No one could have anticipated the City Lord of Gillis would resort to such ruthless measures.
In a single night, the captured members of the Gravel Gang filled the dungeon to overflowing, and those who couldn’t fit were simply tied up and thrown onto the open ground above the cell.
Within hours, every Gravel Gang stronghold in the city had been wiped out.
Over a thousand people were implicated. The sounds of crying and begging for mercy lasted the entire night.
This terrifying display of force silenced the underground factions that had once thought themselves on equal footing with the City Lord’s Mansion.
For the first time, they realized the gap between street thugs, wandering fighters, and the formal military.
One by one, they tucked in their heads like turtles.
Not a single person dared to stick their neck out or say a word in the Gravel Gang’s defense.
Only a few unknown lowlifes were sent out to constantly probe for information, discreetly asking why the Gang had been crushed.
Clearly, no one wanted to share their fate.
And after tonight, the sky over Gillis City was destined to change completely.
……
The next day, Mierpasi and Holly walked down the street.
The overnight purge hadn’t affected the lives of ordinary citizens.
People still set up their stalls, opened their shops… except there were nine fewer casinos and a few fewer taverns.
The catgirl and the Holy Sword Bearer had come out mainly to buy supplies for the return trip.
Lady had said they would set out in the afternoon and head back to the Water Capital.
Honestly, Mierpasi hadn’t wanted to come out. Right now, she was the Gravel Gang’s number one wanted target.
If she showed her face, they’d definitely cause trouble for her, and she’d end up dragging Holly, who was with her, into it.
But when she voiced her concerns, Lady just waved her hand dismissively, telling her to do as she said.
Whether that was confidence in Holly or something else, Mierpasi couldn’t tell.
Still, the catgirl frowned slightly as she looked at the streets around her. Nothing seemed different, yet somehow, everything felt off.
“Did you hear? The Gravel Gang was wiped out!”
“Eh? Wiped out? I saw it with my own eyes—scary stuff!”
“Huh? You just heard about that? Let me tell you, last night at the tavern…”
“They were all dragged out! Fully armed border guards! The momentum was terrifying!”
“Eh?! Really?!”
Mierpasi’s eyes gradually widened as she stared at the group of nine people chatting nearby.
“Mier?” Holly noticed the catgirl’s unusual stillness.
She tilted her head in confusion, but since she had no real concept of the Gravel Gang, she was just puzzled about why Mierpasi had suddenly stopped.
Mierpasi was stunned for a moment, then her beautiful cat-like eyes slowly widened.
“Mier?” Holly clearly noticed the catgirl’s odd behavior.
“Y-you… what you said… is it true?” Mierpasi rushed forward and grabbed the shoulder of the person who had just been gossiping.
“Hey! W-what are you doing? Ouch!” The pull was so strong that it snapped the straps of his suspenders, making him let out a cry like a chicken being slaughtered.
By this point, Mierpasi couldn’t stay calm anymore.
“If you don’t believe me, go check out the dungeon at the City Guard Hall! You don’t even need to go inside—they couldn’t fit all those small fries in the cells, so they’re tied up in the open ground above!”
Hearing this from the passersby, the catgirl immediately let go of him and dashed toward the dungeon of the City Guard Hall.
“Hey! Tch…” The Holy Sword Bearer sighed helplessly and had no choice but to follow behind Mierpasi.
But once she started running, Holly realized that while the catgirl’s speed was slightly inferior to her own, she was incredibly agile—like a real cat, able to navigate the bustling crowd with ease.
If Holly hadn’t known where they were headed, she might have actually lost sight of her and been left far behind.
The two moved one after the other, but as they went, the crowd grew thicker and thicker until the sea of people ahead made it impossible to take another step.
Everyone seemed to be gathered around, watching something. From the chatter around her, it was clear they had all been drawn here by the spectacle.
Mierpasi stood on tiptoe, craning her neck to see inside, but the “human wall” of onlookers was over three layers deep, and her short stature as a catgirl made it impossible to see over them.
Seeing how anxious she was, Holly sighed helplessly again. She reached out and wrapped an arm around Mierpasi’s slender waist.
“Huh? Miss Holly?” The catgirl blinked in surprise.
“Hold on tight!” The moment the words left Holly’s mouth, the muscles in her legs tensed up.
Before the catgirl could ask anything else, Holly pushed off the ground with all her strength and leaped toward the roof of the building beside them.
Whoosh! With the burst of power from her New Pia Copper Grade capabilities, both Holly and Mierpasi shot into the air and landed steadily on the rooftop.
“Mreow?!” The catgirl seemed completely dazed by what had just happened.
She had just been staring blankly at Holly’s profile the entire time, her hands instinctively hugging the other girl’s waist.
“…Not bad.” Holly looked down at the two broken tiles beneath her feet and guiltily kicked one of them off.
“Hey!” came a shout from below.
Now, from this height, Mierpasi could see what was ahead.
