Me, a Madman? Yes, That's What Everyone Says

Taking the lunchbox her mother had prepared from her hands, Sett headed towards the repair shop.

The repair shop owner's wife loves her mother's rice rolls. If you don't give her any, she'll come back and ask for more. As Sett said, that woman has absolutely no shame.

Walking down the street, Sett was troubled, wondering why his mother insisted on sending him to Piltover University. Sett couldn't understand it; would his and his mother's lives really improve if he went to Piltover University?

Can learning prevent others from hurting you?

Sett thought it wouldn't happen, because those who hurt you did so because of your weakness, and most importantly, because you were different from them.

Sett had a pair of animal ears. Although he didn't have a tail and claws like his mother, Vastaya features were more obvious, those big pink ears alone were enough to give Sett a reason to be bullied by his peers.

Your ears are weird, and your mother is ugly!

You're a freak, your dad doesn't want you anymore!

The harm caused by a child's words is no less than that caused by a sword piercing the body; in fact, it can be even more heart-wrenching.

When they were young, their father was still alive. As a gladiator, he shielded Sett and his mother from the gossip. Because of his father's strength and tyranny, all sorts of complaints those guys wanted to utter were kept out. But after their father disappeared, those guys came back.

This also taught Sett a lesson: Riot Games are the best weapon to make rude people talk to you politely.

But his mother forbade him to fight, and even forced him to swear an oath that he would not be allowed to step into the arena like his father, nor would he be allowed to enter that world.

Sett was torn by this. On one hand, he loved his mother and Sett how much she had sacrificed for the family after his father left. He understood her hardships. On the other hand, Sett also wanted to find his father.

He didn't love that man; he just wanted to find him, beat him up, spit in his face, and demand to know why he abandoned them, mother and child, and disappeared back then.

Because of him, his mother was driven out of the tribe. Mothers who had mated with humans were no longer allowed to remain in the tribe, but his mother didn't care, because Sett had already been born by then.

For Sett's sake, she was willing to leave her tribe, endure the scorn of humans, and integrate into a human village.

She worked hard weaving cloth, and the clothes she made were considered dirty by those guys, but her mother wasn't angry. Instead, she would redo them with an apologetic smile.

The Sett family's cloth is always cheaper than others, but even so, the villagers don't like to buy it, and their competitors often cause trouble.

Sometimes Sett really wanted to punch them in the face, but he knew that doing so would only make his mother more upset.

The boy pondered this all the way until a cute, chubby ear twitched in his dark pink hair. Sett stopped and looked warily at both sides of the road.

The repair shop borders the village, but it's the only residence there, so the area is sparsely populated.

Bond Village had a small population to begin with, and Sett was the only person on the narrow path there, but he stopped.

Sett's superhuman hearing allowed Sett to hear breathing.

"Come out, I can hear you." Sett sighed, carefully stuffing the lunchbox into his clothes, and shouted loudly towards the front.

"Swish, swish, swish"

The tree trunks trembled, the trees swayed, three or five children jumped down from the trees, and several more children emerged from behind the trees on both sides.

"Be more self-aware, you little beast." The leader was about 1.5 meters tall, a little taller than Sett, with black hair and long limbs. He was looking at Sett with disdain.

"Link, I've already apologized to you, and you've hit me. Can we just let this go?" Sett looked at the other person.

Upon hearing this, a flash of anger and fear crossed Link's eyes, but then he shouted, "You wish!"

"You think you're so tough? You even dare to fight back?!" Link shouted.

What Sett mentioned was Link's disgrace.

Previously, the three kids ganged up on Sett, but Sett suddenly retaliated and beat them up. Afterwards, their mother took them to Sett's house to confront Sett's mother. Although Link didn't want to do that because he felt he should resolve his own issues, he couldn't resist his mother's fierceness.

In the end, Sett's mother apologized to the children in public on Sett's behalf and compensated them with several pieces of cloth, which were worth half a month's income for Sett's family.

Link was absolutely blown away by this result.

He not only embarrassed Sett in public, but also his mother, Sett's family even made compensation. However, Link didn't feel satisfied.

Because this isn't the result he wanted; this isn't enough!

What he wanted was for Sett completely submit to him; he wanted Sett to be utterly afraid of him!

