One thing had to be said.
Compared to others her age, Ellen's strength was truly formidable.
Moreover, in terms of capability, she was in a league of her own—a completely different tier.
Although she usually sported an energy-saving demeanor, the moment she entered combat, she seemed to instantly shift into a different stance. Her movements were sharp and fierce, showing absolutely no stinginess regarding physical exertion.
It was as if all the energy she had saved up before was purely for the sake of expending it at moments like this.
Facing the siege of a dozen people, she relied on the narrow terrain of the alleyway to respond without the slightest panic. No one could get anywhere near her.
The result of this group of boys her age swarming up and swinging their fists wildly at her was that they couldn't even manage to get close. Their chaotic, undisciplined fists could only viciously attack the air around her, as if they were trying to create a vacuum around Ellen to suffocate her by punching the air.
Unfortunately, none of them currently possessed the physical fitness required to actually create a vacuum zone through punching.
On the contrary, with a backhanded strike from Ellen, one of the boys was immediately left clutching his stomach, lying on the ground groaning and unable to get up. The tail behind her delivered a sharp, vicious whip, knocking another person—who had been preparing a sneak attack from behind—out cold against the side.
One didn't need to look closely to see that the gap in strength between the two sides was visibly massive.
Before long, the dozen or so boys who had charged in a brainless swarm had all been laid out on the ground by Ellen. They hit the dirt so fast that even the leader didn't react to what had happened for a moment.
Even Andrew, who was watching all of this, couldn't help but feel it was somewhat unexpected.
He had originally prepared to intervene decisively the moment there was any possibility of Ellen getting hurt; the projector on his arm was already loaded with flashbangs ready to fire.
As it turned out, Ellen performed with ease from start to finish.
There was no need for Andrew to act at all. In less than a minute, she had directly speedrun those dozen boys with a no-hit clear.
The man opposite her, acting as the leader, had known long ago that the group of people he brought had absolutely no combat power to speak of.
Letting them go first was merely to drain Ellen's stamina while personally gauging her strength, observing her patterns so he could wait at his leisure for the fatigued enemy. He planned to wait until the battle was over.
With such a huge advantage, he was certain he could easily take her down.
In this way, he could easily highlight the power of his own strength in front of that group of kids.
But looking at it now, these brats were way too useless!
However, he soon shook his head, tossing the dissatisfaction in his heart to the back of his mind. Anyway, the reason he recruited these kids was merely because their small stature allowed them to squeeze through cracks that adults couldn't pass, enabling them to enter luxury stores within the Hollows.
Doing those things didn't require them to have any combat strength.
Once this rare period of Hollow stability passed, they would be useless. When it came time to turn on them, the fact that these little guys had no strength would actually be more advantageous for him.
Just like that red-and-black-haired brat everyone scammed together in the Waifei Peninsula a few years ago.
If it weren't for the fact that the money everyone shared from selling those luxury goods back then was basically all spent, coupled with the boss receiving news indicating the Hollows had become extremely calm recently...
There would be no need to run out and do this kind of bullshit now.
But it had to be said.
Even if there was still quite a bit of money left, with the Hollows stable to this degree, it was simply an opportunity not to be missed. So even if they had money, they couldn't resist going in to make another score.
As for until this period of Hollow stability passed... before these brats—who were tricked into joining to increase efficiency—became useless, he still had to pretend to coax them. He had to make them believe they were truly reserve members.
As long as they thought that working hard would truly allow them to become 'one of us,' these brats would work incredibly hard.
Subconsciously stroking his chin, which was shaved clean to feign youth, he smacked his lips in dissatisfaction.
He naturally had a youthful face. To make himself look mature enough to match his age, he had grown a beard for a long time. As a result, just to close the distance and not arouse suspicion from the school, he had shaved it all off. Now he even had to pull out his ID just to buy alcohol.
But for Dennies, this small sacrifice was worth it.
He gently straightened the white trench coat on his body that served as the gang's symbol, and slowly drew out the stick that had been concealed behind his back.
