The man immediately glared at Eileen, saying righteously, "But this isn't the first time you've delayed. According to Deepblue's rules, I have every reason to demand immediate repayment. If you can't pay, then either come with me and work off the debt, or get out of Deepblue!"

  When the man turned back to Richard, his face had already switched back to a smile, the speed of the change rivaling an instant-cast spell. "Respected Lord Richard, perhaps we shouldn't be here, but we are acting according to Deepblue's rules, daring not to deviate in the slightest. The great Her Highness Helen Su once said, contracts must not be desecrated. And this woman owes a debt but refuses to pay, nor is she willing to pay interest or provide services according to the rules. Don't be deceived by her pitiful appearance!"

  His attitude was respectful, yet his words contained an underlying firmness. Deepblue's rules, strictly speaking, weren't numerous, but they were as hard as steel. Even Archmages weren't qualified to violate them, let alone Richard.

  Richard frowned, glanced back at Eileen. The girl's eyes clearly showed timidity and fear, and she didn't dare meet Richard's gaze directly.

  Richard closed his fingers. The flickering magic fireball floated several meters up, then exploded and dissipated with a pop. Such exquisite magical control made the three men's faces change drastically, and they instinctively retreated a few steps. Being in the right was one thing, but the disparity in status was too vast; naturally, they were afraid. If Richard, in a bad mood, injured or crippled them, the only consequence would likely be monetary compensation.

  Richard swept his gaze over them and said, "I will pay her debt for her. Now get lost, immediately!"

  "But..." The leading man was clearly unwilling, still secretly eyeing Eileen hiding behind Richard.

  Richard sneered. "What, are you planning to question my credit?"

  The three men's faces immediately turned pale, repeatedly saying they wouldn't dare. But the leader suddenly glared fiercely at Eileen and said viciously, "Little thing, you just wait. You'd better not go home alone in the future!"

  Richard's face darkened. The three men immediately quickened their pace and fled frantically. Only when their backs disappeared far into the distance did Richard turn back. He looked at Eileen, who stood with her arms wrapped around herself, head bowed in silence, sighed, and asked, "How much do you owe them?"

  "One... one thousand two hundred gold coins." Eileen's voice was soft, clearly trembling, and her shoulders shook slightly, evidently crying with her head down.

  Richard wanted to say something but hesitated, ultimately just sighing.

  He still remembered the last time Eileen refused to take his money. Yet now, less than a year later, things had changed completely. If not driven to desperation, perhaps Eileen still wouldn't have told him the amount she owed. And stating the number meant she was ready to accept Richard's help. Within just one year, purity, self-respect, and pride had all deserted her. Yet the girl who had peeked in from the bathroom doorway back then had radiated a scent like sunshine.

  Richard's heart tightened inadvertently, partly because of what the man had said earlier—"Haven't you earned money from men before?"—but more so because the debt driving her to such desperation was a mere one thousand two hundred gold coins.

  One thousand two hundred gold coins—that was merely the cost of testing the power of two spells and drinking two recovery potions back then. That was an old matter from a year ago. The current Richard no longer drank ordinary mana recovery potions; their effect was too poor, too slow. And when receiving his monthly bill at the beginning of the month, he didn't even bother looking at the last four digits, because whether it was four zeros or four nines, they were just meaningless fractions.

  Richard was calm, no emotional fluctuations visible on his face. He simply asked nonchalantly, "I'll pay this debt for you. Is there anything else?"

  Eileen hesitated, then said softly, "I still owe a few others four hundred gold coins, but I can figure that out myself..."

  Richard interrupted her, "One thousand six hundred gold coins in total, right? No problem!"

  Eileen finally looked up, hastily wiping her face with the back of her hand just before. She glanced at Richard, finally managed a helpless smile, and ran a hand through her hair. Her emotions had completely calmed now, the faint smile seeming to hold a trace of the sunny girl from before. "But I don't have the ability to earn this money back, at least not within half a year. I have nothing left, only myself. So if you want me, you can come find me anytime."

  Richard seemed not to hear what she said. Instead, he took out a note, quickly wrote out a payment voucher, signed his name, stuffed it into Eileen's hand, and then walked briskly towards his residential area without even saying goodbye. After walking a few steps, Richard suddenly turned back. The girl hadn't left but stood hugging herself tightly, crouched on the spot.

  He sighed softly again inwardly and walked back to the girl. Eileen looked up, gazing at Richard, and said softly, "I... I'm scared. I'm sorry..."

  "Because of those men?"

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Eileen nodded silently.

  Richard extended his hand to the girl. "Come on, I'll walk you back. I'd like to see who dares stop you on the way."

  A faint killing intent already tinged Richard's words. Having promised to pay Eileen's debt, if those men dared to harass her further, Richard wouldn't mind teaching them a profound lesson, perhaps even sending a few to hell.

  Residents of Deepblue's main tower and the fringe districts belonged to entirely different classes, with vast differences in rights. If Richard killed someone in the fringe district, he would only need to pay compensation. However, if the other party maliciously provoked or insulted him, Richard would bear no responsibility at all, not even needing to pay compensation.

  Eileen took Richard's hand, using his support to stand up. Then she immediately withdrew her hand quietly and fell back slightly, half a step behind Richard.

