Corpses, corpses strewn all over the alleyway. Death by gunshot, death by stabbing, death by being hacked, various thugs, all died in combat. Kylan Adria Hazen, vice commander of the city guards, could only watch the gruesome sight with exhaustion. He knew the culprits, but there was nothing he could do about it.

  Imperial Princess Tasha’s spy had warned them not to do anything against Regulus’ gang. Even if he ignored that warning, it’s not like he could just go ahead and capture them. They were hidden underground, and they did not know the exact location of the hideout. The spy would not tell them where the hideout was, it seemed they did not want the Hazen to poke the hornet’s nest. All Kylan and the Hazen could do in this situation was…

  …“Siiigh”

  “Are you alright young master Kylan? You’ve been sighing a lot lately.” Robert, his lieutenant, asked him. Kylan could only stare at him in disbelief. They were in front of a bunch of corpses, only a small part of all the mess that had been happening in his beloved city. “Forgive me sir. That was a careless remark.” Robert apologized immediately after realizing his mistake.

  “No, no… it’s not your fault Robert.” Kylan realized that his frustration was showing on his face, and as a leader, he should not openly show such negative emotions on his face that could affect his men. “It’s just… Siiigh.”

  Realizing his lord’s trouble, Robert suggested a solution. “My lord, should we just round up all the street urchins in the city? Even if they are not part of the gang, at the very least we could send them to an orphanage or something. Wouldn’t it be better for them anyway?”

  Kylan considered his suggestion, “Do we even have enough orphanages to house the kids though?” He wondered if Beaugard knew the answer to his question, because Robert clearly did not know. “I’m sorry sir.”

  “Don’t be, Robert. It was a decent idea. I’ll consider it… hopefully it could be resolved without going there.” Kylan realized that the rise of Regulus might be a result of ignoring the war orphans problem that happened. They had neglected building enough facilities to house all the orphans, letting too many children roam the street. These children ended up being taken advantage of by thugs and sorry excuse for adults… and now, these abandoned and neglected children found a leader who can sympathize with their plight. With him at the helm, they were unleashing their pent up anger on the world, and now Hazen had to pay the price for their neglect. It seemed the old saying was true – The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.

  Kylan was about to reflexively sigh again, but he held it back knowing it would just make Robert more concerned. “Let’s return to base. There is nothing more we can do here.” Kylan, Robert, and their entourage left the scene of the crime. They walked through the main street, doubling as patrol. Kylan looked around as he walked, noticing the street stalls had been quite empty. The people of Hazen had been going out less and less. The recent strings of incidents and gang wars had made them wary. Most people prefer to stay indoors, only going out when truly necessary.

  Rather than people, Kylan noticed the amount of Molrrets loitering on the street increasing. Even the citizens of Hazen had realized this. Robert’s fiance, who worked as an administrator for the city, had complained once about the Molrrets. She had received a lot of reports about the smell and the various holes that had been appearing in the city. Kylan knew she complained to him, trying to bypass the chain of command and hoping he could solve it for her — but he had no solution for the Molrrets problem either. Even assuming the Molrrets were not working under Regulus, they still had no way of getting rid of them without shedding some blood. And considering the recent unnatural earthquake, it seemed unwise to forcefully get rid of them.

  “Hm?” Kylan noticed a group of children walking around. Lately, other than sighing, Kylan had picked up another habit of being wary of children. Whenever he saw them, he could not help but wonder if they were a part of Regulus’ gang or not. Of course most of the time, it was just baseless worry for most of the children he saw were just normal children…

  “Wait a minute…”

  But today the children he saw did not seem normal. Their clothes were either dirty, tattered, or both. There were suspicious bulges on their hips, like they were hiding weapons under their clothes. And they were surrounding an oblivious person who was browsing the wares of a street vendor. Then, he saw it – one of the kids snatched the oblivious man’s purse and walked away as soon as possible. Once they saw their comrades successfully pickpocket their target, they walked away, no longer surrounding the now penniless man.