The reason Link targets Sett so much is because that brat is completely unsociable!

He's clearly an outsider, yet he's so arrogant!

Link had considered accepting Sett's advances; he had invited Sett to hang out with him and become his Sett, but Sett refused without giving him any face.

This is how Link and Sett became enemies.

"Fine, if you want to fight, then fight. I can get back to my business after we're done." Seeing that they couldn't reach an agreement, Sett took the initiative to squat down with his hands on his head, and then lay on his side on the ground.

He closed his eyes and said, "Come on."

"You think I'll let you off the hook like this?" Link said through gritted teeth. Here we go again!

What he hated most was Sett's arrogant and self-important attitude!

"All of you, get him!" Link waved his hand, and a group of children rushed forward, surrounding Sett and punching and kicking him.

Sett his best to protect his face, burying his chin in his chest and holding his head in his hands.

He can't let his mom know he got beaten up outside, otherwise she'll start crying again.

Honestly, sometimes Sett really doesn't understand his mom. She won't let him fight back, but every time Sett gets hurt, she feels sad and guilty.

At first, Sett was angry and confused by his mother's attitude; he didn't understand what his mother wanted.

You're the one who wouldn't let me fight, and you're also the one who cried when I got beaten up.

But Sett stopped caring about it afterward. His anger turned into calm, and his confusion into relief. He only knew one thing: he couldn't let his mother cry.

My mom is already exhausted.

Moreover, his mother truly loves him.

That's enough. Getting a beating is fine; their punches and kicks aren't that powerful anyway. He'll be sore for an afternoon, sleep it off for a night, Sett will be back to his old self the next day.

"Damn it, that brat is really tough!"

"Kick him in the head!"

"Where's the stick? Bring the stick here!"

They started beating Sett hard, but Sett didn't utter a sound.

But this only fueled the children's anger. If Sett screamed a few times, they would stop and leave satisfied. But the less Sett screamed, the more ashamed they felt, as if Sett was looking down on them.

Sett held his head; it was impossible for him not to be in pain, and he was even starting to get angry.

Unbeknownst to Sett, his eyes even began to gleam with a golden light.

But Sett gritted his teeth and endured it.

Don't get angry, don't get angry.

Think of Mom, Sett, you can't cause her any more trouble!

She endured so many scornful looks and insults for you, so you can endure it, Sett, you can.

Sett encouraged himself, clenching his sharp fangs so tightly that his lips bled involuntarily.

Then, a slightly mischievous voice rang out.

"You're really good at enduring things. Li Ke said you're a wolverine, but I don't think that's right. You should be a tortoise."

The children stopped what they were doing, and Sett opened his eyes, his body covered in dust. He lay down at a pile of feet and, through the gaps between pairs of legs, saw the person who had spoken.

The person had beautiful long blue hair that reached their shoulders, flowing smoothly down their back. Their fair face had delicate features, and their cute, pretty face was rosy and healthy.

He was wearing traditional Ionia clothing, a blue and white robe, but unlike others, it was covered in pink graffiti and cat paw patterns drawn in blue paint.

A pair of long, fair legs gleamed with a soft sheen, their smooth, snow-white legs gracefully crossed in front of her, and the denim pants could be vaguely seen through them.

Her pretty black boots on her small feet swayed as she sat on the rock, munching on a piece of fruit.

"Why stop? Keep hitting!" she shouted when the children stopped moving. She opened her mouth, took a big bite out of the fruit with her little white teeth, and then changed her posture, sitting cross-legged on the rock.

With one hand hooked around his foot and the other holding fruit, he hunched his back slightly and swayed forward as he looked at the group of children.

"Oh no, it's the repair shop owner." A child next to Link muttered, "My mom said not to offend her, because we rely on her to fix our pots and farm tools."

"My dad also said not to offend them; their family is the only blacksmith in the village."

"What do we do, Boss Link?"

Link gritted his teeth, looked at Sett, raised his foot, and stomped hard on Sett's head, knocking out a patch of hair from his ear. Link shouted, "Hit her! She told us to hit her!"

"I told you to hit him? Ah, it seems so. Yes, I was right." The woman paused for a moment, then nodded and smiled.

