The owner looked at Leo. He saw the 13-year-old who came to his chest in height asking about the person who just left. He quickly reset his face and put on a front.
"You are a kid. You shouldn't mess with them." He said.
Leo looked at the owner. He took out a wallet from his pocket. He took out a note and slid it onto the table. It was a 10000 Star coins note.
The owner looked at the note. He saw the amount of money on the note.
"What is this?" He asked.
"How much you owe them. I will pay this much if you tell me everything about them." Leo said.
What he did was daring. Even though he was rich enough to afford a loss of 10000 Star coins, he was doing more than that. He was going to find trouble with an entire gang. This could put him in a lot of trouble.
The man looked at Leo with a shocked expression. He recovered quickly.
"I... I can't accept this. This is a lot of money. How can I repay this?" He said.
"You just have to give me everything you know about them. That will be enough." Leo said.
"Fine," The man sighed. He didn't want to tell a child about his problems but he needed the money desperately. "The Blacktooth gang is a new power in the city. Their leader just showed up a year ago and they started expanding. I heard they took over the slums and started stealing money from them as well."
Leo nodded. He was a victim of this as well.
"They also lend out that money. They are the only place where small businesses can find money since Solhaven doesn't even have a bank. I took out a loan from them to keep the inn going. The interests stacked up and now I can barely pay them back each month. I paid them over three times the amount I borrowed till now." He ranted.
"Why don't you just tell the city guards?" Leo asked him.
He shook his head. "They don't care at all about crime. The only people who can escape are people with money in the Commoner's district. The rest have to endure this. Even the adventurers have to bear with it." He said.
Leo was confused. "Even the adventurers? Aren't a lot of them 1st Circle Aura Knights?" He asked.
"The Blacktooth gang is run by a Late-Stage 2nd Circle Aura Knight. He is more powerful than any of the adventurers who live in the outer parts of the Commoner's District. Any of the 2nd Circle Aura Knights who are in the 2nd Circle are in the deeper parts. Also, very few people are actually stronger than him in the city. There are less than ten people who are." He said.
"One person is that powerful?" Leo asked.
"If it was just one person, he wouldn't have that much influence. The Blacktooth gang has over 100 members. All of them are at least Apprentice Aura Knights. Half of them reached 1st Circle. They are very dangerous." He said. "I don't know what you will do with this information, but be careful. Don't go near them. You don't want to mess with them at all."
Leo nodded. "Thank you. I was just asking to keep myself safe. Do you know where they are more likely to be? I will stop walking around that area." He asked a final question.
"They are in the slums. You will find them very quickly if you walk near there. The slums are very dangerous now." The owner said. He slid the money a little toward Leo. "Are you sure this is how much you will pay me? This is very common information."
Leo stopped him. "Don't worry about it. What you told me was very important."
While what the owner said might have been less, it gave Leo the information he needed. He understood that there wasn't too much time till the Blacktooth gang became a problem for him as well.
If the gang had formed only 1 year ago and already spread this fast, it meant that they weren't planning on stopping. They would start entering the Commoner's District as well. The only place they wouldn't hit would be the Noble's District because of the Magistrate.
Leo lived on the edge of the Commoner's District. It wouldn't be too long before they come knocking on his door again.
However, even with the information that he received, there wasn't a lot he could do immediately. He could deal with the Apprentice Aura Knights, but what was he supposed to do with the rest of the Blacktooth gang?
Even if he somehow got rid of all the 1st Circle Aura Knights, he would never be able to deal with their leader. The only way he would be able to be would be if he made his 2nd Star. Then he could waltz through and easily deal with the rest of the gang.
He decided that he now had a goal - to get stronger so that he could deal with the Blacktooth gang. He would put Aura aside to focus only on Magic. This would mean committing to going to the forest for Beast Cores as well as practicing heavily.
While trying to defeat the Blacktooth gang might seem like an emotional action, it was the most logical thing for him to do at this point.
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