"Mason? Mason?... Oi... Mason, where are you? SH*T! Bowen exclaimed, slapping himself on the head in frustration.
He looked around hurriedly, but there was no sign of Mason anywhere. He was getting increasingly agitated because not only could he not complete a slave-master contract, but if Mason caused any trouble in Del City, they wouldn't go easy on him. If the city police arrested Mason, the White Order might question Bowen's ability to control his slave. There was even a chance they would deny his request entirely if Mason created an incident here. Bowen bit his lip, trying to figure out what to do next. To make matters worse, he didn't have Casper to help search for the direction Mason might have gone. Moreover, there were at least five streets connecting to the main road where Bowen was standing, making it easy to miss Mason if he searched them one by one. Mason didn't seem to be in the right state of mind to remember the routes, so the probability of him coming back was slim.
Just then, Bowen spotted the dark elf who had given him a ride earlier. He quickly approached her.
"Miss driver, can you please give me a minute?" Bowen asked.
Molly, the dark elf, looked startled to see Bowen again. "What is it?" she asked, looking confused. She even thought he had come to get back the money from her.
"The person who came with me, umm... he seems to be missing. Did you see him go anywhere?" Bowen inquired.
"Huh? You mean that irritating drunkard?" Molly replied.
"Yes, him," Bowen confirmed.
"No, never. I was busy buying food for my spirit beast," Molly said.
"Oh, I see. Never mind then. But can you please help me find him?" Bowen requested.
"What? Do you think I have nothing better to do than search for a drunkard?" the dark elf asked in annoyance. Secretly, she didn't have any other pressing matters but didn't want to appear too eager to help.
"I'll pay you one small silver for every 15 minutes of your help," Bowen offered without hesitation, causing the dark elf's eyes to widen. "I want to use your spirit beast to search for him," he added.
Molly's eyes widened at the unexpected offer. "Uh... okay," Molly said, still in a daze.
"Great, let's get onto your beast quickly," Bowen said, running without wasting any time. Only then did Molly snap out of her daze and run after him.
Both of them got on the Willow Bird, a spirit beast the size of a minicar. Following Bowen's orders, the dark elf flew the bird at a height of 4-5 meters. It was not uncommon for the people of Del City to see spirit bird transport, so they didn't pay much attention to the Willow Bird.
They searched for almost 30 minutes before they spotted a commotion near the plaza. Bowen instructed Molly to lower the bird near the crowd. To his dismay, he found Mason surrounded by many people. His face was tear-streaked, and his body language conveyed fear and distress. In front of him stood a beautiful lady shouting at the top of her lungs, and many others supported her, hurling insults at Mason. The expressions on their faces ranged from anger to judgment, creating an intimidating atmosphere.
"Excuse me, please make way! Coming through!" Bowen shouted as he pushed through the crowd.
"Mason, what is happening here?" he demanded as soon as he reached the front.
"M-Master... Young master... Boohoo... Massoon... Bully girl... Massher!" Mason cried immediately upon seeing Bowen.
Bowen turned to the tall lady with beautiful features and asked, "May I know what happened here, miss?"
"Who are you, kid? Are you related to him?" the lady asked, looking down at Bowen.
"Yes, he is with me. Tell me what your problem is," Bowen replied.
"That alcoholic has been misbehaving with me. He even pulled me by my wrist. Look, he tore the sleeve of my dress. Such indecent behavior. He must be put behind bars!" the lady shouted angrily.
Bowen was taken aback by what the lady said. While Mason did have a habit of harassing people for money, he had never behaved inappropriately with women in Aswalt.
"Is it true?" Bowen asked Mason, looking at him fiercely.
"M-Mash... no, Massh, Masoon no bully," Mason stammered, his voice trembling.
"Then did you pull the lady by her hand and tear her dress sleeves?" Bowen pressed further.
Mason couldn't find words to justify himself, and truthfully, he was the reason the lady's dress sleeves got torn. "Ye-yes," he said, tears streaming down his face.
Now, as Mason's master, Bowen had the right to give him punishments. Although the White Order prohibited hurting slaves without reason, masters still had the authority to give physical punishments if their slaves misbehaved or harmed others. Such punishments were meant to teach the slaves a lesson and keep them under control. Since the contract with Mason hadn't been finalized yet, Bowen could even abandon him on the streets. After all, who would want a slave causing trouble and drinking all the time? Mason had already brought shame to Bowen, and he was ready to accept any punishment Bowen deemed fit. He was ready to plead for mercy and ask Bowen to take him as his slave.
