Chapter 29 - Locals Attempt to Lynch Florida Man for Opening Durian Stall on Sidewalk
Buck Turo, the 17-year-old son of Bill Turo, was one of the privileged students of Aero Academy. His father, the academy's biggest donor, supported the school with cash, supplies, and manpower, including slaves. As a result, the academy gave Buck full support, despite his mediocre magic talent.
The spoon-fed mage inherited his parents' chubby genes, weighing 400 pounds. His round face full of pimples, big belly, strong bodily odor, and 5'4" height made him the ugliest and most undesirable groom candidate among noble ladies. Yet, many commoners caved to his influence and wealth. So far, a dozen female students had offered their bodies to Buck Turo in exchange for better school grades and monetary support.
Unfortunately, Buck Turo's insatiable lust and greed surpassed his parents. He desired every woman he liked, especially those with special physiques and unique talents.
500 meters north of Terra City, Buck Turo, accompanied by five aura knights from the Turo House and five second-circle mages from the academy, observed the hometown of Robert and Roland Lundop. His giant crimson warhorse also stared at the city, snorting in annoyance at its rider and the caretaker holding its reins.
While admiring Robert's city, Buck Turo asked the knight holding the warhorse's reins, "Will this really flush out that mage?"
The aura knight, a 70-year-old veteran soldier with a face full of blade scars, looked back at his master. Despite being an elder, he held the power of a three-star aura.
The star aura system served as the progression framework for knights, similar to the circle system for mages. Unlike delicate mages, a knight with a one-star aura possessed significantly sturdier skin than the average adult, allowing them to deflect sword attacks using their flesh. It was commonly accepted that the strength of a one-star aura knight equaled that of 100 ordinary swordsmen, with higher ranks amplifying this ratio even more.
The elder knight, Garr, was one of the retired aura swordsmen from the capital city. In the army, he was just an average knight. But here, serving the Turo House, he was one of the top fighters and in charge of commanding Buck Turo's aura knight bodyguards.
Garr gazed at the city and looked at the sun, estimating the time of the operation. "I instructed the men to cause chaos as soon as Robert or Roland appear in public, but we shouldn't expect a good result. Those two men are earth mages. They won't die that easily. Also, we don't know if that mage is still staying in the city."
"Then, why haven't you entered the city with your men and do it yourself?"
"The Lundop House excels at detection and appraisal magic. They will sense my aura if my men and I directly infiltrate the territory. Also, to fight a fifth-circle mage, we need at least two five-star aura knights or two fifth-circle mages."
Buck Turo narrowed his eyes, remembering the missing men he had dispatched to intercept Roland's caravan several days ago. There were traces of combat in the woods, but they couldn't find their men's corpses. They concluded that Roland might have gained help from a fifth-circle mage who had the ability to store corpses in their spatial storage. Coincidentally, his father, Bill Turo had encountered a mysterious man capable of using a spatial spell several days ago.
The puzzle pieces matched. They suspected that the mysterious man was secretly supporting the Lundop House. Thus, they couldn't take risks.
"To think that the precious Sacred Jewel Physique was right in front of me, but I let her slip away because of her brother. I should have directly destroyed the Lundop House instead of killing that fool."
"What's done is done, young master. Let's contact Sir Black Mage and have him prepare the siege."
"Hmm." Buck Turo nodded and turned around, ordering his bodyguards, "Set up camp! Send someone to inform Sir Joxonu that we will lay siege on Terra City tonight if that mysterious mage shows up!"
Buck Turo glanced at Terra City, licking his lips. He couldn't wait to get his hands on Valley. 'It won't be long, Valley! You are mine!'
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*BANG*
*BANG*
One at a time, Felix sniped assassins on the street while making his way to reunite with Robert's bodyguards. Emptying his magazine, he switched to an FN SCAR.
As soon as Felix switched weapons, an archer on the rooftop noticed the threat. He shouted to warn his friends and released an arrow. "THERE'S A MAGE AMONG THE CROWD! GET HIM FIRST!"
*PU*
The archer was accurate. The arrow instantly pierced Felix's chest! The other archers turned around and aimed at Felix as well.
"!!!"
Felix sensed a sharp pain in his chest. He mustered his strength and leaped away from the open street, taking cover behind a fruit stall under an awning.
