Reborn As The Villain

A carriage could be seen riding on the dirt road leading to the Moon Blum City, ruled by Ko Johun. It was also the imperial capital of the Zhurosan Empire.

On both sides of the road, there were rice fields being tended to by the common folk. Trailing behind this carriage were village folk. This spectacle drew a lot of eyes from people wondering why so many villagers were following this carriage.

Concerning the farmers, due to the Martial Tyrants' merciless killings to get these people under their control, there were less mouths to feed and more crops to sell—which meant more profits for farmers.

Even three years since Lord Ko's ascension to the throne and five years since the wars started, there were still corpses littering the battlefield. Of course, this had nothing to do with the tyrants, just greedy nobles who wanted to plunder land from their neighbors. If you are a King, it is your duty to make sure these kinds of conflicts are sorted out and a common ground is reached but Ko Johun didn't seem to care if they kill each other.

Ko Johun has almost succeeded in getting all the noble families in this nation on his side. Unlike in the past, he didn't go out of his way to demand they serve him. Rather, he waits for them to come begging to him. While they might fear his power, they should also have reassurance that they, and their assets, will be protected so long as they serve him—or get destroyed like all the sects that stood up to him.

Inside the carriage were four people.

Lian was one and Arnold the other. Across the two of them were village girls who volunteered to be servants for today. Lian has known them for a few years by now.

Liwei and Kairi were their names. Just like Lian, they were dressed modestly in kimonos and had their hair tied up.

Both were of age and still unmarried. Lian suspects that is what motivated these two to volunteer. It doesn't matter to her since having servants is convenient on trips like this.

She took a sideway glance at Arnold, staring at his handsome profile as he soundly slept—well, he appeared to be sleeping.

At that moment, Kairi, who had been watching Arnold, spoke up.

"Is he… asleep?"

"No, what he's doing is a form of meditation. Ever since I told him about the leakage—which he had been strangely unaware of—he decided to try channeling his inner energy through meditation. I'm quite surprised he got this strong without constant meditation. While he can't hear us, the faintest killing intent and even touching him will wake him up."

"Ah, I see… What did he say? Will he help us?" Kairi asked with hopeful eyes.

Lian gave a short nod.

Kairi looked over at her friend and the two smiled at each other.

"But I have no idea how he's going to help us…"

"Eh? Didn't he say he'll stay?"

"No, he didn't say that. Just that he'll help. My guess is a third party…"

Liwei looked confused, "Isn't he stronger than Master Rasuke? Which means he shouldn't have any trouble beating Ko Johun, right?"

"I don't know…" Lian was unsure of what to think. This mysterious man knew who she was, was stronger than even Earthly Ascendents and somehow obtained the method to making an Ascension Pill.

Could it be that… he came to this region specifically looking for her? Was his plan to get her to work for him by saving these people?

"—We're being followed." Arnold suddenly opened his eyes and spoke.

Lian and the girls looked at each other.

"…Uhm, the villagers have been following us from the start…" Kairi said with a small voice, trying not to imply he was stupid for saying that.

"That's not what I meant. Several new signatures suddenly joined the crowd. They didn't join at the same time so as to avoid suspicion." He looked at Lian, "I'm going to assume they're after you as well."

"Again? What do they want from me?" Lian didn't let her nervousness show on the surface.

What happened yesterday has happened before—Lian was almost the victim of several kidnapping attempts. Luckily, she had been prepared from the first time onwards. Her alchemic concoctions had saved her many times. It used to happen outside the village and she'd never told anyone about it since doing so may cause unrest and take attention away from what's truly important.

What happened yesterday is something she didn't expect—they'd burn houses down and kill people just to force her to come out of hiding.

"They're stronger than the ones from yesterday." Arnold opened the door and told the coachman to stop the carriage. It came to a stop a moment later.

'Some of their signatures vanished just now when the carriage stopped. I'll need to draw them all out.' Thought Arnold.

"H-Hold on!" Lian called out when he jumped out.

What if there are others up ahead!?

Lian didn't bring any potions to enhance her senses so she wouldn't be able to tell what awaits them further up the road.

"There might be enemies up ahead!" Arnold shouted to the people, "We can't be too naïve and think the martials from yesterday won't send more so stay here while I deal with them!"

"—Eh?"

