In one of the back alleys of the lower district in Caelhart, a man stood beneath a mana lamp that hadn't been activated yet, as the sun was still out.

He kept his cloak pulled close around his body despite the warmth of the day. From a distance, he looked like nothing more than another shady figure lingering where decent people had no reason to be.

That was exactly how he wanted it. In a place like the lower district, this was a rather normal look to have, making you draw less attention.

His eyes were moving around, looking for his next prey. He had one simple mission: to sell as many pills as he could.

As he was looking around, he spotted a very unusual person to have stumbled in the back alleys of the lower district.

A person dressed in rather fine clothes, with a beautiful-looking rapier at her side. This person was obviously a noble daughter, but she wasn't just any noble daughter.

The man knew that this young lady, who was out of place in the lower district, was none other than Nina Drexford, the only daughter of Marquis Cyrant Drexford.

'Now what is someone like her doing in the lower districts?'

The man was now intrigued, as his eyes followed her around. Nina Drexford walked through the alley with a steady pace, her posture as straight as ever. She spotted him and, surprisingly enough, approached him.

"Hey, you."

The man blinked once, clearly not expecting the young lady to approach him first.

Even so, his surprise only lasted for a brief moment. In a place like this, the ones who survived the longest were those who knew how to hide their reactions quickly.

He lowered his head slightly, keeping his tone careful. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"My lady, are you perhaps lost? This is not exactly the sort of place someone like you should be wandering through alone." He said with a rather careful tone.

Nina's expression did not change in the slightest. "I'm not lost, I came here because I heard something interesting."

The man kept his head slightly lowered, but his eyes sharpened beneath the shadow of his hood.

"And what sort of interesting thing would bring a noble lady such as yourself to this kind of place?"

She looked at him with the calm indifference before responding. "I heard that there is someone here who sells a sort of pill that increases one's abilities. Do you know where I can find that person?"

The man did not answer immediately. For a brief moment, he simply stared at Nina as though trying to decide whether she was serious or merely testing him. Then he let out a low chuckle and straightened a little beneath his cloak.

"Why would a noble lady such as yourself wish to find such a pill?"

"There is someone who is much stronger than I, but I wish to defeat him no matter what. I would do anything to defeat that person."

The man saw the powerful obsession Nina had; he could hear it in her tone. It sounded like something sharpened and pressed flat, a quiet determination that had already gone too far to turn back. That made it believable.

"I see," he said, his tone losing some of its earlier caution. "Then perhaps you were not misinformed after all."

Nina's eyes remained on him. "So you do know something."

The man let out a faint laugh. "My lady, this is the lower district. Everyone knows something. The real question is whether what they know is worth the coin it takes to hear it."

Nina reached into the pouch at her waist and drew out one gold coin, and tossed it to the man, who caught it.

"If this so-called pill works, I will be needing more than one, or is it possible to get a stronger version of it?"

Seeing the gold coin in his hand, the man tried his hardest not to show his glee. Due to some weird rumors going around right now, business has slowed down, and he hasn't sold any pills since yesterday.

Now, there was this person who willingly gave a gold coin and was even saying that she would pay more for better pills. Not to mention, she was the daughter of a high-ranking noble.

This could be a chance to ensnare a noble family. Still, he did not have the authority to give the better pills or make a decision about this matter. He needed to bring someone higher up.

"My lady, if you wish for a better pill, you need to return here once the sun sets. I will bring a person who can give you what you want."

"Very well, I will come back then. But if I come back and find that you have wasted my time, I will not be pleased."

The man was unaffected by Nina's threat-like statement simply smiled as he bowed his head.

"As you wish, my lady. Return after sundown, and I will make certain your time is not wasted." The man spoke with confidence, trying not to snicker.

Nina did not answer him again. She simply turned and walked away with the same calm, steady pace she had arrived with.

***

When the time arrived to meet again, Nina arrived at the same location. This time, the man was accompanied by several other men.

"Who are these men? Is one of them going to give me what I need?" Nina showed no fear despite the presence of more unknown men, and she simply asked what she needed.

The first man, the one she had spoken to earlier, bowed his head slightly as if trying to appear respectful.

"Yes, my lady, he is here; the other men are simply here just in case something untoward happens. They are here to make sure of your safety."

"Hmph, as you can see. I am perfectly capable of defending myself." Nina pointed at her rapier.

"So it would seem. As expected of a child of Norvaegard's nobility."

The person who spoke was one who had a kind of accent Nina was unfamiliar with, but she quickly noticed that, unlike the others, this person was an actual threat.

"And who are you?"

Nina's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the man who had spoken.

He stood straighter than the others, and even though he wore the same sort of plain cloak and a white mask that covered the upper part of his face to hide his identity, there was something about the way he carried himself that made the difference obvious.

He was not like the men around him, who looked like common thugs trying to pretend they were more dangerous than they really were. No, this one was dangerous even while standing still.

The man gave a faint smile beneath the shadow of his hood. "You may call me Zehn. Names beyond that are unnecessary."

Nina did not respond right away. Her eyes briefly moved over the others around him, then returned to his face.

"So you are the one who can give me what I want?"

Zehn chuckled at the question. "If what you seek is power beyond what you can have now. Quick and easy power that overpowers those who wish to defeat. Then yes, I can indeed give you that."

"That's all I needed to hear." The second Nina said those words, from the corners of the alley and from Lucen, Robert, Cael, Alexander, Mina, and Ryan appeared.

"Oh my, so many more guests have appeared, and two of them are quite famous ones." Despite the sudden appearance of Lucen and the others, Zehn was still acting calm as ever.

"It is an honor to meet the Ruby-eyed monster and the Mad Alchemist. Are you two also looking to gain the sweet intoxicating power that I could give?"

Lucen's ruby red eyes stared at Zehn. He was trying to remember if there was any character like this, but there was none with that name or with similar characteristics. This meant this person was a brand new character!

This made Lucen smile ever so slightly as he was getting excited to see what type of character this person was.

'Is he some sort of hidden boss? Or is he a strong boss that appears in the beginning and can only be defeated in the middle stages? Or is he perhaps a possible ally?'

"Well, whatever you are, there is only one thing to do now," Lucen mumbled to himself. Zehn, who had good hearing, responded.

"Oh, and what are you going to do?"

"What else, I'll capture you and ask you all sorts of questions." The second Lucen said those words, the men alongside Zehn stiffened as they grabbed their weapons.

"Is there really any need for violence? If you have a question, why not just ask it? I will answer as long as I can."

"Hoh, is that so. Then can you tell me what happened to the missing people in the lower district?"

Hearing Lucen's question, the men with Zehn started frowning, but Zehn himself tilted his head and answered.

"Will you believe me if I told you that I don't know what happened to them?"

"Sorry, I can't. Which is why I'm capturing you, then I'll make you answer my questions truthfully." Lucen's was ready to strike when Zehn sighed.

"I don't really want that to happen, so I guess I'll need to resist." Zehn snapped his finger, and several magic circles appeared on the ground.

After a second, what came out of the magic circles were monsters, kobolds, but unlike the normal Kobolds found in the area that had blue fur, these ones here had fur that was vermillion.

They looked like dogs that were able to stand upright, and they were wearing quite nice-looking armor.

Lucen and the other could feel the killing intent of the Vermillion Kobolds as they held their weapons at the ready.

Lucen's smile deepened just a little as he looked at Zehn. "Hoh... I guess you're going to make this a little more challenging."