“Sorry! Make way please!”
Yuugo pushed his way through the members of the cooking club, and jumped into the room.
There, he saw Melt and Angel comforting Phi, who was shocked and crying.
“Melt, An. Where’s Shiroi…!?”
“…Sorry, when we got here he was already…”
He asked them about Shiroi, since he could not see him anywhere, and Melt responded with an anguished expression.
Yuugo was at a loss for words, understanding everything from that response alone, when two people spoke from behind him with a voice that contained clear scorn.
“Oh my, you’re already here? That was fast, Yuugo.”
“Good thing we handed that kid to the villagers right away. Or else you would have gotten in the way.”
“Shian, Egos…!!”
“It was them. They brought the villagers into the room and took Shiroi…!!”
Said Phi through his tears, while looking at Shian and Egos with anger for taking his friend.
Yuugo saw Shian and Egos smiling proudly, and Hao looking awkward, and understood pretty much everything that happened.
“…So you heard about Shiroi from the president, and came into our room. And you even got them to bring the master key, right?”
“Of course. We can’t leave a boy near scum like you.”
“I know what you were planning. You were going to keep hiding that kid and extort the villagers, right? How dare you try to use a child?”
Yuugo said nothing in response to their accusations. He knew there was something more important than his reputation, and instead asked questions.
“Where did Shiroi go? Where is he now?”
“We handed him to the owner of the inn. He must be getting scolded by his parents right now.”
Yuugo heard that, and wanted to go out to the village to look for him. But Shian and egos saw that coming, and responded with a sneer.
“You’re not going anywhere. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s clear you don’t have anything good in mind.”
“I get that you’re irritated for not getting a reward, but it’s not nice to take it out on innocent people, Yuugo.”
“…What was that kid like when he was taken?”
“Ah? Well… He struggled a little. No, he resisted quite a bit.”
“He knew how much trouble he caused to the villagers by running away. I’m sure he knew there was a terrible scolding waiting for him at home.”
“…Do you think that’s it? You didn’t even stop to think about what he was afraid of.”
Slowly, anger began to burn like flames behind Yuugo.
That anger was directed not just at Shian and Egos, who did not listen to Shiroi as he desperately tried to resist and get help, but also at himself for being unable to protect him.
Yuugo clenched his fists, frustrated over not being able to protect a child asking for help, but thought he might still make it in time, so he infused Blaster on his left arm with magic energy, and glared at Shian and Egos.
“Move. I’m going to save him. If you get in the way… I’m not showing mercy.”
“Ah…! You really are scum, declaring you’re going to kidnap him so shamelessly!”
“Do we need to teach this scum a lesson? We’ll face you if you want, so come at us!”
It seemed pointless to talk to them. They had no intention of listening.
All he could do was take Shiroi by force and get out of the village… But just as Yuugo was prepared to shoulder that bad reputation and activate Blaster to go rescue Shiroi, Marcos stopped him.
“Stop, Yuugo! I know how you feel, but don’t be hasty!”
“Don’t stop me, I have to save him.”
“So you save him and escape the village, then what? What do you intend to do?”
“Go back to the city and talk to the guards. I can get there fast with Skull, and I’m sure Jinba will listen. He’ll send a unit here and then…”
“You might be able to save him that way, but what about the captured villagers? According to you, they’re alive, right? Don’t they matter!?”
“Guh…!!”
Marcos rebuked Yuugo quietly enough for only him to hear, and Yuugo had nothing to say in response.
It made sense that if he took Shiroi and ran, the culprit would know they noticed something was not right, and might kill the captive people to erase the evidence.
If Shiroi was saved and his parents were killed along with the other villagers, he would not really be saving him… Yuugo knew this, and clenched his teeth.
“Bear with it, Yuugo. The culprit can’t do anything to the villagers as long as we’re here. And if I were the culprit… I would act tonight to get rid of us, since we sensed something isn’t right. We’ll have our chance to save that boy, so bear with it for now!”
“…Okay.”
Yuugo listened to Marcos, who said he had to contain himself in order to save all the villagers, and nodded while clenching his fists with frustration.
Shian and Egos saw he was not going to attack, and seemed disappointed. But then, Phi yelled.
“T-that’s Shiroi’s knife…!!”
“Hn? Ah, this is kind of a weapon, so we couldn’t let him keep it.”
“Give it back! That’s Shiroi’s treasure!”
“Hn… Fine. Give it back to your friend the next time you see him.”
Phi protested to Shian, remembering how happy Shiroi looked when he talked about his treasure the previous night.
After thinking about it for a bit, Shian threw the stone knife with a somewhat wry smile.
It seemed they had enough of dealing with the Clay brothers, because as Phi carefully grabbed the knife, they turned to Angel and Melt, who had been silently watching.
“Now do you see it? This is the kind of guy Yuugo is. He was using a missing kid and the people worried about him for profit. He couldn’t be bigger scum.”
“People are going to start looking at you coldly too if you hang out with someone like him. Join our party before he puts his hands on you! You’re more than welcome!”
“…How kind of you, hero prospects. As a token of my respect for your kindness, I’ll tell you one thing.”
Said Angel with a plain tone, in response to the invitation that was not just too insistent, but also came at the worst time.
She brought Phi to her side and gently held him, while looking at the other two with a stern expression that was the opposite of that.
“I really don’t like guys that make kids cry. And I like it even less when they try to hit on me right in front of them.”
“Don’t talk to us again. At the very least, I don’t want to see you while we’re in this village!”
Shian and Egos were at a loss for words, as this was not the response they were expecting.
They were the heroes who saved a child being held captive by scum, and had already deepened their relationship with the girls, so they already saw them as theirs, so… They were baffled by the response that carried clear negative feelings.
“…It’s fine. We stopped Yuugo’s evil plot and got the reward in his place. It serves you right… Let’s leave it at that.”
“And Yuugo, stay in your room. We don’t want you doing anything bad, so you’re not allowed to leave. Got that?”
Shian and Egos failed to realize that the response they struggled to put out reeked of the parting words of small fry, and left as if feeling as though they accomplished what they set out to do.
Meanwhile Hao, who stood next to them with a pale expression, was given a bag with gold coins.
“Thanks Hao. We saved that kid thanks to you. This is from the heart, so take it.”
“Ah, no, I…”
“C’mon! You can’t hang around here forever, back to your rooms! Back!”
Ordered Egos, and the members of the cooking club scattered like spiders.
Yuugo also closed the door to his room, but just before it was shut, Hao noticed Phi’s eyes full of hatred, gasped a little, and dropped limply on the floor with a pale expression.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
This is where fire blaster gets perfected, its such a toku plot.
Oh no, those 2 are even more stupid than I expected. Like common sense would tell you not to be rough with children.
Also looks like Hao noticed something is wrong? Maybe he can be redeemed?