Behind him, the other few men, also wearing white trench coats, drew out sticks hidden by their wide coats as well.
Their seasoned movements caused Andrew's eyes to narrow instantly.
At the same time.
In his heart, he immediately overturned the idea that this was just a small gang formed between students. Those practiced combat preparation movements, the steady footwork, plus the possession of lethal weapons...
Such combat posture habits were absolutely not something high schoolers could possess.
Even people who ran off to become Investigators or Hollow Raiders right after junior high graduation could absolutely not reach this level.
However, the appearance of weapons meant Andrew no longer intended to wait until Ellen might get hurt to intervene.
After all, the damage caused by weapons versus fists was a world of difference.
Taking a step forward, Andrew directly chose the method that would cut into the battlefield fastest—leaping straight down from the height of the third floor.
*
Looking at the sticks in the hands of the men opposite her.
Ellen couldn't help but frown slightly, while simultaneously cursing inwardly.
There was forever a chasm between having a weapon and not having one. This wasn't something that could be completely ignored by relying on physical fitness alone.
Plus, when it came down to it, Ellen was currently just a first-year junior high student who hadn't finished developing yet.
Her age was right there. Even if her physical fitness was already extremely advanced, compared to adults, the gap wasn't as terrifying as before.
Although she could still suppress them directly in a one-on-one, it was no longer a situation where she could ignore their numbers and weapons.
"Ugh... This is trouble."
She couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Leaving aside everything else, Ellen herself wasn't confident if she could win.
But regardless of winning or losing.
Getting injured was definitely inevitable. When she went to school the day after tomorrow, the wounds would definitely be discovered by the teacher who always cared about them, and then she would be grabbed and worried over intensely.
Although the feeling of being cared for was quite nice, it was really exhausting...
"Getting hurt is going to hurt a lot..."
Although she lamented this verbally, Ellen showed absolutely no intention of begging for mercy. Instead, she silently tore a strip of cloth from the clothes of a boy lying on the ground beside her and silently wrapped it around her fist.
As the group continued to close in, just as Ellen prepared to engage the enemy...
Thump!
Suddenly, a black shadow dropped from the sky, landing heavily between the two parties, transforming into a high wall that separated them.
As the cloud of dust kicked up by the landing settled, Ellen cried out in surprise the moment she saw clearly who had suddenly appeared:
"Store Manager?!"
A Store Manager who was just an ordinary person suddenly intervening was extremely dangerous!
But in the next instant.
As Andrew—who was just an ordinary blacksmith in Ellen's perception—extended his fist.
The man at the very front slammed his face viciously into Andrew's fist. Successfully aided by the reaction force, he flew into the air and completed a high-difficulty gymnastics maneuver—a triple and a half somersault in the air.
It wasn't until the reaction force could no longer help him break free from gravity's shackles that his free soul was forced to land on the ground once again under the influence of gravity.
Fragments of pearly white teeth, along with spots of crimson blood, were scattered evenly in a circle around him by centrifugal force. It even looked to possess a trace of post-modern artistic beauty.
In less than a short second.
The man who had been smug and satisfied a second ago had half his cheek successfully swollen into a massive pig's head by the impact in the next second. It looked extremely abstract.
This sudden scene left both Ellen and the White Heart Gang momentarily unable to react.
But Andrew wasn't going to wait for them to react before making his move.
And so, the remaining five men committed the same error as their boss—using their cheeks to viciously slam into Andrew's fists, experiencing the freedom of breaking away from gravity's shackles.
By the time they were all recaptured by gravity once more, looking at the six additional circles formed by bloodstains on the ground and the people collapsed into soft heaps, Ellen instantly fell into a mental storm.
This... is called an ordinary, average blacksmith shop owner?
It wasn't until Andrew greeted her that she snapped back to reality.
She immediately realized one thing—she had been helped.
Moreover, she had been helped by someone she had known for less than two hours.
Yet in the same situation...
The store manager sister she had worked with for over a year, with whom she usually got along very intimately, had chosen to drive her far away the moment she told her she had provoked the White Heart Gang.
