'He reported us.'
This hit Robert fast. The main reason they wanted to kill Leonard was because of how he could just do as he pleased with them; with the threat of reporting them, it now seemed that Leonard had gathered victims and reported them.
Robert was right in his theory. After bathing, Leonard went directly to look for victims of the criminals. Since they did their crimes in public, he soon found the victims. Once he did, he went to a Feather and reported the matter. On a normal day, they would have brushed the matter off, but with the upcoming coronation, they had to clean the area. Leonard even offered to bring these criminals to them, to which they agreed; convincing the victims to follow him wasn't that hard.
Why did Leonard do this when he could just continue extorting them and make a profit? It was because he had to get on the good side of the royalty, and having a relationship with a Feather was a good start.
Leonard could see the face of realization hit Robert. Seeing his face, he couldn't help but reveal a sinister smile.
"I surrender," Robert said as he dropped his knife and placed his hands in the air. He was outplayed; there was nothing he could do but give up. Unlike the other two, his crimes weren't that serious; he at least wouldn't face a life sentence.
Leonard was happy to hear Robert's surrender; he didn't want to move excessively due to his body still aching.
"Lay on the ground," Leonard said to Robert. Despite Robert being without a weapon, Leonard wasn't going to let his guard down.
Robert didn't raise a fuss and slowly fell to the dirty ground. Once he did, a man pounced on him. It wasn't Leonard, but the victim of his crimes. He wasn't the only one; all the victims Leonard had brought were either on Robert or the two other men. The majority of them went to the two men; only one pounced on Robert. Leonard wasn't going to stop them from getting their justice; as long as they didn't kill them, he wasn't bothered by what they did.
Despite the two men being unconscious and bleeding from the wounds Leonard inflicted, the victims ruthlessly attacked. Leonard just watched. When he noticed that the damage was entering critical levels, he decided to stop them.
The man who was pouncing on Robert, however, was knocked out while he was kicking him. Robert kicked his legs, making him fall on the ground. Once he was on the ground, Robert reversed the roles and kicked his head until he fell unconscious. Leonard watched the whole process happen, but he didn't interfere. Robert was still on the ground the whole period of him being attacked; even now, he was still down.
Leonard was able to stop the victims from killing the two men; however, this didn't mean that they were in an okay condition. If anything, they had been brutally beaten; one couldn't even recognize their faces. He told them to carry the two men while he went and handled Robert. Robert stood up, put his hands behind his back, and started walking in front of Leonard. Leonard had a knife pointed at him in case he tried anything.
However, Robert didn't do anything of the sort; Leonard didn't do anything to him, either.
Those carrying the two criminals were having a field day. Despite being told to stop their acts of violence, they had started tearing off their nails. Leonard turned a blind eye to this; as long as it didn't threaten to kill them, they could do whatever they wanted, and they did just that. Some of them started to damage their lower areas; it was hard to watch. They didn't stop until they were close to the Feather Leonard had reported to.
Seeing the state of the criminals, the Feather seemed disturbed. The Feather was a man who looked to be in his thirties with black hair and black eyes.
"Are these the criminals?" the Feather asked, looking at Leonard.
"Yes. This one can be considered the ringleader," Leonard said while pointing at Robert. Robert wanted to rebuke this but knew that it would be pointless and just kept quiet.
"I see. What was your name again?" the Feather asked.
In a confident tone, Leonard replied, "Leonard."
"Leonard, thank you for your help," the Feather said, then took out something from his pockets. "Here's a reward." He took out what looked like a thousand pounds. Although Leonard expected more, he still agreed to take it.
"If you ever need help with such matters, I'll be glad to help," Leonard said while putting the money in his pockets. Although refusing the money would have given the impression of him doing his noble acts for the sake of justice, it would also attract unnecessary suspicion. Accepting the money was the best decision he could have made based on his judgment.
"I'll be sure to do so," the Feather replied while going closer to Robert. "Follow me," the Feather said to Leonard. Despite only talking, he gave off an intimidating aura, as if his words were commands.
'So this is how Feathers act.'
Leonard had only observed Feathers from a distance; however, seeing them up close, he could feel an air of power around them. He couldn't think of a word to describe the aura they gave off.
'Qi?'
It seemed like Qi but also didn't seem like Qi. Leonard doubted that someone without a class could be a Feather—at least not a lower-ranked Feather. The Qi they gave off seemed more like a given Qi. There was a class that came to mind which could give someone Qi.
'Mage.'
Mage—a class which focuses on spells. A mage wasn't a fighter, but instead a supporter. Them granting people Qi which could boost their bodies didn't seem out of the question. Thinking of such a spell, Leonard felt his understanding of Qi was shallow. He was extremely uneducated concerning such matters.
'Are all Feathers given Qi by a mage?'