They May Be Crooked, But They Know When To Cave

"You! Unhand me!" Dio roared. His face was bright red from both anger and embarrassment. He had never been so humiliated before. He was one of the best climbers, a team leader who had been one the first to reach the tenth floor but now…. He looked at that hateful, mocking smile from the young girl and wished he could rip her face off! "Let me go!"

"Hahahaha!" Aeko, who should have been reprimanding Myu, was in tears. She had never seen anything so funny before! A little girl taking down a grown man and then seeing the grown man freak out as if he was a child. All of it was quite amusing to Aeko.

"What is going on here!?" The guards finally made their way over. But they were very confused as to what was going on. First, a little girl was pulling someone they knew very well, Dio, across the ground towards her while the said person was cursing up a storm. And second, to the little girl's side, another person they knew very well was in tears laughing.

"Sir, it's like this." The man from the skewer stall was the only one still paying attention to his surroundings, walked over, and began explaining things. He did not lie at all and explained the whole situation from beginning to end.

"I see… Then I will need to take in all those involved. Including the young lady here." The guard hated to do it, but his job was his job. One attacked with the intent to kill, while the other used their powers in public. It was not something that could be easily overlooked. At least, this is what he told himself. But the fact was, the one lying on the ground was Dio, a well known climber. He had a lot of say. Or more like he has kicked back a lot of money.

"I would like to see who will be taking Myu anywhere!" A voice rang out from behind the guards. The guards turned to see Kori standing there, her eyes ice cold, causing the guards to shiver slightly. "Myu would never attack anyone first unless provoked. From what I just heard, she acted out of self defense. Not only that, but her flames did not even harm the skewer stand she was standing next to, which meant she controlled them in order not to harm anyone not involved.

"So tell me, why would you arrest her as well when she is the victim?" Kori's voice was loud and clear. Even the guards looked down at the ground. They could not say that they had been long paid off to turn a blind eye to Dio's actions and to help him when he might need it.

Aeko finally snapped out of her laughing fit and wiped the tears from her eyes as she said: "Don't worry, Kori, if they ever tried to take Myu, I would have stepped in. We all know how Dio works."

She was insinuating that the guards had been long paid off. It was a well known fact throughout the climbers. So her saying this now was no secret. But it was one that should not be said out loud since it was basically announcing how corrupt their system truly was.

"I know." Kori nodded as she pushed past the guards and looked at Myu, who was currently stripping Dio of his new boots. She held her head and wondered why this little one was so mischievous. "Myu put those dirty things down."

Myu's hand froze. She currently had a boot in her hand. Hearing Kori, she pursed her lips before throwing the boot to the ground. She then sneakily flicked her finger, causing the boot to suddenly catch on fire. When it did, she suddenly yelled out. "Sister Kori, you were right. He had placed a trap on them!"

Kori was speechless. She wanted to yell out: 'Who are you trying to fool!?' But she held it in when she saw how good Myu's acting was. Aeko was hurting internally from trying not to laugh while the guards all had strange looks on their faces. Only Dio was staring murderously at the little girl who had once again burnt his boots! They cost him a lot of money to replace! They were made with monster hide from the monsters on the tenth floor. They were at least a thousand gold per pair!

"Ahem…." Kori cleared her throat, ignoring the boots that were slowly turning to ash, and looked at the guards. "So the one who should be taken in is Dio. He was the one who attempted murder in public while the other is the victim."

While Kori was saying this with the current situation, even she was having a hard time believing herself. Dio's boots were up in flames. Dio was also lying on the ground, his legs wrapped in Myu's sword chain. Dio also looked as if he had been roughed up, not to mention the sword he still had in his hand, which was half melted. If anything, he looked more like the victim than anyone, but the truth was the truth. "At any rate. I want Dio to be brought to the Guild Association! Someone dared to attempt to kill my guild member in broad daylight will not be let off."

Kori then turned to the people around her and bowed her head. "I hope you all can stand to witness for me."

"Don't worry, Ice Princess. This old man was standing right there when Dio attacked the little girl here. I was in the middle of handing her a skewer when he made his move." The stall owner was not going to allow such a crime to be let off so easily. Dio really did intend to kill the little girl. If the little girl did not have the strength, then she would have been dead.

"Thank you." Kori smiled at the stall owner before patting Myu on the head and said: "Let him go the guards will take him from here. And we will all head to the Guild Association together."

"Like hell, I am going with you! Kori, don't talk like you are all high and mighty! Do you think these guards will follow your ord…. Huh? Wait, what are you doing!?" As soon as Myu released Dio, the guards did not hesitate to put shackles on Dio's wrists and ankles. Such a turn of events shocked Dio to his core. He had paid off all the guards. There would be no way he could get arrested! "Unhand me! How dare you do this to me when I have paid you all so much money!"

"Sir, Dio, the guards of Uruk would never take kickbacks from anyone. Justice will prevail!" What else could the guard do? He had to play dumb. Two powerful climbers were glaring at them. If they did not do what was right, they would be eaten alive! No matter how much money Dio gave them, it was not worth it to lose their jobs over it.