Alex
"That'll be six silver coins," the second guard said.
"Woah, that's expensive," Marc whispered.
Bell calmly handed over six silver coins.
The guards stepped aside, allowing them to enter the village.
--------------------------
As they entered the village, Marc was amazed by how much bigger it was compared to the one he used to live in.
While walking through the streets, Bell thought to himself,
"This village… I don't recognize it. It's probably relatively new. Maybe ten or eleven years old."
Bell turned to Juro.
"What village are we in?"
"We're in Lonan Village," Juro replied.
"Oooo! There are so many stalls here," Marc said excitedly. "Hey Bell, do you think we can buy some skewers over there?"
"Sure," Bell answered.
As Bell was paying for the skewers, Juro stood beside him and started making exaggerated coughing noises.
"Ehem. Ehhhhmmmmmmmm. EHEMMMMMM."
Bell stared at him for a moment before silently handing him a skewer.
"Whatttt? For meee? Aww, you shouldn't have… but I'll take it." Juro happily grabbed it.
Bell sighed and handed Marc his skewer as well.
After wandering around for a bit to find a place to stay, they eventually found an inn.
Marc looked up at the sign.
"Hmm… Barlinn."
They entered and saw several people drinking and eating inside.
Juro approached the counter.
"One room for two nights."
Bell looked at him in disbelief.
"What do you mean one room? There are three of us."
Juro wagged his finger.
"Ts ts ts. You should save your coins instead of wasting them on three rooms. It's fine. I won't sleep on the bed."
The receptionist spoke up,
"That will be four silver coins, please."
Bell hesitated for a moment… then handed over the coins.
When they entered the room, Marc looked around excitedly.
"Woooaaah! I've never stayed in an inn before! And all three of us get to stay in the same room. Isn't that fun?"
Juro gave a thumbs up.
"I know, right? Hahaha."
Bell crossed his arms.
"Anyway, I think we should sign up to become adventurers."
Marc's eyes sparkled.
"Wooooaaah! I get to be an adventurer???"
Juro rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Hm. That does sound like a good idea. We'll gain credibility, and we can earn coins."
"Alright, that settles it," Bell said. "Let's go sign up right now."
"Alright!" Marc shouted.
..
…
After leaving the inn, the three of them walked around searching for the Adventurer Guild. However, no matter how much they looked, they couldn't seem to find one.
Bell glanced at Juro.
"Haven't you been here before? Do you not know if this village has an Adventurer Guild?"
Juro crossed his arms.
"Hmmm… I didn't really stay here for more than a day. I just passed by and left."
"Please! Let my sister go!"
A desperate voice suddenly echoed nearby.
The three of them turned toward the sound and noticed an alleyway. Inside, two thugs were beating up a kid.
Marc ran toward the alley without hesitation.
"Hey, wait," Bell called out, following after him.
"Stop that right now, or you two will get in trouble!" Marc shouted.
The two thugs looked at him and burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! And what are you going to do about it, kid?"
"You two are just scum, beating up kids!" Marc exclaimed angrily.
Bell stepped beside him.
"That's right. Don't you feel ashamed? Two grown adults bullying a child?"
One of the thugs grew irritated and raised his fist toward Bell.
Before the punch could land, Juro grabbed the thug's wrist mid swing.
"What's this?" Juro said calmly. "An adult about to punch a kid? Ts ts ts. That's shameful."
"Huh? What do you know?" the thug barked. "Are you their father or something?"
"Even better," Juro replied. "I'm their teacher."
The thug scoffed and turned around to call for his ally.
"Hey, drop the kid and help me beat this old ma…"
He froze.
His partner was already on the ground, unconscious. Marc and Bell stood nearby.
Marc stuck out his tongue slightly.
"Ble."
Before the thug could react, Juro punched him square in the chin, knocking him out instantly.
The kid who had been getting beaten quickly stood up and bowed deeply.
"Thank you…"
He turned as if to leave, but Bell gently grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait. What happened here? And what's your name?"
The boy hesitated, but after seeing how easily they handled the thugs, he finally spoke.
"My name… I'm Alex."
Juro crouched down to his level.
"How old are you, Alex?"
"I'm nine…"
"Woaaa! Bell, he's the same age as ussss!" Marc exclaimed.
Bell nodded before asking gently,
"We heard you shouting about your sister. What happened?"
Alex lowered his head.
