As I followed the alleyway in which the child ran into, I couldn't help but get this uneasy feeling that someone was watching me.
My Blood Sight didn't pick up on anyone, so maybe I was just imagining it?
Ah...
Nevermind.
I saw the hands of a few glowing red idiots hiding behind a wall.
Still, I reached the dead end of the alleyway pretty quickly. The child was sitting by a dumpster, eating an apple.
Right as I was about to call out to the child, I heard several footsteps behind me.
I immediately turned around, and as I thought, it was an orchestrated ambush.
"Heya there."
A bald headed man waved around his saber confidently. Beside him were nine more people dressed in thick robes.
They all had weapons, and had I come here before fighting the vampires, I might've actually felt threatened.
But their postures and the way they carried themselves told me all I needed to know about them.
"You know, if you're going to send in children to do your dirty work, you might as well feed them properly."
The bald headed man scoffed at my remark.
"Don't worry about the little urchin. How about you open those coffers of yours? Your top hat might fetch a nice price too. On another note, your face is quite handsome. You would definitely fetch a pretty penny on the black market."
I rolled my eyes.
Honestly, I would entertain them here.
I really wanted to do it at least once, but since I was on a timer of three months and I had a whole ass journey ahead of me, I decided to suppress my inner chuuni and move on.
Before they could chat some more incoherent nonsense, I waved my hand.
At first, nothing happened.
But then, in unison, the bandits dropped their weapons, their wrists twisted at odd angles.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Their screams rang out, and as uncomfortable as that made me, I knew trash like these people deserved even worse.
But... I wasn't prepared to kill someone yet. At least, not yet.
Though, I didn't let off these bandits with just that.
I broke their legs and even crushed a few ribs.
Their screams intensified, but I ignored them and turned back to the child.
Seeing the frightened state the child was in, I sighed and entered my dimensional ring. I scoured around for some clothes, and after I found something decent, I took it out and gave it to the child.
"Here. Put this on."
I also held out a single gold coin.
"Leave these guys here and use that for food."
The child flinched at the gold coin, and after putting on the clothes I gave him, he pocketed the gold coin.
"Thank you, mister..."
With those words, the child tip-toed over the bodies of the bandits and ran out of the alleyway, headed straight for a nearby inn.
As for me, I counted that as my monthly good deed done.
"You know, you should probably change your professions," I said matter of factly.
The bald headed man who seemed to be their leader stared at me with a look of hatred. He showed his yellow teeth to me and smirked.
"You'll regret not killing us today..."
I raised my brow at his comment but ignored it for the time being.
I wondered if there were more bandits like these ten in the town, but honestly... they were way too pathetic to be part of some group.
My guess is they were just terrorizing people without a solid backing.
Anyhow, I wasn't really in the mood for the revenge trope, so I decided to make sure these people would never hurt anyone again.
I walked toward the alleyway's exit, and by channeling every bit of energy I had, I levitated all ten of those bandits after me.
I was genuinely surprised by how much my limit had increased after the journey here, to the point that something like this would've been impossible yesterday.
While those bandits squirmed in the air, I brought them to the town's center.
Some time passed since I got here, and now the sun was a little more up. Because of that, many more people had gathered around the center to sell their wares.
But when they spotted me and the ten bandits, the people froze.
All attention was on us, and that was exactly what I was aiming for.
In the very center of the town, there was a large fountain.
I levitated the bandits right above it, and after making sure all eyes were still on us, I cleared my throat, then spoke.
"These people here threatened to kill all of you. Can you believe it? They were so adamant that I almost shed a tear at their dedication."
Obviously, not even one person believed a single word that had come out of my mouth, but that just attracted more attention.
I continued with my bullshittery, lying and making the story as dramatic as possible, and once it seemed like half the town was gathered, I decided to start the final act.
And that was by dramatically clapping my hands and making the clothes of all the bandits disappear. Not only were their faces revealed, but also their tattoos, and, well...
As they embarrassingly hung in the air, I grinned at the bald headed bandit and then finally released my Telekinesis, causing all ten of them to fall into the fountain.
For a moment, there was silence.
But then I heard murmurings and even gossip.
"Isn't that Thomas and his gang?"
"Haha! He finally got what he deserved, didn't he?"
"True... He wrecked my flower shop last month. I'm glad someone finally put him in his place!"
Seems like these ten were quite popular in the town.
Though, most knew them as clowns, so nothing that impressive.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that publicly embarrassing them might not be enough.
After they heal... they might really just go ahead and go back to normal.
I weighed the pros and cons, and as much as I hated it... I felt like I had to take the first step here.
I wasn't ready, but I wasn't exactly doing it directly.
Putting my trembling hands into my pockets, I took a few deep breaths, calming my hesitation.
And when I was completely calm, I willed my Telekinesis to wrap around the throat of the bald headed man.
I turned around and closed my eyes. Then, with a single burst of energy, I tightened the grip.
Crack
That sound sent a shiver down my spine.
But...
I didn't kill him.
I only snapped his spine.
Risking the life of a kid just because I couldn't punish a criminal was just stupid.
On the flip side, he won't be able to hurt anyone anymore.
That much, I am sure of.
Before the townsfolk could figure out what had happened, I swiftly made my way through the crowd and toward the stable.
It felt nothing like a game, because I actually had to face the consequences.
But I knew that sooner or later, I would actually have to kill.
It's...
It's very likely that when I arrive at the Ancient Dragon Mountains, I'll have to kill a relic seeker or two.
But I would cross that hurdle when I get to it.
I took a few detours, like getting some coffee, even a snack.
People treated me like a noble because of my coat and top hat.
Couldn't say I disliked it, but it felt weird. Maybe they were only so nice because they didn't know who Amon Everness was?
That was definitely the case, but even so, after the countless detours, I eventually reached the stable.
There were a couple of carriage options, but they sure as shit were expensive.
The most luxurious and fastest carriage could take me to the Ancient Dragon Mountains in 8 days.
...It cost 80 gold.
But I knew that the sooner I got there, the less trouble I'd have to deal with.
After all, climbing the mountains during winter time was not ideal. And it would snow in literally two weeks.
Therefore, I sucked up the loss and bought the most expensive carriage.
It took only an hour for the carriage to be brought over.
The driver, this time around, was also on the higher end. He was a knight, and judging from the armor and sword, he was probably stronger than me.
After he gave me a nod, I knew it was time to head out.
"I'll be in your care," I said and got inside the carriage.
The seats were even more comfy than the last one.
So much had happened in the last day, and now I would finally journey toward the Ancient Dragon Mountains.
And of course, I had 8 whole days to practice my Telekinesis.