Chapter 22 - Trapped in the Alley!
Looking at the burly man in front of him, Ethan smiled; they had finally come out.
However, as he looked at the pair of animal ears on the man's head, a hint of repulsion flashed in Ethan's eyes.
Cute animal-ear girls were treasures of the human world, but male beastmen made him dislike them.
As the saying goes, opposite sexes attract, and the same sexes repel, especially when it's a guy with a face full of muscles.
"Friend, it seems you need some help."
"Oh? How could you guess that?"
Looking at the guy in front of him, Ethan's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness.
That blatant malice, Ethan perceived it clearly.
Moreover, he wasn't the only one here; on the other side, there was another malicious intent constantly shifting, about a dozen meters away.
That other guy seemed to want to flank him from behind.
But Ethan didn't show any wary expression.
He wanted to see what these two shady guys were up to.
"Hahaha~, I am a friendly adventurer, adhering to the principle of mutual assistance, here to provide people like you with some 'help', but of course, you'll need to pay a little 'reward', my friend."
With that, the beastman Walter revealed his true face.
He wasn't a talented guy; at best, just a low-class adventurer from a third-rate Familia.
Now in his thirties, he was still at level 1.
If nothing unexpected happened, he wouldn't be able to rank up from level 1 to level 2 in his lifetime.
It could be said that his fate was already sealed.
And adventurers like him were not uncommon in Orario.
Indeed, the gods' blessing/falna was miraculous, capable of unleashing the hidden potential of people from the mortal world.
Through continuous effort, they could gradually improve their strength.
But not everyone had this 'qualification'. The so-called 'potential' was just as significant as their existence.
Most adventurers spent their entire lives stuck between level 1 and level 2, and ranking up to level 3 wasn't something just anyone could achieve.
"A little reward?"
"That's right, just a small reward. Presumably, my friend, you come from a wealthy background, so a small amount of money shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?"
Walter said so. Actually, if possible, he didn't want to fight.
After all, his strength was not that great.
At most, he could only bully some newcomers.
If the other party had a deep background, he couldn't afford to provoke them.
He just wanted to make a little profit; as for more, he hadn't thought about it.
"To be honest, I'm not short of Valis. It's just that I don't have much on me at the moment. How about I give you this crystal card? You can withdraw 900,000 Valis at the guild."
"900,000 Valis?"
Upon hearing such a large sum of money, Walter's mouth almost dropped open.
However, when he saw the Familia emblem on the crystal card in Ethan's hand, the side profile of a Valkyrie, this pattern was familiar to all adventurers in Orario, especially thugs and gangsters.
After all, even thugs had self-awareness.
They only bullied those weaker than themselves and wouldn't foolishly provoke those they couldn't afford to mess with.
In Orario, as one of the twin kings, Freya Familia undoubtedly belonged to the pinnacle of all Familias.
Holding such a crystal card meant that even if the other party wasn't from Freya Familia, he had a close relationship with them.
Walter didn't know the function of a crystal card, but something with such apparent value couldn't be simple.
Provoking Freya Familia, let alone the two level 1 adventurers, even if the entire Soma Familia were involved, it wouldn't be enough to go against Freya Familia.
"Oh, 'friend', what's with that expression? Why do you look so ugly?"
"You—you—"
Looking at Ethan, Walter stuttered, unable to speak clearly.
"Oh, sorry, my bad, I'm really sorry for letting you see that, it's my fault~ my fault~"
At this point, Ethan looked at the emblem on the crystal card, suddenly expressing 'regret' in an 'apologetic' tone, his face full of 'self-blame'.
In this situation, if someone who didn't know the situation saw this, they would think Ethan had really done something wrong.
As a bottom-tier adventurer in Orario, Walter naturally feared the strong and preyed on the weak.
The powerful Freya Familia was something he couldn't afford to mess with.
However, as a beastman, his temper was also not good; one could say he was very irritable and easily angered.
This frail-looking boy, even if he were to die, no one would know it was Walter's doing.
After all, this was Orario, where many people died every day.
Killing the boy, robbing him, and then quickly withdrawing 900,000 Valis, it was definitely a sure bet.
Thinking of this, Walter's gaze towards Ethan subtly changed.
The original greed began to be tinged with a hint of murderous intent.
Since he had already provoked the boy, it was better to nip this trouble in the bud and just eliminate him.
"Do you want to kill me?"
Watching Walter's change of expression, Ethan smiled.
He had seen such eyes, such looks, many times before.
In the dungeon, he had often encountered other adventurers who wanted to rob him because of his weakness, even to the point of killing him for silence.
But they hadn't expected that although Ethan was weak in strength, his physique was extraordinary.
He had successfully counter-attacked in the end.
Thinking back to when he was pierced through the abdomen by an adventurer, he had finally managed to kill him by pretending to be dead, luring him close to loot his belongings, and then swiftly ambushing him by slashing his throat.
The gushing blood had dyed his body red. His hair, eyes, nostrils, even his mouth, were all smeared with blood.
That time, he had vomited uncontrollably, almost bringing up stomach acid.
It was his first time killing someone, and both physically and psychologically, Ethan had taken several days to recover.
As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning.
Things only happen zero times and countless times.
After the first time, there will be a second time, a third time, and so on.
He had gradually changed, discarding cowardice and timidity, and starting to do whatever it took to survive.
This city would literally "devour" people, and in order not to be devoured, Ethan had already prepared himself to harm others.
Looking at Ethan, who remained calm with no change in emotion, Walter's heart began to pound.
Did the boy set a trap? Looking at his demeanor, could he possibly be a powerful adventurer?
It wasn't strange for him to feel scared and overthink.
After all, in Orario, Freya Familia was synonymous with strength.
Though rare, there wasn't a single weak person among Freya Familia who were permitted to go outside.
However, on the other side, Jared had already stealthily approached Ethan from behind and was cautiously getting closer.
He had a magic that could conceal his figure, making it very useful for sneak attacks.
Walter, who had been feeling a bit panicky, became instantly elated when he saw Jared's position.
'Boy, let me show you what it means to wish you were dead.' Thinking of this, a cruel smile crept onto Walter's face.
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