Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Doubts and a Meeting

X774

-124, 125, 126, 127, 128, uf... uf-I gasped while feeling like my arms were made of lead -Come on Jean, just 2 more!- I said to myself as my arms flexed once more -One hundred twenty nineeee- I said as I forced my body more -One hundred thirtyyyyy!- And with the goal finally accomplished, my body gave up and my face fell on the grass.

With a little effort my arm reached my chest and pulled on a rope, when it came loose I leaned my body a little to the right and a stone the size of a backpack fell from my back.

I was tired but happy, today I had decided to do an experiment, if I used my second skill then to do 100 push-ups with that stone, the difficulty of the exercise would be reduced to more than half, but that was the point, when I started this training regimen barely I could do 10 push-ups without relying on my ability and now I could go do more than 100 with a heavy rock on my back.

Dragging myself a little, I got to the pond where the water from the waterfall fell and I threw myself even with my clothes still on, in the moment the water touched my body I felt how the pain and fatigue began to diminish.

-God, that feels good, it's like being in a hot tub, all the fatigue goes away- I said floating while looking at the sky, really the [Divine Protection of Water Spirits] was extremely useful, as long as I was in contact with some form of water my wounds would heal faster, my fatigue would require much less rest and mana would also be replenished more quickly, of course, if I had mana, but even without that the skill was extremely valuable as I could also hold my breath much longer than anyone I have ever met, and it would have a higher resistance to any attack based water.

Normally I used this skill to train by standing on the banks of the pond and that's where I did all my exercises, but today I wanted to see how far I could go without it, and I have to say that while my growth was good, very good actually, it was miles away from what I could do when using the skill, and the proof is in the amount of exhaustion I had just accumulated and the time spent break I took.

Daily I did exercises to strengthen all the muscles in my body, from the arms, through the abdomen, chest, back, and legs, I also worked on things like resistance, reflexes, coordination, and precision, swimming from one side to the other in the pond for as long as possible, juggling several stones and playing with a ball by throwing it at a thick log so that it bounces towards me and can I dodge it.

But today, the most I could do was complete 2 of the 4 exercises that I had prepared before I was completely exhausted and needed to get into the pond to speed up my recovery.

Sighing while looking at the sky I thought about what I would do in the future, I was reborn after having lived an unsatisfactory life, I had 2 powers basically taken from fantasy stories, although I still don't know what one of them does, and I was living in a magical world that was in a strange middle point between medieval and contemporary ages, what did I want to do in this life?

Did I want to live in a calm and leisurely way? I could open a shop and spend my whole life in this town, living without worries or apparent dangers, but was that the way I really want to live?

I was still not completely sure of the answer, it was quite unlikely that I would lose my life as soon as the first time, I had only lived in this world for 9 years, I still had time to think carefully about what I wanted to do and what was the path I would take.

######

-Jean, today you took longer than usual- My mother said looking at me somewhat worried.

Looking at the sky through the store windows, I noticed that the night had already begun a few minutes ago.

-Yes, I'm sorry about that, today I overexerted myself so I had to rest more and on the way, I got a little distracted in my thoughts so I came at a slow pace, sorry mom-

-Okay, just be careful and don't do it again, ok?- She told me reproachfully.

-I promise I'll be twice as careful from now on-

-If you're sorry then that's fine-

-By the way, why the lacrima lights in the streets not turned on yet? I also saw on the way that several stores are closed-

-I'm not sure, apparently there was a fault that affected them, and since there is no light, many stores decided to close early today-

-I see-

-Actually, you arrived at the right time, I have to leave for a moment, can you take care of the store until I return? After that we will go up to eat, do you want to play monopoly after dinner?-

-Sure-

-Well, then I won't be long, if Mrs. Nicoly comes, give her the wedding dress that I made for her daughter-

And after that my mom left the store with a small package, I sat behind the counter just playing with a coin while I tossed it and bet on heads or tails, everything continued quite calmly until suddenly someone entered the store pushing the door hard.

-Please help!- Said a rather older male voice.

-Hey, what's u...-

-He wants to kill me! I was coming home when that man approached me and tried to stab me!- He said showing a red stain on the right arm of his white shirt.

My eyes widened instantly, that was a considerable amount of blood, my heart rate started to increase considerably when I forced my legs to move, got up from the chair, and ran to the man quickly.

-Run to the back of the store, behind some boxes that have "disposables" written on there is a small compartment, hide there and don't make noise- I told him as I ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and made a tourniquet, then ripped off the other and wrapped the wound as best I could -Maintain pressure on the wound and do not release it no matter what, you don´t have to lose more blood-

-And you?- He asked with a clearly alarmed tone.

-Don't worry, I'll close the shop and go out the back door to go find the rune knights- I told him while pointing to the backroom -Now go and wait for me to return- I finished saying then I turned off the lights and start closing the store with the spare key I had in my pocket.

