Chapter 26: Attack in the Alley

After completing the two transactions for what he temporarily named the Moonlight Series of wines, Donald remembered the waiter named William. He approached a mage in charge of managing the club’s daily affairs to find out why William had been fired.

It turned out that since Donald had defeated the Dark Iron Mage Snow Mage, Snow Mage and his friend, Mage Naron, had no face to show up at the club and endure the mockery of the other mages. In fact, because of their narrow minds and jealousy toward talented young apprentices, the mages at the club didn’t like them very much, so few mages associated with them. Since many young mages at the club had started as apprentices, they had suffered a great deal from these two in the past. There were even some junior mages who had once been criticized by them but had now surpassed them in strength, so naturally, they wouldn’t treat these two kindly.

Donald had humiliated Naron and Snow Mage twice before, and they naturally harbored resentment. But Donald was a rising star among mages in the North County, supported by his teacher Miesel and various mages of different ranks, so they didn’t dare retaliate. Even if they tried, they might not be a match for Donald. After all, he had already defeated a peak Dark Iron Mage during his apprenticeship, though it was somewhat through trickery, it was still a fact. Now that Donald had become a full-fledged mage, his strength had likely increased significantly.

During this time, the two of them acted like thieves, only coming to the club when most mages were busy, so as not to run into others and endure strange looks and mockery. But they couldn’t avoid going to the club either, as they had their own experiments and training to carry out. The resources available at the club were beyond their reach.

By chance, they overheard other servants saying that waiter William was highly favored by the genius mage Donald and had a very good relationship with him, which sparked malicious thoughts in their minds. While others showed favoritism based on their loved ones, these two were filled with unrelenting anger due to Donald. William happened to be the scapegoat, innocently expelled from the club under fabricated excuses by the two mages.

With their abilities, they could easily kill an ordinary person. Although such acts were opposed by most mages, the two of them had indeed done it secretly before. However, with so many mages in the guild, it was difficult to keep secrets. If someone died, it would surely draw the attention of other mages. If Donald got involved, or even Messer stepped in, the situation would become extremely difficult to resolve.

So, although waiter William was innocently implicated, he was fortunate enough to escape unharmed.

“It’s really like I didn’t kill Bo Ren, yet he died because of me! Those two old guys, Naron and Mage Xue, are truly annoying…”

Knowing that William had been dragged into this because of him, Donald felt even more guilty. So, through a waiter who knew William, he found William’s address.

……

The civilian district outside Giant Rock City.

Most of the people living there were middle-class families with some skills to make a living and a modest surplus. The closer to the wealthy districts, the better-off small merchants, lower-ranking officials, and their families lived there. Connected to the civilian district, further into the outskirts, lay even more impoverished slums.

Some of the poor families in the city lived even worse than rural farmers. Although farmers working for lords were hard-working, at least they could fill their stomachs. In the slums, people would do anything to survive. Many young children became thieves, and those who saw a chance to improve their situation had long since left. This was why the slums remained dirty and chaotic.

Due to the direction, Donald’s carriage had to pass through the edge of the slums to reach William’s home in the civilian district. Along the way, he lifted the curtains on the carriage windows to observe the scenes he had never seen in this world.

“Is this a slum? It seems that behind prosperity, there are always dark corners. Even in modern metropolises in my past life, there were slums, and even so-called ‘ant people.’ In a society like this medieval one, such situations are even more inevitable!”

Watching the emaciated, almost naked black children curled up on the streets, as well as the adults with eyes like starving wolves, he could see hunger, envy, greed, and ill intent in those eyes.

Donald wasn’t an ordinary, naive noble boy who knew nothing of the world. He wouldn’t go ahead and give them alms out of sympathy. Because unless he could save everyone at once, a single act of charity from Silver Moon could cost someone their life.

And the people in these slums weren’t just pitiful poor folks; there were also many thieves, swindlers, even escaped prisoners, and ruthless killers who wouldn’t hesitate to murder. Even the ordinary poor weren’t kind-hearted—those in need often had their faults.
If a young boy like him were alone on this street, he’d likely be knocked out with a blow and robbed of everything of value soon! That was still the best-case scenario. If he encountered those cruel and fearless individuals, they might even kill him, and his body would soon be found in some dark alley or gutter.
So, seeing several more homeless vagrants ahead, with their expressionless, dull eyes, Donald’s mood didn’t change at all. He decided to wait until he had enough strength before trying to help others.
The carriage was about to pass by those vagrants, but Donald suddenly changed expression.
Wait! Something seemed off—those eyes?
Yes, those guys didn’t show the despair and desperation typical of slum dwellers!
Realizing this, Donald became cautious immediately and gave a signal to Clinton, who had remained alert.
The infantry captain, equipped with extensive combat experience from the Book of Truth, instantly became vigilant. But with his quick wits, he didn’t reach out to look outside right away but instead listened carefully to the noises outside, his left hand on the seat and his right hand on the sword hilt.
Although the outside sounds continued, Donald felt an eerie silence surround the carriage.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!” A few sounds of arrows piercing the air filled the air as a series of arrows shot at the carriage, targeting its occupants.
“Thwack! Thwack!”
Black arrows quickly pierced through the thin wooden walls of the carriage, but no screams came from inside.
For a moment, it seemed quiet, then those vagrants, who had exhausted their arrows, leaped up like agile rabbits, drawing weapons hidden in their tattered clothes and charging at the carriage.
With a “Boom!” the carriage, already riddled with holes, shattered apart, revealing Captain Clinton, fully armed and on guard, and Donald, holding a staff and surrounded by a mage’s armor of pure light.
Surrounded by multiple killers, the master and servant remained calm. Even Donald, facing such a situation for the first time, stayed relatively composed.

