Ch 4.3

The uproar in Barville had reached a fever pitch.

Benjamin shoved his way forward, stepping between the young nun and the beastmen adventurers who had tried to seize her. What had begun with righteous outrage was spiralling fast, and now both of them teetered on the edge of becoming the mob’s next victims.

If I don’t save her, I fail. But if I start a fight here, the guild will throw me out—and I still fail, Ben thought grimly. The only way out of this mess is to talk our way through it.

The caged humans watched the scene with wide, hopeful eyes—two of their own standing against the chaos. The nun looked at Ben the way the devout looked at light itself, trembling yet certain that providence had sent him.

“Please, rescue them!” she pleaded, her voice shaking.

Ben’s gaze flicked from her to the ring of fur, scales, and steel closing around them. The adventurers in front grinned with threat, hands on weapons. The crowd pressed in from all sides—beastmen and elves craning for a better view, voices rising to a hungry chorus.

“Another human?” someone barked.

“Humans are getting bolder these days.”

“Let’s see them fight for it!”

The street thundered with jeers and stamping feet. Ben braced himself, pulse sharp with the realisation that one wrong word could turn the street into a battlefield.

The lizardmen adventurers refused to back down, even under the threat of the guild’s wrath.

The leader, tail flicking with irritation, raised his scythe a fraction.

“Punished by the guild? For what? It was her fault for blocking our path. She’s the one who should be penalised.”

Ben kept his voice calm, though tension crept into it.

“She’s new to this continent. She doesn’t know our customs yet. Please—overlook it just this once. I’ll owe you.”

The nun let out a shocked cry.

“W‑what?!” Her wide eyes flashed with disbelief and hurt—apparently not the defence she’d expected from her supposed saviour.

The lizardman grinned, sharp teeth glinting.

“Overlook it, he says. You waste my time with your little sermon, threaten me with guild law, and now you beg for mercy. If you really want forgiveness—grovel. Kiss my feet. Maybe then I’ll consider letting her go.”

His companions snickered, their laughter grating.

“Grovel? Why should he—You should be down on your knees apologising to those poor souls!” the nun blurted out, voice rising—only to be cut short as Ben’s hand covered her mouth.

“That’s enough,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

A vein throbbed at his temple as he met the lizardman’s mocking stare. Then, without another word, Ben grabbed the girl’s wrist and pulled her away, forcing a path through the growing crowd.

As they moved, his other hand slipped inside his jacket. Fingers closed around a cluster of seedlings hidden in his pocket, humming faintly with mana. His grip tightened, ready, just in case.

The lizardman’s fury flared as the two humans turned their backs on him.

He swung his scythe forward, blocking their path.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going? I’m not done with—”

Before he could finish, Ben released the nun’s hand and closed the distance in a single blur of movement.

The lizardman barely had time to blink. He jerked his weapon up for a swing, but Ben was already too close. The blade hissed past as Ben ducked low, muscles coiling. His free hand clenched, veins bulging as mana surged through him.

Strength—twenty percent.

Ben twisted his shoulders and drove a punch straight into the lizardman’s jaw. The impact cracked the bone and sent the larger man flying backwards, crashing through the onlookers in a spray of dust and startled screams.

For a heartbeat, the street froze.

Then the lizardman’s companions howled in rage.

“Kill them!”

Steel flashed as half a dozen beastmen charged. Ben turned smoothly, yanking his hand from his pocket. Between his fingers glimmered a handful of small, green seeds—each shaped like a coiled worm. He flicked them into the air in a lazy arc.

The advancing adventurers ignored them, trampling forward with weapons raised.

Ben watched, eyes sharp as a hawk’s, counting heartbeats. The nun behind him tensed, panic quivering in her voice. “What! What are you doing?”

He didn’t answer. The seeds rained down, scattering among the charging men.

As soon as they got close to the adventurers, Ben crossed his arms and snapped them downward. The seeds burst open.

