Part 1

“I specifically told her to use the money to buy you clothes. I didn’t order her to go anywhere else. So where did you see her before she vanished?” Arnold asked calmly. His attitude contrasted how Flora was acting.

“Err…” Flora tried to remember. “There was…a large fountain in the center of the area. I think it was called the Plaza?”

The Plaza was in the middle of the city. Whichever road she took, well, they still had to find out. The northern road headed to the noble district. The southern road led to the slums. The western road led to the entertainment district. Lastly, the eastern road led to the commoner district. The Plaza was where many of the city’s stores were located. Unlike the shopping district, which had markets that sold food, at the Plaza were stores for clothing, jewelry, tailors and so on.

“Did she mention anything about stopping by another location?”

Flora shook her head at Arnold’s question. “All I remember is that when I left the store, she was gone.”

“Where’s that damn coachman then?” Arnold asked in frustration.

Lauran was a valuable acquaintance. He couldn’t allow her to fall into danger.

“He was gone as well. What was strange was that the carriage was still there. Ah! But there were some shady guys standing outside the stores. All of them wore a red ribbon around their right arms. When I exited the store, they tried to attack me. I defeated them and asked if they saw where she went, but they wouldn’t tell me anything so I handed them over to the city patrols who passed by.”

“Huh?” Arnold stopped walking when he heard that.

‘Red ribbons…’

He suddenly remembered who they were. Only one gang wore red ribbons to signify their identity.

The Felix brothers’ gang. It was the gang of the three brothers. The eldest was the leader while the other two were his right hand men.

‘Don’t tell me they were there for Lauran…’ Arnold had a bad feeling.

“Her father’s store in the commoner district… My guess is that she went there and is being followed by them.” Arnold concluded. It was the place she’d most likely head to.

As Lauran was Arnold’s slave until recently, the boss couldn’t make a move on her. However, since she was now free, he could do what he wanted to her and her family.

It might’ve looked like Arnold completely abandoned her from the decision he made. However, that wasn’t the case at all. Staying with Luke was better than staying by Arnold’s side. He was probably too optimistic thinking that Flora could protect Lauran. But still, even in her current state she was as strong as an average knight.

‘What is he going to do with her?’

Although he wasn’t certain where, chances were that the boss took Lauran to one of his hideouts. That being the case, Arnold had no idea where to look.

“Luke, I need you to head back.”

“Eh? Why? Miss Lauran is in danger!”

“What can you do?” Arnold’s question caused Luke to go silent. He lowered his head.

He was powerless as he was now. Although he won in his fight against Arnold yesterday, that was merely because his emotions went rampant which released his power.

As Arnold saw it, that strength didn’t belong to Luke. Yet.

As he was now, he couldn’t compete with gangsters who slaughter for fun.

“You may be the strongest in your village, however, this is a city that many renowned warriors call home. You aren’t strong enough to face them.”

“But!”

Arnold glared at Luke who was still retorting. Luke cowered at his glare.

“I have no qualms knocking you out if you keep refusing. Now, give me the sword.” Arnold pointed at the sword by Luke’s waist. Luke handed it to him silently.

“If anyone asks why I didn’t come with you then say I went to a brothel or something.”

“Yes….” Luke obediently nodded his head. He turned around and began walking away.

“Is this okay? Letting me come with?” Flora, who had watched them silently until now, spoke up.

“I need a meat shield in case the enemies overwhelm me.”

Flora pouted.

“Take this.” Arnold threw the sword at Flora.

“Huh? This is….” Flora looked at the sword blankly.

“What?”

“This is the sword that guard took from me. I’ve been using it since my previous weapon broke.” Flora swung the sword to see if it had the same feel as the last time she used it.

It did.

‘So that explains why that low ranking soldier had it. He must’ve been the one who brought Flora here as a slave after she collapsed due to exhaustion from fighting hundreds of knights.’

“Did you travel all the way here on your own before you became a slave?” Arnold asked as they walked.

“Yeah. After the enemies infiltrated the castle, I had nowhere to go so I just ran. I can remember being chased by summoned angels.”

Summoned Angels. It must’ve been the Theocracy after all, Arnold thought.

To be able to summon angels using divine crystals, one must have the blessing of a God. Arnold concluded that they must’ve sent one of the High Priests to deal with Flora. That alone proved how much of a threat Flora actually was to them.

She was a future Master Swordsman, after all.

“What level were the angels?”

“About level 35, I think? Those things were almost as strong as the average Imperial Knight.”

‘As expected. They really sent one of the members of the Theocracy to capture Flora.’

The Theocracy were a group of people who delivered divine judgment in the name of Goddess Melis. They created a group who could deliver justice in their name.