  Kylan had witnessed a crime. He could just turn a blind eye to it as suggested by the Imperial Princess’ spy… but he could not do so. Ignoring a crime he did not see happen was one thing, but ignoring a crime right in front of him… to do so would cost him countless sleepless nights, cost him his pride, his sense of self. It would go against everything he believed, his knightly oath and his duty to protect the citizens of Hazen. So Kylan made up his mind, the Imperial Princess’ spy be damned.

  “Men, chase those kids! They’re pickpockets.” Kylan roared his orders. Robert and the rest of the entourage immediately snap into action, following their leaders who were now sprinting like a hungry predator at the kids.

  Klang Klang Klang Klang Klang

  The kids who heard the sound of metal clanging like crazy turned their heads to see what the noise was all about. Their faces turned pale when they saw a bunch of guards and one mean looking knight approaching them.

  “RUUUN,” One of the kids screamed, and they all scrambled like a bunch of rats. A game of cat and mouse between the children and the guards had now begun.

  ********

  Cling Cling Cling

  “Seven, eight, nine, ten…” A bunch of street urchins were hanging out on an alleyway, on the street, countless Azul coins were being counted, their hard-earned gains after a day of pickpocketing people. Brett, one of the kids who learned how to count, had dozens of ten stacks of coins in front of him. He counted them with a serious face, unbefitting of him.

  “Yo, Brett, why so serious?” Two older boys approached him, Carl and Daniel. They both looked like they were around twelve years old, but in reality, they were closer to around fifteen or sixteen, maybe even seventeen. They were not sure themselves, none of them knew when they were born.

  “I’m trying not to sleep, Carl. Counting these money one by one is boring as hell. I wonder why Bern told us to do this.” Brett complained to the boys, while stacking coins one by one. “Won’t he recount them anyway? Pretty sure he was some sort of money guy before he ended up a slave.”

  “Yeah, he pretty much recounts all the coins. That’s why I half-assed my calculation.” Carl declared proudly. Daniel, his best friend, could only shake his head. “That’s the reason he recounted them. Cause you’re not doing your job properly.”

  “Like you were doing your job properly either. I did not see you count any money.” Complained Carl. “I can't count to ten.” A bold face lies from Daniel.

  Carl and Daniel started to bicker against each other, while Brett continued counting the money. His face while counting was so listless, that even Carl and Daniel had to stop bickering. “Seriously Brett, what happened to you? I’ve never seen you this serious before. Are you possessed? Or don’t tell me… you’re dying aren’t you?”

  Annoyed by Carl’s teasing, Brett decided to just open up and be done with it. “I’m trying to redeem myself. Now stop bothering me.”

  “Redeem? … oh.” Carl then remembered Brett’s recent blunder. A blunder so big that at least half the old members loathe him for it, Carl was included in that list until he forgot about it. “Oh, hum. Aha haha ha ha.” Carl was now at a loss of words. He felt bad for teasing Brett about it. He looked over at Daniel, begging, hoping he could get rid of the awkwardness.

  “Uhhhhm… Good luck I guess.” Daniel felt like wishing Brett luck was not the right thing to say, but he was not sure what to say in the first place. “Thanks.” But Brett just thanked him. Daniel was not sure if it was a genuine thanks or just something Brett said out of reflex, but he’ll take it if he could end this awkward conversation.

  Carl and Daniel looked around the alley. Trying to look for something they could use to change the subject. But Brett struck first. “Hey Carl… why aren’t you angry at me anymore?” Brett looked at Carl straight in the eyes. Hoping Carl’s answer could help him find a way to be forgiven by everyone else – especially Uri.

  “Uhhhhm… cause I’ve seen how much you changed?” That was a bullshit answer, so bullshit not even Carl himself bought it. Even without saying it outloud, Brett realized Carl was just the type to forgive and forget quickly – and Daniel, his best friend, was still alive. Unlike Andy, Uri’s best friend.

  “Siiigh,” Brett sighed and put his head down. Returning to count his coins. Carl and Daniel looked at each other, feeling bad for Brett. They were about to crouch and help Brett count the rest of his coins… but they heard something… they all heard something.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “....uuuuun…….RUUUUUUN”

  A familiar voice from one of their members. Everyone on the alley looked at the source of the voice – and they saw a bunch of their members – being chased by men clad in armor.

