CHAPTER 16 - Beginner's Unluck

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After Alfonso and the other woman had left the room, Rei waited until their footsteps were no longer in an audible range.

'Alright, it should be good now.' She thought to herself as she put both of her feet down the wooden floor, putting the blanket aside and holding her head, and then checking her own body thoroughly to see if she was wounded anywhere.

'Head, check, torso, check, arms, check, legs, check, no issue seems to be found.' She then went on to breathe deeply, to see if there was any problem with her internally, and so far all seemed good.

"Status check done, now all that's left is …"

'To leave.' She continued within her mind.

Though it may sound like a foolish decision, considering there were already nice people who didn't mind to take care of her, Rei didn't mind such things, as from the checking she had received, she was already ready to take care of herself, though it was more of the fact that she didn't like being taken care of.

"Sorry Mister, but I'll be leaving, so don't mind m–!?"

And immediately, her hands felt the cold floor as she fell down just after she lifted herself from the comfort of the bed she was stationed in.

*Thud*

Narrowly-avoiding a faceplant on the floor she came under cold sweat as she finally realised just how much strength her body had lost, and as Rei got more flustered, she gripped at the floor, trying once to gauge the amount of strength she can bring to bear …

She cursed as she slowly got up from her horrible position, having more difficulty than she expected, the equanimity of her mind slowly slipping with the utter frustration of losing such an important asset.

Had it been her before her summoning, she could have easily formed holes in the wood with her grip strength alone, but to think that she could only helplessly press against the cold surface.

It felt as if she was so weak that she would need two hands to squeeze a lemon, and would have difficulty doing it as well.

She loathed it, the fact that she was actually as physically as she looked now, as if she was only normal.

"Reina …" She held her right hand into a fist tightly, or at least as tightly as she could bear to, walking slowly to try and get used to the new condition she had found herself in.

Despite the unwelcome factor coming in, it did not deter her from her original plan, stubbornly insisting that she shouldn't be confined to a room.

…

*Creeaak …* The door to Rei's room had slid open after some knocking, Alfonso having entered after his discussion, using his back due to how he seemed to be carrying something.

"So, about your stay, we'll let you stay for a while but after a bit we're going to have to ask you to …" He entered the room, carrying a tray of breakfast for Rei, having thought of the fact that she must've not been able to eat for a while.

"... leave …" The last part took longer to say, due to the sight he was greeted with.

The window being open, as well as the cabinet containing clothes meant for Rei as well as the possessions she was found with all completely emptied.

"Well, that saves me some trouble at least." Alfonso sighed, pushing aside his worries as he himself started to eat the breakfast meant for Rei.

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The town of Guella, despite being as large as a city, was commonly called a town by its residents, not because it didn't fulfil any vital statistical requirement in order to be not considered a city, but rather because of the state of the people and their surroundings.

"Fueeeghhh!!"

"M-Might you have some change? Change to spare …?"

"Moan some more, I'm paying hard-earned money for this shite!"

To put it mildly, things didn't look too pretty, drunkards were out on the streets, vomiting on the roads, beggars sleeping and doing their work by the roadside, even some workers venting their sexual frustration on whores out in the open were unfortunately not a rare occurrence, while maintenance on buildings and corruption was commonplace as Ispagnan management of their Etalian territories wasn't the very best, again to put it mildly.

And though Travellers were more rare as they tend to dwell around north, there were still many kinds of people in such an environment, everyone having one thing in common: that being their need to pay for expenses for living in the "town".

Some did honest work, for the negligent elite who could spare them scraps, and more found other ways of getting what they needed to survive.

And of course, some of these people lived by simply stealing other people's money.

*bump*

A man who looked to be just exiting a tavern had suddenly bumped into a young girl, though both the satisfied-looking man and the young girl, who had uncommonly – black hair in the midst of the sea of multi-coloured heads, didn't mind as it was common to bump into each other in such a busy street in Guella's districts.

Though, the girl didn't only just bump into the man on purpose however …

The girl, in a display of impressive dextrous ability, snatched a pouch of coins and other possessions from the man's person, being careful enough to prevent any sort of jingling of the coins inside to avoid alerting him.

That girl was of course Rei, fresh from the bed she had been confined to, and with a new set of clothes after leaving the premises of Alfonso without any sort of message beforehand, and also looting what she could of course.

Rei was now dressed in something more … fitting for what she was doing at the moment, a white shirt with black endings on its sleeves, a shabby but usable brown cape, black pants, and some boots, all courtesy of Alfonso leaving it lying around in her room.

She repeated the cycle of bumping into a man or woman, and then using the quick window of vulnerability to relieve them of their possessions, storing it away within a pack she found at Alfonso's place.

She continued this for an hour, until a better target had presented itself, in the form of a man who clearly stood out from the crowd of people going about their daily lives.

The man looked to be about the same age as Rei, as well as of a tall stature, taller than Rei at least, sporting a trendy look of all-black plus some steel plates then and there, the silver colour of his hair matching a bit well along with the spear that was on his back.

