Hao stood in front of the green-haired man, a scowl darkening his features.
“Ya gat some balls coming to my face.”
The green-haired man smiled politely, his eyes closed.
“As I have said, we came here in search of a boy named Ellis. You should know him very well. After all, you were so driven mad by that incident that you wanted the party leaders to banish the culprits.”
Hao raised his head slightly, his scowl deepening.
“Speak in clear terms…” his voice carried a hint of confusion, although Hao appeared reluctant to show it.
But the man speaking before him was tremendously observant and could detect even the slightest twitches on Hao’s face.
After all, this ‘incident’ he spoke of was one that had left Hao utterly angered and displeased with the party leaders.
The man exuded a soothing smile and parted his lips to continue.
“As you know, there is a monster threat occurring in the castle. The testimonies were given by my men, and they claim this guy Ellis was also there. However, the problem is that he is nowhere to be found.
We concluded that he had been eaten by the monster and sought to thoroughly search for his body. However, a couple of minutes ago, I happened to be at the outskirts when someone came rushing to me, stating they saw him come here with some white-haired individual.”
The man looked at Hao, straight into his eyes, slightly opening them.
“And there’s only one person who has white hair among us.”
Hao folded his arms, as much as he could confirm the validity of what the man… or perhaps even a boy, before him was saying. He didn’t want to admit it and reveal his customers.
That didn’t align with business practices, and it didn’t sound like they were suspects of any wrongdoing, but he still couldn’t shake this feeling of discomfort.
Perhaps it was because the person dealing with this situation was this particular individual.
Hao had crossed paths with him more than once, and he wasn’t proud to admit that he had completely fallen into his traps every time.
‘Who knows what this bastard is planning again?’
And he was unreasonably skilled at tricks and deception, which made the sweet smile on his face infuriating to Hao.
“Ya keep spitting this and that. But I don’t see any point ya tryna make. What ya want me to do exactly?”
“Hao.” The voice came out curt and stern, “Just tell us. Is he. Or is he not. With you?”
“He is not.” Hao gave an immediate response.
A smile wavered upon the man’s face; in fact, he looked like his lips were twitching, as if he was struggling to smile.
He rubbed his mouth with his hand, then raised his green eyes to the sky for a moment before returning them to meet Hao’s gaze.
“You know, I really tried to be reasonable with you.”
He said and gestured with his hand.
“Push him away from the door. Permit me to force my way in, Hao. I don’t believe you at all.”
Both dark-skinned men rushed to the front to apprehend Hao –
POW
POW
– but immediately, a crunching blow slugged into their midsection, throwing them away like ragdolls.
Hao’s movement had been so swift that the green-haired man almost missed it.
Apart from having an impressive talent, Hao was also the kind of person that never neglected training and the utilization of techniques such as stance, footwork, and body composure.
He was an exceptional fighter overall.
And a trader too.
A particularly formidable one to deal with, at that.
“Of course, of course.” He uttered while casting a pitiful gaze at the view of his fallen subordinates. Then his gaze returned blankly to Hao. “I knew you’re strong. I just didn’t expect you to resist. Now, I have evidence that you’re harboring someone who could have tricked us all.
He feigned his death and made us all think he was killed by a monster, used an illusion on my subordinates and made them think they saw something, all so that he could run away with my items!”
He sighed audibly.
“Such a pity, Hao… did you put him up to this after discovering that he was one of the individuals who stole from you? You threatened him to get back at me? All you had were accusations; there was no evidence that I made people steal from you, and you still carry that grudge?”
Hao’s face contorted into a grimace of displeasure.
The words the man was uttering began to irk him in more than one way.
But the prominent one was the fact that this said individual they were looking for… was one of the individuals who stole from him!!
Of course, there were other annoying factors, such as this man still clinging to his innocence even when the facts were laid before him.
And now, he was throwing all sorts of accusations.
It was infuriating; he was infuriating!
And Hao hated him with every fiber of his being.
But this entire situation had become utterly disturbing for him too.
First of all, there was a thief he had missed… and right now, that thief was in his home of treasures.
Although before, they had tricked him, so he was somewhat confident that they couldn’t steal anything… the items would simply return whenever he summoned them.
And he kept a list of the things he owned.
But he still needed to go inside.
However, the thought of letting this man have his way was more displeasing to Hao.
He looked up into the man’s eyes.
“You sly snake. You are not going to enter my place.”
His eyes widened for a moment, then creased back.
Hao was ready; he was standing with instinctive caution, with his hands fisted, ready to lash out at any moment.
The green-haired man observed him for a couple of minutes, “I see you are ready to take me on.” He intoned with a grin.
“Anything to keep you away from my abode,” Hao responded curtly.
Tension wafted through the air between the two of them.
Then the green-haired man—Braham blew out a breath forcefully and shot forward.
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[A/N]
Thank you for reading.
What do you guys think of Braham.
And do you think Northern and Ellis should consider escaping?
Do you also want to see a fight between Braham and Hao?
I’d love to see your comment guys.
Thank you for you everlasting support.
Love you guys.