  The city guards were on them.

  “RUUUUN.”

  Daniel shouted an order to run. And everyone immediately bolted, kicking the stacks of coins on the floor and scattering them all. Some of the newer kids tried to grab as many coins as they could, but they were immediately grabbed by the older members, urging them to just abandon those meager amounts of money. The kids split up in many different directions, an instinct they developed living on the street. This way, not all of them will be caught.

  “Ooooph,” one of the kids who were originally being chased was caught by the collar by a young knight. The knight tossed the kid to the guards behind him. “Capture as many as you can. But don’t hurt them too badly. They’re just kids.” The knight ordered the guards, and the guards immediately split up, trying to get as many kids as possible.

  Meanwhile the young knight continued charging straight, because it was the only action that felt right to him.

  *******

  “Aaaargh,” Kylan just captured his fourth kid. He casually tossed them to the guard behind while he continued his pursuit. Some of the kids tried to fight back, pulling their weapons and facing Kylan when they knew they could not outrun him. But Kylan was far more skilled than them, disarming them quickly and tossing them behind in the same motion. While these kids were surprisingly well-armed, they were not well-trained with those weapons. However, their willingness to use those weapons concern Kylan. So far their victims were other gang members… But there was no way of telling when these kids would aim those weapons at innocent civilians. Before things escalated, Kylan had to get rid of Regulus and his gang. The Imperial Princess’ spy be damned. They did not know what was best for Hazen… no, they did not care about Hazen.

  In front of Kylan, there were only five kids left. The one that caught his attention was the three that were running at the very front. Unlike the other kids he had caught, they felt different. He could sense a little bit of mana in their legs. It seemed they unconsciously used mana to boost their running speed, explaining why they were so far ahead compared to the other kids.

  Kylan had almost caught up with another kid. The kid already had an axe out, but by the look of it he had no intention to use it against Kylan. Before the kid could turn around and use the axe, Kylan charged him, grabbing him from behind and pinning him to the ground. The force of the impact made the kid drop the axe. In desperation, the kid shouted “HEEEELP!”

  Kylan felt a bit bad for the kid, but he knew this was for the better. By arresting them, he could get these kids out from the street, get them to abandon their life of crimes. The Hazen family could find an orphanage for them, give them proper homes, proper education, and help them grow into proper citizens. They might hate him now, but one day, one day they’ll understand that this was for the best.

  Kylan was about to lift the kid from the ground and handed him to the guards behind him.

  “MY LORD, IN FRONT OF YOU!” but Robert’s scream surprised him. One of the three kids that were in front, face scared shitless, was coming at him, axe in hand.

  “I AM NOT A COWARD.” The kid yelled before swinging the axe at him. Instinctively, Kylan let go of the kid he pinned down and stepped back to avoid the axe. The charging kid kept swinging the axe at him wildly, howling as he did. “GO! RUN!” the kid told the downed kid. The downed kid hesitated a bit, but in the end he decided to run away.

  Meanwhile, the other two kids in front stopped running. They also pulled their weapons, hesitating a bit whether they should go and help the axe kid or not. “GO!” the axe kid screamed at them. “I GOT THIS! GO!” he said as he kept swinging his axe wildly.

  The two kids decided to run away, leaving the axe kid to hold Kylan and the guards back. And he was doing it well. With every swing, Kylan kept stepping back. And as he stepped back, so did Robert and the guards behind him.

  “Why am I dodging?” Kylan thought to himself. The kid’s swing was wild and unpredictable, but Kylan should be able to handle those with ease. Not to mention with his [Iron Body] and his armor, the kid should not be able to hurt him – and yet his body kept moving backward, desperately dodging those desperate swings.

  Kylan calmed his mind and tried to analyze the kid in front of him. The first thing he noticed was the kid’s arms and legs were covered in [Iron Body], meaning those swings of his were lethal enough even against a fully-armored city guard. But that was not all. Kylan activated his [Aura Vision], and he saw it. A faint mana enveloping the axe. It could barely be called one, but the kid was on the verge of using [Aura]. That was why Kylan’s body kept reflexively backed down. If he was careless, even he would not get out unscathed.

