Chapter 4. Encounter in a deserted alley

The two of them walked around to gather intel for some time, but it seemed as if Subaru would not stop any time soon, so Orion proposed that they'd take a small break to think things through. 

Since they needed to find Emilia and get on with the plot instead of wandering about.

Having reached the area near the fruit vendor Mr. Save Point Guy, he picked a random slide alley and hoped for the best, for the time being.

"So basically, the country and city we're in are both called Lugnica. It's in the east of the continent," Subaru summarized what Orion had told him as the two sat down at a small flight of stairs in the alley.

Since he would look like a fool for not doing anything, earlier Orion had also approached a few people to ask some questions.

As a result, he had actually learned something, contrary to Subaru who, despite seeming so outspoken and loud, was actually quite afraid of talking to strangers.

Orion nodded, saying, "Yeah, it's the royal capital city of Lugnica, one of the four major nations. Currently Lugnica is without a king and the situation is tense, so they implemented a martial law and foreigners are not allowed inside its borders."

"Great! Just what we needed," Subaru said as let out a sigh, his expression turning dimmer. Looking up at Orion again, he asked "Do you maybe think that since we're already inside, they'll just let us slide?"

Orion was silent for a moment, then said, "... We have no documents to confirm our identity or background. We should be careful."

"That's how it is, isn't it?" Subaru said and sighed once again, before frowning. "Weren't we summoned to a parallel world?! Where'd our protagonist status go?! We're basically refugees, damn it!"

Orion said nothing as he continued looking at the ground while secretly watching the entrance to the alley.

At that moment, his eyes narrowed when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing through the alley.

The two transmigrators looked up and saw three men blocking the exit.

The three men gazed at them with scorn and contempt as Orion and Subaru appraised them. They appeared to be in their mid-twenties. Their clothes were filthy and it was as though their inner evil had manifested on their faces. They weren't subhuman, but they couldn't be called decent humans either.

"Damn, another random event," Subaru cursed under his nose.

'They're finally here,' Orion thought secretly.

Previously he noticed some people following them. Now that the two of them walked into a deserted alley, the three finally showed themselves.

Being faced with the evilly grinning men, Subaru wiped his face and stood up with a nervous expression

They were clearly bandits, and considering the state of the world they might even take his life. Mission 1: "Repel the bandits" had begun. The clear condition was eliminating them, and the failure condition was probably their death.

As Subaru was thinking this, Orion had received an actual mission from the system.

[You received a bonus mission!]

[Bonus mission: Defeat the robbers (one-time only)]

[Goal: Defeat the three bandits by yourself.]

[Reward: <10% Ability Unlock>.]

'Huh, a bonus mission?' Orion raised his eyebrows.

Meanwhile Subaru smacked his cheeks and ignored the chill running up his spine. He had to get serious, hesitation could cost him his life. 

There were two of them here. He was not alone. In addition…

"This is another world. Considering the typical pattern, we might be super strong here. Something like the gravity being a tenth of what it was or… Come to think of it, my body feels light! We can do it!"

"He's murmuring something."

"Maybe he doesn't get what's going on. Should we show them?"

At that time, the three men each pulled out a shining steel knife, then all flared it in front of them with sinister expressions.

'What the hell? They're all armed!' Orion's previously excited expression suddenly froze.

He thought that it would be an easy mission, so what was that?

Was it because there were two of them here, so the bandits did not hold back and wanted to properly intimidate them from the start?

"God damn it," Subaru, similarly, cursed at the side as the cold glint of the knives caused all of his confidence to fade away. Turning to look at Orion with a panicked expression, he quickly said, "What do you think we should do? This alley is a dead end."

After all, they had no chance against knives. If they were cut, they'd be finished. Skill didn't matter when it came to a knife-wielding opponent.

Come to think of it, it was Orion's idea to come to this deserted alley in the first place! Damn it, why did he trust this guy?!

"Hey, you two! If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up whatever you've got!" one of the thugs threatened the two as he licked his blade with a long snake-like tongue.

At that moment, Orion could not help but frown.

According to the system, his Strength was at around 8, which equalled eight times the physical strength of an ordinary person, for about 800 kg of lifting strength.

It should give him more than enough power to break these people's bones without too much effort, and especially if he exerted himself, benefiting from the + modifier to his Strength.

