CH 88

Chapter 88 : Muddy Blue Serpent Team

『Boys? What kind of guys are they? There are too many people here, I can’t find them with my detection skill.』(Mark)

『They are three boys about the same age as Jack. They’ve been watching us for quite a while.』(Nicola)

『Hahh… Why are kids of the same generation as Jack mostly bullies? Now that Pamella has finally overcome her trauma, I don’t want her to see those boys…』(Mark)

『Don’t worry, I’ll take Pamella away, so Onii-chan, please teach them a lesson!』(Nicola)

『That’ll be helpful, but you’re very cooperative this time.』(Mark)

『I also want to protect Pamella! I won’t let this cute girl get hurt for the second time!』(Nicola)

『Well said! Alright then, tell her that the alley over there is a shortcut and take her there.』(Mark)

『Roger!』(Nicola)

Nicola saluted and began to act.

「Pamella-chan, you don’t have any other plans after this, right? Let’s play at my house!」(Nicola)

「Eh? Mark-kun and Nicola-chan’s house…? Can I visit?」(Pamella)

「Of course! We’re friends after all!」(Nicola)

「Friends… Ehehe~… Un! Let’s go!」(Pamella)

「Well then, let’s go to that alley! It’s a shortcut!」(Nicola)

Nicola and Pamella held hands and walked to the alley. I followed them from behind.

After a while, I could finally detect the boys.

There are three of them just like Nicola said.

Her detection ability is sharp as always.

We entered the alley, and when Nicola and Pamella turned sideways in the middle of the alley, I stopped and looked back.

Immediately after that, the three boys came to the alley.

They were about the same age as Jack and looked as bad as Jack.

「Hey, you. Where did the two girls go?」(blonde boy)

A boy with blonde hair who seemed to be the leader approached me intimidatingly.

「Do you have any business with us?」(Mark)

「They are so cute! Too cute to be with a kid like you! I’m sure they will have more fun if they play with us!」(blonde boy)

They want to pick up girls, huh?

Twelve years old kids in this world are extraordinary…

Well, you can get married at 12 in this world, so maybe it’s a normal thing.

「Umm… They are shy, so I don’t think they will have fun with strangers.」(Mark)

「Huh!? I don’t wanna hear your opinion! Just get out of the way already, or you’ll get hurt!」(blonde boy)

When the leader tried to scare me, the other two boys next to him grinned intimidatingly at me.

「Oi, kid, I’ll tell you something. Have you heard of a child getting rid of bandits, which has recently become a hot topic in the Adventurer Guild? That child is him, Mobro-kun!」(underling A)

Wait, what…?

Ahh, I see now…

「Well, yeah, I’ve heard about that rumor.」(Mark)

After I said that, the blonde boy, Mobro, finger-combed his hair with a smug face.

「Hah, so you know about me. Looks like I’ve become famous in this town. Now that you know who I am, can you get the hell out of here? You don’t want to make trouble with me, the leader of the “Muddy Blue Serpent Team” who is said to be the strongest kid in the western district, do you?」(Mobro)

So there’s also a children’s group in the western district, huh?

Children sure like to form a group…

I wonder if there’s also one in the northern district.

「I don’t think forming a group and playing together is a bad thing, but threatening people using your group’s name is not a good thing.」(Mark)

Mobro opened his mouth wide. Maybe because he wasn’t expecting me to talk back.

「You’re twelve years old already, right? You should start working or helping your parents. But if you still want to play, that’s okay, but please don’t make trouble for other people.」(Mark)

「Sh… Shut upー! Don’t talk to me as if you’re my parent!」(Mobro)

Mobro shouted and approached me one step closer.

「So you do have parents. You know what? Some of my friends have no parents. Compared to them, you’re really fortunate. Your parents would be sad if they found out their child bullied other children.」(Mark)

「Hah! They won’t find out if I keep silent. My parents are insensitive after all.」(Mobro)

「What if you get injured? I bet they will find out right away that you were fighting with someone.」(Mark)

「Huh!? Do you think you can hurt mー」(Mobro)

ーBang!

I shot a stone bullet near Mobro’s feet before he could finish his line.

「ーHiiiiyyy!!! E, Earth magic…!?」(Mobro)

「I wonder how your parents would react if they saw there was a hole in their child’s stomach… Do you think they would ignore you? No. They would panic if they saw you got hurt. Do you know why? Because they love you. Yet, you made fun of them… You’re such a spoiled kid.」(Mark)

「Wh… Who the hell are you…?」(Mobro)

「Who I am doesn’t matter… Ah, but can you stop doing bad things by lying that you are the one who defeated the bandits? It would trouble me later if people started thinking that the child who defeated the bandits was a bully.」(Mark)

「Eh… so that means you are….!!! Guys, runー!!!」(Mobro)

「Earth wall.」(Mark)

They turned around and tried to run, but I immediately blocked their escape route by creating an earth wall in front of them.

「「Hiiiiiiiiyyーー!!!」」

Frightened by the earth wall that emerged all of a sudden, the three screamed in fear and fell on their butts.

「You three, turn around and kneel.」(Mark)

While trembling, the three only looked at me by twisting their neck.

「I said turn around and kneel! Hurry up!」(Mark)

After I said that for the second time, they finally understood.

While still trembling, they turned to me and kneeled in front of me.

「Wh, What… will you do… to us…?」(Mobro)

Mobro asked me with a trembling voice.

I smiled and approached them even closer.

「I’ll tell you what life is. Why it’s so important. Why you should cherish your life. What you should do so that you don’t have regrets when you dieーーー」(Mark)

――――――

「I will never make a fool of my parents anymore! I will start working and do my best as an apprentice!」(Mobro)

Mobro put his fist on his chest as he said that out loud.

「Me too! When I get home, I will apologize to my mom for what I’ve done so far and help her with work!」(underling A)

「We’re still young. We still have futures with infinite possibilities!」(underling B)

It seems that the other two were also very enthusiastic to change their life.

「We finally realize how important life is. We will never forget what happened today. Thank you so much!」(Mobro)

「Un. Make good deeds in your life, will you.」(Mark)

There was no longer a wall blocking the alley because I had canceled my magic before lecturing them, but even so, they kept listening to me.

Mobro and his friends waved at me and went out of the alley with their backs straight.

They slowly walked toward their bright future.

「Fuhh…」(Mark)

I nodded in satisfaction by myself and took a breather.

『…What are you doing…?』(Nicola)

Nicola came out from the side alley.

『As you asked, I taught them a lesson. A lesson about life.』(Mark)

『That’s not what I meant… Oh, well…』(Nicola)

When I explained the situation to Nicola with a telepathy, Pamella came out of the side alley with a worried face.

「We came back because Mark-kun took too long to catch up… Did something happen?」(Pamella)

「I met my friends, so we talked for a while.」(Mark)

「Is that so?」(Pamella)

Pamella looked around as she asked me.

「Ah, they just went home. Alright, let’s keep going to my house.」(Mark)

Originally, inviting Pamella to our house was just an excuse to escape from Mobro and his friends, but there’s no way I can tell her so.

Well, I also wanted to invite Pamella to our house anyway.

We went through the alley and headed to our house.

I hope we won’t get into trouble again on the way…