episode_0003

The robbers were taken aback by the sudden rush of people and started running away.

But they couldn’t get far.

The slum was a complex maze of narrow alleys, with people popping out from makeshift wooden houses and tents, kicking and hitting each other with empty bottles.

No matter how strong and armed the robbers were, they couldn’t withstand it.

As the robbers staggered from the blows, Mirella dashed forward like an arrow.

Originally lively and strong, Mirella swiftly ran up and picked up the large club the robber had dropped.

“Yahhh!!!”

With all her might, Mirella struck the robber’s back with the club, causing him to bend forward.

How can a girl be so strong?

“Hmph, nothing special.”

As the crowd cheered, Mirella shrugged and acted nonchalant.

“Please spare me!”

Bleeding from his head, the robber fell to his knees.

“Please spare me! I’ve done wrong!”

“Tie him up!”

The crowd swarmed in, binding the robber tightly and gagging him.

“Potion Oppa! Are you okay?!”

Mirella rushed over and felt his body.

“I’m fine. But you were really in danger. What if something had happened?”

“But if it weren’t for me, you would have been killed by that club.”

Saying this, Mirella swung the club in her hand.

It was quite large, yet surprisingly, Mirella handled it as if it were a twig.

What happened there? How did Mirella become so powerful?

She was always stronger and had better stamina than her peers, but…

At that moment, she recalled something.

Could it be the “Lid Opener of Bint”?

A rare item favored by the notorious mobster Bint, who resides near the Messtophin garbage dump not far from the village.

This wooden club slightly boosts strength and stamina and has a certain chance of obtaining more gold from opponents.

It’s designed for beginners, so despite its performance, it’s quite useful early on.

There’s nothing particularly special about it so far, but there is something truly unique about it.

Its durability is infinite. In other words, it never breaks.

Then that guy tied up over there is the named bandit Vint.

It seems he came here thinking he could rob me after hearing rumors that I sprinkle healing potions all over the place.

No matter how much of a named character he is, it seems he couldn’t withstand the dot damage from dozens of people in this complex alleyway.

Well, I guess someone located on the route for beginners must be quite tough.

“What should we do with this guy?”

“Let’s kill him!”

When someone asked, excited people shouted loudly.

“We shouldn’t kill him.”

Hoshtante said sternly, holding his staff.

Hoshtante was a retired imperial knight who was once famous. He retired due to an injury, lost his pension, and ended up here.

Such Hoshtante has a good personality like an imperial knight and is highly respected by the people in the slums for his outstanding leadership.

Therefore, people calmed down at Hoshtante’s words and stepped back.

“Jack. I think it would be right to send this person to the guards for judgment.”

“I agree.”

“Who will go and call the guards!”

We do have guards in our starting village.

However, unlike other typical cities, they are not a large group of tens of heavily armed people.

Just five young guards, dressed no differently from ordinary people, with only a sword at their waist.

So when you see them patrolling the streets, they look more like gangsters managing the area than guards.

Soon the guards came and took Vint away.

It’s a bonus to squeeze a few more out of them.

After Vint was taken away, he expressed his gratitude to the gathered poor people.

“Thank you all. Thanks to you, I’m alive. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably be lying dead by the roadside by now.”

“No, Jack. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve done for us.”

“Hey, Jack. Do you think we’d just ignore you in trouble?”

“Potion guy is our hope, us beggars!”

“Merella! Don’t use the word ‘beggars’!”

I thought as I looked at the people smiling at me.

It’s strange.

Even in my current life, I’ve never done volunteer work or anything like that.

I don’t think doing such things will necessarily change the world.

If I alone change something even a little, the world would have changed ten times more.

But it really did change.

When I first possessed this body, they were people who couldn’t bear the weight and poverty of life and collapsed.

Now, aren’t they saving me from danger and smiling brightly like that?

I started the free distribution because it was difficult to dispose of the potions.

Regardless of the intention, the result is very satisfying.

“Since we’re in this situation, shouldn’t we make that?”

Mirella said while waving the lid of a vint.

“What’s that? Not security guards, but the villagers protecting the village themselves?”

