Kimberly, the only other woman among the six, was petite with a similar height to Hannah and had deep blue hair. She tittered lasciviously, "Sister Narriah, no need to worry. After we've played with him, we can decide whether to sell him or not depending on that boy's attitude. Then again, Leeroy, Rufus, and Milton are very lucky. Those two tall girls are definitely a great haul for them. Damn, even I am jealous of their looks and figures."
She watched Lyria and Livy's height and figure with deep jealousy, as her own height was barely five feet. She was always jealous of tall women, and the two looked way too stunning and had amazing figures—almost like some top foreign nobles or princesses. Even Batley City didn't have such top-quality girls.
Leeroy, Rufus, and Milton guffawed loudly with excitement. Their saliva was already pouring out of their mouths ever since they saw the two breathtaking women.
Leeroy, the leader of The Shadow Claws Mercenary Team, had short dark hair and was the same height as Narriah. He was a burly man with strong muscles bulging out of his sleeveless leather armor and had thick armbands on both wrists.
He patted Stuart's shoulder and laughed, "Hahaha... Nice job, Stuart. This is more than I expected. The entire long journey we made was worth it! The previous payment you promised can be reduced, as long as you also help us capture the three."
Stuart's expression was full of hate, rage, and sadness as he glared maliciously at the three tall figures a few meters away.
He didn't care about payment—even if he had to sell off the entire Eldridge family's fortune, he was willing to! As long as he could deliver agonizing pain to all three of them for destroying his entire family, it was all worth it.
He personally wanted to kill the three, but he was not confident, which was why he had to request help from his acquaintance—The Shadow Claws Mercenary group. To make them take on this entire long journey, he had to promise them the 'goods.' Thus, he no longer could kill Eric, Lyria, and Livy. However, he could at least make the three regret painfully until their last breath!
Jarvis was shocked upon noticing Stuart among these dangerous-looking men and women. He almost didn't recognize Stuart—his past educated, noble, and healthy look had completely disappeared. He almost looked like someone who hadn't eaten for weeks. His dress was torn in many places; his face was dirty, his hair unkempt. Overall, he looked no different than a drunken thug or a beggar in the streets.
Jarvis' face paled further upon hearing their conversation. He stepped forward and roared while releasing his late-stage Rank 1 Warrior's presence, "Stuart, what is the meaning of this? What do you plan to do within our town?"
Stuart snorted, "Jarvis, don't interfere with my business, and we are also not within the town."
Although Jarvis had yelled a warning, his body was shaking with fright. He was least confident in stopping any of these dangerous and scary-looking men and women.
He had already sensed that among these five, two were far too scary—he couldn't even judge their ranks properly, which only meant they were early-stage Rank 2 at least.
Not only that, all five were extremely experienced. They weren't like Ringwood Town's mana wielders, who almost never fought.
This was the kind of strength where, even if all the mana wielders of Ringwood Town gathered, they wouldn't even be able to defeat the Rank 1s—much less when there were two Rank 2s.
Hannah and Wilburn's faces were ashen.
They could feel the powerful presence of the six people.
Although both had become warriors and were even at mid-stage Rank 1, the only thing that was truly strong about them was their inherited stats. They had no real experience in fighting, training, or facing opponents in battle. They didn't even have the confidence to win against an early-stage Rank 1!
Despite feeling like they were facing death from all six of them—especially the five dangerous-looking men and women—they still stepped forward and released their presence to announce that they were no mortals and could fight to protect their people.
Eric wanted to roll his eyes at Stuart's response. He wondered what would happen if he took a few steps back and returned within the town's gate. That would be truly awkward for both sides.
He was, in fact, very tempted to try, but after thinking a little, he decided otherwise. It was best not to torment the poor old man Jarvis any further.
Either way, there was no point dragging this. These mana wielders were too damn poor—they were only wearing mortal-tier outfits and carrying similar-tier weapons. Basically, they weren't even worth their evening snacks.
Just as he was about to command Lyria and Livy to send them to the afterlife, the burly man—who seemed like the leader—interrupted him.
Leeroy sneered, "What can a bunch of fat Rank 1 mana wielders do to us? Narriah and I are at Rank 2! Not to mention Rufus, Milton, and Kimberly are at various stages of Rank 1. We will spend the night in the town." He then pointed toward Jarvis, "You there! The one called Jarvis, prepare two large rooms for us."
He had indirectly—or rather, directly—threatened the three mana wielders of the town by exposing their group's strength. Otherwise, randomly killing town or village mana wielders for no reason was considered a serious crime, and with their E-grade Guild reputation, they would be in serious trouble.
Just kidnapping the three tall brats would gather quite a lot of bad reputation, but the money they could earn through this was more than enough to offset that much negative consequence. Not to mention, there was a high chance nothing bad would ever happen, as Ringwood Town was too isolated—by the time such news even reached Batley City, the guild would ignore such 'little' crimes.
