Chapter 19: Won’t Listen to Reason?

"Whether someone is a demon or not is not for your prejudices to decide," Alex said with a blank expression.

Then, turning to the little girl, he said, "Can you take me to the church? And tell me exactly what happened there, okay?"

The little girl nodded slightly, wiped her tears, and stood up. "Okay, I'll take you there. But my sister really isn't a demon."

"Alright, let's go."

"Mr. Mage, you really can't trust what the demon says," the mayor said anxiously, slapping his thigh.

But Alex ignored him and left with the little girl.

Seeing this, the mayor called the townspeople to follow.

"May I know your name?" On the way, Alex asked the girl walking beside him.

The girl's mood had calmed down a lot. "My name is Lisanna Strauss."

"Oh, Lisanna, that's a lovely name," Alex said, ruffling her short white hair with a smile.

Soon, the group arrived at the southern edge of the town, where an old church stood. It looked very dilapidated from the outside.

Lisanna pointed at the church and said, "The demon was in this church."

Alex nodded. "Let's go inside."

Seeing Alex and Lisanna enter the church, the crowd surrounded the mayor and asked, "Mayor, should we go in too?"

The speaker was a bit afraid of this place. Even though the demon was no longer there, the fear remained.

"Let's go in and see. After all, the magician is here," the mayor said, taking the lead.

The others looked at each other, then steeled themselves and followed.

Inside the church, rows of seats were lined up, but perhaps due to the demon's presence, no one had visited for a long time, and the seats were covered with dust.

At the center was a statue of an angel, with a large pit in the middle. Alex didn't recognize the statue and wasn't interested.

Lisanna pointed to the pit in the middle of the statue and said, "When the demon was here, it was on this statue, and flames were burning in the pit."

"The demon's voice came from this statue."

Lisanna turned to the people who had followed and shouted, "When my sister heard about the demon, she came to the church to help the town."

"But that doesn't change the fact that she released the demon," the mayor interjected.

"Yes, it's because of your sister that the demon could come out."

…

As the crowd began to chatter again, the young Lisanna couldn't argue against them.

"Enough!!" An invisible sword pressure swept across the ground, skimming the crowd and flying into the distance, carving a huge trench in the church floor.

The loud noise shocked everyone, and the church filled with dust.

"I will understand the whole situation and solve the demon problem, but don't interfere or speak out of turn, okay??"

Under the pressure of Alex's display of power, no one dared to disagree.

Alex looked at Lisanna and nodded for her to continue.

Lisanna was also stunned by what she had just witnessed; she had never seen such power before.

But she knew it wasn't directed at her, so she continued, "When we came, my sister told us to wait outside while she dealt with the demon."

"But soon after she went in, a blinding light and screams came from inside the church. We were worried about her and ran in."

"When we got inside, we saw my sister's hand touching the pit in the angel statue. After a while, the light disappeared."

"Then the flames in the pit and the demon's voice vanished. After that, my sister's arm turned into a demon's arm," Lisanna said, her voice low and sad.

"But my sister is still my sister. She still cares for us like before, so she isn't a demon, really..." Lisanna said, holding Alex's hand.

Alex nodded. He had an idea but needed to see Lisanna's sister to confirm it.

He patted Lisanna's head and said, "I believe you. Can you take me to see your sister?"

"Will you hurt my sister?" Lisanna asked weakly.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt her. In fact, I'm going to help her."

"Then can we pinky promise? My mom said that once you pinky promise, you can't go back on your word." Lisanna extended her pinky finger, looking at Alex expectantly.

Alex smiled and extended his pinky finger.

"Alright, pinky promise!!"

For the first time in a long while, Lisanna smiled.

Alex patted her head again. For some reason, he liked this understanding little girl very much.

Then he stood up and said, "I already have a way to solve the demon problem. You all can stop worrying and go back to your normal lives."

Alex didn't have much regard for these people. They were out of touch with the times, filled with ignorant thoughts, ultimately a problem of ignorance.

"Since you, Mr. Mage, have said this, I hope you can truly resolve the demon situation," the mayor said after some contemplation.

