#How to Deal with Uninvited Guests (3)
Upon witnessing the adversary charging towards him, brandishing a knife aid at his chest, Dominic swiftly dropped to a crouching position and intercepted the oncoming arm.
Leveraging the montum of his opponent, he effortlessly hurled him in the opposite direction. The foe, landing unceremoniously on the unforgiving ground without any cushion, lay unconscious, his eyes rolled back.
Subsequently, an eerie silence descended.
"...Dominic?"
The first to break this silence was Calron. However, much like the others, he too appeared stunned, his words hesitant.
"What on earth was that just now?"
"...A throw?"
"Did you execute it?"
"It appears so."
Dominic himself appeared equally perplexed.
'What just happened? Did I really do that?'
Throughout both his past and present life, he had consistently distanced himself from martial arts or combat. He was more aware than anyone that such a lifestyle was foreign to him.
'Maybe there's an undiscovered talent within ?'
As this notion crossed his mind, he flashed a grin, his eyes widening. Regardless of the reason, possessing the ability to defend oneself was undoubtedly an asset.
"Give it another try,"
"Hey, old man. Be careful. If you get injured, it's not my responsibility."
"If you succeed once more, we'll welco you into our fishing guild."
Doubtfully, a slender fisherman cautiously approached, extending his arm as a signal for Dominic to attempt another throw. For Dominic, who had always been denied entry into the fishing guild due to his perceived weakness, this was a golden opportunity. There wasn't much to gain from joining, but being the sole non-mber stung his pride.
Dominic confidently seized the thin fisherman's arm.
"Heave!"
With trendous effort, he attempted to toss him over his shoulder. Veins bulged on Dominic's forehead.
"Heave! ...Huh!"
But, surprisingly, nothing happened.
"...Hahaha!"
"Phew!"
"Well, figures!"
Laughter erupted all around.
"Why? You did it so well earlier. What happened now?"
"Maybe it was a reflex in the face of danger. Novice soldiers sotis display superhuman strength in life-threatening situations."
"Oh, is that so? I thought Dominic had so hidden secret."
"Hehe. It seems we got our hopes up for nothing!"
A few older n, tears of laughter in their eyes, patted Dominic's back as if to offer encouragent. Then, they began to clean up the aftermath of the scuffle.
Dominic, scratching his head, went from house to house, explaining that the fight had concluded.
'...I definitely felt mana move.'
However, only one person, Ian, couldn't take his eyes off Dominic.
'At that mont, I sensed mana surging within him. I'm certain of it.'
Being close to Dominic at that ti, Ian noticed the subtle change. With his innate sensitivity to mana, he couldn't have missed it.
'When I scanned him for mana earlier, his adaptability and internal mana levels were lower than the average person's. Did I make a mistake? No, that's not possible.'
When Ian first brought Dominic on Lord Theodore's orders, he personally conducted the mana assessnt. Thus, the current situation left him astounded.
'It appears there's one more reason to keep a close watch on him.'
The eventful night continued.
"So, it's unquestionably the Rondo rchants?"
"Yes, I'm certain. I've been cautious of them ever since they began lurking around our shops."
The night before, Anton, who had rushed all night upon hearing the news, arrived breathlessly to inform them of the identity of the masked n.
"They have a notorious reputation. I've heard they don't hesitate to resort to underhanded tactics and perilous sches for profitable deals, but I never anticipated them resorting to outright looting..."
"They appeared well-versed; how did we not know about this until now?"
With a nod from Ian, Calron furrowed his brow, arms folded.
"They likely targeted only those who lacked the power to bring their plight to the public, despite their misfortunes."
"Damn scoundrels. Tsk. Should we have pretended it was an accident and executed them on the spot?"
"Hey, calm down, sir Knight. If we had done it, it might have been satisfying, but tracing the root cause would have been challenging."
"You're referring to Rondo, right?"
"Yes."
Anton interjected at the opportune mont.
