Ch.80The Queen of the Back Alley – 6

After consuming the potion made from Tene leaves, I carelessly placed the empty bottle on the desk in my room. I’d need to dispose of it properly later.

It contained a deadly poison lethal only to humans, so I’d have to wash it with running water, melt the bottle in fire, or use magical disposal methods. Surely no one would be foolish enough to take a corked empty bottle, open it, and check its contents.

As soon as I went downstairs, the innkeeper rushed out from the kitchen and started bowing excessively. I brushed him off and left the inn.

As one might guess from terms like “shady area” or “back alley,” the true face of these streets can only be seen at night.

Of course, there are merchants and certain special individuals who operate during the day, but their numbers are significantly fewer compared to nighttime—less than 10 percent.

At least, that’s how it was in all the places I’d visited, and this place seemed no different. Some buildings were completely closed.

Which means, right now, during daylight hours, there’s nothing for me to do.

‘Not that there’s an abundance of things to do at night either.’

What business would I have crawling into a place like this?

I never seriously planned to create a new identity so thoroughly, but that blond man dragged me into it. Naturally, my schedule was thrown into disarray.

And standing here absentmindedly in the middle of the street is extremely unwise. All sorts of unsavory characters will start creeping around.

“Aack!”

See? Damn it.

As I tried to move away from some suspicious-looking people approaching me, someone crashed into me from behind. Then they let out a loud scream and collapsed dramatically.

It was clearly intentional. I was the one who got bumped into, yet the person who bumped into me was the one sprawled on the ground.

I turned around to see who would pick a fight so blatantly.

One person was on the ground, exaggeratedly clutching their shoulder. Behind them, four others were swaggering and staring at me.

Most were about my size or slightly larger, but one was extraordinary. His forearms were as thick as my thighs, and his thighs were as big as my torso.

They had clearly come looking for trouble.

I surveyed my surroundings. The fallen man’s scream had been so loud that everyone nearby was now focused on me and these thugs.

People were watching with excited eyes, and some were even whistling and cheering, openly eager to see a fight.

“Owww! My shoulder! My shoulderrr!”

While I was contemplating how to deal with these people, the man on the ground continued to clutch his shoulder and howl loudly.

The acting was so poor that anyone could tell it was fake, but the onlookers didn’t care. The clumsy setup wasn’t important—they just wanted to see the fight that would follow.

One of the men who had been smirking at me from behind stepped forward. It was the massive one.

“Hey, looks like this bastard just broke my friend’s shoulder?”

“Indeed. I don’t know why he’d do such a thing to such a fragile body.”

“Fragile body?”

I glanced at the man rolling around on the ground, screaming.

He wasn’t as built as the one who had just stepped forward, but he was by no means someone who could be described as “fragile” anywhere. They were just looking for any excuse to pick a fight with me.

“If you’re looking for trouble, why not just say so? Drop this pathetic act.”

“Wow, look at this guy. He breaks my friend’s shoulder and acts all high and mighty? Where did you learn such manners?”

“Wherever I learned them, they’re better than yours. Who uses such outdated tactics these days? Want me to teach you some better methods?”

I examined the waists of all four men. No weapons. They might be concealing small weapons like daggers, but those wouldn’t pose much threat to me.

In contrast, I had a long sword, so it wasn’t an unfavorable fight for me.

It would have been easier in a narrow alley, but unfortunately, I was on a wide main street.

Even if I took one of them out with a surprise attack and fought the remaining four, I still couldn’t eliminate the possibility of being surrounded.

Still, I didn’t think I would lose. No matter how many attacked, if I cut down the first one who approached, the rest would naturally hesitate.

These thugs wouldn’t have the guts to charge forward after seeing their comrade fall to a blade. Anyone with such courage wouldn’t approach in this manner in the first place.

The final variable was whether they could use mana.

The fact that they picked a fight so openly despite seeing my sword suggested that at least one of them likely knew how to channel mana through their body.

