Red halted his search upon hearing the sounds. In the split few seconds before the merchant arrived, the boy considered his next move.

Escaping the way he came was impossible, but there was still the window on the back of the room. The youth had yet to find what he came in here for, though, so he hesitated. He considered hiding. Would the merchant hurt him if he discovered him?

'Rather, could he?'

Red recalled how a kid half the man's size had knocked him down with a punch. The boy might be weaker than Allen, but he didn't feel he had much to fear. He made a quick decision.

In a hurry, the boy crouched and hid below the desk. The footsteps continued to approach, and the door to the office was slammed open.

"Fucking bitch!" The merchant continued to roar, throwing items onto the ground in anger.

Red heard the sound of glass shattering.

'There goes the wine.'

The man continued to rage for a bit longer. Eventually, though, it died down, and the youth could only hear the merchant muttering curses under his breath.

"I'll show her..." The trader's voice picked up again. "I'll show her! I'll cook her alive!"

The man began to walk in the direction of the desk, and Red tensed. He heard more fumbling sounds and saw a lot of papers thrown to the ground. The merchant walked around the table, and the boy could now see the man's lower body no more than a meter away from him. Thankfully, though, he wasn't able to spot Red from this angle.

The merchant stopped in front of the drawers. The youth couldn't see what he was doing, but after another bout of curses, the man began to search his pockets for something. Red saw his shaking hands patting around his trousers for a bit before finally fishing something out. Before the boy had the opportunity to see what the item was, the merchant pulled it out of his line of sight.

Then there were scratching noises around the drawer, and Red frowned.

'Is he...?'

The boy bent over slightly to get a better view. Sure enough, the merchant was doing something to the locked drawer.

"I need to... Shit!"

The man cursed again, and something fell to the ground. The item bounced a few times before finally coming to a stop right by the youth's side. Red looked down and saw that a shining key had just landed at his feet. The boy didn't have time to examine it, though, as the merchant started to bend down in search of the thing he had just dropped.

"Damn it! Where did it..." The man's words trailed off as he came face to face with a skinny kid hiding below his desk. He blinked in disbelief. "...What the-"

Red didn't give him the time to collect himself. His fist connected with the merchant's nose, and the man reeled back in pain.

"AGH! You little-"

The man was interrupted again as the youth pushed him off balance. The trader hit his head hard against the wall and was left staggered once more. Blood was starting to pour down his nose, but Red didn't leave him space to breathe.

He threw another punch.

"Ugh!"

The man moaned in pain as the small fist connected against his face, but he didn't seem any closer to unconsciousness. In fact, he was recovering his composure.

'Not enough.'

Red looked around for a weapon. His gaze came to settle on the shelf on the other side of the room - more specifically - on the wine bottles. He dashed over and grabbed one of them.

"You little shit..." The merchant snarled as he tried to get up again with the help of his chair. "I'm going to kill y-"

His words were interrupted as glass shattered over his head and red liquid splattered around the room. The merchant stumbled again and hit the ground face down. Red stepped back, holding what was left of the bottle in his hand and drenched in wine.

He observed the man's body for any movement, but other than a few twitches and a groan of pain, the merchant didn't try to get up again. Confirming his opponent was unconscious, the boy immediately returned to the task at hand.

The youth dropped the broken glass and hurried to grab the key from the ground. At first, Red wasn't sure how to unlock the drawer - he hadn't used a key before, and all he knew was that it seemed to fit perfectly into the lock. However, after a few attempts and twists, he finally heard a click.

He slid the drawer open and was finally greeted to its contents - a small ornate box, an intricate red symbol drawn on a yellowish slip of paper, as well as lots of documents. There were no pill vials. The boy tried to open the ornate box, but it was locked, and the drawer key didn't fit into its hole.

Red looked over at the unconscious merchant and started to search his clothes for the key. He found nothing but a bag of coins and some jewelry, though. The boy hesitated and wondered where the man might have hidden this kind of key. The muffled sounds of fighting were already diminishing, and the youth felt like he didn't have much time left. However, that was when he heard a shout.

"IN THE NAME OF THE BARON, STOP THIS MADNESS THIS INSTANT!"

Red froze. It wasn't until a few moments later, though, that he noticed the bellow came from outside. The noise of fighting died down. The boy didn't know what was happening, but he suddenly felt that he needed to hurry even more. He picked up the box, the slip of paper, the documents, and the coin bag. However, he suddenly noticed he didn't have a pouch anymore to carry these things.

Looking down at the merchant, though, he had an idea. He took off the man's vest and used it as an improvised bag, putting all the items within it.

"Darus, you bastard, come out here right now!" The same voice called from outside.

Red got up and opened the window in a hurry. Behind him, he heard the sounds of doors slamming open, but he didn't stay to greet the new visitor. In a hurry, he dove off into the alley until he was far enough from the building.

...

"I dare you to try to arrest me!"

Narcha roared as some town guards surrounded her and her companions. Around them, the results of the battle were evident. Out of the 12 initial mercenaries, 5 of them were out cold while the rest could barely stay on their feet. The women and the kid, though, showed no signs of any damage.

"Miss Valt, please!" Eiwin put a hand on her companion's shoulder. "Let's not make this any worse than it has to be."

The warrior snorted and still refused to back down. There were about 20 town guards on the scene, though, and the numbers weighed heavily against them.

