?”Perhaps, that depends on what they can offer us.”

Howard swiftly dodged into a nearby alley, quickening his pace to a run.

He wanted to set the stage in a secluded area; he wasn’t keen on having an audience for what was to come.

As he hoped, the moment he dodged, four individuals broke away from the crowd and started running as well.

Howard’s speed was deliberately controlled; he didn’t use mana, nor did he allow his body to perform at full capacity.

Those trailing him were merely ordinary people, perhaps with a mana adaptor among them, but at best, they were only capable of bullying the average person.

His decision to run was merely to give them a reason to chase.

Howard wanted to set the stage in a deserted area to make both cleaning up and interrogation more convenient.

He certainly didn’t want to perform such tasks under the watchful eyes of bystanders, as it would severely tarnish his image.

Since Howard was controlling his speed, the four pursuers caught up easily and even managed to split up, surrounding him effectively.

“You lad… quite the runner, aren’t you?”

Looking at the two men who appeared at one end of the alley and then back at the two who caught up from behind, panting heavily, Howard assessed the strength of the four.

The speaker was a lean, tall man, resembling a bamboo pole, dressed in a hunter’s garb with a short knife commonly used by hunters at his waist and a longbow on his back, fully armed.

However, Howard wasn’t concerned about these; the tall and thin man was just an ordinary person.

Even with these weapons in his hands, the threat posed to Howard was very limited.

Catching their breath, the lean, tall man exchanged a glance with the burly middle-aged man standing beside him.

Howard noticed the middle-aged man’s gaze falling on Jelia and gave a slight nod.

The tall man’s face twisted into a cruel smile, and Howard tilted his head.

It seemed they had made their decision.

With this thought, Howard patted Jelia’s back, “The moment I let go, run into the alley. Don’t stop, no matter what you hear, don’t stop. Then find a place to hide, and wait for me to come for you.”

Jelia nodded, her body trembling slightly.

This wasn’t her first time being surrounded, nor was it her first time facing a near-death crisis.

She had her own ways of dealing with such situations, but this time, she wasn’t alone.

“Drop that mongrel in your hands, and I’ll let you go,” the tall man stepped forward, his gleaming knife already drawn, “Otherwise, I’ll have to make a couple of holes in you.”

Howard didn’t respond, nor did he even glance at him.

Instead, his gaze drifted backward, confirming the positions of the two people surrounding them from behind.

They were Jelia’s biggest obstacle to escaping, and he had to deal with those two first.

Although reluctant to kill, in such a situation, Howard couldn’t afford to hold back because Jelia’s safety was his top priority.

“You want her? A half-orc?”

Howard set Jelia down from his shoulder, holding her small hand.

“Why the hell are you talking so much, let her go, or I’ll kill you,” the tall man shouted a few times, brandishing his short knife, which reflected the sunlight with a bright glare.

It seemed he wasn’t keen on causing a death, perhaps due to the trouble it would bring?

But regardless of the reason, Howard didn’t care because soon, the man would no longer have the opportunity to cause any trouble.

Howard had pinpointed the positions of the two men behind him: one to the left and one to the right, approximately four meters apart from each other and about thirteen meters away from Howard.

This distance exceeded the range most preparatory-level magi could cast long-range spells.

It appeared they were also cautious, providing themselves time to react and counter even if Howard were a preparatory-level magus.

Unfortunately for them…

“Run.”

The moment Howard let go, two orbs of mana light had already appeared in his hands.

Jelia started running, and Howard turned around, raising his hands, each aimed at one of the men.

The mana light in his hands slowly formed shapes.

Although the two men tried to advance to stop Jelia, before they could succeed, Howard had completed his mana sculpting.

Short crossbows appeared in Howard’s hands, one in each.

Howard pulled the triggers.

He only saw two streaks of white light leave the crossbows, disappearing in front of the men’s chests.

With two low thuds, the men attempting to intercept Jelia lost their strength.

Their bodies, halted abruptly by the immense kinetic force of the arrows, flipped backward.

