After Shouya had paid for his clothes, he and Alisa walk around the streets of Vincilos for new landmarks. He often sees shops and houses every time they pass by, but he could not help it but admire the city's wonderful sights.
It is truly a world that is beyond his expectations.
"Oh, Sho. I've been meaning to ask."
"Huh? What is it, Alisa?"
"What was your family like?"
Shouya has encountered a subject that just came out of nowhere. He'd just met her for only a couple of minutes and he only knows so little about her.
Upon hearing this, Shouya answers Alisa with a straightforward and honest reply.
"Well, my parents are always out for work, so it's just me and my sister. She doesn't go out as much, but we do spend time together playing video games in the house."
"'Veedee oh game'?"
"Oh, right. I forgot. Just forget what I said."
"I don't know what it is, but it sure sounds like you two had fun."
Modern technology doesn't exist in this world, so of course, using references from his world into this world would be pointless. Shouya came from a world where technology became advanced unlike this world's medieval setting. There were no moving carts, heavy metallic armor, or even animals that can walk on two legs and talk in human language.
It is understandable why she never heard the word "video game" before, so trying to explain it to her would be impossible. He'll need to use his words carefully next time.
Now that I think about it, how are they doing right now?
Shouya thought back to his family and thinks about them. He couldn't imagine what would happen if they found out Shouya was found missing from his home. But he decides to shrug it off as if he does not even care for them in the slightest.
Well, it's not that I can actually worry about them. I mean, comparing both this and home, this is actually not half bad. But, something is off.
As he walks along with Alisa, he looks at the crowd of demi-humans around him. Aside from elves, lizardmen, and beast-humans, there was something off about this world.
"What's wrong Sho?"
"It's a weird thing to ask, but...where are the humans?"
As she hears Shouya's question, Alisa tilts her head in confusion and looks at him quizzically as if to say What are you talking about?
Normally in a fantasy world, humans are a common race that you would see everywhere around these parts. Somehow, for an unknown reason, there is not a single human in sight.
"Humans? If you're talking about beast-humans, they're everywhere."
"That's not what I mean."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, they're like beast-humans, but with smaller ears and they're attached to the side."
Alisa placed her finger on her chin, figuring out what happened to the humans. But just after a brief moment of thinking, she responded and gave him an answer.
"Can't say I have. I haven't seen one before."
"So you haven't seen one before?"
"To be honest with you, no, I haven't."
Judging from Alisa's confused expression, she doesn't appear to be lying, she truly does not know what a human is. How could she forget one of the most common races in existence? Whatever happened to human mankind? There are so many questions that Shouya wanted to ask, but asking this to Alisa, not knowing the humans' existence, would be pointless.
"What made you brought up that question? Did the heat really cause you to hallucinate? Should we go to the doctors first?"
"T-There's no reason for that! I was just curious, that's all."
If humans really don't exist in this world, then his wish of returning to his world—or even returning back to his human form—is unlikely possible. Shouya has no choice but to stay in his current, beast-like body for the time being.
"Say, how about we—"
"Oof!"
Before Alisa can say anymore, Shouya suddenly bumped into someone by the shoulder. He approximately has the same size as Shouya, except he looks more like an adult than an average teenager. He has pointy ears, a hairless tail, and two long front teeth in the upper part of his mouth.
Not only that, he wears such a dashing beige-colored suit with a burgundy red shirt under it. Any normal suit like that would cost a lot of money. If that person spent that much money on that suit, then he must be rich.
"Oh, s-sorry about that! I should've looked where I was going!"
"Hey, man, you don't have to apologize. It's actually my fault for bumping into you. Here, have this as an apology gift. You don't have to thank me. If you need anything, I'm your man. Anyways, see you later."
The man pulls out ten gold coins from his pocket; and at quick haste, he hands them over to Shouya.
"H-Hey, wait—"
Then after that, their short conversation came to a conclusion and the man walked away and bid farewell to Shouya.
Why did he give him ten gold coins for just bumping into him? Is he really that generous that he is willing to give out money for free? Either way, it was good luck on Shouya's side.
Huh, the people here are actually nice. Maybe living here isn't so bad after all.
Ever since Shouya had entered into this world, he was having self-doubts about this place to begin with. With all the unfamiliar locations and so many people he does not know about, he was about to get ready to leave without giving this place a chance. But seeing this city's amazing locations and seeing how nice the people in this world are, maybe this is the place that Shouya can get used to.
Shouya, with luck on his side, looked back to Alisa with a puzzled look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but I feel like I know that guy from somewhere."
"Really?"
