Nenet had wandered a little outside the territory she was supposed to stay in.
She was humming a little melody with her arms behind her back and walked with normal strides that properly would take another two.
Curiosity got the better of her.
The smell of roasted meat from the stalls summoned drool.
After taking a tough choice, she went over and bought a big set of roasted rips.
From the pouch Haco has given her, she took out a few coins and asked the vendor, "Is this enough?"
She didn't know the value of the coins yet. Haco had told her once, but she forgot it.
"Y-yes-yes-yes…" the vendor was frightened, he'd completely misunderstood her eager eyes. It didn't help Nenet was shielding the sun with her back. He thought the question's real meaning was: Take it, or…
The vendor was eager to agree even if the money was only enough for a single rip, not a complete set.
But it seemed the vendor was saved from this blackmailing villain.
From behind Nenet, a hand landed on her shoulder that caused her to violently shake it off and move away in apprehension.
"How dare you blackmail an innocent vendor in brought daylight. And even trying to harm a hand of the law?"
She was confused, 'Blackmail? Hand of the law? It must be a misunderstanding.'
With Ogre's speech, the bystanders quickly moved away. The vendor too left his stall and watched Ogre and Nenet standing inside a circle.
"I didn't do any of that. I was just buying this." Nenet thought the other party didn't see the half-meter-long meat in her hands, so she waved it.
"As for hitting you, I was just surprised I did it on instinct. I apologize." Nenet would never harm an innocent and felt quite guilty.
Ogre turned and asked the vendor, "She was blackmailing you, right?" It was a blatant threat that was hidden under the heroic guise he was using to disguise. If the vendor wouldn't follow the script, then he would die later.
"Yes! Yes!! She was blackmailing me." The vendor had no problems speaking now that Ogre was here.
Nenet felt wronged and continued trying to explain the situation. But it all seemed to get worse. People urged him to arrest her and kept calling her a petty criminal.
It was all going according to the script Ogre had played many times. When the people were like this, they didn't care how violent he was in his arrest. In fact, they wished to see the criminal being punished.
So he strode forward to apprehend the woman that had taken his interest. Just the thought of playing with such a unique woman couldn't help making him do a little lecherous lick.
That was a mistake. Nenet detected it and now she'd no reservations about resorting to violence. She hurled the rips and used them for cover.
Ogre was confident in his strength. He was the King of the City. Everyone was just lambs while he was the shepherd. So he lashed the rips away with his arm.
Another mistake as he realized Nenet size wasn't for nothing. Even more so, when a green coating of scales surrounded the fist that had followed behind.
He hurriedly defended his body with his arms and lightly tiptoed.
**Bang!**
The impact pushed him so much away that it looked fake. Inwardly, he was glad by the result. His arms were numb but weren't broken. Still,
'That fist felt like a hammer. How can such a slender hand pack such weight—? Shit! She wants to run away.'
He quickly pulled out a whistle from under the shirt and called for support.
Nenet wanted to end it here and not ruin Haco's hard effort. She has been told not to go anywhere for now by him. But here she is.
With the sound of a whistle, the street was quickly filled with Imperial Officers.
The headquarters was a minute away from here, so assistance appeared quickly.
With no end of police officers coming from the front and Ogre catching up from behind, she turned and met Ogre's charge.
He was clearly stronger than the other. It would be tougher to get by.
But this way, she would not harm anyone innocent. Only Ogre deserved it.
---
Haco's shift was over and was on his way back.
'Why are they looking at me like that?'
Things weren't quite right. Although he got used to people staring at his tanned skin, it was still the stare of one looking at a human.
'Have I earned a notorious reputation like the rest of those idiots? But I never skinned anyone's faces off like Nyau...'
'Or have I gained such fear and respect as Esdeath have?'
The more he observed people's expressions, the more nervous he got. Behind the obvious fear, it looked more like they were expecting his downfall.
With his hawk eyes, he even spotted someone secretly sneering before she hid it behind a kind smile.
A bad premonition dawned his heart.
So he quickly approached the lady that sneered. Her long and frivolous pink dress obviously revealed she had status.
A guard tried to get in the way, but he was kicked away without any mercy.
Haco's actions disregarded any consequences. Those could be fixed later.
Now, with a hard grip around the lady's neck, he lifted her. She was about the same height as him, so the back bent back as he looked up, "If you don't tell me why you sneered in five seconds, I'll break your neck."
Even if she wanted, she couldn't say anything as Haco continued to strangle her. Her legs wailed in fright together with her long blonde hair flowing in the wind.
For every second, she abandoned any thought of trying to scare Haco with her identity, save her life with money, or try any other thing she could do.
This was not a naive citizen she could convince to follow her home and torture him to death.
After five seconds, Haco let go and she dropped weakly on the beautiful brick pavement.
"Speak!"
She was extremely scared and had trouble breathing. But Haco's firm voice urged her to get a grip.
She immediately began spitting out everything she knew.
She was so frightened that when Haco was about to leave, she quickly grabbed his foot and told him something she nearly forgot to say. Just the thought of Haco coming back to take her life made her want to cover all the possibilities.
After this, she never wanted to see Haco's intense eyes ever again.