Chapter 147 Chapter 145 Stupid Things (Part 1)
Jima quickly walked up to George and said:
“You’ve completed your mission, and yet you want to risk saving someone? You’re a wanted criminal in Shalin City, with a bounty of ten thousand gold coins…”
George did not respond but stopped, looking ahead. Jima followed his gaze and saw that in the dark, dimly lit street, a group of people were attacking a carriage. This street was not a small alley, but rather a major thoroughfare that used to be bustling and safe. Perhaps this was the first violent robbery incident to occur here.
Jima examined the attackers closely; they were just a bunch of ordinary citizens, not rebellious slaves.
The thugs covered their faces with linen cloths and wielded various makeshift weapons like wooden sticks and kitchen knives, surrounding the carriage. The reins had been cut, and a frightened horse bolted away, leaving the carriage behind. From inside the carriage, a woman’s scream rang out as a butcher-like man leaned in through the window, brandishing a cleaver and shouting:
“If you want to live! Hand over your valuables! You, woman, let go!”
While yelling, the butcher’s strong hand tugged inside, pulling out a broken gold necklace.
“Ahhh! Help!”
The butcher turned his head and laughed, saying to his companions, “The woman inside has quite a chest, brothers are in for a treat tonight—wait, where are they?”
A fist struck his wrist, and the cleaver fell to the ground. A figure in a bucket helmet looked at him, and behind the visor were cold blue eyes.
The butcher was stunned for a moment before realizing his companions were all sprawled on the ground, with only a few remaining who quickly fled.
The figure in the bucket helmet spoke:
“You are guilty of robbery. Return the stolen goods to the victim to lessen your punishment.”
The butcher glared at him and clutched the broken gold necklace, reaching inside the window where the woman’s screams had subsided, directly snatching the necklace back.
George pointed at the people on the ground, saying, “Cover your heads, squat down, and await judgment.”
The butcher cursed, “Damn it, what bad luck, to run into a meddler.”
“Mr. Hammer, someone escaped.”
Jima pointed to a figure about four meters away. Just now, he had been knocked down by George’s punch, waiting for George to turn his attention to the butcher. Now he crawled up and bolted away.
George remained still, merely watching the fleeing figure.
Everyone immediately understood that even though this armored giant was quite capable of fighting, he couldn’t keep an eye on everyone. Three clever individuals quickly got up and began to flee. Even the butcher, closest to George, was shuffling away.
Jima crossed her arms, watching the scene unfold, curious about how George would handle it.
Suddenly, George moved like a fierce tiger, lunging toward the nearest escapee, deftly grabbing him around the waist and hurling him toward the one who was running the farthest.
“Ouch!”
The fastest one was suddenly knocked down, rolling a few times on the ground before coming to a stop, as all fleeing individuals were brought down by George’s human projectile.
“Do not flee. If you escape again, your punishment will be increased,” George’s voice boomed as he held up a flailing unlucky victim, glancing at the butcher who had managed to retreat three or four meters, still rooted in place, saying, “You can try it.”
The butcher obediently shuffled back to his original position, his voice trembling as he asked, “What do you want?”
“I want to restore order.”
George set the unlucky victim down; an adult in his hands was as powerless as a chicken caught by the wings. Given the terrifying strength George had displayed, the group of thugs squatted down, covering their heads.
Jima said, “What a creative approach; look at how scared they are. I thought you would use the knife on the ground.”
“The human body is soft, and it’s hard to injure them. Their crimes do not warrant death.”
“Continuing from our earlier topic, you’re not only a wanted criminal with a bounty of ten thousand gold coins, you are also… a holy paladin.” As Jima spoke, she approached the carriage door where the horses were missing and said in a melodious voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, you are safe now; the robbers have been subdued by my master.”
“Thank goodness, we owe a debt of gratitude to the great benefactor.”
The carriage door was pushed open. The husband was a man dressed in a black suit, holding his wife, elegantly stepping down from the carriage. Though they had just been robbed, the couple took the time to smooth out the wrinkles in their attire, appearing, at least for a moment, like members of the upper class.