Is that guy famous? If that is true, then he is the first famous person I've ever met. But it felt kinda weird. If he's that famous, then he should've been swarming with fans around him. I wonder why…
That is strange indeed. Famous people usually tend to get surrounded by fans and paparazzi that want autographs and photos of their favorite actor from a movie or TV series, or an athlete from your favorite sports team. However, that man is casually walking through the crowd on the public streets nonchalantly without a single person noticing him. How is that even possible—or can it be possible?
Still, it's kinda cool to see famous people walking through the crowd without a problem. Well, now that I got the extra money he gave me, there's nothing I can do but to keep it.
Shouya still held on to the money the man gave him in his hand—ten ercos. It's really not that much, you really can't buy anything with that amount of money alone, but it was worth it. Now Shouya has gained extra money without even doing anything. Lady Luck is now on his side—
"Wh-what the—"
"What's wrong?"
"It's gone, my wallet is gone!"
Shouya frantically searches his pockets to search for his wallet. But wouldn't you know it, his wallet is no longer in his possession.
How did this happen? I could've sworn I had it with me when I bought these clothes. Wallets can't seriously magically disappear from the owner's pockets. Unless…
"He stole it! That guy stole my money!"
Shouya realizes that the man he bumped into was a thief. That man didn't accidentally bump into him because he felt sorry, it was on purpose to steal Shouya's money and get away with it without getting caught. And the ten ercos that man gave him is nothing but pity money. Guess Lady Luck was not on his side after all.
"Hey! He stole my money too!"
No way! Her too?!
Not only Shouya's money was stolen, but also Alisa's money too. Stealing both of their money at the same time without being detected is an incredible feat for a thief, but at the same time, it is impossible. How was he able to steal both Shouya and Alisa's money at the same time? There were so many witnesses that could've seen him stealing their money, but no one has called out to them.
"That no good money grubbing rat! That was all the payment I got from Gunther! I won't let him get away with this! Let's catch him!"
"Huh? Catch him? How?
"We split up, of course. We need to find out where he is. We'll find him quicker if we split up."
Shouya didn't expect Alisa to come up with a plan and start the search now. Now she is determined to find the man who had stolen both Shouya and Alisa's money and return it to them. He had already escaped from their view and this city is so crowded that he could be one of the groups of pedestrians, so the possibility of finding him in this city is very low. Their only way to find him was to split up.
"Alright, you got it!"
Shouya nodded as both of them began to split up to find the thief and return the money that belonged to them. The plan to capture the man who has stolen their money has come into motion.
❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋
Several minutes have passed since Shouya and Alisa have started searching for the thief. Shouya had searched high and low, even in alleyways to search for him, but he was nowhere to be found. He also asked some people in this city if they know about the thief's whereabouts, but unfortunately, they shook their heads and responded with either: "Sorry, I've never seen him before" or "I've never met this person in my life". Even some of the citizens he asked are giving him sympathies because his money was stolen.
As for Alisa, on the other hand, he cannot say for sure if someone has told her they have actually found where the thief is or not. Shouya would worry about what would happen to her if he is separated from him for too long, but his mind was too focused on one objective; find the thief and take back the stolen money.
Damn it, why did it have to me? Out of everyone else in this city, why is it me that I have to get involved in this situation? If it were someone else that got their money stolen, I would just ignore it. It's not my problem if their money was stolen. Let someone else help you with that, just don't drag me into this.
After a short while of looking for the thief, Shouya just couldn't find where that man was. Finding only one man in a large city like Vincilos is just simply impossible. There are too many people to figure out where he is hiding that it would take hours—or maybe days—to find him. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.
All that Shouya can only do is to sigh.
It's no use. What is the point in finding him? He may have already been gone if all I know. You know what? Forget it. Let him keep my money, I don't need it anymore. Maybe I should tell Alisa to call off the search.
That is all that Shouya can only do; give up. He does not even have the courage or motivation to find the thief and decides to give up the search. All he could do now is to search for Alisa and tell her I couldn't find him. Mission failed.
That is all he could ever do, and that is all what Shouya has to say to her. Nothing more and nothing less.
All right, I guess I should find her and—
"Look out!"
"Woah!"
Before he can even think about anything else, someone shouted and Shouya quickly reacted by dodging an upcoming projectile that was in front of him.
What was thrown was ordinary clay pottery that was often used for plants, fruits, or used as a decoration. Now it has been shattered into multiple little pieces splattered on the ground. Who would do such a thing to break someone's property?
Shouya surveys around the area to find the source where the pottery was thrown from. Then he found the source where it came from. There is a man leaning against the doorframe as another object is thrown past him.