The Gravel Gang members who had been tied hand and foot and left to dry overnight were barely clinging to life.
And she suddenly realized why the streets had felt different today.
She could recognize these people.
It was because today, there were far fewer thugs and ruffians with vicious looks on the streets.
All… because of this?
And then Lady’s voice echoed in her ears.
[All I need is to raise my hand, and this so-called ‘Gravel Gang’ you worry about will cease to exist by morning.]
Listening to the murmurs from below.
Last night, the Gravel Gang’s top boss, “Sandstorm” Jisong, was killed on the spot.
The second-in-command was currently locked in the dungeon.
The third-in-command had died right in front of her eyes last night.
All members had been arrested overnight by fully armed border guards. All their shops and hideouts had been confiscated.
Lady had truly done exactly what she said—she raised her hand, didn’t even need to say a word, and the troubles that could have affected her entire future vanished in an instant.
‘This is the ‘power’ Lady possesses,’ Mierpasi thought.
‘This is exactly what I’ve always wanted and worked so hard for.’
Looking at the villains below, finally punished—they could no longer harm the common people, could no longer do evil.
She should have been laughing, joyful, happy that justice had been served.
This was exactly what she had always wanted to do, what she had been striving for.
But… at this moment, she couldn’t feel the joy or relief she expected.
And as she looked at the faces of the common people chatting below—the ones she usually found so endearing—they suddenly twisted in her vision, transforming into the sneering faces of the malicious neighbors…
“Ngh?!”
“Hey, you okay?” Holly noticed the catgirl’s body trembling slightly.
Thinking she might be afraid of heights, she unconsciously tightened her arm around Mierpasi’s waist.
“I… I’m fine. Sorry.” Mierpasi forced a pale smile at Holly.
‘Who can I trust now?’
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the image of a young man suddenly surfaced in her head.
‘Franlot… Where is he now?’
The young man who had once said, “I want to protect you” had abandoned her and fled in a moment of danger.
Although he had run away to save himself—which was understandable—when it came to the critical moment, he had still left her behind.
Mierpasi couldn’t say she didn’t resent him. But instinctively, the catgirl still found herself thinking about him.
Just as she was lost in thought, she felt a sudden pain at the back of her head—Holly’s head.
“Huh? What the—Ouch!” Holly turned her head and found her master standing on her shadow, pointing in a direction below.
“Eh? What is it?” Mierpasi blinked and followed Holly’s gaze downward.
Among the crowd, a familiar face instantly caught her eyes.
Holly took a closer look and immediately called out, “Ah!! It’s that guy!”
It was the person she had just been thinking about… Franlot?!
He was dressed neatly and looked energetic, clearly having found a clean place to stay last night.
‘He… after all…’ Mierpasi thought, clenching her fists as she remembered her burned-down home.
‘No, no, no. I shouldn’t hate him for that reason…’
“Mm?” The two exchanged a glance.
Mierpasi instinctively wrapped her arms around Holly’s waist, and the next second, Holly pushed off the ground again, leaping onto another rooftop.
They saw Franlot getting pulled out of the crowd, looking confused at first. But soon, he was arm in arm with those people, heading straight into a tavern.
“That guy has acquaintances in this city?” Holly muttered, puzzled.
But when she turned to look at Miel, she found the catgirl’s eyes wide open, her mouth slightly agape.
“That’s… Fukadi?!” Mierpasi recognized him instantly, even if Holly didn’t.
Wasn’t that one of the thugs who had cornered Franlot in that alley and beaten him up that night?
How were they suddenly on such good terms?!
In that moment, the catgirl, who was already distrustful of everyone, had a very dark thought flash through her mind.
‘It can’t… be… could it?’
……
Meanwhile, Franlot was completely baffled.
He had been trying to watch the commotion when he was suddenly pulled out of the crowd.
After a flurry of shouts and friendly slaps on the back, he found himself being escorted into the tavern next door.
Just as he was about to ask if they had mistaken him for someone else, he saw Fukadi’s face—one he wanted to smash to pieces.
“You—”
“Aye! Brother Franlot! Brother!”
Before he could blow his top, Fukadi, who had always been arrogant and dismissive toward him, suddenly grinned from ear to ear and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Look, the nine of us were wrong before. We owe you an apology. So today, I’m treating! Let’s clear up the misunderstanding!”
Fukadi’s words left Franlot completely bewildered. But he was pretty hungry.
And although he hated this guy’s guts and didn’t think they could just make peace, he was currently lacking the resources to leave this place—both money and connections.
And this guy happened to have both.
Even though he didn’t know why Fukadi had suddenly become so friendly, Franlot’s eyes flickered and he instantly adopted the mentality of King Goujian of Yue—sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall to endure humiliation for a greater revenge.
“Heh heh heh, not at all, not at all. I was also in the wrong.”
They sat down at a table, ordered food and drinks, and began toasting each other.
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