Torith a litrpg adventur.., p.24
Torith: A LitRPG Adventure (System Universe Book 2), page 24
Clay frowned and turned to Alicia. “Who is he talking about?”
Alicia shook her head. “I don’t know. The only person he ever talked about was his friend with the pet bunny, even then only barely. I never met him, so I don’t know why he would talk about me.”
“I guess there’s no way for me to get out of this alive, then?” Thomas’s voice broke the pair’s discussion.
As Derek was watching everything play out, he noticed one guard frown when he heard Alicia speak about the man with a pet bunny. It looks like someone may be able to connect the dots, he thought.
Clay shook his head. “Why couldn’t you have made it easy on us and been killed by the boar? If you would have died to the beast like you were supposed to, we would have been able to bring your body back, and you could have had a proper burial. Now, you’re just going to have to disappear.”
Thomas resolved himself to his fate and withdrew a backup spear from his storage ring. It looked like he knew that he couldn’t outrun the guards. He didn’t plan on going down without a fight. Thomas lowered himself down into a combat stance and got ready.
“Guards!” Clay yelled. All but one of the guards withdrew their swords from their sheaths. Clay gave the single guard an odd look. “Bradley!” he called to the guard.
“Y-young master,” the guard spoke. This was the guard that seemed to have put together Derek’s identity. “Maybe we should stop.”
Clay scoffed. “Stop? Why should we stop?”
Instead of answering Clay, the guard, Bradley, directed his next words towards Thomas. “Your friend. The one who gave you the warnings. Is his name, perhaps… Derek Hunt?”
Thomas twitched when Derek’s name was mentioned. It was more than enough for everybody there to see that the boy recognized the name.
Seeing the boy’s reactions, the guard spoke again. “Young master. You mustn’t do anything rash. If this boy truly knows Mr. Hunt…” He stopped. “The master… he has been trying to establish relations with the man…”
Clay furrowed his brows. “Even if that is so, the damage is already done. And that’s if he actually knows this man you’re talking about. All the more reason to make this kid disappear.” Clay smiled and asked Thomas, “You didn’t tell anybody what you were doing today, did you?”
Thomas didn’t reply, but that was enough to know that he hadn’t.
“Good… Guards! Kill him!” Clay commanded.
Before anyone could move, a loud clapping sound rang out from the edge of the tree line. Derek had jumped down from his perch and began his approach. Everyone’s gazes shifted to him as he stepped out of the forest.
Thomas shuttered and let out a long breath.
Derek smiled and looked at the boy. “You fought well today. At least you’ve been keeping up with your training.”
32 MR. HUNT
Derek put his hand on Thomas’s head and gave him a reassuring smile. “You really did fight well today. I was here for all of it. You showed a great understanding of the spear and a good amount of wariness towards others… at least until you got comfortable. But I can’t blame you for that as I was even beginning to think they weren’t going to make a move.” He glanced over at Clay and the guards.
Thomas ducked his head and whispered in a low tone only Derek could hear, “I should have listened to you about her.”
Derek laughed and patted the poor kid on the back. “You should have,” he agreed. “But you’re a young man, and she’s a pretty girl who bats her eyelashes at you. You know, hormones and such… I was probably expecting too much from you, anyway.”
“Ahem!” Clay cleared his throat to try to get everyone’s attention.
Derek didn’t even bother to look at the noble. He continued talking to Thomas. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you use your skill so well. Have you been practicing with them?”
Thomas nodded. “Yeah…” he said. “I may need to borrow some more gold soon. I’ve been renting out one of the training rooms at the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“That’s fine. Money is meant to be spent. It does nothing sitting in your ring, gathering dust. It’s not like we can earn interest in this place,” Derek answered. Actually, is there a bank somewhere? I can’t believe I’ve never asked anyone that. He looked at his storage bracelet. I guess basic economics gets thrown out the window when you can store all your wealth on your person…
“Hey!” an annoyed shout came from the noble. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” he yelled again.
