Chapter 175 - The Strange Group

'If I'm alone, I would not have any need to retreat since I'm pretty sure that not even a group of mages can stop me if I escape into the Trial Tower. But I have Mia with me at the moment which can be taken advantage of if they play it right. There's also another reason for that. Though I'm confident about my strength, I'm not sure if I can beat them; the group of people with weird getup that suddenly appeared in the restaurant.' From the look on the situation, Sheila was able to guess that only a few of the influential families know about them as the moment their eyes recognize the symbol on the cloak, their body involuntary freeze up. She didn't actually escape right away and instead, decided to stay put for a while for some information. 

"Oi, Zack, tell me what is going on here. I was wondering why you didn't report on time and thought you were slacking off, but what the hell is going on here?"

Among the group of people hiding in their unique-looking cloak, one stepped forward and asked with a rough voice, yet Zack can feel a powerful aura erupting for a moment when the former spoke, which brought him chills. He has a feeling that if he spoke of the truth about the situation, he most likely be punished. But neither can he lie as, if they truly wanted to know about it, they can just ask the influential families m.o.a.ning on the floor. Without any other choice, Zack gritted his teeth and said.

"W-Well, it's like this..."

A few minutes later...

"Hahaha! Isn't that hilarious? You have used the precious item given to you from us, and what's more, it gets stolen right in front of your eyes? This is just too hilarious, hahaha!"

The man with a rough voice laughed after learning the whole situation. Just as Zack thought he is safe from punishment, his body was suddenly struck by something heavy and thus, sent flying straight toward the wall at a fearsome speed.

Bam!

"Cough! Cough!"

The moment he got hit by something heavy to his gut, Zack is sure that he heard something cracked, perhaps it might have been the sound of his ribs shattered to pieces. After crashing himself into the wall, Zack vomits a mouthful of blood to the ground once he recovered his sense. 'Damn it, this hurt like hell! What was that? A kick? A single kick can be this powerful?! I knew that guy is powerful based on the aura he released a month ago, but I didn't expect his physical strength to be this powerful too! Why are there so many crazily strong monsters out there? To an ordinary person, my strength is enough to be called a monster in their eyes, but how about those guys? If I'm an ordinary monster, they must be the Boss.'

"Seriously, what an impotent guy, you are. Zack, oh~ Zack, I thought you have talent...I must have been blind a month ago to accept someone like you into our group."

"Haven't I told you about this before, old man? The human here is just that impotent and weak. It might have been because they live in a modern world, a peaceful world with no danger at every turn like us. Their fang had become so dull that they can't even protect themselves in the face of sudden danger."

'The human here? Peaceful world? What is this dude talking about? Is he in late-stage for an eighth-grade syndrome?' thought Sheila while observing them from within the shadow.

Another one hidden by a cloak stepped forward and spoke with a childish tone. The 'old man' nodded his head in agreement.

"Then, what are we going to do now, old man? Should we just kill them all? We don't need them, do we?"

Although his tone sounds childish, his remark, however, caused the people m.o.a.ning on the floor to fear for their life. At this point, the influential families have come to realize that someone out of their league, had set their eyes on the branch, but most of all, they can't even do anything to stop them as some of them were injured by the explosion a while ago. As for those that fortunately didn't receive any injuries on their body, their strength isn't enough to beat someone that can send someone flying with just a kick. After all, they are a mage, not a physical fighter. Before they can even finish their chanting, their opponent's fist might already on the way to their face. Basically, the latter is the bane of their class.

'So they are indeed the one behind that guy crashing on the wall. I somehow pity him after looking at how many injuries he received from that single kick. Just kidding, I don't really care if they ended up fighting over themselves. But I can't help and wonder what is their origin? They didn't seem to be the people from Mage Association but more of a third-party. I guess the only way to find out is to follow them for now.'

"Hmm. Certainly, we don't need the uncertainness in our plan, so we might as well remove them now before they become trouble in the near future."

The 'old man' replied after taking a moment of consideration. Most of the people in their group also nodded their heads silently in agreement with his remark. Initially, they plan to control the branch with a puppet, but since most of the influential families are even weaker than their puppets, they might as well take the stage instead. Of course, they still need to be careful as it is still possible for there to be a hidden tiger or dragon in this peaceful world. The woman called Ice Empress and the guy with a half-face mask are such examples.

