Chapter 53

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 girls arm asked him who he was .

Loren didnt 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 .

Youre 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 well show you how to play!

The girl tried to shake him off, but she wasnt 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 dont 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 werent good tendencies .

But since he walked over to help them, he decided that their personalities werent 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 girls arm started ranting, but Loren paid no attention and grabbed his wrist .

I dont think its smart for kids to be in a bar, you know?

An ominous noise sounded from where Loren was grabbing the adventurers 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 isnt something adults should do .

GGah!? Y-you! Let go! Let go!

The adventurer let go of the girl, but the pressure from Lorens hand that threatened to crush his wrist didnt lighten .

He tried to shake Loren off, but he couldnt 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 Lorens grip . He couldnt 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 Lorens fingers .

It was proof that his wrist wasnt 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 wouldnt 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 adventurers guild .

The adventurer knew that he would be punished for using a weapon, but he was completely swallowed up by Lorens presence, and couldnt make calm decisions anymore .

Ill 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 didnt flinch and didnt 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 wont be able to use his arm again .

During that time, Lorens fingers had continued to dig into the arm further and further .

The bones were already completely crushed, and the bleeding had been going on for quite a while as well, but it was still at a point where if the adventurers took him to a high-ranking priest and made a large donation and received a high cla . s . s healing Divine Art, he could recover .

That was why Loren confronted them with a choice .

Continue like this and face irreparable results, or risk their reputation falling slightly and back off .

Both didnt let them off scot free, but Loren decided to at least give them a choice, and soon enough the adventurer that drew his blade put it away and raised his other arm towards Loren .

Alrightwell back off . So please let him go .

Youre not lying, right?

If we lie here, well be at a point we cant get back from . Well back off, so let him go! Hes already foaming!

When Loren looked back at the adventurer whose wrist he was holding, he saw that he was already unconscious, and was foaming at the mouth .

It seemed that the pain and the shock of seeing his bone ripping through his flesh and skin was too much for him to handle .

When he let the adventurer go, his limp body crashed down on the floor, and his companions picked his body up in a hurry .

Going to say, remember this? or something like that?

Loren asked the adventurers as they recovered their companions body and were about to leave, but the adventurer that drew his weapon shook his head .

Wed rather you forget our faces . If someone like you remembers us, we cant even hit on girls carelessly .

Loren was impressed that with the way they made sure they sowed no seeds of future trouble when they decided to back off, they lived up to their names as adventurers .

If he were against atrocious mercenaries or some thugs, they would be foolish and say lines like what Loren had said and he would remember their faces, but Loren couldnt help but feel the decisiveness in the adventurers att . i . tude of cutting ties with any sort of trouble .

You should choose your opponent wisely .

Well keep that in mind .

The tags swaying on the chests of the retreating adventurers were copper .

After seeing that they werent even iron ranks, Loren couldnt help but feel a bit sorry for what he did .

Most adventurers were iron or copper ranks, and their numbers were many .

Even within the same rank, they ran the gamut, and Loren wondered around where they would be, but they quickly vanished from his sight .

While he decided that judging from their skill there wouldnt be any retaliation against him later, the girl that he helped nervously called out to him .

UmmThank you so much .

Dont worry about it . You guys just caught my attention a bit .

Lorens decision to help them was based on his own agenda .

Loren waved his hand at the girl, as he wasnt looking for any thanks .

But you saved me!

Glad that youre safe, is what Id like to say . But you guys are still kids, right? If you hang out at places like this, youll get hit on by some weird people, you know?

He couldve also said that it was because they seemed open and easy to hit on, or that they seemed easy to play around with .

On top of that, Loren couldnt help but give them a warning regardless if it was none of his business because they still looked like children .

Were sorr-

Hey old man! Who do you think you are to scold

Stop it Cloud . He helped us, remember?

Come on, Al! Theres no reason for us to get

I said stop it .

Out of the three boys that were walking over, thanks to the adventurers holding them back running away, the frivolous looking one started turning on him, while the one with the bowl cut was stopping him as best as he could .

If they were a bit older .

If they were, for example, Klaus age, he wouldve felt like educating them a bit further, but they were younger than Klaus, at an age that Loren considered as children .

He turned around, ignoring them since educating them wasnt his job, but the well-built boy with the blonde crew cut jumped in front of him .

My name is Ain, the leader of this party . Please let us thank you .

I dont need thanks . Its something I did on my own . None the less, you should choose where to chatter wisely . Especially if you cant deal with things with your own strength .

W-were sorry . We wanted to take a peek at the bars atmosphere as a change of pace .

It seemed like they had some circ . u . mstance, but that wasnt something for Loren to know .

He pushed past Ain, who was about to say something more, and walked back to the table where Lapis was waiting without looking back .

Welcome back, Loren . You didnt break anything this time .

Loren let out a nervous laugh at the words Lapis said to him as soon as he got back .

If he punched or kicked, he wouldve broken this and that, as Lapis was expecting, but Loren knew that as well .

Ill dry up in no time if I keep paying fines or compensation every time something happens .

No doubt .

But Im still surprised that the ones being picked on were a party as well .

Is that so? If thats the casefate might bring us to them again soon enough .

Whats that supposed to mean?

Well see . Im not that confident on this, so I guess well have to look forward to it .

Loren looked at Lapis, who was still flipping through the menu, not being able to choose what to order, and sighed, thinking about how what she mentioned wasnt something that they would want to look forward to .