Again, Derek ignored the teen. “And, saving your Haste skill until you needed it at the end… well done. I don’t know if you didn’t use it before because you didn’t need it or if you were actually saving it… either way, well done.”
Thomas smiled. “You always need a trump card.”
Derek laughed out loud. “I don’t remember teaching you that, but it’s not a bad idea.”
“Mr. Jaccobs told me that when I rented one of the training rooms. He seemed to know that I was with you, so he treated me well,” Thomas answered.
Derek frowned. “Mr. Jaccobs?”
“The manager of the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Oh! Francesco.” Derek nodded. “He seemed decent enough,” Derek said. At least after I took the gold-ranked test, he mused. I wonder what my trump card would be. Is it calling an uncontrollable murder beast from the void? Is it having a murder bunny? Maybe it’s just Multi-Strike.
Derek secretly glanced over at the noble and his guards. Damn, his face is almost as red as Stella’s hair. He inwardly laughed but kept ignoring them on the surface.
“We’ll talk more about how you fought later. Did you get a lot of experience today?” he asked Thomas. He already knew the answer because of Identify, but he asked anyway.
Thomas nodded. “The experience was shared, but I still gained three levels.”
Derek nodded. “Make sure to spend the points wisely. I’m sure you’ve realized where you’re lacking.”
Thomas nodded and started to speak but was cut off.
“OH! MY! GOD!” the noble yelled. “Guards!”
He lasted longer than I thought he would. Derek praised. Most noble brats would have probably exploded after I ignored them the first time.
“I’m tired of this,” Clay said, reining in his anger. “Kill them,” he commanded.
“Stop!” the guard called Bradley said to the others. “Don’t move.”
“What are you doing, Bradley? You’re here to follow my orders, not give them,” Clay reprimanded.
The guard sighed. “I’m sorry, young master. That’s not entirely true. The master tasked me to keep you safe, and right now, that is what I am doing.”
Derek finally turned to the group. He eyed Bradley. “Bradley, was it?” he asked.
The guard nodded gravely. “Yes, Mr. Hunt.”
Derek flashed the man a vicious smile. “What makes you think that there is any way for you to keep him safe now that I’m here?”
The man gulped and visibly shook, though not in anger. “Sir… Mr. Hunt. Please forgive my young master. He did not know who he was offending.”
“Oh, so you’re saying that if it weren’t for me, it wouldn’t matter if he dragged another commoner out to the middle of nowhere and murdered him for a storage ring?” Derek asked.
“N-no, sir… That’s… That’s…” Bradley tried to answer.
“Inexcusable!” Derek yelled, releasing some of his strength along with his voice. Void raced through his body and veins, causing his eyes to become solid purple and his messy hair to rise with energy.
Now, even those who didn’t know who Derek was were trembling. Alicia had it the worst. She had fallen to her knees with tears rolling down her face.
“Now!” Derek shouted. “Let me tell you all something.” Derek was sure that Bradley had just been being cautious before, as nobody in Torith, other than Walter and maybe Stella, really had an idea of how powerful he was. The city lord may have heard about his test from the Adventurer’s Guild, and he was sure rumors of him having a Crown Membership had spread, which was why the guard was being cautious, but that was it.
“I have a pet. I’m sure you’ve heard about it,” Derek said.
Bradley slowly nodded.
“That pet could wipe out your entire little group in seconds…” Derek waited to let that sink in. “Now… What do you think I can do to you?” He channeled some lightning from Chained Lightning through his fingertips and held his hand up. “Do you want to find out?”
At that, Clay stumbled backwards, and the guard took two clumsy steps back. Alicia was already out of it, her eyes looking dead from fright. It wouldn’t be odd if she lost consciousness at any point now.
Derek looked out of the corner of his eye and could see Thomas staring at the girl. He could tell that the boy was uncomfortable with the girl suffering, even after everything she had done to him. However, Thomas didn’t say anything and left them all to their fate.
