Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

"Let Peter go! Let Peter go!"

A small crowd chanted from below the garrison's gate.

The wide street of the town's absolute outskirts would usually be perfectly empty, devoid of any marks of human activity. Even the fence that separated the garrison proper from the mostly abandoned ruins around the compound was there just for the show, more to mark the garrison's boundary than to prevent anyone from trespassing.

And yet, when the time of its test came to be, the fence held, keeping the small crowd from intruding past the garrison's gate and confining them just to the wide street leading to said gate.

"Let Peter go! Let Peter go!"

The crowd continued to chant. Some of its members carried huge signs with an image of fifteen years old boy and signed with the very same words that the rest of the crowd continued to chant.

"Let Peter go! We say no to the lawless kidnapping!"

Following the example of the crowd's leader with a microphone, the crowd changed their chant.

"Let Peter go!" They called out as usual. "We say no to the lawless kidnapping!"

Beyond the gate, which was the only somewhat solid part of the fence, stood a small number of guards. And between the run-down fence and their guns… it was pretty damn clear what was the actual wall that stopped the crowd from pouring into the compound.

And it wasn't some flimsy piece of cheap, metal mesh suspended between iron stakes driven into the ground.

"Let Peter go!"

The crowd continued to chant with passion. And from the fire in some of its members… They appeared to truly believe in the agenda, finding a sense of mission and duty when it came to standing up for one of their own.

"This isn't working," Cassie muttered while standing at the very back of the crowd.

Even now, after pretty much organizing most of the happening, she couldn't bring herself to move up to the front.

Because it was one thing to follow up on the news of Peter's kidnapping by the mercenaries of Makary, the town's infamous gangster. But potentially facing Peter if all of this proved to be just a misunderstanding? Or even facing him if he actually was kidnapped?

The mere thought of actually looking Peter in the eyes was enough to make Cassie shiver and have cold sweat cover her back.

"Do you have any other idea for what else we could do?" Standing right by Cassie's side, Irene commented.

She was the one missing link that allowed Cassie to exploit all of her means, favors, and contacts and turn them from an unorganized mob into a cohesive group of people with one, shared goal shining at the end of the path they stepped on.

Irene gave Cassie a short glance before turning her eyes over to the clearly uncomfortable guards on the other side of the fence.

They were uncomfortable standing still while the crowd ahead belittled them as a part of their protests. And while the looks some of the guards gave made it clear they were itching to start blasting… The rest of Makary's men clearly hoped they wouldn't need to use their tools of work to pacify the situation.

"Ever since police gave up on this district, it's impossible to make them come over. Not without something big enough to catch the interest of the city's elites," Irene muttered, putting a displeased look on her lips as she averted her eyes from the guards.

Then, prompted by the sound of a car's exhaust, she looked over to the back, to the supposedly empty street.

"Are we late?"

Jumping out of the car as soon as it came to a stop, Cassie's and Irene's classmate walked out with a sense of urgency painted all over his worried face.

And just like back in class, where he would lead a group of his lackeys to bully people, he came with the backing of his retainers.

Yet, rather than the small packages of paint, cups full of bugs, or sharp ins, the man's lackeys came equipped with banners like the ones already proliferating within the crowd.

"To think he would come too," Cassie muttered under her nose, her face darkening a little. "It's hard to be late when nothing happened yet," she then replied to the man out loud before turning back to look at the compound nearby.

"So it really happened," Lorren muttered, his face darkening even further as he scanned the crowd ahead, the gate beyond all the people and then a small group of armed guards making sure no idiot would dare to actually touch said gate or the fence around it.

"We still can't be sure," Irene pointed out before resting her hands on her hips and heaving a deep, long sigh. "But I think if they did nothing wrong, someone would come out to deal with this event."

"Let Peter go! We say no to the lawless kidnapping!"

The crowd's chanting continued. And even though the entire thing started quite a while ago… Rather than slowly losing people over the passing time, the crowd only appeared to grow.