The worst-case scenario would be if all five could use mana. Then I’d have no choice but to endure their attacks until they tired out.

I was about to draw my sword, thinking I’d start by killing the man rolling on the ground.

“Wait a moment!”

Someone suddenly stepped between me and the thugs.

Light brown hair tied back in a braid swayed back and forth. She was quite short—I could see the top of her head.

Her clothes were ordinary fabric, and her shoes were common leather boots. The kind of outfit you’d see anywhere on the street.

The girl was breathing heavily, as if she had run here in a hurry. The muscular man who had stepped forward twisted his face in annoyance.

“What? You again, Latina? Why don’t you get lost?”

“And it’s you people again! How many times is this now?!”

“Watch yourself, girl! Our patience has limits!”

“And what if it does? Are you going to kill me?”

This small girl was standing her ground against a muscular man several heads taller than her, not backing down at all in their confrontation.

From the word “again,” it seemed this girl named Latina had done this more than once. And those thugs had apparently done this more than once as well.

“What did this person do wrong? You’re the ones who started the trouble!”

“Hey, do you really not know what this bastard did wrong? Can’t you see my brother’s shoulder is shattered? Huh?”

“I’m dying! My shoulderrr!”

“Stop talking nonsense! Anyone can see he’s fine!”

The situation was complete chaos.

The argument between Latina and the man grew louder, and more and more onlookers gathered around us to watch the exciting confrontation.

Having my face recognized like this wasn’t good.

“Latina, you haven’t been beaten up yet, which is why you’re acting so bold, but today I’ll give you a good thrashing! Then you won’t be so cocky anymore!”

The muscular man approached the girl menacingly. She retreated slightly and backed up against me.

Then she turned her head and winked at me.

“…!”

Just as I realized what that gesture meant, the girl grabbed my hand while putting her other hand into her pocket.

When her hand emerged from her pocket, it was holding a handful of strange powder.

“Let’s run!”

The girl threw the powder at the approaching thugs. Judging by its grayish color, it seemed to be ash.

The gray particles scattered in the wind and enveloped the men. All five of them screamed.

“My eyes! My eyes! You damn girl!”

The men, caught off guard by the powder, rubbed their faces frantically and flailed their arms. Coughing erupted from all directions.

The girl who had grabbed my hand started running.

We pushed through the crowd that had gathered—now large enough to be called a throng—and fled the scene, dashing wildly through nearby alleys.

The maze of alleys was so complex it seemed unnecessarily convoluted.

Only after turning dozens of corners and squeezing through several narrow gaps between walls did the girl slow down a bit.

“This way!”

The girl pointed to what looked like a tavern. Before I could ask where it was, my body was already being pulled along.

After bringing me inside the building, the girl closed all the curtains on the windows, locked every lock on the door, and then collapsed, panting, into a nearby chair.

I let her catch her breath for a while, then asked a question after a few minutes had passed.

“Where is this place?”

“Huff… huff… Wow, you’re really fit. How did you not even lose your breath once?”

“I asked you first.”

“Huff… phew. I’m your lifesaver, you know. Shouldn’t you be thanking me first?”

Lifesaver. Nothing could sound more awkward to me.

You need to have a life at risk to be saved. I probably would have been fine anyway. They would have beaten me for about a week before tiring themselves out.

I just wanted to kill them first because I hate getting involved in troublesome situations.

But that’s just my personal circumstances. The fact remains that this girl did save me, so I nodded obediently.

“Fine, fine. Thanks for saving me. Happy now?”

“…It sounds like you’re just saying it because you have to, but I’ll take it. I didn’t do it for thanks anyway.”

“But you just said I should thank you first?”

“You were the one who was curt with me first. Let’s call it even.”

The girl got up from her chair and went to a cabinet a short distance away, taking out two glass cups. She filled them with water from a nearby pitcher and offered one to me.

As I took the cup, she drained hers in one go. A refreshed “Ahh!” followed.

“My name is Latina. What’s yours?”