They were called the “Warriors of the Word of God”.

There were ten of them in total. They demonstrated the highest authority of the Holy Empire. One side of the Holy Empire was comprised of the Theocracy while the other was ruled by the current Emperor. Some agreed to the decision to make priests implement a system where they ruled while others did not.

Those of the latter stuck to the old tradition of being ruled by a monarch. Namely, the first emperor. The Supreme Pontiff and the emperor decided that, in order to come to an agreement, they must coexist. The northern side was comprised of the government ruled by priests while the southern side was the Holy Empire. The nation was divided as such hundreds of years ago.

The ones who the Theocracy use to implement the judgement of god are the aforementioned Warriors of the Word of God.

It wasn’t unusual for such individuals to be level 50 or higher. The leader was said to be at the level of an 8th star powerhouse(level 65 or higher).

“Flora, what level are you?” This was the first time Arnold had asked someone that question. He wasn’t sure if levels for humanoids existed in this world as it did in the game.

“You even want to know my level!?” Flora huffed.

“Is it taboo to ask someone that?”

“Have you been living under a rock….” Flora answered regardless. “I’m level 37.”

‘So she’s one of the stronger ones in this world.’

Levels didn’t necessarily convey how strong an individual was. It all came down to stats. Original Arnold was at least below level 30 when he was introduced. But his stats were much higher than the average person. That was because his stats were unbalanced in the game. His AP(Aura Power) was estimated to be extremely high which explained why he was so powerful.

Arnold wasn’t sure how high Luke or Lauran’s levels were. He had to first find an appraisal item that could measure a person’s power. Such items weren’t on the market.

“Asking someone their level is similar to sharing your personal information. You must never even share your skills.”

‘Right. If you were to PVP someone after telling them then you’d be at a disadvantage.’ Arnold-no, Liam thought to himself as he remembered how one of his junior guild mates once complained about being PvP'ed by a person he considered his friends. Only to lose a great amounts of exp and items after losing the battle.

Of course, the fault lay with the guild mate since he gave out information about his in-game character.

“Do you know how high leveled this Greater Demon was who visited your father to make your kingdom a vassal?”

Flora thought for a moment.

“The mages of the palace said that he was at least level 70 or above.”

Arnold shivered.

‘What the hell? Someone like that can’t be that unnoticeable, right?’

“Where has this Greater Demon come from?”

He had heard from his clan mates that there was a city ruled by an undead who had subordinates that equaled or surpassed 7th star players. Hearing the demon’s level, he didn’t find it so ridiculous anymore.

“So you only know of it making contact with us but not its origins? Well, I guess you’re not omniscient with your connections. There is a big city to the south of the Kingdom.”

“So it lies between this empire and your kingdom.”

Flora nodded.

“It is being ruled by a Vampire Lord.”

Vampire Lord. It was a title given to a species that had reached the peak of their race. As seen with Dragon Lords, Orc Lords, Goblin Lords, et cetera…

“She is estimated to be level 100. Some believe she is a descendant of the legends that once roamed these lands.”

Flora said gravely. Even thinking about that monster was giving her the chills. Even though the city she took over was an important neighbor before, none of the nations could do anything against that monster. She wasn’t the only one who was powerful, her subordinates were as well.

“So she’s a level cap NPC….” Arnold said in a mutter.

There was a possibility that she was a player. That was because it was extremely hard to max out your characters, even for players. Once you hit level 80 then your progress stalls immensely. Even using real money wouldn’t get you that far. You had to grind and put in the effort.

Even the powerhouses of this empire weren’t even level 80 yet.

That was why Arnold concluded that it was highly likely that she was a player.

"I never really went into detail to ask about the vampire lord, but this is okay too. There might come a time when I have to interact with her to know for certain if she is a player."

“What was that?” Flora found the way his behavior changed odd. He was muttering to himself while staring into empty space.

“Nothing. Oh, right. Since you haven’t recovered yet, take this. I need you to help me fight when the chance arises.” Arnold handed a potion to her.

It was an ordinary healing potion so the effect shouldn’t be that potent. Arnold had considered making the potions from the game, however, he needed the right materials before making said potion.

The materials weren’t rare but getting them would be difficult even for him. Not to mention he needed to travel vast distances as well.

Flora drank the potion and felt her body being reenergized. Little by little her strength returned.

“You sure I can use this? You’re not scared I might cut you down?” Flora smirked.

“As arrogant as ever, Your Highness.” Arnold mocked before jumping onto a nearby building’s roof.

Flora soon followed.

The two of them began jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

-◇-

Part 2

Earlier that day.

