Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âGive me the loan receipt.â Su Yeâs expression was calm. The light from the torches flickered in his eyes.
Lawrence raised his chin slightly in Su Yeâs direction.
A muscular man immediately walked over and snatched the bag of coins from Su Yeâs hands. He then respectfully handed the bag over to Lawrence.
Lawrence opened the mouth of the bag, then tipped the bag over and shook it.
Pitter patterâ¦
The coins fell through the mouth of the bag like a golden waterfall, landing by Lawrenceâs feet and scattering all over the floor like golden stars.
The onlookers gasped. They had never seen this many golden coins in their lives.
Lawrence didnât look down. His gaze was still on Su Ye. He said slowly, âKneel! Pick them up one by one, lick them clean with your tongue, and hand them over.â
Snickers came from the crowd.
Su Ye didnât move.
âIt looks like you have already forgotten your lesson from this afternoon!â Lawrenceâs arms rose slightly.
Su Yeâs expression remained placid. âI only want the loan receipt. If you do not have it, then Iâll head to the divine temple of the Goddess of Justice, Themis, or perhaps the divine palace of the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena. If I remember correctly, the names of both of those noble deities are on the loan receipt. Do you wish to profane the deities?â
âShut up!â The crowd behind Lawrence shouted at Su Ye in unison.
Lawrence looked at Su Ye for a full thirty seconds, then said, âThere is still the interest of a hundred Golden Eagles.â
Su Ye extended his right hand. Hark untied a bag of coins and set it in Su Yeâs palm.
Su Ye opened the bag up and flipped his right hand, sending a second golden waterfall to the ground. The ringing noise of the falling coins was exceptionally pleasing in the silent night.
It was as if stars had fallen to the ground and been dyed gold by an intense flame.
The ground under their feet was the entrance to one of the treasure caves of legend. The wavering light of the flames and the golden shimmer entered the eyes of everyone present.
âYou can lick them up, if youâd like,â Su Ye returned the insult.
âInsolence!â
âDo you want to die?â
âWeâll break his legs!â
âWhat a brazen b*stard!â Koror shouted.
Lawrence raised his hand to stop the curses of his subordinates.
âItâs not enough,â Lawrence said.
âIâll give you another chance,â Su Ye lifted the corner of his lips slightly.
But Lawrence said, âThis has nothing to do with the deities. I still require a fee for protecting the loan receipt.â
Su Ye nodded, then turned his head and said, âMister Hark, there are people amongst Lawrenceâs underlings wielding prohibited scimitars. What would the city guards do if they discovered that?â
Hark slowly raised his right hand. He pinched his thumb and middle finger together, then snapped his fingers, getting everyoneâs attention.
Snap!
The crisp sound rang through the bar.
âThey dare to openly carry prohibited scimitars? They sure arenât giving us city guards any respect!â
The two excited-looking young men who were wielding short swords forced their way through the crowd.
âPut down your scimitars!â The two men raised their short swords immediately and pointed them toward the men behind Lawrence.
The two men looked young but ferocious. They were both Warrior Apprentices, and they were far more powerful than the average person.
The thugs looked at Lawrence, hesitating.
Lawrence looked at Su Ye, then glanced at Hark, then finally looked toward the two soldiers.
âI just had some wine with Captain Lucas yesterday.â Lawrence forced out an amiable smile.
One of the soldiers hesitated, but the taller soldier said boorishly, âWhat Captain Lucas? I donât know him! Put down the scimitars immediately, or I will blow the whistle right now!â
The taller soldier placed a wooden whistle into his mouth after he spoke, then slowly puffed up his lungs as he inhaled.
Lawrenceâs underlings instinctively took a step back. Someone would be held responsible once the whistle was blown, and it definitely wouldnât be these city guards.
A look of fury flashed over Lawrenceâs face. The centipede instantly became red. In a low voice, he ground out, âHark! Is this Mr. Kaertonâs order, or your own will?â
âMine.â Hark gave a direct answer.