Jelia, covering her ears and bowing her head, dashed past the two men as they fell, her small figure disappearing into the depths of the alley.

Howard turned back around, the crossbows in his hands dissolving back into free-floating mana.

“Now, it’s time for us to have a proper talk.”

The smile on his face was so cold it sent shivers down one’s spine.

…

The interrogation process wasn’t as prolonged and complicated as Howard had anticipated.

After making a few cuts on the two remaining men, they spilled everything they knew.

As Howard had expected, they indeed were men under Red Eye’s command, but regrettably, their rank was so low they had virtually no communication with Red Eye himself. .

As the largest bandit group in the vicinity of Breeze City, Red Eye’s men numbered over three hundred.

They were merely ordinary members, chosen for this surveillance task because of their familiarity with Lorinda.

Though they had a safe house in Lorinda, Red Eye had never visited it.

Regarding Red Eye’s true intentions, they were only partially informed, knowing only that it related to Lorinda but clueless about the specifics.

Howard noted down the location of the safe house given by the tall man, which was not far from Harry’s estate; even on foot, it was merely a ten-minute walk.

Perhaps it wasn’t the most useful piece of information, but it was a lead, nonetheless.

Besides, Howard caught wind of an intriguing term, “Old Nobles.”

It sounded like some sort of title, yet it seemed to carry an ominous connotation.

“Where did you hear this from?” Howard pressed the tall man’s knife against his cheek, smiling slightly, “You know how sharp this knife is; those two died from blood loss just now.

I hope you answer well, or else I might get excited, and my hand could slip.”

“Red Eye! Our boss, it was from Red Eye,” the tall man shouted.

Howard frowned and kicked the man in the stomach, silencing him instantly as he doubled over, gasping for air.

“Keep it down, will you? What if you disturb others?” Howard crouched down, patting the tall man’s face with the flat of the knife. .

“You just said you had no contact with Red Eye, that it was all one-way communication, didn’t you?”

“Just once! Only once! It was a man in black! I once saw our boss, Red Eye, talking to a man in black. I overheard this term from their conversation; it seemed related to some identity of Red Eye’s boss!”

The consequences of betraying Red Eye were severe, but right now, speaking out was his only chance of avoiding immediate repercussions.

“A man in black?”

Howard’s interest was piqued slightly; he seemed to have stumbled upon something Red Eye had kept hidden.

“When? Where?”

“In Lorinda, right here in Lorinda.”

“That place used to be one of our safe houses, but it was abandoned after the man in black contacted our boss. I didn’t listen carefully at the time; I just caught that word. They seemed to be arguing about something.”

Howard nodded, stood up, and delivered a kick to the tall man’s head.

The tall man went silent.

Blood began to seep from his mouth and nose.

He turned his gaze to the other survivor.

“Please… don’t kill me.”

The once imposingly large man was now frightfully scooting backward on the ground, lacking even the strength to stand and flee.

Howard scratched his cheek, muttering softly, “Am I that terrifying? To scare him like this.”

Raising his hand, mana light coalesced into a crossbow in his grasp.

“Anything else you’d like to say?”

“Please…”

“Thud.”

The burly man’s expression froze as the crossbow bolt pierced his forehead.

“Why do people always tend to speak nonsense when they’re nervous?” Howard shook his head as the crossbow dissipated into a mist of mana, which he then reabsorbed.

He reached into his pocket for the communication crystal and started walking towards the deeper end of the alley where Jelia had hidden.

The communication crystal soon responded.

A smile appeared on Howard’s face.

“Hello, hello, is this the shopkeeper? I’m back.”

…

After listening to Howard’s report, Antalya emotionlessly cut off the spirit supply to the communication crystal.

As Howard’s voice faded, her gaze returned to the middle-aged man before her.

“Alright, let’s continue our previous discussion.

Are you really not planning to resist anymore?”

Antalya’s voice was devoid of any discernible emotion, as if synthesized from multiple sources, resonating with a mechanical coldness.

“I can’t trust you; I must protect my daughter,” Harry shook his head, his plump face showing no sign of surprise.

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