When those assassins were just a few steps away, Donald, holding two magic cores in his hands, seized the moment and shouted, “Come out, Golems, Cave Demons!” Just as the assassins were about to take a few more steps to eliminate their targets, a grotesque black-purple stone golem and a huge green-gray spider suddenly appeared before them. The spider attacked first, unleashing a sticky white web dripping with green liquid, clearly toxic. There were five assassins attacking from both sides, and the three Cave Demons were trapped by the web before they could dodge, soon facing the spider’s sharp fangs and powerful legs. Although both of these units belonged to the undead, the former were alchemical puppets, while the latter were spider-like monsters among the web monsters in the game. After being conquered by the Lich King, they joined the undead forces, though they were not truly undead creatures. So Donald could summon them without any concerns. After all, necromancers didn’t have a good reputation in human kingdoms! The third-tier Cave Demons not only possessed significant toxic and physical damage but could also burrow underground and shoot out large webs. Their overall strength was almost on par with that of ordinary fourth-tier magical beasts at the bronze level in this world. Trapped by those sticky webs, even fifth-tier warriors couldn’t escape quickly. Let alone these assassins, whose average combat strength was only around mid-black iron level, skilled in ambushes but not strong in direct combat. “Mission failed! Retreat quickly!” Seeing their three companions captured in the blink of an eye and about to be devoured by those monsters, the two remaining assassins turned and ran, shouting at the same time. Hearing their calls, two figures appeared above each building, and the four of them scattered in all directions like frightened birds. “Good idea! Golems, chase them…” Seeing the enemies about to escape, Donald grew furious. The Golems guarding him immediately came to life, spreading their demon-like bat wings and soaring into the air with screams, chasing after the two enemies on the rooftops as ordered by their master. As for the two assassins on the ground, Donald took one and Infantry Captain Clinton took the other. In the blink of an eye, those two assassins had run more than a dozen steps, but Donald calmly uttered a spell, pointing his staff at one of the targets. “Mage Hand!”

An invisible hand, carrying the force of over ten kilograms, blocked in front of the assassin’s running ankle. Under the tension from both sides, the assassin immediately lost balance and fell to the ground. Donald didn’t bother with him; Clinton would take care of it. He aimed at another assassin who was still running and shouted, “Magic Missile!”
The magic missile, capable of tracking its target and guaranteed to hit, struck the assassin in the back, causing him to stagger. However, the attack power of magic missiles was not very high, and they had little effect on targets of mid-black iron level, at most causing minor injuries unless they hit vital spots.
Then Donald cast another spell.
“Dizzy Spell!”
It was a level-0 spell. Although he wasn’t familiar with it, he was able to cast it quickly as his level increased. Hit by the missile and suddenly dizzy, the assassin collapsed to the ground. At that moment, Clinton, who had already dealt with the first assassin, ran over and subdued this one as well.
Returning to the destroyed carriage with the two captured assassins, the coachman was already terrified and collapsed on the ground.
It turned out that when the attack first occurred, angry Donald hadn’t ordered the dungeon demons to hold back, so the three assassins trapped in the spider webs were now nothing but piles of debris.
At that time, the golem also returned, carrying a person with bloody limbs. As for the other one, according to the golem, he had hidden underground in some house. Since golems, being aerial units, couldn’t pursue further, only one was captured.
This was the first time Donald had witnessed true killing. Although he hadn’t done it himself, the psychological pressure was still significant.
Suppressing his disgust, Donald ordered Clinton to gather the three assassins together. The one captured by the golem was already dying from the brutal treatment and likely couldn’t be questioned anymore.
Donald pointed his staff at one of the remaining two assassins and asked, “Who sent you? Tell me, and I’ll spare your life!”
The assassin, with great courage, didn’t even blink. Seeing this, Donald wasn’t in a hurry. He pointed at the dungeon demons and the pile of bones and flesh in front of them.
“If you don’t want to become this guy’s dinner, I suggest you confess quickly!”
Seeing the terrifying appearance of the dungeon demons, which could even intimidate powerful warriors, and the tragic fate of their three companions, the two assassins were filled with fear. One of them clearly showed signs of terror and hesitation.
“I say, don’t let the monster eat me! We’re Black…”

Before the terrified and weak assassin could finish speaking, a poisoned needle fired from his companion pierced his throat. His vocal cords, no longer functional, prevented him from speaking; he could only make gurgling sounds. After struggling for a while, he died.
Donald hadn’t expected the assassin with broken limbs to still have the strength to fight back. Clinton immediately stepped in front of his master, pressing his sword against the assassin’s throat—any slight movement would end his life instantly.
But before Donald could ask further, the last assassin bit through the poison hidden in his mouth. Black liquid flowed from his lips as his body twitched slightly before he took his last breath.
“Damn it! Now there’s only one survivor!”
He never imagined what happened in movies would actually take place before his eyes. These guys weren’t ordinary assassins; they were clearly trained killers sent by some faction, capable of such decisive actions.
“Who could it be? Who wants me dead to the point of sending killers after me??”
As Donald pondered, several figures flew through the air from the noble district in the city center and quickly arrived at the scene.