The slums, or at least, one of the slums in this city. Prosperous this city may appear, there would always be places like it. We arrived in the nearby neighborhood, where gangs and assholes littered the place. It was not that far from the block where the refugee compound was. But according to the limp-dick jerk I interrogated, this was a place some refugees go after moving away from their dorms. This was where they'd be recruited to be workers, gang members, or whatever.

"Well, the bright side of being here is that we can pretty much beat up anyone," Taneva said as he casually looked around. "No one would bat an eye."

I nodded. "I agree. But we should keep it to a minimum. We don't want to provoke the entire neighborhood." Which would be quite annoying to deal with. You'd never know; they might actually work together to drive away outsiders or something.

The street we were currently on was unpaved, with all sorts of crap scattered everywhere. The buildings were all shabby and old, and some were on the brink of breaking down. There were people sitting on the ground, in alley corners, and some beside buildings, all didn't look good, all dirty. I didn't want to know what they were even doing.

There were also some groups of people hanging around in front of houses, with some staring at us suspiciously. We were a group of strangers after all, so they were wary.

Now then, how do I go about starting the search from here?

Someone was bragging, and word had spread, and it spread out fast. Therefore, it might be best to ask a larger group around here. The bigger the group, the more aware it should be of its neighborhood. Hm, if I were alone, and if this were in the past, I might have kidnapped some thug and interrogated him. Of course, as there must be no witnesses, he would die in the end. Nothing but a gangbanger who died in a shootout — that sort of narrative. Of course we'd choose a guy that might have an indirect or direct connection with the target.

This time though, we had no idea of the target. I had only a day to spend to find the targets, so I might have to employ some more drastic measures. Well, we were on a violent and aggressive island. Where might makes it right. I was sure they wouldn't mind a little fight. If they wanna go at it, of course.

We walked around. I noticed some people whispering to each other, and some rushing away. As if to avoid making contact with us.

Hey now, surely you're not all working together here or something. I swear if they're all sharing information, that would be bullshit.

"I feel like we're not welcome here," Velar said as he looked around cautiously.

"That's fine, ignore them."

Well, if you bring a gang, and one of them has a giant ass sword, of course you would not be welcome here.

"What are we looking for, Princess?" Hartwin asked.

"... Something that's promising. At any rate, get ready for some beatdown."

"What are you planning?" Taneva asked. "I don't mind fighting, but you just said to keep it at a minimum."

"Yup, minimum, meaning beating one group."

"And what if they all gang up on us? The entire street?"

"They may share information or something, but I doubt they'd risk their own gang to save another." In fact, they may be happy if one of their competitors disappeared.

"Any peaceful alternatives?"

"Peaceful?" I frowned. "I say good luck then."

"Well, you might have had an idea, but okay." He casually shrugged.

"This is a big neighborhood, so let's not waste too much time doing things that wouldn't give results."

Again, if the ones we ask questions to go peacefully, then all would be well for all of us. No chaos.

As we went, I heard faint sounds of metal clanging nearby. They sounded like swords. Following the source of the sound, we found an open space between buildings. There were around a dozen people gathered around, with two having a sword match, while the rest watched.

We approached and observed their group activity until the group noticed our presence. Wary of us, the sparring men halted their battle and slowly turned towards us with narrowed eyes. Gradually, some of them stood up and slowly moved to face us. Well, we did look like a bunch of guys that were looking for a fight.

I stepped forward and placed my hands behind my back, standing straight.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Who's this girl?"

"Don't know, but she's kinda cute."

Kinda? Now that is offensive.

I was anything but kinda cute, you imbecile. I was the cutest of all. Undermining my cuteness was the height of rudeness and sin. Hm, if I become a god, people should really first address my beauty and perfection. Like when in prayer, they had to mention the perfect goddess Estelia, the most beautiful of all… something like that. Basically, start a prayer with praise. But for now, let's set that thought aside.

"What are you doing here, all of you? You're not from 'round here," said one of them.

I removed my hood and directed at them an emotionless face. Many of them whistled, astonished and mesmerized by my sheer beauty. "I am here to inquire about a story that has been spreading in this neighborhood."

They all looked at each other and chuckled, as if making fun of me.

"Hey lady, we don't give a fuck about any rumors."

"Got nothing to do with us."

I raised my hand. "I wasn't finished."

They scoffed.

"Who are you to act all cocky?"

"Acting all tough ain't fitting for a cutie like you."

This was a bit annoying. "There was a girl who was murdered yesterday. And I heard that someone was bragging about it."

