Nem was currently hesitating.
'Should I try to hide the claw marks ? I don't think that's really necessary...'
The problem was the skinny man's wound, which couldn't really be camouflaged in any way, since it looked like a beast had ripped out a part of his throat.
'Well, whatever...'
Nem straightened his back, deciding to not bother with it and quickly searched the bodies for something useful. They had a bit of money, a set of keys and a few other unimportant things. Nem found out that the skinny man also possessed a knife, which wasn't strange.
In this era, almost all adults had a knife on them at all times, at least outside of large cities. It was an important tool to eat, make things and defend oneself. Unfortunately for him, this particular criminal didn't bother taking it out to fight a child.
'A lesson for this guy in his next life, never trust anyone, even your innocent victim.'
The fat man's knife was just like those peasant's tools, roughly made, but it was decently sharp. The skinny man's was a little worse, but Nem kept it anyway, just like the money. As for the keys, Nem had no use for them since he couldn't know where to use them, so he just threw them away far from the bodies.
This fight to the death had made Nem's mind very clear, perhaps due to the adrenaline, and he started thinking about a few things.
For example, he understood that his reincarnation didn't seem to make sense at all. Why didn't he have any problems adapting to his new body ? Why did the entity responsible for this bother changing the appearance of Tom's body to Nartolem's ? Was it really a coincidence that he managed to get access to both a safe place to learn and train as well as a way to acquire supernatural powers on the very day he woke up ? Was Nartolem really one of those ancient demons or just a strange kid with severe delusions ?
The questions were seemingly endless, and he had unconsciously ignored them until now. Today, at this moment, Nem finally made the conscious decision... to ignore them again.
'I don't have time to waste on random conjectures right now. The time where I'm free to act and Carl is away is limited, and I better make good of it.'
The boy spat in his hands and used one of the dead guy's clothes to clean the blood. It was gross, but this whole city was filthy and Nem wasn't really bothered by it anymore.
Now that the adrenaline's effects had receded, he could feel a pretty sharp pain in his right palm, with which he had smashed the first guy's teeth. Fortunately, it wasn't bleeding or anything. Nem didn't want to catch some kind of random illness those idiots might have.
Looking around, he couldn't see even the shadow of a living being in this alley, so he decided to leave. The direction was where he was almost certain to find Mannie at this time of day. Even though he didn't really care for his mission, Nem still decided to continue following him, since that would make it easier to approach the real boss of this organization.
Not only would the security be a bit laxer, but Nem imagined that the two of them would also talk to each other. This interaction would definitely be interesting and give him some good information. This would take a rather long time, but Nem wasn't tired even after this fight. Rather, he still had some lingering excitement and couldn't stop thinking about battle.
'Speaking of which, this one was harder than it looked... Fighting in a confined environment with no way to hide really isn't easy against someone so much bigger than me. If I was 10 years older, those guys wouldn't even last a second.'
'Considering how bad they were at fighting, these idiots probably aren't even part of any known criminal organization, just random street thugs. I really need to avoid this kind of conflict against more experienced people.'
Fortunately, Nem now possessed two knives and even though his ability to throw them was average at best back in the monastery, it was still much better than before.
While walking, Nem also checked the total amount of money they had on them. In Lunhart, everyone used the Alar, which was the currency of the Red Empire Alario. It was mostly large and thick paper bills, in opposition with most other currencies from the South Countries, which still used metal coins. The Holy Kingdom's currency was based on coins but they also had bills.
Anyways, Nem counted no more than 35 Alars, which was only enough to live for a week on the streets, and if one was careful too.
'Well, it's not like I have anything to buy anyway...'
He pocketed the money, finding the places where he could hold something too few. Without a coat or some kind of bag, he only had roughly sewed pockets and the rope-like belt that held his short pants together.
Nem didn't even have long sleeves to hide the knives in.
'Maybe I should learn sewing one day, it might help with the boredom too...'
Of course, he didn't plan on staying in Lunhart long enough to learn that kind of skill, but the clouds now appearing more and more in the sky made him remember that summer was coming to an end.
In this region, it mainly meant more humidity and cold, fresh nights. One also couldn't forget the heavy rains that could strike down at any time. All of this would reacquire some new, warmer clothes.
Finally, Nem reached the place he wanted. It was the Fat Snake again, as it was almost noon already, he was sure to find Mannie here eating and speaking with his subordinates.
'I have to say, for a criminal this guy sure is reliable. Is this the ultimate bad boy the girls always fantasize about ?'
This time, Nem came from the roof of a nearby building so he didn't have to sneak around the guards. He took his time climbing to be as silent as possible before lowering himself into the usual alley, near the window. Unfortunately, his arms were too short and he couldn't help but make some noise when his feet hit the ground.
Cringing, Nem hid in the darkness and held his breath to listen attentively to his surroundings, ignoring the sounds coming from the interior of the Fat Snake.
'...'
'Nothing. I guess they are making too much noise in there to notice anything.'
Nem twisted his small body and glanced through the window. They were multiple men in there, all eating, drinking and talking. Nem took in the entire scenery(or at least what he could see through this small window) and quickly spotted Mannie, the "monocle man".
He had a handkerchief tied around his neck and was using a fork to eat like a gentleman. He contrasted with the others surrounding him not only in manners but also in expression. The monocle man was frowning, worried.
The one in front of him, who Nem remembered was named Mal was looking at Mannie with a questioning gaze, his mouth half opened like he wanted to say something. Every time he tried to say anything, however, he was interrupted by a cold and annoying glance of his superior.
'It seems there is something wrong going on here... But he doesn't want to talk about it now. Is this because there are too many people around ? I hope it doesn't have anything to do with me...'
However, after some thinking, Nem realized that it didn't make sense for them to be so secretive about killing some random kid snooping around. It made him even more curious.
He decided to put his back against the wall, sit down and wait.
In the end, he spent almost an hour listening to the bits of conversation that he could hear and understand until the Fat Snake cleared out. Surprisingly, a few of those thugs were speaking a language he didn't know, which was probably from whatever Southern Country they came from. It really wasn't very interesting and Nem would have felt really bored if perhaps he wasn't literally spying on dangerous criminals who also happened to kidnap children like him. In this situation, perhaps he would be even able to listen to some of Mr. Haynes's math class...
'Just kidding. That thing literally made me fall asleep every single time since I cured my mental illness. Even this situation wouldn't make it interesting.'
Nem took back his position in front of the window and watched attentively.
Finally, Mannie seemed ready to talk. He spoke pretty quietly, but Nem paid all his attention to him and could make out the general sense.
"There is too much movement." He told Mal with the same frown on his face as before. "Big Kor is planning something, tonight."