After Vulcan and Aria left, Tomoya headed to the commercial area and entered a bookstore.
There, he spent all his 26 silver coins on books. 25 from that day's missions and another from the reimbursement upon reaching Rank D.
He bought so many that they could fill a considerably sized shelf, almost as if he were building a small personal library.
After organizing them, he picked up a book and started reading.
The first was a book with more basic information about this world. It talked a lot about the creation of the Labyrinth City Ryuin, as well as mentioning the Ragnarok that happened not too many years ago.
In the book, he got a bit of information about each thing. It was like a tale. It didn't focus on explaining one specific thing. So, after finishing it, he picked up a book on the subject that had piqued his curiosity.
It was a recently released book that talked about Alisha, the Sword Saint.
He was curious about her mainly because Aria had a lot of admiration for her and had told him several things. But what she had told him was only from her perspective. Like the fact that Alisha had single-handedly saved the entire Elf village where Aria came from.
Alisha's heroic deeds were recorded in the book, along with a description of her appearance that made him think of Aria. Not just because both were elves, but also because Alisha was described as a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and a charming goddess-like body, with fantastic curves. Even though it was subtle, the book emphasized several times how large her breasts were.
'Whoever wrote this must have been a man… No, the details are too… detailed. It would only make sense if the writer was her partner or herself. But would someone praise themselves so much when writing a book? Maybe if she's a narcissist…'
After finishing it, he picked up the next book.
This one talked a bit about the monsters. Among them were the calamity-class monsters. He was particularly interested in learning what to do if he encountered one of them and how to act in such a situation.
As the saying goes: Know your enemy as you know yourself, and you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles - Sun Tzu.
'So there are S-Rank Golems… There are also dragons. That's no surprise, considering this is a fantasy world. The Behemoth… It seems to be an even rarer existence than dragons. I was lucky to have found a dying cub before…'
**
In one of the residential alleys in the Labyrinth City Ryuin, it was lively as always.
The scorching sun didn't hinder the flow of people that morning.
Among the people walking, there was a pair who seemed to be adventurers. One was very fat, bald, shirtless, with only bandages in an X shape across his chest over his shoulders and an X on his back, wearing black pants. The other wore dark gray pants and an open button-up shirt with black hair down to his shoulders.
They walked and laughed loudly, noisily, as if they were the greatest, not watching where they were going.
On the opposite side, a little beggar girl was walking timidly. She seemed fearful.
The two adventurers were coming toward her, and she tried to dodge, but her legs were short in comparison, and the thinner one—though still with a big beer belly—bumped into her, making her fall to the ground.
"You filthy creature!" the black-haired adventurer with the beer belly shouted. "You think a beggar can just bump into me?"
His shout was followed by a hard kick to the child's stomach, making her curl up on the ground like an armadillo.
Blood and drool dripped from the little girl's mouth. She groaned in pain while staying curled up on the ground.
"Please forgive me, please forgive me…" the child whimpered.
The people around, seeing this, didn't want to get involved.
Though they seemed to feel pity, they didn't dare say a single controversial word out loud.
The fat adventurer stepped on the little girl's head, then on her back.
The sound of his blows echoed along with the child's screams.
"Stop… Please forgive me…" She didn't even seem to know why they were beating her, but she still apologized in the hope that they would stop.
She already wore tattered clothes with worn-out, open-toed shoes. Her hair was dirty and voluminous; she must have gone days without bathing.
"She makes a great punching bag! Gyahahaha!" the fat bald adventurer laughed loudly while stepping on the little girl.
"Wait," the other one with the beer belly and small fish-like eyes said. "Her appearance isn't even that bad. I bet if we sell her, we'll get a high price."
Upon hearing that, the little girl, curled up like an armadillo, gasped with a high-pitched sound—a sigh caught between terror and despair.
Suddenly, a whistling sound cut through the air.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Guahhhhhh!"
In an instant, the two adventurers beating the beggar girl lost their feet.
The people closest to them quickly backed away.
And that was when a boy, no older than 10, simply appeared in front of the two. He wore a large hooded coat that hid his face, which was lowered.
The moment the boy appeared, he touched the two adventurers, and then all three simply vanished.