"Our mother fell ill… and we couldn't pay the debt our father owed. He just left us. Then those thugs came demanding coins. Since we didn't have any…" His voice trembled. "They took my sister."
Marc's face darkened.
"Those thugs! How dare they… Mister Juro, we should help him get his sister back! Right, Bell?"
Bell nodded.
Juro sighed lightly, then agreed.
They asked Alex if he knew where his sister was being kept.
Alex nodded and led them through the village to a worn down building.
Juro stepped forward and knocked on the door.
A small metal eye slot slid open.
"Who are you?" a voice asked from inside.
"Delivery man," Juro replied calmly.
"Delivery man? What? We're not expecting anything. Get lost."
Juro smiled.
"I'm sorry, but I can't."
He threw a punch at the door.
The wooden door burst inward from the impact, breaking off its hinges and slamming into the man behind it, sending him flying backward.
Alex and Marc's eyes widened.
"Woaa…"
The loud crash alerted the others inside. Multiple thugs quickly gathered, surrounding them.
"Marc, stay on guard with Alex," Bell said calmly.
Marc nodded.
Juro stepped forward slightly.
"Hoho… what's this? A gathering of ugly faces?"
The thugs snapped and charged at him.
Juro smiled.
He moved effortlessly, dodging each punch and strike with precise movements, knocking them out one by one with a single hit each.
The remaining thugs grew nervous and pulled out knives.
"Those scaredy cats are using weapons!" Marc shouted.
Juro only smiled and gestured with his hand.
"Come."
They rushed him again.
Once more, he dodged every attack smoothly, knocking them down one at a time. One thug thought he had stabbed Juro, but when he looked down, he saw Juro's hand gripping the blade tightly.
The thug's eyes widened.
"What the… how is your hand not blee—"
He was knocked out mid sentence.
However, Juro let his guard down for just a moment.
One thug slipped past him.
"Hahaha! You may be strong, but I'll take these kids as hostages!"
Juro didn't even turn around.
"All yours, Bell."
"Huh?" the thug muttered.
Bell suddenly leaped into the air.
He spun and kicked the thug square in the face with overwhelming force. The man was sent flying across the room, crashing into the wall.
Marc stared in shock.
"Uh… did you kill him?"
"Don't worry," Bell replied calmly. "I made sure to hold back."
Juro watched quietly.
"This kid keeps impressing me", he thought. "That kick… it's like he has thousands of fights worth of experience."
Alex immediately ran inside and searched for his little sister. Fortunately, he found her in a corner of the room, unconscious and tied up.
The three boys quickly helped untie the ropes while Juro grabbed a long coil of rope and tied all the unconscious thugs together in one bundle.
Juro dusted off his hands.
"Alright. That should be good. Let's leave."
Alex tried to lift his little sister onto his back, but his legs trembled from the injuries he had suffered earlier.
Marc stepped forward immediately.
"I'll carry her."
Alex looked at him worriedly.
"Are you sure you're fine?"
Marc smiled brightly.
"Hehe, don't worry about it. I may look like this, but I've trained a lot."
Alex hesitated, then nodded.
They left the building and headed toward Alex's home.
It was a small, poorly built house near the edge of the village.
Inside, Alex's mother lay on a simple bed, asleep and visibly ill.
Marc gently placed the little girl on a mat and adjusted a pillow beneath her head.
Alex turned toward them and bowed deeply. Tears formed in his eyes.
"Thank you… really… I'm so happy I ran into you three… I never would have saved my sister by myself… thank you…"
Marc struggled to hold back his own tears.
"Heyyy, don't worry about it. We're just glad we could help."
Juro stood quietly, smiling faintly as he watched the children.
Then his gaze shifted to Bell, who was observing Alex's mother carefully.
Bell's thoughts stirred.
"Hmm… no curses. No life threatening disease. Just a common illness. She would recover if they could buy proper medicine….."
His eyes scanned the room. "hm?"
The walls were worn. The furniture was minimal. The roof had small cracks letting in light, but bell saw something that intrigued him.
"They can't afford treatment."
Bell walked toward Alex and took out a pouch.
He handed Alex one gold coin and six silver coins.
"The six silver coins should be enough to get your mom properly treated," Bell said with a gentle smile.
Alex's eyes widened the moment he saw the gold coin.
"W-What…? N-No!! I could never accept that amount!"
He shook his head quickly.
"Saving my sister is already more than enough. I'm grateful for that."
He looked overwhelmed, almost panicked at the sight of so much money.