“Aah... Sorry to surprise you, Miss Alina...”
The red light in his eyes dimmed and was replaced by a warm gaze wrapped in Nathan's smile which made Alina feel calm again.
"No problem. Um... What was Nathan doing? Why are your eyes so red? So, the eyes are getting more beautiful, but also scary…” Alina looked at Nathan's eyes very closely. She seemed to be waiting for those eyes to shine again.
“Oh … Didn't Miss Alina feel dazzled earlier? Look! It floated alone quietly behind the clouds … ” Nathan pointed to the sky. Beneath it, the birds flew freely. Alina also understood the meaning of Nathan's words.
"Does when exposed by sunlight, Nathan's eyes will shine too?" asked Alina with an innocent face, as if she just found out about it.
"Yes. Everyone will have a different light in their eyes, if you pay close attention to them. I've also seen Miss Alina's eyes glow a few times … ”
Nathan was indeed talking to Alina as usual. However, his observation of the suspected target as the thief of Alina's storage ring did not escape a second of time. Nathan unsuspectedly by Alina led her to walk in the direction people were going.
Alina really didn't notice.
Slowly, while conversing, the two of them walked towards an alley that was getting deserted. Here, trash starts to scatter everywhere. Apparently, this area is ignored by the government. Some of the people they both passed seemed to be discussing something. However, the words that came out of their mouths were truly uncivilized. In fact, even the cats are like delinquents, fighting with one another.
Several people seemed to be watching the two as they continued to walk into the alley. From the look on their faces, it was clear they were bad people and were planning something evil for the person they were paying attention to.
"Hm...? Where are we going?” asked Alina who had just realized that the two of them were walking in an alley that did not make her feel comfortable, seeing the gazes of the people around here was so scary for her. She subconsciously grabbed Nathan's sleeve again, afraid that she would be left behind or someone would disturb her.
"We're going to a place where the thief is right now ... " Nathan replied casually as if he wasn't bothered by the presence of the people around.
Her eyebrows rose instantly, Alina tried to digest Nathan's words. She found it strange how Nathan could find out where the thief was. Moreover, seeing how the people around here greeted them with ugly and scary facial expressions made her feel bad and of course very nervous.
“Nathan, isn't that too dangerous? Shouldn't we just forget about the storage ring…” suggested Alina who had given up her trading assets because she didn't want anything bad to happen.
"Stay cool. You just need to close your eyes if you feel scared and hug my arm tightly…” Nathan said, who didn't feel that this was a dangerous situation. However, he didn't ignore it either and was ready at any moment to face people which, who knows, might attack him or Alina suddenly.
The road inside the alley is actually winding. Nathan followed in which direction his perception led him to go.
Most of the people here were unawakened people, even though they looked like criminals. There are also those who are awakened, but the abilities they get are just trash when they have to deal with monsters or compared to hunters from the Hunter's Guild. So, until now they have only observed from the walls, roofs, stairs, and others.
People who seemed to be like to commit crimes must have some experience with how to deal with strangers. They will not act immediately, until the identity of the target being monitored was known for sure.
Just as the two passed one turn at a time, Nathan stopped walking. Likewise Alina who immediately tightened her hug.
Up ahead, eight people seemed to be showing their loot. One of those people, there was displaying some of his loot including Alina's storage ring inside. Their attention was immediately diverted as two people walked towards them. One was a tall man in a black suit and the other a girl who made the eyes of those who felt defeated in showing off their loot brighten instantly.
“W-wow ... Look! Who we got here unexpectedly … ” he pointed out, it was the man who had stolen Alina's storage ring. He who wanted to invite others to help him master the ownership of the storage ring felt helped by the arrival of Nathan and Alina.
“Hoo… Is that man the owner of the storage ring?” asked one of the eight men, pointing at Nathan, mistaking him for the owner of the storage ring, because he didn't want to think that it belonged to the girl next to him. 'It would be a pity if that girl was the owner...' he thought.
His other friends immediately hoped that it was true. They all looked at the man holding the small ring expectantly, which, he was the one who would know who was the owner of the ring as the party who stole it.
But, upon seeing the man shook his head slowly. They all took a deep breath. Of course, they would still prefer riches over letting a mere beautiful girl live. They think, wealth is still more important and with wealth too, they can find another girl who is equal or more beautiful than the one currently in front of them.
“Well ... It's a shame indeed. But, what can you do … ”
They all now walked towards Nathan and Alina. This made Alina even more scared and finally closed her eyes. She was still traumatized by the last incident and the first time she met Nathan.
"Hey little girl, if you want to accompany me tonight, maybe I will change my mind and let you live..." said the person who stole Alina's storage ring.
Alina tightened her eyelids to keep her eyes closed, hoping that her actions would make her unable to hear the man's words.
"Is this the time?" Nathan said suddenly, surprising everyone who heard him. Including Alina, she didn't even understand what Nathan was saying. But with that, she finally became brave enough to see those scary looking people who were actually not as scary as she imagined after staring at Nathan in amazement.
“Miss Alina, please step back a bit. Just watch from there, okay?" Nathan instructed Alina to take a few steps back, so that when the battle took place, Alina was at a safe distance.
Alina just nodded quickly and followed the directions.
Then Nathan faced the men casually saying, “Do you guys have the courage to fight against me with your bare hands?”
It didn't stop there, Nathan also immediately put up horse stances as a form of provocation.
"Hoo ... So arrogant that you don't choose to mention one by one ..." said the man in the front, acting like a boss among them, furious at being humiliated like that. Then, he exclaimed loudly: “Do you accept being belittled like that?”
"Of course not, Boss!"
"Well. Actually, we are waiting for your signal…”
His men were waiting for a signal from their boss to start attacking Nathan. You can see, they stretched their stiff muscles and joints until you hear the sound of their joints crackling. Their smiles looked so cruel.
"What are you waiting for? Attack him!” shouted the man loudly while pointing at Nathan with his eyes looking straight at the person he was pointing at.
Seven people immediately surrounded Nathan. They seemed to be waiting for something, finally one of them jumped up, about to strike Nathan's neck from behind. He thought his attack would hit Nathan without Nathan noticing. However, a hand suddenly grabbed his ankle which was very painful.
Finally, the man who failed to land the kick was slammed onto the floor so hard that he vomited blood from the corner of his lips. Part of his body was also injured due to friction or impact with the floor.
Glek ...
In fact, Nathan actually only used very little energy, according to him.
That, of course, almost scared the remaining six people. They had not the slightest thought that the thin and tall man had such great strength. It was impossible for them to imitate what Nathan had just done, or at least take some time to cultivate the body first, because they were all normal humans and not awakened. But, considering their numbers, they regained their confidence.
In the end, they didn't attack one by one, but in unison after signaling each other.