He was well-equipped, well-built, and looked like he could pack a punch, a cut above the normal chaff commonly seen in Guella.

Normally, this type of person would be the type that petty criminals would avoid, but to Rei, she could only see him as clearly as someone who had money to spend.

Though, that was not as if there wasn't any sort of doubts that Rei had about shanking the man of his hard-earned money, a deep voice down inside Rei's consciousness was telling her to discontinue any sort of action towards him that he was planning, but of course Rei casually dismissed such problematic thoughts, instead focusing on the target that presented itself.

'Same procedure as always …' She went in, with her walk of shamelessness disguised as ignorance, colliding with the man gently.

"Watch where you're going." A chilling voice resonated from the man's lips sounding a bit harsh just because he was bumped into.

Rei could only imagine how he would act once he actually found out though …

"Ah, apologies." Rei held her head down a bit as she heard the young man's cold tone, though still not forgetting to be cautious enough to not make any noise or give the man any sense of feeling, as she could tell that his senses were outstanding as well, only being nullified due to how they were in the middle of a crowd.

'Success.' Rei walked as if nothing happened, careful not to give anything away, only running off when she could tell that he wasn't watching anymore.

…

Finding herself a neat-looking dark alleyway amongst the many in the mess of a town that she found herself in, Rei laid her back against a wall after turning a corner from the main street, exhaling and looking at her right hand, opening and closing it before nodding to herself in approval.

"It's a good thing i've still got it …" She once again breathed a sigh of relief, if somehow her dexterity was cut off as well, she didn't know what she would do, and although she could have probably thought of a way eventually in order to get much-needed funds, it would have been no-doubt either much more humiliating or more difficult to execute.

She looked at the way leading to the street behind her to the right, and to the left to see if the coast was clear, after all it would be very bothersome if any desperate hobo got wind of the spoils of her exploits earlier.

"Now, let's see what we have here …" Rei muttered to herself as she reassessed her new possessions one by one.

So far she had looted a dagger from one of the hooligans from before, and spare change upon digging into pockets and packs from other people roaming around, however what really caught Rei's gaze was something else …

"Oh …?" A pouch filled to the brim with silver coins had greeted Rei's sight, and even though she had the acting skill to maintain a poker face as the default, this was just a sight that couldn't help but force her lips to warp, forming a crooked, half-assed smile.

It was the loot Rei had rightfully stolen from the last guy she had pickpocketed, the handsome cold-looking spear user from just earlier.

'This should be enough for a few weeks …' Rei thought to herself, recalling what she knew of the continent's currency system.

Truly, today's haul seemed to turn out much better than what Rei had anticipated, with her ending up thinking about whether or not it was beginner's luck at play.

"Though, it's not really my first time, but I'll assume that it is as such." She couldn't help but form the half-assed smile once more.

"Well, this was a good haul, so I think I'll stop here for today and finally get something to ea–" She drifted onto saying, until something happened.

"!?"

Her body's motion immediately came to a halt, freezing up in what seemed to be a sudden wave of bloodlust, disrupting her senses not due to its scale and intensity, but from how it rushed in and was comprehended by her own senses all at once.

Before Rei could react once more, a booming noise already made itself known just besides her head.

*Boom!*

A piece of the wall that Rei had been hiding behind in was blown crudely off, one of its fragments sliding across Rei's cheek, leading for a warm red liquid to stroll down the minor injury made.

Rei's heart couldn't help but accelerate its beating in the heat of the moment, had she been hiding a few centimetres closer to the edge of the wall, her head would have been blown off by the sudden impact.

Fueled by her instincts, she didn't even check behind the wall to see the man who threw the spear, as she could already hear from the loud footsteps that the assailant was rapidly closing in.

She darted off in the opposite direction of the alley, running as fast as her body could possibly take her, and when she heard the man drift across the corner, pulling his spear out from the ground with a thunk, she turned her head around while moving.

And, that's when their eyes met, and without pausing she quickly turned her head forward once more, regretting the decision.

'I'm going to get killed.' That was the conclusion that Rei had come to, seeing the expression on his face.

Had it been her previous self, she would have undoubtedly won against such a man if the spear throw from earlier could be taken as a serious example of his capabilities, but in her current condition on the other hand, it would just be plain silly.

A rabbit, even if it knows all sorts of martial arts and skills, would inevitably get curb stomped by a wolf, it was just the natural order at work, and currently the situation was similar, it was not one where she saw any ways of winning.

After a few turns in, coming deeper and deeper inside the rotten slum-looking alleyways inside the low districts of Guella, she had a few encounters wherein people had taken notice of a frightened beautiful girl sprinting tiredly by herself:

"Ohohoho, look what's come in boys, fresh meat is back on the menu!" A comically scum-looking middle-aged man who was likely a reject from society piling himself up other trash to make himself feel important had come to block where Rei was heading, along with other scum-looking people who look no better than him.

"Get out of my goddamn way!!" She shouted, still running towards them, unfazed by their comical scum-like appearances, as there was a greater threat closing in by her rear.