"Didn't he say they're following us…?" Kairi and Liwei looked dumbfounded, well, Lian wasn't any different. She looked blankly as Arnold ran up the road. With sweat dripping down her cheek, she stuck her head out and looked back at the villagers who followed them to the city. All of them had the same anxious expression as Lian.

They reassured the children that Arnold will take care of any enemies.

Meanwhile Arnold's silhouette was as small as Lian's pinky finger. What is that man thinking?

The bushes suddenly rustled and Lian could hear cackling.

"Kyaah!" a woman was shoved aside by a towering man wielding a club, who threw his cloak aside.

Several other armed robed men left the crowd of frightened villagers.

"It seems our intel was correct, there's still an heir left from the previous generation of powerful martial houses." The man who shoved the woman, spoke. He appeared to be the leader.

"M-Miss Lian, run to Lord Arnold!" Kairi pushed Lian out of the carriage and drew her dagger after coming out as well, "I'll hold them off."

Hearing that, the martials burst into laughter.

"Kill anyone who tries to intervene," the boss yelled to his men before taking a step towards Kairi.

Unlike Liwei and Lian, Kairi was capable of martial arts, since she was an orphan who was once part of one of the powerhouse sects that Ko and Funiji wiped out. In terms of strength, she'd rank above a [Strongman Human] which is the peak physical strength a normal human can achieve before their bodies break down. Kairi could punch rocks apart and use Ki to increase her speed but it was hard to say if she can win against an Earthly Ascendant—no, a whole unit of them.

Still, she needed to give Lian enough time to reach Arnold who was looking for "imaginary" enemies for some reason. Thinking of what he said to everyone before running up ahead caused anger to rise within Kairi.

Was he scared of these martials? Even though he could fight them yesterday…

Kairi took a side glance up the road, noticing that Arnold's silhouette was fading away like smoke.

'Eh?'

"Imma give yer one last chance to hand over the doctor, girly." The bald leader stood in front of Kairi without a care in the world. His unnatural confidence and dominating presence made Kairi doubt she could actually fight him, "His Excellency has some business with the hag."

"Kairi, please step aside." Lian, who was still standing behind Kairi despite being told to run, spoke gently, "I don't want this to end in a slaughter… The villagers are already frightened at that possibility."

"—The only slaughter here will be the scum who thought they could sneak up on me." A cold voice came from behind the boss.

"W-Wha!? When did he get here!?" one of the soldiers nearest to the boss was the first to react.

The boss hurriedly turned around but a palm landed on his chest. It was a gentle touch but he crashed into the ground and rolled for several meters.

Arnold turned towards the other martial soldiers. One tried to grab a nearby child, probably as a meat shield but Arnold appeared in front of him in an instant and crushed his face with a backhand punch.

"C-Charge together! T-This is the guy the s-scouts mention—" the one who shouted was sent flying into the rice field with a punch. His comrades did as he said and charged together.

All of them had their weapons drawn but Arnold was the only one who was empty-handed. He merely stared at them as they charged. The closest soldier managed to stab Arnold—no, his sword wouldn't go through no matter how much strength he exerted.

"E-Eh—" he was slapped so hard that his head was forcibly turned around his neck. He fell down with a crash.

A second later, two soldiers attacked at once but Arnold threw one aside and backhand-slapped the second one. Before the first soldier could realize what happened, his legs were crushed under Arnold's heel. Instead of waiting for the rest to reach him, Arnold charged at the remaining 15 soldiers.

He dodged every one of their strikes and finished each of them off with one strike.

"T-This fucking monster! Why do we have to do this!?"

"Y-Yeah! That bastard Funiji should send a Celestial Saint instead!"

"Oraaah!" a loud roar came from above, signaling the rest of the soldiers to retreat quickly. Looking up, Arnold spotted the boss with his weapon drawn.

"Take this, bastard! [Heavenly—"

"Why don't you take this instead." Arnold lifted his hand and released a powerful torrent of blue flames that swallowed up the boss in an instant.

The air became toasty and it felt like everyone's lungs would burn up if they breathed.

When the energy subsided, nothing was left in the aftermath of his attack. Only the boss' club fell and stabbed itself into the ground.

'Was that… his martial skill?' Lian looked dumbfounded at the man who could vaporize a human in an instant.

He wasn't even using his Aether but that attack came out of him unnaturally fast. Maybe she underestimated his control over his Aether?

"Who's next?" he looked at the remaining soldiers.

They stepped back slowly before turning away and running!

