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“Keokk. Keeeoook.”

“The man who collapsed with a foamy mouth grabbed his chest.

He flailed his hands around as if in great pain.

“He-help…help me, please!”

“Like I said you should have listened to me. If only you had paid the protection tax long ago.”

In front of them were five people whose bodies were tied up.

One had already been poisoned and was on the verge of death.

“I-I paid! Really, we are at our limits too!”

“They say you can squeeze a dry rag and get water out of it. So, can’t you do a little more? Do you think we’re in the business of digging? We’re practicing to protect you from the bad guys outside.”

The men tied together here had once been merchants.

“So you’re saying you can’t afford it?”

One of the biggest guys among them said. He seemed to be the leader of this gang of thugs.

One of the tied-up merchants begged desperately.

“Just give me a little more time. Please.”

“What do you think we have time for? I can’t take it anymore, I have to make an example of you. What are you doing, feed him.”

“Yes! Big brother!”

“You scumbags! What the hell did we do wrong? Didn’t you intimidate us with your little power without doing anything? I’m sure we gave you money not long ago. At this rate, we’ll have nothing to eat, let alone pay you.”

“Your courage is imaginary.”

The big man laughed.

“You need to get a grip on the situation.”

“This is what I’m going to say. If you want to make money, you need to make us want to pay, not threaten us!”

“Hmm.”

The big man called over one of his henchmen.

“That guy. Does he have a family? Go kill them all.”

“Yes.”

The merchant’s face hardened at the words. Then he shouted, his face red with anger.

“Y-you…dog-like bastard! Don’t you dare touch them!”

“Don’t let your emotions get the better of you, you’re in no position to do that right now, you were earlier, but you need to get a grip on the situation, yeah?”

The man stepped forward and punched the merchant in the face.

Baam! Blood spurted with each blow.

“S-stop!”

Still, he didn’t stop punching, eventually stopping only after the merchant was stunned.

He brushed his hand clean and looked around at the merchants.

“Was I too nice to him? He’s too unaware of the situation.”

The merchants, who had been grumbling earlier, fell silent.

“Now you’ve got some nice faces. You’re going to live and die by my word, you scumbags. I told you to bring the money, yet you didn’t bring the money, and this is why there’s all this mess.”

His demeanor was as if he had left the money with them.

Many people wanted to say something, but they were afraid of looking like that one merchant.

Then there was a commotion outside.

Bang!

The door burst open and a very sickly-looking man walked in.

“Huuu.”

He was breathing hard and his face was flushed. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked utterly exhausted.

Behind him, a robust knight entered the room.

The knight glanced at the sickly man in disbelief, then at the group inside.

There were more of them than they expected.

“Young Master.”

“It’s alright.”

The sickly man stepped forward.

The knight hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

“What, you.”

“Huuuuuu.”

Taking a deep breath in and out, he slowly looked around.

“It’s nothing. I have come to do some good deeds.”

After entering the underworld, a few thugs heeded Ethan’s warning and didn’t touch him. But there were always stupid ones.

And in the end, they’d gotten into a fight just before entering this building.

To survive in this place, one must eventually kill someone.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Once this place became a reality, he had no choice but to kill someone in order to survive.

He’d already made up his mind.

It was just the first time he’d actually done it.

He was expecting his stomach to churn and his mind to be shaken, but thankfully it wasn’t.

‘It’s because of my breathing. The Hero’s Breathing keeps me steady.’

Hercules was a hero.

His breath, the source of all his power, gave him the strength to face whatever came his way.

Of course, it also brought excitement and exhilaration.

Schudlen saw Ethan like that and judged that his young master had many talents that his infirmity prevented him from revealing them.

This made him even more curious.

How strong was Ethan now?

“You’ve come to do good deeds?”

The thugs started laughing.

Upon closer inspection, he resembled a scion of a noble family, both in dress and face.

That, and the sickly look he had just seen.

“Ohh, are you that sickly young master?”

“I think so, big brother. But they said he could barely walk, so I guess it was just a rumor.”

“He must have taken a lot of good medicine. Well, we still have some. Do you want some of that? Kikiki.”

“That guy in the back must be his bodyguard! Maybe he’s scared because he’s an escort for that sickly Young Master!?”

Schudlen ran his hand over the scabbard at his waist. He wanted to draw it, but he’d made a promise to Ethan before he came in.

He was not to move unless the situation was truly dangerous, and then Ethan would take care of it.

But he wasn’t about to listen to Ethan’s orders.

His first priority was to keep Ethan alive, and if he got hurt, he would have failed in his mission.

The man began to chuckle as Schudlen remained still with his hand on the scabbard.

