The big man slowly stood up from the broken crate, towering over the narrow alley.
A scar stretched across his face, and his grin widened the moment he saw Runa's expression.
"Kekeke… looks like I hit the right nerve," he mocked.
Behind him, the surrounding bandits slowly spread out, quietly blocking every exit of the alleyway.
Runa's eyes narrowed coldly.
"…Who sent you?" she asked.
The big man laughed loudly, spreading his arms.
"Why would I tell a dead woman that?" he sneered. "The bounty on the Red Assassin is worth more than this entire district."
Kael moved his hand slowly.
A small fireball condensed in his palm—quiet, controlled, without warning, he flicked it upward toward the rooftops.
No one below even had time to react.
On the roof, the hidden man barely had a second to register what was coming.
"…Huh?"
BOOM!
The explosion erupted instantly, blowing apart the rooftop in a burst of fire and debris.
Fragments of wood and stone rained down into the alley as smoke rolled over the edge.
The bandits below froze in shock.
"…W-what the hell was that…?" one of them muttered, stepping back.
"Eh?! Are you blind? Why are you firing at the roof?! They're right in front of us!" Runa shouted, glaring at Kael in disbelief.
The bandits in the alley tensed instantly, confusion spreading across their faces as smoke drifted down from the rooftop explosion.
The big man's grin slowly faded.
"…Tch. What did he just do?" he muttered, eyes narrowing as he looked up toward the collapsing roof.
The alley fell into chaos.
The moment the rooftop exploded, the bandits' confidence shattered completely.
"W-what the hell is that—!"
"I'm not staying here!!"
One by one, they turned and ran, abandoning their leader without hesitation, disappearing into the narrow streets in pure panic.
In seconds, only the big man remained.
Alone.
His earlier arrogance was gone, replaced by trembling hands and shallow breathing. Sweat ran down his face as he looked between Runa and the smoking rooftop.
"…W-what kind of monster did we pick a fight with…?" he muttered.
Runa's expression shifted immediately into a predatory smile.
"Hehehe~" she chuckled, tilting her head. "Well, I think our positions have changed."
She stepped forward slowly, cracking her knuckles.
"Now, before I kill you… give me everything you have. Clothes, money, weapons—everything. Hehe."
Kael kept his gaze on the destroyed rooftop for a moment.
The man who had been hiding there was gone—no presence, no movement, only scattered debris and fading smoke.
"…Hmm," Kael murmured softly.
Without another word, he turned away.
He began walking quietly down the alley, leaving Runa and the trembling bandit behind as if the fight no longer concerned him at all.
Runa blinked as Kael walked away.
"…Hey! Where are you going?!" she called, still holding the bandit at her mercy.
Kael kept walking without looking back.
Behind him, Runa hurriedly followed while carrying the stolen pouch and equipment she had taken from the terrified bandit.
"Hey, wait for me!" she shouted.
After a while, they reached a wider street beneath a large stone bridge crossing above the city road.
Then—
Kael suddenly stopped walking, slowly turned his head slightly, his expression remained calm, but his voice turned cold.
"…There's no need to follow me anymore. I'll be fine from here."
Runa stopped in place, staring at his back.
"…Hah?" she muttered, caught off guard by the sudden words.
The noise of the busy street echoed around them, but for a brief moment, the atmosphere between them felt strangely quiet.
Runa frowned deeply, her ears twitching in annoyance.
"…You serious right now?" she asked. "You don't even know how this world works."
"I know…" Kael said quietly. "I know how the world works… and how cruel it is."
Runa went silent for a moment, studying him carefully, the usual irritation in her eyes faded slightly, replaced by something more cautious.
Runa clicked her tongue softly.
"…Tch. Don't act like you understand everything," she said, though her tone was less harsh than before.
Kael spoke, his expression was calm, but distant.
"…I never said I understand everything," he replied. "I just understand enough to move forward."
Runa stared at him for a long moment, then exhaled slowly.
"…You're really annoying, you know that?" she muttered. "Fine. Do whatever you want."
But she didn't leave.
She stayed standing there, watching him as the noise of the city flowed around them.
Kael turned away again without another word.
He began walking forward into the city alone, disappearing slowly into the crowd beneath the stone bridge.
Behind him, Runa hesitated… then followed at a distance, her expression unreadable.
Runa watched Kael's back disappear into the crowd and clicked her tongue.
"…T-this guy is really an idiot!" she whispered to herself, irritated.
But despite her words, she still kept following him from a distance, not letting him out of sight.
From a dark room, several men stood in silence.
Only one sat in the center chair.
In front of him knelt the man Kael had earlier struck with the fireball.
The seated figure wore mercenary clothing, a worn sword resting beside his chair, and an eye-patch covering one side of his face.
"…You said someone saw you." the leader spoke calmly.
The injured man trembled.
"Y-yes, leader…"
The one-eyed leader leaned back slightly in his chair, fingers tapping the armrest in slow rhythm.
"…Hmm."
His visible eye narrowed.
"How is it that you're a Grand Master…" he said calmly, "when this kingdom barely has Peak Human-Level fighters…"
A brief pause.
"…And yet even those Peak Human-Level guards couldn't detect your stealth technique?"
The kneeling man lowered his head further, trembling.
The room stayed silent—heavy, tense, waiting for an answer that didn't come easily.
"Leader… I think he's not a guard," the kneeling man said quickly. "He was a mercenary… or something like that."
The one-eyed leader didn't respond immediately.
His visible eye remained half-lidded, studying the trembling man in front of him.
"…Mercenary." he repeated softly.
The word lingered in the dark room.
Then he slowly leaned forward."…A mercenary who can see through stealth and throw fire that even you couldn't react to."
The one-eyed leader clicked his tongue.
"…Tch."
His fingers tapped once against the armrest, sharper this time.
"We need to take that man down first," he said coldly. "He might become a thorn in our mission."
His gaze lifted slightly, voice turning decisive.
"…Before we begin anything, we eliminate him first."
"Leader… I have a plan," the injured man said quickly, forcing himself to speak through the pain.
"That man… he's close to the Red Assassin."
The room shifted slightly at those words.
The one-eyed leader's expression didn't change, but the air around him grew heavier.
"…Continue," he said slowly.