The Thugs' Plan

“Finish them off!” shouted one of the thugs as they rushed at us.

There were eight in total, not counting the leader, so we had to be careful.

I dodged the first thug who lunged straight at me. Another tried to attack me from behind, but I managed to hit him with my elbow hard enough to throw him off balance, and taking advantage of that opening, I quickly turned toward him and struck his face with great force, knocking him down instantly.

That’s one down, seven left.

The thug who had lunged at me earlier grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms, and another tried to strike me now that I was exposed—but I still had my legs.

I kicked the stomach of the guy who had tried to hit me, and taking advantage of the seconds he spent reeling from the kick, I headbutted the thug holding me, giving myself the chance to break free. I also used my strength to hurl the thug I had just kicked against the one who had grabbed me as hard as I could. Both of them ended up crashing into some barrels nearby.

Two more down, five left.

As for Clay, he was handling his side as well.

The thugs tried to strike him with daggers, but he skillfully dodged every slash as if it were nothing.

“I don’t like to use my sword so recklessly,” he said in an extremely calm voice, very different from the way he had been shouting before. “But if it’s to cleanse my village of scum like you… so be it!”

At his declaration, one of the thugs tried to stab him with a dagger, but Clay easily deflected it with his sword and countered, leaving a huge gash across the man’s chest.

The image I had of him as someone naïve shattered completely. It was like seeing a completely different person from the one I knew.

“What the hell!? Who the hell is this guy!?” another thug shouted, but Clay immediately closed the distance in an instant and struck again with another slash to the chest.

Two more down on Clay’s side, three left.

One of the remaining thugs drew a sword and tried to strike him, but Clay blocked it without much trouble.

“I’ll take care of this one. Can you handle the other two?” he asked.

“Leaving all the work to someone else? What a great guard,” I joked. “But yes, I can handle them.”

“Let’s go!” roared Clay, knocking aside the thug’s weapon.

The man was skilled with a sword—you could see it at a glance—but Clay was superior in every way. It seemed like he was just testing him as he blocked and deflected every strike.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” the leader of the group shouted, visibly agitated. “Finish them already!”

The two thugs Clay had left me were staying defensive and not advancing, so I had to make the first move. I quickly closed the distance and tried to punch the one on my left, but he ended up blocking with his arms. Still, I had anticipated that.

Even though it wasn’t a direct hit, my attack was strong enough to push him back several steps, nearly knocking him down. I needed to create distance to deal with them one at a time.

The other thug tried to stab me with a dagger, but I dodged by stepping back. He kept trying to stab me nonstop for quite a while as I just kept evading, waiting for the perfect moment.

“Die already!” the thug shouted as he went for my stomach.

Now!

I dodged the dagger by shifting to the side, grabbed the thug’s arm with mine, and with my other arm, I broke it.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The man’s scream was agonizing and echoed throughout the alley, but I quickly took him out with a direct blow to the face.

Now there’s just one left…

“Take this!” shouted the last thug, hitting me with something big and heavy. It looked like one of the barrels nearby.

I ended up on my knees from the impact, something he took advantage of to kick me and knock me flat on the ground. Normally, I could endure something like this, but my body was still sore from the fight I had with Mr. Draum.

What terrible timing…

Luckily, just as the thug was about to strike me again with the barrel, Clay rushed in and rammed him, knocking him down and making him drop it.

“Naoya, are you alright!?” he asked, worried.

“Yes, I’m just still sore from the guild test…” I answered, trying to get up.

“Damn it!” shouted the leader of the group. “They didn’t tell us he’d be this strong! Retreat, move to Plan B!” he yelled as he ran out of the alley with the thugs who could still stand.

“Plan B?” Clay asked, puzzled.

This isn’t good.

If what these thugs were after was the money we got for the pendant, then I’m probably not their only target… They must be going after Liz too!

“Clay, I have to go!” I exclaimed, panicked. “It’s likely they’re going after Liz too!”

Hearing my concern, Clay immediately set off as well.

“I’m coming with you!” he shouted.

I ran as fast as I could despite the pain.

It felt like my legs weighed a ton, like my feet wobbled with every step I took, like my chest burned with every breath I drew—but it didn’t matter. I needed to make sure she was safe!

We had barely left the alley and were running toward her house when, turning at the first intersection, both Clay and I were left speechless.

“Ah! Naoya, hi!” Liz said with her usual smile.

Surprised to see her there, both Clay and I fell silent for a moment as we looked at each other, which ended up confusing Liz.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Y-yeah, but… shouldn’t you be at home?” I asked.

“Yes, but I finished getting everything ready for the trip a while ago and wanted to come see how it went for you,” she replied, then glanced at the state of the clothes she had lent me. “Looks like you got beaten up, huh?”

Because of the surprise and the adrenaline leaving my body, I collapsed to my knees. Looks like this is my limit for now.

“Naoya!” Liz cried in alarm. “What’s wrong!?”

“Listen, Liz, after I finished the test we were attacked by thugs who wanted the money we got yesterday for the pendant,” I explained, still not getting up. “They mentioned something about a Plan B, and I thought it meant coming after you.”

As my explanation went on, Liz’s expression grew more tense.

“Naoya helped me fight them off, but he’s still hurting from the guild test,” Clay added. “Have you seen anything suspicious!? Please, tell us everything!”

Liz grew startled at Clay’s sudden insistence, stepping back a little and shaking her head.

“No, no! I haven’t seen anything!” she exclaimed. “But if Naoya is this injured, maybe we should postpone the trip a little,” she said as she came closer to me.

“Let’s go home and rest first,” she suggested.

Go home… Don’t tell me… The target wasn’t Liz, but…

At the sudden thought that struck me, adrenaline surged back through me. Ignoring the pain once again, I stood up as best I could.

“Wait, Naoya, you don’t have to—” Liz began, but I cut her off. There was no time to waste.

“Liz, Clay, we have to hurry!” I shouted. “If they’re not after Liz, then there’s only one option left!”

Realizing what I meant, Liz went pale and started running with me, while Clay followed close behind. I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted because of the pain, but I couldn’t afford to lose another second.

We ran for at least twenty minutes, during which I even stumbled a couple of times, but I quickly got back up each time to keep my pace.

At last, we reached our destination—Liz’s house—and, to our dismay, our suspicions came true.

They had broken into the house.