The man did not wait any longer and quickly moved to where I indicated, less than 15 seconds later everything was ready and as I was walking through the back room I said in a voice loud enough for him to hear -Don't worry, I'll be back right away- And then I went through the back entrance and ran through the streets.

If I was going at full speed I would reach the rune knights post in about 7 minutes, that moment my mother's face appeared in my mind for a moment causing my speed to decrease, she was also out there while there was a madman with a dagger or a knife, but I didn't know where she had gone.

My steps slowed down even more, I wanted to go looking for her, but I didn't know where she was at this moment, it had been about 15 minutes since she left and I hadn't even paid attention to the direction she had gone, and if I took too long the old man could bleed to death.

-DAMN IT!- I clenched my teeth as I forced my leg muscles as much as I could to propel myself as fast as possible in the direction of the rune knights station, I would give them the notice about the madman and the old man in the store then go find my mother.

All the way I did not think of anything, I forced my mind to go blank, a single paranoid thought could cause me to lose concentration and my speed to slow or stumble, if that happened I would lose valuable seconds that would serve to find my mother and take her to our house where we would both be safe.

Shortly afterward I found myself standing in front of the knights' station and hurried inside alarming the guards at the entrance a bit.

-HELLO! I NEED HELP!- I screamed loudly making all eyes inside look at me.

-Boy, what's up?- Asked a husky middle-aged man with messy brown hair and a beard shadow on his face.

-There is an old man injured in our family store, he said that a man tried to stab him in the street- I said as quickly and clearly as I could.

-What?! Where is your store?!- He asked alarmed.

-It is the suit and dress store "Faure", the old man has a long cut on his forearm, I made him a tourniquet and left him applying pressure to the wound- I replied as he pulled the key out of my pocket and threw it at him.

-Claire's store?!- He asked as frantically moved his arms trying to catch the key -Wait, where are you going?-

-I must look for my mother, she left the store a little more than 20 minutes ago- I answered him without stopping while I left the place again and began to run through the streets.

If I took the store as a reference, its front as north, the back as south, the left as the east and the right as the west, then I was to the east of it, my mother go out with a package so probably she was going to deliver it, the question was where.

Could it be an order from the store? I remembered that today we had 4 deliveries scheduled, one of them was already made in the morning, another was a dress for the daughter of Mrs. Nicoly, the other 2 were a suit for the nephew of the owner of the hotel "Kings and Queens" and the last one was a sample for a merchant who wanted to buy the simplest designs of my mother's clothes and produce them in mass.

I knew where both places of delivery are, but the problem was that they were in totally opposite directions, the first to the north of the store and the last to the south.

I felt really pressured, I didn't know which direction to take, I wasn't even sure if my mother had gone to make any of those deliveries, hesitating a bit, my legs guided me in the direction of the hotel owner's house.

######

-Sir, all the squads are on the move, each one were assigned a part of the city- Bobby, the newcomer who was occupying the position of my assistant answered.

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-Good, if someone makes contact with the suspect then don´t confront him directly, warn the others by means of lacrimas to surround him and reduce him, and the last group will go with me to the Faure store to look for the wounded man- I said while putting on my jacket.

-Are you sure about this sir? Do all this mobilization for something that a child could have invented?- He asked in a low tone.

While I was walking replied -For several weeks I have reviewed reports on the same guy, a homicidal magician who always uses knives to murder his victims-

-But still-

-True, that by itself would not be enough to believe the child right away, but there are 3 more things that force me to act even if I can't completely believe his words-

-….-

-The first is the path that the murderer has taken, until now he has never stayed in the same place for too long, only a couple of days at most, after that he moves to the next town, I became interested in the case and after following his patterns I can say that this city was one of the 5 possible places where he would reappear, that is also one of the reasons why I requested to be transferred here-

-But that's only a 20% probability-

-The second is his modus operandi, did you notice that the lighting lacrimas in a good part of the streets began to fail? In all cases where attacks have been reported, something like that always happened before the victims were found-

-….-

-Actually, I had planned to organize some squads to patrol the city just to be sure, but the warning from that boy-

-But it could still be a common assault-

-12 persons-

-What?-

-That is the number of victims killed so far, that added to the almost 30 injured people, I understand the problems that mobilization of this magnitude can cause, even more, if there are no results or worse, if it's just a false alarm from a kid joke, but if the possibility exists, no matter how small, then I want to do something to prevent that guy from harming more innocent people- I stopped at the exit door of the station as my fists clenched.

-I understand sir, the squad that will go with you is ready- He responded in a firm and determined voice when footsteps sounded behind me.

-Okay, let's go!- I said when we started our way in the direction of the Faure store.

-Sir?- Bobby's voice sounded somewhat doubtful.

