Chapter 4. 2. Sufficient Reason to Step Forward (2)
'This is really annoying.'
A mercenary who had been drinking with his companions furrowed his brow.
He was in the middle of lying that the male server had brought the wrong food.
He thought that if the commotion grew large enough in a situation where neither side had evidence, the innkeeper would intervene and offer free side dishes.
However, the situation became awkward due to the sudden appearance of a female server. He looked around.
'No one believes that bitch!'
Even though he had nothing to be aggrieved about, anger surged up. He raised his voice out of embarrassment, but this brazen waitress stood her ground without retreating an inch, glaring at him.
'I need to push harder!'
In most situations, the person with the louder voice is unconditionally advantaged. This was his long-held belief. Determined to deny everything, he shouted even louder and approached the female server.
Threatening hand gestures accompanied his words. He had no intention of hitting her, but at the very least, he wanted to crush that insolent attitude.
At that moment, a hand interposed itself between the mercenary and the waitress.
"That's enough."
"Huh? And who are you?"
"You seem quite drunk. Why don't you calm down and let's go outside to resolve this through conversation?"
The drunken mercenary narrowed his eyes and looked at the newly appeared man.
No, using the expression 'man' was slightly inaccurate. The mercenary let out a hollow laugh at the appearance of someone who looked much younger than himself.
Then, cursing, he swung his hand. The thought that even this greenhorn was ignoring him made his blood boil.
The mercenary's companions, the guests, and the female server all wore startled expressions at the sight.
*Whish*
"Huh? He dodged?"
"That's enough, wouldn't you say?"
However, contrary to the crowd's expectation that he would be sent flying far away, the boy dodged the mercenary's palm all too easily. People's eyes gleamed with interest at this unexpected situation.
For isn't it said that the most entertaining spectacles are fires and fights?
Guests who had put some distance between themselves and the two fully assumed the stance of spectators. The boy showed a relaxed demeanor as if he didn't care about this at all.
But the mercenary found this situation not at all welcome.
'Damn it, I was just trying to get one free side dish!'
He didn't like that things had gotten big, nor did he like the current situation where he felt like a clown.
But what annoyed him most was the boy who had interfered with his business despite having that soft, downy look.
The alcohol, shame, and anger made his body hot. Containing that heat, he threw a punch much stronger than before.
*Whish, whisk!*
*Boom!*
The mercenary's punching was quite fierce.
True to his large physique, considerable power was felt, and the speed wasn't slow either. Each time his fist extended, the air in the tavern screamed.
Yet no one gathered at the inn paid any attention to the mercenary. Even his companions were too busy looking elsewhere.
It was because the opponent his fist was chasing, a greenhorn with a youthful face, was showing an amazing sight.
"Wow, he dodged again!"
"Again, again! He's not getting hit once!"
"It's not even close. He's completely relaxed!"
People's reactions grew increasingly heated. Some watched the boy's movements with blank expressions, unaware that food was even falling from their mouths.
It wasn't fast, nor was it flashy. At least, that's how it appeared to the guests in the inn. The boy merely showed slight head movements and simple footwork.
Nevertheless, the mercenary's fist couldn't even graze the boy's body in the slightest.
One of the guests offered praise mixed with admiration.
"He's so young but really amazing. That big guy can't even touch him?"
"Nah, that's not it. He's too busy dodging to even attack."
Immediate rebuttal came from beside, but this wasn't true.
The boy, Lumian, was in an extremely relaxed state. Without feeling a shred of crisis, he leisureantly analyzed the mercenary's attacks.
'Still, his eyes are quite decent.'
Lumian's specs were not outstanding.
Strictly speaking, he fell far short compared to his classmates at the Knight Academy. Neither was his total aura quantity large, nor was his body trained.
But his eyesight alone was excellent enough to be acknowledged by him, who had strict standards. If he missed a street mercenary's fist while having these eyes, he would have to drown himself in a ditch and die.
His insufficient physical abilities posed no problem at all. Ryan Promhart's practical experience was tremendous enough to more than bridge that gap. In fact, Lumian had the leisure to break through the mercenary's fist offensive and resolve the situation at any time.
'But if I end it too early, it won't look cool.'
What was the reason he intervened in the dispute between the server and the mercenary?
It was to look cool. Through this, to receive the attention of the inn's female server, today's most beautiful woman.
Beating down this mercenary wasn't important. The point was to use this guy to create the coolest possible situation.
'I need scenes of narrowly dodging like this too.'
The mercenary's left straight grazed Lumian's cheek. Surprised voices filled the inn.
Of course, this was intentional on Lumian's part. Right now, he wasn't in any danger at all.
'It makes more dramatic staging possible.'
The atmosphere had grown quite heated. Within it, Lumian glanced sideways to check on the female server.
Her appearance with both hands clasped together and a worried expression was utterly lovely. A faint smile hung at the corner of his lips.
The inn's guests couldn't see this. But it came into clear view for the mercenary at close range. He misunderstood Lumian's smile as mockery toward himself.
"This bastard! Are you making fun of me!"
The mercenary, furious to the top of his head, twisted his upper body greatly. At the same time, Lumian's eyes widened.
A situation where his stance had broken due to excitement. But to a third party, the large movement would feel very threatening.
A thunderbolt-like counterattack bursting forth in such a situation, and the result of the match reversed in a single blow.
