Chapter 101
“Who is this bitch?” The two muggers manhandling me quickly hid their blades as they muttered under their breaths.
They were naturally weary of someone suddenly appearing. Whether it appeared like they could handle her or not, she was near the exit to the alley so that if she called out for a guard or ran, they would be helpless to stop her.
“You two shut it!” The leader hissed after a brief moment. “She is the young miss from the Lou family, Destiny. We can’t afford to offend her!”
“I said, let him go!” She demanded, and this time the two men reluctantly released me, although they remained close on either side.
“Is there a problem?” The leader asked innocently, his previously dark expression replaced with one that tried to look innocent.
The girl was wearing a riding skirt and a cropped shirt that exposed her midriff and a whip hanging from her thick belt. She had a straw hat on her head that stood out particularly, and trailing from behind the hat were two long blonde tails. Her eyes were dark blue, her lips a rich cherry red. She was somewhat short, with just enough chest for a handful. She had a slim, fit body, and her skin looked smooth and perfect, with just enough tan to give her color. Her eyes flashed with confusion for a moment, her previous confidence seeming a rouse.
“Eh? Aren’t you up to no good? I saw you bring this stranger into the alley. You don’t have good intentions!”
“Ma’am, you must be mistaken.” He held up his hands. “I’m just an innocent businessman. I was just discussing a job with this young guy here. Isn’t that right?”
He shot me a dangerous look, and I felt a hidden knife press against my side, threatening to cut me open if I didn’t play along with their attempt to manipulate the girl.
“Yes,” I nodded. “I was just going to work for them.”
“Work for them…” She muttered in confusion. “Th–then why were you about to hand them your money?”
She pointed at the bag I was still holding out from when I went to offer it to them my gold.
“Ah… that’s because he needed to buy his uniform!” The leader declared after a second of thought.
“A uniform?” She furrowed her brow, not entirely convinced.
“Tell her!” He hit my back hard enough that it probably would have hurt if I was genuinely a mortal.
“Ah! Yeah!” I nodded enthusiastically. “I’m just buying the things needed to do the job. I need money, so don’t ruin this for me.”
I gave her a look telling her to walk away. She bit her lip for a second but finally gave a nod.
“It seems, I was mistaken.” She lowered her head. “I’m sorry for this intrusion.”
“Haha, the young miss doesn’t need to be so polite. It was an honest mistake.” He let out a laugh, but seeing the rest of us standing nearby, shot us a glare until we all let out fake laughs.
Our laughs died as quickly as they began, and the four of us were left all staring awkwardly at each other again.
“Th-then, I’ll be on my way.” Her face turned slightly red, and she turned and walked away.
I was honestly surprised she bought it. These conmen were not good liars at all, yet she seemed to be an even bigger fool. Although she was younger, she was still a teenage girl, so I wondered how the Lou house raised her so that she’d be so gullible. However, I couldn’t dwell on it long because once she was out of sight, the fake smiles on the three men dropped.
“Alright, now hand over the money!” He snapped, grabbing me by the collar. “It’s a good thing you played along too, or I might have had to hurt the girl too.”
“Is that so?” A girl’s voice came from the corner.
The man’s fiery expression dropped as the girl’s head tilted from behind the corner, where she had walked and then immediately waited. I could only let out a soft sigh. It seemed like she was determined to get in the way of my hustle.
“I-I-I can explain…” He let go of my collar.
“I knew you were bad people! It’s time you pay!” She pulled the whip from her belt as she stepped into the alley.
The leader’s eyes flashed. “Get her!”
The two men abandoned me and charged her with their knives coming out. However, she seemed to know how to use her whip, and with two quick cracks, she sent both men flying back toward their leader.
“You don’t need to worry, mortal, I am a paragon! I’ll save you.” She declared proudly with her whip at her side.
I could only roll my eyes. I hadn’t been worried from the beginning. She chose to walk into the alley, so if she had ended up getting hurt, it would have been her fault. Although I felt some responsibility to protect Mara, that didn’t mean I would go out of my way to protect any random girl, even if that girl was previously trying to protect me.
“You may be a paragon, but you’re barely an evolved! I’m only a little weaker than her. I don’t believe the three of us can’t overwhelm her.” He gestured and the two men who had been thrown back recovered, moving to either side of the young girl to perform some kind of pincer attack.
“Hmph! You would day team up three-on-one. I was right in thinking you were bad news.”
The three men charged her while I stepped back and watched. He was pretty much correct in his assessment. She was evolved, but it probably was a level 1. If he had a 9 in strength, then she might have a 19. That might seem like more than enough, but if one combined two other guys who had a 7 or 8 in strength, it was still possible to clinch victory.
However, reality proved their reasoning to be a bit too optimistic. She rapidly sent her whip out again, one struck and sent one of the knife-wielders away. The other was blocked by the leader, who managed to get his hand on her whip. His eyes turned to triumph as he wrapped her whip up and closed the distance between them.
“You wandered down the wrong ally, little girl.” He chuckled. “Normally, I wouldn’t touch a young noble like yourself, but if you’re going to throw yourself in my lap, how can I say no?”
“Let go!” She shouted, trying to pull back on her whip as the other guy closed in on her. “If you touch me, the consequences…”
“Only if your family knows. Don’t worry, once we’re done with you, you won’t want to tell your family any of the things you did. You’ll keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to bring shame to your entire house.”
“W-what are you saying?” She demanded, but her face turned red.
“Face it, you’re mine now!” He reached to grab her at the same time the other guy reached from behind.
“I said, let go!” she screamed, pulling again.
This time, the guy let out a cry as he was yanked suddenly forward, her strength overwhelming his own. He slammed into the other guy and the two of them went flying into the nearest wall with a thud. She managed to free her whip, and with a cry of anger, she began lashing the pair. Each strike caused a yelp and a stripe to appear across their skin whenever it struck. The two men shouted and screamed as they scrambled to their fight.
“Run! Run from this crazy bitch!” Covered in numerous welts already, the two men desperately raced out of the alley.
The guy who had fallen earlier used that opportunity to slip away too. She snapped her whip a few more times even though she wasn’t hitting their retreating figures, and then she gave a harumph before putting her whip back onto her belt.
“Hmph serves you hooligans right. Maybe, you’ll repent now and do no more harm.” She declared proudly.
I couldn’t help but give her a side glance. Did she really think these guys would mend their ways because she caused them to flee once? More than likely it’d be the opposite. Her making them feel powerless would cause them to lash out at someone weaker so they could regain their feelings of superiority. At least, I had known many guys like that back in the gang. Either way, my leads had run away, so I turned and started to walk away.
“Thank you for saving me.” I stopped and gave her a polite nod before walking past.
Although her actions were more disruptive than helpful, I had a feeling that if I didn’t at least give her that much, she’d be an annoyance. She blinked once, and then spun and chased after me.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going? I saved your life. Now, you owe me!” She spoke loudly as she followed me into the street. “Hey! Hey! Are you listening?”
Who did I end up stuck with now?
Twice now he’s saved by a random loli, twice now we don’t get to see him actual use his powers. Shitty writing all around.