Leeroy then slapped Rufus and Milton's shoulders and laughed lewdly, "Today, we will have lots of fun! Although the price would be reduced a little, a little play won't damage these two beautiful ladies—hahaha."
Rufus and Milton also laughed while leering at the two irresistible girls, whose heights were even taller than theirs. Sadly, the girls had cloaks over their bodies, but despite this, their perfect voluptuous figures couldn't be hidden.
Lyria and Livy were speechless internally. They wondered if they were really that attractive. More importantly—why did Eric never say such words to them?
Eric, who was in between them, normally wouldn't mind playing around with such nonsense, but Bella Noll was still in his arms—he couldn't let such disrespect continue in front of her, especially when directed at her daughter... or granddaughter was it?
"Enough!" he boomed.
The sound wasn't loud, nor was there any power attached to it, but it shocked everyone by how sudden it was.
The guards and a few townsfolk, who were secretly watching, trembled, as if someone had suddenly shaken their insides.
They were, in fact, already shaking—due to too many scary presences in front of them—yet they still couldn't help but continue rubbernecking. It was a rare occasion to see so many powerful figures gathered. Perhaps they could also get to see a legendary battle among mana wielders for the first time. Their families could brag about this for generations! The excitement within them was no less than the panic they were going through.
All five members of the Shadow Claws mercenary group were startled by Eric's sudden roar. They didn't know why, but suddenly, an unknown fear and unease started creeping over them.
They quickly brushed that feeling off—after all, the pretty boy was just at mid-stage Rank 1. What could he do? They instead found it cute, and all of them started guffawing.
Narriah, the pink-bun-haired girl, nodded approvingly, "Boy, I like your spirit. If you're willing to sign a master-slave contract with me, then you don't need to worry about being played with by those filthy, ugly women of Batley City—you only need to entertain both of us and the 'good' girls I point toward. What do you say?"
Hearing this, Eric's eyes lit up. But before he could say anything, Leeroy once again interrupted him.
Leeroy snapped, "Narriah, are you kidding me? Did that boy suddenly awaken your motherhood or something? He will be worth no less than the girls! Do you know how many mana stones we'd lose out on? Also, we don't have any contract or binding scrolls with us—to obtain them, we'd again have to visit Rudin, which would cost us even more!" He found it utterly ridiculous—that would only make them lose more money instead of gaining.
Narriah sneered while wagging her index finger in disapproval, "You dumb fool, that boy is far more attractive and much more valuable than your small brain could ever comprehend. This boy is not only of my liking, he will also be perfect to earn continuous brownie points from all the top noble ladies in Batley City! That, in turn, will let us earn more money—and will also let us secretly control those noble ladies. Do you even understand?"
Leeroy was taken aback. He turned and gazed deeply at Eric. After a while, he started nodding.
He felt the boy was truly too handsome—especially his bright blue eyes, which seemed to be sucking even his soul out. Yet he still didn't understand how this would allow them control the noble ladies.
Eric quickly used his cuteness and asked in an innocent tone and expression, "Contract, binding? The scrolls that Jack Eldridge had with him—enslaving two mortal girls as his wives—did they come from this Rudin?"
All five turned to Eric. The men snorted due to how irritating that innocent tone sounded, while the girls, Luna and Aria, found their hearts fluttering—they immediately wanted to bring him to a corner and lick him clean.
Kimberly giggled while secretly wiping the drool that leaked from the corner of her mouth and answered, "That's right. If I remember correctly, both mortal girls' names were… something with an L, right? Rudin has a unique talent for making amazing scrolls, and because of this, many nobles in Batley City seek him out. Thus, he is always busy—but he'll still make time for us. Aren't we great? If you're a good boy, then we'll take good care of you and introduce you to many top brass people. Now, how about you take us to your home?"
She knew Rudin only cared about money—and he was a Rank 3 mage, far more powerful and influential than them. She was just trying to show off their connection by bluffing.
She had forgotten that Eric, Lyria, and Livy were just orphanage children. In fact, all five of them had forgotten that—including the trio's age—as all three had the presence of Rank 1 mana wielders, and coupled with their noble looks and figures, none of them thought these were just 14-15-year-old orphanage children.
To them, the three of them seemed like some lost foreign prince and princesses—and so the money they could earn would definitely be huge. They were already salivating internally at the windfall they would soon have.
Eric smiled brightly while secretly feeling speechless at this girl's reaction. He nodded at Kimberly's confirmation, then turned toward Lyria and Livy, who were just one small step ahead of him on both sides.
His smile changed to indifference as he commanded, "Ly, Liv—don't let a single one leave this place alive."