“Lady Eda! Wait!” Ser Deon was a promising young paladin. With a beautiful face and dazzling blonde hair, men and women alike were infatuated with his looks. While he understood his beauty was a blessing, he could not help but feel like it was a curse instead. People often judged him for his looks instead of his capabilities. Not to mention many people were trying to be touchy with him. A lot of women often pretended to be weak in front of him and stumbled into his embrace, just so they could have physical contact. While he maintained an angelic face in front of them, deep down he was disgusted by them. That was why he let his guard down against Sister Jane.

  Unlike most of the lustful ladies, Sister Jane was genuinely clumsy. Most of the ladies stumbled in a way they would be easy to catch or they could immediately balance themselves if Ser Deon chose to ignore them. Sister Jane however… Ser Deon managed to catch a glimpse of her footwork when she was turning to catch the pickpocket… It was horrible. The way her legs knocked each other out, he didn’t believe a human could do that to themselves. Yet here she was, crashing at him with her full body weight. If Ser Deon was prepared, he could have caught her… but he was carrying a heavy basket of fruits and produce, and his feet were not firmly planted. Skinny as she was, Sister Jane managed to take him down — what an embarrassment.

  And Ser Deon’s embarrassment did not stop there. The other person he was in charge with. Eda, a small yet mature girl was now chasing the pickpocket in his stead, putting herself in danger. Ser Deon immediately stood while helping sister Jane up, but she fell back down immediately, “Ow, Ow, Ow.” Somehow, sister Jane managed to twist her ankle.

  Ser Deon needed to make a decision fast. He needed to chase after Eda, but he could not exactly leave the injured sister Jane by herself. “Excuse me, Sir,” he turned to face the vendor who watched all the chaos, “could you look after her for a while? I promise I’ll be back.” The vendor nodded his head. Ser Deon lifted sister Jane and put her next to the vendor before dashing to chase Eda.

  Ser Deon ran as fast as he could. He no longer saw where the two kids were going anymore, so he relied on the crowd’s gazes to determine where they had gone. As he ran, he cursed himself for his incompetence and bad luck. He came to this city looking for glory, making an achievement for himself in a supposed necromancer raid, only to end up being disappointed with how lackluster the raid was. He did not even get to fight the famous sewer kings of Hazen.

  In his disappointment, he took up this supposedly simple escort job because he wanted to do some good before he eventually returned to Valhak, the city where he was originally stationed in. And now, everything had gone awry. If anything happened to Eda, the girl he was supposed to protect, he could never forgive himself.

  As self doubt began to creep in, Ser Deon saw some of the crowds looking at the direction of an alleyway. He could not be sure, but if he had to guess, the two kids must have ran there. With no other option, Ser Deon ran inside the alleyway, praying to Yezus that his guess was right.

  *******

  “Hah Hah,”

  Napier was panting hard. He was confident in his ability to run, but that confidence was now cracking. A girl in a monastery garb was closing in on him, and he could not outrun her. He had gone into the alleyway, the territory of a street urchin, his backyard, and he still could not outrun her. He used all the tricks in his book; dropping a wooden board to create an obstacle, throwing a random person’s chicken coop at her, and even throwing some of the coin in his newly acquired purse to create a human wall. Yet none of those worked.

  She vaulted easily over the wooden board obstacle. She tanked the chicken coop that flew to her face. And she jumped over the greedy beggars that were collecting the coins. Stepping over their hunched back as she was single-mindedly focused at chasing Napier. He had faced many adversities, many terrifying things in his life, but never would he imagine that a small girl wearing a monastery garb would be one of the most fearsome things he ever faced — second only to Regulus.

  “Shit, shit, shit,”

  Napier was almost at the rendezvous place, but with someone on his tail, he could not call this a success at all. He was worried how this would affect his standings in the gang. He double-checked his left hip, a loaded flintlock pistol at the ready. He wondered if he should use the thing or not. Killing the adults that torment him was one thing, but to kill another kid just like him? He did not know if he could do it or not… but he might not have an option.

  Whack

  Napier lost his balance. His pursuer, the girl, had tackled him from behind. He fell violently face first. “Give me back the purse.” The girl who was now on top of him demanded. She tried to pry the purse from his hand, but Napier did not release his grip from it. With much struggle, he put the purse under his body, making it hard for the girl to grab it, and most importantly — freeing his own hand.

  “Get off me!!! Or I’m gonna kill you!” Napier threatened the girl, but he could tell it just pissed her off. “Huh!?” The pissed off girl started to pound Napier with her fist.

  Whack Whack Whack

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  “Give. Up. The. Purse.” She demanded as her fists rain on Napier. He was surprised. For a little girl, her fist was the hardest one he ever tasted. The adults that used to hit him got nothing on her. But he could endure. He spent his entire life being beaten up. And as she was busy beating him up, she loosened her mount on him, allowing his right hand to grab the pistol from his hip.

  “Don’t say I did not warn you.” Napier had steeled himself, or to be more accurate, the pounding he received steeled him. He aimed the pistol at the girl. Just before he could pull the trigger, he could see the girl’s shocked face. It would be a face Napier remembered forever… the face of his first kill.

  BANG

  Napier fired his gun, right at the girl’s forehead. Her head cocked back from the impact of the bullet.

  “NOOOO,”

  A young man’s scream could be heard. Napier never heard that voice before, but he could guess, he must have been the girls’ escort. Napier cursed his lack of luck. Just as he had dealt with one monstrous girl, now he might have to deal with someone who was clearly trained in martial arts.

  “Hey…”

  Napier shuddered. He knew this voice. The voice of the girl… whom he just killed… or did he? Napier realized that he was still being mounted firmly. He looked up, and he saw the face of a demon. The girl was beyond angry, scarier than any of the adults that used to be angry at him. And her forehead, the place where he was sure he shot her… her forehead was covered with [Iron Body].

