Stellaron Hunter Tag-Along (Patreon)

Chapter 8: The Price of Kindness

On the streets of Boulder Town, the girl with purple hair was sprinting barefoot.

The stone-paved ground was as cold as ice, and her feet were almost numb from the cold.

Broken shards of glass bottles had cut her feet, and blood flowed freely, but she didn't stop running.

She was heading straight for the direction of the Boulder Town Security Office!

At this moment, her mind had only one thought: find Oleg, find Oleg, find Oleg!

Only Oleg could save Chu Mu.

Otherwise, he would be beaten to death...

Regretful tears streamed down the girl's cheeks, but the cold wind swept them away, turning them into sparkling ice crystals that shattered on the stone pavement.

Finally, as the door of the security office was pushed open, the girl used all her strength to shout:

"Uncle Oleg, save Chu Mu!"

At that moment, Oleg was brooding over the events at the noon mine. He hadn't expected to hear Chu Mu's name again in the evening.

And again, it was from Seele's mouth.

Oleg, with his deep blue hair, had known this girl for a while. Just like himself, she was a familiar face in the lower district.

Seele, like Chu Mu, was a restless little troublemaker. She didn't stay in the orphanage, wandering outside every day. Occasionally, she would come to the orphanage entrance to beg for a sip of water.

This made Oleg puzzled. These kids were still so young, why were they forcing themselves to grow up so quickly?

Perhaps, as Chu Mu said, their childhoods were inherently painful.

Thinking of the expression on Chu Mu's face as he said those words, his calm eyes seemed to pierce through time and space, stabbing at Oleg's heart once again.

"What happened to Chu Mu?" Oleg picked up his equipment hanging on the wall. "Where is he now? Is he at the Junkyard or back at the mine?"

In his view, Chu Mu was probably in danger in either of those two places.

"He's at Scott's boxing gym!" Seele tugged at Oleg's sleeve with all her might, her voice choked with panic. "Scott wants to kill him! Uncle Oleg, please hurry and go, he'll be killed by Scott!"

"Boxing gym? How did he end up there? Why would Scott target a kid?" Oleg was filled with questions, but in the face of Seele's plea, he didn't waste any time.

Perhaps with other adults, they wouldn't take these children's words seriously. But Oleg understood that these street kids from the lower district wouldn't come to ask for help unless it was a truly desperate situation.

"I'll take her there first, the rest of you get ready and follow!" Oleg instructed his subordinates.

"Received, commander!" Several subordinates immediately dropped their relaxed and lazy attitudes.

Seeing this, Seele immediately ran to the door, not daring to delay.

"Wait a moment, young lady!" Oleg glanced at Seele's blood and mud-stained feet, silently crouched down, and lifted her onto his shoulder.

After doing all this, Oleg walked quickly toward the door, his tone heavy:

"Tell me what happened, from beginning to end!"

...

"You lot, beat this kid up.”

Inside the boxing gym, Scott sat on a chair and waved his hand toward the nearby boxing gym guards.

The gym's resident physician was tending to his wounds, pouring alcohol into his empty eye socket, causing him to grimace in pain, his inner fury growing!

Chu Mu had stayed behind to distract the thugs so that Seele could escape.

But how could a kid like him be a match for those adults?

Their builds were two or three times his own!

Once they regained their senses, they had almost instantly overwhelmed him.

It had turned into a one-sided beating!

Some of the thugs, who still had some conscience left, seemed unwilling to harm a child. After all, they had kids around the same age at home.

One of the thugs looked at Scott and pleaded for Chu Mu:

"Boss, he's just a kid who doesn't understand anything. Are you really going to beat him to death?"

"Of course I would! Do you see what he did to my eyes!? He crushed my eyeball! I'm definitely going to kill this kid!" Scott said in anger, his finger pointed to his ruined eye.

"But he's from the orphanage. What if the old headmistress comes..." The thug's face showed hesitation, as if he wanted to awaken Scott's conscience by mentioning the old headmistress.

In the lower district, if someone had the best reputation, it was the selfless old headmistress!

Even the morally questionable wanderers would give her a thumbs-up when her name was mentioned.

"Hmph that old woman, if this was a few decades ago when she was still a wealthy young lady, I might have feared her. Now, she's just a fallen old hag from a declining family. Should I be afraid of her?" Scott sneered. "So what if he's from the orphanage? If he dies, we'll just bury it somewhere. If that old hag wants to find him, let her come to me!"

Upon hearing this, the thug closed his eyes in pain and exclaimed:

"Boss, I’m sorry, but I can’t do this, this is too immoral!"

"Morality? Can morality be eaten!? In this rotten world, the person with the most morals would never make it past the starting point!" Scott angrily stood up. "My wife used to say the same thing over and over again, so did those priests! They act like I'm some sort of heinous criminal for running a boxing gym! But if it weren't for people like them who watch my fights daily, would my Gym still be running now?”

Scott seemed to realize he misspoke and sat back down, looking coldly at the thug and asking:

"What's your name?"

"I..." The thug seemed to sense that something was about to happen and removed his boxing gloves. "I'm Kluzer!"

"You don't need to come here anymore." Scott sneered, "Heh, I was actually planning to train you well. I've really misjudged you."

Upon hearing this, Kluzer's back involuntarily bent a bit.

Scott saw this, and with a huff, he waved his hand toward the man, and with a cold tone, he turned his back toward him and began to speak.

"Leave! If you want to be a good man instead of a good worker, then get out of my gym!"

Hearing his cold words, Kluzer nodded his head and left the gym with heavy steps, walking aimlessly on the street. He held a few Shields tightly in his pocket.

This little money was nowhere near enough to support the life of his wife and kids.

At the age when children needed proper nutrition, his source of income had now vanished.

A profound sense of helplessness surged up, and he didn't know how to move forward. He weakly leaned against the wall, using his rough hand to cover his eyes. Tears soaked the wound on his hand that hadn't yet healed, causing a sharp pain, a deep pain.

This tall and resolute man didn't want the people around him to see his vulnerability even in his most bewildered moments.

Kluzer couldn't figure it out. He really couldn't figure it out—

Why was it so hard to be a good person in this world?

He just couldn't understand it!

_________________

Tn: Kluzer, you can't have everything man, you need to choose, be a good human or a good father.