Derek finally released the void and stopped casting his spell, allowing the noble and his guards to finally catch their breath.
Derek smiled, still talking with Bradley because the guard was the one actually in charge. “So, here’s the thing,” Derek said. The guard had calmed down and was now nothing but ears. “When I heard about your little… rendezvous in the forest, I was chatting with a friend.”
“Now, that friend asked me to not kill anybody important today, and after some hesitation, I agreed. So, I’m going to have to let this little noble go today, and you can thank Alanah for that, because if it wasn’t for her… Let’s just say that only Thomas and myself would make it back to the city,” Derek explained.
“T-thank you, M-Mr. Hunt,” Bradley stammered out and bowed.
“Like I said, don’t thank me, thank her,” Derek replied. He then put his hand on his chin as if in thought. “Hmm… I guess the noble runt is considered important and maybe you are…” he said to Bradley. “That’s all, though. I don’t think she would mind if I only let the two of you leave. What do you think?”
Everyone lost what little color they had regained with that declaration. Derek chuckled. “I’m just kidding. I’m actually in a pretty good mood after watching this little guy fight today.” He pointed at Thomas. “You can all go.”
Derek waited, but everyone just stood in silence. Irritated, he clapped his hands. “Chop, chop!”
That did the job. The guards gathered up the noble teen and began to return the way they came. Bradley directed them, glancing in fear at Derek occasionally.
Derek noticed that the group only focused on the noble and completely ignored Alicia. “Hey!” he shouted. The squad of soldiers stopped, not daring to move. “Don’t forget about the little harpy.” He pointed at the crestfallen Alicia.
Bradley whispered something to one of his nearby guards. That guard rushed over to Alicia and quickly scooped her up before retreating back to the rest of the squad.
The lead guard stepped forward and bowed again. “Mr. Hunt. If that is all, we will be taking our leave. Thank you for your generosity.”
“Wait,” Derek said. “When you get back, let Malcolm know that I’ll finally be paying him a visit. No need to send me any more invitations. He’s got my attention now.”
The guard’s eye twitched at Derek’s use of the city lord’s first name, but he only bowed deeper. “I will be sure to let the city lord know.”
Derek nodded. “Be sure to do so. You’re dismissed.” He swung his hand in dismissal.
“Move out!” Bradley commanded.
Derek and Thomas stood in the clearing, watching as the group got smaller and smaller as they distanced themselves from the duo.
Derek looked over at Thomas, who was frowning. “Do you not approve of the way I handled that?”
Thomas shook his head. “It’s not that. I was just wondering how many other people they have killed and stolen from, and how soon before they do it again.”
Derek nodded. “I know. Hopefully, I scared them straight…” he said, then sighed. “But most likely, they will only become even more cautious. Though I doubt that girl will be up for it anytime soon.”
Thomas flinched at the mention of Alicia.
“Oh well, I plan on dropping by the city lord’s place soon. Maybe the man will give me a reason to perform a demonstration.” Derek patted Thomas on the back. “I’m hungry. For some reason, I’m craving pork.”
33 CITY LORD
Bradley and the other guards rushed back to the city. When they arrived, he tasked one of his men with delivering Alicia to her home while he and the remaining guards hurried back to the city lord’s manor, along with Clay.
Bradley was filled with anxiety after meeting the purple-eyed man. He didn’t know how he was going to explain everything to Lord Torith. The higher-ranked and the lord’s personal guards all knew about the mysterious Derek Hunt, and there were standing orders not to offend the man until the city lord learned more about him.
The city lord hadn’t placed Derek Hunt high on his list of priorities, which is why not many of the other guards knew about him. Of course, rumors had spread about a man obtaining a Crown Membership, but not much more than that. Only the more influential in the city knew of the man’s name and had received an accurate description. Hopefully, the lord would take pity on him and his men as he was able to at least save the young master’s life.
