Ting
Leon stepped into the utensil shop and saw the same old man from before.
“What do you want, kid?” the old man asked with a neutral expression, glancing at Leon.
“I need some utensils and—” Leon began, but his eyes drifted to the half-eaten creame puff sitting on the counter.
“No, no… Don’t look at that. It’s mine,” the old man grumbled as he hurriedly stuffed the rest of the creame puff into his mouth, Like it’s the last piece of food he is ever going to eat.
Nom-Nom-Nom
‘Ah… shit. I never collected the money for those creame puffs from Ellie’s family. I’ll have to get that too,’ Leon thought, keeping his expression neutral as the old man chewed greedily.
“Well… what do you want?” the old man asked again, brushing crumbs from his beard.
“Utensils. A pan, some bowls, and spoons,” Leon said flatly.
“Tell me one by one. I’m old, kid,” the man grumbled as he stood up.
—
15 minutes later
Leon stepped out of the shop, arms full of utensils, and stretched his back.
He then looked around and as soon as he got assured that no one is looking at him, he spoke the word.
“Store.”
All the utensils disappeared from his hand except a spoon.
“Fucking hell… Inventory is full. I have to level it up and make more space.” Leon spoke as he placed the spoon into his pocket and moved on.
“Now… where can I find an enchanter who can enchant weapons ?” he muttered, scanning the busy market.
“Hello, mister! Would you like to buy a creame puff ?”
The familiar voice made Leon turn immediately. Ellie stood behind him, smiling.
Today she wasn’t in baggy or dirty clothes. She wore a neat green new outfit, her hair tied back into a ponytail, and she balanced a tray of creame puffs in her hands.
“Ah… Ellie,” Leon spoke with a small smile.
“Sir Leon, I greet you,” she replied cheerfully, bowing her head to him.
“Business is blooming, huh?” Leon asked as he took a Creame Puff from the plate.
“Yes, sir. All thanks to you. But… you never came to collect the money?” Ellie tilted her head curiously.
“Yeah, I got a little busy due to some work,” Leon said casually.
“I even tried to find your house in the human village outside the kingdom, but they said they didn’t know anyone named Sir Leon,” she added.
“Which village did you go to?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
“Yundero Village.”
“No, no… that’s on the west side. My village is on the south side of the kingdom,” Leon corrected.
“Ah, I understand now,” Ellie nodded.
“So… how much did you sell?” Leon asked.
“In the past four days, we’ve sold over seven thousand coppers worth of creame puffs and made a profit of six thousand coppers. I have three thousand coppers packed at home for you, Sir. I can fetch it right now if you want,” she said with a big smile.
“Okay, first of all—never say those numbers out loud like that. And never bring that much money to the market. I’ll come by your house later and collect it if I have time today,
You did good work, Ellie.” Leon instructed, patting her gently on the head.
“Yes, sir. I understand and thank you for the appreciation.” Ellie nodded again with a big smile.
“Hi… can I buy a creame puff?”
A beastkin man, covered in coarse brown fur, approached and handed Ellie five coppers.
“No,” Ellie replied flatly as she gave him the coins back.
“But—” Before the man could’ve completed his sentence Ellie interrupted.
“I said no. I don’t want to sell to you. Now get lost,” she snapped.
“Listen here, little girl. I’m paying you the full price for this crap, so hand it over—” The man started speaking as he grabbed her neck.
Before he could finish, Leon’s hand shot out and clamped around the man’s neck.
Grab
“What the—”
“Didn’t your mother teach you how to talk to little girls?” Leon asked coldly, his grip tightening.
Clench
“W-Who are you? *cough* L-Let go *cough-cough* of my neck!” the man gasped, clawing at Leon’s hand and trying to pull away.
<Adrenaline Rush>
Leon’s eyes turned jet black as a surge of power coursed through his body.
CLENCH
His fingers dug in even harder into his neck.
“W-What the fuck *cough-cough* I-I can’t breathe…” the man wheezed, panic rising in his eyes.
“Oh my god…”
“What’s happening?”
“Looks like a fight’s breaking out!”
Within seconds, a crowd had gathered around them.
“I-I’m sorry *cough-cough* I’ll never bother her again. *cough-cough* Please let me go!” the man gasped, his eyes reddening from lack of air.
“Sir… he’s not worth it,” Ellie said softly, placing her small hand on Leon’s leg with a worried look.
‘Shit… I’m attracting too much attention,’ Leon thought, releasing his grip and turning off the skill.
“If I ever see you near her again, you’ll die a dog’s death,” Leon warned coldly before grabbing Ellie’s hand and walking away.
*COUGH-COUGH*
—
“T-Thank you, Sir Leon,” Ellie said, bowing once again.
“Don’t worry about it. But tell me, why didn’t you sell him the creame puff?” Leon asked as they walked through the market.
“He’s one of the villagers who calls my mom a whore… and I don’t like him. He also beat my brother once,” Ellie admitted quietly, her eyes downcast.
“I see,” Leon murmured.
“Being weak sucks in this world… anyone can hurt your family, and you can’t do anything about it,” Ellie muttered bitterly.
“You want to get stronger?” Leon asked, glancing at her.
“I do… but beastkin near the human kingdom aren’t allowed to learn combat skills or magic spells. It’s what the royal court decided when they took us in after the war,” Ellie explained, her voice low.
“Rules are for people who want to get crushed by those in power, darling. They’re made by the weak who have numbers to keep you in control,” Leon spoke with a smile.