The streets were growing darker. Not that it was much of a surprise being night and all, but the trail was clearly leading out of the seedier parts of the city and going towards some of the more affluent location.
While Jonas had advised them to stay in the inn, Kim wasn't going to let him take all the risks by himself. She was confident that he'd already realized that she was tailing him, but didn't care if he hadn't. She wasn't sure why he was following this group but didn't really care either. She was going under the assumption that Jonas had noticed something about them that had caught his interest.
Not that she cared what that 'something' was. She'd rather still be in bed with Elin, and was pretty sure Elin was under the impression that she herself was still there, but even if Elin had woken up and realized that she'd left, she wasn't too worried. She was sure Elin would assume she had her reasons and would be back.
However, as she continued following Jonas, she couldn't help but feel like something was off about where they were heading. Not that she wouldn't be surprised if some wealthy merchant or lord or lady were involved with the assassination attempt that had yet to occur, but more that she was getting an uneasy feeling like they were going to either get themselves discovered or find themselves in over their heads in a battle that they weren't prepared for.
Although, as she thought about it, she wondered if Jonas had planned for such an event, as he still had his Shadow Merge skill that would allow him to run from any circumstance like that, so long as he had a shadow he could essentially melt into. Only, Kim wouldn't be able to do something like that, which meant that she might be in more trouble than Jonas if something like that happened.
Not that it deterred her. She'd tested security systems for long enough that she was confident she'd be able to run regardless of how trapped her opponent thought she was. Only, here she wasn't familiar with the terrain and buildings, so she was at a disadvantage and she'd always preferred studying those kinds of things before she ever went on a job before. So, this would be a new experience if she had to find her way without knowing what turns would be best for her to take.
She quickly ducked behind a building as she noticed someone else coming by with a lamp. It briefly shot her ability to see in the dark, but hoped they'd pass by quickly. So long as she didn't see the lamp itself, she was sure her vision would return to being able to see in the weak moonlight as well as she had a minute ago. She could only hope that she didn't lose track of Jonas before then.
After the light disappeared, she waited another minute before looking out on the street again. She gritted her teeth as she didn't see Jonas, not that she was really that surprised. She quickly moved down to where she'd last seen him, then started checking streets and alleys to see if she could find any sign of him. If she couldn't find him again, she was sure that she'd have to just head back to the inn and just wait to hear from Jonas.
That wasn't an ideal option, but if she couldn't find him, she wouldn't have much of a choice. Especially with the size of the city. She also didn't know the city's layout well enough to know if an alley would connect to a larger street and act as a shortcut or if it would merely end up as a dead end. There were too many variables that she couldn't be sure of and didn't want to deal with, so she determined if she couldn't find Jonas with in the next few streets, she'd have to accept she'd lost him.
Even if he had turned down those streets, if he then turned down an alley or other street farther down, she wouldn't be able to ensure that she'd catch him before that happened. Which meant that she was already in danger of losing him entirely.
Although, part of her wondered if she shouldn't just let it go. After all, she wasn't sure what she'd be able to do herself at the moment. She was out here primarily because relying on a man just wasn't something that sat well with her. Even though she trusted Jonas for reasons she hadn't been able to figure out, she still wasn't happy that she did.
Then as she reached the last street that she'd allowed herself, she thought she saw someone in the distance turn down past a building. So, she went quickly to see if it was Jonas. Though, as she reached the building, she wasn't able to find any sign of whoever she saw from the distance, so she sighed.
She didn't like that she'd lost Jonas, but given the circumstances, she couldn't say that it was her fault. She'd already tailed him a lot farther than she'd tailed anyone in the past, so that was at least a positive in her book. Only, she especially was unhappy that it had still ended with her losing him.
Then as she turned to head back to the inn, she suddenly found herself surrounded by armed men. Although, these people didn't look like they really lived in this part of the city, nor did they show any signs that they were with whoever had attacked them on their way to this city. Not that she'd really be able to tell either way. Especially with how dark it was, it wasn't easy to see more than their silhouette against the light from the moon and stars.
