There was a long stretch of silence after the shopkeeper's words. The only audible sound was the one produced by the billowing cloaks. Joe studied the hooded figures standing next to the shopkeeper cautiously. They all had enormous mana signatures, although they weren't as large as Mikey's individually. Joe thought if he could combine all four of their signatures, he could see them dwarfing Mikey's easily.

Joe knew he wasn't in the best shape physically, his muscles were still strained and recovering. Mana wise, he was even worse. His current mana pool couldn't even fill a quarter of Dorothy's bottle. If a fight broke out, Joe doubted he could even kill one of them. These guys were probably experienced adventures. Taking them head on would be a losing battle.

But using words wouldn't work either, the shopkeeper was livid, trying to reason with him was out of the question. He wanted Shelly dead.

“What are you waiting for?” The shopkeeper yelled, glancing at his hooded friends who stood in groups of two on either side of him. “I said kill that bitch! In fact kill all of them! Those kids are nothing but stinking thieves! Give me all their heads!” The shopkeeper shouted. For an injured man he was really lively.

The kids gathered behind Shelly and Joe, some of them trembling at the Shopkeeper's words. In that moment, Joe's mind was made up. He glanced at Shelly, they nodded to each other and they both stepped forward. A shining light smothered both their hands, in Shelly's grip a black metalic staff manifested. And in Joe's clutches, a thick and sturdy black blade appeared. They both stood in front of the kids and uttered simultaneously.

“If you want to lay a finger on these kids, you'll have to go through us!”

A physical altercation might not have been their best option, but there was no way in hell they would let anyone touch these kids.

The shopkeeper took a step back, he glanced at his companions a second time. He opened his mouth to speak, “I sa—”

Crunch!

Before he could finish, a punch to the skull sent the shopkeeper plummeting to the ground. The surface cracked open, creating a deep crater. The shopkeeper's blood pooled beneath him as he spasmed violently. A few seconds passed and he stopped moving altogether. His already small signature flickered out, marking his death.

The perpetrator was one of the hooded figures standing next to him. They removed their hood, revealing a young man with glistening golden hair that fell on either side of his shoulders. His eyes sparkled like a dark blue marble, his figure towering his other companions.

“Man I thought that guy would never stop talking.” the man clicked his tongue, before brushing his guilty fist against his cloak. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Liam, the leader of the Frozen Wing Party.” he bowed respectfully, before raising his head. “These guys are my party members.”

All 3 of the hooded figures removed their hoods and exposed their identities. Standing on Liam’s right side was a man with messy blue hair. He was slightly shorter than Liam only reaching his shoulder. But he was more muscular when compared to Liam’s slender appearance.

To Liam's left there were two girls. The nearest to him was a girl with fiery red hair, she had 3 red dots on her forehead. Her eyes wondered around, avoiding to make contact with everyone else.

Next to her was a girl with black braids, she had what looked like black lipstick on her lips, and her eyes dark eyes were intense as they bored onto Joe's.

Liam introduced them as Clive, Bianca and Peach. In the exact order Joe studied them.

Joe shifted his eyes back to Liam. He couldn't help but be suspicious of how casually they revealed themselves. He tightened his guard, ensuring his grip on his mana tool was solid.

And then suddenly, acting simultaneously. All of them bowed their heads. “Thank you so much!” They said, in unison.

Joe and Shelly exchanged confused glances.

Liam and his party straightened and Liam was the first to speak. “We wanted to thank you personally for what you've done. I never thought anyone would actually bring down Mikey. You've done this town a huge favor, no words could express our gratitude.”

“We didn't do this for the town, “ Joe said. dismissively. “We were just looking to save these kids. We don't need your gratitude, we just need you out of the way.” His eyes stared daggers into Liam.

“We get it” Liam responded, “We've wanted to help these kids for a long time but we couldn't do anything while Mikey was around. Our focus was on stopping his influence from spreading and taking over the town. We managed to do that, but the kids suffered as a result.” Liam clenched his fists. “Allow us to make things right. Let us take care of the kids.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You wanted to stop him from spreading his influence?” Joe yelled. “What about these kids! They were suffering and you guys didn't do anything! You were the only ones strong enough to have a chance against Mikey yet you did nothing!” Joe's saliva flew from his mouth as he shouted. “You're cowards!”

Joe's words hung in the air as Liam failed to respond. He was just left with widened eyes, his words stuck in his throat.

Seeing his leader’s inaction, one of Liam's party members, Clive stepped foward. “You have to understand kid. If we agitated Mikey and went to war with him, a lot of innocent people would die. That includes the townspeople and many of these kids. We were trying to maintain a balance by keeping Mikey at bay. If he took over Perina who knows what could've happened. “

“Bullshit!” Joe snapped. “Children were dying! Those townspeople of yours just slaughtered a young boy in broad daylight and you're telling me about balance?”

