“May I ask which boss you work for, miss?” The hooligans, sensing an unusual aura, didn’t dare to underestimate him. The one who seemed to be the leader stepped forward to ask.
Su Mo glanced at the spirited kid being stepped on underfoot and thought for a moment before saying, “My boss is Takahashi Mitsuyo.”
“T-Takahashi Mitsuyo?” The leader was taken aback. “Never heard of him.”
A lackey immediately rushed up and whispered a reminder: “The instructor at the Loyalty and Righteousness Martial Arts Hall is called Takahashi Mitsuyo.”
The leader frowned upon hearing this. “Oh, so he knows Higashino, huh? How strong is this Takahashi Mitsuyo?”
“Seems to be F-rank.”
“Oh, then no problem. Our boss is E-rank.”
Once sure they could handle Takahashi Mitsuyo, the hooligans suddenly dropped their polite façade, surrounding Su Mo with ill intent.
“Higashino-kun, since this beautiful lady wants to save you, we’ll let you off this time,” said the leader, a principled nine-fingered redhead.
The spirited kid scrambled up from the ground, wiped the blood from his nose and mouth, and glared at Su Mo: “I don’t know her, and I don’t need her help.”
“My brother is talking to you! Didn’t you hear?” One of them lashed out with a kick. The spirited kid dodged quickly, actually avoiding it.
The kicker let out an impressed “Oh!” and the two got into a tussle.
The spirited kid was skinnier and weaker than his opponent. Though agile, he was no match and ended up being punched to the ground again.
At that moment, a bloody glint gradually appeared in the kid’s eyes. His gaze darted around and he snatched up a piece of scrap metal nearby. Taking advantage of his opponent’s distraction, he lunged, aiming for the neck.
But his hand stopped mid-air. He turned his head to see an extraordinarily beautiful face.
“You…”
The hooligans were stunned too: How… how did she get over there just now…
Su Mo held the kid’s wrist with one hand and took the metal piece from him with the other. It was already smeared with the kid’s own blood.
“Being ruthless in a situation like this isn’t bad. But have you thought about it? Even if this sneak attack succeeded, you’d just get beaten half to death by the others anyway.”
“Are you telling me not to fight back?” The kid growled like a beast on the brink of explosion.
Su Mo stared straight into his eyes, speaking gravely: “No. I’m telling you: ‘To catch rebels, first catch their chief.’ You should have targeted the redhead. Then threatened the others.”
The kid was unconvinced: “A true strong person…”
Su Mo rapped him on the head: “Are you the true master of happiness, pretending here? Listen, there’s a saying: ‘A gentleman will wait ten years to take his revenge.’ Figure that out yourself.”
With that, he stood up and waved a hand at the hooligans: “All of you, leave.”
They were all ordinary people; fighting them wasn’t interesting.
Unexpectedly, the redhead wasn’t having it: “Miss, we’re not laying a hand on you because you’re a woman. Don’t actually think we’re easy to push around.”
Su Mo shook his head helplessly and turned: “Watch closely.”
Suddenly, his body went limp, and he stumbled, almost losing his balance.
The redhead covered his face, snickering: “Miss, you—”
Before he could finish, a sudden chill touched his neck: “Spare me, sis…”
“You all, stay right where you are. Don’t move. I can’t guarantee my hand won’t slip.”
The redhead was scared half to death: “Listen to sis! Don’t move!”
The others immediately froze on the spot.
Su Mo jerked his chin towards the spirited kid. Let’s go.
The two of them, with the redhead in tow, walked all the way to the other end of the alley before letting him go. The guy took off running for his life.
“See? This is called ‘to catch rebels, first catch their chief.'”
The kid’s eyes gradually cleared, and a look of admiration began to appear when he looked at Su Mo.
Thud—
“Please, take me as your disciple! I want to learn real skills from you!” He could tell that even without taking a hostage, Su Mo could have easily defeated them all.
Su Mo ignored him, heading home on his own: “Train well with Instructor Takahashi. What he has is enough for you to learn.”
Then he suddenly turned back: “I saved you just now, right?”
The kid nodded.
“Then you have to promise me: don’t tell anyone about what happened today.”
“I promise!” The kid pounded his chest, vowing solemnly.
Su Mo left, satisfied.
Actually, it wouldn’t matter much if word got out. The strength he showed today was only at an ordinary person’s level, not even F-rank, so he wasn’t worried about it breaking his cover.
Back home, Chiba Keiko was still absent today.
However, a person from the Samurai Sect had come to the house, saying their superior had taken a liking to Su Mo’s innate talent and wanted to make an exception by taking him as a disciple into the Samurai Sect.
Chiba Mitsuaki had been quite pleased at first, but Su Mo refused, citing his low strength and desire for an ordinary life. The visitor had no choice but to leave, disgruntled.
No need to think about it; it was definitely that old pervert Ueshibumi Kazu who sent them. Who knows if he’s aware of Su Mo’s “true” identity or not, but he keeps harassing.
The next day, Su Mo went to work as usual, just a bit earlier.
He bought breakfast on the street, eating as he walked. By the time he arrived at the martial arts hall, he was full.
“Good morning, Mr. Takahashi.”
“Why are you here so early?” Takahashi Mitsuyo was quite surprised.
For someone like Su Mo, considering both his status and his cleaning duties, there really was no need to come this early.
Su Mo stated it as if it were obvious: “Yesterday I saw the students start their morning training quite early, so I came earlier today too.”
“Suit yourself!” Takahashi Mitsuyo still didn’t look pleased, blowing his whistle to wake everyone up.
Most of the students lived at the martial arts hall, with only a few coming in the mornings and on weekends, spending the rest of their time at home.
The spirited kid was one of those who lived at the hall.
The students quickly assembled outside, and upon seeing Su Mo at the hall so early, some immediately started whispering:
“That lady is so pitiful, being exploited by Mr. Takahashi. Having to come this early just to sweep.”
“In my opinion, she probably likes Mr. Takahashi. After all, girls like men who seem aloof, handsome, and mature.”
“Shh, keep it down…”
Su Mo watched from a distance, reminded of the scene during morning exercises in high school—everyone was just like this.
The moment the spirited kid stepped out and saw Su Mo, his eyes lit up immediately. Whether it was to perform in front of him or because of his newfound realization, he stood exceptionally straight and proper today.
Takahashi Mitsuyo wanted to scold someone but couldn’t find a reason, so he had to swallow it.
The students had scheduled rest periods after practicing for a while.
During these breaks, the bolder ones would come over to chat with Su Mo.
Su Mo was quite gentle with these younger boys and girls, which made him well-liked.
Gradually, almost everyone would gather around him during breaks, while no one approached Takahashi Mitsuyo.
A flicker passed through Takahashi’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything, just stood there alone, practicing on a wooden post.
Approaching noon, loud noises suddenly erupted from outside the gate. Among them were a few voices Su Mo found somewhat familiar.
The spirited kid, however, lost his composure. His first reaction was to look at Su Mo, his eyes filled with panic.
Su Mo gave him a knowing smile, signaling him not to worry.
Takahashi Mitsuyo looked toward the gate. A burly, shirtless man with a shaved head was shouting outside: “Which blind bastard hurt my brother yesterday? Get out here now, kowtow thirty times to apologize, and I’ll let it slide. Otherwise, I’ll smash this lousy martial arts hall!”