Bab 45: Jog on
Minutes earlier :
A young, gaunt-looking teenager releases a long sigh as they stumble through the alleyway, their belly groaning with hunger as they pick through the garbage piled up either side of the alleyway walls.
"So hungry... Why can't those guys pick on someone else that actually has money?..." he angrily grumbles.
Jojin had been an orphan for as long as he could remember. He grew up alone in a nearby village, but as soon as he was able to fend for himself, the village exiled him, not wanting to use any more of their strained resources on someone who had no apparent relation to any of the other villagers.
The only reason he hadn't starved to death yet was mainly to due him managing to get into Antomiers... While his situation wasn't much better in his village, Antomiers had far more resources for an opportunistic person like him to grasp on.
Unfortunately, despite his surprising talent in pickpocketing, stealing, and information gathering. Any wealth he accrued for himself was quickly stolen away by the D'argent gang. With no real way to fight them, he was slowly headed to the brink... Honestly, his only real chance of survival would be to sell himself to a bigger gang in the city. But he was reluctant to do so as he'd become the very thing he hated... Not to mention the high possibility of him being forced into some horrific circumstances...
It wasn't unheard of for the Salhope gang to sell the young to the higher echelon... If you were lucky, you'd become a noble woman's pet... If not, well...
Jojin shakes his head at such thoughts, and scampers through the alleyway as he hears a commotion nearby. He sneaks out of the crevice he'd hidden himself in and spots a group of men surrounding an old man, who was trying to deescalate the situation.
Unfortunately, the gang members seemed to take his words as 'talking down' to them. One of them walked behind him and whacked the old man in the back of the head with a club.
Jojin couldn't help the shocked shout that escaped his lips, but it was already far too late to flee now... Instead, he runs towards the men and shields the old man, trying to see if he was still breathing on not.
The group surrounding him just laughs though, "Heh, you just hit some kid's Grandpa! Go on, deal with the kid too, I've read too many stories to let this lie." one states, encouraging the crazed man with a club to continue.
Jojin feels his body freeze with terror, knowing that this very well could be his end... He shuts his eyes as the man approaches with a club, and...
*Thunk! Clack!*
...
When he doesn't feel the club land on his head, Jojin opens his eyes to look at what happened. they widened to an almost comical degree however when he saw the crazed man lying on his back with an arrow lodged in his eye... "Huh..." he asks while numbly looking around at the panicking criminals.
*Thunk! Clack!*
Another man hits the floor, the sound of his seemingly bringing Jojin's senses back. He struggles to calm his breathing as he attends to the older man, knowing that if the situation got back enough, taking hostages wasn't out of the question.
"O-Old man! Wake up!" he quickly whispers and the old man groans as blood slowly drips from the tip of his nose.
"W-what happened?" he asks as he rolls into his back, coughing a couple times and snorting in a bit of his blood.
"I don't know, but we gotta hide!" Jojin states, trying to drag the old man to the alleyway where he'd first noticed the commotion.
Luckily, none of the gang members takes notice of them as they continue to try and find their attacker. By now, their numbers had been reduced from twelve to six, and the men looked on the verge of running for the hills.
Jojin hears a flutter from behind him and turns just in time to notice a cloaked figure drop from a nearby rooftop while plunging a sword into a gang member's back. It goes straight through them, the blade sprouting from their chest like an old oak tree.
The figure pulls it out in a swift motion, causing blood to squirt from the wound like a fountain as the man falls face-first on the floor, obviously dead.
The remaining five gang members notice this and all charge at the cloaked figure, now able to take revenge for his earlier ranged assault.
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Michael cautiously steps back from the group of five men after finishing off their friend. Two days ago he could barely handle three in melee combat, even while using his spells, so this was more to increase his skill than anything else... After all, he could've just kept shooting arrows from above if he wanted.
He raises his weapon and deflects the first attack from the thug, making some small steps to place the man between himself and his other enemies.
The man tries to feint an attack on Michael's groin, and midswing changes his target to his face. This might have worked had Michael's reflexes been drastically increased by the Gandalfr runes, he was still susceptible against more experienced combatants, but his sheer physical dominance over them made most attacks useless.
Michael catches the club with his hand, somehow holding back his wince of pain as he catches it. With his enemy's weapon secured, he thrusts his blade through their stomach, almost lifting them off of the ground due to the sheer force of it.
The man spits out a puddle of blood as he drops to his knees, allowing Michael to attend to the others who were trying to surround him.
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Bab 46: Batuman
Jojin watches as the cloaked figure starts to get surrounded by the remaining four men, his eyes tearing up at the fact that his saviour might be killed right before him. He quickly determines his resolve however, blinking away the moisture and picking up a nearby rock and throwing it as hard as he can at one of the criminal's heads.
*Crack!*
The some-what heavy stone collides with their cheek, breaking the bone and causing them to stumble. "You little bastar-AAAARGH!" the man starts, but is run through by Michael's blade, his momentary distraction all but guaranteeing his demise.
