Baron, who was a bit of an amateur himself, gave Al a few pointers on what a Demon Hunter should look out for. Once the boy had left, the Little Nun suddenly asked,

"Is Mr. L leaving?"

Baron grunted in affirmation, glanced around to confirm they were alone, and took out ten slips of paper and a bag of coins.

"If you’re in danger, tear one of these slips. This money is for you. It isn’t much, but it’s enough for your use in Fude City..."

The Little Nun took the papers and saw that on them were drawings of bullets in mid-flight, each one incredibly lifelike.

However, the Little Nun refused the money pouch. "This is too valuable," she said. "As a member of the clergy, I cannot accept any monetary gifts."

’And here I thought all clergy were greedy...’ Baron knew it would be hard to change the Little Nun’s mind, so after a moment of thought, he said,

"Then just hold onto it for me. But not in a bank—only in your wardrobe or under the ground."

"Mr. L..."

Baron said, "We’ll meet again."

He comforted the Little Nun for a while longer, telling her to take good care of herself. At only ten years old or so, she was still at a crucial stage for growth; she had to drink a glass of milk every morning and night, eat well, and not be a picky eater.

Baron returned to his room, packed a few things, and after bidding farewell to the Priest and Nuns of the church, led Red Hare out of the courtyard and got on his way.

But he hadn’t taken two steps before someone blocked his path.

It was men from the stable.

They pointed at the Griffin feather in Red Hare’s mane and said, "This is our horse!"

Tsk... ’I knew this would happen.’

Ever since he’d brought Red Hare back, Baron had wanted to pull out that conspicuous Griffin feather. To his surprise, however, he found that whatever method the stable had used, the feather simply wouldn’t come out.

A knife could cut the Griffin feather, but due to the Alchemy Array that had been set up beforehand, doing so would leave a large, conspicuous, and ugly Branding on the mane—he had tested this on "Nuzi Nande" during his escape with Carmen.

Baron glanced at the clothes of the men blocking his way. After confirming they were from the same stable where he and the Little Nun had returned the horse, he said,

"I paid, and I returned the horse. You can go ask your boss."

"The Iron Thorn Gang was wiped out by Lord L! The original stable owner was arrested by the Guard Post, and now this stable belongs to us, the Forta Gang!"

The leader of the thugs said viciously, "I don’t care how you got this horse. As long as it has our stable’s trademark Griffin feather, we consider it our property!"

’Heh, how tyrannical.’

Baron raised an eyebrow. "Going to be that unreasonable? Don’t you know I’m a Demon Hunter?"

"So what if you’re a Demon Hunter? Our gang leader is a Demon Hunter, too!" one of the underlings piped up. "A Bronze Tier Advanced Demon Hunter, no less!"

He sized Baron up for a moment. "You have no Command Spell on your hand, nor a Branding. Even if you are a Demon Hunter, you must be just a trainee."

Of course, there was a second half to that sentence that went unsaid.

Silver Tier Demon Hunters, whether from the Beast Faction or the Silver Faction, can hide their Command Spells and Brandings.

But he felt that Baron looked too young, and too handsome on top of that.

Someone so young and handsome wasn’t suited to the profession of a coarse man (scratch that)... a *real* man, like a Demon Hunter.

"So what are you going to do? Rob me of my horse?"

Baron scoffed. "Get out of my way. I don’t have time to mess with you people."

"Get him!"

The leader of the thugs spat on the ground and, without a second word, motioned for his buddies to charge forward with their clubs.

’For fuck’s sake...’

Baron sighed, catching the wooden club that was aimed for his handsome face. "I really don’t have time to be taking out the trash," he muttered.

The instant he spoke, the world went black for the stable thugs. When they came to, guards from the Guard Post were already hauling them toward a prisoner transport.

"Oh, you’re awake. Saves us the trouble of carrying you. Get walking." A Guard gave each of them a kick.

"I’m with the Forta Gang. Our leader is Forta..."

Driven by an inherent fear of the guards, the lead thug saw the prisoner transport, cautiously fished a Silver Coin from his robes, and offered it up. "Officer," he asked, "what’s this all about...?"

The Guard pocketed the Silver Coin with a knowing look, then sneered. "You don’t even know who you’ve provoked, and you’re still bringing up the Forta Gang? The Iron Thorn Gang is already history!"

’Is this guy even more powerful than the Iron Thorn Gang?’

The thug’s heart sank. He immediately thought of the Demon Hunter he had just stopped, but looking left and right, he couldn’t find any sign of him.

Seeing his buddies panicking behind him, he quickly asked, "Officer, could you perhaps enlighten us...?"

The Guard coughed.

’Damn government dog,’ he thought, but the thug still grimaced in pain as he handed over another Silver Coin.

The Guard said, "It was L."

L? L!

"Is it *that* L?" The thug didn’t even notice his own voice was trembling.

"Is there any other L in Fude City?"

The Guard sneered again. "The champion of the Hunting Competition! The one who fought eight Contract Knights single-handedly and held his own! The one who suppressed the Sun Knight, Gawain, and made him willingly kneel three times! That’s the L!"

There were too many legends about that Demon Hunter from Feinan to recount them all at once.

Moreover, with newspapers becoming widespread in Gillian, and with Fude City being an extremely important transport hub in the south of Gillian, news spread at a startling rate. This was amplified by numerous "buffs," such as the official involvement of Fude City’s administration.

In a short period, his fame skyrocketed, and for a time it seemed there was no one in Fude City, or even all of Gillian, who hadn’t heard of him.

Especially in Fude City, even a young child could now recite a line or two like, "It’s all the fault of that debauched and tyrannical King Feinan..."

"It really is *that* L..."

At this, the men fell silent. The lead thug stared blankly for a moment, then quickly snapped back to reality and stuffed yet another Silver Coin into the Guard’s hand: