Chapter 47: One of Two Choices
Akar quickly arrived at the scene after leaving the Marquis’s Estate.
Red River City had been built early and underwent multiple expansions and renovations, resulting in a relatively chaotic city layout. Naturally, there wasn’t much in terms of district divisions, but functionally, it was still split into North and South.
The North, being closer to the Red River Canal, gradually became a gathering place for laborers and the poor throughout history, it was the city’s most notorious slum area.
In contrast, the South had developed into the wealthiest district of Red River City.
It was home to numerous inns, taverns, and shops. Even the City Lord's Manor and the various guild headquarters had chosen to establish themselves in the South.
Therefore, the public order in the South was significantly better than in the North.
The most critical areas were the three main avenues: Whitespring Avenue, Lily Avenue, and Red River Avenue.
The citizens of Red River City had never imagined a day would come when someone would dare to launch an attack in broad daylight on Whitespring Avenue, compared to Lily Avenue, where wealthy merchants lived, and Red River Avenue, home to guild headquarters, Whitespring Avenue was once considered the safest and most secure area during the Tinsk Family's rule.
That was because the City Lord's Manor and many knightly estates loyal to the Tinsk Family were located there.
Calling it “rich in martial virtue” would not be an exaggeration.
That was why, after the city’s fall that night, the bloodshed here was the greatest.
Akar was not foolish, on the contrary, he could be considered sharp-witted. He simply disliked stealing his elder brother’s spotlight.
Therefore, after hearing Monica’s words, he immediately realized that this attack was aimed at destroying the Kasein Family’s authority over Red River City, no one had dared to stir trouble on Whitespring Avenue under the Tinsk Family's rule, but now that the Kasein Family had taken over, provocateurs appeared right away.
That alone was enough to demonstrate that the Kasein Family’s deterrence was far inferior to the Tinsk Family’s.
Beyond that, there was another important factor.
The Tinsk Family, during their governance of Red River City and the entire Red River Territory, had never imposed harsh policies or burdensome taxes, so the residents’ standard of living had not been too bad.
And what about the Kasein Family?
Without mentioning anything else, the fact that they had immediately enclosed a forest as a hunting ground and forbidden the Red River Territory’s people from entering after arriving already caused considerable dissatisfaction among the populace.
So, from the viewpoint of the common folk, they disliked the Kasein Family. Some even saw them as the villains in a story, Akar, having once been one of them, could instantly sense and understand the issue.
But perhaps because the Kasein Family had lived in privilege for too long, they were incapable of grasping the mindset of the lower classes.
This was evident from Monica’s urgent request for him to rescue Joshua.
After all, to Monica, or rather to the entire Kasein Family, if Joshua were to die, the Kasein Family would become the subject of ridicule like the “Gem Joke.”
But Akar clearly understood that if Anna couldn’t be rescued or something happened to her during this abduction, the Kasein Family would still become the next “Red Eagle Joke,” perhaps even worse.
‘Two people ran north.’
‘Three more were chasing them.’
‘That makes five sets of tracks.’
After carefully inspecting the scene, Akar scanned the surroundings. All the windows of nearby houses were tightly shut.
No one dared to be curious, much less meddle. Only the soldiers from the Marquis’s Estate were violently enforcing the law: breaking into homes one by one.
Rather than searching for clues, it looked more like they were taking the opportunity to extort bribes.
After all, they knew the attackers were Bloodline Users and had escaped toward the northern and eastern parts of the city. There was no way any enemies would be lingering here, they were merely putting on a show.
‘Six distinct tracks, messy, heading east. But halfway through, it turned into five. The heel marks show added weight… did someone carry Joshua?’
‘These four tracks… should belong to the second group of reinforcements from the Marquis’s Estate.’
‘This footprint… has the scent of orange leaves. It must be Atork.’
‘Strange?’
‘Why is there another deep impression here?’
Akar furrowed his brow.
He slowly rose to his feet and once again surveyed the surroundings.
The Iron Wolf Mercenary Group was a regular mercenary unit, usually dealing with bandits in mountain paths, occasionally encountering lone Tier-1 or Tier-2 Magical Beasts.
So, much of the work had to be done hands-on. His father had a talent for tracking, back in his days on the border against enemy nations, he often had to trace enemies or cover their own tracks.
He and his eldest brother had learned this skill exceptionally well, even better than his second brother, Yam.
When he was young and had nothing to do, he would often hunt in the back forest using a slingshot and a pouch of pebbles, which made him highly sensitive to tracks and scents.
Now, observing the chaos of footprints, he took the time to distinguish them carefully. Eventually, he identified which belonged to whom. But there was one set of noticeably heavier footprints that puzzled him.
He squatted down again and examined the footprint closely.
Then, as if struck by sudden insight, Akar sharply turned his gaze toward the two sets of footprints heading north.
“They took Joshua with six people! Not five!”
Akar stood up again, quickly following the trail of the footprint that had triggered his suspicion. Sure enough, he soon spotted a faint mark on the wall, just a slight footprint, which made him realize why the group that had abducted Joshua appeared to shrink from six to five.
Because one of them had already slipped away and gone into hiding after aiding in Joshua’s abduction.
