Blondie

"Did he just call me Blondie?"

Blondie touched her chestnut hair in confusion.

"No, before that, is he even really a kid?"

She thought out loud as she looked at Ritzy, somehow inviting internal strife to one of the three criminal groups of Benin that had remained steady for years. It was interesting, and Blondie wanted to watch a rival group burn themselves to the ground.

However, she had to prioritize.

The Rough Belt Gang going under wasn't necessarily bad, even if it would disrupt the balance between her Dolls and the Wildmen. But the timing couldn't be worse.

If Grunge, Yuger, and the rest of the Rough Belt Gang started fighting, Ritzy might escape with his treasures. Blondie didn't want that.

She had been a little apprehensive about using violence to rob Ritzy since he looked like an innocent child. But he had simply been unlucky by somehow getting his hands on the rumored treasure trove.

If she had to be forceful in persuading him, she would. After all, if the reports were true, Ritzy carried enough treasure to overturn Benin's status quo completely. Whoever got their hands on his stash would become the new overlord of Benin, whether it be the law-abiding or criminal side of the city.

The treasures themselves or the value they held were both things one could use in taking over a city.

But Blondie's apprehension started to fade following Ritzy's devilish trick as he somehow turned Grunge and Yuger, two of the strongest combatants in Benin, against each other. She felt an ominous feeling wrap itself around her heart as she watched Ritzy, cool as a cucumber.

She briefly had the impression that they weren't the hunters in this situation, but she brushed it off. Even if Ritzy seemed to have a couple of tricks up his sleeve and was a necromancer, it wasn't their first rodeo, and it wasn't their first necromancer.

Although Benin was on the outskirts and relatively far away from any of the necromancer hotspots, it was still a city in Drychness. Necromancy and its practitioners were inescapable.

"Stop squabbling, you idiots."

Blondie shot Baldy and Bladey a sharp glare to stop their mistrust from developing further and into an armed confrontation.

"Whatever happened or whatever you think has happened, deal with the consequences after we settle this. I don't have to tell you—any of you—"

Blondie looked around at all the thugs, crooks, goons, and lowlives around.

"...That Benin won't be the same after this, right?"

No one responded to Blondie's words, but everyone turned to Ritzy in a somber mood. This was serious business. It was no time to get involved in internal conflict, at least not until Ritzy had coughed up the treasure that had attracted Benin's shadows' denizens.

"Good job, Blondie! I was getting worried Avie wouldn't have a chance to do anything."

Ritzy gave Blondie a smile and a thumbs up.

Blondie narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she looked at Ritzy. She couldn't make out what was going on inside his head. One moment, he was stirring up internal strife, and in the next, he was happy nothing like that happened.

She also couldn't tell where he got his confidence from. He wasn't adorned in treasure in any way. Except for the feather and wing hanging around his neck, his outfit seemed pretty shabby. Considering he didn't seem that strong since his mana fluctuations weren't great, it looked like Ritzy's downfall was a done deal.

The Unholy Avatar looked and gave off a dangerous presence. It was also undeniably strong since it had instantly killed one of the grunts in the city. But it didn't make Blondie and the others tremble at the sight of it.

"What are you planning, boy?"

Since she was the one with her head the most in place and because she told off Baldy and Bladey, Blondie ended up taking charge. The others had also noticed the strange situation. No one survived on the streets doing illegal activities without a lick of sense or instinct.

Ritzy's composure and the overall feeling of everything were suspicious.

"Oh, nothing much. I'm just suffering at the hands of human greed."

Ritzy shook his head as he lamented.

"You say that as if you aren't human."

"Nonsense! I am as human as they come!"

"Okay…."

Blondie ignored the seemingly crazy, white-haired boy and looked at Beardy and Baldy.

"How do we split this up then?"

"Oh, oh! I know!"

Ritzy raised his hand like a student pleading for a teacher's attention.

Blondie and everyone else looked at Ritzy, and before they could say anything, he continued.

"You lot will fight Avie—this cutie—and I will judge you based on how well you do. If you satisfy me or manage to beat him, I will reward you appropriately."

Ritzy tapped the Unholy Avatar's shoulder while he spoke, and when he was done, he rested his hands against his hips, proud at his suggestion.

Blondie, Beardy, and Baldy exchanged looks.

"How can we trust you?"

