Aberdeen City, a year ago
Ansel looked at the beautiful ebony-haired woman in front of him with his charming peach blossom eyes.
He lifted the hand entangled with his own and placed it against his mouth, making the woman blush.
Hana, however, tried to push down her smile. After all, she was currently in the midst of questioning him.
She couldn't help but remember the beautiful curvaceous blonde and her mood dipped again. "Who was that?"
Seeing that she couldn't get distracted, Ansel sighed, tightening his hold of her hand as he guided her towards a bench.
Ansel was having a great date with this girlfriend of his when annoyingly encountered Winona, Althea's BFF, being harassed by someone in the same park.
It was one of her rich suitors—the type that couldn't take no for an answer—and he was pretty much dragging her to go on a date with him.
Although the two of them didn't get along well—bordering on hostility, actually—he couldn't let her be, right?
So, he swooped in and dealt with the guy (no blood, just a couple of faux-passes that made him lose balance and humiliate himself).
However, it made his current girlfriend, a pretty exchange student from Yuta country, to look at him questioningly.
"She's my sister's best friend." He said, explaining patiently. "We're not close."
"Not close?" Hana asked, narrowing her eyes as if she could see if he was lying if he did so.
He nodded very decisively. "Not close."
Hana didn't say anything for a while and just looked at him deeply, trying to determine if he wasn't just making excuses.
Ansel leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips, "I wouldn't lie to anyone about this."
He already had a reputation at this point, and the women knew what they were getting into.
Hana pursed her lips and sighed, succumbing, and they went on with their date.
The couple continued their walk along the park, buying ice cream as they leisurely chatted, and it was really nice for a while.
They stopped when they heard a cacophony of female screams nearby. "What's that?" Ansel asked, and they went closer to see what the commotion was about.
Who knew, maybe it was a singer they liked. Like, Fable perhaps.
Soon flyers and banners were seen on the ground and on banners, and they found out that it was actually a political campaign of a small politician.
"Why does it seem like an idol is here?" Ansel asked, eyebrows furrowed. He turned to see his girlfriend staring at the life-size Sintra board model of the man.
"That man is quite handsome." She said and Ansel looked at Hana in interest.
"More handsome than your boyfriend?"
Hana chuckled and tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek. "Of course not~"
Vismont Village, Present
The gangsters leered at them in a way that their stomach tumbled in disgust.
"You're new here aren't ya?" One said, extending his hand. "Just right. Let me tell you, to remain here you have to pay some cash!"
It was unsurprisingly, Luke who stepped forward, between his brother and greeted the man.
"You haven't protected us yet, why should we pay you?" Luke immediately answered, with a deep frown on his face.
One of the man's cohorts sneered and clenched his fist threateningly. "Pay or not?"
Luke, their own goon, sneered back. "You? Are you worth it?"
Without warning, the man threw a punch, with Luke preparing to fight back. Ansel had gestured to stop them, not wanting Luke to get kicked out.
But the punch actually connected and Luke immediately countered back, pushing the other back a few steps.
Ansel's eyebrows raised.
'Fighting here isn't prohibited?' He thought. Ansel knew very well the lord had the power to impose this.
In Bright, there were once two people who exchanged hits and they were automatically teleported out of the territory.
Hmn. Territories seemed to have more differences than he thought…
The gangsters' auras changed from smug to angry, and they gestured to attack them, not caring about the bystanders they hit on the way.
How ever did the lord here gather such a fanbase with these scum running about?
Anyway, Ansel quickly cut some of the people who wanted to gang up on Luke, using skills Garan wholeheartedly 'taught' him.
In contrast, although Leo could handle one on his own, he struggled a lot.
Basically for the remaining half dozen men, Ansel and Luke took care of them together.
The past few days of traveling and fighting monsters together did wonders for their teamwork.
They dealt with them quickly and efficiently, with Luke serving as an aggressive 'tank' and Ansel as the main attacker. By the end, he—without using a weapon—also used his skill, shocking the men.
A flash of light passed and a huge piece of skin was taken away.
"Fuck! What did you do!" The gangster said as he felt blood drop from his arms.
'What happened?' He thought, disbelieving. 'The brat didn't have weapons on him, right?!'
Ansel felt a few admiring gazes cast in their direction, but he received hateful glares from the men on the ground. "Bastard—"
They took out their weapons, and naturally, the trio did as well. Luke took out his wooden spear and shield, while the other two took their swords.
The gangsters did not care who they hit and a lot of citizens became collateral damage.
Luke was a real source of brute force, while Ansel received harsh training since he was a child, so they really managed to handle the men even when they were outnumbered.
However, just as they were about to gain the upper hand, about a dozen men appeared, heroically taking down the gangsters.
The actions were swift, especially since the gangsters were weakened, and this was followed by a soft but commanding voice emerging from the crowd.
"How many times have I told you that you can't hurt the citizens?! Have you forgotten the prohibition to kill? Even if it was an accident you will not be exempt."
The low stern voice echoed across the crowd and the people's faces brightened instantaneously at the recognition of its owner.
"My Lord!" The people exclaimed, looking at him admiringly as if he saved their lives.
Ansel looked on with interest.
This timing… was interesting.
He bet 10 gold this guy had been watching for a while. Why, though?
The owner of the voice was a very handsome young man. When everyone was dirty and haggard he gave off a clean and charming feeling, at the same time exhibiting mature masculine charm.
No wonder those women looked dreamy at the mention of him.
He was even wearing well-made long sleeves with a turtleneck in this weather. Was he trying to pass himself up as a monk?
More interestingly, Ansel also happened to know this guy from Terran. He had seen him campaign when he was on one of his dates.
He remembered him because of the screaming girls and ladies, as if he was a pop star.
Apparently, the lord here was a small politician. One of his major taglines was that he was supposedly a 'clean' politician from a commoner background.
He heard before that people with 1000 gold upon Migration were required to even get a chance for a Lord token. How'd this guy get 1000 gold in 24 hours?
Still, Ansel watched as the man was surrounded by his thankful citizens with narrowed eyes, and sneered.
If he really wanted to help these people, he could've kicked those men. At least, he could've stopped the gangsters from harassing the people long-term.
He had seen Bright's plaster-face deal with troublesome people who entered his territory. The power of those with the Lord title, at least inside their jurisdictions, was not to be underestimated.
Ansel narrowed his eyes as he looked at this man.
It was either this lord was too weak… or he didn't really want to help at all.