You Don't Scare Me

Thank you to J2407 for the power stones! I greatly appreciate them!

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When Ned saw me, he just waved. I honestly thought that he was afraid of me. I'm sure he saw me kill those other players.

As Ned came he told us all to stand up. As we did so, he had us follow him to the place that his father wanted us to defend. While we were walking, he spoke to the entire group in a friendly tone.

"I'm grateful that you all decided to come here. My father insistenced that I hired body guards. And so I did research and found the best of the best, which were you guys."

Many of the men just chuckled, obviously happy to hear the mayor's son's praise. Ned continued.

"From lone warriors to mercenary groups, I hope that you will all do your jobs properly and then return to your lives. We need more strong warriors like you so that our town can run smoothly!"

"ARGHHHH!"

The group let out a collective roar. It seems that Ned is good at buttering people up. Once he was finished, his guards led him to a carriage. From there the carriage moved forward and the group followed on foot.

After about 30 minutes of walking, some of his guards came to me while I was talking to Mr. Finny.

"Mr. Romeo I presume? The young master wishes to speak to you."

Before I could say anything, they already separated me from Mr. Finny and forcefully took me to the carriage. I wanted to resist but in the end I conceded and followed.

As we got closer, I could hear the people around us start to talk.

"What the hell? It's the same guy that got that big bag of coins."

"Why would they pay a small guy like that so much money? We're the biggest mercenary group!"

I glared at the two talking and they both stopped and looked away from me. Many of the other mercenaries and adventurers also looked away.

"It's alright… as long as they're just NPC and not real players…"

As I got closer, the guards shoved me into the carriage. Ned was just sitting there, sipping some tea. He acted as if I wasn't there so I just got up and brushed myself off. I stood there waiting to see what he would say. 

"Are you really a country pumpkin that don't know how to act around a noble?!" 

The friendly attitude he had earlier was gone. He let out a wave of killing intent. I staggered a bit, not expecting that. He seemed pleased with himself so he snickered and put his tea cup down. 

"Sit down." 

I did as I was told. As I sat down, I spoke to him.

"So Ned, why would you hire me? You have plenty of mercenaries and plenty of adventurers that your father hired. I'm sure you feel perfectly safe with that group out there. We have no prior relationship except for that time during the festival so I can't see why I would be here." 

Ned looks at me, a hint of anger could be seen in his eyes. It really confused me honestly. What the hell is his problem? There's no way he's that mad about those players I killed? 

Ned took a sip of his tea and then he swiftly threw it at me. The cup hit my forehead and shattered. I could feel a bit of blood coming down. 

Before I could wipe it, Ned came towards me, wiped it and smeared it on my face. He grabs my face and forces me to look at him. 

"Let me tell you since you want to keep pretending! I was suppose to get married to Rose but now that old man out there said that you are going to get married to her instead." 

My mind went blank for a moment. Isn't this a little to unreal? An NPC used me as a shield for his daughter?! I was genuinely surprised to hear what he had just said. Before I could say anything, Ned pushed me aside. As I tried to get up, I felt his foot slam onto my back, holding me down. 

"I asked my father to invite you and Rose's father. Do you know why?" 

He leans down and whispers it to me.

"I hoped that the two of you would die today. Die protecting me, so that way, I can live. Once all of this is over, no one can stop me from finding Rose and making her mine. I'll bring her back and ravage her on top of your graves!" 

He started laughing. At this point, I was annoyed. This spoiled noble brat keeps spouting nonsenses all because of Mr. Finny. I could feel my anger boiling but I tried to calm down. I just needed to finish this world event and then I could leave this town. I also wanted to complete this mini quest so I can receive the rest of those coins. 

I pushed him off and tried leaving the carriage. Who knew that I would just get assaulted like this when I came in. Unfortunately, it would seem that Ned wasn't done. Right as I reach the door, I felt a kick from behind, causing me to fly through the door and landing face first, getting a mouthful of dirt and mud in the process. 

Outside the carriage, everyone had stopped and looked at me and then at Ned. They didn't know what happened but I could see the satisfied smiles on their faces. I could feel the last of my patience's dissipating. 

'Fucken assholes.' 

I got up and faced Ned, he was inches away from me as it seemed he wanted to keep fighting. His right fist was close to making contact with my face. It sucks for him since I no longer cared about entertaining his childish behavior. 

I stepped to the left and dodged his punch. I could see the surprise on his face but it was only for a second. He tried to back hand me with his right hand but I caught and twisted it behind his back, I then pulled out the golden dagger and placed it right on his face. He let out a yelp as I faced his guards.

"Stay the fuck back! I will cut him up if you don't stay back!"

The guards all faltered for a moment. They were ready to attack me and hold me responsible but when I said that and they saw the dagger, they stopped in their tracks. Ned wasn't having any of it.

"Stop bluffing! Guards what are you waiting for!??!" 

He wasn't the only one yelling. Mr. Finny was trying to talk me down too. 

"Romeo! Let him go! There's no reason for this madness!" 

I just glare at him and scoff. Madness? He's the reason this was happening! I looked back at the guards and saw that they were making their move. I stuck the dagger into Ned's face and twisted it. He lets out a horrible scream. The guards immediately stopped. The mercenaries and other adventurers also readied their weapons. Even though he was hurting he somehow still had the courage to speak up. 

"What are you doing?!?! There's one of him and many of you!! SAVE ME!!" 

The friendly attitude he showed earlier was completely gone, replaced with a crazed man that looked like he would kill everyone here if they didn't save him. Ned's status and his father's power was enough to scare them into attacking me. 

As they began to move once more, I sighed. I put the dagger away and pulled out Bane Mortem. The moment they saw the sword, everyone stopped. Some even started crying. Many threw their weapons down and got on their knees, they began to beg for mercy. Guards, mercenaries, adventurers, even Mr. Finny were all at the mercy of the sword. 

I could also feel Ned weaken as I hold onto him. I made sure that he could see the sword as well, the effects of the sword began to affect him as well. 

"Well, now that everyone has calmed down, I can speak." 

When I spoke, everyone stopped talking and begging. They were scared that I would use the sword. I pushed Ned down and had him face me. 

"I don't give a shit what you do or say. Disrespect me or anyone else around me and I will kill you next time. I don't care if your father is the mayor or if he was the Man God himself. You don't scare me." 

I put the sword away and walked up to Mr. Finny. 

"We need to talk." 

Before he could say anything, I pulled him up and walked off to the side with him. The other people no longer felt the primal fear since I put the sword away and I also no longer wanted to scare them. Everyone got up and tried to clean themselves up. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't wipe away the shame they felt. 

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(A/N: the sword isn't this OP. It's just that everyone around him is super weak. You'll see the sword in action later down the road.)