“You mean a citizens’ militia?”

“Yes, citizens’ militia! Because there are no security guards. It’s nothing after trying it today.”

People laughed uproariously.

“Let’s call it the Potion Knights. Let’s make it a stronger knights’ order rather than a weak citizens’ militia.”

Hosutante Kyung, a former imperial knight who retired with a bitter smile after being transferred, said.

Knights’ order, indeed. That’s funny.

I’ll probably play at being a knight for a day or two and then quit.

By the way, I clearly realized this time.

Weak NPCs like me must live in places where public safety is guaranteed.

Otherwise, there’s a chance of being robbed and killed on the street like today.

To do that, we must make this village as safe as any other city.

Let’s think about it a bit.

* * * * *

Finally defeated the water dragon of Lake Luberone! Once again, the mysterious girl has disappeared!

She smiled slightly upon hearing the rumors from the adventurers who visited the shop.

Good job, Alaina. Keep going like that.

Next is the gold mine of Alkeidon.

We need to sweep away the monsters there and raid the innermost nest to get an epic item.

Without that, the next journey will be tough.

If it were real life, I’d exchange contact information and give real-time instructions via smartphone, but I can’t do that.

All I can do is hope that Alaina makes good use of the strategy guide I gave her.

Feeling good, I drank my coffee and went downstairs to open the shop door.

“At your service!”

I was startled by the sudden shout.

A few children standing on the road in front of the store were not saluting awkwardly, were they?

“What, what is it?”

“Knight Order 1st Division! In front of the shop, um… the road, the road….”

The child, who seemed to be trying to say something hopeful, scratched his head awkwardly.

“Report on the road cleaning results.”

Another child next to him whispered.

“Oh! Reporting the results of cleaning in front of the shop!”

“Road cleaning?”

Now that I look, the area in front of the shop is very clean.

It used to be a place we cleaned every morning because energetic cats would always leave their droppings and pollen would fly around, especially in spring.

Could it be these kids did the cleaning?

No, more than that, they are the Knight Order 1st Division?

“Hey, what are you guys doing?”

“Huh! We are carrying out the noble mission of the Knight Order!”

Not being able to understand English at all, I looked around in surprise.

I could see many people cleaning here and there.

People from the slums that I knew.

What on earth are they doing since early in the morning?

“Alright, those who have finished cleaning, come and report! I will inform you of the next mission!”

In the midst of it all, I saw Mirella shouting loudly, waving Bint’s lid like a baton.

What trouble has that kid caused this time?

A little further away, Sir Hostante, a former Imperial Knight, smiled helplessly and nodded.

Approaching him, I greeted and asked.

“Sir Hostante, what’s all this about?”

“Mirella has finally established the Potion Knight Order.”

“What?”

“She found her calling in catching thieves. She organized people saying if we want to protect our village, we must do it ourselves, and now it’s chaos from early in the morning.”

“I see?”

“I am the commander of the order, and Mirella has taken on the role of vice-commander.”

Vice-commander? What is this, and why is this organization so systematic?

It seems that Sir Hostante, a former Imperial Knight, participated as an advisor in the establishment of this strange Knight Order.

“I see. How long do you think this will continue?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Sir Hostante pointed his staff at the people coming out onto the street.

Surprisingly, there are many sincere people. Since we caught the thieves, everyone has changed after feeling powerless for so long and joining forces.

“Is that so?”

“Okay, Jack. If you had seen people responding when Mirella suggested that we protect our slum, you probably wouldn’t have taken it lightly. It seems that the idea of us taking responsibility for our slum moved people’s hearts. Until now, slum dwellers have been crushed by the weight of life, living helplessly.”

“Yes….”

“But catching the robber yesterday opened my eyes. Our slum must be protected and developed by us. That’s why Mirella decisively lit the fire in her heart.”

“I see… So, what exactly does the Potion Knights do?”

“Currently, they are working on slum environmental cleanup. It’s so dirty because no one has paid attention to it for so long.”

“Well, yes. But it doesn’t seem like this will just end as a passing fancy.”

Am I the only one who has a feeling that things are going to get bigger?