The black dragon

The pioneers who had stonewalled Zachary immediately started confessing once Derek took charge.

At the same time, they emphasized the 'loyalty among pioneers' and asked him to look the other way.

As a bonus, they tried to bribe him with whatever meager mana stones they could scrape together.

"...Do these guys really think I'm one of them?"

They clearly thought they could use a different approach, knowing that Zachary, the straight-laced type, wouldn't go for it.

But the fact that they changed their tactics only served to irritate Derek.

If they had bowed down and begged for mercy, it might have been different, but their attitude was more like, "You're one of us, you get it, right?"

Derek didn't waste any time. He grabbed his hammer and started dealing with the troublemakers one by one.

"Why did you break into a commoner's house? Why did you break his fingers? And I heard you even threatened him."