From the perspective of spectators, how would this feel?
'Not bad. No, excellent!'
Lumian clenched his fist tightly. He had been calm even with a large fist before his eyes, but thinking of the result that would soon unfold, he couldn't contain his excitement.
*Whiiiing-!*
While he was thinking, his fist was extending powerfully like a spring. Extremely fast speed. But to Lumian, who had focused for his own desire, it appeared slow enough to make him yawn.
One, two, now. Aiming for the perfect timing, he attacked for the first time. The boy's small fist drove into the chin of the mercenary who had lunged forward.
*Thud!*
*Thump*
That was the end of it.
The large mercenary collapsed forward like a marionette with its strings cut. His consciousness had flown away in a single blow.
Lumian, exhaling a breath, straightened his clothes.
He turned his head. Then, toward the mercenary's companions who wore dumbfounded expressions, he offered a word.
"Take him away. Don't cause any more trouble."
"W-wow!"
"What? Did he knock him out in one hit? That huge guy?"
"This can't be! He looks so young too!"
A great shout erupted.
The boy's incredible martial prowess shown against the large mercenary!
There couldn't be a more perfect appetizer. People, who had been holding their breath from the latter half of the fight, burst out and conversed in loud voices. In that gap, the mercenary's companions took him up to the second-floor lodgings, but no one paid attention to this.
Of course, it was natural. Today's protagonists weren't them. Several people with rising intoxication approached the boy who had produced the unbelievable result and spoke to him.
"Hey, that's amazing! How on earth did you do that?"
"Your courage is impressive. I was also frowning at that guy's misconduct."
"Me too. If you hadn't stepped in, I would have taught him a lesson..."
"Ah, yes..."
Lumian laughed awkwardly and responded to them.
He felt terrible. He had finished it coolly as he wanted and become the star of the inn. But this was for the sake of winning the female server's favor, not to become the idol of drunken middle-aged men.
To make matters worse, the male server with a tearful expression and the innkeeper were approaching him.
Just looking at them, they seemed to have a lot to say.
'Damn, this isn't it.'
Lumian slightly closed his eyes. It was terrible. He found himself terrible for monopolizing men's popularity not only in his past life but even in his new life, and the blackened men who would be lined up when he opened his eyes were also terrible.
It felt as if he was under a curse.
Amidst the middle-aged men's sweat smell, he exercised superhuman patience to suppress the impulse to scream.
At that moment.
He felt a touch grabbing his hand.
Lumian started and opened his eyes. The sensation felt very soft, making it hard to believe it was a man's.
Fortunately, his prediction wasn't wrong.
Before Lumian stood the shapely waitress with a worried expression. With both hands holding his hand tightly.
His mind went white as paper.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much for helping!"
"Uh, yes..."
"I should have stopped it, but I was too scared to do so. I'm sorry, and really thank you!"
A commoner grabbed a noble's hand without permission. This was considerable rudeness.
But Lumian had no leisure to consider such things.
The waitress running with his hand held, and her chest shaking up and down accordingly, were ruthlessly shaking his mind.
'Is this... heaven...'
Skinship with a woman experienced for the first time since gaining this body!
Lumian's body stiffened. It was due to tension. Pressure incomparable to when fighting the mercenary made sweat pour from his back like rain.
The cool line he had originally prepared didn't come to mind either.
With no choice, Lumian gave a very safe and boring response.
But this turned out to be a huge mistake.
"No, it was nothing. I just did what a knight cadet should do..."
"Knight cadet... oh my!"
The waitress started and released her hand.
Lumian was even more surprised. As the soft sensation of the woman's hand disappeared, it felt like falling from heaven to hell.
'Just hold on a little longer!'
Words he couldn't bring himself to say aloud, words he could only say inside.
To him, the waitress bowed formally and spoke.
"So you were a Knight Academy cadet... I'm sorry for not recognizing you! A lowly wench dared to arbitrarily touch a noble person's hand... I'm truly sorry!"
"Ah, no. There's no need to apologize that much..."
Most members of the Knight Academy were nobles, and even commoners were talents with a high probability of becoming nobles later. The female server's apology was natural.
But from Lumian's standpoint, such apologies were utterly useless. Rather, he wanted to feel the female server's hand longer.
"As expected, I thought the skill was extraordinary. So you were a future knight of the Academy!"
"You're amazing! You're cool!"
"We've committed a rudeness. Please show mercy and generously overlook this..."
However, the hand that had left did not return.
Between him and the waitress, drunken middle-aged men with balding heads and flushed skin filled the space.
Their apologies and flattery were also completely unnecessary.
Lumian's expression became one of wanting to cry.
"It's fine. You don't need to worry too much..."
But he couldn't take out his anger on people who had done nothing wrong.
Neither Lumian Callad nor Ryan Promhart had such a vicious personality. In the end, he had no choice but to gaze from afar at the well-endowed female server who had stepped back.
'Damn it... no... let's be satisfied with this much for today...'
With a bitter expression, Lumian accepted the middle-aged men's flattery and soon returned to his room. He had become suddenly tired and wanted to rest. Even after he disappeared, the inn's guests didn't stop talking about Lumian for a long time.
'What? Lumian took down a huge mercenary with his bare hands?'
And the news of this day flowed into the ears of Lumian's classmate who entered the inn belatedly.