Jake knew who the boy was. It was Sieg, a boy he had met at the executive meeting who was about the same age as himself.

Sieg held a small short-sword and was showing no hesitation in attacking people with it.

“W… wait… Kah!”

“You bastard. Who do you think you’re waving the sword at… keugh…”

There was one rule amongst the back alley thugs - even during a war between themselves, they would not use a blade. The reason behind that rule was because if they used a blade, the capital’s guards would investigate it as a murder case.

If they were unlucky, the guards might find a clue that could lead to the entire organization being captured. That was why there was an implicit rule to only use a small knife, and only to threaten with it.

But Sieg was different. He was using, without hesitation, a short-sword that was much more lethal than a knife. He had no qualms about stabbing people in the throat or their heart and soon, the enemies who held Jake down became cold bodies. 

“You alive?”

Only after he had dealt with all the enemies did Sieg speak to Jake. 

“Y… yeah. Thanks to you.”

“I’m glad. Can you stand up?”

“Of course.”

Jake clenched his teeth and stood up. His entire body was hurting, but he forced himself up. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Sieg. 

“Thanks for saving me.”

“No problem. But you’re pretty good yourself. You managed to hold them off all by yourself with just a club.”

“......”

“You’re better than the rumors. Seems like you’re...