At first, caught up in the panic, he let his legs take him wherever they wanted. He kept ducking into the alleyways that populated the city, hoping that the thugs would lose track of him… but no matter how much he tried to make them lose his tail, he could hear their footsteps right behind.
It even seemed like a game to them, as they kept calling out to him, promising all kinds of pain that could be avoided if he just stopped, and gave them what they had come for.
'No! No matter what, I'll not let the healing ward be taking away this time! I don't know for sure whether it'll wake her up… but it'll help her condition a lot, and she needs it! I have to get away! I can't have her die and leave me alone! I can't bear it if it happens all over again! NO!'
The weight of his memories pushed him on. He remembered how lonely he had felt when their family had fallen to dire straits. He remembered how she had comforted him, even though she had been just as devastated as him due to the departure of his father. He remembered how she had starved to let him eat, and with each memory that surfaced, he pumped more power into his legs, going faster and faster until it felt that it was getting hard to breathe.
Quickly realizing that running randomly would not do anything to help the situation, he looked around wildly to understand where he was. A signpost nearby gave him what he needed.
With renewed vigor, he turned right even though he had initially been about to turn left as he had happened to be running to the left of the road. He passed a few people, but there weren't too many due to how late it was.
Time zones were hard to track when one was in an odyssey. It had been day when the hero had died in Bellview, but after returning, he had seen that night had fallen over where the odyssey station was located. As the station wasn't too far from his own home, it was the same time zone, and hence, even though he hadn't checked properly, he knew that it was at least around 2 AM, or in other words, the dead of the night.
As for the policing force that was supposed to maintain order… he didn't think even for a moment that they would be of help to him. First, the forces were spread out too thinly in his area where only the poorest resided, and second, he couldn't be sure whether they would support the thugs, and extort him for being a teenager with no background.
'Background, background, background! It always comes down to that! If our family hadn't fallen, would these scum have dared to do anything like this? If I had a background like that princess, would I have had to run like a dog to keep what is mine?'
His rebellious thoughts felt good, but alas, they did nothing to help him. He hoped that the same would not be the case for the person he was going toward… and after turning once more, he saw that he had finally reached his destination.
Veristos city was a maze of alleyways, with most of it taken up by the gigantic residential buildings in which the citizens lived. There were only a few roads that were different, and these were meant for the markets and other shops. Restaurants and pot shops also took up space in them, turning them into crowded hubs that could be expected to be busy no matter what time of the day was.
The main road he entered wasn't as packed as a few others that he could name, which held a lot more stalls where one could get food from all over the world. Gasping for breath, he headed toward a small shop in front of him whose shutter was closed.
'Old Man's Gizmos', the signboard read, and without hesitation, he banged on the beaten-down wooden door beside the shutter.
Even here, rent wasn't cheap, so it was a given that those who owned shops had some sort of background. Hence, it seemed that the thugs had paused, wondering whether they would face any opposition, but when no response came from the store even after a few seconds, they emerged out of the darkness in the alleyway, their hands twitching in anticipation for the beatdown that would soon begin.
Al felt the panic returning. With a goal in mind, he had been able to put it aside, but now, it threatened to overwhelm him.
'Open up, open up, open up!'
He resumed banging on the door even though he had been told to leave it after trying once. The situation was dire, and he was sure that the one inside would understand.
"There's no one there! Just give up! We warned you before! Even if you give us everything in your pockets now, you're still going to get beaten up!"
The hero he had beaten in his first odyssey spoke up and walked forward, his lips stretched into a menacing grin.
Al put his back on the door, hoping, praying that his savior would wake up.
There were seven thugs in total, but he was confident that if the old man arrived, he would have no problem with dealing with them all. He turned around to resume what seemed like a futile effort, now, and even as the sound of one of the brutes running forward reached his ears, he stayed there, not even making an effort to move aside.
A gunshot shattered the silence of the night.
"What the fuck do you think y'all are doin' in front of my shop?"
As soon as he heard the familiar voice, Al turned around, relief flooding into his face.
Wreathed half in shadow at the mouth of the alleyway he had just one out of, a man stood tall, one hand holding a large, silver revolver and the other catching the strap of a bag that hung on his back.
His face became visible when he stepped forward. Close-cropped hair, sunburned skin, a thick, bristly beard that reached his neck and a cigar that was always present in his mouth no matter whether it was day or night.
"Old man Joseph!"
Al shouted to greet him, and his eyes lazily wandered to the door. A flicker of recognition passed through them, and then, he pointed the revolver at the one who was dressed the best among them all.
"You're clearly the leader. This is private property. Get out of 'ere."
His muscles rippled beneath the army fatigues he was wearing, and he stood ramrod straight like a soldier.
It seemed that the hero had picked up on the clue, too, but he scoffed and said, "Private property? How can you own the road?"
The bag dropped to the ground. And another gunshot made everyone present flinch.
At first, no one could find the target, but then, the thug who had been about to reach Al shuddered and dropped the baseball bat he had been holding.
Two clean holes were present at its thickest part, positioned neatly beside each other. The thug began to heave as he saw them smoking, and the others drew in a quick breath.
Three of them bolted and ran after a few seconds of heavy silence. Those that remained all gathered behind the hero, who plunged his hand into his pocket and took out an object.
"Hey! That's mine!"
Al was unable to stop himself. It was the same marble that he had taken in his first odyssey.
Ignoring him, the old man walked forward.
"Everywhere the air I breathe goes is as my private property. And I'll clobber anyone who says otherwise."
The hero's courage seemed to break as he saw the large soldier come closer and closer. He held the marble up defensively, but it did nothing even when old man Joseph reached him, and caught his hand with a swift movement.
Bending it back, he made hero howl and drop the marble, which he caught with his other hand. Then, his leg flew into the air, and a moment later, the hero flew back and landed with a thud.
The other thugs bolted, too, then. He had put away the revolver so quickly that none of them had seen it, and he drew it now with the same speed. As he pointed it at them, they froze, but he kept his eyes on Al and said, "Leave behind what ya' stole, and take him with ya'."
As the brutes scrambled away with their unconscious boss between their hands after throwing a healing ward in their direction, old man Joseph caught it and walked forward slowly.
He maintained a stern expression until the thugs rounded the corner, and then… he smiled, and mussed up Al's hair.
Despite himself, Al grinned.
��I won! Now, we have two healing words! Let's go use them on mom!"
He puffed on the cigar without responding for a second, while his eyes glazed over with emotions that Al couldn't read.
Then, they disappeared, and after putting his hand around Al's shoulder, he said, "Yes… let's go. We shouldn't keep my sister waiting."