Michael barely ducks under another man's club as he retrieves his weapon from the criminal's chest, turning and using his momentum to completely behead him in one fell stroke.
Blood covers almost everything nearby as the headless corpse' heart mistakenly continues beating. This seems to be the last stray for the remaining two men, causing them to throw down their weapons and flee...
Michael unconsciously grins under the cloth covering his face however, as he kicks off of the floor and pursues them, easily catching up and cutting the two men into ribbons.
With all the enemies finished, he releases a heavy breath and flicks the blood from his sword before sheathing it, allowing his runes to deactivate.
'Reality' returns, and the stench of blood almost has him gagging, but he manages to keep his composure as he looks over to the old man and teenager who were warily watching him... At least, the old man was wary...
The teenager was around 5.6ft and wore weathered-looking clothing, his hair was black and he had similarly black eyes. His face was average but held some Asian features, making Michael wonder if he had some Japanese heritage.
As for the old man... He had long, greying black hair hidden under a chaperon, and black robes with some nice embroidery. He was clean-shaven but had such thick eyebrows that it looked like his beard had escaped from his face and migrated to his brow... Considering the disparity between the duo's clothing, they'd either gotten caught up together, or the teen was the servant... Unless this was some 'disguised prince' shenanigans...?
The teenager assists the old man as they walk towards him, but his excitement slowly seems to fade as he looks down at Michael... "You... Are short." the teen unconsciously states, somehow disappointed that his 'hero' was not as he imagined...
A vein pulses in Michael's forehead as he smiles underneath his make-shift mask. "Oh? Are you sure you want to start talking shit?" he grouses and shifts his cloak to display the handle of his sword.
The teen quickly realises his mistake and raises an apologetic hand, "Ah! I'm sorry... That just slipped out. Forgive me!"
Michael nods and takes one last glance at the old man before deciding to leave... That was his 'Good deed of the day', so there wasn't really a point in sticking around much longer. Plus, he had some more magic to burn before sunrise.
"W-wait!" the teen quickly says as Michael begins to leave. "S-sir, what's your name?"
The old man nods, "I'd also like to know my benefactor. Perhaps I could reward you for your troubles?"
Michae shrugs, thinking on whether to give his name... He quickly determines that it'd be a bad idea, as even if they didn't tell anyone, having some concrete connections to the D'argent massacres couldn't end well. Regardless, he nods, "I'm Batuman, slayer of small-time criminals and protector of rude brats like yourself!" he announces with a slight flare before resuming his regular stance, "You?"
The old man lowers his head and bows slightly, "This one is known as Darmerse de la Richt, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Batuman."
The teen enthusiastically nods, "Ah, I'm Jojin! Thanks for saving us Batuman!"
Michael struggles to hide his amusement at the duo taking his alias seriously... He thought they'd notice his sarcasm, but apparently not... "Nice to meet you both, but you should probably stay out of the slums for a while." he covers his face like a typical chuunibyou before announcing, "My conquest against evil has only just started! But I fear that innocents will get caught up in the war! Make it known! The streets are not safe as long as evil dwells within this city!..."
Michael coughs into his hand, "Alright, that's all, see you guys later." he waves before quickly sprinting off while feeling incredibly embarrassed over his acting.
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Jojin and Darmerse watch as their saviour sprints away like a possessed demon, both of them slightly confused over what they'd just heard...
"OooOoh! Batuman is soo cool!" Jojin mutters, as Darmerse just snorts in response.
He'd originally been trying to contact the underworld for information about Antomiers... After not getting a good reception in either Baleine or Salhope gangs, he tried to contact D'argent through the gang members... Only for them to react completely contrary to how he was expecting.
He was on a time limit due to the fact that the Reconquista's plans would continue regardless if they had the correct information or not. And he knew it'd be his head if something went wrong. Fortunately, he was saved by that peculiar 'Batuman' fellow before he was murdered... Darmerse glances at Jojin, additionally, he might've gained a potential asset.
"Say, youngster, I haven't yet thanked you for helping me... I can see your admiration for that 'Batuman', so, perhaps I could show you how you could assist him?"
Jojin's eye's sparkle as he hears this, "R-really!? How!?"
Darmerse smiles, "While you might not become as strong as him, there are far more helpful methods to fight evil... For example, have you ever heard of the Legendary Ninja?" he asks.
Ninja's weren't actually a real thing in Halkeginia, but the many books, manga, and other things that'd come from Earth that depicted them had created a legend in their own. Darmerse thought it amusing to try and train his own loyal Ninja... Who knows, it might actually be incredibly effective.
Jojin shakes his head, "No... Is it cool?"
Darmerse laughs, "Haha! Well, I think so... They specialize in sneaking, spying, and fighting while hidden... If you manage to master all of this, even Batuman would have to bow his head."
Jojin forms an 'O' shape with his mouth, "Oooooh! Please teach me! I'll do anything!"
Darmerse nods, "Of course I'll teach you... My protege."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
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