Chapter Nineteen
DARTING AROUND
"HAH!"
Dionysus woke up with a start this morning. He was still on the roof of the building that he had slept upon last night, the sun shining down brightly upon him from that position.
'It's been a while since I've been in that dimension, but if what the lich said is true, then the heavens are watching me.'
It was a terrible situation for Dionysus, who didn't seek a very lively life in the least bit. By being connected to the Chained King, his life was sought after just for that. Just by knowing it, his life was more stressful.
"So, I suppose I'll really have to stay quiet now."
THWEW
He hopped up and stood on his two legs and began to stretch. The sun shone down on his face, clouds nowhere to be seen. It was a lovely day by his standards, and he had a shift to attend to at the bar.
'Well, I'll have to deal with that first.'
--- SEQUENCE 2 ---
"Your shift for the day is done, get outta 'ere rookie."
The boss came in and chased Dionysus off at the same time that he always did. Personally, Dionysus felt as if the boss was actually a really nice guy on the inside, but that he just didn't want to show it out in public.
'Don't blame him, people who seem like they're easy targets don't have a good life in a city with crime around.'
Dionysus headed out with the same backdoor that he always used, all while pulling out his pipe. He dropped something into it and then lit it up before putting it into his mouth.
HOOH
PUFF
Yesterday, Dionysus had made quite a bit of progress towards translating Crasker's memories and thoughts. Today, if he followed him for around three more hours, he would have fully understood it all by the end of the three hours.
'I still don't know what I'm gonna do if I figure out the truth. If he's the captain, am I gonna kill him? Do I want to kill him? I don't think I do, but on the off-chance that I lose it?'
Dionysus himself didn't know why he was doing any of this in the first place. A part of him had just decided that he had nothing better to do, and that he might as well figure out the truth. Another part of him thought that he should just resign and continue to live his little life.
"Nah, I'll continue to follow him."
HOOH
PUFF
After that one last puff, Dionysus put the pipe away and walked out from the alley.
'I can't really track Crasker actively, so I can only hope that I'll find out where he is. I somewhat followed him back to his place, but not to the extent that I know where he lives. I'll just go dilly-dally around town, and if I happen to see him, I'll follow. If not, I'll just spend my day doing exactly that, dilly-dallying.'
Just like that, his plans for the day had been laid out. Hours quickly passed, and nothing much happened. He went to the same cafe that he was at yesterday, walked around the streets, and ate lunch. Whether or not it could be considered fortunate or unfortunate, Dionysus didn't know, but Crasker did not grace him with his appearance.
'Not exactly the smallest city, he could be twenty miles away from me and still be in it.'
Although he had constantly told himself that he wouldn't mind it if he didn't find Crasker, he still found himself hanging his head down low.
'It seems that I really did want to know. Well, at the very least, I can gather from today that I do want to follow him and find out the truth.'
Dionysus was currently leaning against an alleyway wall, watching as people walked past him in the streets. He was only going to stay there for a few more minutes, as he wanted a quick breather from all the walking around town that he had done.
"G-Get away from me!"
'. . .?'
Dionysus heard screaming deeper within the alley that he was in. Intrigued by the sounds, he decided that it couldn't hurt to see what was going on.
'Actually, it could hurt, but I'm nothing normal myself.'
Although he wasn't the type to brag, he wouldn't be too humble either. He acknowledged his abilities to a certain extent, and knew that he could handle himself. Of course, this didn't mean that he wanted to fight at all. Quite the contrary, he still intended to stay away from fights.
'Though, I wonder, if the heavens really do decide that they want me chained up in that dimension permanently, should I put up a fight during that time?'
These thoughts loomed within the abyss that was Dionysus' mind, and as he continued to walk down the alleyway, the putrid smell of garbage, piss, and other things were definitely getting stronger.
'I wouldn't be surprised to find a corpse just lying on the ground with this smell.'
Dionysus was reminded of the dungeon that he set out to conquer years back. Although the smell wasn't to that level, and, in fact, was not even close, it was still quite terrible.
'I really hope I just misheard stuff and that there isn't actually someone getting abused or something . . .'
As Dionysus continued to stroll through the alleyway, he came upon an opening. It was a square opening with grass for ground, and four alleyways lead to it, the one he came from being one of them.
What actually mattered, though, was the scene unfolding before him. Dionysus saw four men wearing suits standing over what seemed to be a pitiful teenager.
"Come on, hand us your money!"
"Cough it up, little punk!"