Vines exploded from the cobblestones, writhing like living serpents. They snapped around limbs and torsos, binding the beastmen mid‑charge. One tripped, and another went down screaming as his legs were jerked out from under him. In seconds, the ambush had dissolved into chaos.

“What the hell—?!”

“Get it off me!”

“Vines—they’re bloody alive!”

Ben didn’t wait. He stooped, scooped the nun up onto his shoulder despite her flailing protest.

“What are you doing! Put me down!”

“We’re leaving,” he said flatly.

He bent his knees—Strength, forty percent—and launched upward. The ground cracked beneath his boots as he vaulted over the crowd, landing on a nearby lamppost. From there, he pushed off again, clearing the nearest roof in a single leap.

“They’re getting away!” one of the tangled beastmen shouted, struggling against the tightening vines.

Ben didn’t look back. He sprinted across the rooftops, the nun bouncing indignantly over his shoulder, vanishing into the maze of Barville’s upper streets.

The buildings of Barville huddled close together, rooftops stacked and narrow alleys winding like veins. In minutes, Ben had carried the nun far from the chaos below, the sounds of shouting fading into the wind.

Still, he didn’t stop. Fear of pursuit kept his pace brisk until the girl on his shoulder began to tremble—and then sob.

He landed on a rooftop and set her down gently. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

The nun sniffled, her voice small but sharp.

“Those people in the cages… why didn’t you try to rescue them?”

She’s crying over that? Ben’s brows knit.

“There was nothing we could do for them.”

“But you’re strong! You could’ve freed them—you didn’t have to save me. Those poor children needed you more!”

Ben exhaled, irritation creeping into his tone.

“Why should I risk my neck for every stranger I meet?”

“But you saved mine!”

“I did,” he said tightly. “And you should be grateful. Now stop crying and let’s get you down from here.”

When he reached for her, she slapped his hand aside.

“I didn’t ask you to save me! But those two little children begged for help. Why didn’t you help them?”

Her voice rose, carrying across the rooftops. Ben’s patience thinned.

“I’m not obliged to save anyone! They’re already slaves—the property of those adventurers. Their lives are over the moment they touched this land.”

“Then why me?” she demanded, choking on tears. “Why save me if not them? Is it because I’m a woman? Do you want me to thank you with my body?”

Ben’s temper broke.

“Oh, please. I’m not crazy enough to bed a church girl—and you’re not nearly pretty enough to risk my life for.”

Her mouth fell open, trembling with outrage. “Then what are you—if not a servant of the Lord? Why did you save me?”

Ben sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair.

“Fine. Because it’s my job.” His voice was low, tired. “Name’s Ben. The guild commissioned me as one of your bodyguards. Under any other circumstance, I’d have let you get yourself killed, but my licensing stamp’s on the line—and I don’t plan on failing it. My job is to deliver you to Withering Woods alive. That’s all.”

The nun blinked in shock. “Bodyguard…?”

“The church requested safe passage for a human nun. I’m guessing that’s you,” Ben continued. “We don’t see many humans dressed like clergy here.” He threw his arms up. “You should be thankful I showed up when I did. Otherwise, you’d already be dead or worse. So stop whining.”

Her tears renewed. “Don’t you have any heart? How could you just walk away from those cages—those children?”

Ben’s expression hardened. He seized her chin—not rough, but enough to make her meet his eyes.

“You think I care?” His voice dropped cold, “Humans sell, beat, and kill their own kind. Parents sell their kids to pay off debts. You think the Church ever stopped it? No one did. So don’t expect the beastmen to be any better.”

Her breath hitched.

“The ones suffering out there are victims of their own people,” he continued, releasing her. “I can’t save every lost soul on this continent. And neither can you.”

The nun wiped her eyes, quiet now.

“If you’re too weak to protect yourself,” Ben said coldly, “then don’t preach for others to do it in your place. Stop waiting for miracles. Be the saviour you wish others to be.”

She said nothing. Only the faint sound of her breathing followed him.

Without another word, Ben scooped her into his arms and leapt for the next rooftop. The wind tore at her veil as the world blurred beneath them.