Black Alley(2)

But instead of what the burly kid imagined, 'Ethan' sidestepped to the left and caught the burly kid's right hand with his, and with his left hand, 'Ethan' caught the burly kid's nape. And after turning around in one place along with him, 'Ethan' smashed the burly kid's face into the ground.

Thud.

The burly kid's nose was crushed, and blood started to run down. And for a moment, he lost consciousness. Seeing this, other kids tried to help him, but

"Stay still, or I'll kill him."

'Ethan's' voice was low and cold, and seeing his piercing gaze, kids flinched and stopped.

"My old brother is a guard! He throws you to jail!"

It was one little boy, and he had the same gray hair as the girl who led Ethan to this alley. His words were able to bring some confidence to other kids.

"Yes!" "He throw you in jail!" "He guard!"

As always, kids echoed after.

And the burly kid, after regaining his consciousness, feeling the pain and seeing blood running, looked at 'Ethan' angrily.

"YOU SO DEAD!"

"Be quiet."

'Ethan' hit the burly kid's jaw from the side with a fist reinforced with mana. It was enough to make him unconscious again, this time for longer. And other kids were staying still for the time being.

"Using a little kids, ain't you ashamed of yourself, mister Brick?"

'Ethan' said mockingly towards one of the building's corners.

And a blonde young man showed himself.

"If you went with me on your own, this wouldn't happen."

"Hah, keep dreaming."

The blonde man walked towards 'Ethan' and stopped when he passed through the kids.

And the kids welcomed him happily.

"Big Bro!" "Big Bro Brick!" "Beat him, Big Bro!"

With Brick appearing, kids become even more confident.

Brick stepped forward. He pulled his sword and made a stance, holding the sword with both hands. The sword's blade was chipped, and there was rust in some spots.

"You don't even know how to maintain your weapon, so do you even know how to use it?"

'Ethan' really was curious.

"My skills are enough to cut you down. So give your ring before things turn ugly."

"I see, so you were after my ring from the start. But I have a counterproposal. Get lost before I blow a hole in your head."

With these words, 'Ethan' pulled a pistol from his ring and aimed at Brick.

All the muscles in Brick's body tensed up, and his eyes darted around. But his greed was stronger, and before him was a kid, even if he sounded confident. It helped Brick to calm down a little.

"Hehe, do you even know how to use a gun?"

He looked at the kid with gray hair.

"You! Go and take the ring from him!"

But the little boy was afraid and looked around for help from his friends, but they turned their heads away because they too didn't want to catch a bullet.

"N-no!"

The gray-haired little boy ran away.

"Useless! Then I do it myself!"

Brick tried to step forward, but

BANG.

'Ethan' pulled the trigger.

'Hm, this gun is pretty accurate.'

The bullet blew off Brick's left ear, and he clutched it with his hand, trying to stop the bleeding and ease the pain. Still, he didn't let go of his sword.

"Shit!"

"Oh, I missed? I was sure that I was aiming straight at your forehead. It looks like I need to try again."

It sounded like 'Ethan' was talking to himself, but loud enough for Brick to hear him. And seeing that 'Ethan' wasn't an easy prey as he thought at the start, and he even was able to shoot at the other person without any hesitation, Brick was sure that things went south and he needed to escape immediately. So he decisively jumped and hid his body behind the little kid's backs and ran away, at first crouching, but when he reached one of the corners, Brick stood up and ran off in full stride.

"You should run too."

And kids, after hearing 'Ethan', run away screaming.

"Run!" "He kill us!" "Run away!"

'Ethan' looked at the burly kid, who was pretending to be unconscious, but the yellow puddle between his legs was telling otherwise.

"Stop pretending to be dead and get lost before I really kill you."

'Ethan' kicked his leg.

The burly kid started to crawl, and when he turned his face towards 'Ethan', he saw a gun muzzle pointing at him.

"I-ik! Mommy!"

He jumped up and ran away too.

And 'Ethan' put the gun away.

"Haaa..."

'When did I sink so low to threaten a bunch of little kids? Fuck! This kid needs to learn how to protect himself and not lose his composure. It's not for adults to deal with a bunch of little kids.'

The sound of someone running in this direction was heard.

'It sounds like I should deal with the consequences of my actions.'

