Popularity

After walking for a bit, Leus entered the residential district of the area that's supposedly controlled by him now.

The moment he stepped foot in, he was recognized by literally everyone.

"The Purple Saint is here, it's The Purple Saint!"

"Hey! Thanks for solving the wood problem!"

"The patrollers no longer terrorize children, thank you so much"

"Were you the one who changed the Collectors? They behave like humans now not beasts!"

Leus was surprised by their reaction, he wanted to reply and tell them that it was not all him and that Scar was involved as well but no one listened.

The commotion was too loud and the noise brought even more people to check on what was going on.

In what seemed like only a minute or two, Leus was surrounded by 10s of people all either praising or thanking him

'This body is too short for this ... I need to breathe people!'

No matter how loudly he spoke, no one heard him

'I can't even hear myself in all this hubbub! How do I expect them to hear me'

Leus was slowly losing hope

'Are they going to thank me by choking me to death?

The Abstract of Levitation would've been perfect in this situation ... Ahhh'

Luckily, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, someone came to Leus' rescue.

"MOVE MOVE"

Two guys shoved their way through the crowd until they reached Leus

"Don't bother the Boss, move away"

They pushed everyone away and cleared the way for Leus, then one of them looked at him and spoke

"No worries Boss, Boss Scar sent us to rescue you!

Don't come here without an escort next time."

"Escort?"

"Yes, to clear the way for you. You're very popular"

"Popular? I come like once a month"

"Everyone was strictly ordered by Boss Scar and Boss Bones to give you the credits for everything that happens, so you're very popular in the area."

"I ... See, I didn't know that"

'Scar must've known that this will happen ....'

While Leus was thinking about how to pay Scar back for putting him in this situation, one of the guys cut his train of thought and said

"Not a problem Boss, Now where do you want to go?"

Leus then remembered why he came here in the first place

"Uh? Right, I just wanted to walk around for a bit"

And so Leus was "Guarded" by the two guys around in the slums.

As he walked further into the district, he couldn't help but notice how everyone seemed different from usual, so he decided to ask his so-called guards

"Doesn't the atmosphere feel different guys?"

"What do you mean, Boss?"

"I mean ... The people seem happy.

The last time I walked around here, only children were happy"

The escorts quickly nodded

"You're right boss, the new changes made everyone's livelihood better.

People are now not worried about their children dying in the winter, and many have a goal now"

"A goal?"

"Yes, A goal.

Boss Bones promised that if anyone is strong or loyal enough he'll be accepted in our team"

Leus was surprised when he heard that, from his experience, Protectors were disliked by the people

'That first woman I met here didn't like the gang at all, and as for Meli's father ... he disliked the old Protector and had neutral feelings about Scar.'

"People aspire to join us now?"

"Yes Boss! That's how we joined, and I'm sure many will soon join as well."

The other guy added

"Now that there are rules, Protectors are highly respected in the area"

Leus asked

"And what are these rules?"

" ... Well, actually, it's a single rule that's enforced on everyone"

"What rule is that?"

The escorts looked at each other and seemed reluctant to say it.

Leus furrowed his brows

"Is it some kind of a secret rule or something?"

"No ... Boss, it's just a little embarrassing"

Leus became even more confused

"Now that sounds funny, what is embarrassing about it?"

The other escort sighed and said it

"The rule is:

Before taking any action, ask yourself

(Would The Purple Saint approve of your action?)

If yes, then do it, If no, then don't do it no matter what, and if it's necessary to do then ask your superior about it."

Leus was at a loss for words

After a bout of silence, he mumbled

"That's ..... An interesting rule"

The escorts nodded

"It was suggested by The Boss' right hand and everyone agreed on it."

"Yeah? And who is that?"

"Superior Kyle"

'That ... Really makes sense ...'

'Didn't Bones call him the Cult Leader ... No wonder'

'He is the reason everyone calls me the Purple Saint here'

Leus didn't say anything and the escorts just walked beside him in silence.

After walking in the area for a bit, Leus realized that were wasn't much for him to do. This time there were no complaints, only praises and requests to keep things as it is forever.

For a second, Leus remembered when he first entered the Slums and found a small girl crying because she didn't have water to drink, then he compared it to what was in front of him right now.

'I didn't really do much ... but I'm glad that I contributed'

'Making people's lives better is a good thing.'

After walking for a bit more Leus decided to head back to the base.

He went back and just like the last time, the place was bustling with life.

Kyle and Bones quickly came to greet him.

Interestingly, Bones had two guys Leus had never seen before following him around

' ... No way'

'Bones got escorts too!'

Leus could barely hold back his laughter while Kyle was greeting him

"Saint! I'm glad to see you"

" ... Hey Kyle, I am too"

Bones joined them as well

"Kid, welcome back to your second home"

"Ahh Really? Well it really is like a second home to me"

'Actually a third, But it doesn't matter'

"Saint, Everyone in the area praises you, did you meet the people?"

Leus said in a defeated tone

"Yeah, I did ... it was surely an experience"

Bones laughed when he heard that

"Did you go alone? Even I don't go anywhere alone now, work is too much and we've become celebrities. Scar is the lucky one"

"Lucky?"

"Yeah, the people don't recognize him without his scar, and he only goes from here to the Safe House or to that girl's house."

Bones added with a whisper

"Let me tell you a secret, he's establishing a friendship with her Father."

Leus nodded

"He's quickly making his moves"

While the two of them were laughing Scar joined

"What are you two laughing about"

As soon as Leus heard him he glared daggers at him

"You....."

Scar just smirked

"What? You're always being too benevolent, I wanted you to experience the people's love."

"Pffff, I almost choked to death"

"Considering that you could've frozen the area, I doubt that you were in any real danger."

Leus couldn't refute that so he just silently glared at him

Bones tried to lighten the mood

"Chill out guys, Let's drink that horrible tea you both enjoy"

"KYLE! You heard the guy."

Leus stayed with his friends all night.

Throughout the night, he chatted with various people, and during that, he realized there were lots of myths about him among the new members.

Some believed he could take down ten people in a blink, while others thought he had the power to heal any injury as long as the person was still alive.

'A lot of exaggerations ... '

However, correcting these things would be too bothersome, so he didn't try to.

Around dawn, he said his goodbyes to his friends and the few remaining guys and headed to the library.

'Time to unlock a new Abstract.'