"I'm not going to spare any of you." Several black figures appeared around Arnold and turned into clones of Arnold. They charged towards the fleeing soldiers and cut them down instantly.

The only survivor tried crawling away but Arnold dragged him back by his broken legs, causing him to let out a blood-curdling scream.

Arnold's large hand gripped his face, muffling his screams.

The air suddenly grew heavier and an overwhelming pressure surrounded his body. Everyone's spines tingled even though Arnold's killing intent wasn't directed at them at all.

The captured survivor's eyes and ears bled from being right in front of the source of that beastly killing intent.

"Why are you trying to capture the doctor?" he spoke in a calm voice but it probably sounded like a titan screaming into one's face for the soldier.

The soldier's eyes rolled back in his head and he replied in a daze. Urine stained his pants and the ground itself.

"H… His Excel… lency…. Funi… ji… Ord… red…"

"Ho? Why try to capture her now all of a sudden?"

"He… knows… her…. connec… tion to spir… realm…"

Arnold frowned.

**

"—it looks like I'm not the only one who knows about your ability to enter the spirit realm at will." Arnold was sitting across Lian. He told the girls to sit in front with the coachman while he spoke with Lian. Lian installed a talisman that prevents the sound inside the carriage from going outside.

"It would appear so…"

"You don't seem surprised by their reasoning. How long has this been happening?"

"A few weeks. I-I must've been followed when I was closing the portal to the spirit realm. Travelling to the realm is easy but keeping the portal hidden and closing it is very difficult. I have to wait half a day between its closing rituals that can span over several days."

'This ability has its own limits, it seems.'

"You need to open rifts in spacetime, don't you?"

"…Yes. Closing them requires patience and care otherwise they'd sent dark force energy throughout the world upon bursting open."

"Couldn't that guy just be making a wild guess… Someone who isn't permitted to go the realm by individuals who have visited the realm before or by the spirit lords themselves, shouldn't be able to enter the realm since it will kick you out."

Arnold then continued with a "Or maybe…"

"Funiji tried to force himself through the rift and was able to get a glimpse of the realm and taste a sliver of its enlightenment."

If Funiji is as strong as they say then he might've been able to use brute force to keep the mechanism from kicking him out too early.

"Yes, I believe that's what happened…"

"You said that Ko Johun was the only one that knew—how much does he know?"

"W-Well, I didn't reveal to him that I'm capable of opening these rifts, only that it's possible to access the realm with them."

"And he bought that?"

"I had to lie a little… One lie is that I'm a 500-year-old witch from a bygone era who was close friends with a Divine Dao from that time. Another is that the divine dao was capable of opening the rifts and left records of how to access it in unknown places."

'There's no way anyone would believe this convenient lie…' Seeing as how she wasn't being tortured in a dungeon for information somewhere, Ko must've been fooled by what she said.

Maybe Ko Johun wanted to gain Lian's trust before pushing a little more. Even Arnold wouldn't simply force this information out of someone like her. rather, it would be beneficial to build a relationship with the person.

"Funiji finding out about this… This is no mere mistake on your part, Lian. If he tells the world what you can do then you'll be hunted down by other martials and used to help ascend them. There's no guarantee Ko will protect you unless you let him access the realm."

'Wait, a minute, is this the reason Ko is even keeping her around?'

If Arnold was him, he'd do the same thing. But Lian didn't explicitly tell him that she can access that realm.

Lian lowered her head, "…I wished to tell only Rasuke as a last resort if he isn't able to ascend by himself."

"Rasuke, huh. The kid who wants to kill Ko Johun. The chief mentioned him this morning but didn't say why he wants to kill that guy."

"…It's a personal matter that concerns his family."

Arnold looked out the window for a moment before continuing.

"What are you going to do from now on? I'm not your bodyguard so don't expect me to stick around you 24/7 and protect you."

"Wait, you aren't staying? But you said you'd help us!" she shouted that last part a little louder, the frustration evident in her voice.

"That's what I did, yeah. But you should understand that the help might not come as soon as you'd hope."

"…Why?"

"Look, I'm just one person. I'm not going to fight an entire—no, two whole armies just because of our deal. I need another army to do that for me. But it will be up to someone else if all of you will reclaim your land from the martials, not the great families—or what's left of them. Whoever rules you next might be an even bigger bastard than Ko or Funiji."

