Published: August 2, 2025
Today, four chapters are updated simultaneously.
This is the second episode of the story.
One month later.
At midnight, when everyone had fallen asleep, the screams and angry shouts of men echoed from a corner of Gimul Town.
“Run! We don’t stand a chance against them!”
“You brat! Gyaaa!!!”
“Ugh!?”
“Ugh...”
“You idiots! I told you to run! Who’s going to charge forward!?”
The men shouting were attackers who had come to assault Ryoma and were now being swiftly subdued by Ryoma’s counterattack.
The leader of the attackers, realizing they couldn’t win, gave orders to the three remaining men who hadn’t been knocked down yet, but the blood-boiling men ignored him. As a result, those three disobeyed the orders, and each had their arms and legs broken, jaws crushed, and were knocked unconscious.
“W-wait, we surrender! We won’t lay a hand on you anymore!”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t accept such excuses. We have dealt with others in the same way before, so please understand.”
“Ugh...”
Ryoma, moving with unstoppable speed, approached the pleading man and punched him, knocking him out.
“All settled.”
Ryoma looked around at the thirteen men who were either unconscious or moaning with broken limbs.
“It’s been a while since I last dealt with this many…”
A few seconds after he muttered that, four men came running from afar. They were the town’s guards.
“What’s going on? Oh, it’s you, Ryoma. These must be today’s culprits, right?”
“Yes. As usual, please take care of it.”
“Alright. Tie up those without serious injuries first! What about the injured? Same procedure as always?”
“Yes.”
“Get it done quickly.”
“Understood.”
Ryoma summoned a heal slime and together they began casting greater heal on the men’s arms and legs. He treated those he had broken himself and handed over those who were done to the guards for capture.
“Seven men today, twelve broken bones in total… this is going to cost quite a bit again.”
“One greater heal is 1000 soot, and it takes six casts to heal one bone, so 6000 soot per bone. That’s 72,000 soot for twelve bones. I’ll give you a little discount and make it a clean 70,000 soot.”
The guard’s face twitched upon hearing this.
“I understand this is necessary, but it’s truly frightening.”
“...If there were no more attackers, I wouldn’t have to do this either…”
“For now, come to the guardhouse. You need to settle the payment.”
“Understood.”
Since Ryoma first suffered an assault as a shop owner, the number of attackers increased — from those incited by someone to simple thieves targeting those who seemed to have money. Though the assaults always failed, as anyone who witnessed the situation would know, Ryoma took careful care of the wounded attackers and charged them exorbitant medical fees each time.
According to the country’s law, causing injury in self-defense is not punishable. And the attacker cannot complain about being injured when attacking. One may leave the injuries untreated, but if healed, the defender has the right to charge a fair medical fee.
Beating others up and then treating them to charge fees sounds like a malicious racket, but if it results from self-defense, it is barely legal under the world’s laws.
Ryoma was initially reluctant to use this method to extort medical fees, but Griciela convinced him it was effective in increasing the risk for attackers, showcasing Ryoma’s own defense ability and the shop’s security. It served as a deterrent, speeding up the resolution of the issue, so Ryoma accepted it as necessary.
Ryoma still looked like a child, making it hard to warn others by appearance alone. Acting to make others think twice was best. It was similar to signs on Earth saying “Surveillance Camera in Operation” or “Police Officer Visits Regularly.” Though rougher, attackers learned the hard way that assaulting Ryoma would cost them both physically and financially, so their numbers dwindled.
“This is today’s fee. 70,000 soot. Please confirm.”