The alley ran between two abandoned storage buildings, and two men stood near the back wall.
One had a crooked nose that bent sharply to the left, as if it had been broken more than once and never set properly.
He had his hands shoved in his pockets and was laughing, his breath coming out in white clouds.
"This weather's messed up," the bald man said.
"The boss says it isn't normal. Snow like this? People are stopping everywhere. Roads are clogged. Buses, carriages, everything's stuck."
The crooked-nosed man grinned and licked his lips slowly. "Good. That means easy pickings." He leaned back against the wall. "People don't move when they're cold. They huddle."
The bald man chuckled. "Boss thinks the same. Told us to keep an eye on the outer streets. Said folks coming in from the wild have nowhere else to go."
"Even better if they've got women," the crooked-nosed man added casually.
The bald man nodded, his laugh turning ugly. "Yeah. We'll get paid either way."
They stood there for a moment. Neither noticed the figure at the far end of the passage.
Conrad had been standing there for nearly a minute, and he had heard everything.
So they really do talk like cheap movie gang members.
Maybe that makes sense. Movies are made from what people have created and experienced in real life, after all.
He stayed just inside the shadow where the alley bent, his back against the wall, and watched them carefully. Their stances were loose and careless.
He took one step forward. The snow under his boot made a faint sound.
The bald man frowned slightly. "You hear that?"
He never got an answer.
Conrad moved.
He crossed the distance quickly, his hand reaching into his coat and coming out with a short piece of metal, nothing special, just a compact tool he had picked up earlier from a scrap pile near the road.
He didn't hesitate. His first strike went to the crooked-nosed man, and he held back most of his strength.
As a new Nen user, his physical power was already far above that of ordinary people, and he had no intention of killing these two, not now, and not at the cost of drawing attention to himself.
It was a sharp, precise blow to the side of the head.
The man's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and the metal connected with a dull sound. His body stiffened, then dropped straight down like a sack, with no resistance at all. His head hit the ground with a flat thud, and he didn't move again.
The bald man turned just in time to feel Conrad's second strike land.
Conrad had moved so fast and so suddenly that the man hadn't even registered his friend being attacked, and his reaction time was nowhere near enough to understand what was happening, let alone counter.
A metallic taste filled his mouth and his vision blurred. He tried to shout, but no sound came out.
His eyes rolled back and his knees buckled. He fell forward, hit the ground hard, and went still.
Silence returned to the alley.
Conrad stepped back and waited. Three seconds. Five. Ten. Neither man moved.
He crouched beside them and checked quickly, his breathing steady, then searched them efficiently. He found several small pouches, each holding Jenny, more than enough for a room, food, and supplies. He took only the money.
"This was avoidable," he said quietly, not expecting them to hear. "But you chose otherwise."
He adjusted his coat and turned away. Before leaving, he made one small adjustment, dragging both men a short distance deeper into the alley, out of sight of the main road.
He didn't bother tying them up. By the time they woke, he would be long gone.
Conrad stepped back into the street and walked calmly, slipping the Jenny into his pocket.
I should have used Zetsu to ambush them instead. Not that I needed to, but it would be a good habit.