Dragon's Sin in the World of Danmachi

Chapter 16 : Repentance

Shakti saw the troubled look of Meliodas, he tried acting more like Bell and succumbed to a role of a rookie in danger, she saw the blood stains and was about to ask him if he was okay and to advise him to go to a medical ward but those words got stuck in her throat and she immediately saw that he was uninjured and the pouches filled with magic stones.

She assumed he was an adventurer that just delved into the dungeon recently, she thought he was lost and was about to show him directions to a magic stone exchange facility or the guild. 

But then Meliodas pointed to the people behind him without shifting or moving his head, she looked over to see that there were people sending him gazes with ill will or more specifically his pouches filled with monster loot.

She sighed, she then asked if he needed any help, she said it loud enough for the stalkers to hear it. The reason she asked that even though it was obvious that he needed help was to alert them or make them back off and run away, there were too many, about a dozen or so, some were hiding in plain sight and some were hiding in alleys or in the shadows and there were citizens walking around and they were in the middle of the streets, if she were to engage them and made an attempt to capture them, people could get hurt.

This was the best course of action for now, and she made sure to remember all of their faces without them noticing. 

Some of the stalkers backed off seeing the boy interacted with Shakti. Though they can't hear what the boy said but when they heard Shakti asking if he needed help, that was their cue, it was obvious to them, that the boy somehow noticed them and called for help from one of the people patrolling, they misjudged the boy simply because he looked like a rookie.

Shakti's name is known throughout Orario, like most high leveled adventurers, they have some sort of fame to them and are usually well known. This was especially true to Shakti, as she is the captain of one of the most prominent familia in Orario just under Loki and Freya, the Ganesha Famlia. Just simply seeing her sent chills down the spines of the stalkers.

Though some of the stalkers ran off, some still remained. It seems the stalkers were not in the same group. The people who remained were members of the Soma Familia. 

Because of their addiction to the wine of their God, they couldn't think rationally, they were suppressed due to the increased security in Orario, this resulted in their illegal business which was their main source of income to be temporarily be stopped, thus their income decreased, they were pretty desperate, so desperate that not even the sight of Shakti, a first class adventurer would deter them. They wouldn't want nothing more than to take a sip of the wine of their God.

Shakti noticed that some of the stalkers didn't retreat. She looked at the boy and said "Stay close to me kid."

Meliodas just nodded and they walked together around the street, Meliodas just looked at the various shops and establishments and made mental notes to map the city, in case they want to visit specific shops to buy some stuff in the future.

Since Bell was still relatively new to the city and hadn't had looked around much, he took this opportunity to get to know the city better.

Shakti continued her patrol, she sent subtle signals to the various guards that were around the street as they passed by, indicating to them that trouble was about to arrive and ordered them to prepare, just in case.

Little did the stalkers know, is that Shakti was leading them to a place that was not crowded by people and made subtle orders to the fellow guards to surround them and to capture them.

Meliodas noticed this but pretended to ignore it and just played the role of a victim for now. With more than half of the stalkers gone, he was confident he could take them on but just continued to play along, 

As they were walking, Shakti looked at the boy for a moment and noticed a minotaur horn that was on him, though she didn't realize it at first, but the amount of magic stones that he carried was way too many for a rookie.

The stalkers and even Shakti were fooled or distracted by his weak and novice like appearance that they didn't think about how he obtained it, he was stronger than what he seemed to be and the fact that he carried a minotaur horn and the number of magic stones that was on him was more than what a party of level ones or possibly twos could obtain supported that, also add the fact that he managed to notice his pursuers despite the fact they made some sort of effort to not get detected.

She wondered why he didn't go to the guild since he should be safe there and exchange his loot for money, if he was strong enough to dive in the middle floors, he should know this as well. Showing off his magic stones without making any attempts to conceal it while looking like a novice makes him a target for robbery.

Meliodas seemed to know what she was thinking and just smiled a little. She saw this and put the previous thoughts at the back of her mind and said in a low voice but just enough that he could hear "Stay low, my people should surround them soon."

Meliodas nodded and they continued to walk towards an enclosed area, leading the ignorant stalkers to their doom.

Both of them paused where they stood, the guards were now in position without being noticed by the wannabe thieves as then Shakti shouted "Now!"

From the shadows, the patrolmen emerged and jumped at them with such speed that they were barely able to react. It even surprised Meliodas a bit.

The Soma Familia members realized they were being led to a trap but it was too late. One by one they were being pinned down to the ground without much resistance. There was one of the stalkers that put up a struggle but was immediately detained when the patrolman put more strength into his hold and pinned him down for good.

'Wow' Meliodas says in his thought, it was so precise, clean and quick, that even he was impressed. They were obviously veterans at this, for a second, Meliodas was reminded of his old teammates, the Seven Deadly Sins and noticed the difference in professionalism between them.

They only needed small and subtle signals and interpret it as orders and moved precisely as they were told. 

His team was obviously WAY stronger no doubt about it but he couldn't help but compare them in terms on how they handled things, if it was up to his old team he could imagine broken buildings and seeing them messing with and arguing with each other and then he had a sour feeling that maybe he was a terrible captain.