[Ten, nine, eight, seven…] [Do you think we’re scared of you just because you talk big? We’ll teach you a lesson about how the world works.]

Without heeding his warning the thugs fanned out to surround Jellal. Unable to break through their thick skulls with words he helplessly shakes his head in disappointment.

[Six, five, four, three, two…] [What do you think you’re doing? A group of grown men ganging up on a child, how unsightly.]

The bozos jump in surprise when a heroic voice calls out from behind them. Jellal even stops his countdown due to the unexpected visitor. There had been a couple people walk by and notice the group of dimwits in the alley, yet this is the first person to stop and try to do something about it.

He had never expected someone to act all heroic to save the bullied person in an alley, much less a thin, weak looking teenager. The youth’s heroic spirit was betrayed by his shaking knees. Despite rushing forward to help a stranger it’s obvious to see that he’s genuinely scared doing so.

Dealing with so many people who seem to him to completely ignore basic logic Jellal’s at a loss for what to do. At the very least he found the new arrival somewhat interesting so he decided to wait it out and see how the kid tries to get out of this situation.

The young man gulped his saliva as he pointed towards the wannabe muggers. They return a sneer at him causing him to let out a high pitched squeal in fright.

[You all had better leave that kid alone, or else.]

[Or else what? You’re gonna tell on us. I’m sooo scared, can’t you see me shivering, hahaha.]

[Just you wait until … GUARDS, THERE ARE MUGGERS SOMEONE HELP!]

Jellal watches like a bystander as the boy screams at the top of his lungs trying to alert the guards. The screaming leaves him even more baffled as to why the young man tried to get involved in the first place. If he wanted to tell the guards he could have done so without setting foot in the alley, yet here he stands shivering in fear while screaming like a madman.

The muggers seem to have completely forgotten about Jellal as they turn around to confront the youth. The kid backs away slowly while shooting a glance towards Jellal, who’s casually enjoying the spectacle while chewing on some berries.

Seeing the person he’s trying to help sit by and eat a snack like they’re watching a play the young man’s face twitches. Silently cursing he shoots a glance at the mask without eyeholes pleading with his eyes for the person to use the chance to run away. Jellal clearly notices this and nods before deciding to blatantly ignore it, causing a vein to bulge in the heroic helper’s forehead.

Out of options the young man laughs dryly as he tries to talk down the muggers.

[We’re all people here, there’s no need to be so violent. In these troubled times we should be banding together, not making enemies.]

He’s completely ignored as they move to surround him. In the distance a group of guards charge toward the alley, having been told about someone screaming like a madman and disturbing the peace.

Bursting into the alley the leader of the group sees a young man being ganged up on by a group of thugs while a masked figure sits behind them watching. Judging the situation on first looks he has one of his men block the entrance to the alleyway, while two move to confront the thugs. The other six are sent to surround the thugs’ boss sitting behind them, watching things menacingly.

The young man heaves a sigh of relief as the muggers give up without a fight. The leader of the guards walks over to him to get a closer look.

[You again! Why do we always get reports of someone screaming like a madman only to find you in some alley getting toyed with by criminals? Well, you know the drill by now right?]

[Yeah, come to the guard office for statements, reports, etc. I know.]

In a strange twist of fate Jellal is once again surrounded by scowling armed men. As the thugs are tied up the head guard walks over to join the fray. Seeing the boss treating his men like air he gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Worried something may go bad if he forces things he tries negotiation.

[If you don’t resist and come with us peacefully you might get off a little easier. As long as you admit to your crimes the worst punishment you’ll get is some time in jail or maybe some hard labor. Don’t make things difficult for us and we won’t make it difficult for you, within the extent of the law of course.]

[Admit to my crimes? What crimes did I commit, and what evidence do you have to prove I did anything wrong? I’m completely innocent.]

[Innocent? Your subordinates were surrounding this young man with their weapons drawn and you still claim to be innocent? You can’t lie to me; I saw it with my own eyes.]

[Kekeke, that’s funny I don’t remember taking such incompetent idiots as underlings. I’ll tell you now, I require my subordinates to have functioning brains. Those guys obviously aren’t qualified so I can only question your laughable eyesight. Are they perhaps for decoration, or are you just slow up top?]

[O, if you’re not their boss then why are you sitting behind them watching as they bully a kid?]

