Warlord Of Chaos

Daylight waned, but Steelberg still had not come back. Instead of sitting there and wasting time, Han Jin decided to start meditating. However, just as he closed his eyes, he heard a burst of noise that sounded like it was approaching him.

Han Jin opened his eyes and saw a dozen men standing right in front of him, all of them wielding swords. They also wore leather armor, though it looked extremely crude, almost as if they had torn some holes into a raw animal hide and stuck their heads into them. Judging by that, their swords wouldn't be of great quality either.

However, the men were clearly part of the same group. They also all carried weapons, which meant they might be guards. Or even a gang? Han Jin slowly stood up by holding the shabby wall, as it was clear that he was their target.

The group was led by a sturdy man in his forties with tanned skin. Two thugs followed behind, dragging a body that was covered in blood. As if he felt Han Jin's gaze, the guy who was being dragged, m.o.a.n.e.d and struggled to raise his head. Steelberg?! Han Jin's eyelids shook with shock as he recognized the man.

According to the memories in Han Jin's head, Steelberg was a naughty boy, but then again, Han Jin wasn't much better either. The main reason why the mayor of Radon Town was hard on them was because Steelberg had once climbed the wall of the mayor's family manor in an attempt to sneak a peek at his daughter. The mayor had caught him red handed, and needless to say, he was furious. Steelberg had almost died from all of the beatings he had received during the incident. 

Did Steelberg cause trouble again? Han Jin frowned.

"Ah, Young Master Raphael, long time no see," shouted the middle-aged man leading the group.

Although the man greeted him with a mild tone and a respectable expression, Han Jin could clearly feel a deep sense of contempt from the man's words.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Han Jin asked.

"You can't blame me, Young Master Raphael. This bastard dared to steal!" The middle-aged man grabbed Steelberg's hair and roughly yanked his head forward. "Ha ha, don't know what this guy was thinking. He somehow decided it was a good idea to sell the magic crystal he had stolen, and naturally... Anyway, Young Master Raphael, he claimed that you gave him the crystal. Is that true?" That middle-aged man deliberately leaned closer to Han Jin with an aggressive wide eyed stare, as if he intended to arrest and interrogate Han Jin thoroughly.

Han Jin fell silent. He wasn't afraid; it was just that the memories he had received were too chaotic that he needed time to sort them out before making a decision.

"Ah, I get it. " The middle-aged man, thinking that he had the advantage in this conversation, put on a crafty smile and said, "This guy must be trying to shift the blame. A man as righteous as Young Master Raphael would never be an accomplice to a thief, right? You guys, take this bastard back and interrogate him more thoroughly."

"I did give him this magic crystal. My question is, which one of those d.o.g.g.y little eyes of yours saw him stealing?" Han Jin said coldly.

Stunned by Han Jin's reply, everyone, from the armed men to the crowd of onlookers, stared at Han Jin in awe. Even the middle-aged man gasped in shock and exclaimed in a bewildered tone, "You... What did you say??"

"I'm asking you, which one of those d.o.g.g.y little eyes of yours saw him stealing?"

"Do you want to die?!" The middle-aged drew his sword in range and roared, "You really think you are still a young master? Believe it or not, I will kill you and the bastard right here and now!! "

"Ok," Han Jin replied nonchalantly with an expressionless face.

This angered the middle-aged man even more. He strode one step forward, lifted his sword, and then chopped down on Han Jin.

Han Jin's face was still expressionless. He was so bored he even mentally critiqued weaknesses present in the man's opening attack.

Screams came from the crowd of onlookers. The people of Radon Town were used to peace due to their remote location, and most of them had never witnessed something so violent before.

The low quality sword suddenly stopped in mid-air, less than half an inch away from Han Jin's head, but simply refused to connect with its target.

Han Jin smiled. No matter which world he was in, there were rules that must be followed. Raphael had been born a Baron, a member of the privileged class, and even though he had no money or power and lived as a beggar, his still retained that status. Even killing a civilian in public would be punished, let alone killing a noble. Besides, there weren't any particularly bad blood between them, and the situation did not need to escalate to murder at all. Raphael's memories told him that this middle-aged man was the town's sheriff named Svanti. The only reason he put his utmost effort into making the lives of Raphael and his servant miserable was to please the mayor, who hated the two of them. He would never consider going down with Raphael as a worthy trade.

"How dare a thief like you act so arrogantly." A sandy-haired old man jumped out from the crowd.

"Who did I steal from?" Han Jin fired back.

"From me!" That old man unfolded his hand, revealing a red bead.

Han Jin looked at Steelberg who desperately exclaimed, "Young Master, this old bastard set me up! I went to his ... ... " Before he could finish his sentence, the thug beside him slapped him forcefully, which forced him to swallow the rest of his words.