What was going on over there?
"Oh boy, it's them."
"Wait, the Blue Sharks are at it again?!"
"Do you think they will ever stop?"
"Are you kidding'? Those bastards are the worst! They'll never stop."
"Shh, quiet! What if they hear you?"
"So what?! They can come at me for all I care! I can't wait to stick my foot up into their asses!"
Overhearing the crowd's negative mutters and whispers about the current situation made a confused look on Shouya's face. He asked the two beast-men that are closest to him and questioned what was going on.
"Excuse me. What are the Blue Sharks?"
"Oh? You don't know the Blue Sharks?"
"The Blue Sharks are the nefarious gang members in this city. They always like to trash other people's lives who get in their way just for money."
Ah, so they're basically the yakuza.
The yakuza are usually known for having large amounts of crime rates in Japan; robbery, drugs, and sometimes even homicide. They can also be acquainted as loan sharks; they are willing to loan you money, however, it comes with a cost. If you do not pay them back, they can make your life a living hell.
Shouya has sometimes seen them on the news, but he has never encountered a yakuza in person, so he does not have any experience talking—or even making a deal—with them before, nor wants to get involved with them.
"Do you have any idea why they are doing this?"
"I don't know, but I do hear the people who live owe them a crap-ton of money. But I doubt those bastards owe anything, they don't owe shit."
"It seems that you guys hated them so much."
"They've been doing this for almost a year now. If they continue to do this, I'll pick a fight with the boss himself and kick his ass."
Hearing the two beast-men having a grudge against the Blue Sharks is believably understandable. If you were in a position like this, what would you do? Would you stay still and do nothing while they beat you or your loved ones, or fight back and save your home and the people you love? It may sound like a cliche trope that you see on TV, but if this was in Shouya's case, he would be in a whole lot of trouble.
Before Shouya can ask more about them, Beast-man B looked back at the store and noticed something.
"Say, I don't know if it's just me, but does that store look familiar to you?"
"Ah! You're right! Those idiots don't know who they're dealing with! Can you get boss here?!"
"Aye, you got it!"
Doing as Beast-man A told, Beast-man B quickly rushes off and begins to find the person who calls him "boss".
Boss? Do they know someone that is actually strong enough to beat these guys? Well, as much I would love to see those guys get beaten, I think I should get back to—
"Do you know where you hide the money?"
"—!"
Before Shouya heads out to find Alisa, his legs stop and his ears begin to perk up as he hears a voice coming from behind him. He turned around to see the place where it is being raided by the Blue Sharks.
Wait a minute, I remember that voice!
That is the voice that Shouya had heard before not too long ago. It just happened recently that it was not that difficult to forget, and he was in front of Shouya's face this whole time.
The man leaning on the doorframe is none other than the man he was searching for; the thief.
"Don't worry, I'll make it quick. If you tell me where the money is, my men and I will leave here as soon as possible, and you can return to your normal lives."
Inside the house, there was a dog-eared woman, and behind her were two small children, cowering in fear. The three of them are helpless, defenceless, and all they can do is do nothing while their home is getting destroyed by those vile thugs.
"And why should I give all my money to you?! You don't deserve it. We worked so hard to get this money with our blood and sweat, you just followed what your boss tells you to do. So I won't ask again, would you please leave our store?"
"We'll leave once we come to what we're looking for. So do you mind telling us where it is?"
"You mean this? Ptoo!"
Just like that, the dog-eared woman spit under the thief's left eye. He used his right hand to wipe the spit off of his eye.
"Don't you underestimate me, you red-haired bitch!"
Enraged with anger, he backhand slaps the woman with the same hand he wiped off the spit with. The two children cried out to the fallen dog-woman who was hit by the thief.
"Mama!"
"I'll say it again, where is the money?"
His attitude makes the situation even worse. If she does not give him the money that he was told, then her life could be in dire. I wished that there was someone from the crowd to help her and her kids, but no one is willing to take the stand.
However...
"S-Stop!"
Someone stepped forward as they finally took a stand from the problematic situation. That person was none other than Shouya.
D-Did I really just say that?
Shouya looked around if there was anyone else who had stepped forward, but he could only see the crowd that is right behind him. He looked down at his feet and saw the position where he was. He is in front of the entry to the store.
Before, he was right next to the beast-men that he was talking to about the situation. Now Shouya, for whatever reason, chooses to take a stand against the thief's actions.
The thief squinted his eyes as he recognized Shouya's appearance.
"Oh, hey! It's you."