[I was sitting here first. In fact I was sitting here when those guys showed up, and when the kid showed up as well. If you want to know why I was sitting here watching them surround him then it’s simple; he deserved it. He poked his nose in someone else’s business so it’s natural for him to deal with the consequences.]

[So he tried to help you, but you sat back and watched as they ganged up on him? Do you even call yourself a man?]

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

[A man takes responsibility for their actions. He showed up and saved their worthless lives, so he has to take responsibility for it. Besides knowing that not everyone will act the way he wants when he comes along playing hero should be a good lesson for him.]

[Regardless we’ll have to bring you to the guard station for a statement while we clear up this mess. If you’re innocent like you say then there’ll be nothing to worry about.]

[I’ll have to take a hard pass on that. I’ve got a lot of things to do, and I plan on leaving before sundown so I don’t have a lot of time to work with. If you really want me to go the guard station you can try to use force, but I wouldn’t recommend it, kekeke.]

Despite being wrongly labeled as a criminal Jellal’s enjoying the interesting situations he’s run into since coming to Pavise. Unfortunately, as he said, he’s tight on time so he can’t enjoy giving the guard a hard time as much as he’d like.

[You can’t do that! You have to come to the station to give a statement. It doesn’t matter what you want to do, you have to follow the rules just like everyone else.]

[Oho, you’re wrong again. What I want to do is the most important thing you should be worried about right now. If I want to do something, you can’t stop me from doing it. For your own sake I hope you don’t go putting ideas in my head, you understand me boy.]

As he lectures the head guard he gradually releases his killing intent as a form of intimidation and as a warning. By the end of his speech the air around him begins contorting under the influence of his killing intent, leaving the fools who thought of making a quick buck by robbing him faint in fear. The guards take a step back as their hands start trembling, while the wannabe hero falls on his butt.

The head guard is the worst off of the entire group. Unlike the other guards and the thugs, the killing intent is pointed directly at him. Sweat rolls down his face and back as the killing intent steadily subsides. His trembling hand wipes the sweat from his brow while he tries to calm his ragged breathing.

[I think I already know the answer but I’ll ask anyways. There won’t be any problems with me going on my merry way, will there?]

The head guard lowers his head, staring at the ground. Resolving himself he lifts his head and stares at Jellal with firmness in his eyes.

[My duty is to uphold the law under any and all circumstances. If I were to bend now I wouldn’t be able to call myself a man, much less a guard responsible for protecting a cities worth of people.]

[Oh, I like you! That’s how a true man should be! So, what happens when you can’t stop me from leaving here in a few seconds from now? Will I become a criminal with wanted posters of my mask hung up all over the place?]

[It’ll be marked in your official record to show you’re likely to ignore at least minor rules and laws which will in turn make you a more likely suspect in cases that happen around you due to your noncompliance. You’ll only get posters of you put up if you’re guilty of the crime or we have reason to believe you are and need to bring you in for questioning.]

[Then I guess we won’t have any issues. Later.]

Giving the interesting head guard a light wave goodbye Jellal packed up his chair. Walking toward the guards he waited to see how they would react before making his escape. Inspired by their leaders display of courage most of them manned up as they reached out to apprehend Jellal.

Jellal seemed to glide as weaved through the pouncing guards like a fish in water. Just as the head guard was about to step up he put a little extra strength in his legs. Speed blitzing past the head guard and the guard blocking the entrance to the alley he casually joins the sea of people as if nothing had happened.

Once again continuing his stroll on the main road he starts making his way toward the plaza. The bustling plaza is filled with numerous stall with products ranging from fruits and vegetables to various types of potions and everything in between.

Suppressing his urge to sift through the smattering of items he pushed forward. The most surprising find he came across in the plaza had to be the special tent in the center. Unlike the others it was manned at all times by members of the city guard.

Inside they sold slaves of varying age, race, and gender. He was quite interested what kind of people he would find inside. In order to become a slave the person has to agree to it in writing with at least two officials and a local guard captain present. Such strict requirements were put in place to prevent people in power to unlawfully enslave someone.

According to what he heard from a certain despicable con artist they even use a pen with special ink that reacts if the person holding it writes unwillingly. The reaction is delayed so it won’t occur in front of the guilty party allowing them to preserve the secret so other wannabe criminals can’t find a way to exploit it.

With such a setup it’s obvious how seriously they take the slave business. In fact, anyone unfortunate enough to get caught trying to force someone into slavery gets a lifetime of hard labor as punishment.

