Kornacis, Lowlife District, Reeking Strip.

There wasn't space for carriages, wheelhouses, and wagons to go. It was packed, like sardines in a can. The long strip of land was filled with people walking shoulder to shoulder.

'…Any of these people can be part of the Trashfangs.'

Raquel thought while hiding herself under a long hoodie of her black cloak. She wasn't alone, as the rest of the members of the Investigation Squad were walking about in the strip.

She realized why the Trashfangs took the Lowlife District as the place of their operation. It was always packed with people and easy to sneak in and sneak out.

They could make themselves look like homeless people and blend in with the rest of the crowd.

However, the Investigation Squad had planned a trap.

With his hands inside his pocket, James was walking down the street with his chin high and dressed in rather fancy attire.

They made look like a young prince of some wealthy family—a prime target to get robbed.

Abbott and Daniel were hiding in the crowd, keeping their eyes glued to James. They were ready to act whenever they saw a suspicious individual approach him.

'…It smells disgusting here.'

James thought as he was walking about, and with his shoulders grazing the dirty people all around him, he shuddered.

He was certain that he would have to spend the entire night in a bath, just scrubbing off the smell off his body.

In that moment, a figure appeared before him. It happened so fast that James didn't even know where he appeared.

The person was staring straight at him.

'Is he the one?!'

James wondered, and then the person bumped shoulders with him and kept walking in the opposite direction.

"Ah?"

He gasped and let out a breath of relief, trying to calm down his racing heartbeat, and he thought that he was way too paranoid.

However, with his itchy hands, he traced his hand close to his belt and touched his holster, but the familiar bulge wasn't there anymore.

"?!"

James turned his head down to the holster. His white revolver was missing. He turned his head around in shock.

With a smile on his face, a thick-bearded man was twirling the white revolver in hand. It was the man who had bumped into him earlier.

"You bastard."

James had cold sweat running down his back. He didn't even feel that his revolver got snatched from his holster. It was truly shocking.

'This guy…'

He tapped on his forehead, trying to check the man's Mind Image, but he didn't see anything except nothingness.

'Nothing? This guy isn't a Blessed One?'

James was shocked, and then, he flicked his wrist, and the white revolver appeared back on his hand.

It was impossible to steal Outlaw's revolver, as they could always summon it back to them, but James knew it wasn't the man's intention to steal it.

He wanted to humiliate him.

"You're under arrest!"

James shouted and pointed the revolver at the thick-bearded man. The crowd dispersed around them, running in all directions, screaming in panic.

"Under arrest? You're a policeman now?"

Aren chuckled under the homeless person's appearance. He then noticed three more figures appearing from the crowd.

"Go down to your knees, put your hands behind your back, and don't resist!"

Raquel shouted, thrilled that they actually caught a member of Trashfangs, and so quickly too!

They could easily make this person talk with the help of Leaders of the Guild, and they would then discover the hideout of the Trashfangs.

"I refuse."

Aren said with a smile.

"…Last warning."

James cocked the gun.

"You will fire the gun? You might accidentally shoot someone over in the crowd. You might kill me, and then you'll receive zero information out of me."

Aren said with a chuckle.

"Ugh…"

James gritted his teeth.

"You will be apprehended with force then!"

Raquel shouted.

"…Try me then."

In that moment, Aren laughed and lunged at James. He grabbed the barrel of the white revolver, pushed it aside, and thrust his palm outward, striking James in the chest.

James stumbled a step back. Aren swung his elbow at him. He blocked it with his forearm and pushed his foot down on Aren's knee, pushing him down to the ground.

'This strength is definitely that of the Blessed One, but how come I can't see his Mind Image? I cannot understand. Is he in possession of a blocker?'

James quickly thought, and then with Aren standing back up, they exchanged hands. Punches cracked against each other's bones, and knee kicks and elbow strikes flew through the air, creating a symphony of combat.

In that moment, James trapped Aren's arm behind his back, and he then hurled him through the air.

Crack!

Aren's flying body crashed through a window, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. The shards of glass rained down like deadly confetti.

"Whew."

James cracked his knuckles. He was the better fighter. It was pretty obvious, and while he was one level higher than Aren, his skills were still superior.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Abbott snapped his fingers three times. Three summons appeared before him. They were one catgirl, one dog girl, and one bird girl.

While they looked human, they had some animal characteristics.

The cat girl had pointy ears and a tail. The dog girl had fluffy ears and a wagging tail. The bird girl had wings on her back with feathers running down to her arms.

"Go apprehend him, my lovely girls."

Abbott said.

The three summons approached the destroyed window. In that moment, three ear-piercing gunshots echoed down the streets. A bullet wound appeared in each of the summons' foreheads.

They collapsed and vanished.

"No, my beautiful girls!"

Abbott screamed in shock.

"He is Blessed One!"

James screamed, and each of them was equally shocked. They had also tried to check the man's Mind Image.

It would be easy to track the man with the help of Mind Image in the future if they knew what it would look like.

At that moment, Aren jumped out of the window, his revolver nowhere to be seen, and he then ran past James and into the crowd.

"Chase after him!"

Daniel shouted, and while he, James, and Abbott took off into a run, chasing after him, Raquel leaped across the air.

At that moment, she spat in front of her. The spat before her froze in midair. It turned into a long ice spear.

She grabbed the ice spear and hurled it towards the running Aren.

"…Heh, you shouldn't throw something so dangerous with so many people around!"

Aren said with a laugh, hid behind one of the people, and the ice spear happened to pierce an arm of one of the bystanders.

"Ahhh, my arm!"

Her arm started freezing and turning blue from the icy wound.

"Oh no!"

Raquel shouted in shock.

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