With such thoughts, Ethan took out a mana-restoring pill and potion and gulped them down.

Young knight Pablo rushed inside the alley with an unsheathed sword. He only saw Ethan and rushed to his side.

"Are you alright, young master?"

"I'm fine."

'Why, you imbecile, so worried? If you thought with your head instead of your lower body, this shit wouldn't happen.'

"It's good to hear."

He sighed in relief.

"I heard gunshot; can you tell me who was shooting?"

"It was me. I won't tell Uncle that you were neglecting your duties if you didn't mention it to anyone."

"But..."

Pablo was hesitant.

"Oh? If you don't want, I tell everything to Uncle myself. Truthfully, without hiding anything, right from the start."

The young knight palled.

"Fine. I won't tell anyone about it, young master."

"Good. And you need to find a young man named Brick. He was using young kids for his crimes. We can't let such dangerous criminal be in Anselm City. He has blonde hair, wore a white shirt under a brown leather vest, and his left ear was wounded recently."

Pablo started to nod his head.

"On the way, I saw blood stains on the ground."

He looked at 'Ethan', and his eyes started becoming wider.

"Are you perhaps...?"

"Don't make any assumptions."

"Sorry."

Pablo bowed stiffly.

"It's your fault, after all."

The young knight flinched. He wasn't able to raise his head.

"And also, you should find one guard. I don't know how he looks, but he should have two young twin siblings with ashen hair, around four years old, boy and girl."

Pablo raised his head and stuck his left chest with his right fist.

"I start to look for them immediately!"

And tried to run away.

"Is your head for decoration? Don't forget about your current duty."

The young knight bowed again.

"Sorry."

'Ethan' started to rub his forehead.

'Fuck. How does such an imbecile become a knight? I should return to the cage; it's just too much for me to deal with such a moron.'

But 'Ethan' wasn't able to do so. Because one, whom he deemed most dangerous, rushed inside the alley. It was Leta. She immediately rushed to 'Ethan'. After crouching down, she grabbed 'Ethan's' shoulders lightly. She observed him closely, and after seeing that he was alright, she sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness you are alright."

She stood up and cleaned her apron from the dust.

Shortly, the guard's squad with halberds rushed in, and Leta stood with her back to 'Ethan' to protect him if something dangerous happened. And Pablo started to converse with them.

First, he said his name, affiliation, and duty, and to prove it, he showed Anselm's family crest on his red outfit. Hearing it, guards saluted and bowed to 'Ethan'. Pablo started to tell about how someone with the name Brick tried to rob 'Ethan' using little kids. The guard's leader, with a sergeant shoulder board, listened calmly. But when conversation turned towards twin kids with ashen hair and that their older brother, who was guard, might be covering them, Sergeant's face became pale, and other guards started to look at him strangely.

Immediately, he rushed towards 'Ethan'. Because of Sergeant's unpredictable action, Pablo wasn't able to stop him, and Leta prepared herself to intercept him. Pablo unsheathed his sword and wanted to slash at him, but Sergeant didn't reach 'Ethan'. He dropped his halberd, fell to his knees, and bowed; his forehead was almost touching the ground. Sergeant did it with force, so his cap came off, and all the people who were around were able to see his ash gray hair.

"You can do anything to me, but please spare my siblings lives!"

"Eh!?"

It was Pablo who almost slashed the sergeant's head but stopped, dumbfounded.

Leta too was surprised, but she only showed it with her right eyebrow slightly rising. And 'Ethan's' face was impassive. He moved forward behind Leta's back, though she wanted to stop him, placing her left hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright."

'Ethan' patted her hand lightly to reassure her and turned towards Sergeant.

"What's your name?"

He asked calmly.

"Ash, sir."

"Are you aware of what your siblings were up to?"

"No, sir."

"And you weren't covering them?"

"Of course not!"

Ethan became silent, and Ash started to worry. At first, he thought that he only might be dragged away by his former comrades, but 'Ethan's' silence was strange, so grim thoughts started to form in his mind. They were about how his head would be chopped off after 'Ethan's' command, and after that, his little siblings would be dragged away from his house, and it would be a great blessing if they were only sent to jail. So Ash's body started to involuntarily shrink as he waited for the next words of the young master.