Considering the ridiculous procedures required to turn someone into a slave and the harsh punishment for trying to bypass that system he can smell something fishy. Thinking back to when it was described to him he recalls that the system is supposedly adopted all over the world, furthering his suspicions. The final nail in the coffin is how proud the annoying con artist sounded when describing the system to him like a child showing their report card to their parents to get their praise.

‘It seems so good on paper making it so only people who willingly volunteer can become slaves. That leaves the question of how well do they bind and keep track of the slaves. If they don’t have a way to keep the slaves in check won’t they just escape the first chance they get and be back at large? Not to mention how easy it should be for one of their undercover buddies to buy them, effectively allowing them to avoid their punishment altogether.’

Pushing his interest to the back of his mind he keeps moving past the center of the plaza. Approaching the other side where the merchant association is supposed to be located he makes one last stop.

The most popular way for merchants to do business in the plaza is to use nice carts to draw attention. Occasionally there will be an odd man out sitting on the ground with their wares displayed on a blanket in front of them. Of these outliers the one to catch Jellal’s attention is a tattered blanket displaying seedlings and flowers. The attendant at the stall is a dirt covered girl who looks to be no older than ten.

Standing in front of the stall he reaches out and picks up a particular seedling. Even though there’s nothing remarkable about the seedling he’s already made up his mind to buy it. The most important thing about the seedling is that it’s nearly identical to the one he used to make his current mask. Buying it will allow him to make a new mask with similar qualities to the first. He doesn’t know if the type of seedling would make a difference or not, but since he’s already here with money to burn he doesn’t mind buying it solely for convenience.

Reaching into his money bag he begins pulling out coins of smaller value. Using the opportunity to offload some coins of smaller denominations he puts a small handful of copper and silver coins in a pouch. Placing the pouch where the seedling had been he walks away without a care in the world, completely unaware he just singlehandedly payed for an orphanages food for the week.

Leaving the plaza he steps back on the main road. The main road doesn’t pass straight through the plaza, since it’s meant to act a market. The road instead travels along the outside edge of the plaza. The road is one way, with carriages only allowed to move in a clockwise direction.

The interesting design of the city center leaves him wondering if he’s just had the bad luck of only encountering people with questionable intelligence. Convinced, he assures himself he’ll break the string of bad luck at the merchant association.

Only thirty meters from the plaza he finds the building he’s looking for. On both sides of the street large buildings stand tall, seeming out of place when they’re compared to the surrounding buildings. Based on what Yurnaag told him he’s certain they’re the adventurer’s guild and merchant association respectively.

His ever so slightly flawed mask once again shows its pension for being useful. Unable to see what’s on the signs he can only use context clues to figure out which building is his first target.

The building on the right hand side is filled with people who are predominantly wearing armor, while the one on the left has far fewer. Since adventurers are likely to sell things they pick up on their missions it’s no surprise to find some in the merchant association, though not as many as would be in the adventurer’s guild.

With things cut and dried he drifts on over to the building on the left. The building has a total of four lines formed, with two in the center of the room and one on each side. The layout leaves most of the building cut off behind the clerks at the center.

‘There’s only enough space for the clerks on the sides so it’s likely they’re for small scale sales or for giving out information. The two in the middle with most of the building hiding behind them are likely receptionist to send people to the back to do business in private. At least that’s what makes the most sense. They wouldn’t have a good reputation if everything was done out in the open for random passersby to learn how much money their customers have on them.’

Randomly choosing between the center desks he hops into the left line. He gives the person in front of him a light tap on the shoulder, causing him to turn around. The man tries not to show his surprise on his face when he finds a strange person wearing a mask that doesn’t allow them to see standing behind him.

[Would you be so kind as to tell me how this place works? It’s my first time coming here.]

[I, guess I could … The counter on the far left is for selling items in small amounts as well as being a place to ask questions about the merchant association. The far right is reserved for affiliated merchants. It basically allows them to immediately be able to do business since there are always some extra workers not helping normal customers in case a member shows up.

The two desks in the center are for us unaffiliated folks. Business is handled in private rooms to avoid being spied on but we don’t get fast tracked like members.]

[As expected I suppose.]

After learning what he wanted to know the conversation stagnated. Rather than stand there in awkward silence the man turned to face the front.

Jellal patiently waits as the line inches forward, eventually reaching the desk.