Chapter 294: Intimidating Presence

Emotionally, I felt exactly like a frog frozen under a snake’s glare.

My body stiffened and I couldn’t move. Then Sheila stepped between me and Barnett.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Sheila.”

“Hm? You look pretty strong! The one behind you looks real weak, though!”

Ignoring Sheila’s outstretched hand, he came closer to me and reached out his hand.

He was terrifying, but once someone offers you a handshake, you don’t really have a choice but to take it.

Barnett’s hand was enormous, easily one and a half times the size of mine. The skin on his palm was as hard as rock, and he gave off such an overwhelming presence that it was hard to believe we were the same species.

“Your hand’s soft too, like a woman’s! Why is someone like you friends with Velvet?”

“W-Well… a lot happened…”

“Barnett. I told you not to be rude, didn’t I?”

“I was just talking normally! I was only asking because I was curious! Sorry if I scared you!”

Barnett patted my head as if he were soothing a child, then returned to his seat.

Honestly, he scared me badly, but I don’t think he was a bad person.

I had simply been overwhelmed by his presence and shrunk back on my own.

“Back to what we were saying, are you sure he’s fine as a guard? It looked like he had been drinking since morning.”

“This doesn’t even count as drinking! Leave it to me! If anyone tries anything funny with Velvet, I’ll beat ’em to a pulp!”

He clenched his rock-like fist and said that with a smile.

He only gives bad people a taste of his fists. He himself shouldn’t be a bad person. Probably.

My fear of Barnett was almost starting to outweigh my fear of the criminals on the east side, but since we were short on time, we decided to head east.

When we first entered the Adventurers’ Guild, we had drawn gazes from every direction. But perhaps because Barnett was with us now, no one looked our way.

Feeling both afraid and reassured, we left the Adventurers’ Guild and headed toward the eastern side.

It was surprisingly close to the guild, and after about ten minutes of walking, we arrived in the eastern part of town.

Just as I had heard, the atmosphere alone gave off an intense underground feeling.

I couldn’t tell whether it was alcohol or drugs, but people were collapsed here and there along the sides of the road. Even though it was daytime and bright outside, the place felt terribly gloomy.

None of the shops looked open either. It was such an abnormal space that it was hard to believe it was part of the same town as the western side.

“T-This is something else. You can already tell how bad the public order is.”

“The people around here won’t do anything, so it’s fine. It doesn’t feel good to look at, though.”

“If anyone tries to harm you, I will protect you with everything I have.”

Encouraged by Sheila’s reassuring words, we continued down the suspicious streets of the east side.

The people here were all completely out of it, but just as Velvet had said, none of them tried to bother us.

If anything, they seemed to be avoiding us, and I think Barnett’s presence at the front had a lot to do with that.

The place we arrived at was a shabby building that looked like an abandoned ruin.

“This is the first shop. Among the shops on the east side, I’d say this one is still fairly decent.”

“So you started with one of the milder ones.”

“Even so, it’s still completely illegal-looking!”

Barnett laughed loudly as he opened the shop door.

The outside looked exactly like a ruin, but it did seem to be properly operating. Inside, goods were lined up in rows.

Most of the items were dirty-looking, and nearly all of them were equipment or combat tools.

Was this a shop that did business with adventurers?

“Hey! I’m here!”

“If it isn’t Barnett. Are you here to sell, or are you here to buy?”

The person who appeared from the back of the shop was a suspicious man whose face was hidden by something like a black hood.

He seemed to know Barnett and spoke to him very casually.

“I brought some acquaintances today! They’re interested in the shops on the east side, so I was thinking you could act as a connection for them!”

“If they’re not customers, then leave. That’s what I’d like to say, but I don’t want Barnett as my enemy. I’ll put things in motion.”

“Yeah, thanks! We’ll take a look around the shop too!”

After telling us to leave, the shopkeeper saw Barnett’s demonic expression and agreed.

I had only just met him and barely knew anything besides his name, but… I was starting to understand what kind of person Barnett was.

Maybe the truly dangerous one wasn’t the criminals on the east side, but Barnett himself.

I swore in my heart not to anger him under any circumstances, then decided to look at the goods in the shop.

“Is this shop aimed at adventurers?”

“That’s right! Basically, it sells equipment and items taken from adventurers who died! That’s why the prices are nice and affordable!”

“Under this country’s laws, they aren’t treated as stolen goods, so this is the most decent shop on the east side. Though… I wouldn’t exactly call it clean either.”

“I see. If this is the most decent shop, that means there are no truly clean shops on the east side. I feel like I’m finally mentally prepared now.”

The most decent shop here sells belongings stripped from corpses.

The future looked far too worrying, but the world was so deep and shady that it was honestly kind of interesting too.

“I’ve looked around briefly, and most things are about half the regular price. I heard that adventurers in Rudark have a low death rate, and I think I understand why now.”

I see.

Because the shop operates in a gray zone, it helps low-rank adventurers who can’t afford proper equipment.

Once I hear that side of it, I can’t simply call it evil anymore.

That makes things complicated.