She merely let them take their positions around her, retaining a casual stance, as if she knew for a fact that she could handle these people without a problem. She was quite confident that she could, but she couldn't be certain. After all, she had no idea who these people were, so for all she knew, they were as skilled as the fighter she fought on the road. If that was the case, then she knew she was in trouble. However, she seriously doubted there were that many who were that skilled. At this point, she was willing to take her chances.
"A little lost are we?" one of the men asked in a mockingly sweet tone.
"What of it?" Kim asked, not caring to disabuse those around her of the idea that she was lost.
"Well, we can help you find you way," the man answered. Even though there wasn't enough light to see where he was looking, she could feel his eyes roaming her body.
"How can I be sure of that?" Kim asked, not caring if she was taking on a mocking tone herself. "You couldn't even fight a source of light to guide yourselves with."
"Look, if you want to get out of here unharmed, you'll either give us some money to show you the way to where people like you belong or you can offer… something else as another way of paying us," the man said, his pause letting Kim know what that 'alternate form of payment' would be.
Kim couldn't help but groan in annoyance. She didn't have the energy, let alone the time for this. "Look, if you let me go I promise I'll forget this happened," Kim said, suspecting these people were essentially wannabe thugs or something. Which meant the threat was practically nonexistent, despite the weapons she saw all of them drawing on her. "If you don't, then I can't guarantee you'll live. Though, I promise I won't draw my swords."
The man laughed. "What's a pretty little thing like you gonna do?" he taunted. "Even if you drew your swords, they wouldn't help you. It'd just make you look more pathetic than you will when we're done with you."
"Talk is cheap," Kim retorted. "Care to do more than flap your lips or are you rich boys too soft to do more than that? After all, you're definitely too stupid to do anything meaningful with your lives."
"You…!" the man said, stepping forward quickly, his broadsword flashing in the moonlight. Kim couldn't help but feel his movements were incredibly slow, even though she knew she was just that fast.
She didn't even bother attacking them herself. She merely dodged his attacks, which only resulted in him getting even angrier. What she didn't expect was how much fun she could feel herself having. It was clear these annoyances weren't aware how much in over their heads they were in, but that didn't matter to Kim. They really were less of threat to her than a mosquito.
All of the men suddenly rushed her and what she found most intriguing from this encounter was how easily she was able to see their movements and move to avoid them, even if it was to shift the position of her body mere inches so their attacks would miss her completely.
They, however, weren't so adept at dodging each other's attacks. It wasn't long before they were bleeding themselves. Not that it stopped them from pressing the attack that they clearly weren't cut out for.
While she didn't care for men or their stupidity, and even less for these morons, she couldn't help but feel that she should stop themselves from hurting each other. After all, there wasn't any fun in having them kill each other. Also, the fact that she was here and might possibly get any of their blood on her would complicate things if one of them actually died from the wounds they were inflicting on each other.
So, she went on the offensive. Her moves were swift and calculated, using the least amount of energy in order to knock each of her assailants out before they could seriously hurt themselves or each other any more.
Their antics had been amusing at first, but now it was just sad. While she considered killing them outright themselves, being stupid generally wasn't a reason to kill someone. Especially when they weren't an actual threat. While she was sure that they'd eventually get themselves killed, Kim didn't see the need to hasten their demise.
Besides, she didn't care to deal with the law enforcement this city had if she could help it. She'd leave these wannabe hooligans on the street knocked out and let them explain what happened. After all, if they were like the typical man, especially with the time period this world seemed to be in, then they wouldn't admit to being taken out by a lone woman. They'd exaggerate and make it easier for Kim to not have any further problems from this.
Besides, while she was kinda lost, she wasn't afraid of not finding her way. She knew she'd eventually figure out where the inn was. After all, she'd been in bigger cities than this. This one probably could just barely be called a city in her opinion anyway.