…
On the fourth floor of the Labyrinth.
"You little brat!" the fat bald adventurer shouted when he fell to the ground and saw him.
He was still confused. First, they were teleported to a forest area, and then to the labyrinth?
As an adventurer, of course, he could recognize where he was now.
The second one, with small eyes and a beer belly, was groaning, mourning the loss of his foot, and upon hearing his friend's shout, he also noticed the 'little boy' in front of them.
"Brat, huh…" A sinister smile appeared on the boy's lips.
"D-Don't come closer!" the two shouted in unison.
Though they liked to pick on the weak, they feared the strong.
Someone with such a rare ability as teleportation wasn't someone they would dare challenge.
When they tried to grab their weapons, they noticed their absence.
Their despair deepened.
When the boy touched them, a strange energy enveloped them.
In moments, their bodies began to change and then started to shrink in size.
From brutes, they became boys no older than 15.
"W-What's happening?"
Even their voices became childish.
The tears in their eyes turned into waterfalls. Their emotions overflowed.
"Guki?"
"Gugygygygygy!!"
From one corner, several goblins appeared.
"Oik?"
And from another side, an Orc.
"D-Don't come closer!" The two crawled on the ground with their hands, missing a leg.
The clothes they had been wearing became loose, and to make matters worse, the boy from before touched their clothes and made them disappear, leaving the two without weapons or clothes and now as little boys, without a single thing to protect themselves.
"D-Don't do this, help us!!"
"You can't do this to us!"
"Ahh, stay away!"
The little boy simply remained indifferent and disappeared without even hesitating right before their eyes.
The fatter, bald one was petrified.
He knew this was the end for them.
Since there was an Orc, he understood it was at least the third floor of the labyrinth.
He had misjudged when he attacked the beggar girl earlier.
What kind of grudge did he have with this little boy?
Was it just because he wanted to play the hero, or something more?
You, hooded little boy, weren't even injured, how could you be so sinister and malicious toward them?
Such a small heart, just like his size!
…
At home, in the DxD dimension, Tomoya returned to his normal size.
[Distortion Future Leveled Up!]
Wearing his mage clothes that were on the bed, Tomoya thought: 'With this, those two shouldn't be able to escape alive… But I must say, that world is more disgusting than I thought.'
The fact that so many watched but didn't even dare say a single word to defend the little girl, just because she was a beggar, left him disgusted.
Now, having read several books, he knew about the perversity of the monsters. Even though those two had turned into boys no older than 15 and were men, for the monsters, the distinction of gender didn't necessarily exist. Especially when they were naked.
Brutal?
Perhaps.
But he didn't regret what he did.
He wasn't some hero who went around wanting to save the world, but he wouldn't close his eyes when something like that happened right in front of him.
And adults who beat children indiscriminately deserved to suffer and die!
Selling all the equipment of the two scoundrels for 5 gold coins, Tomoya returned to that dimension away from the others' gazes and saw that the little girl from before was still curled up like an armadillo.
Even at that moment, no one extended a hand to help… In fact, there was one who approached, and he knew her well.
Aria approached upon seeing the injured child.
Gently touching the little girl's back, Aria asked in a soft tone: "Are you okay?"
When the little girl looked at her, Aria asked: "What's your name?"
"La-Lala," the little girl stammered, with blood dripping from her mouth and tears in her eyes.
Taking a handkerchief, Aria extended it toward the little girl's mouth.
Thinking she was going to be hurt, the little girl closed her eyes, only to feel a gentle touch on her mouth.
"It's okay now, Lala," Aria said kindly.
"Drink this." Taking one of her healing potions, Aria helped Little Lala drink the potion.
After finishing drinking, Little Lala said, surprised, stuttering a bit: "A-Ahhh… I-It doesn't hurt anymore… M-My body is healed. Thank you, big sister!"
Not far from them, two bleeding feet could be seen.
Aria didn't see what happened but got a summary from hearing the murmurs of the people around.
Tomoya approached and crouched down.
"Tomoya," Aria looked at him.
He nodded to her and looked at the little girl.
In his hand, he held a simple but clean coat.
He covered the little girl's body.