Chapter 33: George and his Minions

One of the men laughed. "What a sharp tongue you have, kid."

I remained calm and was about to walk away when the scarred man held my shoulder.

"We are still talking, kid. Respect your elders."

I nodded. "You’re right. Respect my ass."

The man looked surprised.

"Don’t fucking touch me and just leave me alone," I continued as I started to get pissed off.

They fell silent, then laughed.

"You’re funny, kid. Now hand me that pouch. There must be some money in it." The scarred man walked closer and tried to grab my pouch.

I moved backward and sighed.

"I don’t have money. Can I leave now?" I lied as I held my patience.

The man’s smile disappeared. "A kid should always tell the truth."

"Do you really want to do this?" I asked.

The man frowned. "Do what?"

I activated my skill, and the scene began to change.

Locksmith’s Eye.

They were embraced with weak mana threads that were loose in the air.

"Weaklings," I whispered, but they clearly heard it.

Their angry faces appeared, and the scarred man grabbed his iron hammer to crush me.

The three men behind me cast a skill that took three seconds to pull off.

I stared at them and cast my skill.

Close.

The mana threads that lingered around the three men shut as my golden mana threads acted as a key to close every mana point on their bodies.

The big iron hammer that was about to crush me suddenly dropped to the ground as I locked the strength of the scarred man.

His hand was stuck between the hammer and the cold floor of the tunnel.

"Ahhhh!" he shouted in pain. Losing strength made his body stumble to the floor, unable to even get up on his knees.

The three other men behind him were shocked and ran in the opposite direction, leaving the scarred man alone.

"Do not use your age to demand respect. Make a change, you idiot," I said as he curled his body in pain.

I turned back and walked away from him.

I continued walking in the tunnels.

"Tss. What a waste of time," I muttered to myself.

I remembered Patricia’s instructions and carefully entered the left and right tunnels.

Never take the main tunnels.

The underground tunnel was a maze, which was a perfect hiding spot for illegal smugglers and fugitives.

It was dangerous to be here unless you knew where you were going.

Unfortunately, Patricia did not tell me which was left and which was right.

"That’s not the way, kid." The voice of a man came from around the corner.

I stopped and turned around.

The scarred man I met earlier was leaning against the wall.

Fuck, my inner thoughts reacted.

The scarred man and his companions walked from the shadows and approached me. They were already recovered and healed.

"I think I need to work on my skill’s effect duration," I whispered to myself.

"You little bastard! I’m going to break your legs!" The scarred man burst out in anger.

I looked at the hammer in his hand. "That’s child abuse."

The group continued approaching and ignored what I just said.

I activated my Locksmith’s Eye and was about to use my Close Skill when an unknown voice suddenly came from the darkness.

"He’s with me."

All of us stopped and looked in the direction where the voice came from.

A figure walked out of the shadows.

It was Patricia.

She wore a red coat instead of her usual black-and-white maid dress.

"Patricia..." The scarred man looked at her with fright.

Patricia sighed. "George... I leave you all for three hours and you’re already robbing a child?"

"He is a dangerous kid." George frowned and looked back at me.

"Let me guess again. You are trying to rob him because he looks rich?" Patricia asked as she came closer.

George lowered his head and quickly answered, "Yes."

"Everybody in this community looks rich to you," Patricia said in disappointment.

"Who is he?" the other man said.

Patricia looked at me and back at George’s group.

For a second, she seemed to be asking my permission to reveal my identity. I slightly shook my head.

"He’s a client."

The group stared at me and laughed.

George’s laugh was the loudest and the most irritating.

"A client? He’s a kid! Hahaha!" He held his stomach, and his eyes became teary as he laughed.

"Yes. He’s a kid." Patricia’s eyes narrowed at them. "Your voices are irritating. Stop!"

The man and his minions stopped laughing and bowed a little.

I watched them carefully.

It seemed that Patricia’s position in the underground community was real.

George looked annoyed but decided not to make a move. He was scared of Patricia.

"If I find out that you touched my client, I’ll make sure that every smuggler in this community knows that you are groomers and no client will trust you."

George’s face became a mix of expressions. He could not believe that he was just called a groomer.

He looked at me and turned around. "Fine."

The other three men followed him and walked into the dark.

But before he disappeared, he glanced at me one last time.

"This isn’t over, kid. Pray to the gods that we don’t meet again."

I waved at him. "Have a good night, George."

Patricia slowly walked beside me and slapped the back of my head.

"Ow! What the fuck are you thinking?!" I rubbed my head.

"Why are you wandering around like a lost cat?" She completely ignored my complaints.

"I followed your instructions. Your directions were unclear." I looked up to see her face.

Patricia covered her face with a purple mask. "You agreed to this, Young Lord."

"Just call me Silvester. I’m not a lord anymore. Now where’s the smuggler?" My expression became serious.

She tilted her head toward the tunnel. "Have patience, Silvester. Don’t let your guard down and follow me."

I didn’t argue and just trusted her word.

We walked together in the dark tunnels of the sewer.