Soulless Players

Chapter 14: Back Alley

In a bigger town not far away from the village, Steve rode a carriage while glancing over the window. His eyes were golden, indicating he was using his power.

While his eyes were eye-catching, none of the people passing by seemed to notice them. It was as if, in their eyes, the child's pupils were normal and common.

Steve had anticipated their indifference as he already knew he was the only one who can see and feel his eyes. Thus, no matter where he goes, he has no qualms about using his power in the middle of the crowd.

Today, the reason behind using his power is to look for people with high potential to work under him.

After experiencing failure, Steve finally needed a powerful yet loyal person; a reliable person that could do his bidding, whether dangerous or not.

And to be certain of this requirement, Steve had to directly and personally look for himself.

However, after a few turns, he still couldn't find someone who shone brighter than a normal person. All he could see in this town were common people with their ordinary golden light.

'Should I just move to a bigger city?' Steve pondered while his forehead wrinkled in displeasure.

Although he knew that finding human resources wasn't an easy task, he still couldn't help but be frustrated.

With his negative karma pressuring him, he had to quickly find a solution to rely on.

'Maybe I should just walk and go deeper inside the town,' Steve thought.

'I think there's also a slum here…'

After making a decision, Steve ordered the carriage to stop and stepped out from it.

Following him behind were three rogue men. They were the mercenaries he hired who remained loyal to him and did not fall from Philip's temptation.

Steve was happy with them and offered a higher reward to keep their service.

Glancing at the men who followed him closely, Steve slightly nodded his head in 80% approval and 20% skeptical.

'They were still not enough.'

Although Steve was glad about their presence, he was still not content as he knew they were not powerful enough to protect him. After all, they were part of a failed attempt to catch Philip. This failure wasn't enough for Steve to fully put his trust in them.

With his eyes glowing, he proceeded walking toward the gloomy area of the town.

Steve arrived in a narrow alley, with two tall buildings sandwiching it. His foot touched the muddy and non-stone path, making his heel covered with dirt.

With the buildings around, the area was much darker as the sunlight couldn't fully illuminate the alley.

Aside from the darkness, the smell was also not pleasing. With the rotten garbage and urine accumulating at the side walls, Steve's nose couldn't help but twitch.

He quickly covered his nose. But while he felt disgusted, he didn't retreat as he knew his life was at stake here.

After walking forward, destitute and homeless people welcomed him. They were all lying on their newspaper bed, eyeing him weirdly.

To them, it was already an odd sight seeing a child dressed tidily enter this poorest part of the town. How much more if this child was also followed by his seemingly 'bodyguards'?

Steve had sensed their inquisitive gaze but he remained resolute on continuing his way forward.

However, the more he traveled deep into the back alley, the more his forehead wrinkled in disappointment.

'What the hell is this!?' Steve cursed internally. After a couple of minutes, he still couldn't find a strong person.

Instead, all he could see in his vision were people glowing dimmer than a normal person.

This indicates that most people in the slums were sick and were valued cheaply by his ability.

Upon noticing this, Steve stopped his track, deep in thought.

'What the hell am I doing here?'

Steve felt frustrated by how his mind worked. 'Why did I think it was a good idea to look around here? Did I expect myself to find a fortuitous encounter with a strong person here?'

Steve bent his head dejectedly, he knew why he had always thought that everything would work his way.

'My past story has greatly influenced me, making me subconsciously think that everything would work the way I wanted it to be.'

Realizing this, Steve bit his lower lip until it bled. He was angry at how he seemed to always rely on his goddamn plot armor.

'Grow up Steve!' he reprimanded himself internally.

After a while, when he had finally calmed down, he raised his head and turned around,

"Let's go back," Steve ordered.

The three men glanced at their little boss, confused. They had no idea what Steve was doing or looking for as he didn't inform them.

All they could do was keep their mouth shut and follow him around. They guessed it must be related to another unknown mystery that they had no right to know yet.

While the three men and Steve were lost in their own thoughts, a man suddenly appeared before Steve. He grinned and slightly pulled Steve's sleeve.

The three men instantly pulled Steve behind them. After this, they immediately eyed the man warily. Their huge bodies protected Steve at the back, ready for any possible danger.

"You! Who are you?!" shouted one of his men.

Steve was also surprised as the man was too quick for him to react. In addition, he didn't expect the man to be impertinent to touch him. Only when Steve felt safe in his men's protection did he quickly and silently observe the man.

The man wore a brown frock coat and black trousers. Although his face was slightly haggard and his hair was unkempt and dirty, unlike the people in the back alley, he was still dressed cleaner.

'He's not from here.' Steve concluded. From his clothes alone, Steve was sure the man wasn't homeless and was living leisurely.

Steve's eyes then turned gold, but when his eyes met the man, Steve was forced to frown by the intense light.

'What the!' Steve exclaimed internally. He was almost blinded from looking directly at him. This had only happened to him once with the scammer he hired in the past few days.

'He must be as strong as him,' Steve contemplated. The man emitted almost the same level of golden hue from the scammer. This only means that the man across them was also a powerhouse, maybe a person who wielded magic!

Steve was curious about him. But although curious, he remained cautious against him.

The scammer had brought trauma to his pocket that he couldn't help but be careful of another man similar to him.

"Sorry. Sorry." The man immediately apologized. Noticing he had accidentally surprised the child, he chuckled awkwardly and waved his hands, "I'm not a dangerous person. You see I don't even have any weapons with me."

He then grabbled his shirts and pockets to make sure that he had nothing dangerous with him.

But his action proved inadequate to Steve as Steve knew the man didn't need any weapon to harm him. With his light blinding him, it was clear to him that the man was not your typical person.

The man had also figured this and stopped groping his clothes. He looked at Steve's eyes, seemingly wondering something, and said,

"Again, I apologize for surprising you." He paused, then finally voiced his query, "You must be Stephen Evans, son of Ronald Evans, right?"

Hearing this name, Steve could not help but scowl.

Stephen Evans is his given name in this world. He is part of a clan with Evans as a surname, a clan that has been doing business for generations.

For someone to know his real name indicates nothing but trouble. Steve has been carefully hiding his identity as his family has a lot of enemies, which is to be expected of a wealthy family.

"What do you want… and who are you?" Steve responded with another question, his voice filled with wariness.

"I mean no harm, young master. I was just looking for my colleague, Emile, who from what I know, has been with you since yesterday."

The man stopped, bowed his head, and introduced himself, "And as for my name, it is Loen, young master."

Steve was confused for a moment as he didn't know someone with the name Emile. But when he recalled the man who scammed him yesterday, he shook his head and quickly asked,

"Are you perhaps referring to the person who always wore a robe and doesn't often talk?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure about the robe, but maybe it was him as he is kind of a taciturn person." Loen paused and continued, "Is he with you, young master?"

After hearing Loen's confirmation, Steve was taken aback for a second. 'So he's not here for me but for the scammer Emile?'

Although Steve was relieved that Loen was not one of his family's enemies, his vigilance didn't lower, instead, it increased more.

The fact that the man was Emile's acquaintance means that he has also a possibility of scamming him.

"He's not with me. He had already run off with my money. It has been two days since I've seen him," Steve answered. He peered straight at Loen's face, trying to probe his reaction.

But Loen's response gave Steve a surprise.

"What? You too?!" Loen cried, his voice filled with suppressed anger, "He has also exhorted me!"

Loen gritted his teeth as he walked in circles.

"What to do? How about my money?!," Loen howled, his voice squeaking like a child throwing a tantrum.