  Luckily for Kylan, the kid had no techniques. His form was a mess and his swings were wide and readable. Kylan waited for the right moment, then he drew his sword from the scabbard, and using the pommel, he disarmed the kid.

  PAAANG

  Just for safe measure, Kylan also enveloped the pommel with [Aura]. Ensuring the kid lost his grip. As it hit, the axe flew to the sky, and the kid, surprised by the sudden pain, staggered backward. Without a moment of hesitation, Kylan thrust his right hand and grabbed the kid by the neck.

  “Oooph,” the kid lost his breath. Kylan used the momentum of the thrust to bring the kid to the ground. With all his might and weight, he pinned the kid. The kid used every ounce of his strength to break free. It was a commendable effort. If Kylan was a normal city guard, the kid could easily break free, he could even break Kylan’s arm. But Kylan was a trained knight. His right arm was covered in [Iron Body], stronger than the kid’s own. He also knew grappling techniques, pinning the kid’s arms and negating any effort he made to break free. Now, all he needed to do was wait until the kid passed out. Then he could confidently hand the kid to the guards behind him.

  “Sir, I’m going to chase the other kids.” Seeing his lord having things under control, Robert took the initiative to chase the kids that ran away. Kylan hesitated a bit. The two kids that hesitated to help might be as strong or stronger than this kid. But at the same time Robert was a trained knight too, just like him. He should be able to handle those kids. “Go Robert! I’ll follow soon.” Robert nodded to his lord’s order. With a couple of guards, he continued his pursuit of the other kids.

  As Robert left, Kylan could feel his stomach churning. It could be because he was trying to choke a somewhat helpless kid unconscious right now… but that did not seem like it. It felt like he just made a mistake somewhere.

  A mistake he could not reverse.

  *********

  “Finally, a hole.” Carl, panting out of his mind, tired from running and carrying another tired kid was finally glad to see a hole and a napping Molrret next to it. “Alright, get down and get in.” Daniel, also carrying another kid, ordered the kids he and Carl were carrying to get inside the hole, into the safety of the underground.

  Once the kids entered the underground, Carl and Daniel looked back where they came from. They realized that no other kids were coming, including Brett. “Should we go back and rescue them?” Carl asked Daniel, unsure of their next action. “We can’t just abandon them… can we?” Daniel asked back. He was also unsure what to do. Unlike what happened with Carven, there was less sense of danger.

  Sure, getting caught by the guards and thrown into prison sucks… but at least they won’t lose their life like the case with Carven. At worst, they’ll end up like Napier – had their hands cut as a punishment for stealing. The aftermath of getting your hand cut could be lethal for street kids like them… but they got time. It’s not like they immediately cut their hand on capture. They’ll spend some time first in prison before some adults decide whether their hand should get cut or not.

  They had time for Regulus to rescue them.

  But still, leaving their comrades to just get captured without even trying to save them left a bad taste in their mouth. “I guess we have too.” Carl said with a wry smile on his face. On one hand, facing the guards was less dangerous than facing the undead. On the other hand, they had less of a chance of winning against the guards and the knights compared to facing the undead.

  “But… Can we actually rescue them? Should we just follow them? Find out where they take them. Once we found out…” Daniel looked back at now awake Molrret. “...it’s just a matter of digging an escape tunnel.”

  Carl breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, let’s do that. Regulus can easily rescue them from prison.” he was glad he didn’t have to fight the knight to rescue their comrades.

  Having a plan of action, Carl and Daniel were about to scale buildings and found out where the captured kids were taken from above… but they were stopped by a familiar voice.

  “CARL, DANIEL.” It was the hoarse voice of a boy in puberty, the leader of their pickpocketing ring, Grigori. “What happened? Why a bunch of us are running in panic?”

  Grigori, who was spending his time on the rooftop, saw a lot of his kids running around in the alleyway screaming for their life, running towards any holes they could find.

  “Guards.” Daniel only needed to say one word for Grigori to understand what happened. “Crap. anyone got caught?”