"Y-You better give me my money back! I really need it badly."
"Oh, you mean this?"
The thief reached into his pocket and took it out of it. It was Shouya's wallet.
"Yes! So can you give it back, please? If you do, I promise that I will never get in your way again."
It seems like instead of trying to stop the problem, Shouya tries to beg the thief to return the money to its rightful owner.
"Give it back to you? I think you don't understand. If I found something and picked it up, that means it's mine. Besides, I deserve good pay."
"Then how about I'll do whatever you want. I can join your team and be a good asset."
"Just save it! Even though you try to offer me something, I ain't giving it back to you. Besides, we already have enough people in our group, so we ain't looking for more recruitments. So scram! I'm in the middle of business here."
No matter how many times Shouya tries to beg, even offering to join the Blue Sharks, the thief will not return the stolen money. Perhaps there are no other ways to get him to return the money back to Shouya; the only option left is to give up and let him keep the money for himself.
If Alisa was here, she could maybe save those children and the mother. If Gunther was here, he could take on the thief by himself. But unfortunately, both of those people are not here. Even if Shouya could get them to this place, the thief might have already been gone at that point, and the fate of the mother has already been sealed.
However, there is another option…
"I guess I have no choice then…"
With no other options left, Shouya decides to take on the thief by himself. He raises both of his arms up to his chest level and slightly distances his left leg from his right, putting Shouya in an awkward fighting stance.
"Is he serious? Is going to fight them like that?!"
"That stance is so bad that it's hilarious!"
"My god, this is going to be embarrassing."
"Yeah, he's not gonna last long. Rest in peace, my friend. At least you've tried."
Based on the crowd's reactions, they already knew what the outcome was going to be without having Shouya to fight the thief. Some of them even laughed and insulted him for having a weird and poor fighting stance, while others covered their head with their hand out of embarrassment.
Shouya does not have experience fighting with anyone before, he just mimics the stance from watching anime and playing video games back in his world. He was not taught how to fight and he did not want to. But he has no choice but to fight.
"Do you honestly think that you can take me down?"
"..."
If I have to be honest, no, I can't. But it is worth trying it out, I guess.
"Nothing to say, eh? Alright then, prove it."
With his hands clenched into a fist and baring his teeth, Shouya charges in head first. He prepares his right hand and launches it into the thief. This is his chance; his chance to redeem himself what he is capable of and take back what was rightfully—
"Tch, too easy."
In a blink of an eye, the thief swayed his body to the left, dodging the incoming punch. That attack is just too easy, too predictable, he can see Shouya's attack from a mile away.
How did he let that slip by? Is it possible that he can see the future? No, it is not because of that. It's because Shouya's attack is too basic. It is something that an amateur would do.
Shouya is untrained, unskilled, and most importantly, unable to stand a chance against someone who has more experience in this place than him.
"My turn."
After dodging such a weak and pathetic attack, the thief uses his right hand to jab Shouya in the gut. Then after that, he punched him in the face. In just two punches, Shouya is already on the ground. That is all it takes to end the fight.
The impact from the punches felt so hard that Shouya clenched his own gut and lay on the floor as he drove in pain.
"Wait, is that really it? I guess I've overestimated you. And here I thought you're gonna put up a fight. But no, you're just a dog who doesn't know how to bite back."
H-He's right, I don't know how to fight. I guess it was a mistake to fight him. I should've never gotten involved in this. I should've run away if I had the chance.
But Shouya has already chosen his fate. If he'd instead chosen to ignore the situation, he would've been fine, unharmed, and even minding his own business. He should've let someone do it for him; someone stronger and maybe even braver than him, but Shouya has already volunteered himself, it is already too late to change his mind.
Damn it, it hurts… If I can't beat him, I can't get my money back. No, I can't lose. C-Come on body. Stand up!
Shouya tries to use his arms and legs to push himself off the floor, but his body refuses to listen to him and remains on the floor. His body is so weak, so fragile. It's like he could cry at any moment.
"Now, where was I? Oh yeah!"
The thief turned around and looked back at the dog-eared woman with an ugly smug on his face. Then, he reached out his hand to grab the little girl by the arm. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a small dagger, the size of a pocket knife, and points it in front of the little girl's right cheek. This situation has now turned into a hostage situation.
"No, stop!"
"Last time I'm going to say this. Either you give us the money, or I'll kill your little girl."
Shouya didn't think this through when it comes to a situation like this. If the thief uses the little girl as a hostage and with a weapon in hand, he won't stand a chance against him. If he tries to approach him, he would kill the little girl, or maybe even Shouya if he attempts to do something reckless.
