1 day before the chase.
"So to sum it up, there are 6 customers who are interested in buying our combined products in stock." Aima placed a piece of parchment in front of Sebastian as they were having brunch in a small cafe in the merchant district. After Sebastian's prodding that they needed to respond quickly, they both met up in a cafe to organise their response to the potential buyers. Less than a week passed since Aima started selling iron ores and mana stones in mass amounts which were less than the market price. Obviously, it garnered a lot of attention from merchants and blacksmiths alike.
"That's understandable. So which ones are from dwarves?" Sebastian picked up the parchment and skimmed over the details within seconds. Using his augmented senses, he was able to process the information with ease.
"Among the list, there's three. These here." Aima pointed to three names at the top of the list. "They've been pestering me for the past few days for a response. I thought we should wait it out, but you wanted to respond quickly."
"Yes. I assume that the dwarf we're interested in might not be the patient kind. Also, we don't have much time or resources to keep selling cheaply in bulk."
"I understand that. Speaking of impatient dwarves, this person here wants to meet me tomorrow. He and his group want to see my warehouse to check the products, then they will buy everything on the spot. What do you think about that proposition?"
Resting his chin on his hand, Sebastian pondered for a few moments. Aima took a few sips of her tea while waiting for his response. After a few minutes, Sebastian returned the parchment to Aima. "Tell them that you agree and that you'll show it to them tomorrow. Fill me in on the details so I can wait near there. If it gets too rowdy, don't attract too much attention."
"Rowdy you say? Oh ho. Sebastian is showing a different side now."
After their quick meal, Aima stood up to make her way back to the adventurer's guild. The messaging system was a reliable way for adventurers and non-adventurers alike to send and receive messages no matter the distance.
"Now that they're planning to buy in bulk, should I increase the price a bit for my own efforts? I think I need a reward, after selling products well under the market price, I was sure I'd faint sooner or later." A red-haired dwarf was seen mumbling to herself all the way from the merchant district to the adventurer's guild.
***
"So is this the warehouse that you rent?" A well built, thin-faced human adventurer asked Aima as he looked at the warehouse in front of him. Merchants often rented warehouses to store their goods. It was no surprise, therefore, when merchants had a warehouse in each city, or in some prosperous cases, multiple warehouses in a city. Aside from the thin-faced adventurer named Marc, he was accompanied by three burly men. Marc was saying that they served as porters should the transaction be successful. However, with their pockmarked faces and rude demeanour, it was easier to imagine all four of them as thugs.
Standing in front of the group, Aima seemed flustered. Instead of the dwarf merchant, he actually sent a proxy to negotiate the transaction. It was as she feared - either the dwarf merchant was too busy, or too wary of others. Either way, it wasn't what she expected. She couldn't find any trace of Sebastian nearby so she didn't know how to proceed the supposed deal.
"Are you actually able to produce the iron ores and mana stones you claimed you have?" Marc was getting impatient and he made little effort to hide it.
"Yes. I just need to make sure that my business partner is okay with letting people into our warehouse." Feeling smug about her lie, Aima breathed a sigh of relief.
Noticing the change in her demeanour, Marc pressed on. "In that case, how about I leave my porters here outside. I will be the only one to accompany you inside to check."
"Heok. In that case... Then it should be alright. Please wait." Feeling like her back was pressing on a figurative wall, she had no choice but to comply. After waiting for the porters to leave, she then placed her hand on the metal plate on the door. After coursing her mana through it, the door opened with a click. She then went inside the warehouse with Marc in tow.
"Wow, you do have a lot of it. I'm sure the boss would be happy. We can finalise the transaction outside if you want. I know merchants can be tense when other people are inside their warehouses."
Leading the way outside, Marc suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. "Eh? I told those guys to wait just here. Dammit. They have the funds given by our boss. Can you help me look for them? They should just be beside the warehouse. You can't miss those big oafs."
"Huh?" Feeling confused, Aima was about to go the other way when Marc followed her.
"Let's look for them together. As soon as we find them I can give you the coin." With a gentle nudge, Marc pointed her towards a passageway in between the buildings.
"Wait. I think - "
As soon as they got closer to the alley, Marc pushed her with full force, causing her to stumble. She then saw the burly man along with the others. They had their weapons out and had an empty burlap sack nearby. It didn't take long before she understood what they were about to do.
"Damn!" [Ice Lance]!
SSCHWING!
A thin ice cone materialised in the air in front of Aima and rushed out towards the thugs. The first thug dropped down, dodging the attack. The second one behind him wasn't as lucky and faced the projectile head on. It went through his chest, piercing through his back.
Thud
Unable to say a word, the thug's limp body fell down face-first.
