Chapter 57 Alleyway Assault

…Alright, first on the agenda: something to eat! He thought.

After eating nothing but tiger meat the last two days, he was more than happy to find some quality grub for himself.

There seemed to be a plethora of choices available to him, whether it was small outside markets serving fresh bowls of mixed fruit or full-blown restaurants that exuded savory aroma from beyond their front doors.

“Hmm…”

What to do? That place looks like it serves some killer sandwiches…that one across from it seems to do pies of some sort…Honestly, just about anything sounds good to me right about now–as long as it has sauce, spices, or salt, I’m game…He thought.

As he placed his hand over his pitifully empty stomach, he looked up towards one of the signs on the other side of the busy street, though it was difficult to see with the constant influx of people coming-and-going all directions, and with just about everybody, even the dwarven people, being taller than him.

“Sunshine N’ Noodles.”

–That was the name of the restaurant that had caught his eye, due to the sign having the etching of a ramen bowl.

This was definitely a surprising concept to him in a medieval world, and in a kingdom that was certainly european-esque, at that, but he did recall Elsia being a center of diversity within Milligarde.

…That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, he thought.

As he approached the chosen place of food for himself, he pulled out the sack of coins he had before–snatch.

“Huh?”

Like a gust of wind had blown by, the bag of money vanished from atop his palm the moment he pulled it out.

Left stunned for a solid second at the sudden disappearance of his precious coins, he saw somebody sticking out amidst the crowd–a figure sprinting through the sea of people with something in their grasp: his bag of coins.

“Hey!” He yelled out.

What the hell?! He thought.

Immediately, he began running through the crowd to find the mysterious thief, though it was a difficult endeavor to push past the groups of people much larger than himself, who didn’t even seem to notice him trying to get through.

The idea came to use magic to aid himself in either moving through the sea of people or to cut-off the thief, but that was certainly out of the question.

…That’s a dangerous gamble with this many people around! I’d just end up hurting somebody! He thought.

Though he was kept a few peoples’ distance from the thief, he was able to see them turning down an alleyway, which he followed without hesitation.

Into the empty, quiet alley, he sprinted harder, now having nobody between him and the thief as he watched their azure scarf fluttering behind them.

“Give it back!” He shouted.

Of course, spouting such words was only a pipe dream, but somehow–the thief actually stopped, turning around and facing him with a confident smile.

He stopped as well with a surprised expression, catching his breath.

Wait, they actually listened?! He thought.

To his surprise, the thief was actually a young girl–she wore a half-top of dark-blue fabric which exposed her navel with black shorts that resembled something a cyclist would wear, and golden locks kept in a ponytail.

She looked at him, standing on top of a crate with confident, sapphire eyes as her leather-glove covered hands bounced the sack of coins in her hand.

When it came to him, his first thought was “cute”–but then he remembered the situation he was in.

“Alright, just hand it here and this’ll–”

But, he realized the errors of his hopeful thoughts as the small thief snapped her fingers, causing a few more figures to come out that were hidden in the dingy alley.

“Hehehe…”

“…He’s got nice clothes–might have even more money.”

“Looks like we found a lil’ lord.”

–The sleazy words came from the three figures that revealed themselves: quite unmistakably low-life thugs.

There wasn’t even any attempt for them to hide their identities with masks or the like, proudly displaying their malicious smiles to him.

The three thugs all possessed wildly different builds: one was lanky with hardly any meat on his bones, but he drew a large, curved knife that certainly compensated for his flimsy physique. The other was burly with a bald, scarred head, but it was clear by his rough, worn expression and his reddened complexion that he was devoid of a lot of brainpower. Lastly, the third was stocky, possessing a height that was even shorter than himself, but he withdrew a slingshot from under his gray jacket.

…Just my luck, isn’t it? He thought.

“Get ’em!” The girl ordered, pointing right at him.

Just like that, he was being rushed at by the three thugs, who didn’t seem very hesitant to swarm a fourteen-year-old boy.

“Tch!” He clicked his tongue.

I didn’t want to do this, but I guess you aren’t leaving me a choice! He thought.

Lifting his staff upward, it seemed as if they suspected it wasn’t even used for magic, since it was held in the hands of a young boy such as himself, but they were certainly proven wrong as a blast of wind emitted from the tip of the staff.

“Waaagh!”

The burly, bald-headed thug who was at the vanguard was blasted back, knocking into the other two thugs as they were sent flying back down the alleyway.

“What the…? You’re a mage?!” The sapphire-eyed girl yelled out in surprise.

He held a stern expression, looking towards her with his amethyst gaze, “I am. So, return what’s mine before I resort to “less gentle” spells.”

The girl looked annoyed for a moment before replacing that expression with a smirk, “Hah! You may know some magic, but you’re still just a brat!”

“Brat…?” He was left stunned for a moment before retorting, “Who’re you calling a brat?! You look the same age as me, no–you look younger!”

“Huh?!” The girl seemed offended, “–I’ll have you know I’m mature past my age! You’re just a sheltered brat! Either way…Get up, you idiots!”

Stomping her foot down, the blonde-haired girl yelled out to the trio of thugs that had been knocked down, prompting them to slowly and groggily get back up to their feet.

“Grhh…Damn, that smarts…” The bald thug groaned, rubbing his head as he stood up.

The lanky, red-haired thug coughed, getting up as he rubbed his back, “Lose some damn weight, you oaf! I almost died right there!”

“Hah?! It’s yer fault for being right behind me!” The bald man retorted, spitting as he talked.

On the other hand, the stocky thug was still laid out on the ground–having been the one to be caught beneath the other two, which had really taken the life out of him.

“Hey, get up, Racio!” The lanky thug kicked the stocky, slingshot-wielding partner of his in the side.

“Gah!” The stocky one got up finally.

He simply watched with his staff held up, not even feeling an ounce of intimidation from the three as he tried not to laugh.

Talk about a trio of stooges…He thought.

“…Whenever you’re ready,” he sighed out.

This time, the three thugs seemed to rush towards him with a new strategy in mind:

“Shoot ’em, Racio!” The lanky thug yelled out.

The stocky, hazel-haired thug pulled back the string of his slingshot, equipping it with a bundle of dense spheres, “Aye, aye!”

He witnessed the slingshot being readied out of the corner of his eye, but at the same time, the burly man was rushing towards him with brass knuckles equipped.

“–“

A level of focus was maintained as he watched the slingshot launch its ammunition towards him, propelling a blast of pellets towards him that shot with surprising speed.

With a wave of his staff, he raised a wall of stone in front of him, blocking the pellets before they could reach him.

“Wha–?!” Racio let out.

The sapphire-eyed girl witnessed this as well, “Stone magic, too…?!”

He kept himself composed, hearing the heavy stomps of the bald-headed thug quickly approaching as he watched him calmly.

“Yer goin’ down, brat!” The burly man roared.

Just as the man reared his bolstered knuckles back, the young boy held his staff forward again with a wordless incantation manifesting itself in the form of manipulating the wall of defensive stone.

Before the thug could throw a punch, the wall of stone protruding with the shape of a fist slamming against the man’s nose–knocking him back harshly as the crunch of his nose shattering became audible.

“Graaah-!” The bald man winced as blood trailed from his nostrils.

Ah…that one was kind of brutal, he thought in surprise.

Before the short member of the uncoordinated trio could launch another shot of his slingshot, he noticed this, using a burst of wind beneath the soles of his boots to launch himself upward.

This unorthodox movement caused the pellets to miss completely as he was several meters in the air now, causing the attackers to look up in surprise.

“Wha–! How?!” The short thug let out.

I’ve had enough of you! He thought.