Ritzy placed his hands on the stone walls that encompassed the black market district. Bring forth mineral magic and causing the stone wall to fall. Creating a pathway for him and Dayla to leave the area.
Exiting the area, they continued heading forward and Ritzy started asking questions.
"So, what is this family we've offended?".
Dayla,
"I was engaged to the first son of the Bentley family".
Ritzy,
"Bentley... And where do they reside?".
Dayla,
"They live close to the border of the Magrimid Kingdom. Their county is called Bencheng and they lived in the trading city Shagren Tudi".
Ritzy,
"That's on the other side of the kingdom, how long would it take to get there?".
Dayla,
"Our trip took about a month but with our small group of three. I think it would only take about a week and a half if there's nothing goes wrong".
"Anyways, what are we doing now".
Ritzy,
"We're heading to the town hall. Over there, we'll look for Junger and then tell him what's happening".
Dayla,
"But what will we do once we have Junger. We'll need transportation and supplies for our travel. That's not including the patrols set in place so no one escapes the city".
Ritzy,
"After we get Junger, we'll head to my camp. I have things I want to keep close and we can also take what we need for our travels. Also, the patrol is no problem. Did you forget how those thugs fared against me?".
...
Finally seeing the town hall in their sights, they saw many other people and beastkin surrounding the place. The battle had already begun.
Dayla,
"What are we gonna do? It will be impossible to find Junger in this onslaught of a battlefield".
Ritzy,
"Don't worry, just follow me".
Dayla,
"Wait!".
Ritzy,
"Don't worry, just follow behind me and you'll be fine".
Dayla,
"It isn't that, it's just that we can't be recognized. If they see we escaped, they will go after our families and I don't think we can solve this problem before they reach our family".
Ritzy came to realization hearing her comment and said,
"Makes sense, then lets change".
Ritzy lead Dayla in the middle of an alleyway and then took off his armor. Then he destroyed his specially made armor with mineral magic so no one could find any trace of him. His armor destroyed, he was only wearing a tunic and pants that reached his calves. His eyes also had fire magic floating in front of them, causing the yellow color to disappear and make red blessed eyes.
Ritzy,
"Stay here, I'll be back".
Leaving the alleyway, he approached a particular fight that had to mercenaries ganging up on one beastkin. As one mercenary was about to plunge his sword on the poor beastkin, Ritzy unsheathed his sword and used the hilt to knock the attacker and companion out in a second.
The beastkin was horrified by Ritzy's speed and precision. He was also confused about why a human was helping him.
As the beastkin was about to say something, Ritzy simply grabbed the two mercenaries from their collars and dragged them back to Dayla.
In the alleyway, Ritzy threw the two mercenaries in front of him.
Ritzy,
"I got us clothes".
Dayla looked at the ground seeing two unconscious mercenaries. They both had similar clothes which were baggy clothes with cheap light chest plates and gauntlets.
Dayla,
"The clothes are dirty".
Ritzy,
"Beggars can't be choosers, this is a war after all".
Dayla,
"This isn't a war, it's just us taking back what rightfully ours. They just call this a war so the king can tax us and all his people".
Ritzy,
"Then just be contempt with there's nothing else".
Ritzy didn't bother to continue this conversation and started stip the bigger mercenary. Finally striping all the clothes, he started changing into then.
He took off his pants and shirt, leaving him in with only underwear.
Dayla seeing him cause her to yelp and turn around.
Ritzy seeing her he realized what he was doing.
In his old world, all his co-workers and himself didn't care about being nude. It didn't matter if Ritzy was assigned a female partner and they had to change in front of themselves before starting a mission.
Ritzy's job was to kill and their training made them forget or stop caring about privacy.
His new life was different, especially in this situation. Where his partner is a female noble who only had her first experience two days ago.
Ritzy,
"Don't worry, I'll turn around. Just change quickly, we don't want to be intruded when we're changing and unarmed".
Dayla didn't want to do this but she knew time was tight right now.
A couple of minutes later they were ready with their dirty baggy clothes and little armor they had on. The only difference was Dayla having one of Ritzy's daggers strapped to her thigh and Ritzy only having his long sword exposed. He decided to destroy the rest with his mineral magic but decided to hide the throwable knives on his back while under his tunic and chest plate.
The both ready, Ritzy lead Dayla through the group of fighters surrounding the town hall while having his Mana Presence activated, checking for where Junger could possibly be.
Waling through the group, they made sure to not get to close to anyone fighting. Traversing through one group of people fighting to the next. Each step getting them closer to the building.
Though, it was as simple as avoiding the groups. Ritzy had his long sword unsheathed so if any beastkins came near, he would kill them with one swing since his long sword was so heavy that no cheap weapon can withstand his swings.
Finally reaching the front of the town hall, Ritzy Mana Presence picked up where his knights were located, including Junger.
Ritzy,
"I found him".
Dayla,
"Where?".
Ritzy,
"I just saw one of my knights on the second-floor window. Most likely Junger will be there as well".
Ritzy temporarily forgot he shouldn't expose his Mana Presence ability when he said he found them. Luckily he thought of an excuse in time.
Dayla,
"Hurry up then. We need to leave this city as soon as possible so we can solve this problem before anyone recognizes us".
Ritzy,
"Ok".
Going inside the town hall, there were no more mercenaries. Only knights and magicians fighting the beastkin. This was where the truly powerful and skilled battles were taking place.
Ritzy,
"The stairs are over there. Let's go. Remember, don't get too far away from me".
Dayla,
"I know, let's go".
Going through the town hall and up the stairs, more dangers arrived. This time it wasn't a simple beastkin coming nearby swing his weapon frantically. Now it consisted of stray spells and skilled fighters intervening.
Luckily the spells could easily be nullified with Ritzy conjured mana shield but the skill fighters were a little tougher. Ritzy had to focus on creating enough distance between him and Dayla so the enemy's attack didn't reach her but close enough so he could protect her.
For Ritzy, killing the enemy wasn't a problem. It was protecting her from harm while causing damage that troubled him. Unlike before where one strike could easily finish off the beastkin, in here. It required Ritzy to put the effort into dogging or parrying before he could kill them in one strike if they were close enough.
Ritzy would normally use magic to easily defeat the people around him but he couldn't this time. Fire magic would burn this whole place down and he couldn't use other types of magic because of his disguise. He had to settle with conjuring wind magic shield which was invisible luckily.
Finally reaching the second floor, there were fewer people and he could travel faster now. Going down the corridor, they reached an open door that showed Ritzy's knights fighting inside with Benjamin's team.
Walking closer, they saw they were fighting a group of middle-aged beastkins and losing. Ritzy's and Benjamin's knights were dropping like flies.
Going inside, Benjamin saw Ritzy and called for him.
Benjamin,
"Ritzy you here! Come help me, these two old guys-".
Before he could finish, a beastkin suddenly stabbed his sword through Benjamin's left arm.
With Benjamin injured, the other priority knights rushed to save him. Sadly, it was a trap.
When the priority knights were next to Benjamin trying to save their young lord, a beastkin in mage robes summoned a terrifying amount of fire magic. Though, this fire magic felt different from the rest Ritzy has sensed with his Mana Presence before.
Mage Beastkin,
"Léi jiàn"
The next second, electricity shot straight to Benjamin and the priority knights.