Lawrence froze for a moment. The fury on his face deepened. âPut down your metal weapons.â
The bar filled with the ringing sounds of metal weapons hitting the ground. Half of the people behind Lawrence had dropped their weapons.
Only then did the taller soldier put away his wooden whistle. He raised his eyebrows as he bent over to retrieve the weapons.
What an easy way to earn an extra buck.
After the taller soldier tied up all of the weapons, Su Ye suddenly pointed toward Koror, who was by the door of the bar. âFriends from the city guard, it was this man by the name of Koror who cut me with a scimitar at my house today.â
âHmph!â Hark let out a cold grunt.
The taller soldier responded like he had just received an order. He tossed the weapons down, reached out, and grabbed Koror by the neck. He pulled him before Su Ye as if he had just captured a chick.
Lawrence forced his fury down and said, âFriend from the city guard, you are being rather rash.â
âWould I have come here if I wasnât rash?â The taller soldier had a wide smile. He pounded the left side of his chest with his right fist proudly and shot a belittling look at Lawrence.
Lawrenceâs expression sank, and the faces of everyone behind him paled slightly.
That was the Heavy-geared Soldier Salute!
That meant that there was at least an Iron Heavy-geared Soldier in this city guardâs family.
In Greece, Heavy-geared Soldiers were the central force of society. Even nobles had reason to fear them.
In fact, Heavy-geared Soldiers could be said to be the foundation of all the powerful city-states in Greece.
An ordinary city guard wasnât scary, but every Heavy-geared Soldier had countless allies.
Lawrence looked toward Hark.
Hark was once a Heavy-geared Soldier. If he decided to return to that position in the future, he could.
Lawrence didnât move.
A Heavy-geared Soldierâs hatred toward a band of thieves was even greater than the hatred they held for opposing city-states. Not even their antipathy for the Northern Europeans, Egyptians, and Persians was comparable.
The taller soldier placed his right hand on Kororâs head, and a cruel smile split his mouth. He pressed down on Kororâs head fiercely.
Kororâs knees buckled as he was forced to the ground.
âMister Lawrence! Save me!â Koror panicked.
âYou should have thought about this moment when you drew your sword.â Lawrenceâs nonchalant words pierced through Kororâs heart like a blade.
âIâ¦â He was about to speak when his expression changed suddenly. He quickly shut his mouth.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
He jerked his head back to Su Ye. âYoung Master Su Yeâ¦â
What answered him was Su Yeâs heavy right fist.
Boom!
Koror toppled onto the ground. His vision swam, and he could no longer discern between the stars he saw and the golden coins on the ground.
âI was wrongâ¦â Kororâs voice stopped abruptly as Su Ye hit him again.
The crowd stared as Su Ye bent down and pounded Kororâs face with blow after blow. His fist looked like a giant hammer.
One punch, then another.
Su Ye kept going, even as blood splattered in his eyes and painted his entire world with a layer of red.
Kororâs blood flowed out slowly, dyeing the golden coins on the ground a bright crimson.
Koror had screamed pathetically at the start, but his voice became softer and softer as the beating continued.
âYou are even more rash than I am!â the taller soldier said, laughing loudly as he grabbed Su Yeâs right arm.
Su Ye panted and stood up slowly. âThank you.â
The soldier smiled and said, âAll the people in this bar are the dregs of the human race! None of them deserve to live! But you would be in a little trouble if they actually died. Some of these people who were wielding illegal weapons seem like members of a group of thieves. Weâll take them to face sentencing and punishment. If some of them happened to die along the way, that wouldnât have anything to do with you.â
The taller soldier bent over and grabbed Kororâs ankles after he spoke. He dragged the man behind Hark as if he was lugging along a huge piece of ham.
Lawrenceâs underlings couldnât believe what they had just seen. Lawrence had held Koror in high regard for the past few days.
However, as Su Ye had slowly beaten Koror to the brink of death, Lawrence hadnât dared to move.
Lawrence stared at Su Ye.