His Agility was also at 8, which translated to a 40% speed and reaction speed improvement over the norm.

However, when dealing with three armed opponents, each with a knife, fighting while relying on his physical body alone would be too risky. A violent opponent with a knife was still extremely dangerous, let alone three at once.

'Crap. I can't hold back here.' Orion slightly gulped as he looked at the three bandits flaring their knives.

In truth, he did have special abilities that he received from Mordred that he could use here. But he hesitated about revealing them to Subaru at this point, since he did not want him to become overly jealous; he did not think of a proper excuse yet to explain the powers he gained from the system.

"Place what you have on the ground and you might not get hurt," the big and muscular thug spoke up in a low voice and the eyes of the three muggers clearly shone coldly at the sight of their chosen prey being frozen in fear.

And Orion further frowned.

He did not quite want to reveal his powers to Subaru yet. The problem was just how jealous and hateful this guy can be. However, thinking about it, his strength would be revealed eventually no matter what.

In addition, he could not miss on the reward from this bonus mission! 10% unlock on a skill was too good of a reward for just beating up some crooks.

He had to deal with these thugs by himself alone before anyone interferes. And he could not let Subaru be hurt for the sake of the Campaign Mission either.

"Well, screw it," Orion said and took up a fighting stance with his hands not fully squeezed into fists, then took a step forward toward the three robbers, saying no more.

At this, the bandits were a bit startled, but then sneered.

The big one smirked. "Are you insane? You're gonna fight against knives with your bare hands?"

"Orionza…" Subaru muttered as he saw Orion stepping out by himself. "Hey, this isn't a game! Are you sure you can deal with them?"

Meanwhile Orion ignored it as he took a few slow steps toward the three thugs.

Seeing how Orion approached them by himself, the three were taken aback at first, but then only smirked.

"You're approaching us?" the small thug asked with a weird look.

Orion smirked at this and replied, "I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."

Subaru raised his eyebrows. 'Hey! It's a JoJo reference! I had a feeling we were brothers from a different mother, but... can he do it?'

"You're going to regret it." The big thug narrowed his eyes as he cracked the knuckles of his huge fists in intimidation.

On the other side, white-crimson electric currents momentarily crackled along Orion's body.

In the next moment, Orion suddenly shot out from his place like an arrow released from a bow. Then he appeared right in front of the skinny and white-haired robber in the middle of the three before the latter could register what was happening.

It was the effect of [Mana Burst]!

While being momentarily separated from Subaru earlier, Orion had already tested it and knew that he could utilize this skill to a certain extent, infusing mana into his movements to explode with much greater speed and strength.

Without a delay, Orion sent out a lightning-fast palm strike at the white-haired guy's chest.

Bam!

Having received the impact of the strike, the white-haired guy flew back like a rag doll, as if he were hit by a giant hammer.

Orion then turned toward the large guy who went on full alert and stared at the sudden turn of events in shock.

Being mindful of the knife, Orion then sent out a powerful and accurate hook to the man's chin.

As the large man spun around inertly in a circle, Orion turned toward the remaining robber - the incredibly short dwarf-like man.

At this moment, the last robber was frozen in place as he stared at Orion with eyes wide open like saucers and a terrified expression.

Orion could not help but hesitate.

Since the last guy had the appearance of a child and was scared out of his wits, whereas Orion himself did not want to kill any of them here. Just roughing them up or knocking them out was enough.

'If I use too much strength, I might kill him. What should I do? Should I slap him unconscious? Chop his neck?' Orion thought while looking down.

"W-wait! I give up!" The child-like robber called out while stuttering. Not a moment later, he raised his hands above his head in surrender. After that, he dropped down to the ground, his forehead touching the ground, and began kowtowing. "W-we didn't know who you were! Please, let us go, sir!"

As the last enemy yielded, Orion received a notification.

[Congratulations! Bonus mission: Defeat the robbers was completed!]

[Click to claim the reward.]

Orion glanced at the system screen, then expressionlessly looked around.

The skinny guy was moaning in pain as he clutched his chest and gasped for air while the large guy seemed to be completely unconscious, sprawled on the ground.

At the same time, Subaru stared at this scene, a bit stunned. However, he recovered quickly and smirked. 'I dunno what that lightning was, but Orionza got a melee class, like I thought! How can I awaken my own class then?'

Meanwhile Orion looked down at the little dwarf again.

