Chapter 210: Protection Fee

"H— How much?" the lady asked with a quivering voice. 

"50 siks for today and we come tomorrow, or 10 rops for the whole month. Your choice," one of the men said. 

"I— I don't have that kind of money right now," the woman said. 

"Cut the crap and give it to us fast. We don't have time to waste with you all day," the men said. 

"I— I really don't have any. I have nothing to give to you," the woman said. 

"Hah! Who do you think you are lying to? Look at this, you sell so much and you expect us to believe that you don't have anything? You are quite a brave woman, aren't you?" the man said with an evil grin. 

Ning looked at him and really wanted to punch his face. But doing so would mean the man was going to die, and he didn't want the hassle of being a murderer in this world right now. 

'Although, I might finally have a key to the seal,' Ning thought and smiled a little. 

"Th— This is only my first sale of the day. These gentlemen haven't even finished paying yet," the woman said. 

"This woman really wants to— "

"Hey, brother! It looks like you have some business with the lady here," Ning said from the side. 

"Yeah, we do. What does it have to do with you?" the man said. 

"Nothing really. It's just that I was here first, so if you have a business, then you will have to get in line behind us," Ning said. 

"Haha, Pal. It seems you have a lot of money to pay for these things. Why don't you pay us too?" the men said as one of them moved his cloth just enough for Ning to see a hidden dagger. 

The man smiled when he noticed that Ning had seen it. 

Ning smiled too. He snickered towards the men and said, "You think that little toothpick is enough to scare me?" 

"Why don't we see then?" the man said and suddenly pulled out the dagger. He pointed it towards Ning and tried to act like he was going to stab him. 

"Yeah, still not scared," Ning said. 

"B*tch! Just shut up and hand over the money," the men said. 

Ning smiled and took one step closer. "Oho, are you openly robbing me now. That feels like I have a reason to attack now," Ning said. "Come stab me too. There is no other way I am going to give you money."

The men got angry and the one with the sword suddenly stabbed at Ning. 

Ning looked at half the dagger sticking next to his cloth and got a little surprised. 'He really stabbed me."

The man smiled sinisterly when he saw that half his dagger had entered Ning's left shoulders. "You better bring your money out now, or I will twist this dagger ins—"

"AAAAHHHH" scream of pain appeared from right next to the man. He looked behind him only to see his friend down on the ground, with his hands clutching his face and blood gushing out of it.

"Hey! What's wrong?" he tried to pull out the dagger from Ning's body to check his friend. But suddenly, Ning caught his arm and held it in place. 

"You're not going anywhere," Ning said. 

"Famir, are there police or guards in this area?" Ning asked. 

"Uhh… Noble Canon has guards that patrol the town. They are responsible for looking after the town," Famir said. 

"Go call them. Tell them I have a criminal in my clutches," Ning said. 

Famir skipped past the two men and ran out of the door. 

Ning looked to the side and smiled as he said, "Lady, don't mind us. Please just focus on counting the price for now," he said. 

The other man didn't stop screaming at all, and the blood was still gushing out. Without treatment, he would die soon. The man tried to pull his arm back, but no matter what,

"Yo— You! What are you planning on doing? I will stab your heart if you don't let go," he threatened. 

"I don't doubt you will try to," Ning said. "But with what blade?" He slowly bent the man's hands away from his chest to reveal that his hand's taken any damage and that it was the blade that had broken in half. 

"You already used to pointy end to stab your friend back there," Ning said with a smile. 

"Ho— How?" the man couldn't believe what had happened until he thought of a possibility that shocked him. "Aether User."

"Well, you are not very stupid, are y—"

BAM

"ARGHH" the man screamed as he held his left arm against himself. He had just tried to punch Ning on the face and instead had his hands broken.

"Tsk. And here I just said you are not very stupid. Why did you feel the need to prove me wrong?" Ning said. 

"In here." Famir's voice came from the outside. Soon, two people in brown-green cloth walked into the shop and saw the two men in pain. 

"What happened here?" one of the guards asked. 

"Oh, these men came here looking for protection money from the shop and then tried to rob me. So, I put them in their place," Ning said. 

The guards quickly checked the criminals and were shocked a little. "Thank you for your help, sir," he said and took away the men. 

"Well, that was enough fun for the day. Let's go back home," Ning said. The other two nodded. 

"Lady, how much is the cost?" Ning asked. 

"I— I haven't finished counting," she said. 

"Hmm… give me an approximate price. I don't have time to wait for so long," Ning said. 

"Uhh…" the lady tried to guess the prices of the clothes all at once. Once she was done checking it all, she said, "8… 8 rops and 30 siks."

"Hmm… okay," Ning said and tossed 9 rops her way. "Keep the rest." 

Suddenly, the stack of clothes on the counter disappeared and Ning started walking out.