  “A bunch.” Carl delivered the bad news. Hearing it, Grigori became angrier. “FUCK!” Even though he hadn’t exerted himself physically, Grigori’s breathing became ragged. His face, red. Carl and Daniel could feel the air around them being filled with tension.

  “Grigori, calm down. Me and Carl will find out which prison the guards took them. You just focus on ensuring everyone else manages to escape.” Daniel tried to calm the visibly frustrated Grigori down.

  “Alright. Yeah. Thank you. I'm counting on you two…” Grigori was cut off when he heard a set of voices, unfamiliar to any of them.

  “Sir Robert! I saw a bunch of kids that way.” It was a guard, pointing at them. Knowing their time was limited, Carl and Daniel immediately bolted away, scaling the buildings in front of them and trying to find where the others were taken. Meanwhile Grigori…

  He decided to make a stand. He pulled out his short sword and flintlock and faced the oncoming guards.

  One of the better armored guards came forward from the group of guards. Grigori was not sure, but if he was a betting boy, he must have been Sir Robert the guards were mentioning before.

  “Kid, lay down your arms. And we’ll ensure you will not be harmed.” Robert told Grigori. Hearing that, Grigori just spat. “There’s only one person who will not harm me. And you’re not him.” Grigori said as he pointed his short sword at Robert. “Now let go of my friends you captured. If you don’t, I can’t ensure you will not be harmed.”

  Hearing their leader’s word be used against them, the guards were agitated. Not wanting the guards to accidentally kill the kid, Robert decided to come forward on his own, sword drawn. “Kid, don’t make me repeat myself. Drop the sword.”

  “Make me.”

  Grigori dashed while consciously covering his legs and feet with [Iron Body], and he unconsciously layered them with mana too. He was as fast as a crossbow bolt, fast enough to catch Robert off-guard. With his short sword in front, he was about to impale Robert with it.

  But Robert was a trained knight. Even if he was caught off-guard, he could predict where Grigori would stab him, his belly. So he strengthened his belly with [Iron Body] he also poured some mana into his armor, activating the defensive rune engraved in it. With his current momentum, Grigori’s sword would break on impact and so did his arm. Instead, he was more worried about the Molrret near the hole that was brandishing its claws. He did not know much about Molrret, but he was sure it was showing signs of aggression. He was more worried if the Molrret attacked, not even his [Iron Body] nor his runic armor could defend against its claws.

  JLEB

  But his worry was misplaced. Grigori managed to stab Robert. Even pushing him back a bit with the momentum of the charge.

  “What?” Robert was confused, how could his [Iron Body] and his armor could not deflect a kid’s stab and his cheap short sword. And he saw it, with his naked eye. [Aura], covering the kid’s sword.

  “F- Fuck!” realizing he had underestimated the kid, Robert tried to push him off. But he reacted a bit slow. Grigori sliced his stomach open, and once he saw Robert’s gut hanging out he reached his hand into it…

  … and pulled it out.

  Robert fell to his knee, as he tried to put his gut back in. He was now eye-level to the small Grigori. His neck was now within Grigori’s reach – so Grigori sliced it, dealing a fatal blow to Robert.

  The guards watched in horror, as they witnessed their superior fall slowly to the ground, guts wide open, gurgling for his last breath. His killer, a small child, drenched in Robert’s blood.

  Grigori stepped over Robert’s dying body, with his face red with anger and blood, he glared at the frightened guards. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Release my friends, or be harmed.”

  “RUUUUUN.” The guards who had spent the evening chasing a bunch of street urchins, were now scattered to every direction, running away from a street urchin. Some of them dropped their halberds, both out of fear and self preservation – they could run faster without it.

  Little did they know, Grigori did not chase them at all. His hands were shaking. The adrenaline had worn off. He could not help but look behind him. To the now dead body of his first human victim.

  Even though he had not exerted himself much, his breathing was ragged. Even though he was not injured, his stomach was twisting in pain. Even though the blood on his face was not his, his skin was pale white as if he was losing blood. Even though nothing around him could harm or scare him…

  … the shaking would not stop.