However, Claude was a little taken aback when he heard him beg. "Y-You know me."
The member looked at Claude's robe and nodded furiously. "Y-You're a Lord Magus. P-please forgive me for my offense."
Claude followed his gaze to the robe he was wearing and understood that he had killed quite a number of Blacksnake members with this getup. It seemed that most of the gang knew that there was a magus who liked to wear a hooded robe and had injured quite a few of them.
"What kind of shady business is your gang doing in this alley at night? You even sealed off the road and didn't let anyone pass?" Claude asked calmly.
The kneeling member finally understood why the mysterious magus had chosen to deal with them. It was like a calamity descended from the heavens. Of all times, he had to pass through the alley at this time.
They were truly unlucky to have chosen this time to do something. Weren't they just rushing to their deaths?
"M-Lord Mage, our second leader brought us here to negotiate with Shark. It's about the shares of the seven taverns in the docks." The Blacksnake Gang member hurriedly revealed what they were here for.
"Negotiate with Shark?" Claude gave it some thought and felt that something wasn't right. "Negotiate with Shark here?
Are you f * cking kidding me? Why would Shark be in this alley?
The docks are their territory, aren't they? "
"No, it's true, Lord Magus. You might not know this, but the current chairman of Shark, Gerrard's lover, lives in this alley. That's why he comes here every night.
The reason our second-in-command brought us here to stop them is to make Gerrard sign on the shares of the seven taverns in the docks. "
"That doesn't seem right. Didn't they say that Blacksnake can't cause trouble for Shark before the merchant fleet returns?
I heard that was a promise made by your boss himself in the town hall. "
"Well, Lord Magus, you might not know this, but it's already the middle of February and the merchant fleet hasn't returned yet.
It's said that they won't be coming back, so the peace treaty between Shark and Blacksnake has been nullified.
As for the promise made by our boss in the town hall, it doesn't count anymore.
The big shots of the town hall who vouched for the peace treaty have already been relieved of their duties. Nobody cares about them anymore … "Claude smiled bitterly.
He didn't think that his father, Morssen, was one of the big shots who suppressed Blacksnake back then.
"Whitestag is now the biggest gang in Blacksnake. Our boss has taken up the role of a platoon jarl, so our second-in-command went to negotiate with Shark's Gerrard to get his hands on the shares of the taverns and chase Shark out of the docks."
The kneeling Blacksnake member was still jabbering on and on.
Claude thought, As expected, Blacksnake wouldn't carry out the peace treaty so obediently. They started suppressing Shark the moment my father and the others were relieved of their duties, and that's even when their boss was still in the military.
Had it not been for the town's military, the two gangs would've fought each other until their brains bled. They wouldn't stop until a few of them died every day.
"Do you have money?" Claude suddenly asked.
"Uh, yes, I do."
The kneeling thug didn't know what the question was, but he still answered honestly, afraid of angering Claude.
"How much do you have?"
The member hurriedly took out his money pouch. "I … I have a thale and a little more than three riyases."
Claude snatched the pouch from him and pointed at his three companions on the ground. "Search them and find all their money.
Hurry, I'll teach you a lesson if you hide anything. "
The change in style was too quick. The Blacksnake Gang member couldn't react in time and was puzzled. "M-Lord Mage, w-what are you doing?"
"Hurry up. Didn't those two block the road say they wanted to rob me? You said I was the one who robbed you when you rushed over, so I don't want to disappoint you. I'm officially robbing you this time. I hope the money you have satisfies me.
If you don't, tell me. Just cut off a hand or a leg. "
The Blacksnake member crawled over to his comrade and searched his comrade's body. Perhaps because they had been together for a long time, he knew where his comrade's money was hidden. In just a short moment, he had three money pouches in his hand.
As he was worried that Claude would be angered by the lack of money, he removed a gold ring from one of his companions' fingers.
As he searched the pouch, one of his companions tried to resist, only to be slapped in the face. "Bloody hell, I'm trying to save you. Don't be ungrateful."
Three money pouches and a golden ring were held in the hands of the kneeling Blacksnake gang member.
"Pour it all into one pouch. Let's see how much there is in total," said Claude as he spun the hand axe he picked up from the ground.
The thug stared at the slowly spinning hand axe in Claude's hand and gulped down a mouthful of saliva. He hurriedly lowered his head and counted the coins in his pouch under the moonlight.
"M-Lord Magus, there's a total of two thales, four riyases, seven sunars, three fennies, and six pennies."
"Bloody hell, you're all poor bastards. Can't you bring more money when you come out?" cursed Claude.
The kneeling Blacksnake wanted to say that they had never paid when they bought things in the slums. Besides, they didn't have anything good to buy, and they didn't dare to enter big shops. They couldn't afford to offend those with powerful backgrounds.
At most, they could only buy some worthless food and drinks from the stalls of the slums. Had it not been for the fact that he had to gamble with his companions, he probably wouldn't have brought any money.
"That guy over there has a ring on his finger. Take it off," said the magus as he pointed behind him.
Impossible. How could I not know who has a ring? However, he still turned his head obediently. The next thing he heard was a gust of wind and the back of his head was struck by an axe. Before he fainted, he only had one thought: I've been tricked.