The Rufus Family
"Aigoo! How has a noble young master like you come to such a shabby place?"
The slums on the outskirts of Lucentia—a place Tiny had visited once before. From deep within, a massive bald brute burst out of a grand mansion that clashed with its surroundings, practically flying toward them. Trailing behind him came a stream of men, each with a vicious scowl. Their bodies were canvases for flashy tattoos, giving off a fairly intimidating vibe.
But to Tiny, it was all too familiar—and exactly what he'd expected.
The family rejects him because he's a disgraced wastrel looking for an outlet. No real knights would join in on that nonsense, so it had to come to this.
He'd deliberately avoided touching that mansion even during his all-night shakedowns. The thugs he'd robbed had spilled the beans.
- They're not just dealing drugs—they're buying and selling people, from what we've heard.
An outfit that brutal, with a mansion in the back alleys? Obviously connected to the lord. Or so he'd thought.
- Our lord? Oh, he's a good man.
That intel from the inner city had completely upended his assumptions. Still, seeing it with his own eyes made something feel off.
Rufus Family, was it?
And now, the answer to that puzzle was unfolding right in front of him.
"The tribute isn't due for a while yet... Haha, and you only brought one servant. To what do we owe the visit?"
As soon as the men appeared, Edmond rushed forward, pointing a trembling finger at himself.
"Rufus! Teach this insolent commoner a lesson!"
"...Pardon? That little kid?"
The bald giant—Rufus—blinked in confusion.
To rule the back alleys of a big city like Lucentia, he'd seen every kind of mess imaginable. But had some noble brat ever dragged a kid here and asked him to rough them up?
It was natural to ask for clarification, but sadly, the one making the demand wasn't right in the head.
Slap!
"Don't talk back, you insolent bastard! Deal with that one!!"
Edmond didn't hesitate to smack the bald man's cheek, even though the guy was easily twice his size. Rufus's face flushed red with rage, but that fury poured out not at Edmond—but at Tiny.
"Make that kid kneel right now! I'll 'personally' educate him!"
"Yes, sir!"
Tiny couldn't help but chuckle at the transparent display.
"You idiot! He's a spirit user! Do it yourself!!"
Rufus's face burned even redder at Edmond's curse-laced shout. But again, that menacing aura targeted the black-haired boy, not the source of his anger.
"...Eric, Tilmon. Step up."
At the low command, a man with a dagger and another with an iron mace leaped forward. The blue glow flickering from their weapons marked them as 2nd-stage mana users—knight-level.
"Knights playing thug?"
A sly grin curled on Tiny's lips.
Crack.
"This could be fun..."
The spirit-user boy cracked his knuckles and strolled toward them at a leisurely pace.
"...Looks like I can cut my time in Lucentia even shorter."
Muttering something they couldn't make sense of.
* * *
Why wasn't Tiny tense? A little thought made it obvious.
Back-alley gangs simply didn't have anyone who could threaten him.
Once you hit 2nd stage as a mana user, you could claim knight status—a near-noble rank—and live openly in the light. What idiot would turn that down to scrape by in the shadows?
So, the mana users in the underworld were either far weaker than their rank suggested, total lunatics, or wanted criminals on the run.
And wanted knights or higher? They got hunted down and executed fast due to the risk. True madmen at that level were so rare they weren't worth considering.
Rumors floated about assassin guilds in the shadows taking out superhumans, but why would someone that skilled stoop to it?
You could chop heads in broad daylight and get paid and honored for it.
The phrasing was crude, but that was a knight's job in a nutshell.
So yeah—with a bit of thought, "hidden powerhouses" in back-alley groups were just urban legends.
And Tiny proved it with his own body. Again.
By smashing the Rufus Family to pieces in under 30 minutes.
"...Gurgle."
Rufus, dragged by one ankle and hurled into the mansion wall—smashing through it—landed atop the already-broken underbosses with a death rattle.
"Hm? Can't die yet."
Crack.
Tiny—the one who'd done it—forcefully reset the thug's twisted neck to prolong his life a bit, then scanned the area with a light expression.
"Alright, looks like we're mostly wrapped up..."
The boy's small voice echoed unnaturally loud amid the horrific sea of blood he'd created in that short time.
It wasn't just the three bosses left in ruins. The small fry who'd charged in yelling just 30 minutes ago were long scattered around, broken.
"Urgh."
"Nngh."
"Ugh."
Aside from Tiny's voice, only pained groans filled the air.
"Hey, halfwit. Got any more friends to call?"
"U-Uwaaak! S-Stay back!!"
As Tiny approached with an innocent smile, Edmond—who'd watched the fight in a daze—stumbled back in terror.
All around were literal piles of mangled bodies and pooling blood. A page straight from hell.
"Y-You devil spawn! What the hell do you think human lives are?!"
It sounded odd coming from a notorious wastrel, but the brutality of the scene made it spill out naturally.
