Chapter 21: A heartwarming meal

"Then Kains, have you seen a friend of mine before? Someone who looks quite similar to you." I asked directly, not bothering to hide my main goal for coming here.

"Sorry, I don't have time to pay attention to others. Maybe I was finding something to eat in the trash can when your friend came here."

Kains' answer was predictable, so I wasn't surprised at all after hearing it. I continued asking other questions to get more information about Vintage.

"Then how much do you know about Vintage? Can you please tell me?" I still smiled gently so as not to make Kains suspicious or worried.

"Hmmm, let's see, Vintage is divided into three areas. One area is managed by a gang called Mad Dog, one area is not managed by any group, and one area is for homeless people, people who were knocked out after losing in a battle, and corpses. We are currently in the middle of the unmanaged area."

I smiled inwardly, I had received a lot of useful and reliable information while only having to spend a little money.

"So what do you think if a cowardly, weak-looking person comes here? Who would be most likely to attack that person?"

"Probably a group of homeless people, they would surround that person and steal all his money. People who like to fight have no interest in causing trouble with weaklings unless they make them mad first."

'So there's a chance that Felix has become the target of the homeless.'

Right now, the possibility of Felix being with the homeless people was the highest, but that didn't mean I wouldn't go to the rest of the places to find him. After all, that was just Kains' guess.

Just then, a waiter brought over hot, polished plates of food. I was a little stunned because although the restaurant's appearance looked like trash, the food was very well-prepared.

Kains looked at the full and fragrant dishes with excitement, then he glanced back at me with a hesitant gaze.

"You can have all of them if you wish, I'm not hungry." I let him finish the food all by himself while I just sat here and watched him.

Kains eagerly put each tasty dish into his mouth, looking at him eating merrily, I suddenly sensed a little hunger.

'No, you have said that you wouldn't eat. It would be embarrassing if you ask Kains for something to eat now.' I tried to restrain myself and glanced around the restaurant to forget the hunger.

***

After a while, Kains finished all the food. I was amazed by the speed at which he ate, I could never clear the whole menu that quickly no matter how determined I tried.

Kains rubbed his full belly happily.

Just then, a blond-haired burly guy walked towards us with a murderous aura, possibly wanting to stir up trouble with us.

"Hey you kids, you seem rich, come with me for a trip outside." He smiled wickedly.

The whole restaurant fell silent again and all eyes were on us, probably eager to know how we would escape this situation.

"I thought you said they don't care about weaklings?" I sighed.

I ignored the blond's presence and spoke to Kains. However, I was the only one who said anything because the kid was looking down at the table, not daring to say a single word.

"By the way, does information spread quickly here?"

An idea just appeared in my mind. What if I caused a ruckus in this place? There was a high chance that I would become the center of attention for the entire Vintage, and if the information spread widely, there was a chance that it would reach Felix.

Kains didn't answer, he just nodded. I smirked, that was enough for me.

The blond seemed to have lost his patience, and he slammed his hand down on the table, causing the dishes to fall to the floor.

I stared at the leftovers and broken pieces of dishes scattered all over the floor. I sighed and stood up leisurely.

"Do you know what you just did? You just wasted the food and damaged the facility." I reached for the water bottle on the window, which I had just placed there because the table was already full of dishes.

Then, I immediately threw water on the thug's face. I took advantage of every second I had while the thug was wiping his face in anger. I grabbed Kains' hand, threw a few Coppers to the chef, and then, I dashed out of the restaurant.

I didn't run away, but stood in front of the entrance, waiting for the thug to come out. My goal was to attract as much attention as possible, and in order to do that and still be able to survive, I needed to be in an open, unobstructed area.

The thug ran out straight away as I thought. His grimacing face looked terrifying. As soon as he noticed me standing there, he charged towards me at the speed of light while emitting a murderous aura that had attracted a lot of attention from other people.

'If you people want something interesting, then I'll give it to you right now.'

Just before the blond guy caught me, I carried Kains on my back - his body had stiffened, probably due to the maximal tension - and created an ice pillar to lift me up.

The ground I was standing on instantly turned to frigid ice and a giant ice pillar arose beneath where I was standing, boosting me and Kains even higher than the restaurant just now.

Meanwhile, the blond guy below frowned even more and smashed the ice pillar, but I just simply bounced forward. A new ice pillar formed underground and lifted me up again. The thug once again broke the second ice pillar and I just casually repeated the action as I did previously.

Just like that, I would never be able to fall to the ground and my fight with the blond (not really a fight) would be famous to many people in Vintage.

Kains had calmed down a bit by now and looked at me with admiration.

"Lucas, you are so, so amazing!" He eagerly praised me.

I turned and smiled at Kains: "Told you."

***

Everything would have gone smoothly if there weren't unexpected problems. Yes, it would have been a master plan if there weren't unexpected mistakes.

Currently, I was sitting on the 14th ice pillar in boredness while watching the blond continue to break the ice pillars one by one. He was being completely led around like a dog.

'He seems so pitiful but whatever. He's a criminal anyway.'

At that moment, I saw a small gray and red object fall down, hitting the blond guy's body, followed by Kains's scream from behind.

"What's going on?" I asked Kains in anxiety.

"My mother's keepsake ring…" Kains' eyes were brimming with tears.

'Damn it!' I looked down again, the blond guy had stopped breaking the ice pillar and was focusing on the gray ring with the red crystal embedded on it.

I put Kains down and jumped down immediately, strengthening my right hand. Just as my body was about to collide with the ground, I threw a dynamic punch at the blond guy's face who was staring blankly at the ring.

He was knocked back into a stone wall, causing the wall to collapse a little, but his hand was still firmly holding the ring. As for me, after throwing the punch, my body fell to the ground, causing it to cave in a little. Since I had enhanced my body with mana right before my body touched the ground, the damage I gained didn't lead me to death.

I threw a cold gaze towards the blond who was now gradually standing up after being hit against the wall.

"If you don't want to get beaten up by me again, then give me back that ring."