He was also able to obtain some information about the other man’s power. He didn’t have a clue on how to describe it other than ‘more terrifying than any person I’ve ever met.’ But, before he could completely collect his thoughts, Bradley was standing before the doors to the manor’s Great Hall, waiting to be seen by the city lord.
Soon, the doors opened, and Bradley was greeted by Captain Herrett—the captain of the guards and leader of the city lord’s personal guard. The man was actually from the capital and assigned to guard the city lord by the lord’s father. Bradley had told Clay that he was under orders from the city lord to protect him, but his orders had actually come down from Captain Herrett.
“Bradley? What is it? What is so urgent that you need to speak directly with the city lord and are unable to write a proper report?” Captain Herrett questioned.
“Captain… Sir. Young Master Clay had a run-in with Derek Hunt today and was lucky to have gotten out alive,” Bradley replied.
The captain furrowed his brow. “Let’s go.” He motioned for Bradley to follow and led him through the Great Hall towards a man sitting on a seat higher than all the others.
The Great Hall looked like a mini-Throne Room. It wasn’t Bradley’s first time being in it, but it was still a sight to behold. The Great Hall doubled as a dining area for celebrations and such. As of right now, the hall was empty, apart from the single seat that the city lord occupied. But, during celebrations and when there were guests, servants would bring tables and decorations to accommodate the party.
Captain Herrett and Bradley approached the man in the high seat flanked by guards on either side. He looked nearly identical to Clay, but he kept his golden hair trimmed and neat. With a goblet in his hand, resting on the arm of the chair, and his laid-back manner, he gave off a regal air. He seemed to be only in his early 20s, but Bradley knew that was because of his high vitality stat that he obtained when he was younger.
Clay had followed his father’s example in that regard. The easiest way to invest in vitality without squandering your stat points was to have a defensive class. Of course, that way of leveling was painful, but it was a price one would have to pay to appear younger.
“Hmm…” the city lord said. “You are… Bradley, correct?”
“Yes, Lord. It is an honor that you remember my name,” Bradley replied.
“Of course.” The Lord laughed. “Herrett picked you out of the bunch of rabble to protect my son. How could I forget?”
“It is my honor to have received such a task.”
“Now, why are you here? I hope it’s for something important,” the lord said with squinted eyes.
“Y-yes, Lord. It is about that task, and the man, Derek Hunt.”
Malcolm Torith frowned at that. “What do you mean? What do the two of them have to do with one another?”
Here it goes… Bradley thought. “Sir, normally they would have nothing to do with one another. But today I was guarding the young master out in the noble hunting grounds. He brought along that merchant girl Alicia, and a… commoner boy. The young master planned on…” He stopped. How am I supposed to say that the young master planned on robbing and killing a young teenager?
The city lord appeared irritated at his hesitation. “Spit it out, Bradley.”
“Y-yes, Lord,” he replied. “The young master planned on… taking the commoner boy’s possessions.” Bradley gulped, waiting for the lord’s reply.
“And?” the city lord said.
Bradley spaced out for a moment. Does he not care that the young master was stealing from a commoner? He shook that thought out of his head. “Y-yes… um…” He hesitated again but forced himself to continue. “When the young master finally struck, the boy showed remarkable ability to dodge and move, avoiding any fatal blows. He then healed himself with a potion.
“That was when the young master called for myself and the other guards. We finished off the monster he was fighting and prepared to… take care of the commoner. When he gave the order, Derek Hunt came out of the forest… clapping,” Bradley said.
At this point, both the captain and the city lord were frowning. “Why was that man there?” Lord Torith asked.
“Sir, apparently, he knows the boy. They acted almost like master and disciple. Mr. Hunt talked to the boy about the fight when he appeared. They continued on, casually, like the rest of us weren’t even there. Finally, the young master was unable to take it anymore, and he called for both of their deaths,” the guard recounted.