"So, the Rondo rchants targeted our village because of the seaweed?"
"Yes, they aid to void our supply contract with Anton's company and monopolize it for themselves."
Anton, who had eventually established his own business bearing his na, felt partially responsible for all of this.
"I apologize. I should have warned you that sothing like this could occur..."
"Why are you apologizing? The ones who should be apologizing are still pretending to be unconscious."
A couple of masked n twitched at Dominic's words, but their eyes remained closed. They didn't dare to et the gaze of the muscular n who clearly outmuscled them.
"Hmm. If they answer our questions properly, we might release one."
"! Ask anything!"
Promptly, one of them opened his eyes, nodding vigorously, shouting that he'd provide any information if they released him.
"Not you, young man. You had the audacity to put a knife to my throat."
However, Dominic shook his head. From the man's words, he seed to be an executive and surely knew a lot. But that brat genuinely tried to kill him. Dominic had no intention of letting him go, not for a bit of information.
Smack!
"Argh!"
After showing no intention of negotiating, Calron struck the back of the head of the Rondo rchant executive, who instantly fell unconscious with a scream.
'Shouldn't that be considered a knockout?'
Seeing Calron's face, clearly seeking praise, Dominic felt relieved that they were on the sa side. On the other hand, he felt a need to improve himself.
"Any other volunteers?"
At that mont, one person, cowering in a corner, cautiously raised his hand.
"I've been with the rchants for less than three months, and this is my first raid. Please forgive this once, and I promise I'll live righteously!"
Upon closer inspection, he still looked quite young.
"It doesn't seem like he's lying."
Ian, who had examined the boy's palms, nodded, indicating that his hands didn't show the signs of soone long involved in such activities.
"Alright, co with ."
The few conscious masked n glared at the traitor, but due to the sharp reprimands from the older n, they had no choice but to look back down to the ground.
'Damn it! They said it was just a small village in the countryside! I only agreed because it seed like an easy, safe task!'
They internally cursed at the incompetence of the higher-ups. It was all a desperate attempt to forget their fear.
They said they'd strip the culprits of their cris and hand them over to the regional lord's castle.
They hadn't killed anyone, but given their history of violence and habitual thieving, they could already envision their grim futures.
The Count Sinclair's family was famously efficient at managing "forced labor" for criminals.
***
"So, the Rondo rchants can supply ingredients cheaply because they operate a farm at an unbelievably low cost?"
"Yes, I'm not entirely sure, but there's talk that those laboring on the farm were brought there due to debts they couldn't repay. The farm's land is essentially seized as collateral."
"Usury? Aren't there maximum interest rates established within Count Sinclair's territory?"
"There are?"
"Of course!"
"The village head can read and is knowledgeable, so he's aware of such things. But how would commoners like us be acquainted with intricate laws?"
"Tsk. It's the sa everywhere."
"Excuse ?"
"Nothing, nothing."
The boy had more knowledge than Dominic had expected.
While he might not have been literate or formally educated, he was observant and possessed a good mory.
"Attacks on small villages or shops, intimidating or assaulting important individuals, appeared to be quite frequent. The higher-ups would explain the amount of loot to the workers and enlist participants on a first-co, first-served basis."
"So, they have a routine, huh?"
"And I've heard they deliberately set fires to rival rchant groups. It occurred when..."
Intuitively understanding the information Dominic sought, the boy began revealing various illegal activities that had occurred within the Rondo rchants.
"We need proof that all of this was directly ordered by the head of the Rondo rchants..."
"Oh, I have it! After successfully completing the task, we were promised promissory notes. Those were issued in the na of the head of the Rondo rchants."
"Oh!"
"But I've heard the promissory notes don't provide details about the jobs. I'm not sure if that would be helpful..."
"It's more than sufficient. Giving a regular substantial sum to re workers? There's no reasonable explanation for that. But how do we obtain these notes?"
"Well, I have one with to start..."
The boy produced a crumpled piece of paper from his belongings.
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