"What are you saying, you're acquainted with evil people?"

"Does that seem so surprising?"

"…" she was unable to provide an answer.

"Fortunately for both of us, we're going the same way." He said something vague that made her raise her brows.

The carriage came to a halt and the hustle and bustle of people could be heard from outside. Armored footsteps approached the carriage, probably for an inspection.

"—Open the door." The armored individual commanded.

Lian quickly opened it up, revealing a rough-looking knight. He took a cursory glance at Arnold then the inside of the carriage.

"There have been incidents of Funiji's men crossing into our territory even though the treaty between the two Martials still stand so I am doing an inspection of every carriage. You, sir." He looked at Arnold again, "State your affiliation and family name. That is not a request but an order from Moon Plum City's guards."

"What if I bring up a name you don't like?"

"You will be cut down."

A chuckle came out of Arnold, "I am her slave."

Lian made an idiotic expression. Arnold held up a finger to tell her to shut up.

There was no need to be all nice and obedient with weaklings but he didn't want to make a fuss. Being known as a troublemaker wouldn't be a good thing for him since it could tarnish his chances at infiltrating the Inner Circle. He wanted to make a good first impression for the lords and ladies of the courts.

"She's Lian, the most famous doctor in all these lands. You've heard of her, no?"

"A-Ah, Madam Lian, forgive me!" hearing that, the knight bowed while flustered, "I-I only started working here recently so I did not know what you look like, ma'am!"

"It's okay…" Lian smiled awkwardly.

"I'll let the palace know that you're here—"

"That won't be necessary. I'm just here to register my slave in the tournament."

 "I see! Well then, please proceed! I must warn you that the queue is awfully long today. I've lost count over how many citizens complained about it to us in the last week."

"Is it Dreum again?"

The soldier nodded, "He's a real annoyance. Since he's the younger brother of one of the top martials in the country, who also holds a position of general in Ko Johun's army, I can do nothing to stop him from robbing the people of their hard-earned money."

Lian looked toward Arnold, "It seems we won't get you registered today with Dreum causing trouble for everyone."

"Let's go anyway. Who knows, maybe things will change today."

"…" she looked at him suspiciously as if he was a troublemaker himself, "…I understand. Then let us make haste."

 **

"…What was that about being my slave?" Lian's cheeks were slightly flushed.

"I was trying to improvise. How good is your relationship with the Outer Circle lords and ladies? They might suspect my intentions for participating so using that excuse is good enough."

"You're right but… what does calling yourself my… my slave… have to—"

"Why are you blushing?"

"A-A slave is someone who pleasures you in these lands, you idiot! Only women desperate for affection or very cruel perverted women buy slaves! You made me look like a harlot in front of that soldier!"

"Hm? It has only one meaning here? What about criminals that are captured in wars? Or people who don't pay their debts?"

"Wastrels. That's what we call them… not slaves… Slaves are… for pleasure only…" her flush intensified. With how red her face was, he was expected her to squirm like a school girl (he could almost see the fume coming out of her ears) but her body language didn't change much. The glare in her eyes was burning a hole in his face, though.

'Seeing her blushing face mixed with anger reminds me of Olivia a bit.'

"Let's stick to the slave story. I'd rather not be found out to be an otherworlder since that always ends up attracting the wrong kind of people. Besides, you can advertise me to the martials as a sellsword."

Lian's eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at, "If everyone sees your strength, your reputation among the martials will rise and they'll request to hire you… But a slave becoming an inner martial… You'd need to work very hard to prove your worth to them."

Hmm, so beating one "known" powerful martial artist won't cut it. Should he just challenge one of the Inner Martials in a duel with their position as the prize? That kind of arrogance might backfire so it's best not to…

"We'll have to figure it out once my spot in the tournament is secured then. On to my previous question: What's your relationship like with the Outer Circle lords and ladies?"

"They don't trust me. Despite being the doctor that Ko Johun personally appointed, none of the families ever called on me to heal their sick family members. They also withhold permits to certain areas in these lands that grow rare herbs to help with my job. Ko already gave me permission to gather any herb in his territory as I see fit but the families still won't let me do so. Of course, Ko doesn't know about this or maybe he does and just doesn't care so long as I can heal him when he's injured."

