Time had not been kind to the once prosperous city of Ignar. It was evidently clear that the Demon Army had been a more violent there than in Barnock. Within its tall walls were collapsed towers, burned buildings, and decomposing corpses. It seemed that every inch of the city had been razed in the siege, and sights of destruction were inescapable.

There were still some people living there. Unanimously skinny and impoverished. They always disappeared into the rubble when they saw Ronny and Enzi approach.

The city was surprisingly large. From end to end, its walls were about the same diameter as the city of Barnock, but everything was much further apart than in capital. Every building had room to breathe. As they approached the wealthier areas of the city, the undamaged buildings started getting more common.

Enzi sighed, “The Governor that controlled this city back when it still existed surrendered as soon as the army reached these richer areas, so most of the shops around here should be untouched. It might be wise to do some looting.”

“Let’s just focus on finding Alice for now. We can do that after we regroup.”

“This is a big city though. Even if Alice is looking for us too, it might take a few days just to find her.”

“Maybe, but if she’s expecting us, it’s only natural that she’d go somewhere she would expect us to look. I’m betting that she’s taken residence at one of the city’s major landmarks and that she’s left some clues to guide us to her. Given her skillset, we should probably keep an eye out for smoke or fire.

“So what, just keep walking around aimlessly until we see something? I’m not sure how strong of a plan that is. Instead, I think it’d be best to split up for a while. I’ll loot while you look for someone to help. You could give them some of our bread to buy their cooperation.”

“Not a bad idea. If it’s just me, they probably wouldn’t be so quick to run. You might get attacked if you’re alone though.”

“I’m not worried about bony little city folk trying to kill me. What level does your ‘Scan’ thingy put them at?”

“Mostly below 6. The strongest I’ve seen so far was an orc. She was level 8.”

“Then I’ll be fine. That’s not enough to give me trouble. Let’s meet here in an hour. Hopefully you’ll come back with Alice.”

“Sounds good, Enzi. See you soon.” Ronny turned away and started walking to a residential-looking area they’d passed earlier. He figured it’d reasonably easy to find a ‘tour guide’ there. After all, he had food. In this city, that made him a rich man.

After Ronny was out of sight, Enzi started with his work. He found what he assumed to be a jewelry store and after ensuring that it hadn’t already been looted, kicked the locked door handle. It cracked instantly, and a few seconds later, the door was open.

There were all sorts of goodies in there. Rare gemstones, jewels, even some fine metalworking were stuck behind a thick glass encasement. He took out his sword and crushed the barrier with its hilt. There wasn’t much generic security could do against the prowess of a ‘Greater Demon’, which was the term Ronny’s System had given his new form.

He started pocketing the treasure, wondering if his course of action was unwise. With the way things were going in Barnock, the economy would be essentially nonexistent for at least a few years. It would be hard to find anyone willing to buy luxury goods, but in the event that he did, Enzi believed that he’d become a rich man.

By the time he was done, the knapsack on his back was about the weighed several times more than before. A regular human would have struggled to get it off the ground, but Enzi just slugged it over his shoulder and forgot about it. On his person, he carried what he thought was a few dozen platinum in jewelry. Not a bad haul by any means.

Since he still had a long time before Ronny was supposed to come back, he visited some other stores, looking for things that had actual practical use.

♦

Ronny’s search was a little more difficult. Finding people was easy. He had Detect Life, so hiding from him wasn’t really possible. The issue was in getting them not to scramble away when he got close. The people there were terrified of him, which was only fair. His impressive height and stocky build combined to give him an imposing stature. The sword hanging from his waist probably wasn’t doing him any favors either. With all that in mind, he couldn’t really blame them for thinking he was a thug.

Having heard some shouting from inside it, Ronny turned into a dark alleyway. Having already spent half an hour searching, he was desperate enough to knowingly walk into what he assumed was going to be a mugging.

Sure enough, as soon as he came to a corner leading deeper into the alleyway, two people jumped out and blocked the path. A few seconds later, two more jumped out from behind him. He was surrounded on all sides.

After confirming that they were all regular humans, and that all of them were level five, Ronny shrugged, “Is this a robbery?” He wasn’t worried about getting hurt.

One of the thugs, a young woman, answered, “Hell yeah it is. Drop that sword of yours, pal.”

“I’ll pass. I’d like the opportunity to defend myself, if possible.”

The ringleader frowned, “We’ll have to kill you then!” She gestured to her associates, who started closing in. They all had cheap-looking daggers on them—probably repurposed cutlery. Ronny realized that they were probably just desperate, and not necessarily malicious, so he decided to spare their lives.

Before anyone could react, he grabbed on of the thugs and threw him against the wall. He immobilized another one with Freeze. With the two behind him taken care of, he had an escape route available, “If you guys need something from me, I’m empty handed. That said, I’ve got some supplies nearby. I don’t mind giving you guys some bread if that’s what you want.”

“W-who are you!?” The ringleader ran over to where her comrades laid and checked their wounds, ignoring Ronny.

“Ronny McKitty is my name. I’m from Barnock—more or less. You guys need to come with me. I need your help with something. You’ll all be compensated, of course.”

The thugs were too intimidated to say no, and timidly followed him out of the alley. The two he’d attacked were able to move without much trouble once they shook off the pain.