*POK* *POK*
More arrows whistled through the air, piercing a blue durian in front of Felix, causing it to leak stinky blue juice. Five archers also aimed at Felix and released their bowstrings, sending five projectiles flying.
Felix ducked behind the cover and glanced at four arrows piercing the wall on the other side. Another one hit the same blue durian, knocking it off the shelf.
Despite being shot in the chest, Felix didn't feel much discomfort. Upon breathing, he sensed his left lung touching the tip of the arrow, pricking him inside.
Calmly, Felix withdrew a healing potion from his inventory and mercilessly pulled the arrow out from his chest, widening the wound. Pouring the potion on his wound, the bleeding stopped. Felix drank another potion, and the injury healed.
Once again, Felix experienced the threat of this world's archers. He grumbled and changed his mindset.
'Fine. I won't treat you as one-attack barbarians anymore. I'll treat you as real terrorists!'
No longer thinking of these medieval fighters as harmless grunts, Felix changed his objectives. He crawled under the wooden stall and pushed baskets of fruit away. Peeking and placing his rifle muzzle through a gap, Felix aimed at an archer on the building opposite.
*BANG*
It was a clean shot to the chest. The guy tumbled and fell from the roof.
Taking advantage of the cover, Felix went on the offensive, aiming at the other four confused archers near the previous victim.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Suffering the same fate, they dropped from the rooftop like stuntmen in Hollywood movies. Unlike in the movie set, the ground was a hard stone road, which broke a few of their bones upon landing. One of them fell from the 7-meter-tall building and landed on his head, busting it open.
Clearing the archers on the opposite rooftop, Felix glanced at the threat radar. The red dots still overwhelmed the green dots at the fountain plaza, but their number slowly dwindled as the local soldiers also put up a fight.
Felix got out of cover and looked up as he heard loud footsteps of other archers on the building behind him. He didn't have a clear angle to shoot them.
'I wish I had grenades.'
Felix wanted to remove them, but the threat of being sniped was present. He looked around, searching for threats on the street first.
Sure enough, at the fountain plaza, armored militia soldiers managed to gain ground and killed several black-clothed men. The assassin knives failed to penetrate their chainmail, while their black clothes failed to provide protection against sharp swords.
Felix noticed that a few assassins used broadswords and hand maces. While Felix was looking, one of the assassins smacked an armed soldier's head with a mace and finished him off with a clean stab through an armor gap between the armpit, killing the soldier on the spot.
"Tsk."
Felix took aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced the back of the assassin's head, avenging the local soldier.
Not stopping there, Felix picked off remaining assailants, one at a time.
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*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The gunshot sounds soon overwhelmed the chaotic screams and clanking of metal swords. The local soldiers noticed when the enemies in front of them fell one after another.
As soon as the militia soldiers were relieved from combat, they looked up and pointed at the archers on the building where Felix was hiding.
"OVER THERE! GET THEM!"
One of the militia soldiers rallied his friends. Archers among them nocked their longbows and fired back at the assassins.
Realizing the danger, the black-clothed men turned tail to flee. They ran five steps and prepared to leap across buildings to escape.
Suddenly, Robert and Roland got up while arrows were still stuck in them. Both transformed into humanoid mud and raised their hands. Instantly, the roof tiles underneath the fleeing assassins grew tree branches and vines, wrapping and suspending them in midair.
Two of the bodyguards among the local knights raised their visors, revealing their faces. They were Roland and Robert, who had been disguising themselves as bodyguard knights.
"Old tricks always work," Roland smirked.
Robert wryly smiled, "Thank Goddess Eleanor that I believed you. We would have died if I insisted on going out myself."
"When you're dealing with noble crooks, you have to put yourself in their shoes and outsmart them. They're not some uneducated bandits in backwater mountains. These guys are clearly following orders from a noble family, and nobles aren't idiots. Obviously, they would hit us whenever they had a chance," Roland educated his son.
Robert nodded, taking the lesson to heart. He then cast a glance at Felix, who had briefly assisted them during combat.
"So, what about him?" asked Robert.
Roland proudly gazed at Felix in approval. "He's trustworthy enough. Give him what he wants. We want him on our side."
"Alright."