Jima did not understand how Shalin City used clothing to establish social stratification. But she glanced at the empty carriage and determined that the couple must be small-time citizens with some money.
As they disembarked, the husband’s gaze lingered on Jima’s face for a moment before he scanned her up and down, asking, “Hello, beautiful young lady. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
The wife tugged at her husband sharply and took over the conversation, saying, “Thank you very much for your help, I—”
The husband suddenly yanked his wife back, interrupting her words. She glared at him, whispering, “What are you doing? That’s so rude.”
The husband seemed to have seen something terrifying. His eyes widened as he stared at George behind Jima, his gaze fixating on the sun emblazoned with enamel on his chest. He stammered, “Holy… holy hall?”
Jima smirked slightly, stating, “Allow me to introduce, this is the holy paladin, the brave hero who has fought against the Demon King in recent years—George the Hammer.”
The wife also began to stutter, “He… he is…”
Jima continued, “That’s right, his portrait is still posted on the wall to your left.”
On the wall was George’s wanted poster, with two images—one with the bucket helmet and one without.
The wife screamed in fright, and the husband quickly covered her mouth. The couple began to back away, the husband hurriedly saying, “We have no slaves at home, just a child of a rural relative… goodbye, we have urgent matters to attend to.”
With her mouth covered, the wife murmured indistinctly, “… please don’t… burn us…”
Throughout it all, George remained as still as iron armor on a frame, not moving an inch. He said, “In this chaotic night, I assure you, you will be very safe by my side.”
“No thanks.”
Seeing that George had no intention of pursuing, the couple turned and fled, quickly disappearing from sight.
Jima spread her hands, saying, “You see, with your reputation, how can you restore order in the city? Even I’ve heard that while you were running away, you accidentally burned a mage apprentice.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I certainly understand.”
“I will work hard to restore order.”
“How will you restore it? These thugs are not the main force; the main force is the rebellion stirred up by the Shadow King, who leads a group of thieves to attack the guards, releasing angry slaves to cause chaos in this city. The slaves are the main force. Are you going to kill all the uprising slaves to help the great benefactor continue ruling Shalin City and maintain the old order?”
George replied firmly, “No.”
“This is the quickest way to restore order.”
“I will never condone evil or uphold the tyrant’s rule,” George stated. “Order is meant for doing good, not for doing evil. I will not actively destroy the malevolent order of the great benefactor, as having some order is better than none, but I will never uphold his order while slaughtering the victims oppressed and exploited by his regime.”
Fortunately, it’s not as foolish as I imagined…
Jima said, “I understand; it’s written in books. But if you’re really going to do this… thing, I must say it sounds rather harsh.”
“Go ahead.”
“Stupid things; this may be the stupidest thing I’ve seen since I was born.”
“Why?”
“First of all, this is a high-risk endeavor with low returns. Isn’t doing good deeds for the sake of a reward? I mean, primarily, the spiritual rewards; the gratitude and praise from others, to achieve a sense of self-fulfillment.” Just for a few kind words from others, sacrificing oneself is already foolish enough, Jima silently added, continuing:
“Now let’s analyze it, due to the slander of the great benefactor, your reputation, and the entire holy order’s reputation in Shalin City is very poor. If you go to save people and establish a safe zone, others might still believe you’re trying to gather the population to burn them all.”
“Lies crumble in the face of truth.”
Jima chuckled:
“Have you ever thought about why these lies are so popular? Let me give you an example—there’s a tribe where killing and robbery are rampant, and ninety percent of the members have committed murder. If you were to promote a law of killing as punishment, or let’s say, order, how many would oppose it?”
George hesitated before saying, “Ninety percent.”
“Good, ninety percent. Right now, ninety percent of Shalin City opposes you,” Jima said. “Even if you want to compromise, no one will believe you. After all, the holy order’s stance against slavery is poorly regarded here; we should go back.”
