I stood in front of the doorway, still blocked by Levi’s pile of compressed soil.

“Are you ready?” Levi asked, floating next to me. He has returned to his original appearance and was full of energy.

“Sure.”

Rumble Rumble!

As Levi released used his spell, the compact soil blocking the doorway cracked. It crumbled and fell apart, revealing the dark corridor.

I saw countless pairs of red pupils. As I expected, the giant rats have not been lazing around while I was advancing. They roamed around the room, looking for ways to access their drinking point.

“Squeak!”

Despite facing the threatening giant rats, I did not panic. My body was stronger than before and although I could not use any spells at the moment, I was confident in dealing with these rats. However, before I was able to move, Levi released his aura, suppressing both the giant rats and me.

“No need to make a move. As I promised, I’ll get you out of the tombs safely.” Levi said calmly.

The giant rats immediately retreated under the pressure. They were intimidated by the aura of a fourth circle creature. I felt Levi’s aura towering above me. It was not as bad as before since I advanced but it was enough to send a shiver down my spine. I knew I would not stand a chance if Levi wanted to harm me.

At the same time, I felt bitter. ‘Why did you never release your aura before? It could have saved us so much time when dealing with the giant rats…’

Before long, we reached the first chamber where the exit tunnel was located. The water level has risen and now reached my knees. Walking around was frustrating; my feet were completely soaked as my boots could not keep the water off.

Levi stayed true to his words. Using his spells, he enlarged the tunnel, such that I no longer needed to crawl. I simply needed to lower my head slightly and I could easily walk through it. I did not know whether to blame myself for never thinking of enlarging the tunnel before or to curse Levi for not doing so in the first place.

Nevertheless, I walked out of the tunnel and faced a wet and rainy canyon. The monsters were nowhere to be found, hiding from the rain. The rain has turned into a light drizzle which did not affect me much, but the ground had turned muddy. There were puddles and pits hidden everywhere. Based on the light level, I estimated that I spent a little over twenty-four hours inside the tombs. The night was about to fall again which would explain why the canyon felt so empty.

The return journey felt longer and more arduous than usual. Eventually, the large merchant tower came into view and I heaved a sigh of relief. I could finally return home, have a good warm meal and more importantly, a bath to remove all the mud on my body!

I went straight to the merchant tower. I wanted to quickly sell the giant rat corpses before they rotted and contaminated my storage belt. The clerk smiled at me politely, but I felt that there was more to this smile than he was showing.

“49 corpses. 245 points will be added to your name.” The clerk announced after counting the corpses.

“Sure. I’ll buy a hot tart and bread while I’m at it. Add in some cleaning supplies too.”

After placing my new purchases in my storage belt, I headed to my house, ignoring the light drizzle. However, as soon as my house came into view, I noticed that something was amiss.

I furrowed my brows as my expression hardened. I hurriedly ran to my house and confirmed that it was not an illusion. The door was open; the lock that I placed was nowhere to be seen.

My heart sank. ‘What? Who?’

I felt lost and confused. Nevertheless, the first thing I did was to rush inside and look for what was missing. There were no changes to the furniture but the stash of Nazlock coins that I kept hidden under my bed was missing.

I kept over six thousand Nazlock coins in my house. These small metallic coins took a lot of space and carrying them in my storage belt would just be a waste of space. I left them here, believing that they were safe in my house. I never heard of people stealing directly from other people’s houses in my past life. In the end, I paid the price. I was too naïve. Of course something like that would be possible; the tower did not protect the houses claimed by people. Thieves were free to act and unless caught, would face no repercussions.

Over 6000 Nazlock Coins were gone just like that!

My heart ached. I went from a state of shock and confusion to a state of anger and frustration.

“Who was it? Who was the m*therf*cker who did this?”

I stared fixedly at the place where I left all the Nazlock Coins.

“Levi!” I called for him. However, even after a few seconds have passed, the fairy had yet to appear.

‘He must be busy dealing with the other fairies. They had a brief conflict.’

‘F*ck!’ I cursed internally.

‘First, find out who did this… I wanted to stay civilised and mind my own business, but people keep looking for trouble.’

…

“Hello again, dear customer. How can I help you?” The clerk of the merchant tower greeted me enthusiastically.

I wordlessly took out a Nazlock coin from my storage belt and placed in on the counter. “You already know what happened right? Did someone else bring Nazlock Coins here?” I asked impatiently. The first thing an inexperienced person would do with the Nazlock coins would be to appraise them and the best place to do so was the merchant tower.

The clerk shook his head. “Apologies, but I am not allowed to reveal the personal information or transactions of our customers.” He smiled faintly.

I rolled my eyes. Wasn’t he already acknowledging the facts by saying this? I took out a handful of Nazlock Coins. “I know the merchant tower also deals with information. So… How much?”

There were about fifteen coins on the counter. The clerk glanced at them and gracefully cupped them in his hands, causing them to mysteriously vanish. “The person you are looking for is called Rudolf. He lives on the third street. Fifth house on the left side from the main street.”

“Did he buy anything with the Nazlock Coins?”

In response, the clerk quietly opened his palm, clearly indicating that the price I paid was not enough for this information.

I snorted. “Nevermind. I’ll find this out by myself.” I stormed out of the merchant tower, heading directly toward the address given by the clerk.

The latter bowed politely. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

‘Rudolf, huh? Wasn’t that the name of the guy who sent his fairy to tail me?’

I furiously strode toward the given address. I never went deep inside the village in this life and did not recognise any of the houses.

‘Second street…. Third Street…’

I stopped in front of the house with the given address. The houses of the village varied in size and quality. It was first come first served; if one wanted a comfortable house to live in, then one needed the strength to claim it.

The house was rather large and had a second floor, indicating that there were probably more than one person living there. The curtains were closed but I could see the light of a candle on the other side.

I paused for a moment, contemplating on how to approach the inhabitants of this house. It was possible that only Rudolf was guilty, and the others would simply be dragged into this matter. It was also possible that Rudolf was simply a scapegoat, but all of this did not matter.

The policy of the tower has always been straight forward.

Guilty until proven innocent!

Attack first! Ask questions later!

The formal justice system that the Earthlings were used to did not exist here. One should not expect fairness.

I stepped forward but completely ignored the wooden door. Why should I knock at the door like any civilised and respectful individual? Someone who stole from me did not need to be treated with respect.

I took out my spear from my storage belt as I pushed away my wet hair that was obscuring my vision. Then, without hesitation, I spun my spear and smashed its shaft into the window. The windowpane exploded and without a word, I jumped inside.