Catherine and Layla were searching for the church where Ryu had gone, but they seemed to have lost their way.

There were only shady figures around, and they couldn't ask anyone for directions. They had wandered into the depths of the slums.

The slums became more dangerous the further they went. At the very back, a criminal organization had set up their base.

Layla, the guild receptionist, had the courage to handle rough adventurers as a guild employee, but she was just an ordinary person with no combat skills. She was also quite beautiful. (It seemed that this world was no different in its tendency to hire beautiful women as "receptionists," whether at the guild or elsewhere.)

Naturally, a beautiful woman like her approaching the slums would attract the attention of those with nefarious intentions.

Meanwhile, Catherine, who was semi-retired but had been an A-ranked adventurer in the past, was still capable of handling herself even if she got into a bit of trouble in the slums. However, based on her appearance alone, the men in the slums saw her as prey.

Catherine, quick to sense danger, would deter and move away whenever a dangerous man approached, allowing them to stay safe so far…

But if they ventured further, they would enter a dangerous area where they wouldn't be able to stay safe.

Layla: "Are you sure this is the right way?"

Catherine: "…We seem to be lost… This doesn't feel very good..."

Layla: "Ah! Maybe we are on the right path after all. Look, that child!"

Layla pointed to a young girl walking with a boy around 15 years old, likely her older brother.

However, behind them were men with suspicious appearances...

Catherine: "Let's follow that child."

They hesitated to speak to the suspicious men around them, so they followed from a distance, which allowed them to escape from the depths of the slums.

— — — — — — — — — — — — —

As soon as Ryu left the church, a child from the orphanage, Kaito, ran up to him and stopped him.

Kaito: "Ryu-nii, Marie was taken by Tanji-nii!"

Tanji was a boy who had been sheltered at the church orphanage until last year. But at 15 years old, he reached adulthood and left the orphanage to become independent.

Apparently, Tanji had taken Marie, a young girl from the orphanage, with him. Marie knew Tanji and had gone with him without hesitation.

Actually, Tanji had been involved with bad people even before leaving the orphanage. As a slum dweller, he faced discrimination and couldn't find a decent job. In the end, he decided that the only way to get ahead was in the slums. He had fallen in with bad company.

There were three criminal organizations in the depths of the slums, each with several smaller criminal groups under them. One of them was "The Rat's Teeth." It was just a group of low-level thugs, but Tanji had joined them after leaving the orphanage.

Ryu had Kaito lead him to the place where Marie had been seen.

There, Marie and Tanji were standing together. Marie was being handed a cloth bag by Tanji. Behind him stood suspicious men, members of "The Rat's Teeth." Among them was Kengo, a man who had been harassing Ryu for some time.

Marie: "Ryu-nii!"

Tanji: "Wait!"

Marie ran towards Ryu with a joyful expression when she saw him.

Ryu knelt down, bringing his eyes to Marie's level, and patted her head. Then, he asked about the bag she was carrying.

Marie: "I was given a job to go into town and deliver this to a man named Dodger. I'll get 1G! I can work, too!"

Ryu said in a tone of persuasion.

Ryu: "Marie, I told you not to accept jobs from people in the depths of the slums."

Marie: "But Tanji-nii said it was okay..."

Ryu glared at Tanji.

Ryu: "The contents of that bag are bad medicine. They will cause a lot of people to suffer. Even if Marie only carried it without knowing, it means she's helping a crime!"

The contents of the bag were likely drugs. He'd heard that recently, poor quality drugs had been circulating.

Ryu had also been offered a job as a delivery boy recently, which he refused. With stricter vigilance lately, they probably figured they could avoid suspicion by having a young child deliver the goods.

Tanji rushed forward, taking the bag from Marie and grabbing Ryu's collar.

Tanji: "Ryu! You have nothing to do with this! Mind your own business!"

Marie: "…Tanji-nii?"

Tanji: "T-this is just medicinal herbs, I was asked to pick them up!"

Ryu: "Then why don't you deliver it yourself? Or maybe we should take this bag to the security guards and have them check it. If it's really just medicinal herbs, I'll deliver it for you."

Ryu grabbed Tanji's arm and squeezed it tightly. When Ryu used his full strength, his grip exceeded 4 tons. Even a light squeeze made it impossible for Tanji to move, and he released his grip on Ryu's collar.

Tanji: "Ouch... It... hurts...!"

His wrist was cracking, as if it would break from the powerful grip. Tanji couldn't move from the pain.

Kengo, seeing Tanji unable to move, intervened from behind.

Kengo: "Oh, it's Ryu, isn't it? You've gotten a lot more talkative, haven't you, huh?"

Ryu: "Kengo, I don't care what you do, but don't ever get near the children of the church. If you promise, I'll pretend I didn't see anything today."

Kengo: "Ryu, you little punk! You're being disrespectful like that, you want to get beat up again?"

Ryu had been invited to join Kengo's group several times before, but he always refused. As a result, Kengo and his gang had beaten him up, calling him disrespectful.

He had completely forgotten, but now 6that he remembered, Ryu thought maybe he should settle the score with Kengo…

However, with the return of his past life's memories, Ryu's mind had suddenly become that of an adult. Because of that, his memories from this world before he regained his memories had faded and didn't feel real anymore.

He could just let go of the past. Kengo had been mean to him, but Ryu hadn't been seriously harmed. He had been assaulted, but the punches were amateurish, and he hadn't felt much pain, so he hadn't fought back.

But it was a different story if they were going to harm the children of the church. He couldn't let that happen.

Ryu: "Kengo, who told you to do this? You can't do this on your own."

Kengo: "W-what are you saying? I-I don't know!"

Ryu had just thrown out a guess, but he had hit the nail on the head.

Kengo turned red with anger, seeing Ryu's slightly mocking expression.

Kengo: "Y-you! Ryu, you of all people! You can't get away with looking down on me like that. You can't survive in the slums if you act like that!"

Kengo attacked Ryu out of the blue, but his fist was caught by Ryu's hand.

Ryu squeezed the fist tightly, making Kengo wince in pain. Then he kicked Kengo in the thigh. It was a light kick for Ryu… but Kengo fell down, writhing in pain.

"Damn it, you… Take him down!"

Kengo's men surrounded Ryu, following his order.