Turning around, Aima saw Marc take out two daggers from behind him. He was obviously trying to block her escape route.
'This is bad! He's a close combat type!'
Facing front, the remaining two thugs were at a loss at what to do. They realised that their weapons were of no effect if they can't approach her.
Pooling her mana on her hands, Aima was about to cast her second spell when she saw a figure at the top of the alleyway. It merely pointed deeper into the alley before making a few hand signals. Then it disappeared as if it was never there.
'He's asking too much now isn't he?' With a sigh, Aima changed the mana fluctuations into a different spell. '[Fireball]!' She cast her spell on the side of the alley, making the two thugs in front of her jump towards the side. 'An opening!'
Utilising the opening, she made a mad dash where the shadow pointed before. She continuously cast [Fireball] when she felt that the chasers were getting close. She didn't know if the thugs had any skills whatsoever. She was more worried if Marc would suddenly use [Shadow Step] to close in.
"Don't run too far missy! Nobody can hear ya in these back streets. We'll need our stamina for when we catch ya!" One of the muscular men swapped his weapon for a small dagger when they started to close in on her.
'How long does he seriously want me to run in this alleyways? I'm almost at my limit.' Planning to turn around and cast a barrage of spells, Aima was pooling her mana when a shadow jumped down in the middle of her and the thugs. To her surprise, it was a female elf.
"Gentlemen, I hope we can talk this over? No need to harass my friend over here." The elf unsheathed her sword and stared at the rowdy group.
Marc naturally took a step in front of his group. "We need to talk to her about a business transaction. Don't meddle in our affairs."
"Oh? Is that true Aima?" The elf turned around and asked Aima. With her tone, the elf made it sound like they knew each other for a long time, catching Aima off guard.
With a pause, Aima responded. "Er... It was a transaction, but they are threatening me now."
"Well, there you have it, gentlemen. Let's discuss this like proper adventurers now."
Sweat dripped down Marc's forehead as he thought about the situation. They were tasked to bring the merchant alive if she had the goods. They were planning on torturing her to the point where she was willing to exchange her merchandise for her life. Once they open the warehouse with her mana again, they would strike her down on the spot. This chase and standoff were already disrupting their plans.
"Tsk." With a click of his tongue, Marc dashed forward!
The elf anticipated his preemptive strike and blocked his slash with her right hand. She was unable to block the entire slash, as it grazed her wrist. A thin red line formed and started to drip. The wound was superficial, but she didn't know if there was any poison or debilitating spells with it.
"You've done well Zes. Step back now." A low voice resounded in the narrow alleyway, surprising the entire group. Behind the thugs, Sebastian appeared with a single sword drawn out. His sword seemed to crackle with energy.
Along with his sudden appearance, he looked intimidating. Without any warning, the two thugs darted towards his left and right side!
'A pincer attack? They're trained well. [Augment] Agility Set.' Sebastian's leg muscles immediately swelled up and tightened. Blood flow and nerve receptors involving his cerebellum increased by threefold, improving his muscle coordination to beast-like levels.
With a blur, he disappeared from his spot. 'Slash Achilles tendon. Break C5 vertebra.' The thugs only heard the sound of the wind passing behind them before they could react.
"Wha-" The thugs could only let out a single breath before they fell down and planted their faces on the ground.
Thud. Thud.
Without any sound, the thugs collapsed unable to make any more noises. Sebastian could still hear their breathing, however, he destroyed their means for movement. It was similar to what he did to a certain adventurer in an encounter in Erimead Village.
Marc could only stare as his underlings fell with minimal effort.
"Bastard!" Marc clutched both daggers tight while moving his mana. '[Shadow Step]!'
Before he could even use his speed, his legs suddenly gave way. Instead of the burst of speed which he was expecting, a searing flash of pain ran all the way from his legs to his back. Looking down, he saw charred stumps where his legs were supposed to be.
"UWAA-" Marc started screaming when his pain receptors were overwhelmed by the stimuli rushing through it. Sebastian saw that he was about to scream and used a bit of his enhanced speed to kick him unconscious.
Aima was staring at the brutal scene unfolding in front of her the whole time with her mouth open. The brutality of the event was starting to overwhelm her when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was the female elf who called herself Zes earlier.
"Aima was it? My name is Zes, I'm the slave of master - Sebastian. He told me to stay by your side when he starts attacking and make sure they don't attack you or you don't do anything unnecessary. It should be over now." Zes looked at the carnage in front of them with a pure smile, it was unnerving, to say the least.
"Are you his slave? What will happen now? Did he plan this?" Aima let loose her barrage of questions to the innocent-looking Zes.
Maintaining her smile, Zes replied, "This was part of his plan. We're going to bring them somewhere to interrogate them now."