It was as if she were avoiding a plague god.
Although rationally she could understand, whenever she thought about that matter, Ellen couldn't help but feel a bit bitter in her heart.
Especially with Andrew as a contrast, Ellen's heart was filled with mixed feelings for a moment.
Looking at Ellen, who remained dazed and frozen in place, Andrew waved his hand directly in front of her eyes and asked with some confusion:
"Why are you stunned? Scared silly? Surely not?"
Ellen, coming back to her senses, saw the concern hidden within Andrew's confused expression. After a moment of silence, she lowered her head directly.
Then she whispered:
"Sorry, Store Manager. I chose to hide this matter from you before."
After hesitating slightly, Ellen spoke up:
"There's no need for the payment for the work earlier. I will leave on my own accord afterwards; I won't bring you trouble."
"?"
What kind of development is this?
The reaction after a 'hero saves beauty' moment shouldn't be like this!
It's not like this in Galgames at all!
But there was no time for Andrew to think deeply now.
Seeing Ellen's movement to turn and leave immediately, Andrew quickly blocked her.
"Wait, wait, why are you suddenly quitting? We already settled the terms. If you run off, where am I going to find the helper I'm missing?"
"I'm still counting on your help to get these clothes made in two days!"
Looking at Andrew in front of her, who didn't seem to feel he had encountered trouble at all, Ellen asked back, slightly bewildered:
"But, Store Manager, aren't you worried these guys will come to your door again because of me? The store manager I worked for before just..."
Although she didn't say it explicitly, the meaning Ellen wanted to express was already extremely obvious.
Upon hearing this, Andrew simply asked back subconsciously:
"That's it?"
However, remembering again that it was Ellen's first time in Sixth Street and she wasn't familiar with the situation here, Andrew grabbed Ellen's wrist directly and walked towards the outside of the alley.
At the same time, he comforted her verbally:
"Hey now, you have to know. With so many districts around, the reason why gangs never cause trouble in Sixth Street isn't because those gangs all discovered their conscience and voluntarily left a pure land of peace for the people here..."
As the two walked to the alley entrance, the intersection that had been empty when Ellen entered was now occupied by three figures.
Aside from Meow-Da, who had quickly returned to the alley entrance from the roof.
Of the remaining two, one was a mechanical construct with a body of pitch-black skin, and the other was an uncle with a mechanical arm.
Unnoticed, Elfy, the manager of the Bardic Needle, and Uncle Enzo from the modification shop had already appeared silently at the alley entrance, observing the situation inside.
And in Uncle Enzo's mechanical hand, the giant hammer usually used for repairs was already eager to try, as if it couldn't wait to smash something.
It wasn't until they saw Andrew bringing Ellen out safe and sound that the two nodded to Andrew and walked back towards their own shops.
Ellen understood without needing to be told.
Even if Andrew hadn't acted just now, it would have merely meant changing the person who did the deed.
She didn't know that as shop managers of Sixth Street, where everyone had their own unique skills, they all possessed their own capabilities for self-preservation when encountering trouble.
But looking at the scene before her, for some reason, Ellen found herself unable to speak for a moment.
This sudden, pure goodwill from strangers caused a warm current to surge involuntarily in her heart.
Although he wasn't clear on what Ellen was thinking, Andrew still couldn't help but ask curiously:
"By the way, Ellen, why was your first reaction just now that?"
Looking at Andrew's face full of curiosity, and after hesitating for a moment, Ellen finally told him the whole story of what she encountered at her previous workplace.
And after hearing it, Andrew instantly understood.
Although reason could understand it, actually encountering it wasn't something one could easily get over just by saying 'I understand.'
So Andrew patted his chest decisively and said:
"Don't worry. For these two days, just stay in my shop and finish this commission with peace of mind. As for later, I'll introduce you to an absolutely reliable place where you won't encounter this kind of thing again. And based on my understanding of that manager, he is definitely a very reliable person."
"Not only that, but the remuneration from working there will definitely not be a problem for getting you into high school, and your daily pocket money will also be absolutely sufficient."
____
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