Beardy voiced what everyone worried about. It wasn't a completely unreasonable suggestion, even if it was a little out there. It would give everyone a fair chance, and it would let them test the waters by fighting against Ritzy's minion without anything to lose.

Ritzy shrugged at Beardy's question.

"What? You don't think I'm trustworthy?"

"No, not at all."

"Nope."

"Not even a little."

Beardy, Baldy, and Blondie answered without hesitation as Ritzy tried to act cute.

"Aw, shucks. Guess we don't have a choice then."

Ritzy pretended to be hurt as he layered his hands on his chest. But only for a moment before looking at everyone around him.

"Either you take my suggestion, or we stop fucking around like maidens and dogs in barns and start fighting. It's not like there's a peaceful resolution here, is there?"

Baldy shrugged.

"I mean, if you hand over everything you've got, we can let you walk out of here without touching a strand of hair on you."

"See? This buffoon, this absolute fish-cranker has no idea what's going on. Of course, that's not an option. It's like saying we can go lug a bucket since the chef doesn't have any potatoes left!"

"What…"

"...The…"

"...Fuck?"

Ritzy threw his hands up in the air as Baldy, Beardy, and Blondie stared at him, confused out of their minds.

"Typical!"

'Who—What have we gotten ourselves involved with?'

Blondie tried to understand what Ritzy had meant with what he had said, but she couldn't make sense of it. It could be a desperate attempt to confuse them and buy time.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with. Avie, focus on the dangerous fellas."

'Or not.'

For some reason, Ritzy was the impatient one. Whatever time he had bought by twisting everyone's mental ankles, he threw right out the window as he sicced his grotesque minion on them.

But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Blondie hurriedly screwed her head on straight so that she could take the lead. Ritzy had told the zombie covered in letters to charge at the dangerous fellows. Who else could he mean but Baldy, Bladey, and Beardy?

While those three and their goons tackled Avie, which shouldn't take too long, Blondie could target Ritzy and snatch the treasures for herself. She subtly signaled her Dolls to be ready as she herself roused her mana and hoisted her dress slightly so it would be easier to move.

She turned to Ritzy, ready to dash forward and attack as soon as he let down his guard while watching Unholy Avatar attack the others. However, much to her shock, Blondie found her view blocked by a hulking mass of letter-covered flesh.

Avie had gone after her.

'Yeow, fuck.'

Blondie was startled but reacted quickly and withdrew the pen-like daggers from her long sleeves. Her plan to target the necromancer instead of the minion had been foiled. But that only meant she had to take care of the Unholy Avatar first before she could get to Ritzy and his treasure.

Her Dolls, personally trained assassins, spread out next to Blondie, letting her take the lead while they looked for openings and weak points to disarm and render the Unholy Avatar unfit for combat immediately.

It seemed like the others, Beardy, Baldy, and their groups were either still trying to understand Ritzy or not going to bother going after the Unholy Avatar, so Blondie faced it alone.

She dashed forward with her arms extended slightly behind her. Her straight, thin daggers jutted out like long awls from her hands.

When she closed the distance, Blondie jabbed Avie in the stomach before dodging his hook, stepping to the side, and piercing Avie's neck with both daggers, one aimed downward for his spine and the other she directed at his brain.

The Unholy Avatar seemed strong and mighty, especially with the strange letters covering every inch of its body. But while it was powerful, it wasn't as trained for speed and agility as Blondie. 

Blondie was also smarter since she could think, compared to the Unholy Avatar, who moved on instinct and just threw out the most powerful punches it could.

Blondie pulled out her daggers as Avie turned around with another heavy swing. She had gotten them deep, but they had missed their targets. She had to try again, and she did the same move as she ducked below the swing while stepping to the side, completing a half-circle around Avie.

She stayed low and pierced the Unholy Avatar's lower spine with her daggers, severing his spinal cord. Even if he were an undead and couldn't feel pain, he was still weak enough that he was bound to the mortal limits of his body. Without a spine, he shouldn't be able to move or walk.

Blondie grinned as the Unholy Avatar collapsed to the ground, its arms flailing for balance and for her. But she just stepped back. Her Dolls hadn't even needed to assist her. It seemed this was going to be easier than expected.

But now was no time for admiring the Unholy Avatar's defeat. Ritzy, Beardy, and Baldy were still not settled.