Han Jin saw the whole thing unfold, but despite the hatred in his heart, he was powerless to do anything. Instead, he coldly spoke toward the old man, "How do you know that Steelberg stole from you? "

"He attempted to sell the magic crystal to me, and I immediately recognized that they were the ones I had lost!" sneered the old man. "Young Master Raphael, you said this crystal is yours, but considering your present situation, how could you afford such a thing? "

"So what you are trying to say is that Steelberg stole something from you, and then tried to sell them back to you, the person he had just stolen from? You really believe that someone could be that dumb?" Han Jin shook his head and said scornfully, "It's not your fault for being as foolish as a pig, but you shouldn't go around assuming that everyone else is also as dumb as you."

"You..." The old man was obviously flabbergasted. It was common knowledge among the townspeople that Raphael had fallen from his fortune for many years now. Even though some people still treated him respectfully at the beginning out of fear for his status as an aristocrat, people gradually stopped treating him so nicely. It had just been a downward spiral from there, and at the present moment, most didn't even treat him as a human. As confused as he was, the old man could not let that insult pass. He shouted to Svanti, "Sheriff Svanti, this rat has a sharp tongue. I suggest you instantly arrest him and interrogate him thoroughly. Let's see if he can still spew lies after that! "

"What a wonderful idea," sneered Han Jin. "Let me suffer first, and then it will be others' turn when the tribunal gets involved. But no matter who suffers, it won't be you. Is that your master plan?" The tribunal Han Jin had mentioned was the place where nobles were tried for their crimes. Even if Raphael did steal something, people in this town, even the mayor of the town, had no right to convict him. A noble's crime must be submitted to the tribunal in the city that specifically handled them. In fact, privately interrogating a noble was a much more serious crime than stealing!

"Don't go too far." From the distance came a deep voice, "You beat up a boy like this just for a magic crystal, and now want to arrest them?"

"Who said that? Who just spewed out that nonsense?" Svanti shouted and looked at the spectators. "Show..."

The crowd instantly scattered, not voluntarily, but f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y pushed aside by a tall man who looked like a mountain of muscle. He towered over everyone present, and carried a shockingly big greatsword. Even more shockingly, the greatsword did not have a scabbard and was only bound to his back by a few strands of straw rope. Most of the sword was uncovered, revealing some sort of dark stain, and god knows if it was human blood or not. His pace was slow, but his imposing manner made the crowd so nervous that they were gasping for breath. It was also the reason why Svanti suddenly shut up. Clearly, he didn't have the guts to continue shouting. 

"You… You are a mercenary, aren't you??" That old man forced an innocent smile onto his face.

"No shit! Are you blind? Can't you see the badge?" The big fellow said grumpily.

"Haha, my apologies... May I ask, which mercenary group you are from?"

"Do you want to be my friend, or do you want to know just so you can get your revenge later?" The man suddenly grabbed the old man's hand, who instantly started to scream in pain. With that, the magic crystals in his hand tumbled to the ground. Then, the big fellow flicked his wrist, and the old man was forced to stumble seven or eight steps back before falling down solidly onto the ground. After he had taken care of him, the big fellow bent down and picked up the magic crystal.

Isn't this robbery in broad daylight? Everyone though that, but no one dared to utter a word, including Svanti who was supposed to keep order. Mercenaries were warriors for hire - people who lived at the edge of life and death all year round. Generally, people working in such a violent field should not be messed with . After all, rules never really applied to mercenaries, as they could simply go off to some other place if life got too hard for them; not everyone could do that.

"What are you looking at?" The big fellow snorted coldly. "This magic crystal is not mine, nor yours!" With that, he thrust his sword into the ground with his left hand, while his right hand grabbed something out of his waist pockets: a dozen or so red beads, the exact same ones as the two he had gotten from the old man.

"Got it? These magic crystals belong to my employer." The big fellow satirized with a tone of disdain, "As for the two boys, I'm sure they didn't steal. Now, does anyone have any questions? If there are none, you can all f.u.c.k off back to where you belong!"

Sheriff Svanti's courage was boosted when he heard that the mercenary was hired by someone in the town. He was about to say something official-sounding to get himself out of this embarrassing situation, but it turned out that the mercenary had no intention of letting him do so. As the big fellow's words became increasingly more insulting and harsh, the cowardly side of the sheriff finally won, he waved his hand, and embarrassingly left with his men.

"Ignorant peasants." The big fellow spat on the ground, then strode past the crowd. He did this just because he happened to know the truth about this farce, and his sympathy had forced him to act against the injustice. In fact, in his eyes, the two beggars were not much better than those peasants, and he wasn't in the mood to even talk to Han Jin.