"That is not important," Kevin replied calmly.
"Let Chris go!" A goon yelled as he ran in, about to attack.
Without looking back, Kevin kicked behind him, hitting the boy in the abdomen. Chris, the fat bully was hesitant in attacking Kevin thinking he may have been a random villager. But seeing that he was now hostile, he did not have to hold back.
Chris quickly retracted his arm from Kevin's grip. He then threw out a punch but Kevin slapped his fist away then struck his stomach. The blow was hard enough to make Chris spit out whatever he ate. Kevin, then pushed Chris away with a kick while the second goon came in to attack.
Kevin was quite astonished when the second goon pulled out a sharp tail from his pants. He wasn't used to all these different people with body parts different from the Amplers or him.
"Does that come out of your butt?" He dodged while the goon swiped his tail at him. During the exchange, the three-tailed fox decided to stand beside Dave.
Grabbing the tail by its blunt side, Kevin pulled the goon towards him and then planted his knee into the boy's face. At this point in the fight, the first goon had recovered and was about to attack but heard Chris' voice.
" Adam, James move!" Chris shouted.
As the two boys jumped to the walls of the alleyway, a beam of fire passed by heading straight for Kevin. Not only did it burn the alleyway but also the road, stunning many villagers. Luckily, no one was injured by the sudden attack.
" Did you get him?" Adam, the first goon asked.
"What if he died?" James asked while holding his tail.
" Who cares! Even if he does die, Anami will cover for us." Chris shouted to the others. Only if Kevin did not attack first, it would not have ended this way. As he spoke, a shadow loomed over his head.
From above, Kevin stomped Chris to the ground as he landed. A 'thud' sound was created, as the snow scattered everywhere from the impact. From the sudden attack, Chris had gone unconscious. Adam and James lost hope of winning the battle, preparing what was in store for them
" Empty them!".
"What?" The goons asked in unison.
" Empty your pockets!" Kevin shouted, trying his best to form a menacing face.
After they emptied their pockets, they picked up the fat kid and ran.
" Hey, you with the tail!" Kevin called.
" Yes?" He asked in fear of getting beat up.
" Does the tail come out of your butt?" Kevin asked.
" No, it comes from my -".
" I lost interest, go!" Kevin said shoo-ing him away.
After that, Kevin began sorting the useless items from the valuables, in other words, money. Surprisingly, they had quite the sum. Even though he could not find much on the bounty, he had to agree he did well.
" Um....thank you for your help!" Dave said In a shy tone.
" Your name is Dave, right?" Kevin asked.
" How did you know?".
" I heard them say it. You know you may be a scrawny, puny, weak, timid kid but-"
With every adjective, Kevin added he could feel his heart sink. The worst part was he knew it was very true.
"You have guts, shouting at them like that. Why don't you learn to fight and pay those losers back!" Kevin said, throwing out some weak punches.
'I wish it were that easy.' Dave thought.
" That is not the problem. They belong to the Anami gang, if you mess with them they come back craving blood! You should leave!" Dave advised.
'What is a gang?' Kevin inwardly asked himself. He decided against asking because that would paint him as a fool in the boy's mind.
" You do not need to worry, I'm strong," Kevin said flexing his almost non-existent muscles. It was weird, Kevin had great strength yet almost no muscles. It led him to believe his strength was never from his body, but rather from his mysterious tattoo.
*Grumble*
Almost like a warning, both Kevin and Kirby's stomachs began to grumble in the declaration for food.
"You did save me, I can at least get you something else to eat!".
------------------------------------------------------------------------
After an hour of waiting in a long queue, Lilith had finally bought the magic crystals needed to travel to Crave city. However, to her surprise, the magic crystal cost less than she had thought. So she thought of purchasing something for both her and Kevin.
She walked past multiple stores, hoping to find something cheap to buy. When she lost all hope in this expensive town, it seemed like fate smiled on her as she finally found something affordable. It was a little bakery shop. She carefully looked at the menu and had finally come to a decision.
"Hello, I would like to buy the large meat bread," Lilith said politely. Since she was ordering only one, she, Kevin, and Kirby would have to share it.
"That would be 45 As." The saleswoman responded, already bringing out the bread.
' Looks like our hunger problem is solved!' Lilith inwardly thought in joy.
Her happy expression quickly transformed into a frown as she saw someone grabbing her bread.
" Excuse me! I would like to buy this," A man with black spiky hair asked. Odd enough, he had a bow strapped to his back.
' Who is this loser!' Lilith thought in annoyance.
" That is mine!" Lilith yelled.
The man then shot a cold glance at Lilith. His green eyes stared at her intensely as though she was a thief.
" Do you have any proof?" He asked.
Hearing his response, Lilith felt so angry that she could explode.
" Proof? I have some and I can shove it up to your as-".
" It is true. This late here bought it." The seller said.
" Fine, lady let's make a bet for it!".
" Why would I do that! It is already mine, sir." Lilith responded she was now a bit calm because the seller testified for her.
" Marcus is my name. If you win, I will give you
1000 As. And if I win, I get the bread.".
The moment he brought up the terms, Lilith's pupils turned into stars. That's how Marcus knew he had caught her attention. Not only would she get her rightful possession, the bread but also extra money. With that, she could buy more than measly meat bread.
" Fine but I decide what to bet on!" Lilith spoke.
Marcus nodded in agreement which kind of annoyed her. The arrogance he was irradiating was intoxicating.
Lilith took a quick second look around, deciding on what to bet on.
"I assume you are an archer because of the bow. Let's have an archery contest. The one to hit that Bell, on top of the highest building here
and make the most noise wins." Lilith suggested, pointing to a tall building.
" Fine I accept, but where is your- "
*Clang*
Before the man realized it, Lilith had already materialized a wind bow and shot a bell, creating a rather disturbing sound. She then looked at the man, pretty confident she had won.
" I see you use wind magic. That's a pretty neat, materialization technique." Marcus said, pulling out a bow and an arrow, " My materialization technique is a bit different".
He then pulled on his bow and then took a deep breath, before shooting.
* Claaaang*
Lilith's mouth was left wide open. Not only did it make more noise but the arrow penetrated through the bell.
'He used his magic to increase the speed of the arrow! He uses wind magic.' Lilith analyzed.
" Cute girls should keep their mouths closed," Marcus said while walking away with the bread.
Lilith was nothing but flabbergasted. She walked away in disappointment. She felt as though, she could already hear Kevin nagging her for losing the food. What made matters worse, was that the aroma of food from strangers was making her even more hungry. At this rate, she might as well cancel the bounty hunt or worst... beg. It was then, that she felt Kirby grab her leg.
"Lilith?" a familiar voice called out.
"Kevin?" Lilith said in shock. Not because he was not looking for clues, but because of the amount of food they were holding along with Dave.