Chapter 50 – A Spark
The village chief flew like a bullet and soon turned into a black dot that disappeared in the next moment. The onlookers stood there, stupefied, as they blankly stared at the sky.
The village chief will soon fall into the outskirts of the village, into the western forest as his bones will break with the impact, making him feel unbearable pain until he dies.
Someone broke the silence, “M-Mr. hero!” making those who didn’t know surprised. So Jack then briefly explained the situation.
“Yes! Those bastards deserve death,” a few tried to bootlick.
Jack approached the frail woman who was holding her frightened daughter in her embrace, and gently asked, “Are you alright?”
“Y-yes… sir... cough!” she worriedly said and coughed out a few drops of blood. And Jack understood that she has received some internal injury.
Jack made a wry smile, “You don’t seem so…” He took out a gold coin as he said while handing it to her, “Here, repair your door with this, and also consult with a physician.” Judging from the condition of her clothes and her house, he was sure that it would be hard for the woman to afford the things, so he offered her a coin.
But how could she accept that? She will have to work for a whole year to save one gold coin. How would she be able to repay him? “T-this… I cannot accept this… I-I am alright, really!” Jack didn’t look convinced so she explained, “W-we are already in your debt, w-we wouldn’t be able to repay it…”
“You don’t have to repay, I was the one who broke the door, wasn’t I?”
“N-no, y-you did that to save us…” she protested.
Jack sighed as he found it troublesome. “Let’s go then.”
“Huh? W-where?” The woman was scared to hear him.
“To the physician! She knows me, so she will make it free for you,” Jack replied. But the woman still looked unwilling as she didn’t want to trouble him any further.
Fortunately, the onlookers came to rescue as they urged her to take his kind offer. So she timidly agreed, went inside her house, tidied up her appearance, and came out. Her daughter was still scared so she also tagged along.
They walked in silence until they came out of that area when a town guard greeted Jack. He had just received the news, so he came to inquire.
“Tell father that a man had tried to rape this little girl, so I threw him in that direction,” Jack said with a smile as he pointed towards the western direction.
The guard became dumbfounded. Did he hear it right? He wasn’t sure, so he asked again, just to get the same answer. Then he sweated profusely as he said, “Y-yes, Mr. Hero. I will report this right away.”
Jack nodded, “Hm, we are going to aunt Susy’s house to treat her injuries,” he told the guard in case they wanted any further information.
…
Along the way, Jack asked the frail woman about what exactly happened as she had already said that she didn’t know the man.
“I-I found him unconscious on the street last night…” she started, not intending to hide anything. She told him everything that had happened.
Though, she kept the prostitution thing a bit vague as her daughter was there. However, it was clear enough for Jack to understand.
Jack wondered if it was hidden from her daughter, and judging from her reaction, who quickly turned her head, it didn’t seem to be the case. She might be young, but not an idiot.
And although he came to know that she was a self-employed prostitute, it didn’t bother him that much. As this world was similar to the middle-ages of his previous world, he knew that prostitution was common here. Besides, everyone has their own circumstances, so he isn’t the one to comment on that.
But still, he asked, “Why do you do that? I mean, is there no other way besides that?”
The woman sighed before explaining, “Unlike men, weak women like us don’t get much work…”
Jack nodded in understanding. Even though they can perform magic, it wasn’t uncommon as almost everyone possessed an element. While, people with healing, earth, and water element had better opportunities.
In addition, the lack of employment thing sounded familiar to Jack as he smiled wryly. Industrialization brings work opportunities, in which, this world is not so developed. Illiteracy was a bonus on top of it. Though it is still better developed in some aspects than the modern earth, he thought.
The woman then told him, in her area, many women like her sell their bodies to earn a living. This induced a thought in Jack’s mind, ‘If only they had a business where women’s skills shined… Oh yeah, wasn’t there that, where idle women made snacks? That soon turned into fucking multimillion-dollar business!”
Jack’s lips curled up as a spark lit up in his mind. The spark that would soon turn into a full-fledged flame of revolution.
…
“Aunt Susy, you have a patient,” Jack said as they reached her house. So Susy began checking the woman’s condition after sitting on the sofa. Apparently, the two fluffs were playing in the backyard.
Susy noticed her internal injuries and immediately cast her healing mana as a greenish-yellow glow appeared from her hands. She turned her questioning gaze towards Jack.
So he explained, “You know that troublesome man from yesterday whom I shooed away? He tried to rape this little girl, and ended up hurting her in the process.”
Susy frowned in anger, “That son of a whore!” and muttered under her breath.
And it was enough to make Jack speechless. Did he hear it right? Even though it was in a mosquito voice, Jack could hear her. It was quite unladylike of her, so he pretended that he didn’t hear it.
“Then what happened to him,” Susy inquired.
“I just gave him a light punishment and let him enjoy some fresh air!” he answered.
“Huh?” and she became dumbfounded. While the woman made a wry smile, and her daughter giggled when Jack showed her his teeth.
Did he let him off with just some light punishment? But judging from their reactions, Susy was sure that there was more to it. So she turned to the woman to ask. The woman replied, “He threw him out of the town,”
It took her a while to register as the woman slowly explained her. But when she did, “D-doesn’t it mean that you killed him?”
“What are you saying? I just threw him in the air! It would be his fault that he couldn’t fly!” Jack answered in a matter-of-factly tone, making the woman and her daughter giggle.
Susy became speechless once again. Did he just joke about killing someone? Death was a common occurrence, but it wasn’t so cheap to be joked about, right?
Susy got lost in her thoughts for a few moments. As the woman was healed, she moved to check the girl and found her to be perfectly fine.
She then sat beside the girl as she told him that the one who had stalked her and Rita the previous evening was the same man that he had ‘punished’.
“Oh… Did I actually let him off easily? I would have given him a few slaps if you had told me yesterday,” he said with a serious expression, and Susy rolled her eyes.
“Well, I am injured too, you know!” he then said as he extended his hand, making her smile wryly.
She extended her hands and directed her healing mana towards his, and saw the mana getting sucked rapidly into his body. Her sight moved upwards to see a contentful expression on his face as he took a deep breath.
“Doesn’t it feel nauseating?” she asked as that would be the common reaction of anybody who receives excessive healing mana.
“Nope! It is exhilarating! You are delicio… I mean, your mana is delicious, aunt Susy!” he said with a wide grin, making her blush.
“That’s 10000 gold!” she jested.
“I am indebted to you!”
And the ladies in the background were like, “We are here you know?!”
…
Lord Hardy arrived along with Alban and a few guards. He then laughed hard hearing Jack’s explanation, “Hahahaha! Good job, young man! I just sent some guards to fetch his scattered bones!”
“Though, if you hadn’t, I would have killed him myself!” he then added with a loud voice. And the two fluffs barged in hearing his voice.
They then asked the victim about details, while the two fluffs sat quietly as told. Milo on his grandpa’s lap, and Miti on Jack’s.
The victims were then escorted to their house by a guard. While everyone chatted for a while.