She ate the fruit with relish, watching Sett get beaten.

"Boss lady, are you just going to stand by and watch?!" Sett cried out in grievance, looking at the woman and shouting, "You eat my mom's baozi every day, and you just stand by and watch me get beaten up?"

"Don't you have any conscience?!"

The girl called "boss lady" was taken aback, then grinned and spread her hands, "Conscience? I don't have any~"

The half-eaten fruit fell to the ground. She changed her position, lying down on the rock, picking at her ear with one hand and propping her cheek up with the other. Blowing on her little finger after picking at her ear, she said, "And just because your mom gave me food, does that mean I have to fight for you?"

"Stop joking, kid."

"If you expect others to help you, then you can kneel on the ground and hope for the rest of your life. As Li Ke said, if a person cannot generate the will to resist, then no amount of help will work."

"A tortoise is a tortoise; it'll never turn over in its entire life," she said dismissively.

"Do you think I can't beat them?" Sett gritted his teeth, taking the beating, and roared at her.

"Then why don't you fight back?" the woman said, blinking excitedly.

Provoked by her, Sett's anger could no longer be contained. His hair emitted a faint golden light, and he raised his Riot Games to smash the child beside him, but stopped just before it hit.

The boy was stunned for a moment, then swung his hand and Sett.

"How boring," the woman said, sticking out her pink tongue in a speechless tone.

She sat up, looked at Sett, and said loudly:

"Sett, let me tell you a secret. Your mother is actually wrong. You shouldn't have listened to her, understand? Because sometimes, weakness and kindness don't earn respect. The world where goodwill begets goodwill only exists in fairy tales. Want to gain respect from others? Then you have to show your strength."

"Power, wisdom, wealth—it all boils down to making idiots talk to you calmly. You clearly have the power to resist, yet you're holding yourself back. What? Are you really planning to be a turtle, just like your mother?"

"Shut up!" Sett could talk about him, but not his mother, Sett shouted immediately.

"You want me to shut up? Wow!"

"I was clearly teaching you the life philosophy I've cultivated, how could you treat me like this? You're so rude! So rude, you Ionia are so damn annoying!"

She suddenly started cursing, and as she cursed, she walked towards Sett.

It seemed that Sett's shout of "Shut up!" had angered her.

As she walked toward Sett, she spotted a stone, then pushed aside a group of children, handed the stone to the leader of the group, and said sternly, "Smash him."

"This proprietress, we just wanted to teach her a lesson." Link shuddered as he looked at the stone handed to him.

I swear to God!

He just wanted to teach Sett lesson, to beat Sett up, but he really didn't intend to kill Sett!

Ultimately, Link is just a child.

But the woman, upon hearing this, forcefully shoved the stone into his hand, saying with exasperation, "I was capable of killing people at your age, and now you can't even bring yourself to hit someone?"

"Smash him! He just insulted me."

Link's lips moved, wanting to ask her, "Sett insulted you, but what does that have to do with me?"

Besides, Sett just told you to shut up; he didn't actually insult you!

But looking into the other person's beautiful blue eyes, Link didn't dare to ask the question.

Because this woman is crazy.

This is something many people in the village know. When the repair shop couple first arrived in the village, because of her beauty, some men couldn't help but make some flirtatious remarks to her. They didn't say anything too offensive, after all, the people of Ionia are simple and honest. Although they have changed a lot because of the Noxians, this change is happening slowly.

Therefore, what the man said was mostly phrases like "You're so pretty" and "You're such a cute girl."

But what was the result?

Before her man could react, she pulled out a pistol and fired, scaring the talkative man into shutting up. Then, she knocked out his teeth with a few punches and kicks.

From then on, the villagers both loved and feared the couple. They loved their skills but feared the proprietress's tendency to do things that were incomprehensible to ordinary people.

"Smash him! If you don't smash him, I'll smash you!"

The woman suddenly spoke, blowing a tuft of blue hair across her forehead. She was clearly so cute; judging by her appearance alone, she didn't even look much Link and the others. But... the things she said were always so frightening.

"It's almost time, have you made up your mind?"

Seeing the woman narrow her eyes and a smile appear on her lips, Link gritted his teeth, grabbed the stone with both hands, picked it up, and hurled Sett.