Therefore, when the second wave of reinforcements arrived and saw the fleeing enemies, they mistakenly believed there were only five abductors instead of six.
Without hesitation, Akar leveraged his body and vaulted onto the rooftop, swiftly scanning the surface for signs.
Soon, he spotted a footprint from the mysterious sixth person that had stepped on bird droppings. Although the person had quickly wiped it off, the scent clinging to it could not vanish instantly. That lingering smell allowed Akar to trace the trail across several rooftops.
This time, his expression turned grim.
...
A brawny man, built like a bear, stepped down on a corpse lying on the ground. With both hands, he yanked a long-handled axe out of the body with slight force.
Blood splattered immediately.
“Heh, a bunch of fools.” The burly man sneered and turned to glance at his two companions.
They had also finished off their opponents and were now retrieving their Rare Iron Weapons from the corpses, along with looting the enemies’ Rare Iron Weapons.
“These stupid dogs from the Kasein Family are weak, but they sure have money.” The burly man picked up a longsword from the ground, his eyes lighting up. “A Refined-grade Rare Iron... sons of bitches, even I don’t have one! Hey, what did you get?”
“Mine was a pauper.” Another Bloodline User curled his lips. “A crude dagger, probably not even worth the market minimum.”
A crude-grade Rare Iron Weapon generally went for thirty to fifty Tyrella Gold Coins, depending on weapon type, material quantity, and other factors.
Daggers were known to be the cheapest among Rare Iron Weapons.
Unless they were Refined-grade, they weren’t worth much, as Bloodline Users rarely used such weapons.
In the Red Eagle Territory's Rare Iron Weapon market, the lowest price for a Refined-grade Rare Iron Weapon was over a hundred Tyrella Gold Coins, with some even reaching two or three hundred.
The vast price range was mainly due to the uncertain value of the polishing materials used in Refined-grade weapons.
Therefore, even a Refined-grade Rare Iron Dagger couldn’t be dismissed before formal appraisal.
But a crude-grade Rare Iron Dagger was definitely cheap.
“Let’s leave now and proceed with the plan,” said a man wearing a hood, noticing his two companions weren’t taking the abduction seriously. “The boat is ready. We need to support the others. This is our chance to wipe out the Kasein people.”
“What about this woman?” The Bloodline User who picked up the dagger gestured toward Anna, whose hands were bound behind her back and mouth stuffed with a dirty cloth.
“Kill her. Leave the corpse here.”
“What a waste to kill her.” The burly man suddenly grinned viciously. “Leave her to me. I’ll make the Kasein Family the biggest joke in the Red Eagle Territory!”
“Don’t waste time!”
“It’ll be quick!” The burly man shoved his companion aside with irritation. “We took less time than expected. The extra time should be my reward! As long as I don’t affect the plan, you have no right to stop me.”
“Whatever. No need to argue here.” The Bloodline User with the dagger said in a low voice. “You have five minutes.”
“Whatever you say.” The hooded Bloodline User, who looked like an executioner, also stepped aside.
“Pretty little thing.” The burly man advanced with a wicked grin. He put down his battle axe and longsword, then began removing his beast-skin armor. A pungent stench of sweat immediately spread, causing the other two to frown and walk away.
“Never thought I’d get to play with the Red Eagle Territory’s gem, hahaha!”
Anna stared in terror at the burly man who was drawing closer. She struggled violently, tears brimming in her eyes.
She wanted to cry for help, but with the filthy cloth stuffed in her mouth, all she could do was produce muffled sobs.
Unbeknownst to her, those sobs only excited the burly man even more.
“To feel pleasure before death, you should be grateful.” The burly man reached out with his right hand toward Anna, who kept shrinking back. “Stop struggling. Don’t waste our time.”
‘Someone, anyone!’
‘Save me!’
Anna shut her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks.
With her mouth gagged, she couldn’t even bite her tongue to end her life.
Though the hooded Bloodline User disdained the burly man’s actions, they were still comrades. So he simply snorted and turned away, choosing to pretend he saw nothing.
The other, indifferent companion showed no reaction, though he admired Anna’s beauty, he had no interest in a woman destined to die.
But just as they had walked less than ten steps, both stopped simultaneously.
“Fwwt—”
A sharp whistle sliced through the air, instantly drawing all three’s attention.
But it was the hooded Bloodline User, with sharper senses, who first caught a faint burnt scent in the air.
“Blazing Bow!” he cried out in shock as he turned his head.
“Boom—”
What met his eyes was the sight of the burly man’s head erupting into a brilliant burst of fire.
Countless fire arrows had struck the man’s defenseless head with perfect accuracy.
No blood sprayed.
Only sparks, blooming like fireworks.
Anna stared blankly at the headless corpse that first knelt, then collapsed beside her feet.
Her heart suddenly grew quiet.
Without another glance at the dead man, the smaller Bloodline User looked up in horror at Akar, standing with a bow on the rooftop, then turned toward his hooded companion.
“You were followed?!”
The spot where Akar stood now was exactly where the hooded Bloodline User had been hiding moments earlier.
This was their first ambush circle.
The hooded Bloodline User wanted to say “Impossible,” but seeing Akar standing there now, he knew words were useless.
There were only two choices left.
Fight or retreat?
One of two choices!