Forced to Perform on the Streets

Mia was still young, and she had never seen such a gruesome sight. She burst into tears.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

The clothes Matthews had been biting fell from his mouth. Panting heavily, he said, "It's fine. I'm treating the wound."

Although the injury hadn't reached his organs, it had still left a gash in his stomach. Matthews knew he could die if it became infected. Even though he was in a different world now, he still wasn't sure whether bacteria existed here.

But he, Matthews, only had one life. Naturally, he couldn't gamble on something so uncertain.

Mia touched the wound that had been cauterized shut and cried as she tried to bandage it. Matthews didn't refuse. A moment later, he looked at the familiar bow and smiled to himself.

He could have slipped away as soon as he woke up and left Mia to fend for herself—a little girl who might become a burden. But when he saw the bow she'd tied around his wound, Matthews couldn't bring himself to abandon the seven-year-old and let her die so young.

"All right, good girl."

Matthews pulled the little girl close and flicked her nose.

"If you keep crying, you won't be pretty anymore."

The trick worked. Mia nodded in her childish voice.

"Mia will be good. Mia will be brave. Mia won't cry."

Looking at the little girl, Matthews ruffled her hair and thought, I came to this world all alone. You're one of the few bonds I have here.

"All right, I'm hungry too. Go get your brother some food."

"Okay."

After that, because he'd been injured, Matthews walked even more carefully than before.

Matthews never imagined that, as a transmigrator and someone the bandits had called a Level Six Warrior, he would end up performing on the streets just to get something to eat.

He hadn't had many silver coins to begin with, and this was an area where people lived, so there was no chance of hunting game. He had no team, either, so he couldn't take mercenary jobs.

"Brother, do we really have to shout?"

Matthews didn't want to do this either, but his stomach was growling, and it wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"Go ahead. Otherwise, we'll both starve to death."

Mia gathered her courage, struck the gong, and called out, "If you have money, please spare some! If you don't, lend us your support! My brother and I have just arrived in this fine city. Let us put on a show for you!"

Matthews began with a set of martial arts forms, earning cheers from the crowd, then performed a few moves with his sword.

Not many townspeople gave them money, but it was enough to feed the two of them for a day or two.

Just then, someone in the crowd called out, "Make way! Young Master Rory is coming!"

"Run!"

"Hey, hey—!"

Matthews watched as the crowd that had gathered around them scattered like birds. Before he could greet anyone, a fat man came over, surrounded by attendants. He addressed Matthews and Mia, who was holding the gong. "That's an unusual act. Come on, keep performing!"

"Sorry, young master. We've already finished our show!"

A servant immediately jumped out and said, "Insolent fools! Are you looking down on Young Master Rory?"

This was the first time Matthews had encountered such a bootlicker. He scoffed inwardly.

Then he instantly put on a look of fear and trepidation and said to the servant, "This commoner failed to recognize a true gem. So this is Young Master Rory! I'll perform for you right away."

Rory was only seventeen or eighteen. His family doted on him, and at that age, he was entering his rebellious, overly dramatic phase—the age when saving face mattered most.

How could he tolerate some country bumpkin mistaking his servant for him? He immediately shouted, "Are you blind?"

Matthews looked even more frightened and asked cautiously, "Then who is this young master?"

"Hmph! I'm Rory Doyle, the third young master of the Doyle Family!"

"Oh, so you're the famous third young master of the Doyle Family! That young master was so imperious and imposing that I mistook him for you. This country bumpkin has never seen the world. I deserve to die!"

"Hmph. Someone take this bootlicker away and deal with him!"

The third young master, Rory, snorted and ordered his men to drag the bootlicker away and deal with him. Then he looked coldly at Matthews and said, "Hmph. Don't let me see you again."

Rory was in a terrible mood. He'd brought shame on the Doyle Family in front of everyone today. The city lord was currently choosing a spouse, and his family were merchants. Naturally, they wanted to build a connection with the city lord, so they couldn't afford any more trouble.

That was why he let the two commoners in front of him go. Otherwise, he would have torn them apart to vent his anger!

Meanwhile, on a nearby upper floor, a female mage had witnessed the entire scene.

"Nina, that Rory Doyle is so obnoxious. He bullies commoners! You can't marry him!"

The female mage smiled and glanced at her classmate before saying, "That 'commoner' you're talking about isn't simple, either. He has the strength of a Level Six Warrior."

"How is that possible?"

"A Level Six Warrior could make a lot of money doing anything. How could he have ended up performing on the street?"

The female mage smiled and continued, "Look at his face. His skin is smooth, and the skin you can see is fair. No ordinary commoner could have skin like that. He might be a noble, too."

"Mm, he's so handsome."

The female mage patted her classmate on the shoulder. Seeing her lovestruck expression, she shook her head and said, "You..."

Kelly, who had been shaken by Nina, finally snapped out of it. She asked in disbelief, "Huh? If he's a noble, why is he performing on the street?"

Nina teased her classmate. "How should I know? Want me to call him over so you can ask him yourself?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Nina shook her head again. Her classmate came from a noble family in the imperial capital. She'd known since childhood that she would be married off for her family's benefit, so she'd come here with Nina to get away from it all.

Now, seeing her fall for a man whose background was a mystery, Nina quickly said, "All right, I was joking. You're not actually going to call him over, are you?"

Kelly nodded, showing that she was serious.

"He's really handsome. He's nothing like those spoiled young masters in the Imperial Capital."

Nina felt there was no hope for her lovestruck friend, so she said, "Come on. Even if he might be a noble, your status is worlds apart. There's no chance you could be together."

"Ugh!"

Kelly sighed, too. Unless she became a Ninth-Level or Saint Realm mage, she had no chance of escaping becoming a tool for her family's political marriage. Or her lover would have to be powerful enough to make her family abandon the idea of an arranged marriage—or she could elope with him.