"What are you doing? Are you insane?" Alba cried while glaring daggers at the young man.

"I am just trying to help you. Why are you protecting him when he hurt you?" The young man was even more confused looking at Alba's hysterical cries.

"Who are you helping? You are just hitting others for no reason. Go away, you are being a nuisance."

The young man felt indignant. He was trying to help the girl but she was protecting the scum. He understood that the girl was abused and had probably been living in fear for a long time. It wasn't like this was the first time he was seeing such a case. The victim would be too scared that the abuse would get worse if someone tried to help. He understood it but he still felt disgusted by it.

Looking at the girl who was still shielding the doctor, a bad aftertaste was left in his mouth. It felt like he had swallowed a fly. He wanted to vent out his emotions but had nowhere to do so. He looked at the scum one last time, spat at the ground and turned to leave.

Vincent heard the conversation between Alba and the young man and was puzzled. He asked Alba, "He isn't a friend of the thugs I killed?"

"No, he is just a villager. He thought I was being bullied by you. So he came to help." Alba replied with a strange look on her face. Vincent was always sharp and calm. She did feel that he was acting strange after he exited the forest and she could already see that he wasn't himself. But the question still surprised her a lot.

Vincent got up and called out to the young man, "Stop! Why did you hit me?"

The young man turned around and looked at the man who had just got up. His left cheek was a little swollen because of the earlier punch. Watching him stand up and ask as if he really knew nothing pissed him off once again. "Bastard. Are you saying that you can hit the girl just because you want to and I have to answer you if I hit you?"

"Don't ask questions. I asked you the reason why you hit me."

"Cocky bastard. Just because she is your servant, you hit her. Now you got guts asking me why I hit you?"

"You are making no sense. I am asking you why YOU hit ME."

"Didn't you hear me? I hit you because you hit her." The young man replied in an irritated tone.

"There are so many people who harm others. Will you beat them all? You hit me as well. Are you gonna hit yourself?" Vincent continued asking in a calm manner.

Hearing the string of questions directed at him, the young man grew violent. He was already doing his best to control himself. Had it not been for the girl who protected the weakling earlier, he would have already pummeled this bastard until he could no longer utter a single word.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Fine bastard. I will just shut your smart mouth with my fist." The young man took large steps towards Vincent. Now, he really planned on completing the task he had come here for originally. He would beat the scum until he could never muster enough courage to hit another woman again.

Vincent watched him approach calmly and lifted his crossbow aiming it at the young man. Looking at the crossbow directly pointed at him, the man stopped abruptly. In the face of a lethal weapon, even veteran warriors would have second thoughts, the young man staring at Vincent unyieldingly was already commendable.

The young girl started panicking looking at the development. She just wanted to help Alba. Watching the helpless Alba crying earlier had reminded the girl of her mother. She pleaded her brother for help and brought him here. Her brother was strong, in fact, he was selected as a prospective warrior by the feudal lords knight. He would be joining the training camp to develop battle force. Then, he would start training to become a warrior.

Initially, she just thought that the matter would be solved easily. Unfortunately, the thing had blown out of proportion. First, she was surprised by Alba's actions and words. Her brother retreating quietly was also an unexpected development. But, what surprised her the most was the doctor's provocative words. He was frail and weak when compared to her brother. He also looked pale proving that he wasn't exposed to the sun much and wasn't athletic. She didn't understand what gave him the courage to act so unbridled.

Looking at the doctor pointing a crossbow at her brother, she grew flustered. This wasn't what she wanted. Her brother was also staring at the doctor refusing to back down at all. She hurriedly went to her brother and pulled his sleeves while saying, "We are sorry. Seems like it was all a misunderstanding. Me and my brother will take our leave."

She bowed repeatedly and pulled her brother behind her. Vincent aimed the crossbow at her and shouted, "Stop!" The siblings stopped, the girl was pale with fright while the young man regained his lost courage. He moved between Vincent and his sister and spoke, "You bastard. Do you have no shame? Pointing a weapon at a girl?"

"How is pointing a weapon at a girl shameful? I have seen women who can take you down with both their arms tied behind their back. Stop forcing your disgusting ideals unto me. Now if you don't want your sister to be turned into a pincushion, why don't you answer my question? Why did YOU hit ME?"

The young man glared at the crazy bastard in front of him. He was scared of the crossbow but his pride didn't allow him to back down. He couldn't appear weak, not in front of this cowardly scum. He clenched his teeth and let out one word after another, "Because I wanted to."

Vincent smiled radiantly. It didn't look pretty because of his swollen cheeks. He moved his arm holding the crossbow slightly and pulled the trigger. A 'twang' resounded and a bolt flew out drawing blood from the young man's thigh. The man clutched his injury and fell down. His body told him to scream out but he just stared at the attacker without any fear in his eyes.

His sister on the other hand couldn't stay still anymore. She crouched next to her brother and checked his injury. After confirming that it was just a flesh wound, she sighed and glared at Vincent. "Are you crazy? You could have hurt him seriously. Why did you do that?"

Vincent looked at the girl as if he was amused and answered, "Isn't it obvious little girl? I did it because I WANTED TO."