"Halt!"
I stopped in my tracks as soon as I heard someone shout.
Looking up, I saw two skinny guys standing in front of a small passageway that probably could only accommodate about one to two carriages, connected to the city wall.
Through the dirty cloth draped over my head, covering half my face, I could make out their worn-out clothes and the daggers strapped to their waists.
They were standing there with their arms crossed, trying way too hard to look intimidating.
"This road was opened by me," one declared.
"This tree was planted by me," the other chimed in.
"If you want to pass here, leave your money behind."
They took turns speaking each line like they had rehearsed it. It was actually amusing.
I had to fight the urge to laugh. Trying to keep a straight face, I asked, confused, "What tree? I don't see any tree here."
They both froze, clearly caught off guard by my question.
For a moment, neither said anything. Finally, one of them snapped out of it and yelled, "You fucker! That's not the point you should be concerned about! If you want to pass through us, you have to pay!"
"But you just said you planted a tree, and I don't see one. And you claimed you built this road, but everyone knows it's been here for more than twenty years. Judging by how you two look, you can't be older than thirty. Are you telling me you were laying down roads when you were just ten?"
I paused, then put a hand over my chest and bowed my head solemnly.
"If that's true, I must say…I pity you. My condolences."
The two froze again, but this time they snapped out of it faster. Their faces turned bright red, like they were about to explode from rage.
Grinding his teeth, one of them drew his dagger and charged straight at me.
"You're courting death!"
I watched him rush forward with a flat expression.
In less than three seconds, he had closed the distance between us. His arm snapped forward like a snake pouncing on its target. His dagger was aimed at my chest.
However, in that split second, I managed to take a step to my left, which was a move I had already prepared the moment he took off running.
The blade sliced past, barely touching my right arm.
Before he could pull his arm back, I crouched low and drove my fist hard into his forearm.
"Ah!" he screamed as the dagger clattered to the ground.
Perhaps because I didn't hold back my strength, his arm instantly bent at an unnatural angle upon my punch.
I didn't stop. As he clutched his arm, wailing in pain, I stepped behind him.
I straightened my hand and brought it down in a sharp chop across the back of his neck.
Thud!
He collapsed face-first into the dirt, completely went out cold.
I exhaled, patted off my hands as if I had just thrown out the trash, and looked at the second thug in silence.
He pointed at me with a trembling finger.
"Y-you! You dare to knock out Gila?! Don't you know who we are?!"
"Isn't it a little late to bring that up? You should've mentioned it before I put your friend to sleep."
I tilted my head slightly.
"Besides, do I look like someone who gives a damn about who you are? If you don't get lost in the next five seconds, I'll be happy to make sure you end up the same way."
I raised my hand and started counting.
"One."
The thug looked surprised, clearly not expecting me to actually count.
"You! I'm warning you, you're messing with the wro—"
"Two."
He paused, gritting his teeth.
"Three."
He looked like he was ready to spew more words, but his eyes darted to his unconscious friend, and he became extremely hesitant.
"Four."
Almost immediately, he turned around and bolted down the passage.
But after a few steps, he glanced over his shoulder and shouted, "I'll remember your face! You can forget about dying peacefully when we meet again!"
I continued emotionlessly.
"Five."
The thug flinched and took off running at full speed, this time without looking back.
I slowly let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
It was a breath of relief.
When I looked down, I noticed my hands were trembling just a little.
"Even though this body has seen a lot of violence, in the end…I'm still the same guy who spent over twenty years on Earth, a place that was mostly peaceful. Maybe the body is used to this, but the soul doesn't lie. I've never liked violence."
"Even so…what choice do I have?"
In this world, where the law of the jungle was still the rule, I couldn't afford to be soft. I couldn't act like I used to back on Earth.
Here, I had to be ruthless. I had to be hard.
I had to change the way I thought, to something more like, If you don't want to get eaten, then you have to eat them first.
"I have to get used to this," I murmured.
"Because this…this is probably just the beginning. From now on, I'll have to get my hands dirty, and it will only get dirtier."
I clenched my trembling hands into tight fists until they steadied.
Then I turned to the unconscious thug and quickly searched his pockets, taking anything that looked valuable.
A couple of silver coins. A handful of coppers. I slipped them into my pocket and soon walked down the passage where the other thug had fled.
...
Officially, there were only a few dozen gates and passageways in and out of the city.
But over time, criminals had created their own routes, secret tunnels and hidden exits to make smuggling and escape easier.
Now, there were probably more unofficial passageways than the legal ones.
Unlike the official gates, these hidden paths were watched over by gangs instead of city guards.
And if you wanted to pass through, you had to pay a fee, which I didn't, because I was practically penniless. That was why I'd resorted to violence earlier.
As for why I chose this route instead of the official ones…it was simple.
This passage will lead straight to where I needed to go, and in this situation, saving time mattered more than anything else.
As I stepped out of the dark passageway, the bright sunlight hit me full in the face, making me squint.
I sucked in a breath without thinking. The air was filled with plenty of scents. Freshly baked bread, ripe fruit, sweat, manure, the sharp tang of iron, and many more fragrances I just couldn't put my fingers on.
Chaotic noises gradually filtered in as my eyes adjusted.
Then I saw them. People... lots of them, almost made me dizzy.
"A fresh apple, just delivered this morning! Only two coppers!"