  “... That hurts.” The girl told Napier. Her tone was calm, but Napier could feel the fury. “Oh fuck.” That was Napier’s last word, before the girl headbutted him.

  ********

  Ser Deon was chasing after the kids. He had no idea how to navigate the alleyway, but he saw some oddities which made him believe where the kids went. He saw a fallen wooden board stuck between the tight spaces of the alleyway, acting as a makeshift obstacle. He saw a broken chicken coop and the now freed rooster. And lastly, he saw a messy street with a bunch of vagrants that looked satisfied. His instinct told him he was on the right track, even though he had no way of confirming it. And then, he heard Eda’s voice.

  “Give. Up. The. Purse.”

  He felt a sense of relief. She was still alive, and he was nearby. As he turned the corner, he saw Eda who was mounting the pickpocket. Ser Deon was a bit confused on how Eda managed to do that, but it did not matter. What mattered was that she was currently safe… until he saw the pickpocket pull a gun on her.

  “NOOO,”

  Ser Deon tried to rush towards the two, trying to disarm the kid before he could pull the trigger. But no matter how fast he was, he could not beat the speed of a bullet.

  BANG

  Eda’s head jerked back violently. Ser Deon’s heart dropped. Not only did he fail his mission, he just saw the worst sight he ever experienced in his life. A kid murdering another kid. Ser Deon gritted his teeth. He had no idea what to do now…

  “Hey…”

  But it seemed he did not need to do anything, somehow, Eda survived a gunshot to the head. Maybe the pickpocket kid missed his shot. Ser Deon thanked God. “That hurts.” Or not. It seemed the shot did not miss… but how did Eda survive?

  WHAM

  The loud noise shocked Ser Deon out of his thoughts. He was baffled to see Eda headbutting the poor pickpocket. And it did not stop there, Eda continued to brutalize the pickpocket with her fists. By the looks of it, this little girl did not need his protection. If anything, it was the pickpocket that needed to be protected from her.

  “Lady Eda.” Ser Deon walked towards Eda, wanting to stop her from pounding the poor pickpocket. Eda stopped her flurry of fist to turn towards him. That’s when he saw her forehead, black as iron. Ser Deon was surprised that someone as young as her knew how to use [Iron Body]. But it was not the time to satisfy his curiosity. It was the time to fix all this mess… and the mess was about to get worse.

  Ser Deon could feel movement from around them. Instead of pulling Eda from the pickpocket like he initially planned, he jumped in front of them instead, sword drawn. It seemed the pickpocket did not act on his own. Worse, his collaborators were similar to him — a bunch of kids.

  Four kids appeared in front of them, they had been hiding in the corners of the alleyway, all four had pistols on them. Ser Deon also noticed there were a couple more kids on the rooftop above. He did not know if they were armed or not, but considering the kids in front of him, they might be armed. Worst of all, he could feel presence behind him. When he glanced back, he could tell at least three kids were surrounding them, hiding in the corner of the wall. They were completely surrounded by a bunch of armed kids. When he first came to this city, Ser Deon was expecting a battle against undeads and maybe a bunch of thugs — not children that were armed to the teeth. What the hell was happening in this city?

  “Le- Let Napier go!” One of the kids weakly demanded. He was aiming his pistol at them. Hand shook like crazy. It was obvious to anyone that they had never fired a gun before.

  “Alright, we’re going to let him go.” Ser Deon said in the softest tone possible, trying to not agitate the kids any further. The last thing he wanted was for this to become a firefight. He could easily survive a bunch of pistol fire, and maybe Eda too. But he did not want the stray bullets to hit any of the kids that were surrounding them. They might be enemies who were ready to kill him, but Ser Deon was not ready to kill or see any of them die today. They were just children.

  Ser Deon looked back at Eda, who luckily understood the gravity of their current situation. She slowly unmounted from the pickpocket who was groaning in pain with her own pistol already drawn, much to Ser Deon surprise. He did not expect for Eda to be armed herself.

  Napier slowly crawled towards the group of kids. Trying to stand up and walk but stumbling his way there. He was in too much pain. Once he was in the safety of his comrades, he looked back at them. Ser Deon met his eyes, and he could tell they were filled with anger. “Napier had no intention to let them go peacefully.

  “Kill them.” Napier ordered the kids with conviction. The rest of the kids looked at Napier, quite unsure if they heard the right thing. But Napier just shouted louder, clearing their doubt. “KILL THEM!!!”

  “Shit.” Ser Deon could not help but curse. He cast [Shield of Faith], a Second-Circle defensive spell. A thin layer of spherical divine mana covered him and Eda, it was strong enough to protect them from a volley of bullets. Just to be sure, he hugged Eda and covered himself with [Iron Body]. Once the volley of bullets ended, he intended to run away while carrying Eda. He was not concerned that the bullets would harm them, [Shield of Faith] alone was more than enough to defend against a couple of pistol fires. His only concern was for the kids not to miss them and hit each other instead.

  “Stop,”

  Before the volley of bullets could be fired. A voice stopped them. A small kid was approaching them from a distance. He had no particular distinction. Just a small boy with short black hair and grimy white skin. Yet somehow, he carried himself in a confident manner, and all the kids turned their heads when they heard his voice… including Eda.

  Eda looked like she was about to cry, but not because of fear, or sadness. It was the type of face one showed when they saw someone they longed for. A face Ser Deon usually saw from a wife who greeted their Paladin husband after a long mission, or parents that greeted their sons.

  “Grigori,” Eda said the boy’s name. And the boy, while looking a little bit sour, greeted her back. “Hi Eda. Long time no see.”