Chapter 53 (1/2)

Ch. 53: A Warning After the Interruption

Loren, walking over to where the dispute was taking place after receiving Lapis’ unmotivated sendoff, was surprised when he saw the group who seemed to be the victims.

He knew that they were young, since he had seen them from afar, but when he got closer, he saw that they were still at an age that could be considered children.

To Loren, they looked around fourteen or fifteen, which was still considered as children.

It depended on the region, but most places considered sixteen to be the start of adulthood.

The group of adventurers that were bothering them were a lot older than them.

One of the adventurers, who was a few years older than Loren, grabbed the hand of the girl and tried to pull her away.

The girl getting pulled away had short black hair and looked lively, but her face was colored with surprise and confusion. The three boys that were trying to stop it from happening yet being cut off by the other adventurers was a well-built boy with a blonde crew cut, a frivolous looking boy with slightly long brown hair, and a short, timid looking boy, also with brown hair that was in a bowl cut, wearing clothes like those of a priest.

While Loren looked around at them, both the kids and the adventurers froze, looking dumbfounded, as they saw him walking towards them.

“W-who are you supposed to be?”

The adventurer grabbing the girl’s arm asked him who he was.

Loren didn’t answer him, but instead observed the face of the girl who had her arm held for a while.

After a moment, as the girl looked back at him, wondering what he was about, Loren asked her.

“You’re not playing with each other, right?”

“N-no! They suddenly told me to drink with them…”

“Ha! We saw some kids wandering around in the bar this late, so we just said that we’ll show you how to play!”

The girl tried to shake him off, but she wasn’t a match for him, and the adventurer still had a tight grip on her.

After confirming the situation, he asked the three boys that were being held back by the adventurers.

“You guys need help?”

‘P-please help!”

“Shut up! We don’t need help!”

“Cloud!”

The one that asked for help was the well-build boy with the blonde crew cut.

The one who made the bullish remark was the frivolous looking boy, and the one that stopped him was the one with the bowl cut.

The boy with the crew cut had a better physique than the other two, but since he was the first one to ask for help, Loren guessed that he was either timid or he was that desperate, and both weren’t good tendencies.

But since he walked over to help them, he decided that their personalities weren’t of importance.

“The h.e.l.l, are you? You trying to poke your nose into our business? No one called you, so back off!”

The adventurer holding the girl’s arm started ranting, but Loren paid no attention and grabbed his wrist.

“I don’t think it’s smart for kids to be in a bar, you know?”

An ominous noise sounded from where Loren was grabbing the adventurer’s wrist.

The adventurer was forced to realize what the sound was before he could even start to wonder what it was.

It was the sound of his flesh and bones screaming.

While his bones were creaking, his flesh was being crushed, blood circulation stopping, and his fingers becoming numb, Loren looked into his eyes and continued, without even batting an eye.

“Bothering kids isn’t something adults should do.”

“G…Gah!? Y-you! Let go! Let go!”

The adventurer let go of the girl, but the pressure from Loren’s hand that threatened to crush his wrist didn’t lighten.

He tried to shake Loren off, but he couldn’t move his hand at all, as if it was fixed in the air, and all he could do was watch as it was getting crushed inside Loren’s grip. He couldn’t bear it anymore and called out to his companions, who were still holding the boys back, for help.

“Hey! Let go of them! Help me with this guy! My wrist is going to get crushed!”

Seeing their companion wailing, the others realized the abnormality of the situation and surrounded Loren, but Loren paid no attention, and continued to slowly crush the wrist in his hand.

“Stop! Let go!”

The adventurer screamed as he saw blood drip out through Loren’s fingers.

It was proof that his wrist wasn’t broken but was the crushed to the point where the bone shards were ripping through his flesh and skin, and he realized that soon enough, he wouldn’t be able to use his wrist ever again.

“Let him go!”

One of the other adventurers pulled out a short blade without thinking.

Although it was a bar, it was run by the adventurer’s guild.

The adventurer knew that he would be punished for using a weapon, but he was completely swallowed up by Loren’s presence, and couldn’t make calm decisions anymore.

“I’ll let him go if you guys back off. So, what do you guys say?”

Even with the white blade glistening in the dim light of the bar, Loren didn’t flinch and didn’t let go either.

All that changed was his gaze towards the adventurer who pulled out the blade.

Until now, no matter how bad their att.i.tudes were, he looked at them as people, but suddenly his gaze was one that was looking at an object.

Since Loren was looking at them, the adventurers found that out whether they liked it or not.

Because they found out, they realized that they had done something irreparable the moment they drew their blades.

If they backed off as Loren said right now, they would be labeled as cowards who ran away even after drawing their weapons.

But if they attacked Loren, the outcome waiting for them would be worse than one crushed wrist.

“Any longer, and he won’t be able to use his arm again.”