The sound of the evening breeze in his ears was a little noisy, but Al didn't pay attention, the long-brimmed hat was pressed low, and with the power of the "steel bone" he could easily climb and shuttle between buildings, and Al's mind was all on the speeding vehicle in the distance.

Ever since Al saw the unusual vehicle on the roof of the abandoned church, his nerves had tensed, and even though the four humanoids were wearing triangular steel hoods, Al recognized them immediately, yes, they were four minotaurs from the Green Valley Forest, enslaved orcs.

"Damn bandit, I won't spare you this time!" Al cursed, his left hand easily grasping the wings of an eagle-shaped sculpture, slamming it down, and then his entire body soared into the air.

On the edge of the business district, you can find a gradual increase in the number of armed men patrolling at night, most of them in groups of three or five, and they are more disciplined, even more than the soldiers patrolling the district, because a large part of them are mercenaries sent by the chaebol group.

"Oh no, it's getting more and more people!" Al had just jumped over the roof of the building, and could see that there were noticeably more pedestrians passing on the street below.

Al had to hurry up and stop the car before it drove out of the Old Town, he had too many questions and anger in his mind about what kind of guy could enslave living beings with impunity, and be born a tame minotaur.

Thinking of what Eve had said to him in the afternoon, Al was even more puzzled, could it be that this guy in the carriage was really making some ulterior deal with the upper echelons of the Green Valley Defense Line, and the answer to all the puzzles would be revealed after he stopped the car.

For a moment, Raphael seemed to be the target of public criticism, and several figures from different directions in the old city rushed towards his location.

Sitting next to Raphael in the carriage, he played with the dice on a small table at hand, spinning and hitting each time he threw two dice until he finally quieted down, and the number 6 was on the upward side.

In the shadows, Raphael's mouth always had a strategizing smile on his lips, and then he swung the reins and slammed the Minotaur's body hard, and there were a few more blood-red marks.

"Woo. From the triangular steel hood came the unwilling roar of the bull-headed people.

"Oh, what a wonderful voice!" Raphael's voice was a little sickly, "Go on, keep wailing, inferior race!"

"Bang bang. ”

The sound of the reins whipping came from the dark alley, and they reached Al's ears with the low roar of the minotaur as if they were whipped on his own body, and Al's heart was bleeding.

The "steel bone" plunged directly into the hard wall, and Al's body shot out as the bricks shattered, heading straight for Raphael's carriage, leaving only pedestrians looking up at the top with an unknown face.

Memories go back to that summer night, the old town of Nak was quiet only with the chirping of cicadas and insects, on the roof of the blacksmith's shop, a mat was spread, and two figures, one large and one small, were resting their arms and looking at the towering trees in the green valley forest in the distance, the starry light was colorful, in starry contrast to the staggered lights in the center of the town.

"Al, do you know how the walls of the Green Valley Line were built?" Paul clutched a leaf in his mouth.

"Of course, it was built by Imperial soldiers, and I've seen the record under the statue of Sergeant Boss Panson," Al turned his back to Paul, "There were only army sentry posts on the edge of the Green Valley Line, and it was a high wall built by Sergeant Captain Panson, and Lord Panson is a hero in my heart, and I have memorized his deeds by heart. ”

"When you grow up, you'll learn that what you see is just someone who deliberately made you see it. ”

"Uncle Paul, don't be foolish, am I not right?" said Al.

"This wall separating the town of Nack from the forests of the Green Valley was built by the orcs and the soldiers of the Green Valley Line, or more precisely, the chief of the Minotaurs and Sergeant Major Panson," Paul said, looking at the uneven wall, "otherwise the boulders would not have been able to move by manpower." ”

"Minotaurs? are you a type of orcs? I haven't heard of them," Al was intrigued, and he turned to Uncle Paul, "Tell me, uncle." ”

"The Minotaurs, arguably the most peace-loving and docile of the orc tribes, helped the humans build the walls only so that they could protect the only habitat they had," Paul sighed, "but they chose the wrong person to work with, and the greed and cunning of humans are stronger than any other race." ”

"What's going on?" said Al, looking anxiously at Uncle Paul, trying to get him to continue.

"After the death of Sergeant Major Panson, the Green Valley higher-ups carried out a major purge, and the new high-ups directly tore up the previous contract signed with the Minotaurs, no longer providing help to the Minotaurs, and indirectly led to a significant reduction in their habitat, and were even driven to the outermost part of the Midoriya Forest by other orcs. ”

"How can this be!" said Al indignantly.

"Because, where there are human beings, there is war. Uncle Paul rubbed Al's hair indulgently, and stopped talking about it.