Lauran stealthily left the store as Flora was busy trying on new clothes. Lauran told the coachman to drop Flora off at the auction house after she was done with buying the clothes.

Although Arnold ordered her to take Flora shopping, he didn’t say anything about babysitting her. Plus, Flora was still under the detainment of the slavery collar so there wasn’t a worry of her running away without repercussions.

I have to go see how they’re doing. My family.

She hadn’t visited her parents in a while. She was only allowed to visit them twice a month.

She broke into a run when she took the eastern street of the Plaza. The people looked at her oddly since she was wearing a maid uniform but wasn’t in the presence of her master.

Lauran didn’t concern herself with their gazes and continued running towards a certain location.

The store her parents started when they moved to this city.

Although it wasn’t doing very well these past few years. The whole reason Lauran became a slave had to do with that incident that happened two years ago. She had willingly sold herself in order to get money so her parents could pay off a certain amount of their debt.

Maybe it was out of spite or just because he was interested in her, but the first one to buy her was Arnold.

After the incident with the gang, they had officially become a Black store. Black stores referred to the stores who had relied on the money of loan sharks and those from the underground. Getting involved with them was believed to bring lots of trouble.

Her father was once a friend of the leader of the gang. He asked the man for money to save the store, however, that was a grave mistake. The banks didn’t really bother with supporting a commoner’s business so her father had no choice in the end. The interest on the loan had taken a sudden 10% rise the very next month. It increases by 1% each month. They were told to either give the store to the gang or pay the money.

Lauran’s parents hadn’t been doing very well, so she had been working longer shifts at the manor to help them pay the debt they owe. Hence why she couldn’t visit them so often. Her father was in a wheelchair so he couldn’t carry out any physical labor. Her little brother was too young to work. That left her mother as the sole family member fit to take care of the store.

Then again, it was hard getting customers.

Lauran looked at the money in her hands as she ran. It wasn’t nearly as much as the money they owed but it was at least something.

There has to be a way to settle this debt instead of giving all of their money to that bastard every month.

Lauran suddenly thought of Luke.

The next duke of the Berkley family and lord of this duchy. To her he seemed like the average pushover brat who knew nothing about the outside world.

Maybe I should seduce him and ask him for a raise…

Lauran was shocked by her own thoughts.

I can’t do that! That sounds so wrong...

Then again, it was one of her options to help her parents. If she could at least become the mistress of the next duke then her problem would be solved. She could even ask Luke to get rid of the gang. Looking at the kind of person he was, she thought it might be possible.

However, what if Arnold found out about her plan?

That was why it was risky to even think about going through with that plan. She had similar thoughts with Jack before Luke arrived, however, he was much too young to have a mistress and wasn’t expected to become the duke at all.

That left Arnold. However, she knew that he would never help her unless there was something in it for him.

Lauran felt like she was in a dilemma.

“Is someone behind me after all?” Lauran muttered when she came to an abrupt stop when she reached the street where her parents lived. It was a fairly safe neighborhood.

She had felt this presence ever since she left the store. Being capable of manipulating mana, she could detect faint movements of footsteps behind her. She had left residual mana to see if she was right.

Who is it?

She continued walking and pretended she didn’t sense them. She fished out a wand from her maid uniform’s pocket and stealthily cast a spell.

The street was oddly quiet despite the fact that it was broad daylight. Had the residents retreated inside their houses?

If so, for what purpose?

Lauran continued casting as the footsteps got closer.

She was casting a 3rd rank magic spell. In the world of Star Fantasy: items, characters, monsters, magic, divinity and so on are all classified by different rankings. For weapons and items: they are ranked by letters from F until SS, followed by Semi-star and Star rank. Monsters and residents of this world are ranked by levels; level 100 being the cap for all beings. All forms of magic, however, are classified by rank.

It wasn’t common for the average person to be able to cast 4th rank magic unless they were extremely talented. Such people were sought after in this world.

There are probably less than a few thousand people (that includes the powerhouses on the continent) who are capable of using magic above rank 4. Even fewer could cast 6th rank magic. Anything past that meant someone was classified as a demigod. Only the legends of the past were known to be that powerful in magic.

Lauran didn’t know why she was capable of casting such magic. She was never the kind of person who had an interest in fighting, but given the situation at the moment, she was grateful.

“Come out. Otherwise, I will have your heads.” Lauran finally activated her spell.

“Well, well. It seems we’ve been found out, boys.” A hoarse, deep voice came from the shadows. A 2m tall man with a bald head that had a snake tattoo on the right side of his face, stood in front of Lauran.

“You’re…!” Lauran lost focus which caused her spell to vanish.

The man before her was the youngest brother of the leader of the Felix gang.

Tobias, The Shredder.