With his hand on his sword, the unmasked Cyrus watched the bloody footprints of the lead man and with his discovery of the cargo that they were carrying he was able to put two and two together.
'Hold it hero complex, before you do something you might regret take a moment to consider the implications of your actions. I will not even be mentioning that simply saving every person you come across and ignoring the rest is beyond hypocritical, but what about the fact that we will have to be responsible for these people you save.
'Unless of course you plan to save them and then cruelty abandon them? I mean I am fine with that but really you will just be creating more problems than fixing if you do that. Kindness kills, or at least half baked kindness will.'
There was no response to the dark half's inquiries, for the current Cyrus was not acting on rationality but instead pure emotion.
Letting go of his blade, for there was no need for it, Cyrus dashed in front of the men and stood in their path. Completely blocking the small alleyway, he looked at the trash in front of him as he decided their fate.
The men stopped in their tracks, looking at the random kid who came out of nowhere and stood in their way. They were clearly not the smartest lot in the world, as instead of questioning how he got in front of them so quickly they instead decided to throw their weight around.
"Hey brat, scram, we are on business here. Go home and drink your mothers milk, run along now. GAHAHA"
The men laughed, but one of them had somewhat of a keen eye and noticed that the gear Cyrus was wearing looked pretty decent. The flames of avarice were lit.
"Today just keeps getting better and better..." the lead man pulled out his rusty knife, twirling it between his fingers with high dexterity in an attempt to intimidate the lad.
Cyrus was, obviously, unmoved and instead he decided to just put an end to the pathetic display in front of him. Not even needing his magic, he used brute force to step into the man's range and grab his hand.
Crushing it like it was made of not of hard bone but rotted wood, he did not even wait for the man to scream before stepping back slightly and kicking the man's chin as hard as he could.
The lead was knocked unconscious in that short exchange, mostly to vent a certain mage's frustration and anger, but the rest required a more delicate solution as on their backs was a delicate cargo.
Waving his hand, his eyes glowing with power, he summoned a death mist in front of him and said,
"Submit."
The feather he had pulled from the page of his other half worked perfectly. The men, seeing that they had the gall to anger a mage of all things, froze in place and carefully kneeled down.
Cyrus then had them present their sacks, which he grabbed one by one and freed their occupants.
All of them were rescued and healed by Cyrus, all but one.
"He suffocated" said Cyrus as he inspected the corpse of one of the second boy that was fast losing its warmth.
Looking at the men, no the beasts, he had the urge to kill them on the spot but he quashed it the moment he realized its existence.
Though the men, obviously guessing the disposition of the mage in front of them, brought their heads to the floor as they groveled just like the man they had beat to death not too long ago did.
"Mercy...Mercy...!" begged the group, tears streaming from their eyes as they finally understood what it was like for those they had oppressed for so many years.
"Silence," ordered Cyrus, "lead me to where you stole these children."
The men shut up and obeyed, waiting for a moment for Cyrus to rouse the people he had saved.
Upon waking each of them had a fearful look as they looked back and forth between Cyrus and the men who had captured them.
"Do not be afraid, I am a passing mage who rescued you. Look on the ground behind you, that bastard was already taken care of."
The children looked at the knocked out man on the ground, recognizing him to be the one who had killed their foster parents, and then back at the mage with a gentle disposition and kind smile as he patted them each on the head.
What followed next was the waterworks, as each of them broke into tears and cried now that their lives were no longer in immediate peril.
Letting them finish, Cyrus ordered his temporary lackeys to pick up the unconscious fellow as he calmed the crying children down as best as he could.
When they finally calmed down, however, their tears were renewed when they realized that one of them was not waking up.
Crowding around their fallen sibling, the remaining ones looked on in disbelief and shock as they dared not reach down to check for themselves.
Standing behind them was Cyrus who said,
"He has returned to Mundus. Suffocated in the sack, there was nothing I could do."
One of the kids who clearly had a good shoulder on her head turned around and asked with a shaky voice,
"Yo-...Sir Mage, you are a healer?"
Cyrus nodded and the girl fumbled for the words necessary, but he could guess as to what she wanted to ask.
"Calm your siblings so we can be on our way, I will see to your parents and ascertain whether or not they can be saved."
A faint hope had been lit in the heart of the girl, who quickly showed off her status as the leader of the group and quieted everyone down and got them ready to follow the mysterious mage.
Cyrus ordered the deceased boy to be carried as well as the odd group went on there way, several children of similar age led by one who was regarded as a child just like them not too long ago. With several shaky and downright terrified adults, carrying what appeared to an unknowing spectator to be two corpses.
---
Arriving at the scene of the crime, Cyrus had the men head inside while the children waited so that nothing untoward would happen in his absence.
Walking in, he immediately guessed as to what transpired here not too long ago. His eyes told him exactly what the fates of the two parents were, but he still walked up to both and cast a spell on them to be sure.
"Died of blood loss...died of blunt force trauma to the cerebrum..." said Cyrus mechanically as he ascertained the causes of death.
Looking at the men who were responsible for the tragedy before him with scorching eyes, he asked,
"Why?"
The men knew that answering him could perhaps result in them dying, but also not answering could also result in much the same. Deciding against inaction, one of them spoke in a grim tone after having gathered his courage.
"Debt, Sir, Debt. The husband was a gambler, he was in so much debt that you could drown a man in it...and drown he did..."
Cyrus laughed, but it was not out of joy but instead it was the only reaction he could think of that did not result in him crushing the throats of the men in front of him.
"Debt? You would kill the parents of several children just for debt? What a joke, look, look at how I laugh."
Still laughing an eerie laugh even after having said his piece, the men were extremely uncomfortable to say the least.
The one who had spoke seemed to have a bit more courage though for he continued,
"The children are orphan-"
Cyrus' fist shot forth, knocking the talkative fellow out cold thus giving the rest of the men another person to carry.
Breathing heavily, he looked at the corpses on the ground and the one that was being carried. He grabbed the boy and placed him on the floor as well.
Taking three empty glass bottles from his storage, he channeled the Mors domain carefully and turned the corpses to dust.
Sweeping up the remains, he put each of what was left in the bottles and sealed them shut. Then with the most pure liquid death essence he could manage, he carved one letter on each of the stoppers to denote which remains belonged to who.
Walking back outside towards the children, who still had some form of hope that the man who claimed to be a mage could save their parents, Cyrus looked at them and wondered about their fates.
'Kindness kills, huh...' thought Cyrus.
'I will take them in then, but only them. I know my limits, but maybe something good can come of this tragedy.'
And so he broke the news of their parents demise to the children, handing them the sealed remains of their family members with a heavy heart.
All that was left now were two tasks, bringing the scum to justice and then making arrangements for the children he had suddenly acquired.