“I guess the way he’s running around like this without any fear makes him want to play the hero! Then no one will suspect you of dying like a hero. Isn’t that right, boys?”

“That’s right!”

“Let me take care of him, big brother!”

One of them, the one without two front teeth, grinned broadly and approached Ethan.

“A noble man of a noble family. I heard nobles have blue blood. Did you think we’d bow down to you?”

He reached out to shove Ethan’s shoulder.

Schudlen, watching, realized that was out of line.

He drew his sword and was about to swing.

Ethan lightly sidestepped his hand, then drew his sword and slashed at him.

It was so fast it was almost invisible.

“……!”

Schudlen was surprised by the speed of the blade, so much faster than his own. It was a perfect Whiskers’ swordsmanship strike.

Thwack!

The thug was split in two and collapsed.

The room, which had been filled with laughter, fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it, and the big man, the leader of the group, had lost his smile.

“I heard something funny outside earlier.”

Ethan said with a sickly grin.

“Now it’s your lives that depend on my sword, so stay still, because it’s up to me whether you die in peace or in agony.”

* * *

Swuuck!

‘My sword is getting faster.’

The big man, the leader of the group, and the rest of them lunged at Ethan at the same time.

Schudlen tried to get between them, but Ethan glared at him.

So Schudlen naturally took on the rest of them, except for the big guy.

Originally, it should have been the other way around.

‘Will Young Master be okay? Even though I know the young master is stronger than I thought, there’s a big difference in experience.’

The boss had lived in the underworld for a long time, and he was the leader of the gang. He might not be strong, but such a guy also might have the ability to survive somehow.

That was why they had to be careful.

‘What!?’

Ethan, who he thought would be outmatched, was pressuring the boss perfectly.

The Whiskers’ characteristic swordsmanship was being fully utilized, limiting the boss’ movements and inflicting wounds at every opportunity.

‘He’s not strong enough, so he’s trying to take the boss down by accumulating damage.’

But that was effective only once or twice. His opponent was also a fighter. He could have turned the tables in an instant.

Then, as if he was waiting for it, the big man pulled something out of his arm and threw it at Ethan. It looked like a powder, probably poison.

“I wonder if you, who grew up in a greenhouse, know what a fight is! A fight is simply taking the life of your opponent, one way or another!”

With that, the man scattered the poison at Ethan.

It was too much for the inexperienced to handle.

“Young Master!”

In a rush, Schudlen leaned forward.

He stomped on the ground and burst forth.

But something was wrong.

“Huh?”

Ethan swung his sword to create a sword wind, which sent the poison back at the big man.

“Cough, cough. Uhh, how…”

“I don’t know why you don’t always think of this situation. Poison is such a tricky thing to use, it can be countered in an instant like this.”

Ethan smirked, still swinging his sword.

“I know because I’ve tried it.”

* * *

Krone, a merchant in Pyrene, thought he was going to die.

In the old days, the underworld had a relationship with the merchants.

For a small fee, they would take care of any outsiders who tried to force their hands on the merchants or go on rampages.

Merchants often preferred to deal with the underworld thugs because even if they reported them to the lord, he would not immediately protect them, but rather would protect the outsiders.

But something had changed in recent years.

Their demands for protection had become outrageous, and they threatened and even attacked merchants who refused to pay.

As if they had something on them.

‘That’s the German line.’

What they had in their hands was poison.

It occurred to him that they were probably scrambling to raise money to go somewhere else, beyond this underworld.

And that thought was spot on. Why did bad hunches always seem to be right?

One of the rebellious merchants died, and the rest were at a loss and afraid. It was the same for Krone.

With so many opponents and poison, there was nothing he could do.

Then a frail-looking young master appeared.

Even though he was the son of a noble family, these people were acting like they had no backing here in Pirenne.

Because Krone thought he would die.

There was a knight with him, but he didn’t look very strong.

But it was the underworld thugs who died.

‘’No way.’

He couldn’t see the swords, but he could tell the gap between them was wide.

One by one, the thugs fell, unable to put up much of a fight.

But somehow, the noble’s composure seemed much more difficult.

‘Is he pretending to be weak to catch them off guard?’

He’s so smart, Krone thought.

From what Krone heard, he was the eldest son of the Whickers family, yet he was so skillful at such a young age.

“Thank you so much. I will never forget this favor.”

“Thank you so, so much. Thank you!”

Everyone, including Krone, expressed their gratitude with tears in their eyes.

“It was no big deal.”

Cough, cough. Even the cough at the end was perfect.

He faked being sick until the very end, which made Krone think he was a very thorough person.