Chapter 76: The Three Thugs
Natsuki Subaru, lying asleep on the grass, thought he would sleep for a long time, but someone clearly didn't want him to rest that long.
Opening his eyes, Subaru rubbed his nose and sat up. Yawning, he looked at Puck floating in the air and greeted him.
"Good morning, Puck."
"Good morning, Subaru. Sleeping here will make you catch a cold, you know."
Subaru reached out his hand and grabbed Puck, stroking his soft fur. The sleepiness began to fade away.
"It's fine. After this period of training, I feel like my body is super strong!"
Saying this, Subaru glanced around but didn't see Emilia's figure and asked curiously,
"Why isn't Emilia here with us?"
"Well, she's going out later, so Rem is helping her get ready right now."
"I see. Oh, by the way, Puck, do you know what the reason for this trip to the royal capital is?"
"I do, but that's Lia's business. If you want to know, you should ask her yourself."
"Forget it. Emilia said she would tell me later, so no need to rush." Saying this, Subaru stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and stretched lazily.
"In that case, I'll go out for a walk. There's nothing much to do here anyway."
"Is that so? Then I should get back to Lia. Be careful on the way."
Subaru nodded, waved goodbye to Puck, and left the royal capital's house. Once again walking the streets of the capital, he first went to Reinhard's house to check.
He was told Reinhard still wasn't home.
After two failed attempts to find Reinhard, Subaru sighed in frustration and went to the slums, but couldn't find Rom or Felt either. He asked some locals in the slums.
Their answers were also unknown, at best saying that after a certain night recently, Rom and Felt had not been seen again.
If Emilia hadn't said they were fine, Subaru would have almost thought something bad had happened to the two.
After two days of searching without results, Subaru was about to give up.
He went again to the fruit stand and bought some Appa.
Though he had bought a bag yesterday, he hadn't brought any with him today, and he didn't want to go back early either.
Today, he planned to stroll around the capital with these Appa, trying some local delicacies or something.
With this thought, Subaru bit into an apple, casually looking around as he walked slowly down the street.
Passing a narrow alley, Subaru heard angry shouting coming from within.
He had already passed the alley but stepped back a few steps and looked into it.
He saw three men—one tall, one short, and one thin—surrounding a beautiful woman dressed in a blood-red long dress.
"Just as expected, no matter what world this is, these things don't lessen."
Turning and walking into the alley, Subaru bit into his apple and called out in a muffled voice,
"Hey, isn't it a bit inappropriate for three men to surround one woman?"
The four inside the alley all looked at Subaru simultaneously.
The woman's expression didn't change, but the three men's faces showed confusion.
When they saw Subaru was alone, their confusion turned into hostility.
"Kid, this is none of your business. If you want to play hero, be prepared to suffer!" The thin man warned Subaru, and the two others beside him cracked their knuckles.
"Hero saving a damsel? Well, you could say that, but even if it was a guy, I'd help anyway."
Saying this, Subaru finished the apple, discarded the core, and glanced at the three men with a more relaxed expression.
"So, what exactly are you doing here? If you're struggling to survive and want to rob someone, these Appa here are yours.
They're my lunch, and quite precious too. This should be enough to satisfy you, right?"
"Who cares about your fruits! We're not robbers! That stinky woman insulted us! We're just teaching her a lesson!"
Hearing this, Subaru looked at the woman with a puzzled gaze.
She opened a fan in her hand to cover her mouth and said,
"I was just speaking honestly. It is their honor to step aside for me. After all, this world revolves around me."
A black line appeared on Subaru's forehead.
This whole matter was clearly caused by this woman herself.
Though she was in the wrong, Subaru thought he might as well help a little.
With this in mind, he said helplessly,
"Well, it's not a big deal. As a man, you should be magnanimous. I'll apologize on her behalf, so how about we just let this matter go?"
Although Subaru hoped the others would apologize themselves, given the woman's attitude, he was sure she never would.
To end this boring matter sooner, he decided to apologize for her.
Perhaps because Subaru stepped back, the three men thought he was easy to bully. They exchanged looks, smirking wickedly.
"Hmph, we were severely insulted! A simple apology won't make us forgive her!"
"I understand. How about these fruits plus this gold coin?"
The three men's eyes greedily followed as Subaru took a gold coin from his pocket. After exchanging glances again, they advanced toward Subaru.
Seeing their movements, Subaru sighed and said,
"I knew you weren't good people. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Enough talk! Hand over all your money, and maybe we'll spare your life."
Knowing he couldn't resolve this peacefully, Subaru sighed, put away the gold coin, and with a bored face stretched out a hand.
"Come on, all of you. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
"You're looking down on who, asshole!"
As the three rushed forward, ready to teach Subaru a lesson, they suddenly stopped.
Fear filled their faces as they looked behind Subaru. Without a word, they turned and fled.
Subaru turned to see an elderly giant standing there, smiling.
"Long time no see, Rom! You saved me big time. Have some of this."