18 Goldburn

Connor was utterly happy after seeing the long notification! He quickly opened his character screen.

<Name: Connor Ironheart

Rank: Lance Corporal (LCpl)

Reputation Points: 545

Faction: Sentinel

Title(s): Commander of Sentinel

Available Commands: Equipment, Recruitment, Vehicle Hangar, Inventory, Map>

'Woah, it's a lot different than before.'

'Hmm… 545 reputation points, I remember seeing the notification for Private First Class when I reached about 200 reputation points, is it like 200 per rank then?'

Connor was thinking about the reputation points while he was completely oblivious of his surroundings. Jeanne and the rest of the group were confused. The man who they were saving from a robbery several seconds ago completely obliterated the Talon gang in a matter of few seconds, not to mention he was laughing while he was doing it! What kind of a freak was he? As they were thinking about it, several people started coming out to look at the scene… no, more like loot the scene. They were checking every dead body and making sure they didn't have any valuables on them anymore.

"We must go." Keith said to Jeanne. Although the city was fairly ridden with crime, after a commotion like this one should expect guards to come to check what was going on or maybe, join in on the loot.

Connor put his rifle back to his sling and dangled it on his right shoulder. It was time to go.

"You should come with us." Jeanne said looking at Connor, her eyes glinted. She was sure if they could recruit these two travellers into their gang, they could definitely get rid of a few gangs that harass the citizens and members of Goldburn.

Connor was surprised. 'You just saw me killing people and now you want me to come with you? Interesting for sure.' Connor wasn't afraid of going with them. Although he was a bit wary of their actions, he knew that if he was a normal person there was no doubt he would get robbed several minutes ago.

"Lead the way." Connor replied. Smiling at Jeanne.

Keith was angry, "Jeanne! You can't let them come with us!" he said as he pointed at the people who were busy looting the dead gang members and people who were just watching. "All these people have already seen them! They were the ones that got rid of Talon gang, what if their allies come to avenge them? We can't put a fight against the Big Six!" in Carcer, there were six organizations who were handling the management of the city itself, although some of these organizations kept a neutral stance and prioritized other fields than robbery and illegal activities, some of them were secretly being funded by kingdoms for their "undercover activities" stealing important treasures, gathering information about enemy kingdoms and many more, all the kingdoms had similar goals. In the end, Carcer was a place that every kingdom sent their most despised citizens.

"We can't just leave them here to get killed Keith! I don't want to see anyone suffer in the hands of those devils wearing human skin!" Jeanne was practically yelling at Keith at the moment.

"They will come with us, this is my decision. Not yours." she finished the heated discussion.

Keith sighed then snorted, waving at the group of men and women they had come here with to follow him. Quickly, they disappeared in the crowded streets.

Connor was tapping his foot lightly on the ground in a rhythm. He was feeling annoyed.

'This is like watching a TV drama.' he thought.

Jeanne looked at Connor and nodded her head towards the street before she started walking.

….

Elicia was very tired. She was trying to keep up with Connor and Miles since the attack of the raiders.

'That weird thing they rode on… it was so fast.' she thought, she had to use almost tall her available mana to boost her stamina and agility just to keep up with them. Now, she had barely rested. These two were never out of action.

Elicia gave up on the thought of helping them. She remembered her master, Archmage Aldren's words.

'Help them if they need it? They… they aren't even humans.' she sighed and continued observing the group.

….

Connor was led to a building that looked similar to the barracks back in Ludhom, several floors with different uses, there were a total of four floors. The first floor was used as an inn, as soon as Connor entered the place, he noticed many kids were eating and drinking merrily, some of them who were barely seven or eight years old was running around the tables and playing. A woman in her forties quickly walked over to Jeanne.

"Honey, where were you? Your father was so worried! Apparently, someone destroyed that Talon gang. Some of the other gangs already started to take their place. Do not go out for a while. Let your father handle things." she said, from her expression and tone it was easy to understand that she was honestly worried about Jeanne.