They kicked and spat at him while clearly shaking him down. Dionysus, witness to all of this, felt somewhat bad for the kid, but also didn't want to get involved.
'Though, I'd feel terrible if I just left them . . .'
With an overly disappointed sigh, Dionysus made his presence aware to everyone in the opening behind the buildings. All four of the adults turned around to look at Dionysus, while the teenager that was currently curled up in a ball slowly uncurled to look at Dionysus.
"P-Please help me!"
"Huh? Are you looking for something here, old man?"
Two of the four men began to approach Dionysus.
"Hold it right there."
He had said nothing special, yet dionysus gave out an aura of nobility. The two men approaching him quickly came to a halt, but they clearly weren't very intimidated.
"If you try anything special, I will start screaming for the guards while running. Don't think that I won't."
While Dionysus himself didn't intimidate the four men, his threat most definitely threatened them, in a sense.
"Scram, and we won't do anything to you."
It would seem as if the leader still didn't get the message.
"I'm saying that you should leave both me and the teenager alone."
Dionysus made his intentions known. He garnered some clearly hostile gazes, but he didn't care. After all, he was the same person that had been put in front of the Chained King for three decades straight.
'After staying with that monster in an alternate dimension for thirty years, I don't think there's much else that is intimidating.'
"Yo, you can call the guards and all, but this kid ain't getting off. He's stolen from us, and he's paying up today. Surely, you understand we're on the side of justice, right man?"
'Damn, I forgot how annoying society is.'
"Come on now, I'm not looking for a fight. Here, I'll pay for the kid myself, how much did he rob you of?"
"One hundred pieces of gold."
"Go fuc- Uh, no, forget what I was about to say."
'Nearly lost my tongue there.'
Dionysus wanted to live a life of peace without fighting, so he would have to get used to the fact that he couldn't just go instigating fights. If he kept doing that, he would never be able to live the life that he wanted.
'That's right, I'm trying to change.'
"I can't really pay it all, but I can give you fifty gold coins. I'd assume that the teenager could pay the rest, correct?"
Dionysus said so while staring with stern eyes at the kid on the ground, still curled up. The kid, while clearly afraid, still nodded his head. Dionysus, appreciative of the fact that the teenager understood the predicament, looked at the adults.
"Well, that should be enough, right?"
"Yeah, if you're telling the truth man."
Dionysus opened up his wallet and dropped a lot of the money he had been saving. Usually, he would be low because the bullies would constantly be mugging him, but ever since that one time that they failed at lynching him, they didn't seem to be bothering him again.
'Gotta say, looks like lady fortune is smiling at me. About time too, life's been kinda crap until now.'
Anyhow, because he had managed to get rid of his own bullies, he had finally been able to save up money. However, there was a slight issue that came with all of this, and that would be the fact that there was no way Dionysus could make fifty gold in a single day.
'I must look like a real pretty boy if these guys think I've got even ten silver on me.'
"However, just to make sure that the kid is safe, I'm going to have to have you bring him over to me first. Then, the money will be paid.
The man who appeared to be their leader, a guy with short brown hair and a blue suit who appeared stubby, nodded at the two who were previously approaching Dionysus. The two of them quickly got to the two closest alleyways to Dionysus. As for the other two exits, he could easily be intercepted by the other two men if he tried to make a run for it.
'They aren't just idiots, but it's still not enough.'
"Stand up little man, a big adult is here to help you. You should grovel at the ground and get spat on by him to repay the favor."
After the leader gave him permission to do so, a guy with a beanie on lifted up the kid, but only to the point that he would be able to stand on two legs. The kid slowly wobbled over to Dionysus, his face swollen and beaten.
'He's a teenager, but only fifteen at most. Hah, life's tough these days.'
Dionysus walked over to the kid and looked him in the eyes. He put what he thought to be his most comforting smile on his face as he looked at the kid, completely unaffected by the two men behind him who were most likely staring daggers into his back.
"It's all right, you'll be fine. Stand behind me and keep ahold of my hand, if you will."
Although the kid most definitely wasn't a little baby boy or something of the sorts, Dionysus still treated him like one. However, the kid, understanding that he was in no position to argue, took Dionysus' hand and stood behind him, just like he ordered.
"So, cough up the money now."
WHOOSH
A curtain appeared in front of Dionysus, and a curt explanation emerged from Dionysus' mouth.
"Thanks for having me."
And with that, he walked through the curtain, the kid right behind him.