"What a mess of an aristocracy. Back in my nation, you'd be charged with 'Obstruction of Duty' or 'Hindering a medical professional'. Endangering public health, especially when it concerns someone in a high position which can lead to titles being stripped. This brings the question if they even thought this through…"

"Information that's favorable to our side has also been hard to get with the outer circle members suppressing most of what goes on around the country."

"Why not become an Inner Circle member with me?"

"Eh, that's impossible… Only martials become inner members…"

"What's the difference between being an outer or inner circle member when it comes to how much intel they have?"

"All I know is that the outer members report directly to the inner circle members. This means that the outer members have a more reliable network for handling information. This isn't very surprising really since most of the inner circle martials got to their position through strength only and not connections or intelligence."

So, Arnold can expect a bunch of arrogant brutes who won't know their place.

--We're pulling up to the registration queue, Milady.

The coachman's voice came from outside and the carriage travelled a bit slower before it came to a halt. His voice could be heard again, this time a bit frustrated:

--This queue is quite long as I expected… Even the street is blocked.

"Let's get out." Arnold opened the door and stepped out of the carriage, greeted by the magnificent city of Moon Plum.

It was the capital city of the Zhurosan (Godorin for High Phoenix) Empire. This nation was arranged in a diamond shape with this city being at the very front while the other three major cities were east, west and north of here. The palace was right in the center of this giant empire and there weren't any walls keeping the cities separate. Line borders are used to separate the cities.

Looking at this city, it reminded Arnold of old-timey infrastructure that the Eulia Empire has long since stopped using. Most of the houses within view had sliding doors which were reminiscent of eastern culture. The attire worn by the residents were mostly the same and weren't that different from the villagers.

Kiwei, Lian and Kairi followed after Arnold as he walked towards the crowd gathered outside the registration center that looked like a gladiator arena. The empire had one as well where slaves would fight for their freedom while the nobles and other wealthy individuals throw their jewelry and gold coins to encourage them to kill each other. Of course, the victor gets to keep the riches.

Arnold wondered if it's the same here.

He looked back at Lian who was frowning. She spoke before he could ask what's wrong.

"It could take hours before we get past this crowd. It's better to come back early tomorrow morning…"

"Can't you just use your position to get me to the front?"

"Uhm, only a martial can abuse their position that much," Kiwei spoke in her stead.

"Martials have it way easier in every situation, huh. Alright, I'll do something."

Arnold looked towards the strongest person within this crowd—a large bear-like man who was twice his size even though he's insanely tall in his adult form. There were two greatswords on his back and he had a muscular form that exuded power.

He was standing at the very front of the crowd, not letting anyone through unless they give him a silver coin.

That must be Dreum, thought Arnold.

"H-Hey, you bastard!" one of the martials yelled as Arnold shoved past them, sending him stumbling back.

"No cutting in line—Oi, get back here!"

Arnold ignored the outbursts. He didn't mutter so much as an "excuse me" as he plowed through the crowd. Despite their tough exteriors, the martials felt surprisingly lightweight, as if a strong gust of wind could knock them off their feet.

"Look at that guy! Is he heading straight for Dreum, the Big Hand?" a nearby voice murmured, drawing Arnold's attention.

"I think so. His eyes are glued to him. This won't end well. Dreum might not be as strong as his twin brother, but he's no pushover—not with that body."

Ahead, Dreum's boisterous laughter rang out, drowning the chatter. "Bwahaha! Two hundred and thirty silver today, boys!" He tossed a heavy pouch of coins to a woman in his group, her black leather armor marking her as an Assassin or Thief. With practiced ease, she pocketed the pouch into a shoulder bag.

'How much has this guy extorted? And why isn't anyone stopping him?'

The registration staff avoided looking Dreum's way, their eyes glued to their desks as if ignoring him would make him disappear.

Unlike the countless arrogant thugs Arnold had encountered, Dreum exuded more than just confidence. The oppressive heat of his Ki washed over Arnold like standing too close to an open flame.

"Boss, we've got company," one of Dreum's henchmen said, pointing as Arnold approached.

"Keh, looks like someone's got a death wish!" another chimed in, smirking.

Dreum turned, his towering frame casting a shadow over Arnold. He puffed out his chest, every muscle straining against his sleeveless tunic, and sneered down at him. "Well, well. What do we hav'ere? Another fool looking to make a name for himself?"

"Ye wanna get thru, ya pay fine." He held out his large hand out to Arnold. It was abnormally large when looking at his arm to body ratio. No wonder people were calling him the Big Hand.