Using people as clubs to smash other people. And the executor was a little boy? It was grotesque enough to feel like a nightmare made real.
And it gifted Edmond pure, soul-deep terror.
"St-Stay back! I said stay back! D-Do you know who I am?!"
Thud.
Edmond, yelling and retreating, tripped over a corpse and collapsed.
"Uwaaa...! D-Don't come closer! You bastard! D-Do you even know who I—"
Tiny was already in front of him. The boy glanced down to see liquid trickling from between the noble's legs, muddying the blood on the ground.
"Aww... Is this a noble's dignity? Smells kinda rank."
He pinched his nose dramatically and sneered. Edmond couldn't even muster a retort.
His mind was blank.
"Huuuh."
The reaper was closing in. Shaking, having pissed himself, his excuses about noble pride rang hollow.
"Guh... gurk."
Suddenly struggling to breathe, his vision fading—that was a mercy.
"Oh? Fainted already?"
Tiny let out a baffled chuckle. That's when—
- Tiny!!
A familiar urgent voice from afar, with a red-haired knightess galloping in on horseback.
What... the hell?
Vivian scanned Tiny and the surroundings in shock.
Sent by the lady to find him, she'd been stunned hearing Edmond had dragged him to the outskirts. But this scene flipped her worst fears on their head.
No—it went beyond that. He looked relaxed.
"Why'd you come all the way out here?"
"Lady's orders. She was worried about you..."
Even as she said it, the absurdity made her chuckle dryly. The boy just smiled as if this carnage had nothing to do with him.
"Ah, I'm fine."
"You... what the hell happened here...?"
"Oh, the blood? It's fine. Not mine."
He brushed the splattered blood off his armor like it was dust. It was downright chilling.
The fondness sparked by that "puppy" vibe flipped back to wariness in an instant.
Noticing her expression, the boy hurriedly added,
"For the record, this was self-defense, knight. These guys were trash Edmond here sicced on me."
"...Looks that way to me too. But it's too brutal..."
"Anyone would see it that way, knight. And I didn't lay a finger on Edmond. He just passed out on his own. No issues whatsoever."
His grinning face nearly made her twitch.
...You're supposed to be thirteen. Is this really what a thirteen-year-old does? Thinks?
She had a lot to say, but...
Judgment's up to the lady...
Vivian shook her head, steeling her loosened guard.
"...Let's head back. You handle that Edmond bas—er, young master."
"Whoa, can't do that, knight."
"What?"
"Gotta grab a few things first."
"What do you—"
Her face twisted again as the boy pulled off something way out of left field.
"Judging by the layout, it should be around here."
BOOM!!
"Bingo!"
He smashed through one wall of the mansion's bedroom, revealing a massive gray safe. Tiny grinned in satisfaction.
Then he dragged the near-dead—but still alive—Rufus over, pressing the man's hand to it.
Flash.
The moment it touched, blue light spread, illuminating the room.
Hummm.
With a vibration, the treasures inside gleamed into view.
"Patterns are all the same with these guys. So predictable."
"What...?!"
Vivian, who'd followed, stared blankly. Tiny casually rifled through a stack of documents in the corner.
"Not this... not this... ah, found it!"
"...What are you even doing?"
"Oh, the bribery ledger. These guys all operate the same. See here... yep! Edmond's got an entry. Haha, this should tie up any loose ends, right?"
His cheerful grin left her speechless.
"...What kind of life have you lived?"
"Haha, that's... a secret."
"..."
He winked playfully. Absurd as it was, she just stared. Flustered, he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"Rumors say these guys do human trafficking too, so there should be a holding area somewhere in the mansion. Find that, grab the ledger, and we're good."
"Human trafficking?"
"Yeah, just rumors though... Ah, hold on. Looks like it's in the ledger. Let's find the prisoners first."
"O-Okay."
Tiny sprang into action, and Vivian could only follow in a daze.
And soon...
"We're saved!"
"I'll never forget this kindness, knight!"
"Thank you so much, knight... sob."
Vivian received tearful thanks from over a hundred people caged like animals in the basement.
"N-No, that was the kid over there who—"
She tried to correct them, but they glanced at Tiny then bowed to her again.
"Thank you, knight... thank you..."
"...No, really."
Everything was bewildering, but the culprit just smirked and whispered,
"Just accept it, knight."
"Huh?"
"Who'd believe a kid like me saved them?"
"You saying that yourself..."
Ignoring her fluster, he even suggested follow-up measures she hadn't considered.
"It's fine. Just divvy up the safe's loot to them as compensation. Oh, best under the lady's name, of course."
"What?"
"For cleanup, donate half to the viscount's family. Say you handled it, and the lady gets a nice reward. And... I'll take a cut. That okay?"
Vivian couldn't even follow anymore.
What is this kid?
Clutching not just wariness but utter confusion, she could only nod.