And it was at this time that the young Al planted the seed of sympathy for the Minotaur in his heart.

The memories of his youth flashed by, and Al's gaze became sharp again, and he flew closer and closer to Raphael's carriage.

With two more streets to the bustling business district, Al already has a flickering neon light in his vision, and he must stop the movement of the carriages as soon as possible in order not to cause a disturbance.

The scales of the "steel bone" opened to the fullest, and a faint flash of fire began to flicker between the gaps, and Al flew close to Raphael's carriage.

"Punch!"

Al meditated in his heart, and the "steel bone" in his left hand seemed to be inspired, and the flames between the scales and armor were swallowed like a burning torch.

Ever since learning martial arts from Li Shiyi, Al has been following Li Shiyi's teachings and tirelessly practicing the simplest punches, and now it's time to test its power.

The fist of the fire slammed down on the rear wheels of the carriage with an indomitable momentum, and the "steel bone" armor turned into the arm of the fire dragon at this moment, and delivered a fatal blow to the target.

In a breath, Al's fist had already slashed through the corner of a street and approached the carriage, when a black figure suddenly rushed out of the street, his movements as fast as lightning. Not even the street lights illuminated him, and the shadow caught up with Al in the blink of an eye.

The whistling fist slammed down with Al's rage, and just as he thought he was about to succeed, the black figure spun and flew in front of Al, right between the carriage and Al.

A pitch-black Shura mask appeared in front of Al's eyes, and at the same time, Al's fist hit the opponent's weapon, which was a long black knife, which Al was all too familiar with.

"Senior Brother Li Shiyi?!" Al's pupils contracted.

That's right, it was Li Shiyi who blocked Al's charged blow.

The black knife was unsheathed, and by the time Al realized that something was wrong, it was too late, so Al's fist slammed into the black knife's scabbard almost without reservation.

There was no eye-catching loud noise, but when the "steel bone" slammed into the black knife, it could be clearly seen that the blade of the black knife was bent into a terrifying arc, and the black light flashed and devoured all the flames, but it could not offset the huge force.

The hard bluestone slab cracked and shattered under Li Shiyi's feet, and it wasn't until Li Shiyi stuck his knife into the ground that he barely managed to defuse the impact of Al's punch.

"Senior brother, you?" Al shook his wrist, and the scale armor of the "steel bone" quickly fit back into his palm.

As soon as he stabilized his body and pulled out the black knife inserted into the ground, Li Shiyi ran towards Al again, but this time it was not an attack, he came to Al's side, grabbed Al's shoulder and pulled him into the shadows of the street.

"Senior brother..."

As soon as Al was about to speak, a hand tightly covered his mouth, and then Li Shiyi, who had taken off his Shura mask, revealed his face from the black mist, and he made a silent gesture at Elbi, signaling him not to speak.

Immediately afterward, I heard the sound of a string of iron boots falling to the ground on the street outside, a group of patrolling soldiers.

And Raphael's carriage didn't seem to continue moving.

Li Shiyi gave Al a look, meaning not to make a sound, listen carefully.

"Lord Raphael, I didn't expect to meet you here so late. "It seems like a soldier is talking to someone in the carriage.

"It turned out to be a crusade guy, I thought I had encountered a thug. Raphael's tone was a little weird.

"You're laughing, Mr. Raphael. "The soldier was polite.

"Go ahead and get your business done, I don't have time to waste time here. ”

"You've gone all the way. ”

The Minotaur then pulled Raphael's carriage into the commercial district.

Al tried to rush out to stop him, but was stopped by Li Shiyi, and it wasn't until the street outside was calm that Li Shiyi let go of the hand that was holding Al.

"Why are you stopping me?!" Al was a little excited, he was just one step away from the truth of "the kidnapping of the minotaur", but the appearance of Li Shiyi buried his chance.

"If I don't stop you, you're going to die. Li Shiyi looked at Al coldly.

"Don't you know that guy is the culprit who enslaved the Minotaurs?"

"I know. ”

"And what do you mean by that?"

Li Shiyi looked away from his-for-tat gaze at El, and a misty Shura mask resurfaced on his face.

"If you want to investigate the truth of this matter, when the mission is over, even if it is dangerous, I will accompany you on a trip," Li Shiyi inserted the black knife back into his waist, "but not now." ”

"Stay here, Freya and Andre will come looking for you," Li Shiyi glanced back at Al, "Remind you, 'Punch' is still not fast enough, go back and continue practicing." ”

After speaking, Li Shiyi rushed to the roof of the building, jumped in the direction of the business district, and disappeared into the bright night after a while.