"It's okay mom, I was there. It was him who took care of the gang, they were trying to rob him." Jeanne answered as he pointed at Connor. Her mother was shocked. She looked at the kid with one of her eyebrows raised, he looked so young… How was he able to take down the whole gang alone? She had a hard time believing Jeanne, but there was no reason for her daughter to lie to her, on top of that the youth was wearing unconventional equipment. Connor nodded in response to her actions. He felt uncomfortable being looked at like that.

"Hello, my name is Connor, and this is Miles. We are travellers." Connor said as he pushed his right hands towards her for a handshake. His left index finger pointing at Miles. Miles nodded.

"Kate Goldburn, Jeanne's mother." Kate answered as she shook Connor's hand. Connor could not really understand her tone, it was not cold but it was not a warm welcome as well yet it was definitely not an indifferent tone.

'They are afraid of me?' Connor asked himself. He then looked around the inn, while the kids were continuing to play some of the older ones were looking at him with wary eyes.

"Nice to meet you." Connor said as he smiled.

"Where is dad?" Jeanne asked Kate. Connor was probably the best recruit they could ever see, he single-handedly took down a gang that were bothering them for quite a while. If he joined them, they could definitely improve their status and help many more than they were able to now.

"He went out some time ago to get more information regarding the Talon gang and the situation. Should be back soon, come, you must be tired. Jeanne, go see your brother after you eat. He was worried too." Kate said as she looked at the group. Keith stood by Jeanne since the beginning. He moved to the counter with Jeanne. Connor looked at Miles only to be met with Miles' usual silent gaze. It was an awkward position. The atmosphere dissolved a few seconds later thanks to Kate.

"You too, come. Let me give you something to eat and drink. You must be tired." although Kate was still unsure if Connor was really the person who eliminated the Talon gang, she wanted to treat them well. Since Jeanne grew up, she had always been good with her decisions, the best example of that would be Keith. Keith had joined their "gang" several years ago when Jeanne and her father, Luke had saved him. He was an orphan living in the streets. Now, however, he developed into a strong young man with good morals, he was always following Jeanne and protecting her.

Connor thanked Kate and moved to the counter and sat together with Keith, Jeanne and Miles.

"So… who are you exactly?" Connor asked Jeanne. Since he followed her, he was able to observe their surroundings. The building, the people everything felt normal but there was one thing that completely felt off… why were they constantly discussing about other gangs?

"Well… you could say that we are one of the rivals of Talon. We don't really have a fancy criminal gang name or something. People just call us Goldburns. Oh, and we are not like your typical gang that mug people and kill for fun." she sighed while smiling. Jeanne pointed at the kids running around the tables, kids that are eating their food and laughing one by one. "We might be called a gang but our main purpose is to help children. You may not know if you haven't visited Carcer before, which I presume you did not. A lot of children are left as orphans every single day because of the territory wars that go on almost every day. Each gang wants to have a bigger piece of the city and fight out often, unfortunately, regular citizens get caught up in this mess as well. Big Six, who is supposed to protect and regulate Carcer do not really mind this as long as they can fill their pockets." Jeanne started explaining about Carcer and Goldburn "gang".

"Big Six? Who are they?" Connor asked.

"Six main organizations in Carcer, some of them try their best to appear as good managers but they are just assholes. They don't care about the city or its citizens. All they want is more money, every merchant shop you see while walking through the streets probably belong to one of them, some of them even secretly create smaller gangs to mug people and take all their belongings." Jeanne answered Connor's question.

About half an hour later, Luke walked in with several other adult men, some of them had bandages while some of them had their blood dripping from their fingers.

….

Many years later, although there were some arguments regarding the events, several well-known historians would say that this was how Supreme Commander Connor Ironheart started to change the continent of Allunia greatly. This was how it all began. In one small inn filled with children located in the back alleys of Carcer.