"This is only the occasional checkups that we allow you! However, our leader has no wish to reduce his demands. You either pay up or watch your people die!" A man who had his face covered with a red cloth, and had a baggy red and black robe on, announced.
His voice sounded a bit cracked, and the upper portion of his face from his nose up had lines of stress that Noah could notice even from his position on the roof.
The individuals whose words Noah had no interest in, had power within the peak of the middle stage, and the five others that came with him with the twelve hostages had similar levels.
He had to be honest that he felt quite surprised by their power. Each one of them had an orange core that looked on the verge of bursting into the yellow stage. And although it wasn't exactly spectacular, in a place with such low levels, they were practically gods.
Murmurs of complaint filled that portion of the town. No one liked what the man was saying, but none of them had the power to do anything.
That scene further confirmed to Noah that in that world only power mattered.
"I wonder what will happen next," he giggled a bit watching those low leveled bandits play lords in front of the people.
He had never considered helping them in any way, and that was still his take on the matter. He had only come there out of curiosity. It didn't matter if people were being dismembered, he wouldn't act unless someone acted against him.
The murmurs grew loud at some point, but a sudden orange flash followed by an explosion high in the sky disrupted that noise, and Noah watched with light amusement, a group of individuals make their way toward the bandits.
The person at the forefront of the group of four had also been the catalyst of that firework, and he also had power in the higher stage.
In a matter of seconds, there was pin-drop silence, and that group walked gracefully toward the bandits.
'I am aware of your annoyance towards this matter, but we must all maintain composure. There may be audiences who just arrived here watching. We don't want to make a bad first impression," the middle-aged man, who still had youthful features explained, and Noah saw him glance in his direction even if he was relatively far away, and no other person had noticed him.
A wide smile appeared on his face when the man continued his words as though he had not just hinted at the presence of a very powerful individual.
"Who cares about manners in such a situation," Noah commented in a disappointed tone, changing positions.
The man whom Noah now knew to be the town's head, had a small conversation with the crowd and the bandits before the group left with the hostages.
Noah had barely listened in on the conversation since he had been too busy changing spots in the town and having the town's head find him.
It was the closest Noah had gotten to hide-and-seek in a long while. He had fun messing with the man.
Immediately after the bandits left, the man addressed the gathered crowd and gave them a speech aimed at refilling their spirits and motivation.
'He's pretty good," Noah found himself commenting while standing atop the peak of a certain roof, allowing the cool evening wind play with his face, clothes, and hair.
A few minutes after, the crowd began to disperse, until only the town head and his group of three lower stage tier 3's were left.
The four of them began their path toward where Noah was, and he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever be spoken to. Honestly, he wished the man hadn't approached him.
Because after all four individuals disappeared from his line of sight, Noah caught a foreign presence traveling towards his position at high speed and he found himself turning to face the said man.
"Good evening," Noah greeted still amused inwardly but his face held no emotion.
"Good evening," the man responded. "I apologize that you had to see that. I've never seen you around here. Especially someone with your power,' the expert performed a head bow.
"Oh that. I managed to get a bit of detail about the situation. I'm not worried by it or anything," Noah explained dismissively.
"I see," The town's head muttered. "That means you must know that my daughter is in the hands of these bandits." A soft sigh left the man's mouth when he saw Noah nod his head.
"May I invite you to my abode? I desire to speak with you, Sir George," the town's head revealed and a smile couldn't help but appear on Noah's face. It was small, however.
"Sure. Lead the way," Noah announced even if he didn't want to go. He simply did so to know where all this would end. His mind had begun to generate ideas.
The town's head being within the higher stage had no issue directly jumping off the building and sprinting towards his destination, with Noah following casually behind him.
'How is he so confident with a peak stage expert behind him,' Noah wondered as they took many turns and went down a few streets. Their figures were untraceable by any of the citizens still on the streets.
They eventually arrived in an area that was a bit elevated than the rest of the town, and on that plot of land was a nice-looking building. Not exactly extravagant, but definitely above the average of the town.
It didn't faze Noah however, even when they passed the gate surrounding the plot of land to walk into its wide court of lush grass, stone paths and two fountains pouring shining blue water.
The town's head who's name Noah already knew from checking out his stats, led him past the ground floor up the stairs and into the top one.
They walked past many doors and eventually the man led him into one.
A nice orange office unfolded in Noah's gaze and his eyes fell on the basic black table directly liner to the door.
"Please sit," the towns head gave the go-ahead, and Noah did just that. A weird silence unfolded between the duo at that juncture, but Noah wasn't going to let awkwardness ruin his day.