They had arrived and immediately broken up the fight. The mercenaries didn't resist, allowing themselves to be detained. However, Narcha had stood her ground and threatened everyone who dared to touch her or her companions.

These guards, though, didn't seem as afraid as the mercenaries from earlier. They were better equipped, and although they still sized Narcha up warily, they didn't intend on backing down either.

"That's enough, men!" Someone called from behind the group.

From within the store, a tall man stepped out. He was middle-aged, with slick hair and finely trimmed beard that had traces of grey on them. He was sporting a well-fitted metal armor similar to the other town guards. The one he wore had a symbol on the chest plate, though - an indication of his ranking. He held a halberd upright in his hand and walked up to the Sect group.

The man carried himself authoritatively and fearlessly, and even Narcha looked wary of him as he approached.

"Captain Orvin, we can explain how all of this happened." Eiwin tried to defuse the situation before her companion could make it any worse.

"He's unconscious." The man interrupted her.

"What do you mean?" The younger woman looked confused.

"The merchant's unconscious." Orvin repeated calmly. "Looks like someone took advantage of the fight out here to go in there, knock him unconscious, and rob the store."

The group looked shocked.

"Who did it?" Narcha asked.

"I don't know." The man frowned. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"What do you mean by that?!" The warrior snarled. "You think we stole from him?!"

"You're certainly the prime suspect." He looked unbothered by the woman's anger. "A fight goes down in front of the store, and while everyone's distracted, someone sneaks in and steals whatever they want. Seems like a straightforward and effective plan."

"Anyone could have done that!" Narcha didn't back down. "Besides, it's just the three of us here! There was no one else!"

Behind her, Allen suddenly tensed up. His expression changed ever so slightly as if he realized something. The shift didn't go unnoticed by the Captain.

"Is that true?" The man asked, his attention turning towards the kid. He narrowed his eyes. "Was there no one else with you?"

Narcha was about to complain again before following Orvin's gaze. She also noticed the change in the boy and frowned in worry.

"I..." Allen stuttered but was abruptly interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

"There was no one else with us, Captain Orvin." Eiwin spoke with a serene expression. "All our members are at the guild, and Rimold is out of town. You can check, if you so please."

"Hmm." The man muttered, but the suspicion in his eyes didn't decrease.

Eiwin, however, didn't give any signs that she was lying. Eventually, the man gave up and decided to move on.

"Then, to the matter at hand." Orvin continued. "What happened here?"

Narcha perked up.

"These fuckers were-"

"What Miss Valt wants to say," Eiwin interrupted her. "Is that these people tried to attack Young Master Allen. We had to defend him."

"Bullshit!" One of the mercenaries at the back shouted. "The kid attacked first."

The Captain frowned at Eiwin and looked at the boy. The expression of embarrassment on Allen's face was everything he needed to confirm the mercenary's words.

"So you attacked first." Orvin stated. "And tell me, why did you do that?"

"Because they were trying to screw me over like they always do!" Narcha replied for the boy. "We were just tired of taking it lying down and decided to do something about it!"

Eiwin frowned, but she didn't interrupt her companion's words. She knew the situation was already out of her hands.

"I see." The man muttered. "You know the law, don't you, girl?"

"Screw the law!" Narcha roared. "What good has it done me?! It only serves to protect those fat, corrupt merchants!"

"It's because of people like you that the law exists!" The Captain shouted, not to be outmatched. "It's exactly because of little brats like you who hope to solve everything through strength that there are rules! If you had it your way, we would still be beating each other up to solve all our disputes!"

The man's words and intensity put some pause to Narcha's temper, but she still looked as if she was about to explode.

"Go ahead!" The man taunted her. "Attack me! Don't you like to solve everything with strength?! See what happens when you're not fighting small fry!"

The woman gritted her teeth in anger. It looked as if she was about to take up the challenge before Eiwin stepped forward and held her back. The warrior looked back and saw her companion shaking her head with a grave expression.

With much hesitation, Narcha eventually stepped back and took a deep breath. Orvin snorted in contempt once he saw it.

"At least one of you is smart." He responded. "The Baron and your Sect Master made a deal precisely so that little kids like you wouldn't make a mess out of this town. It seems, however, that toddlers always find a way to screw things up."

The man signaled the other guards.

"You're all coming with me." He ordered.

"What?!" Narcha shouted.

"You heard me." The man continued. "I'll get someone to fetch Domeron, and I'll keep the lot of you in a cell until we sort this mess out."

"This is not-"

"Miss Valt!" Eiwin interrupted her once again.

The warrior grunted in anger, but the weight of their predicament started to dawn on her as she stared at the guards surrounding them.

"Fine!" She yelled. "But you're not taking my saber!"

"Like you would be able to do anything with it." The man snorted, much to the woman's displeasure. He turned around to look at Eiwin. "The kid must come too. He should stay with you two rather than being left in the street - for his own protection."

Eiwin nodded, but she looked hesitant.

"Is there a problem, girl?" Orvin frowned.

"No." She shook her head. "Let's be on our way."

"Good." The man nodded. "Someone go fetch that slob from inside. I need to talk to him too."

...

Red could only watch from a distance as the guards took his guild members away. He couldn't hear what they discussed and didn't know what their situation was. In the end, the boy could only frown as he looked down at the bag he was carrying.

'What now?'