An Ally of Justice?

"Who is this guy that he dares to behave so arrogantly in front of Sir Richard?" One of the men who accompanied Richard spoke out.

The one who just spoke was a burly middle-aged man with short brown hair, a pair of hazel eyes, and a full beard on his face. He wore a simple yet tasteful attire made of high-quality material with a professional air about it; however, the boots on his feet were partially charred and worn out.

This man was called Lovell. More importantly, he was a longtime client of Richard's and it was the first time he had seen someone act this way in front of the merchant.

Hearing Lovell's voice, Richard clenched his fists and quickly reigned in his anger—at least, on the surface so as not to create an unsightly scene around his client.

"Gentleman Lovell, this guy is probably just new to Bellhaven and has yet to learn of my identity. I am sure once he hears my name and that of my Merchant Group, he will quickly realize his mistake and work to correct it." Richard said pleasantly; however, from the underlying tone, he was clearly still outraged by Linkin's actions.

Kaela inwardly shook her head and sighed. Not too long ago, there were still several private rooms available. But, within the last thirty minutes, the private rooms had reached full capacity. She could do nothing about it except try to carefully navigate Richard's aggravation and hope that a private room opened up fast. However, the last thing Kaela anticipated was that a new merchant would act so brazenly.

"What was Sini thinking not teaching this newbie the ropes? Now I have to deal with an even bigger headache." Kaela thought to herself.

Kaela had seen Linkin in the main lobby speaking with Sini and receiving his merchant identification plate; therefore, she knew he was a new Class 5 Merchant. After all, how could a simple Vendor even dream of setting foot into one of the private rooms of the Merchant's Guild?

However, Kaela knew that even if she were to correct Richard, it would only lead to a greater headache and ultimately change nothing at hand. In the end, she could only perform her job as a contracted employee of the Merchant's Guild. As long as Richard did not cross any lines and go too far, she could only lightly reprimand him.

Meanwhile, inside the private room, Linkin had a grin on his face as he stared at the reisai he held up.

'To think he'd hand over a reisai for free. My luck today has been pretty good. Such a generous man. It's a shame he doesn't understand the basics.'

Since someone wanted to give him free money, naturally, he would not decline. As for leaving the private room, it was not as though Linkin was necessarily against the idea.

If Richard had approached him like a merchant, Linkin would have responded in kind. But Richard treated him like an eyesore more than anything.

Of course, this alone was not enough for Linkin to risk angering someone who was, at the very least, a Class 3 Merchant. There was a reason why Linkin chose to upset Richard despite his reluctance to make potential enemies.

During their brief interaction just now, Linkin studied Richard and those who accompanied him. From those few seconds, he was able to determine three important factors.

One, Richard was the leader of that group. Two, one of the individuals was a client. And three—the client was unnaturally restless.

'I know a mark when I see one—that client of his reeks of desperation. Even if what that guy's doing turns out not to be against the rules, he's definitely in the middle of a shady deal. It's none of my business, but being the good samaritan I am, I can't sit back and just let some naive fool be taken advantage of if I'm not the one doing it- No, I mean, as an ally of justice and fairness, I have to intervene. Yeah, that's right. It's not because I want to snatch his client away from him or anything.'

Knock. Knock. Knock.

'Oh? This guy... Did he suddenly learn some manners?'

Based on the "heaviness" of the knock, Linkin could tell that it was Richard and not the employee of the Merchant's Guild who was behind it.

Linkin grinned, amused by his own thought. Learn some manners? Naturally, he knew that Richard did not have a sudden change of heart.

That being said, this knock alone was enough to confirm Linkin's suspicions.

'The fact that he's willing to tone down his behavior to this extent must mean that this deal is one he doesn't want to lose. If that's the case, this will be a lot easier than I thought.'

Click!

Linkin opened the doors with a warm smile on his face as he immediately felt Richard's cold gaze lock onto him.

'Well then—shall I perform my duties as an ally of justice?'