Chapter 17: 9.2

Chapter 9-2: The Old River Restaurant (2)

Erwin took a glance at the young man's face to find that it really was severely swollen. Clear bruises had already appeared on his cheeks, while his cheekbones and forehead were also swollen. In addition to that, his lips had become as puffy as small sausages, and overall, his face had become rather amusing to behold.

Didn't he block that attack with his arms? How did his face still sustain so much damage? Erwin was quite astounded by the power of the burly man's magically modified arm.

"Brother Sherry! Brother Sherry..." The little girl standing behind the young man was completely rooted to the spot in fear and shock, and only now did she return to her senses as she rushed over to the young man as quickly as she could, then fell to her knees beside her as she frantically yelled his name.

Only now, at close quarters, was Erwin able to identify what the little girl was wearing around her neck, wrists, and ankles. It was a series of crudely crafted copper rings, upon which were inscribed black runes that were glowing faintly.

Looking at these rings, it was clear to Erwin that the little girl had been forced into a slave contract, thereby making her a slave.

Once a slave contract was signed, the little girl would become the owner's private property. Unless the owner was willing to undo the contract, there was nothing that anyone could do for the little girl.

Given the severe injuries the young man had just sustained, the little girl didn't dare to move him, so she could only kneel beside him and sob in a broken voice, "Brother Sherry... I told you to just leave me! You should've listened to me!" 

The burly man clearly also hadn't expected to injure the young man so severely with just a single attack, and he hesitated momentarily before making his way toward the little girl.

Perhaps the young man had heard the burly man's footsteps, or he had heard the little girl's sobbing voice, but he slowly woke up from his unconscious state.

"I'm not letting you take her away... Don't even think about it!" Sherry said in a strained voice as he supported his own upper body into an upright position with his hands, then expended a herculean effort trying to clamber back to his feet.

"Don't fight him anymore! Please, Brother Sherry, you've already done more than enough for me," the little girl implored in a sobbing voice.

Sherry turned to the little girl with a gentle expression, then patted her hand as a gesture of consolation. After that, he used the wall behind him as support to slowly force himself up into a standing position, then made his way toward the burly man in front of him with a vicious look in his eyes.

"No..." the little girl screamed frantically as she spread her arms open and positioned herself in front of Sherry, then turned to the burly man as she yelled, "I'll go with you! Please don't hurt him anymore... If you keep going, he's going to die!"

Sherry had a steely look in his eyes, and his face was completely ashen in complexion. He wanted to raise his arm to nudge the little girl aside, but as soon as he attempted to do so, a burst of excruciating pain shot through his chest, forcing him to lower his arm again.

The little girl turned around and grabbed onto the young man's hand, then looked up at him through teary eyes as she implored, "Please don't fight anymore, Brother Sherry... Just leave me. You've already done enough, don't throw your life away!"

"I made a promise that I was going to protect you at all costs," Sherry panted in a strained voice, then put on a feeble smile to try and console the little girl before moving her aside. After that, he cast a cold gaze toward the burly man, looking as if he were ready to lay down his own life for the sake of the little girl.

Some bystanders had already gathered on the street, and many of the patrons of the restaurant had also surrounded Erwin's table. After hearing what the young man had to say and seeing the little girl's teary display, all of the bystanders were feeling very sympathetic toward them.

"He doesn't look too good right now. Should I give him some beef so he can recover his energy?" Erwin whispered into Lana's ear.

Lana was looking on at the unfolding scene with an indifferent expression, and she almost burst into laughter upon hearing this. Thankfully, she was able to clamp a hand over her own mouth right before she laughed out loud, but she still turned to glare at Erwin with an exasperated expression.

The burly man watched as the young man approached him, but he was in no hurry to resume the fight. He wore a calm expression as he glanced at the little girl standing off to the side, then turned back to face the young man standing before him.

"She's already my slave, don't you understand?" the burly man asked in an expressionless manner, seemingly unable to understand why the young man insisted on getting involved.

This was also why all of the bystanders were only watching instead of doing anything. Legally speaking, the little girl was already the burly man's private property, so essentially, the young man was attacking him in an attempt to steal his property, thereby making his retaliation justified self-defense.

"I don't care what you say, I'm not going to just watch as you take her away!" Sherry adopted a fighting pose as he spoke, readying himself for the battle to resume at any moment.

His intentions were noble, but he was clearly in the wrong here, and many of the bystanders were beginning to shake their heads in disapproval at his unreasonable actions.

The burly man ignored him as he made his way directly over to the little girl, then grabbed her with his magically modified arm before swinging her onto his own shoulder. The little girl immediately gave an alarmed yelp, clearly not expecting this sudden turn of events.

Tears and snot began to flow down the little girl's face, and she was so scared and enraged that she was unable to speak. She could only allow herself to be draped over the burly man's shoulder with her upper body hanging upside down, slapping the burly man's muscular back with her delicate hands in protest. At the same time, she was doing everything in her power to struggle to her feet, and the burly man was worried that she would fall off and injure herself, so he closed his other hand around her legs to restrict her.

Tsk tsk, what a soft waist she has, Erwin thought to himself.

"Put her down right now, you monster!" The young man was infuriated at the sight of the little girl being bullied, and he let loose a loud roar, mustering up what little remained of his energy to charge toward the burly man again.