"Are you the strongest martial here?" Arnold ignored him and asked.

"Hn?"

"Answer the question."

"Oi, who are you to speak without permission, huh!?" a spear-wielding henchman came up to Arnold and slapped his cheek. Despite that Arnold continued looking at the big guy.

"Aye, I be the strongest here. My match ended an hour ago so I am here to collect fees for entry." the Big Hand responded calmly.

"Is that so? I'd like to pass without paying. I didn't come all the way here just to cough up money for a tournament that's supposed to be free to the public."

Arnold could feel the killing intent from the martials behind him.

"Kekeke, nonono. Ya pay, I let yer pass." The boss folded his arms.

"You'll let me… pass?"

"Dasright, no exceptions. Even to the strong. I can tell yer strong. But not stronger than me."

"I really want to enter the tournament and it looks like the registration will close before I get to the front from way back there."

"Kukuku, this little shit really thinks he can stand up to the Big Hand—" the spearman who slapped him earlier had both of his arms twisted and bent, "GYAAAAH!!!!"

Arnold used a backhand strike to smash his face in, sending him crashing into a nearby building. It wasn't a second later that Arnold sensed a dagger aiming for his sides.

'This unknown thief has a faster reaction time than the warriors. What a disgrace.'

However, a second after he avoided that dagger, a large shadow aimed for him—a gigantic fist with thick fingers that could crush rock like it's nothing.

Instead of avoiding it, he stood still.

A powerful rumble shook the surroundings when the Big Hand's fist connected with his face.

His head was sent back and he staggered back slightly.

"Kuh." The boss grabbed that same hand and groaned.

"My turn." Arnold vanished and appeared in front of the boss in an instant, swinging his own fist.

Quick to respond, the boss sensed the danger and pulled out his greatsword in a practiced manner, using it to defend himself.

The 10cm thick iron sword shattered and not losing its momentum, Arnold's fist connected with the boss' face, punching out all his teeth and disfiguring his face from that one blow alone.

"GYAK!" He crashed into the reception building. Luckily the employees managed to escape in time.

"A-Attack him, you idiots!" the thief girl shouted, trying to make a run for it with the bag of coins in hand.

"Hey, our money!" one of them was about to run after her but Arnold had already caught up to her in a millisecond.

"Kyaah!" she bumped into his chest and flew back as if she ran into a brick wall, "Y-You!" she made a gesture as if she was about to cough into her hand but a purple smoke shot out of the hole between her fingers and spread rapidly around the area.

It seemed like—with no regard to everyone around her—she was trying to poison Arnold.

Arnold's hand went through the smoke and grabbed her collar. With a deep breath, he inhaled all the poison smoke before it reached the onlookers.

The thief didn't attempt to struggle, only trembled.

'An elf?'

Her hood came lose and Arnold noticed a thin [Illusion Veil] on her face. The reason he could tell it was an illusion veil was the glitching area on the sides of her face. The hood was probably meant to hide that so that, whichever magic item she's using, uses less mana.

He had a thought to test something so he mentally called up the system.

'Nothing, huh. This must be an artifact she's using then. There's no way a simple magic item can lock the system out.'

He wanted to take it from her but decided not to do it front of all these people. He'll be able to find her later anyway so long as she doesn't leave the city. With an "Illusion Veil", transforming into Nova will be way easier than the cheap magic earrings he bought some months back.

"H-How? My family's ancient poison did nothing…?"

"You'd need a lot more of that kind of poison to kill me."

The Aether within his body destroyed the poison the moment it entered his respiratory system. Unless a poison could break his body down faster than Aether can destroy it, no poison can hurt him anymore. The same goes for any illness.

Arnold pulled back his fist.

"W-Wait, you would hit a woma—?" before she could finish what she wanted to say, his fist connected with her face. It was probably the lightest punch he had ever thrown in his life. But it managed to knock the thief out cold.

He threw her aside and picked up the bag of coins and slung it over his shoulder.

"What? Do you guys want this back?" he asked the martials who had entered the premises earlier. They seemed to have been attracted by the noise at the registration area and came to check what's going on.

"Uhm, uh…" they stuttered.

"Since you don't want it, I guess I'll take it. Thanks."

'I wonder what kind of wine I'll find in this city.'

He heard groans of disapproval but no one tried to fight him or complain.

Arnold signaled for Lian and the girls to follow him.