Today was an unlucky day for Niko, a neighbourhood thief of Dohara who usually roamed around the market plaza targeting travellers and inattentive visitors. Not only he was caught during the act, worse thing was his captor seemed to be of a higher standing than he had first thought.
Catching glimpse of a metal plate underneath the person's shabby cloak, his eyes were fixated at the symbol of World Tree etched on the plate. He started to sweat profusely.
"Good holy knight, Sir, I apologise for not recognising your brilliance! Please have mercy, I promise to never do such thing again!" With one arm being tightly gripped, he could only dropped his knees on the ground, not daring to look up to meet the other man's gaze.
"Hmm..." A deep voice came from the man, sounding contemplative.
His companion, a red-haired man with a thin scar running along his left cheek, chuckled.
"What a warm welcome to this backwater city, eh? What are you going to do, Armand? Should we take him to the Magistrate?"
Niko's knees weakened. If he was taken to the Magistrate and jailed, then there would be no food today either for his family. Even worse, he might lose a limb or two. While the Magistrate was generally a fair ruler, he was also very rigid.
"Anything but the Magistrate my Lord! I'm sorry, I will never mess around with you and your companion again!"
"..how old are you?" The man called Armand looked down at the teary-eyed boy.
Niko swallowed hard. "E-eleven my lord, at least that's what Anya said."
"..Anya?"
"I think he was talking about the 'Mother' of all the street kids in this place, the unofficial ruler of these markets." The red-haired man leaned towards Armand, his voice low.
Armand looked at the skinny boy with conflicting emotions. On one hand, the teachings of the World Tree Temple were strict when it came to criminal acts. On the other hand, his opponent seemed to be just a child.
Sighing, he loosened his grip but manoeuvred his hold to bring the child to his feet. An idea sprang in his mind - a local should know the area best.
"What's your name?"
"N-Niko, my Lord."
"Niko, I'm Armand. Could you please guide me to where you live?"
*****
"Hey, Armand, I don't think this is a great idea." The red-haired companion whispered to him as they walked down a narrow, dark alley lined with dilapidated buildings, guided by Niko at the front.
"..let's just wait and see. You're free to wait at the inn Flint, if you're scared."
Flint immediately scowled. This bastard!
"Um.. we're here." Niko looked at the two men hesitatingly. As much as he disliked taking them to his homebase, he had certainty that Anya's men would be able to handle them if needed.
Armand looked at the run-down building in front of him and entered without hesitation.
Six adults and roughly a dozen children were inside, exactly as his observation skilled informed him. They all turned around the moment the two men entered, wariness and suspicion drawn on their face.
Almost immediate, two of the six men inside reacted and approached Armand and Flint. They drew their swords in unison and slashed at them wordlessly. Niko shouted in panic,
"Brothers, stop! They are here to see Anya!"
The two men ignored Niko, their swords' trajectory still maintained the original path. However, before their swords could even reach within a close proximity of Armand and Flint, they were flung away with such force by an invisible shield.
"Ahhh!!" Some children's screams could be heard as they ducked to avoid the flying swords. The two attackers were flabbergasted for a second and then became even more on guard.
"It's a mage!" One shouted.
In an instant, the remaining four men joined the initial two, their swords withdrawn in a tense stand-off.
Flint sighed. "Well, I can't stay this is unexpected. Armand, it seems you bring chaos wherever you go!"