"Out of the way! Move it!" a sudden high-pitched girly shout was heard as a thin blonde-haired girl in a skimpy outfit ran into the alley. "Move!"

"A chain event! Finally!" Subaru yelled out in his spirits as he looked at the running girl. "Are you the cute girl that summoned us?!"

The blonde girl gradually slowed down her running speed and paused. After briefly looking around expressionlessly and fully registering the scene, she looked at Subaru with a puzzled face. "Summoned? I dunno what you're on about, but I have no time."

"..."

"Sorry, live strong!" After saying that, the girl raised her hand apologetically and then resumed to run past them into what seemed to be a dead end. She then leapt off a wall and proceeded to bounce from wall to wall to rapidly end up at the roof, before disappearing.

Subary helplessly watched as his cute disappeared from sight.

Meanwhile Orion let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Felt had run through the alley that he picked.

'So lucky. Does this mean that Emilia will pass through here soon?'

In truth, he did not enter the side alley with absolute hope.

He just wanted to get some money from the robbers and pass the time near the fruit vendor instead of wandering about in random places far away, get the robbers' money and maybe show off a bit in front of Subaru to get some bonus points in his eyes as he repels the robbers (though the plan was to do it without using Mana).

If fate was not on their side, then he would simply try to get Reinhard's attention afterward and head to the loot house after checking out the marketplace area if any robberies with magic combat happened.

This was plan B.

'Luckily, plan A worked.'

He had picked the alley by instinct and judgment, his memories of the anime, but in the end he was mostly guessing. Perhaps Subaru was simply fated to bump into Emilia on his first day.

A moment later, to Orion's satisfaction, a firm maiden's voice was heard from the entrance of the alley: "That's enough!" 

Looking over, Orion and Subaru noticed a silver-haired beauty in a white dress, standing with legs wide open and looking forward with a firm gaze.

Standing behind Orion, Subaru stared at the new girl with wide open eyes. 'What a beauty…'

Orion expressionlessly looked at 'Emilia', appraising her as well.

The person that appeared here was certainly a beautiful girl, fitting for a heroine from a fantasy world.

She stood at about 160 centimeters tall, wearing royal white garments exuded an air of nobility. Bangs covered most of her forehead and her long silver hair at the back reached her hips. Her piercing gaze was brimming with youthful determination, and her soft features were both seductive and adorable, but Orion could see a hint of naivety in her entire demeanor that more fit a child.

"Give up now and I'll let it slide. So just graciously return what you stole." Emilia spoke once again, with her eyes fixated on no one other than Orion who stood in the middle of the alley, the little dwarf groveling before him.

"..."

"Please. It's really important to me. I'd let go of anything else, but not that." The girl spoke up again. Her desperate words sounded more like pleading, but they still had a sharp edge to them.

After speaking, she extended her empty hand, as if reaching out, and then something gathered in her hand that soon transformed into an ice rock floating in front of her palm.

Observing the ice rock with interest, Orion remained calm as he acted confused, secretly thinking, 'Why is she so sure I stole from her? Do I look anything like Felt?'

He did also have blonde hair, but that was it.

Behind Orion, Subaru spoke up in a daze: "What we stole? Why do you think we stole from you?"

The girl was silent for a moment, then said sharply in irritation, "... Don't try to distract me. I saw the thief run into this alley. You must be working together!"

'She seems to be in a hurry, huh?' Subaru thought, disappointingly giving up his thoughts that she might be the one that summoned them.

Damn, did the cute Goddess really abandon them here?

Orion replied, "Sorry, but we didn't steal from you."

At this, the silver-haired girl stared at Orion with some kind of analytical expression.

"If anyone stole from you then it must be the girl that just ran past us. She ran up the building," Subaru added, then pointed up.

Emilia glanced toward the end of the alley and up. Afterwards, she looked back at Subaru, then Orion with a hesitant expression. "Humm… You don't seem to be lying. So she went this way... I must hurry and catch her!"

Orion was silent as the silver-haired girl ran past him.

But before Orion had a chance to stop her, the girl looked back at the two of them again with a sharp look and said, "However, this situation is not something I can ignore. Is it some kind of gang war? I can't say I approve of it. Let them go!"

Subaru stared at the girl that pointed her palm at him as well. "Hey! How did you suddenly come to the conclusion again that we're the bad guys?!"