Alex nodded and turned to Lisanna. "Let's go."

But Lisanna didn't follow Alex immediately. She hesitated in place.

"What's wrong? Is there something else?" Alex asked, puzzled.

"Umm... I want to buy some food and medicine. My sister and brother are starving, and my sister's injury is very serious," Lisanna said softly, feeling embarrassed to trouble Alex further.

"Alright, come with me." Alex took Lisanna's small hand and led her toward the crowd. "I need to buy some food and medicine."

"Me. Mage, if we give you these things and you save that demon, what if she comes back later?"

"Yeah, we can't sell them to you because of that."

The crowd was worried. What if the demon returned to trouble them after being saved? They all refused.

Seeing this, Lisanna panicked. She could endure their insults and even their attacks, but she couldn't bear to see her family die in front of her.

This was why, even though her sister had forbidden her from coming to town, Lisanna still sneaked in. She had to try, even if there was only a glimmer of hope.

But seeing that they wouldn't even sell to this magician, Lisanna truly panicked. Tears began to gather in her eyes.

Alex sighed deeply. It seemed reasoning wouldn't work, so...

He drew his Zanpakuto, Ryūjin Jakka, and plunged it into the ground. Instantly, flames began to rise, the intense heat warping the air.

A vague but palpable sense of danger enveloped the entire area.

Everyone fell silent.

"I'm not asking for your opinions. Either you exchange money for your lives, or you give me what I need. Choose." Alex never considered himself a saint. He lived and acted by his own rules.

Although he grew up in a peaceful environment in his previous life, which made him revere all life, even a clay figure has some temper. Push him too far, and it wouldn't matter who it was; he'd still cut them down!

The crowd was terrified into silence by Alex's forcefulness. Alex then said, "Take me to buy food and medicine."

A bead of sweat dripped to the ground as the mayor was the first to react. Realizing Alex's seriousness, he knew that if they didn't sell to him, it wouldn't just be a matter of selling anymore.

He hurriedly said, "We can sell, we can sell. Mr. Mage, please put away your sword. We'll sell to you, we will." The mayor stammered out his words.

Seeing this, Alex put away Ryūjin Jakka. "Lead the way." He then took Lisanna's hand and followed the mayor out of the church.

On the mountain path, Alex watched Lisanna skipping ahead and couldn't help but smile.

It was clear that Lisanna was very happy now, perhaps because someone believed her, or maybe because her brother and sister were finally going to be saved.

"Lisanna, aren't you going to eat your bread? There's still half left." Alex held up the half-eaten bread. He had bought it in town.

Since this town rarely interacted with the outside world, there wasn't much food available. Besides the grain that could fill the stomachs, there was only this roughly made bread.

It wasn't very tasty, but to Lisanna, who hadn't eaten in two days, it was like a delicacy.

Alex noticed that when they were buying things, Lisanna's eyes had been fixed on the bread. But since Alex was the one paying, and they had already bought food, Lisanna didn't say she wanted to eat it.

Noticing her longing, Alex had bought it for her.

Lisanna responded happily, "I'll eat it later. Brother, let's hurry!"

Seeing this, Alex put away the remaining bread and quickened his pace.

They finally arrived at the cave where Lisanna and her family were staying just before nightfall.

As soon as they reached the cave entrance, a girl cloaked in a hood and a gentle-looking boy ran out to meet them.

The girl seemed to be about Alex's age, and although she was wrapped tightly, Alex could still see her long white hair.

"Lisanna, where did you go? Do you know how worried I was?" The cloaked girl rushed out and hugged Lisanna, her voice tinged with tears.

"Lisanna, are you okay?" The boy, Elfman, also rushed over, checking her for injuries.

"Mira, Elfman, I'm fine," Lisanna said happily, snuggling into her sister's embrace, but her small hands clung tightly to her sister, as if the comfort released all her earlier grievances.

"Lisanna, what happened to your hand?" Elfman asked anxiously, noticing the bruises on her hand.

"Hand? Lisanna, what's wrong with your hand?" Mira Jane quickly released Lisanna and pulled her hand over, looking at the bruise with concern.