"Fey bread, hot and soft, five coppers!"
"Hot and fresh chicken soup. Drink a bowl and feel invigorated all day!"
"Guard, that kid just stole my purse!"
"Stop right there, criminal scum!"
A group of children ran past me, laughing as they chased each other. Nearby, a woman in a bright yellow dress balanced a basket of fish on her head, scolding a small boy who trailed behind her, crying.
Shouts, laughter, and the clatter of wheels merged into a single noisy background. Strangely, it felt familiar in a way I couldn't quite place.
'What a strange feeling. I've never been here before. But the original Aiden had. His memories became mine. So in a sense, I have and haven't been here. Familiar and unfamiliar, all at once.' I thought.
Then I felt a tug on my pants.
I looked down and saw a little girl in rugged clothes. Her eyes were dull, and every single part of her body showed signs of malnutrition.
"Mister…can I have some money?" she asked in a small, flat voice. "I haven't eaten in two days…"
As she spoke, she rubbed her stomach, and right on cue, it let out a loud rumble. She didn't look the slightest bit embarrassed.
Without hesitation, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the money I had taken off the thug earlier. Two silver coins and thirty-two coppers.
"Is this enough?" I asked, holding it out to her.
Her dull eyes instantly lit up with a spark of excitement and life.
"It's enough, mister... It's more than enough!" she said with a trembling voice, sounding barely able to contain her enthusiasm.
"Thank you, mister! Thank you so much. May the Justice always be with you!"
I watched her run toward a group of other children who looked just like her, thin, dirty, and malnourished. Their eyes went wide with joy as she showed them the coins. In the next second, they all bolted toward the bread vendor, shouting over each other.
I sighed and pulled my hood lower over my face when I noticed a few vagrants eyeing me with a strange glint upon noticing my kind action.
I turned and left the scene without another word.
After walking through a few different streets, I finally stopped.
In front of me, I can see rows of boats that are docked. Some were so large that they could probably carry over fifty people. Others were much smaller, barely enough for three or five passengers.
At this time, I saw crowds were moving on and off the boats, carrying crates and stuff.
I noticed many Radhanians among the crowd. Their darker skin and towering builds made them stand out immediately.
It just dawned on me that while being Radhanian meant you were blessed with strength and size, it also made it much harder to be an assassin, a thief, or anything that required blending in. They stood out like a sore thumb in any crowd.
'Well, there goes my plan of becoming Ezio.'
The area wasn't as chaotic as the market district, but it was still busy.
I scanned the docks until my eyes landed on one man in particular.
Like most Radhanians, he was tall and broad-shouldered, his skin a deep brown. But unlike the others, his face, I could say was too gentle and refined.
Most Radhanians looked fierce or intimidating by default. But this man's face looked more like an Avalonian's.
'What an abominable contrast. He looked like someone who was stuck in the wrong body. If this were a game, he must've picked the Radhanian race but customized his face to look exactly like an Avalonian.'
'Now that I think about it, I never asked if his family was still alive. Could he be crossbred? Wait, that doesn't sound right...'
"Richie, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
A plump man with a curling mustache came huffing over. Sweat dripped down his bright red face. His shirt buttons look ready to tear open at any second due to his bulging stomach.
Judging by the gold rings on his fingers, and the way he dressed, I promptly assumed him to be one of the rich merchants who owned a group of boats by himself.
"I'm unloading your goods, boss. Did I mess something up?" Richie, the gentle-looking Radhanian, scratched the back of his head, wearing a puzzled look.
"You fool, you're unloading the wrong boat!" The plump merchant jabbed a finger toward the boat next to the one Richie had come from. "My cargo's over there!"
"Ah?" Richie blinked and looked from one boat to the other, looking completely lost.
"I'm sorry, boss. I'll put this box back right away."
"You better fast," the plump merchant grumbled while wiping the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief.
"The owner of that boat already came over to complain about you."
"Oh…no wonder he wouldn't let me on. I almost ended up fighting him."
"Are you really that dumb? How many years have you been working for me, and you still can't recognize my boat or tell which cargo is mine?"
"Sorry, boss. You know I've got a bad memory,"
"Fortunately for you, you're hardworking and honest," the merchant sighed, wiping more sweat from his face. "If you didn't have those good qualities, I'd have fired you a long time ago."
I watched their exchange from a distance, speechlessly.
I waited about twenty minutes, from the side, until Richie finally finished moving crates and looked like he was about to take a break.
When he headed over to a shaded corner to sit and get out of the sun, I quietly followed him and whistled just loud enough to catch his attention.
He immediately turned and spotted me.
His eyes widened in shock before breaking into a smile.
"You…Aiden? Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me," I said quickly, raising a finger to my lips to signal him to keep quiet. "Come on. Follow me."
Surprisingly, Richie followed me without hesitation.
I mentally assessed him. 'Gullible, easy to command, kind, and…a little dumb.'
A few minutes later, we slipped into one of the unused buildings. I turned to face him and nodded.
"We can talk now."
Richie didn't waste a second and started, "Where have you been? Yesterday morning, I saw a group of priests drag you away. Then last night, I went back to check if you had returned, but I found the "Rat", Peter, instead, snooping around your houses with a bunch of his subordinates. I didn't dare to stick around, so I went home. What the hell happened?"