-Yes?-

-You said there were 3 reasons, which is the last one?-

As my steps continued to carry me forward a name came out of my mouth -Claire-

-Who?-

-The mother of the kid, she… She is my cousin- I said while remembering how much she suffered when her parents died, when we were kids we were very good friends, the death of her parents really hurt her, and the only thing that brought her out of depression was the news that she would be a mother, I would never forgive myself if something happened to her son if I could help it, in the same way, that I would not let that child go through the same thing as her and lose his mother.

#####

Running as fast as I could I headed in the direction of the hotel where the merchant who had made the deal with my mother was staying, after arriving at the hotel owner's house and confirming that they never asked for the order to be delivered in person, but for different reasons they would go tomorrow to pick it up, I turned around and ran again, at this moment I was about 4 or 5 minutes from the place and I still didn't see my mother, so I was genuinely worried.

Deciding to take a shortcut I started running down an alley that I knew well, sometimes when I wanted to shorten the way to go to the same part of the city I would run there and use a pile of stacked boxes to jump over the wall and exit the other side of the alley.

When I jumped the wall and fell on the other side I started my run once more, or so I would have if I had not seen a figure leaning against a wall near the exit of the alley, it was tall and thin, seemed to have a top hat and the dim light of a lit cigarette illuminated his "face" a little.

-Wow, an unexpected visit, it is not something I had planned, I already finished with my work, but as a gentleman improvising is one of the first things that one should learn to do, also, it could stretch the body a little with a light exercise- He said with an elegant tone as he started walking towards me.

At the moment I felt a chill go through my entire body, the light of the cigarette showed me that a mask covered his face completely, it was a white mask with holes in the eyes, mustache and a small beard painted in black, very similar to the mask that represented anonymous in my world.

The holes where the eyes were seemed to glow slightly red, looking at his feet a figure was lying on the ground, unconsciously my muscles tensed prepared to turn around and flee.

-Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you "Little boy"-His voice sounded soft and calm but it only made me want to run away from him more -Unfortunately for you, and I'm not saying it with vanity, I'm particularly good with knives, show me your back for a second and a knife could end up in your femoral vein, maybe your lumbar vertebra, or even your neck- He said, always with that elegant, calm tone that made me more and more nervous.

His shoes vary with each step he takes, little by little the sound became clearer, my ears began to ring and when the man moved his hand something flew towards me, my body reacted more instinctively than anything else, I jumped to aside and I saw how in the place where I had been standing a second ago there was now a knife of about 15 centimeters.

I didn't have time to think about anything else when the knives started flying towards me, I quickly moved to avoid the weapons as best as I could, however, my movements were not good enough since about 3 or 4 times I could feel how the edge of the weapons had managed to leave shallow cuts on my body.

-Not bad at all, you are very agile, "Little boy"- He said with a congratulatory tone as he kept throwing knives at me.

What should I do, what should I do, what should I do, this guy wants to kill me, this guy IS GOING TO KILL ME if this continues.

Slowly the fear began to take root in me when I felt another cut, this time on my right arm.

Think Jean, this won't end here, it can't end here, I haven't lived anything yet, I...

My thoughts were interrupted and my eyes widened when my back collided with the wall that I had recently jumped into to enter this alley.

-You shouldn't be so surprised "Little boy" I wasn't throwing those knives for no reason- He said as he advanced, getting closer and closer -Ah, that pure fear of death, that feeling of despair, just magnificent- He said ecstatically.

My legs lost their strength, my posture relaxed and everything began to move in slow motion, unconsciously my body had just given up and accepted its fate, that there was no way I could save myself from this.

Was my second life going to be so short? Why had I been sent here if I was going to... Was I going to die? Death, death, death, death, death, death, me? Die? Was I going to die?

NO, I WANTED TO LIVE.

An almost animal scream, instinctive, one that refused to accept the end came out of my throat and my right fist moved at full speed, the man noticing this jumped back taking some distance, but that did not matter in what more minimal, since my fist was able to connect with its target anyway.

My mind cleared, my body stopped shaking and once again I was able to move it the way I wanted, the only problem was the red liquid that now fell from my forehead.

-AMAZING- He said, his tone seemed even happier than when he spoke of my negative emotions -Make yourself see reason using a punch, your will to live is nothing short of impressive-

-W-what?-

-Yes, you see, my magic allows me to feel the emotions that people have, and for a moment, all the fear that flooded you was suddenly expelled, washed away by the iron conviction to stay alive, and although there is still fear in you, you're slowly starting to control it, it's just electrifying to feel- He said as he hugged himself.

-So I think you have earned the right to introduce yourself, it is the least I can do as a sign of respect, what is your name "Little boy"?-

-I-it's Jean… Jean Faure-

-Jean Faure, I'll make sure to remember that name for the rest of my life, then, nice to meet you Jean- He said as he put a hand on his mask and removed it, letting me see his face, he looked to be about 25 years old, had a small mustache similar to the one in the mask, his eyes were gray and framing his expression was an apparently friendly smile that made me feel chills again -I'm Jack the Ripper-

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