Liam gave Clive a pat on the shoulder, as he regained his composure. “We are by far the strongest party in this town. Most other parties are either too weak or just don't want to get involved with Mikey. It became our responsibility to protect the townspeople but also the children. We covered the entirety of Perina by ourselves. This led to us being unable to stop certain actions by the townspeople before they got out of hand. As a result many of the children have died. We have tried to save as many children as we could. We just didn't do enough. And for that once again, we apologize.”

Shelly cleared her throat. “So what? We’re just suppose to move on forgive you? You want us to hand over these kids just like that?”

“You guys have showed that it's possible.” said Clive. “Instead of being passive and waiting for things to get better, it's always better to fight for change. We know thet now. That's why we want to help you. These kids have been through so much, but things can be better. We have a hideout that can accommodate all these kids. Allow us to do what we should’ve done all along. Please let us help. “

Joe was starting to warm up to them. They were incompetent but they sounded sincere. Them possessing a hideout also made things easier. Realistically, there was no way they could move around with so many children. He hated to admit it, but he needed their help. “What hideout?” He decided to ask.

Clive's face softened, “we have a space that we can use to take care of all these kids. We can provide them with everything they need. Our party will see to it. It's hidden so the kids won't be in danger.” He reached for a pocket inside her cloak and escaped with a glowing green crystal. It was tall but also thin, like a small crystal tower. “This is a pathfinder.” He explained. “it has the signature of one of our members, Tony. He's the one who looks after the hideout. As long as you have this, it will lead you directly to the base. You aren't throwing these kids away, you can always come and visit them if you wish.”

Clive threw the pathfinder at Joe, he caught it with one hand and examined it. The pathfinder seemed to cast a light that showcased directions. It didn't look like he was lying. Joe glanced at Shelly and they lowered their weapons. Joe was convinced. “Fine, we'll trust you. We'll leave the kids with you.” As soon as Joe spoke some of the kids cried.

Shelly was the first to turn to them and try to console them. Joe stored the pathfinder and marched straight for Liam. “Syr, give me all the gold pieces I earned in the Black Forest.”

[You Have Retrieved 20 000 Gold Pieces.]

[Total Gold Pieces Remaining: 0]

A brown bag of gold pieces landed on Joe's left palm. He gripped it tightly, when he reached Liam, Joe slammed it into his chest. “Look, use this to take care of the kids, you guys don't have to dig out of your pockets. I'll provide for them.” Joe took a step back leaving Liam with wide eyes and the bag pressed against his chest.

“You didn't h—”

“It's fine! I want to be the one to do this.” Joe cut him off. “And one more thing...” he stepped forward, “if those kids get hurt. I will hunt down and kill every last one of you!” He threatened.

Liam nodded.

He strode back to Shelly and the kids. Seing all their faces almost made him shed another tear. “You guys be good ok? These guys will take care of you.” Joe said with a smile.

Even after his words, there were still kids who harbored uncertain faces, and that's when Viola stepped foward. “Come on you guys! Shelly and Joe trust them. We should trust them too.”

The children started to come around to the idea.

After several minutes of hugging and saying goodbye. Joe and Shelly waved one last time to the kids before turning away.

As they walked out of ear shot, Shelly whispered something. “What did you say to those back there?”

Joe smirked, “nothing much, just making sure they'll keep their promise.”

Shelly gave him a confused expression.

“I'm just glad those kids have a place to stay. I hate to admit it, but I'm thankful to those guys.”

“Yeah.. me too..” Shelly smiled.

After a minute Joe opened his mouth. “The adventure's guild. We still have to get me registered. “ Joe said, reminded of the reason they came to this town in the first place.

“It's at the edge of town I think. If we keep going north we're bound to find it.” Shelly responded.

When Shelly took a step her knees buckled. She managed to save herself from the fall, one hand darting to her head.

“Are you ok?” Joe asked.

“I'm fine.” Shelly said shaking her head.

Joe stored the black blade in his inventory before stepping in front of her. “Your body must still be recovering. Climb on my back. I'll carry you to the guild. It's a straight forward route from this point right?” Joe lowered his body offering a piggyback ride.

“I told you, I'm fine." Shelly insisted.

“Stop being stubborn. You're no good to anyone if you haven't recovered. Gather your stenghth. I'll let you know when we reach the guild ok?”

Shelly sighed. “Fine, but wake me up immediately after we arrive, not a second later okay?”

“You got it!”

Shelly finally relented and climbed on to Joe's back. Joe straightened and ensured she was secured. Shelly wrapped her arm around his neck before she rested her head. She seemed to mumble something before her eyes drifted to sleep.

Joe could feel his muscles burn, but he endured it. He exhaled. “Alright then. Next stop. The Adventure's Guild.”

Joe marched forward with the excitement of finally getting registered.

[Mikey Arc - End]

[Next Arc - The Adventure's Guild]