Sett paused, seeing the stone about to fly onto his head. His first thought wasn't—how painful that would be.

Rather, I'm worried about whether I'll be left with scars.

But just as the rock was about to hit Sett, a gunshot rang out.

"Bang!"

The bullet, flashing with blue light, pierced through the stone, shattering it as it fell to the ground.

Sett and the children all looked at the woman, who was holding a beautiful pistol in her right hand and blowing on the smoking barrel with her lips pursed. Seeing everyone looking at her, she grinned and said, "Hehe, I was just kidding, are you really going to smash it?"

Link: "."

"Since you're being so obedient, how about we play another game called Escape Party?"

She suddenly raised her right hand towards the children, licked her lips, squinted one eye, and made a aiming motion.

This action froze the children's bodies.

They'd never seen anything like it before!

"This game is like this: you run for ten seconds, I shoot, and we see if I can hit you."

"Come on, I'll start counting now."

"1!"

"Huh, not running away?"

"Bang!"

The bullet grazed Link's cheek, and the arrogant boy who had been beating Sett earlier let out a scream like a little girl, then turned and scrambled away.

"2!"

The woman recited.

The other children were also terrified and screamed as they ran away.

They, who had been united before, were now running separately, each child giving it their all, afraid that if they were too slow, they would become the target of this blue-haired madman.

Sett stared blankly at the scene.

He sat on the ground, looked up, and saw sunlight shining on the repair shop owner's hair and profile.

With a radiant smile, she held up her gun, stood on tiptoe, waved to the children's retreating figures, and shouted, "Bye-bye!"

"The party was fantastic!"

She said happily.

"Madman! Madman!"

"Aren't you afraid you'll actually kill them?!" Sett looked at her, feeling fear.

"Hmm? My marksmanship is superb. Apart from Vi's female cops, no one can shoot as well as me. There's no way I can hit them." The woman pulled up her robe, revealing denim shorts and a tempting glimpse of her waist. She tucked the gun behind her back, squatted down, and looked at Sett.

"I thought you would fight back against them. It's infuriating! Why didn't you fight back?"

"Li Ke said you have your reasons, but I really don't understand. You clearly could beat them, but you don't dare to fight them. Why is that? Is it because of your mother's nonsense?"

"You'd be better off listening to me than your mother."

"You"

"Call me Jinx, and say thank you for helping you."

Sett laughed angrily, pointed at Jinx's face, and shouted, "You're insane!"

Jinx paused, then smiled and nodded. "Crazy?"

"Yes, yes, that's what everyone says about me~"

"But there's one thing everyone hasn't figured out, and that's that I'm a pampered lunatic~ Alright, hand over the lunchbox." Jinx stretched out her hand and beckoned to Sett.

"I won't let you come to my house if you don't give me a lunchbox."

"Although Li Ke likes you a lot, I hate you, understand?" she said threateningly.

Sett reached into his pocket, took out the carefully protected lunch bag, and placed it in Jinx's hand, shouting, "Who wants to go to your house!"

Jinx opened the cloth bag, picked up a piece of rice and started eating.

Delicious! I love it!

She chewed and looked at Sett, then said with a grin, "Then you're not going?"

"."

"No, you've already packed your lunch, I have to go."

"I don't want to learn your weird and wonderful knowledge; I just want to make my mom happy, understand?"

"I did it for my mom!" Sett immediately said.

"Hmph, whatever."

"I don't think the tortoise can learn anything from me either; you're too stupid."

"Your mom still wants you to go to college? Ha! With your turtle-like personality, you'll end up getting beaten up by college students!"

Jinx chuckled and got up to walk into the woods.

Sett hesitated for two seconds, then gritted his teeth and jogged after him.

All right

He had to stay at the repair shop for at least an afternoon before going home, otherwise his mother would bombard him with questions, as if she was worried that Sett hadn't gone to the repair shop.

Secondly, although the repair shop owner's wife is scary and annoying, the repair shop owner is very kind and gentle.

Sett doesn't like Jinx, but he likes a man named Li Ke.

He always smiled gently, as if he were one with the nature of Ionia, and he exuded a pleasant and refreshing scent that made people feel good towards him.

For Mr. Li Ke,

I'll go!