Once I had stepped onto the dirt path, I turned around to look at the man. Had this been me from seven months ago, I would be bowing in a dogeza at this point. Instead, I am now meeting his fierce gaze head on.
A line from a popular comic book series flashed through my mind. "With great power comes great responsibility."
I don't entirely disagree with this quote. The only thing separating us from animals is the fact that we know how powerful we are and we judge our own usage of that power. I can't just use the strength that I've acquired for stupid reasons. I need to be reserved. There are definitely people that are stronger than me in this world. I don't want to do anything that puts me on their negative radar after all.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Once I had finished exhaling, I spoke to the man.
"I don't want to fight you. I led you out here so you could cool off. Don't make me do this, please." I stared deeply into his eyes. I wanted to express my point as best as I could.
"Yeah? I wouldn't want to fight me, either!" The man said as he was rolling up his sleeves.
A few of the man's friends spoke up.
"Hey Gin, I don't think this is worth it. He's an adventurer! Just leave him alone." They urged. The man tried to grab the man evidently named Gin by the shoulder, but was brushed off.
"Last night he nearly drove me deaf and now he says that Renchan was responsible for people like Innis going missing? Nah. I ain't buying it. This kid just wants to make an easy jun off of us! I'm going to teach him a lesson."
Gin cracked his neck a bit along with his knuckles. He is fairly large and has some muscle definition. Most likely he has been working on the fields all of his life. To a normal person he would be fairly intimidating, but I've dealt with a hobgoblin, a grizzly bear, and an old woman that made me wake up at 5 A.M. every day. This guy is just a minor inconvenience at this point.
I rolled my shoulder. I don't plan on throwing any punches, but I don't want to want to come in unprepared after all.
Taking my actions as the sign to attack, the man named Gin rushed me and tried to punch me in the face with his right hand while putting all of his body weight behind it. He may as well have been moving in slow motion however, as I deftly slid myself left to dodge the attack. Gin lost his footing due to this attack and fell to the ground. Dirt and dust covered him.
"Grrr!" He grumbled. The look on his face was of intense rage. I don't think I've ever seen someone look at me like this before. A look of pure hatred.
"AGH I'LL KILL YOU!" Gin shouted as he got on his feet and launched another attack at me. I nimbly dodged this one as well, following the same procedure as I did for the previous attack.
Unlike the last time, however, Gin did not fall over. It seemed like he accommodated for the chance that I would dodge since he was able to stay on his feet. Gin's friends had to move out of the way since it looked like he would run into them because of his momentum.
"RAAAAH!" He screamed as he ran towards me. I prepared to dodge his futile punch once more, but instead Gin kicked at me with his left leg. I was unprepared for this, so I quickly raised my right leg to defend myself from his kick.
His leg collided with mine. Under a normal circ.u.mstance, this wouldn't make much of a difference, but I am wearing metal leg armor. Gin essentially just kicked a wall made of metal.
"Agh!" He shouted as he kneeled down and clutched his throbbing leg. His friends winced as they watched him crouch down in pain. Even I winced a little bit as I watched him hold his leg.
"I told you. I don't want to fight you. Leave me alone." I spoke with as much authority as I could muster. I wanted this to be the end of this petty squabble.
"You little…" He muttered as he slowly stood back up. The fury in his eyes and face was honestly a bit frightening. I have no idea why this guy is so angry.
I saw Gin run up to me. Unlike before, it looked like he was going to try delivering a stomach punch. As usual, I will dodge this.
Just before the attack would land, the door to the inn burst open and Erana stepped out of it.
Gin's fist collided with my abdominal area. Despite holding the majority of force this man could muster, it only felt like a rather light push. I realized that he just collided with my leather cuira.s.s.
"Agh!" Gin shouted out as he fell to his knees and clutched his now broken hand. Everyone was shocked by this. Even I never expected for him to get hurt this severely.
"Kenji-san! What are you doing?" Erana shouted at me.
I could feel guilt wash over me when she did this. What excuse could I give? I didn't start it? That's so childish. Perhaps I should just blame Gin? I doubt she'd buy that though…
"He… He broke my d.a.m.n hand! Agh!" Gin shouted in pain. He was now rolling on the ground as he was clutching his broken hand.
Erana looked at me for a moment and ran past the group of Gin's friends while clutching her tree branch. She didn't need to say anything for me to understand.
She was disappointed in me.
It's not that there was anger. This wasn't some life changing moment or some destruction of me. Erana simply gave me a quick gaze that asked without speaking a single word:
"I thought you were a better person than this."
Erana wasn't looking at me anymore as she cast her healing spell on Gin. I could see his hand slowly piecing itself back together as her magic slowly enveloped him. I wanted to say something, but I felt like whatever I say would make it worse than not saying anything at all.
I slowly backed away and walked past Gin's friends. They parted ways to let me through. I could tell that they were genuinely afraid of me.
I stepped back into the inn and approached the table where Tael and Kany were sitting.
"Hey, what's up man? You look like something's wrong." Tael turned and asked me.
"Onii-san, don't tell me you killed that guy! Erana went to go see what was happening but since you two didn't return together…"
"Yeah, tell us what happened Kenji!"
"He tried to fight me. It didn't turn out well for him." I said.
Tael and Kany both looked at me oddly. I can't describe the types of faces they're giving me, but it had some strange aura of unhappiness.
I couldn't take their gazes anymore. I turned around and went up the stairs. I walked into my room and face planted on the bed. I clenched my fists as hard as I could. I screwed up badly tonight.
"Raah! G.o.d d.a.m.n it! How is it my fault? He was the one attacking me! Ugh!" I shouted into the empty room in frustration. I hated when developments like this would happen in movies, where someone would walk in on something at the wrong time and then it would become a big problem because it couldn't be explained well. I always thought they were stupid, but now I see why it's so hard to set things right.
I lied back down on the bed and rolled over to my side to face the wall.
How do I fix this? Surely it's possible that I can explain myself to Erana… I can't act like I was drunk this time. I was drinking water tonight so I couldn't have become drunk after all.
Maybe I can just brush it off? She's a nice person. Surely she'll forgive me?
No that won't work. Even if she does put it away in her mind, it will always be there. Forgetting about it isn't an option.
Ugh! Why is this so difficult?
I tried to reach my hand up to scratch my head in frustration, but I couldn't move my arm.
I tried to move my leg but I couldn't do that either.
What's going on? I can't move.
Is this sleep paralysis or something? I didn't realize I fell asleep. I must have been more tired than I thought I was.
Before I could begin to worry, I heard the door open behind me.
"Fooo… Kenji, Erana is totally p.i.s.sed at you. You totally screwed up this time!" He announced as he closed the door behind himself.
I said nothing because I couldn't speak.
"What? Silent treatment or something? You know I'm not the one that's mad at you." Tael kept pestering.
Again, I said nothing. I'm starting to panic, but I can't do anything about it.
"I know what will get you… Kany told me you used to be fat! Is that true?" I could hear Tael quietly chuckle to himself as he asked this.
…
"Hm… I guess you are asleep. Well... fine. I'll ask you tomorrow." I could hear Tael lie flat on his bed as well. It didn't take long for him to fully fall asleep.
When I determined that he had fully fallen asleep by the sound of his breathing, I could feel myself stand up out of bed. I am not in control of my own body. It's like I'm being puppeted.
I quietly opened the door and left the inn.
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