"Now now, there's no need to be in such a hurry, you look very pretty, so how about we have some fun toge–!?" The obviously-bad looking man couldn't help but pause his words when he saw the figure emanating such a thick bloodlust chasing Rei, his and his lackeys' survival instincts ticking off exactly at the same time, prompting them to quickly step aside, letting both Rei and her assailant pass by with no issue while being covered in cold sweat.

After many twists and turns, she was still unable to lose the stubbornly and inconveniently competent assailant.

'H-How does he know exactly where I always am!?' Rei couldn't help but think to herself, and had an idea.

Maybe the man had some sort of tracker within his pouch? The world she was in clearly looked to be of the pre-industrial era, but it would not be any stretch to imagine that there was some sort of enchantment within the pouch itself alerting the owner of its exact position.

And besides, discarding the pouch may have another benefit …

*Scoop!*

Rei engaged in a sort of drifting motion, moving as she grabbed some pebbles and other small bits of trash along the alleyway.

*Boom!* The ground just in front of her was blown apart as the spear landed once more, but instead of pausing she simply grabbed at the side of the wall and used it as support, sidestepping the pole symbolising her nearing demise and continuing her way, huffing and puffing from the exhaustion.

She threw the pouch aside, and fortunately, the assailant seemed to stop as well upon seeing his possession be forfeit, flying above his head, making him turn around.

His hardy boots came to a complete halt, the young man crouching as his bloodlust quickly faded, however as he opened his pouch, it was all quickly released again.

It wasn't filled with his fortune, but rather pebbles and trash that you'd normally find in an alley.

"That bitch …" The man cursed, with a stern voice that had the ability to send a chill down one's spine, had there been any nearby.

So in short, the incident did not end there, as he bolted through the alleys once more, chasing after Rei after following any sort of tracks she left behind.

Meanwhile, Rei, who was already exhausted from all the running, and especially in her weak form, stopped by what seemed to be the alleyways of the lower districts, meaning that she was finally nearing a main road after all the trouble she had been through.

She took a long breath, as she came to her knees from the fatigue. Her eyes became plastered to the alley she had just travelled through, and thankfully she did not see the assailant chasing. Even after she recovered somewhat enough to stand and walk, she still did not see him.

"Haha … I-I'm finally rid of that stain, so it really was the pouch leading him towards me then …?" She asked herself, before shaking her head dismissively.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter n–!?" And although for a while, she felt relieved and relaxed, it immediately disappeared as she saw the young man after her once again, this time looking even faster and more enraged.

Because of the surprise settling within her body even more than the last time she was jumped, she reacted a second too late, and in the span of that second, the gap between them when she started running once more was unbearably much closer than before.

Rei was focused on running, at that moment almost every fibre of her being had become dedicated to getting away from the person who looks like he was going to kill her and then mangle her corpse as soon as he gets his hands on her, and due to this desperation, she did not bother processing what was going to be up front, as long as it wasn't a wall, and thus upon exiting the dark alleys of Guella to one of the main roads in the middle of the town's lower district, she crashed onto someone who was just passing through.

"Hey!! Careful now!!" Rei was about to push the person she ran into away, until she had a better look at him. It was a young man, around the same age as her and the one chasing her, and just like the one chasing her, he seemed to be decked out in equipment as well, Rei's senses telling her that he was also proficient in using them as well.

His handsome face was showing that he was a bit annoyed, but the moment he saw Rei's face, which failed to conceal a bit of terror and desperation behind it, his rage vanished, and with a gentle tone he asked Rei:

"Are you alright?"

He smiled as if to calm Rei, and seeing such a friendly face did, at least somewhat, although it was a mix that he was both friendly, and skilled.

The moment Rei felt the young man's presence though, she immediately turned her back to face the threat, and snapped back to her senses, and as her eyes shifted towards the doom that was about to come out from the small alley, and the smile from the man giving her a bit of hope, she felt as if she was being suffocated, and was about to run away until …

"Johan …?" The young man next to Rei said, looking at the man exiting the one exiting the alley.

"Alair." The young man who had been chasing Rei all this time, named Johan, replied back at Alair, who seemed to tighten her hold on Rei.

'This is bad …' Rei started to panic as she saw the situation she was in.

The two were acquaintances, or worse yet, maybe friends, from how they addressed each other.

She heavily considered pulling her dagger out, to stab Alair in order to immobilise him, and then point it at his neck to take him hostage while he makes a getaway, however as she looked up at Alair and Johan staring at each other, and upon noticing what emotions their gazes harboured, she quickly changed her mind.

"So, what might you be doing here? Have you come once more to flaunt your eyesoring abilities to the world once more?" Alair said with a mocking tone, all-but snarking when graced with the presence of Johan.

"That is none of your business you fiend, the girl on the other hand, is the one I have business with." Johan replied, dismissing the taunt.

It was hostility, mutual hostility nonetheless.

'I can use this …'

It was then that Rei decided that it was time to pull her most hated, but highly effective card.

"P-Please help, he's going to kill me!!" Rei said as she hugged the man called Alair tightly, taking the bet.

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