He struggles himself to get himself to stand up before things could get worse, but his body doesn't respond. He does not have the strength to lift himself up. All he can do is do nothing but watch the torture in front of his eyes.
"Okay, I'll give you the money. But don't hurt my little girl!"
The dog-woman heads to the cash register near her as she fearfully placed the money into a small bag.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."
"Uhh, Clugil. Don't you think that's a little too much?"
One of the thief's henchmen raised an objection and actually gave his own opinion. He's a large chubby cat-man who has red fur all over his body and is two times larger than anyone in his team. That large cat man may look intimidating by size and body build, but he has a pure heart of gold.
However, the thief who is in charge, other known as Clugil, is having none of it.
"Oh just shut it! Ah, I forgot. You're a family man, aren't you, Touya? Do you want your wife and child to keep living in that worn out crappy place you call home?"
"N-No…"
"Then shut the hell up and don't interfere with me! Also, don't call me by my real name! You call me sir, got it!?"
"Yes, sir."
Touya muttered as he looked down on the floor and do nothing but obey Clugil's command.
There is no other way to save the little girl, not even the minion's reasoning can help her. And with no one's help, the girl may as well be good as dead.
The woman finishes loading the bag full of money and holds it out to Clugil.
"There, I'm done. Now can you please release my daughter?"
"That depends. Raiji, would you mind doing me a favor?"
"Way ahead of ya."
Following his command, Raiji takes the bag from the dog-woman's hand and hands it to Clugil. Raiji, unlike his feline friend, is a dog-like human with a huge scar from his left eye all the way down to his left side of his lip. He is around the same size as Clugil with his raggy-looking clothing on top of his brown fur.
Clugil looks inside the bag to see he got what he wanted.
"On second thought, we won't be having a trade."
He turned the bag upside down to see eight gold coins being scattered on the floor. It looked like it wasn't enough to cover the cost.
"I thought we had a deal!"
"This isn't nearly enough to cost for our deal. I thought you'd be rich if you're running a business like this, guess I was wrong."
"If you could give us a couple of days…"
"I don't think there's any time for that. You've failed to give us what we wanted, now you pay the price."
Not only Clugil will not release the girl, but he wants more money if he is ever going to release her. And the woman does not have any more to give him. Shouya would've paid them on the woman's behalf, but thanks to Clugil stealing the money beforehand, that idea wouldn't work.
"Then I'll offer you my body!"
"Will you now?"
"You can do whatever you want me. If you let my little girl go, I'll be yours."
This has peeked Clugil's interests as the dog-woman boldly declared that she will offer her body in favor of freeing the girl.
If this deal actually succeeds, he would let go of the little girl unharmed, but at the same time, this will take away the mother from her children.
"Will you accept it?"
Clugil briefly closed his eyes and thought about the woman's offer. Then, he opens his one eye as he gives her an answer.
"That's really thoughtful of you. I gotta say, you do have a fine body."
"Great! Now just let her go—"
"But I'm gonna have to say no."
The woman's lips froze still as she heard Clugil declined the offer. This was her only chance to get her daughter back, now every opportunity to get her back has been shut down, and Clugil, holding the girl at knifepoint, is having none of it.
"You spit on my face, you have no money, and you've ruined a perfectly good suit. But when it comes to your daughter, now you decided to bribe me? You deserve to get punished. And you know what? I'm gonna deliver it, starting with your kid!"
Clugil raises his arm with the dagger in hand as he was about to begin to stab the poor little girl.
In the end, neither of them couldn't even save the little girl. They tried everything they could to save her, but it came to no avail.
No! That as if Shouya wanted to shout out, but he quickly shut his eyes as he did not want to see the brutal outcome that is about to happen—
"What the—"
"Get your hands off of my daughter…"
Just before Clugil was about to stab the girl, Shouya suddenly heard a voice. He slowly opens his eyes and he sees a large wolf-man holding the arm where Clugil has the dagger on him with his bare hand.
He was more than six feet tall and his entire body was covered in short lavender-colored fur around him, with his dark-purple mane tied on the back of his head, decorated to be like a ponytail. He wore some sort of beige overalls over his well-built and muscular body.
No way. Finally someone to the rescue.
Shouya couldn't help but feel relieved that someone actually manages to save the girl. However, as much as Shouya was glad to see someone actually stepping up, the wolf-man's angry look says otherwise as Clugil attempted to stab the girl—or in this case, the wolf-man's daughter.
Before he could get a chance to see the outcome of this ordeal, he immediately blacked out and falls unconscious.