They all looked at each other. Judging from their expressions, they had heard about it, as I expected. The bigger the group, the wider the ears.

"You know what I'm referring to."

One raised an eyebrow. "... What's it got to do with you? For some revenge or something?"

"Our purpose is none of your business. Just tell us where or from whom you first heard of it."

"Why the hell would we help you?"

"... That's right, got nothing to do with us."

I shrugged. "Because helping people is righteous?"

There was silence for a moment before they all burst out laughing.

"What the hell?! Haha!"

"The fuck does righteous mean?"

"We don't intend to get involved in any bullshit."

I quietly groaned. Yup, really makes things more annoying. "Judging from your reaction, the ones who did it are not part of you, am I right?"

"Yeah. But we still aren't telling you shit."

"You will tell me. Who did it, or where did the story start?"

"We ain't helping some people we don't know. At least, let's get to know each other first."

They chuckled among themselves.

The fuck, again, does my gang not look intimidating enough? Shit, I suppose that's why reputation was a thing.

I let out a sigh. "If you refuse to answer what I seek, I'll maim you, one by one."

"Yeah, how'd you gonna do that?"

They didn't believe what I said. But it was their choice. I mentally marked every single one of them before conjuring some Palm Shield constructs, floating in the air around me. I waved my hand forward, and they all moved to some of the enemies.

I didn't get to create for all of them, as I was trying to give a little demonstration.

The constructs quickly attached themselves to their arms and legs. Some tried to fend them off, but as they attacked one, the other would move in and clasp onto their limbs. I tapped my foot on the ground, and ice appeared, crawling towards the rest of the gang members. The hard ice quickly engulfed their bodies, holding them in place.

As I used my magic, I sensed something different. The amount of power output had grown again. My power was growing stronger. Which was both good and bad.

As my magic restrained them, the thugs looked on with shock and confusion.

"W-What the hell is this power?!"

"No fucking way, I can't move."

"What the fuck? Is she a clan member?!"

I approached one of them and forced him to kneel down with the barriers holding his limbs. He had a defiant face as he glared up at me. I crouched down in front of him.

"This is a modified barrier spell. You know how they work, right?" I asked him softly. "They deflect an attack. However, what if an object gets surrounded on all sides? Gradually, the barriers close up. Do you want to find out? Can you imagine what would happen?"

"Screw you!"

"... The object would keep on bouncing and bouncing as the available space decreases. The smaller it is, the more aggressive the bounce will be. To the point that it almost seemed vibrating. And the experience, I assure you, will be quite painful. Do you want to experience it?"

"Do your worst."

I held out my hand and casually waved my finger. His arm gradually began to bounce between the barriers. His face began to contort, feeling uncomfortable, feeling the growing pain.

"Is the information really worth fighting for?"

The man gritted his teeth as he bore the pain. "Fuck, it's not!"

Hm, he didn't even last long. How boring.

I immediately stopped the vibration. "So, tell me what I want."

"F-Fine! We first heard it not far from here, just on the next street. But I don't know exactly who did it."

I stepped back and faced the others. "Does anyone among you know?" They all shook their heads vigorously. I shifted my gaze back towards the man I was interrogating. "Tell me and point to which street ‌the story first came from?"

***

We arrived on the next street. From what the guy said, they first heard the story from a group that was hanging around ‌a house that had a collapsed roof.

"To be honest, I was expecting a direct beatdown. Not you immobilizing them alone," Taneva said.

"... They were more cooperative than I had expected."

And weaker. It would seem they were people who did not prey on monsters. So instead, they prey on humans, those that were weaker than them, those that could not defend themselves. Or I had just gotten stronger… Also, given that they folded so quickly, I was right to think they wouldn't make themselves suffer for another.

"Anyway, we need to search for that house and interrogate whoever is there."

We continued walking down the street. There were people on the corners snorting something, maybe a drug. It would seem I had arrived at a more blighted place.

There were people glaring at us, but we ignored them.

Looking ahead, there were a pair of guys walking towards the street on the left. I glanced at them for a moment, but then, on the larger guy, I noticed something interesting. As he talked with his friend, his face shifted, and I had a clear view of his left cheek.

Huh, I quite expected that he would have had it healed already.

But it would seem he knew no one that could do that, or was just a brand on display or something. The more scars, the mightier you look, as they might say. On that man's face was a visible scratch, the blood had dried. Three lines of it, and the gap was just fitting as from fingers. How quick of him to appear. How unfortunate for him. We didn't even need to interview anyone anymore. But there were only two of them, there was still more. But he just might lead us to them.

"Estelia?"

I glanced towards Hartwin. "Found him."

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