Faust and Lieben had reached the city's entrance—a massive pair of iron gates.
Walls encircling the entire city marked its borders beside them. Entering would require brute force, which they had, but two guards were standing right in front of the gate.
Heavy metal armor—while the guard on the right wore a helmet, the one on the left did not. There was a clear difference in their behavior as well.
The guard on the right stood firm without breaking his posture, while the one on the left did the opposite—sitting down, standing up, stabbing his spear into the ground and spinning around it.
Faust knew damn well he wasn't liked in the city and saying that they came to pay their debt to the king would not work even if it's the truth.
Most likely the guards would recognize him and refuse entry. Forcing his way in would only worsen his image—not that he cared, but it would make things harder…
Hmm… What should we do now? Two guards wasn't much, numbers-wise, and—
Only eight guards in total protected the city's four massive gates. There was nothing else defending the passages which meant they were seen enough for the job, which already makes them seem dangerous.
Faust moved a little away from the entrance, stepped about three meters into the forest, and sat on the exposed roots of a tree. Lieben followed right after him, confused and curious, unable to understand what Faust was doing or planning.
He sat down under another tree, mirroring Faust's posture.
"So… what exactly are we doing?"
"Honestly, I planned to go in, sleep, then look for the Tenth Heir—but I forgot that getting inside would be a problem."
"What if we say we came to pay our debt?"
"Hm."
"Hm? Aren't you going to say something?"
Faust averted his gaze slightly and scratched his head with his right hand…
A light chuckle.
"The thing is… if they ask what debt… I don't even know what it is. I just know we have one…"
"…"
"But when you think about it… who even cares about a debt anyway? Screw it. Let's sneak in… No—let's force our way in!! I'll slam the Tenth Heir into the ground one more time and… finale! So? Thoughts?"
"Why don't you go and ask Klint."
Did he forgot that we literally just came?
"We just—"
"If it took you a few minutes to get here, you can go and come back. We're not leaving without settling the debt."
Faust jumped up angrily and landed in front of Lieben.
"Since when do YOU!....Give ME!...Orders without me knowing?"
Lieben put on a fake, worried expression and raised his hands as if caught red-handed.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no… I said it for your sake. I know you don't like everyone talking crap about you at the dinner table…don't try to hide it now~ hehehe—I know."
Lieben was clearly trying to emphasize that he was "helping."
Whatever. I wanted to change clothes anyway…
"I'll go—but only because I want to...I had to change my damn clothes anyway."
Lieben chuckled lightly, wearing a proud, victorious expression.
While he's gone, I can at least rest for a few minutes.
Faust gathered his strength, crouched slightly, pulled his legs toward his body—and jumped.
PUFFFM!—Pheeewww!…..
"Holy shit—Pufff—thought a bomb went off… anyway…"
Lieben was happy to finally be alone, even if just a bit.
He lay down on the grass, placing his hands behind his head.
"Time for a little sle—"
BAMM!—Fuuuu~
An impact sent dust and smoke blowing toward Lieben just a few meters away.
"GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK! WHAT'S THE HELL'S HAPPENING!?"
As Lieben jumped in fright, a man emerged from the dust and smoke—dressed entirely in black, dragging Klint along the ground by his clothes with one hand.
He threw Klint at Lieben's feet and removed the mask covering the entire lower half of his face…
[Faust] "Relax a little, will ya? It's me."