Chapter 4: Dog? Attack
"Are you a pirate, big brother?" a little girl asked the man sitting at the bar counter. She had a beaming expression, clearly glad to have discovered something peculiar and new.
The other patrons looked on in concern. Khoras looked like a stern, hardened sailor, someone they shouldn't have contact with.
"I'm not," Khoras commented, a little uncomfortable with the situation. Had she been an adult, he might have been angry at being mistaken for a criminal again, but he found it difficult to frown at someone so small. "I'm just a wandering sailor."
The little girl's eyes seemed to sparkle with curiosity.
"Tell me some sea story!" she demanded.
'Are children in this world so outgoing?' Khoras internally lamented before thinking of some anecdote he could tell her.
However, just as he had almost decided on one, the barmaid appeared and touched the girl's head.
"Come on, Rika, you shouldn't bother the customers," she scolded, then looked worriedly at Khoras. "I'm sorry, she's a very curious child."
He shook his head before speaking, trying to make his voice sound reassuring. "It's okay."
The mother sighed, relieved to see that he didn't seem angry.
"Come on, go play outside. It's a nice day today," she ordered the little girl, Rika, who quickly stopped pouting at the mention of playing and ran out of the bar.
Khoras calmly finished his mug, then stood up while dropping some coins. At least, it seemed like the money system wasn't too complicated.
"Have a nice day," he thanked the waitress and started towards the exit. 'Should I get a bigger boat? I don't think I have enough money though, plus I might draw too much attention...'
He was lucky that his potion allowed him to navigate these dangerous seas even with a small boat.
As he walked out of the bar, he heard a commotion a few meters ahead of him, so he looked up. The first thing he noticed was some rather menacing-looking dogs.
"Kyaa!" Khoras turned his head and saw that one of the dogs was getting dangerously close to the girl he had just met.
He narrowed his eyes and quickly walked over.
"Hey, stay back." He stood in front of Rika and spoke to the dog in a forceful voice. He didn't want to hurt it if he could avoid it, mostly because he knew that would somehow get her into trouble.
However, it seemed that the dog had no sense of preservation whatsoever.
"Woof!" it barked before lunging at Khoras. The latter simply grabbed it by the collar before throwing it back the way it came.
The problem was that the dog was sent flying with force, tumbling across the street before falling to the ground with a pitiful whimper.
"…" Khoras' eyebrow began to twitch, which only increased when he heard a scream.
"Who did that to my dog?" someone barked. It was a youthful voice, a bit shrill.
A rich-looking boy appeared, with a strange hairstyle and opulent clothes.
With a sigh, the Beyonder decided not to hide and try to settle this the easy way, although something told him that wouldn't be possible.
"It was me. That dog tried to attack this girl and didn't back down even when I got in the way," he explained, trying to sound as calm as he could.
"So it was you!" The boy bared his teeth at him. "Idiot, do you have any idea who I am, huh?"
The twitch in Khoras' eyebrow increased. 'Who is he? The son of a sect elder?'
"Sorry, I just got to this place. I'm not looking for trouble. I think the dog should be fine since it didn't crash into anything," he tried to reason.
"Hah? So you're an outsider, huh? Well, let me tell you, I'm Captain Morgan's son. I'm the great Helmeppo," he introduced himself grandly. "I'll have you hanged for this. No one attacks my beloved dogs and gets away with it!"
Khoras sighed, realizing that he really couldn't get out of this situation on good terms. Therefore, he decided to change the approach.
"Look, kid." His eyes narrowed, which, along with his short black hair and sailor-like air, gave him a rather intimidating appearance. "I don't care about your father. Your dog tried to attack a little girl, so be thankful that I didn't hurt it more." He noticed that behind Helmeppo were some men in uniforms of what he assumed was the Navy.
"You..." Helmeppo was shocked at his attitude and took a step back in fear before composing himself. He realized that he had been scared, which made him even more furious. "You two, seize this guy! I'll have him hanged in the square!"
The guards looked worried. "But... sir..."
"Did you not hear me correctly?" Helmeppo glared at them menacingly, which only made them sigh.
Two of them stepped forward.
"Don't resist." They pointed their guns at him, to which Khoras only let out a sigh.
"Be careful, big brother!" Rika, who had been too scared to speak earlier, realized the situation and tried to warn Khoras.
However, it fell on deaf ears as the latter simply rushed forward at high speed and grabbed the heads of both men before they could realize it. He used a good deal of his strength to lift them into the air and then slammed them into the ground, instantly knocking them out as their guns went flying.
"Wh-What the hell?" Helmeppo saw this and quickly judged that he had made a mistake. However, it was already too late to change the situation, so he pulled out his personal pistol and shot him without thinking.
Khoras wasn't fast enough to dodge it, so he covered himself with one arm.
The bullet hit his skin and pierced shallowly, but the scales beneath it prevented it from going any further. The piece of metal fell to the ground with a thud.
'It doesn't seem to hurt too much,' Khoras mused before charging towards Helmeppo.
Everything happened too fast, so the boy didn't have time to react. Khoras arrived and took his pistol while immobilizing him without problems.
"You tried to kill me. You've gone too far, boy," he whispered to him.
Helmeppo let out a roar of pain. He felt like if he made any sudden movement, he could break in two.
"Bastard! When my father finds out about this..." he tried to threaten him once more.
Seeing that he wouldn't give up, Khoras clicked his tongue. "Tsk, since you won't stop talking about your father, we'll go see him and tell him what you've done here."
Then, he turned to Rika. "Girl, go back to the bar. I'll take care of this."
She nodded with a panicked face. "Okay, b-but... big brother, will you be okay?"
Khoras nodded. "Don't worry. I just want to have an adult talk with this brat's father."
He proceeded to push Helmeppo forward, who screamed in protest.
The Marine base was too big to get lost on the way, so they arrived without any further complications, beyond the stunned looks the villagers gave him.
'Damn, I've already been involved in too many messes... I've only been here a few days. Bloody hell!' he thought in frustration.
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As always, feel free to comment on any error.