Qin Wei was tense. He was prepared to get beaten but was hoping Vanessa to act if the opponent ended up too powerful. The crowd was tense that there might be a daylight murder. And even Vanessa was tense for sure. She is certainly stronger than the enemy, but she also doesn't know his background. And she certainly didn't want to cause trouble for the House Griffin by offending someone from a prestigious Noble House or a Sect.
But to everyone's surprise, the noble gritted his teeth and then, with a huff of disdain, barked at his coachman. "We're leaving. This ain't worth my time."
He cast a final glare at Qin Wei and turned back to the woman, who was still trembling beside her stall. "Woman, more than him, your resistance has caused great humiliation today. I shall remember this."
The coachman lashed the reins, and the carriage rolled away, ignoring the unconscious guards left groaning on the ground.
Qin Wei remained where he stood, letting down his arms, finally relaxed at his sides. He didn't chase after the enemy because he wasn't confident enough to win. And the matter was resolved anyway.
"Good work, Master"
"That noble brat deserved it!"
"Thank you for standing up for us, Mister."
At the same time, a chime is heard in his head, and a holographic screen appears before his eyes.
*Ding! Mission Complete: "Damsel in Distress"
[Talent Points earned: +4]
A light breeze swept the street as he exhaled, feeling slightly sore all over his body. It wasn't from this battle. It's just that his muscles were sore earlier from the foundation training, and just when his muscles were relaxed, he fought.
Just then, the duck meat dumpling vendor, the woman he had just saved, stepped forward.
She wore a grateful smile on her face, but… her eyes flickered oddly, an emotion he couldn't quite name. Was it Anger? Annoyance? Suspicion? But it vanished the next second, replaced by gratefulness.
She bowed with her hands clasped formally. "Thank you, Mister… for helping me," she said, maintaining politeness.
Qin Wei nodded, brushing soot from his sleeves. "Are you alright?"
"I am. Just… shaken. But yes, thank you." Her voice softened, and then… "May I know your name?"
He met her gaze evenly, letting his voice rise just enough for the surrounding onlookers to hear clearly.
"Icarus Phoenix"
Her eyes widened instantly. "Icarus? You mean, Icarus? The Trash of House Phoenix?"
The street hushed around them.
Someone suddenly spoke aloud with a gasp, "Lady Thea's husband?"
"He's that matrilocal son-in-law of House Griffin?"
"I thought he was trash, though?"
"So, Master Icarus can fight?"
"I heard that everyone in House Phoenix was massacred recently. Did he awaken his latent powers in grief or something?"
"Maybe, House Griffin helped him..."
"Oh, please… not even the Imperial family can turn a plainfolk into a spirit warrior."
"Master Icarus is actually righteous. Who spread such blatant lies about him?"
Someone whispered, "Did you see the technique he used? Lightning dragons… I've never seen anything like that!"
The murmurs continued to spread all over the market like wildfire in no time.
Qin Wei's ears perked up, listening to the praises. He couldn't help but open the missions list, and he saw that the reputation points slowly started improving, only when they got to know his name.
At this, Qin Wei understood that being grateful to him is useless, but the people should change their views about House Phoenix's Icarus. That's when his reputation points will improve.
As murmurs broke out among the spectators, the street vendor woman blanched and bowed her head quickly. "I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
Qin Wei raised a hand, dismissing it with calm indifference. "It's alright," he said, but then his voice grew firmer as he spoke aloud. "I understand that there are a lot of rumors passing around my name."
He stepped forward, making the face of a righteous man as he said aloud, "But don't believe every rumor you hear, especially ones crafted by bitter cowards. Rumors spread more easily than the truth. But actions speak louder than words, do they not?"
A pause followed. The vendor blinked at him, confused… doubtful, even. But she didn't speak. The surrounding crowd, however, began to murmur again.
"Indeed, Master Icarus saved that girl… and fought for her."
"Doesn't act like a villain to me."
"Maybe the rumors were blown out of proportion?"
"Did you see those lightning dragons? Those weren't the skills of a coward."
In his mind, more notifications chimed like soft rain on tiles:
Reputation Improved: +1
Reputation Improved: +1
Reputation Improved: +1
Reputation Improved: +1
He offered a slight smile to the vendor, then turned away from the crowd, his robe fluttering faintly behind him. Vanessa followed him in silence.
After a moment, she glanced at his back, thinking. "Fire, Lightning, and Light... he has affinity with three elements. Were those rumors truly exaggerated to hide his true strength and character?"
But then she immediately shook her head, "No way… this shameless, lecherous prick is righteous… no way… no way… he must be acting this way to change his image, now that he is the son-in-law of House Griffin. The Lord will certainly appreciate this, though." When the thought came to her head, a smile automatically came to her lips. "I must say, he looked cool for a second out there… like a proper warrior..."
And then realization crept into her mind, "No… what are you thinking, Vanessa..." She shook her head out of her thoughts as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Qin Wei, feeling a gaze on his back, turned around. Vanessa was startled, "Wha..."
"Nothing..." He blinked twice and then shook his head, walking again.
Not far from them, the street vendor, who had just been saved, was seen standing motionless in the middle of the street, still clutching the dumpling basket as she stared at his back.
But the grateful smile from earlier was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a sharpened gaze with unmistakable loathing. Her fingers curled tightly around the edge of the bamboo tray as she muttered. "Damn you, bastard. Six weeks. I worked hard for six painstaking weeks, crafting a persona of a dumpling seller on this exact corner, wearing this exact mask of modest beauty, over Imperial City, then Dawnmere, and now Ashenford. All in the hopes of falling in the eyes of Zion Fireheart. And today was the day he was finally going to take me to his house, I got the perfect chance to finish off Mikhael Fireheart."
And then this man appeared. Set her entire operation ablaze with one flashy fight and a smug grin.
She spat on the ground behind him, her smile now turned cold. Meanwhile, her aura of a plainfolk flared up into rank 9 instantly.
"Knowing your identity, you think I will believe for a second you did that out of chivalry?" she whispered venomously under her breath as Qin Wei finally disappeared from her sight. "Either you're trying to seduce me… or worse, you're aware of the Shadow Guild's operation, and you're deliberately interfering."
Her eyes narrowed, recalling the details of the fight.
Multiple elemental affinities? Uncommon, very uncommon even in the top organizations.
Even more suspicious? She couldn't see through his Rank at all. Not even a hint.
And the woman beside him, that one was clearly a rank-8 warrior. A bodyguard of that caliber shadowing someone the whole empire labeled as trash?
No. None of this added up. Or atleast for her.
"I'm starting to think those rumors about him being trash were planted on purpose by Aegis Phoenix to hide him."
She exhaled slowly and forcefully calmed herself down, and picked up the bamboo tray again. With a fleeting glance around, she stepped back behind her stall and packed it up quickly.
"Whatever the case, this has to be reported to the elder. The Shadow Guild's mission cannot go unfulfilled."
Her steps quickened as she melted into the flow of the crowd, disappearing like she didn't exist.