"It's just a temporary setback. I'll play two more rounds and win it back soon." Dougt frowned tightly, staring at the cards in his hand, not paying attention at all.
Adrian shook his head helplessly and had to wait.
He'd said two rounds, but when the addiction kicked in, Dougt played for another full hour. Fortunately, his luck seemed to turn this time, and he actually won several times in the middle.
Having earned some money back, Dougt finally stopped after losing another round. He felt something was off with his luck today, so he started to pull Adrian away.
"Dougt, you're not playing anymore? You might win a few more rounds," the goblin stall owner said with a grin, tossing a few Galleons.
"Forget it. We'll talk about it when I have time." Dougt waved his hand, his expression not very pleasant.
"What a coward... just that afraid of losing?"
The goblin stall owner muttered the words carelessly and reached out to collect the Galleons from the table. But as soon as the words fell, a large hand grabbed his head and slammed it heavily onto the table.
Bang!
The round mahogany table cracked in several places. Golden Galleons rolled from the table to the ground. The goblin's ugly, wrinkled head was bruised, with red blood and white... something else coming out of his nose together.
"Who are you calling a coward?" Dougt looked like a madman and didn't mean to stop at all. After slamming the goblin's head hard against the wooden table a few more times, he grabbed the teapot and poured it directly over him.
Shrill wailing sounded through the wizard market, attracting attention from wizards around. But no one came up to help, they just watched the spectacle. Managing order was what the law enforcement team did.
The two wizards who'd been playing cards were also shocked. One of them stepped back quickly, obviously not wanting to get involved.
The other wizard in green robes drew his wand after reacting and pointed it at Dougt.
However, before he could successfully cast a spell, the overturned cup on the table transformed into a purple-striped snake that bit the wizard's right hand holding the wand. The long snake's body coiled directly around it, binding the wizard's hand.
"Ah!" The green-robed wizard screamed a few times before noticing Adrian, an eleven or twelve-year-old, but it was too late.
"Stupefy!" Adrian waved his wand, and the green-robed wizard fell to the ground.
Although Adrian didn't know what had suddenly set Dougt off, he wouldn't hesitate once the fight started. After taking care of that problem, Adrian held his wand and looked at the other wizard who'd been in the card game with vigilance.
He wouldn't get overconfident just because he'd easily knocked down an adult wizard. He'd only caught the opponent by surprise.
However, the wizard directly raised his hands to show he had no ill intent, had nothing to do with the stall owner goblin, and would never participate.
More importantly, the wizard thought this combination of adult and child was too brutal. He couldn't win.
Adrian hadn't expected that reaction, but he didn't relax his guard and just kept watching him.
Dougt glanced over. When he saw that Adrian had dealt with the trouble for him, he turned back, opened his mouth wide, put his wand on the goblin's neck, and questioned angrily again.
"Who did you say was a coward? Who?"
The goblin stall owner whose head was pressed on the mahogany table still hadn't understood why he'd been beaten. His head was a mess, his mouth leaked air through several broken teeth, and he said with a slight tremble, "I... I'm a coward..."
At that moment, there was a commotion in the crowd. Adrian looked over and found a group of neatly dressed black-robed wizards rushing toward them.
"Help!" the goblin stall owner yelled tearfully as if he'd seen saviors, but the next second his head hit the corner of the table and he fainted.
Several black-robed wizards looked their way and even drew their wands. They were obviously coming for them. Adrian gripped his wand, and Dougt, having vented some anger by knocking out the goblin, pulled Adrian closer and cast a spell.
"Apparate!"
Colorful streams of magic had already struck, but fortunately Dougt's timing was just right, and all the spells missed.
Another space displacement, it didn't feel much better than using Floo powder.
When Adrian saw his surroundings again, he found he was in a run-down alley with some trash piled next to him. The surrounding houses were all dilapidated and seemed to have been abandoned long ago.
After reaching safety, Adrian also had some anger in his heart. This fight had been completely inexplicable, just because the goblin called Dougt a coward?
Are you insane?
Not to mention being chased by a group of wizards in the end and having to run away in a hurry. It felt terrible!
Adrian was about to question him when Dougt's face changed drastically. He grabbed Adrian's arm and ran.
"Let's go! They have magical items that can track Apparition!"
"Who are these black-robed wizards chasing us? Are they from the Ministry of Magic?" Adrian also knew this wasn't the time to argue and asked with restrained anger.
"Of course not. They're wizards privately hired by the wizard market. They're called law enforcers by many people and are responsible for managing order." Dougt had calmed down by this time. Although there were still some drunken red spots on his face, his consciousness was awake.
After taking Adrian to the nearest dilapidated house, Dougt said in a low voice, "You go inside and hide. Wait until I deal with them or lead them away before you come out!"
"Can you deal with them?" Adrian said sarcastically. From what he'd just seen, there were at least five people in the black-robed law enforcement team.
"Don't underestimate me. They're just trash." Dougt grinned. After telling him to hide, he ran toward the depths of the alley.
But how do I get out after this is over?
Before Adrian could say anything, Dougt had already run off.
Seeing the light flashing in the distance representing spells, Adrian sighed and looked back at the house with only ruins and bricks left. One by one, he grabbed protruding bricks and climbed to a high place, looking for a spot with shelter. He planned to see how Dougt dealt with those "black-robed trash."
The result...
Adrian watched for a moment, then covered his face with his hand, unable to bear looking.
Below, under the spell bombardment of five wizards, Dougt had no ability to fight back at all. He could only run while being chased down.
Only occasionally could he cast one or two spells to somewhat hinder those wizards.
Who the hell is trashing whom?