However, at that moment, Bowen's calm voice surprised everyone, including Mason. Bowen looked at Mason with confidence and said, "I know you wouldn't have done it without reason. Tell me what really happened, and let me help you."
Mason was taken aback and forgot to cry. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Master supports me? He still wants to know the truth? Other masters would have already punished or thrown out their slaves in such a situation. But he still trusts me, stands beside me, and wants to help me? If it were my parents or friends in the master's place, they would have definitely cursed and scolded me, wishing to have no relation with such a useless person like me. But master has only known me for two days, and he still trusts me?" Mason thought gratefully upon hearing Bowen's words. He wiped away his tears and began to speak, "Master, I... I... the weap..."
However, the lady interrupted him, "What is there to still inquire about? Didn't he himself admit that he was the one who tore my sleeve? Call the city guards!" she demanded her eyes full of rage.
"Yes, why should we wait?
It's better if we hand him over to the guards before he escapes. Quick, someone bring the patrol guards!
People like him must be severely punished. Drinking alcohol and harassing women in broad daylight, tsk tsk. The world is in ruins.
Let me beat him up before we hand him to the guards!
Yes, yes, let's teach him a lesson!"
The crowd suddenly decided to take matters into their own hands. They couldn't tolerate the injustice done to the beautiful lady and closed in on Mason from all sides.
Mason grew pale with fear and sat down, hiding his head in his arms and knees. getting beaten up was not new for him. But he will be reduced to a corpse if beaten by so many people.
"One more step towards him, and be ready to lose your legs!" Bowen shouted, looking around. The crowd immediately stopped in their tracks. Despite being a child, Bowen's voice carried menace and threat, as if he was truly capable of carrying out his warning. However, some people didn't like to obey the words of a small child and saw themselves as heroes defending the damsel in distress.
"What can you do, huh? Hey kid, do you even understand what's going on? Who are you to order us around, little sprout?" The crowd erupted with defiance.
"Hey, here I took a step forward; let me see what you will do. Not only will I deal with that drunkard, but I will also deal with you!" One person dared to confront Bowen and even put a hand on his shoulder.
HAAAAHAAAAAAHAAHAHAA!
The crowd burst into raucous laughter, seeing Bowen standing motionless after the bold threat. Yes, Bowen couldn't use his ranker powers as the system was dormant now, but that didn't mean he was weak. Slowly, Bowen caught the man's hand on his shoulder with firm grip and easily moved it. The man tried to exert force to put his hand back on Bowen's shoulder, but it was in vain. With each passing second, Bowen's grip on the man's hand tightened, and he started to feel pain. At first, he gritted his teeth to control himself from shouting due to the pain, but after five seconds, he couldn't hold back any longer and began to shout.
"AHAA... AHHAA..AAA..YOU..LET GO..IT HURTS..IT HURTS!" The man's voice grew louder and louder, causing a complete silence to descend upon the crowd. His high-pitched wailing echoed through the street, filling the air with tension. Suddenly, a sharp "crack" sound of bone breaking pierced through the stillness, leaving everyone in shock and disbelief. The onlookers, including Mason and the dark elf, were wide-eyed with astonishment. Many people thanked that it was not them who provoked the kid first.
With a strength of 38 points, Bowen was more than capable of breaking the hand of a normal person. However, in truth, Bowen hadn't even exerted half of his strength during the confrontation.
At that moment, a bold sound interrupted the scene, "what is happening here?"
followed by the arrival of two city guards. The beautiful lady who had accused Mason started crying and rushed to the city guards for help. Bowen released his grip on the man's hand, and the man fell down forcefully. He quickly scurried back on his butt, finding refuge under the legs of the city guards.
"It's them, sir, it's them! They are threatening the public," one person in the crowd reported.
"Yes, yes, officer, that kid broke my wrist! Please take him into custody!" People started complaining one by one.
The lady cried pitifully, pleading for justice, "Please help me, officer! Girls like us do not feel safe until people like them roam the streets. Please catch them." her innocent face did the trick that she intended to do. the guard's heart moved.
The city guards wasted no time and asserted, "Hey, both of you, you are under arrest for assaulting people and causing public disorder. Now, come with us quietly, or we will have to use force to subdue you," one of the guards said, ready to take Mason and Bowen into custody.