"What the hell is the meaning of this?!"

Yrwa yelled, instantly attracting everyone's attention. Sudden silence covered the dining hall, giving a strange background to her accusations. She stared right at Mike's eyes; her look filled with a mixture of anger, fury, disappointment, and sadness.

Like if not bothered by the situation at all, Mike remained calm, not giving out any hints of anxiety. He softly sighted and wiped down his forehead.

"Can you explain what the hell is going on?"

Bern interjected, face frozen in dumb surprise. He expected that Verkel will try to make things for them hard once they enter the city, but from the looks of things, he really went out of the way for the sake of taking silly revenge.

While he was wondering, Xyenna looked with a slight worry at Mike's face. She might not know him since forever, but she accompanied him plenty of times already. While her character never seemed to bother young merchant, she got a glimpse of the reason a few months back in time.

While it was nothing much in the first place as the situation got ultimately resolved peacefully, she saw the same face that Mike was making now. Calm and kind on the outside. Random outsiders would never figure out what was really going on under his scalp.

Back then, his ice cold words combined with eyes devoid of any life appeared on his face. At that moment, something tiny changed in him. His moves, his gestures, his words… They all became just a bit smoother, devoid of any hesitation or imperfection.

That situation resulted in a few people being sent to gallows. Some other lost their fortunes while some regained the dignity they deserved. That was the only moment Xyenna had the chance to look at this face. And she was genuinely scared.

"A while ago, three guards appeared with fat merchant, claiming that you stole his carriages and killed drivers that he hired. They immediately requested me to show them your wagons, and they secured them afterwards. They are currently moving them around. I couldn't do nothing about them!"

Yrwa showed her true emotions, as her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"Please, tell me what's going on!"

"Calm down and head to the Warden's office, ask for Cyriel or one of his colleagues. Bring them here as soon as you can."

Without budging an inch, Mike answered as he smiled slightly.

"Let's greet our guests then!"

As if woken up from some kind of trance, Yrwa instantly rushed out to the doors. While she might be on the older side, years of hardworking for the sake of the Inn made her quite lively. As she moved towards the main entrance, Mike beckoned at the rest of the party and leisurely crossed the main hall. Sensation-hungry crown of people intently watched every single step of his. To avoid those stares, Xyenna and the other duo swiftly followed the young merchant.

Right after exiting the building through the back exit, the group stood up on the wide plaza they visited when they first came here. Contrary to the previous image, the current one appeared a lot more busy. Various wares were being stocked in the middle of it, as three guards busied themselves with emptying Mike's and Bern's carriages. Near one of the entrances to the courtyard stood deviously smiling Verkel and stone faced Horien.

As Mike looked around using the time before their arrival got noticed, he noticed a few irregularities. Alleys between the buildings were deserted, backyards were emptied and despite the commotion caused in the inn, there was no sign of anyone coming to watch.

Relaxing his upper torso a bit and slightly lowering his center of weight, Mike slightly poked Xyenna side as he stepped forward.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Before letting the guards take the initiative, young merchant slightly raised his eyebrow, taking an annoyed look on his face. His disposition wasn't of the accused one, but of the accusing side!

"Are you Mike Nedler?"

One of the guards put away the stuff that he was carrying and stood before the merchant. Without even waiting for the answer, he continued.

"I hereby arrest you under the serious crime charges. Are you willing to submit willingly or do we have to force you?"

Unbothered by the fire burning in the eyes of merchants bodyguard, sentry guy looked at the traders with no signs of being bothered.

"Serves you right murderers!"

Verkel laughed at the scene. After all this time of enduring his rage, he could finally see the results of working around the city for the whole day!

"If it was only my cargo, I could've let it slide after formal apology, but killing those poor boys?! There is no way that I can forgive you now!"

Fatso exclaimed while theatrically screaming on top of his lungs at them.

"If only you have acted as beautiful back at the border as you do now, this situation would never happen..."

Mike sighed, suddenly devoid of any energy. His eyes turned back to how they usually looked too.

He looked at the Horien staying by the merchant side. Burly man was truly a picture of someone caught in the unlucky turn of the events. His hunched disposition spoke loads about his views of the whole matter.

When it came to guards, they couldn't be blamed. From what Mike heard, Verkels gift wasn't only a passive luck, but more of and ability to bend other awareness to one's liking. While it allowed to manipulate others far more easily, knowing the crux of the matter beforehand made one immune to the influence of this ability.

As someone obviously grasping the real meaning of the whole matter, fatso blessing couldn't sway Horien into believing in this farce. Siding with Verkel despite how stupid his plan was meant that there was something more going on in his case. But all said and done, while he kept close to the fat merchant, his face belied his actions, as he watched his employer back with sadness and disgust.

As he tried to understand his former companion situation, Xyenna couldn't take it any longer. She slid her cape to the back, as she openly put a hand on her sword.

"You should've wait for your reinforcements before spitting out such a nonsense or threatening us."

While Mike didn't seem to care about arrogant sentry attitude, his bodyguard was different. There was a reason why she devoted herself to this kind of profession, and it would hurt her pride if she allowed others to badmouth her or her company.

Seeing her actions, all the guards instantly readied their weapons.

"Are you sure you want to stand against the law enforcers of this city? Do you really want to die so badly?"

One of them said with an arrogant voice, apparently too used to the weight of his position to take infuriated Xyenna seriously.

As the situation heated, Horien was the only one standing still. Maybe it was thanks to his self confidence, maybe he didn't feel he needed to bother himself yet or maybe it was some kind of doubt. He stayed down, wish his eyes directed at the soles of his foot.

"Lets all just calm down."

Bern interjected, trying to stop the bloodbath from happening. He had an opportunity to observe mock fights between Veil and Xyenna, he also knew that even with their whole group strength combined, they wouldn't be able to make her tired if she were to attempt to claim their lives. It wasn't the fight outcome that he was worried about, but what would come afterwards!

"You accuse us solely based on the words of this guy, where is the proof? What gives you the right to treat us like that?"

Old merchant asked harshly, trying to make them think about the whole situation.

Because it was really bizarre! Whole Antarcia was famed for the almost perfect order beaten up into everyone wearing a uniform. Considering the bigger picture, they would pay even more attention to preventing all kinds of brawls or accidents that would sully their reputation. Yet despite that, those guards acted as if there weren't any laws in place except from their words!

"How dare to even speak about laws!"

Verkel cut in at this point, probably worried that if he won't keep adding the fuel, the guards might calm down and think the situation through.

"Laws apply to civilised people, not the scum of society like you!"

"Xyenna, calm down."

Mike quietly ordered her, seeing as the girl's rage was starting to boil inside her.

"You brought it upon yourself! If not for your greed and lack of respect for life, those two poor boys would still live! You deserve to be hanged!"

"Xyenna, don't let him provoke you!"

Mike disregarded the Verkel's abuses and turned around without a slightest care about opening his back for a sneaky stab.

"What did you even make you come to this place? You thought you would be able to lie your way out?! Truly a disgrace!"

"I reserve the girl for myself!"

One of the guards shouted with a wide smile on his face.

It wasn't the words that fat merchant spewed as lightly as if he was praising prostitute appearance. It was his smug face that made Xyenna rage erupt. Not even bothered by the guard's remark, seeing fatso fulfilled gaze on her as his mouth twitched in excitement, she lost the grip of her own reins.

Instantly leaning herself forward, she gathered her strength and jumped out. The speed of her attack didn't even let the guards react. Just as her shoes were about to leave the ground, she could hear the noises of commotion, as the Inn backdoor got blasted open, giving way to large unit of Enforcers.