One month later.
In the dead of the night when everyone was asleep, at a corner of Gimuru Town, could be heard the cries and angry voices of men.
“Run! We can’t win!” [Assailants Leader]
“Brat— GYAahhh!?” [Assailants 1]
“Ku…” [Assailants 2]
“Idiots! I told you to run! Why are some of you going toward him!?” [Assailants Leader]
The source of the voices was none other than men who came to attack Ryouma. Right now they were currently in the middle of receiving Ryouma’s counter attack and were immediately being suppressed.
When the leader of these men realized that they couldn’t win, he immediately gave the order to run. Unfortunately, his remaining three allies were too angry to listen to his orders. As a result, they each respectively ended up breaking a leg, an arm, and a jaw before losing consciousness.
“W-Wait! I surrender! We won’t involve ourselves with you anymore!” [Assailants Leader]
“Unfortunately, your excuses will have to fall on deaf ears. You will be dealt with the same way as those before you have been dealt with. Please understand.” [Ryouma]
“No— KAHA…” [Assailants Leader]
The man wanted Ryouma to let him off, but unfortunately, Ryouma had no intentions of doing so. And before he knew it, Ryouma was already right next to him. In the next moment, he was knocked unconscious.
“Well that settles that.” [Ryouma]
As Ryouma looked around him, he saw the 13 men he’d fought on the floor, either knocked unconscious or with a broken limb.
“Sure has been a while…” [Ryouma]
A few seconds after muttering that, four men approached Ryouma from a distance. They were the guards of Gimuru.
“Who goes there!? Oh, it’s just you, Ryouma. Are these guys today’s criminal?” [Guard Leader]
“Yes. I’ll leave them to you as usual.” [Ryouma]
“Yeah. Tie up the ones without any major injuries! As for the wounded… You’re doing it today too right?” [Guard Leader]
“Yes.” [Ryouma]
“Have at it then.” [Guard Leader]
“Right on it.” [Ryouma]
Ryouma brought out a heal slime and started healing the limbs of the men. After healing the limbs that were broken by none other than he himself, he handed the men to the guards to be arrested.
“That’s seven men today, totaling to 12 bones all in all… Looks like today’s gonna be pricey too.” [Guard Leader]
“One cast of High Heal is 1,000 suits. It takes 6 casts to heal a broken bone, bringing the costs up to 6,000 per bone. 6,000 times 12 bones and you get 72,000 suits. I’ll give you a small discount and we’ll make it a nice and clean 70,000.” [Ryouma]
The guard’s face twitched when he heard that.
“I know this needs to be done, but still… You sure are terrifying.” [Guard Leader]
“…I wouldn’t want to do this either, but they just won’t leave me alone.” [Ryouma]
“Anyway, come with us to the guard’s office. We need to pay you.” [Guard Leader]
“Copy that.” [Ryouma]
Ever since Ryouma was first attacked, all sorts of people have started attacking him, from people who said they were just instigated to people who outright said they just targeted him because he was rich. But just like today everyone who attacked him failed in their attempt. And each and every time, Ryouma would heal them and charge them an exorbitant fee.
Hurting someone when done in legitimate self-defense isn’t a crime in this country. The injured party can’t complain and their wounds don’t need to be tended to either. But in the case that they are healed, they must pay an appropriate price for the treatment received.
Beating someone black and blue, healing them, and then asking for payment is quite frankly extortion. But given the laws of this country, as long as it is done in self-defense, then it just barely passes as legal.
Ryouma himself originally didn’t want to do this sort of medical extortion, but as the risk of being attacked increased, Ryouma had to further better his ability to defend himself as well improve the store’s security. Grisiera convinced Ryouma to start doing this sort of scheme in order to set an example and improve the situation as quickly as possible.
It was unfortunate that Ryouma looked too much like a child. Because of that it was difficult for people to be wary against him. At most, the greatest effect their previous methods had was akin to the ‘Frequently Patrolled by Police’ or ‘All Activities Monitored by Video Camera’ signs that would get posted in the stores on Earth.
This new method Ryouma is a bit violent, but by hurting his assailants both physically and financially, Ryouma finally started seeing a decrease in his assailants.
“This is for today’s medical costs. 70,000 suits. Please take a look.” [Ryouma]
“…Confirmed. Thank you.” [Ryouma]
After receiving the payment for the medical expenses at the guard’s office, Ryouma thanked the guard.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like this could make a dent on our purse. Besides, we’re just shouldering another man’s debt temporarily. That’s all. In the end, those guys will be the ones footing the bill. It’s not all that bad too since from time to time we get people asking for a reform against forced labor.” [Guard Leader]
Ryouma thanked the guard again and then left the office.
“Good work out there today.” [Guard Acquaintance 1]
“Good job.” [Guard Acquaintance 2]
Being attacked on the way home and having to go the guard’s office has already become a daily occurrence for Ryouma. As such, Ryouma has already gotten acquainted with many guards.
These new acquaintances of his called out to him and waved at him. Ryouma greeted them back, then he went back home.