'Honestly, what a surprise, for there to be someone who can conjure a spell without a chant. If I had known better, I would have given a second ball to this guy but, what a shame. Nonetheless, even if the sealed ball is stolen, there's no way a person of this world can release the seal. As far as the knowledge about the supernatural goes, they are too far behind. Plus, we have more issues at hand at the moment.' thought 'Old man.'

Since they have reached an agreement, or at least that's what the one with the childish tone thought as he stepped forward, wanting to end them by his hand. But before he could progress further, someone on his side interrupted him by patting him on the shoulders before saying.

"Before you do that, you need to watch out for those hidden in the dark, like this."

'?!'

The hand touching on his shoulders looks slender, what one would expect from a girl/woman. Even the high pitch voice indicated that the person behind the cloak this time is indeed a female. After patting him on the shoulders, she pulled a paper-looking talisman inside her cloak before throwing it at the shadow of the table. This might seem strange to the others, but to her companions, they immediately understood everything after hearing her words.

"Damn, I didn't expect this sort of situation."

Sheila said after suddenly finding herself reappearing back to reality. Luckily, her reaction speed is pretty quick as, the moment she finds something amiss, she immediately sent Mia into the Trial Tower without a second thought. The talisman thrown by the woman immediately burst into flame right after, it's a shame Sheila can't analyze it before that happens. More importantly, these group of people gives off a very dangerous vibe just by standing on the same ground as them. The one-eyed symbol on their cloak seems to hold a deeper meaning, but she doesn't know that as of yet.

"Oh? So this is the guy that ruins our plan, isn't it?"

Said the one with a childish tone. The female one nodded in response to his question.

"Heh, alright. Then should I take care of him?"

"Hey, a kid shouldn't be saying scary stuff like that, you know?"

Snap!

"Who are you calling me a kid?! I'm just short! I'm still on my growth phase!"

The heavy pressure emitted from the short kid a moment ago suddenly dispersed the moment he shouted. Though Sheila tried provoking him with words, she didn't expect for him to bit it just like that.

"Hey, kid. Don't easily get provoke like that."

Advised the 'old man.' But rather than listening to his advice, the short kid shouted once again as if he was triggered by the word 'kid.'

"I told you, I'm not a kid! You shitty geezer!"

'Oh, right. Look at me, forgetting important stuff like that. This must have been the result of the old age taking a toll on me. Anyways, this kid is pretty self-conscious about his short height. Once he got triggered, it will take a while to bring him back to his senses. Or at least, that's what I heard. I have never actually witnessed it happening with my own eyes since most of the witnesses on the scene died in his hand. All that left on the scene is nothing but corpses. Corpses litter all over the place. It was such a scary sight to behold, even for someone like me.'

"Hey, kid. Even if you get angry, you need to accept the truth. I mean, look at you, there's no denying that you're actually short. Why don't you try asking your companion whether my word holds true or not?"

Someone within the group couldn't help but clicked his tongue once he realized the trouble the guy with a half-face mask trying to stir. He also thought, 'if you wanted to stir that kid, you should handle the problem yourself. But I guess that must be your plan from the beginning, right?'

"Y-You! Fine! Hey, you guys! Tell me, do you also think I'm short like this guy here?!"

But rather than answering his question, a moment silence spread to the whole restaurant. Although he looks like a kid with his short height and childish voice, he is without a doubt, one of the strongest people among the group. He was born with vast potential. It didn't take him long enough before he caught up to the previous generation in terms of strength alone. 

"What? Are you guys deaf? I'm asking the question here!"

"Isn't it obvious why they aren't answering your question, Kid? They can't deny that it's the truth, after all."

'No, that's not the reason why we didn't say anything. That kid...he can also tell whether someone is lying to him. Because it is indeed the truth, we can't lie. And if we spoke of the truth, he might go berserk as a result. That's going to be a lot problematic, not just for us but also for the civilians outside. Honestly, we don't really care about the civilians of this world, not in the least. But this is not the time yet to attract attention. No matter how strong we are, we can't look down on this world and its advanced technology. We need to prepare even more before that day came by.'

"Ah! Damn it! Fine, I don't care anymore. I'll kill you here and—"

Just as the kid rush out toward her with his cries, suddenly, a small-size candy flew and entered precisely into his wide mouth. He paused for a moment as his tongue couldn't help but accidentally lick the candy in his mouth. The kid widens up his eyes, surprised at the fact of how tasty the candy is. The town he lives in also has a sweet called candy, but the taste can't be compared to the one inside his mouth. It almost sounds ridiculous to compare both of them when clearly, the candy from his hometown is not a match for this one.