The thugs laughed nastily.

"You want to get beaten up again, huh?"

"You became an adventurer, but are you mistaking yourself for suddenly getting strong?"

"We need to educate you properly!"

They believed without a doubt that they would beat up Ryu from here on out.

Ryu had no intention of fighting with the slum people and was going to let them be, but if they attacked him, it was a different story. There was no need for mercy.

(Should I just kill them all? It's not like they'll do anything good even if they live…)

But then, a woman's voice echoed.

"You guys! What are you doing?!"

The one who shouted was Leila.

"Get lost! Do you want to die?!"

The men threatened, but Catherine came forward and introduced herself as the Master of the Adventurer Guild.

Catherine: "You guys, you're drug dealers! Behave yourselves, I've already sent for the guards!"

Kengo: "Damn… Ryu! You'll remember this!"

Kengo and the men hurriedly retreated. Ryu whispered softly as he watched them leave.

"Ah, I'll settle things with you later. You four-winged butterflies."

― ― ― ― ― ― ― ―

Catherine and Leila were walking a little distance away from Marie and the others, when it seemed there was some kind of trouble ahead.

Leila: "Master, that's Ryu-san…!"

As they got closer, they could hear a boy – Ryu-jeen – talking to a girl from the other side of the road. Then, the boy (Tanji) who was walking with Marie grabbed Ryu by the collar.

Catherine, watching what was happening, stopped Leila from getting closer. If that was really the rumored Ryu-jeen, this wouldn't be a danger at all.

However, Ryu was soon surrounded by men.

This was dangerous.

…For the men surrounding him.

Ryu, who easily dealt with a B-rank adventurer. He wouldn't be a match for slum thugs.

From what they had heard, it seemed the thugs were drug dealers.

Catherine couldn't care less about what happened to such people. In fact, if Ryu were to beat them up, it would clean up the city's thugs. And if she said she saw it and wouldn't tell anyone, she could do Ryu a favor, a win-win situation.

However, Leila had dashed forward, shouting, "We need to stop them!"

Catherine, in a panic, rushed after Leila and ended up intervening.

.

After the suspicious men ran away, Catherine addressed Ryu-jin.

"Nice to meet you, you're Ryu-jin, right? I'm Catherine, the acting Master of the Adventurer Guild."

Catherine extended her hand towards Ryu. However, Ryu didn't take it and silently stared at her.

He was wary because he knew she was the Guild Master.

Catherine, not giving up, continued.

"You've already heard about the former Guild Master, Daniel, right? You've heard about what he did to you. He's been demoted, don't worry."

Ryu glanced at Leila.

Leila bowed her head slightly. Ryu smiled and nodded.

Seeing this, Catherine pressed on.

Catherine: "I understand you have distrust towards the Adventurer Guild, but I want to apologize for that formally. I'd like to explain how we'll handle things in the future, so could you come to the Guild and hear me out?"

Ryu: "Acting, you said? Isn't there going to be a new Guild Master coming later?"

Catherine: "W-well, I think it will eventually happen."

Ryu: "If I talk with the acting person, wouldn't things change again when the new Guild Master comes?"

Catherine: "That's not a problem, if you're worried about t-"

"Ryu-nii!"

Marie grabbed Ryu's leg.

Ryu: "Ah, sorry, sorry, let's go home to the church."

Ryu promised he would visit the Adventurer Guild later when he had time and talk then.

However, Catherine and Leila said they didn't know the way back, so after sending Marie to the church first, Ryu ended up escorting them both to the general city area.

― ― ― ― ― ― ― ― ―

When Ryu and Marie reached the church, there was a boy walking dejectedly towards them from the opposite direction. It was Dag, one of the orphans being cared for by the church, a 13-year-old boy.

The children at the church, once they grew to a certain age, would work outside to help with the church's finances, even if it was just a little bit.

This was also a social lesson to learn how to make money when they graduated from the church at the age of 15.

Dag was one of those who worked outside, but for some reason he was completely dejected and walking with his head down. It was obvious something was wrong.

If you looked closely, you could see marks on his face like he had been punched.

Ryu: "What's wrong, Dag?!"

Dag: "Ryu-nii... sorry, I lost my earnings today..."

Ryu: "Lost it? …Really?"

Dag: "…………It's true, sorry, I can go without food today..."

Ryu's eyes turned golden, sensing something was wrong with Dag. This was the activation of his "Divine Eye".

Ryu could usually sense some of the surface level emotions, but when he used his Divine Eye to its full extent, he could see through everything, including the depths of their hearts, their past, and even their future.

Ryu: "…You were shaken down…"

Dag: "Shaken down?"

Ryu: "It means to threaten someone to take their money, it's a slang term from my hometown."

Dag: "...How... did you know?"

Ryu: "I can tell by looking at your face, you have a mark where you were hit. You put up a good fight, right? You did well."

Ryu patted Dag's head.

Dag: "S-sniff… i-it h-hurts…"

Dag couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

Ryu: "It's okay now. I'll go talk to them. You stay here at the church."

It seemed the city's thugs were extorting "toll" in the alleyway near the church. Dag had been a victim because he happened to be passing by.

Ryu sent Dag back to the church after healing his wounds with a healing spell and went to find those who had hit him. He knew where they were thanks to his Divine Eye. He wouldn't forgive them for hitting Dag.