The burly man was clearly at the end of his patience, and he threw a casual punch in the young man's direction. Of course, he knew that there was a good chance that he would kill the young man in his current state if he were to use his full power, so he naturally made sure to hold back.

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Even so, the young man was still no match for his opponent's punch and was sent flying once again. He flew directly through the hole that his body had just punched through the restaurant, but his momentum sent him flying even further, knocking over a few spectating bystanders in the restaurant before finally coming to a rest in a spread-eagled position. On this occasion, a large panel of the restaurant's window was also shattered.

The burly man didn't even bother to take a look at his opponent as he turned and departed with the little girl on his shoulder. The little girl struggled to raise her head and cast her gaze toward the direction where the young man was lying unconscious, and she called out in a panicked voice, "Brother Sherry! Brother..."

All of a sudden, her voice abruptly cut off, and she grabbed tightly at the ring around her neck as if she couldn't breathe.

Erwin knew that the burly man had just used the slave contract to tighten her neck ring. Having been a frequent patron at all types of mansions for such a long time, he was naturally familiar with some of the more kinky toys used in those places.

The manager of the Old River Restaurant cast his gaze toward the departing burly man, then took a glance at his magically modified arm before shuddering at the fearsome sight, making the wise decision not to chase after the man and demand compensation for the damage he had caused to the restaurant.

Lana turned her attention toward the unconscious young man, then raised a hand to unleash an advanced healing spell. The spell couldn't heal his external injuries, such as the ones inflicted onto his face and his ribs, but they were able to at least ensure that his internal organs were in a stable condition.

Shortly thereafter, Sherry slowly awakened from his unconscious state, much to the astonishment of Erwin, who was stunned that he was able to wake up so quickly from such severe injuries, even with the application of that advanced healing spell.

"You didn't heal him because you wanted to see him get sent flying again, did you?" Erwin whispered at Lana in a teasing voice as he nudged her with his elbow.

A wry smile appeared on Lana's face upon hearing his jibes.

Seeing as Sherry was still alive and had woken up, the spectating bystanders quickly departed. All of them still had their daily tasks to attend to, and they couldn't afford to waste any more time here.

It was clear that Sherry was still extremely enraged and indignant, and he wanted to clamber back to his feet again, but his physical condition was simply too awful to allow that, and he could only slam his fist into the ground in frustration.

Erwin heaved a faint sigh as a sympathetic look appeared on his face, and he made his way over to the young man before patting him on the shoulder. "Have you had breakfast yet? If not, then do you want to have some with us? Even if you have a death wish, it would be better to die on a full stomach, wouldn't it?"

Sherry turned to Erwin with a stunned expression upon hearing this, wondering if there was a screw loose in Erwin's head.

Lana was quite amused by what Erwin had just said, and his words were like a needle puncturing a balloon, instantly leaving Sherry defeated and deflated.

He hung his head in a dejected silence as he leaned back against the wall, while Erwin raised a hand to beckon for the waitress from before, then made a new order of dishes.

After that, he picked another table and told Lana to go and take a seat there first. Following the events that had just taken place, many of the tables in the restaurant had been vacated.

"Can you still get up?" Erwin asked as he turned his gaze toward Sherry, who was still sitting on the ground in a defeated manner, and he didn't display any intention of helping Sherry to his feet.

"Who are you? Mind your own business!" Sherry snapped in a cold voice as he turned to look at Erwin with an unfriendly expression.

"Oh, so it looks like you're not hungry, after all. I'll just leave you here then." With that, Erwin turned and made his way over to Lana's table before taking a seat across from her.

Sherry remained seated on the ground, lamenting the hardships of life. He then turned to look at Erwin and Lana, who were sitting not far away, chatting happily with one another, and he struggled to his feet, then limped over to Erwin's table, using the tables along the way as support.

Lana took a glance at Sherry, while Erwin didn't even bother to look at him as he got up from his seat and moved to another chair, thereby vacating his original seat for Sherry, who collapsed heavily onto the chair, unable to stand any longer.

Shortly thereafter, the waitress brought the newly ordered dishes to their table. Several of the dishes were served in steamers, which were still giving off warm steam, and Sherry allowed the steam to waft into his swollen face with mixed emotions in his heart. He then picked up his chopsticks, yet right as he was about to begin eating, Erwin raised a hand to stop him.

"We're not treating you to a meal for free. You only get to eat after you tell us about that little girl from just now," Erwin said as he glanced at Sherry out of the corners of his eyes with his cheek resting on his palm.

"Is this what you nobles do for entertainment? You listen to the sad stories of less privileged people so you can feel better about yourselves?" Sherry asked as he turned toward Erwin with a mocking expression.

Erwin was completely unfazed by Sherry's insults, and he said, "We just want to hear her story."

Sherry set down his chopsticks as a dark look appeared on his face.

"That girl from just now, her name is Tina. She's my next-door neighbor, and we grew up together," Sherry sighed. "A while ago, her father was detained by the True Light Church for committing the crime of blasphemy. I have no idea what blasphemy is supposed to entail. In order to get enough money to bail out her father, Tina sold their house, but she still didn't have enough, so she... she sold herself as well. Unfortunately, just a few days after her father was bailed out, he passed away..."

A wry smile appeared on Sherry's face as he spoke, and there was a vacant look in his eyes. It seemed that his mind had already wandered elsewhere.

Erwin and Lana both fell silent upon hearing Sherry's story.

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