Sure, the process was slow and gradual, with only one, two, or maybe three people joining at a time… But it felt that all one needed was to close their eyes down for a few moments for the crowd to double in size.

The compound's guards took an accurate measure of that fact, quickly moving more and more people to the fence.

And from the looks of it, those reinforcements came bearing some heavier weapons, just in case the worst possible scenario came to be.

"Still, to think he would end up like that…" Lorren pressed his lips together as he looked over at the compound.

For a moment, his face distorted as an ugly grimace took over the fleeting sense of pity present in his expression before.

"I'm not even sure what the hell you think you are doing here," Cassie muttered… but just loud enough for her classmate to hear. "You bullied him all you could back in the class, and now you are trying to act as a hero who came to save the day?"

Cassie stared daggers at the man, not faltering and looking away when Lorren raised his eyes and returned her intense stare.

"That little shi…"

Lorren closed his eyes and took a deep breath before finishing up the insult he was already cooking in his mouth. And as he opened his eyes back up, the hint of vileness formerly present was now nowhere to be seen.

"Sure, I bullied him. I bullied him to the point where even I started to think I was going too far. And I never shied away from inviting others to join in the fun," Lorren revealed all of that without even a hint of shame or remorse in his voice. "But to kidnap him and hold him against his will?"

Cassie's classmate shook his head.

"Even I, as little as I have of a right to speak on the issue, believe this is too fucked up. Too much. Even bullying needs to have its limits."

Looking at the man, Cassie hardly managed to hold back the curse that was itching to leave the confines of her mouth and help Lorren grow aware of the extent of just how despicable he was.

In the end though, just like back when she bore witness to all the bullying Peter went through… Cassie decided to speak nothing and do nothing.

'Right now, he's here to help. This idea will never work out if…'

"That's rich coming from someone who nearly pushed him to take his own life!"

Contrary to her friend, Irene wasn't the type to hold back her words, all the more when she was in an emotional state.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are here, especially when you brought your mates," Irene stole a quick glance at the three men Lorren came with, all looking no more interesting than an average non-player-character in any game who served purpose no other than making up a fake crowd and making the fictional world look a little bit more alive.

"Being here today doesn't absolve you of all you did in the past."

For a moment, Irene and Lorren seized each other up with their eyes, neither willing to step it down a notch and give up. Yet, as the chanting of the crowd suddenly stopped, they had no other choice but to shelve their conflict and look over to the gate.

"Well, whether it can absolve me of my past or not, I'm here. And I'm not going to leave until those fuckers let Peter go," Lorren's face tensed up as sparks of determination fired up in his eyes.

"Is there anyone here who actually knows Peter?!"

The voice filled all the air around in a mere instant, courtesy of a loudspeaker used by one of the guards.

And the very first of said guards to actually approach the gate with an open intention of dealing with the protest now that it grew to quite a considerable size.

And with that single question… The compound's guard managed to silence all those who were still trying to chant.

The core of the crowd consisted of people Cassie and Irene managed to call up and share the news of the situation with. Those who came later did so due to the invitation of those whom Cassie and Irene roped in. All those who arrived later, either couldn't afford to drop everything and join the moment the news reached them…

Or simply joined the protest for the sake of protesting rather than actively rooting for Peter's case.

"You are not going to come up?" Lorren asked when the guard's call failed to produce a single volunteer. He turned his eyes and looked at Cassie, only causing her to bring her eyes down and her face to cover in a bright blush. "Well, in that case…"

In spite of all that happened in the past, all the near-endless grievances that Peter stacked against him… Lorren still was the first to take a step forward.

Within the crowd of people all aggressively demanding Peter to be freed, only his actual bully had the guts to move beyond the level of just chanting and try to reach the spot where he could orchestrate Peter's release.

Or so he would, if not for Irene slapping Cassie's back strong enough to send her stumbling forward and leaving a slapping noise that made the people near turn their heads around to check out what was going on.

"This is no time to hesitate, sister," Irene spoke out while forcing a small smile on her mouth. "This is your chance to make amends, so you better go and claim it!"