Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 63: Stealth: Optional

Chapter 63: Stealth: Optional

"Shit…"

Rhys wasn't given a stealth mission and was given free reign by Ayesha himself. He could do whatever he wanted, as long as he completed his mission — even discretion was optional.

If he was treated as a Lowborn, it was no problem at all; he could just lower his head and go on his mission. After all, most Lowborns go about their entire lives only looking at the ground, he just garnered more attention than the others because of his height.

What he did not expect, however, was his instinct he had learned during his time training in the Underworld Corps to fail him.

He had been trained to eliminate all threats as soon as they showed any signs of actually being a threat — and pointing a fireball at him was a threat not only to him but also to the other people in the entire eatery; not to mention the small restaurant was made entirely by untreated dry wood, this place will burn up in seconds.

And so, he just instinctively eliminated the threat by slapping the man's hand away…

…but his instincts forgot that he already had Ayesha's strength.

"My… my hand!"

And as the man grabbed his mangled hand, everyone could see him desperately trying to hold it together; its flesh and bones, already just hanging by a thread, literally.

"What's… what's going on here!?"

And as the owners of the eatery finally decided to intervene, all the people that were dining there all stood up from their seats.

There were no such things as power of authority in the human settlements of the Underworld. And the closest thing they have as guards or police are the gangs that have formed in their miniature cities.

But mostly, it is just the power of the people — of everyone there. If someone were to cause trouble, they would receive the wrath of all the Explorers who were just there to relax and trade.

And right now, they were all looking at Rhys and the group of thugs in front of him.

"What the—Kino!?" The owner of the eatery quickly pointed at the person who initially tried to grab Rhys by the collar, "Are you making trouble with the customers again!? Wait… is that a Lowborn? Here… in my restaurant?"

But as soon as the owner's gaze landed on Rhys, his angered tone quickly shifted toward him instead.

"Did you not see the sign outside!?" The owner of the eatery pointed at Rhys, "No Lowborns allowed here! We should—"

And before the owner of the eatery could stomp his way toward Rhys, Kino quickly blocked his path.

"What are you…"

"It's fine… It's fine," Kino whispered. And soon, the owner of the eatery finally noticed one of Kino's men groveling on the ground with one of his hands mutilated, "He was just leaving… You're leaving, right!?"

Kino's voice slightly trembled; not even daring to look at Rhys as he turned to him.

"What do you mean he is leaving!? What is even happ—"

"Yes," Rhys did not let the owner finish his words as he started walking away, "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused here."

And with those words, Rhys quickly made his exit; making sure not to look at anyone there as he did so.

"Wh—chase that overgrown Lowborn! Did he even pay!?" The owner quickly pushed Kino away, but Kino grabbed his hand.

"Stop."

"What do you mean sto—" And once again, the owner was not able to finish his words as he saw the look on Kino's face; terrified, extremely so.

"That man…" Kino gulped as he looked at his friends, as well as remembered how Rhys completely locked his arm earlier; not even allowing him to move even a single millimeter, "...he is probably a Noble."

"Huh…? What nonsense are you…wait. You mean one of those?" The owner of the eatery also gulped as he looked Kino in the eyes.

"Hm… bored Nobles in disguise."

"Shit… here?"

"Yes — think about it. When have you seen a Lowborn that big?"

"...Why did you pick a fight with him, then!?"

"He was sitting down when I approached him!"

"Fuck…" The owner looked around, before gesturing to all the people dining there to just sit down and return to whatever it is they were doing. And as his eyes landed on the man groveling on the floor, the only thing he could really do was kicking him away,

"Damn it! Why did you guys have to mess with him!?"

"W…why me!?"

"Remember," The owner once again looked at the other diners, as well as Kino, "If anyone asked what happened here…

…just feign ignorance."

And while the chaos and panic in the eatery were growing stronger, the one who left them there was completely oblivious to the fact that his disguise finally worked… but completely different from how he expected.

But then again, it did not matter as he was focused on following the Venom Brawlers from a distance; moving through the busy markets of Karem city. Thanks to his reflexes, he was able to just smoothly traverse the unusually heavy crowd.

The Venom Brawlers stepped out of the city, before walking toward a large truck that was parked a few distance away from Karem.

"Hm…" Rhys quickly hid behind a large rock. And as he examined the truck more carefully, he was quickly reminded of the truck he saw when he first encountered the hissyr. Was it possible… they were smuggling monsters into the Surface?

…But why?

Rhys watched as the Venom Brawlers started removing a load of boxes from the truck; opening all of them up and just leaving them beside the truck for some reason.

And as Rhys finally decided to approach the truck to get a closer look and finally confront the guild, two people suddenly appeared from both sides of the boulder and surrounded him.

Nick and Kevin, the last two members of the Venom Brawlers.

"Who are you… and why did you follow our friends all the way—"

And before Kevin could even finish his words, Rhys pointed a finger on his left eye and…

…releasing a compressed blast of wind.

Well, this wasn't a stealth mission from the start.