  The road from the main tower to the fringe district was long and quiet. Night had deepened, and there weren't many pedestrians. The few who passed hurried by without a glance at Richard or Eileen. They had exhausted their strength in a day of rushing about; now, they only hoped to get back quickly, sleep warmly, and face another full day of work tomorrow.

  Along the way, Richard and Eileen maintained silence, not exchanging a single word. Neither knew what to say. A year had passed, and they had reached a point of speechlessness.

  Eileen's residence was in a small alley on the outskirts of the fringe district, a set of enclosed rooms with no view of the outside of Deepblue. There were windows, but they served more as decoration, opening only inwards. A hand's breadth beyond was the wall of the lightwell; magic lamps were the sole source of illumination. Similar houses were common in the fringe district; residences with exterior view windows cost three to four times as much. Although a few small towns were scattered around Deepblue, outsiders preferred to live inside Deepblue, even in the dark rooms of the fringe district, as it was more respectable than living in the towns.

  After escorting Eileen to her door and secretly memorizing the address, Richard turned to leave, deliberately avoiding Eileen's expectant gaze.

  Due to the lingering cold, the fringe district was very quiet at night. The lights were dim; the low-quality polymer fuel was quite unstable, flickering on and off, casting large, swaying shadows like beasts from other planes, crawling prone, ready to leap and seize prey at any moment.

  For some reason, Richard suddenly felt a little cold. This was near the outermost edge of the fringe district, the temperature only ten degrees below zero. However, Richard's magic robe was naturally different from an ordinary mage's, capable of warding off even fifty below. But now Richard felt cold, and unnaturally so. It was a damp, icy chill, as if standing in an eternally frozen ice cave where even the air was solid, or as if fallen into a reptilian cellar, with something slithering across his back from time to time. Soon, Richard broke out in a thin sweat, soaking his inner clothes, making him extremely uncomfortable.

  He exhaled heavily and unfastened the clasp at the collar of his magic robe. As his fingertips inadvertently touched the badge on the collar, he was suddenly scalded! The badge, at some point, had begun to emit a hazy glow and become intensely hot. This badge was unique to Helen Su's students, not just a symbol of status, but also enchanted with a Detect Hostility spell. Its extreme heat indicated an enemy was nearby, making no attempt to conceal their killing intent!

  Richard froze suddenly!

  Behind and to Richard's side, a patch of shadow began to bulge, and then a humanoid creature emerged from within. It tore through the shadow like shedding a cocoon, then lunged out like a cheetah, a lightless, dark grey short sword in its hand already stabbing fiercely towards Richard's lower back!

  This thrust was vicious and swift, launched suddenly at close range. Even a well-trained warrior caught by surprise would struggle to defend, let alone a magic apprentice not yet of age. Assassins and snipers had always been the bane of mages, one close-range, the other long-range.

  When the short sword's tip touched the magic robe, it unexpectedly deflected, failing to pierce through! The assassin's reaction was also impressive; showing no panic, the sword tip remained steady, fixed on one point, then pushed forward again with added force. A faint earthen yellow glow instantly lit up on the magic robe, which then bulged outwards as another translucent shield activated.

  The assassin immediately felt his arm and weapon plunge into thick mud, making movement extremely difficult. But this wasn't the first time the assassin had targeted a mage; he had rich experience dealing with magic shields. Thus, keeping the sword tip fixed on that single point, he suddenly erupted with power, driving the short sword down like a chisel. With a ripping sound, he tore a large gash in the magic robe!

  However, behind the robe was empty space!

  The assassin flung the robe aside with a sweep of his arm, seeing Richard had already used the opportunity to run several meters away, heading towards the opening of a shadowy alley. The assassin felt a secret surge of joy; another accomplice was already lying in ambush in that alley. Richard was walking right into a death trap! However, the credit differed depending on whose hand the prey fell to. The assassin immediately accelerated, leaning forward until his torso was almost parallel to the ground, closing the distance at twice Richard's speed.

  Perhaps Richard was fleeing too hastily; he tripped and went flying through the air. In his panic, he reached out to grab an iron bar attached to the alley wall, seemingly trying to use it to steady his airborne body. The assassin, now only a leap away from Richard, was overjoyed. Richard was now a living target, completely vulnerable before he could escape into the alley. Once Richard entered the alley, it would be difficult to strike before his partner did.

  Thus, the assassin suddenly accelerated to maximum speed, the short sword once again stabbing towards Richard's side!

  However, Richard, having grabbed the iron bar, suddenly displayed entirely different strength! His body swung in a semicircle around the bar, smacking against the wall with a slap, perfectly evading the assassin's fatal blow! The assassin, lunging with full force, missed his strike. Due to the excessive force, he couldn't control his direction and flew past Richard by inertia. In the assassin's eyes, this was equivalent to presenting all his vital points for Richard's inspection. Luckily, he was just a mage; if he were also an assassin...

  The assassin had barely finished his relieved thought when he suddenly saw Richard's right hand bend. The three-centimeter thick iron bar, used for securing equipment during exterior wall maintenance, snapped in the middle! Then Richard wielded the broken half-meter iron bar like a short sword, stabbing it into the assassin's side, followed by a flick and a shake. The location of this thrust was incredibly precise, driving deep under the ribs, shattering the spine, then severing the still-connected nerves, leaving an enormous wound in the assassin's abdomen. These few inconspicuous movements inflicted a fatal injury that even a high-level divine spellcaster would be powerless to heal. The technique Richard used was clearly one of the most refined arts of the dark world!