Ezra tossed the gang conquering objective to the back of his mind as a thing of later deliberation.
After all, it was a long term goal, and so long as he kept up with his plans, achieving it wouldn't take much effort.
'Now, what to do with this?' Ezra thought while staring at the coin pile, but the answer came to him an instant later.
He picked up multiple low quality healing potions and went up the stairs into the wrecked bar where the gang members were as meek as mice.
Not a single voice could be heard as they watched Ezra's every action nervously.
It was quite a comical scene to see the eyes of more than Twenty men carefully follow the movements of a small boy.
Ezra stopped in front of one gang member that had his four limbs dislocated by him, put the potions a safe distance away before…
*Crack* *AHH-Mm* *Crack* *Crack*
The sounds of bones snapping echoed out, followed by a scream that was muffled by the snapping sounds that continued until Ezra stood straight, looking at the gang member whose eyes were bloodshot, not because of anger, but because of pain.
Before he could wonder what else that little devil wanted from him, a warm liquid flowed through his mouth and he felt inexplicably refreshed, before…
*Craaaack* *Craaaack*
Another round of bone snapping sounds echoed, this time more vicious and louder than the last.
The victim was in so much pain that he couldn't even scream. His body bent in awkward angles before settling down after a good three minutes of bone snapping.
The spectating gang members were already sweating bullets as they looked at each other's faces while saying no words, because the meaning was immediately understood.
The members were about to bow and beg, when one of them spoke out in a surprised tone.
"Hey, look over there, Joss is getting up"
The other members quickly narrowed their eyes to see if it was actually true, even though the person wasn't far away.
Lo and behold, the man's chest heaved up and down as his bloodshot eyes gradually regained its luster, before…
"UGH!" the man, Joss, groaned heavily, before taking deep breaths to calm himself and taking a look at his healed body, when a familiar sound rang out again.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
The nostalgic sound of bones snapping into place sent chills down Joss's spine as he turned his head backwards to see the boy who had healed him do the same for others, and his hands were moving faster.
The standing gang members now understood what he was doing. No, they had seen the healing potion but they thought the boy was ransacking their storage.
Instead, he started healing those whose bones he broke by snapping their bones back in place, before pouring a healing potion in their mouths.
Within minutes, Joss was able to stand, although groggily. He only had to rest his bone for a while, a long while, but he wasn't going to live as a cripple.
The gang members felt a bit moved as they saw this, but when they remembered the way he had killed some of their comrades, different thoughts came into their minds as they wondered why he was healing them.
After all…it couldn't be that he wanted to beat them up all over again, right? Maybe he would send them to the city's knight squad and have them put in the prisons?
Thoughts like this flew into their heads as they found themselves becoming more terrified rather than calm.
By now, Ezra was picking out glass particles from the body of the gang member he kicked when the boss woke up.
He had healed the bodies of ten fractured members, only a few were remaining, and while the gang members were thinking of terrifying things, Ezra's thoughts and reasons were actually very simple.
'If I want them to work for me in earnest, I'll have to carefully apply the carrot and the stick'
Ezra wanted them as his minions who would do his bidding, but he couldn't force them or use fear to do so, because that would only worsen the situation.
No, he had to make them understand that he could be as bad as a devil and as good as a saint depending on how they behaved.
The process seemed tedious, but it would be completely worth it, considering that he planned to expand the group into a temporary base and an organization to fulfill his plans.
As he finished removing the glass particles, which thankfully were mostly stuck at the back, buttocks and legs, he quickly emptied a healing potion in the goon's mouth as he moved on to the next person, when three figures entered the bar.
Ezra looked over, only to smile thereafter.
It was Sir John/Fredrick along with James and a girl who he would presume was the sister James was talking about.
James and the girl approached Ezra bowing at the same time. Tears dripped from their eyes for a few seconds before they cleaned it off and raised their heads to look at Ezra.
'Would you look at this? My eyes weren't wrong after all'
Ezra thought as he lightly nodded while holding his chin. He saw neither fear nor joy projected in the faces of the two siblings, but conviction, determination and resolve.
They hadn't said a word, but Ezra completely understood them as well as the meaning of their expression.
They had learned that there was no such thing as a free gift in this world, and they were ready to do whatever it took to repay such gratitude.
Ezra's manners had also granted them an insight on how cruel and benevolent he could be. A ruthless killer and a kind healer.
Ezra thought of these things in seconds before the two siblings unilaterally opened their mouths to speak…
"Don't worry, there is no need for words"
Ezra cut them off but…it seemed they misunderstood his intentions, because…
"No, Sir, we wish to pledge our loyalty to you, please don't turn us down" James hurriedly said while staring downward.
"Who said anything about turning you down? I understand your feelings and I accept it, but you'll have to prove it with action" Kevin/Ezra said.
"Then…what do you need me to do?" James asked straightforwardly.
"You shall be told in due time. For now…hmm, you have many beggar friends, don't you?" Ezra asked.
"Yes, My lord" James said.
"Good, then- wait, don't call me lord or master or any of that, big brother's good enough. We can't have you drawing needless attention now can we?"
"I understand, b-big b-broth-er" James said.
"Good. Now, you'll go round up your beggar friends, the younger they are the better, and bring them here, got it?"
"Yes, my-"
"Big brother" Ezra corrected him.
"Big brother" James said as he stood straight to begin the work he was assigned, but his "big brother" abruptly called out.
James, you never introduced her to me" Ezra said, pointing at the girl.
"What a blunder. She's my sister and her name's Ruby" James said.
"Hmm, I guessed as much, but weren't you bedridden before?" Ezra asked.
"She-" James wanted to answer but was interrupted.
"I'm sorry big brother, I became better thanks to Sir John's potion. I insisted on seeing the face of my benefactor" Ruby said with a meek voice.
"There's no need to be sorry, after all, you're my little sister from now on. And you'll be working for me just like your brother" Ezra said.
"Then I'll be in your care from now on, big brother" Ruby added.
"Likewise" Ezra said, lightly bowing.
Meanwhile, James could only look on dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. Hadn't they just met? Why was she talking to him so naturally, when normally she acted shy in front of others?
'Well, I guess it's a good thing they get along so well, but why am I feeling a little left out' James thought, before saying…
"Since you two are getting along fine, I'll be heading out" he said, leaving no room for argument as he dashed out of the wrecked bar.
Ezra looked at Sir Fredrick, who hadn't said a thing since he got back. He seemed to be in deep thought about something when Ezra asked…
"Fredrick, do you think this healing potion can repair teeth?" Ezra asked while pointing at the next guy whose jaw he shifted with a kick, not noticing he had started calling Fredrick without honorifics.
Fredrick was pulled out of his reverie, before staring at the person and answering…
"It might heal his bones back into shape, but I doubt it can stick removed teeth back. He can wait for it to re-grow"
"Hmm, that makes sense, but that means…" Ezra's voice trailed off as he looked at the boss with a slight wince.
Needless to say, the potion which couldn't restore a tooth couldn't restore an egg, maybe mid-level healing potions would do it, but those were worth several gold coins, which would essentially blow his cover.
'He'll just have to manage with one for the meantime, maybe something in the treasury would help' Ezra thought, before suddenly remembering the reason why he entered the city.
'I've wasted too much time, better make things quick' Ezra thought before emptying a healing potion in the mouth of the gang member and mover subsequently faster.
But the remaining members would never forget the pain they felt.
*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRAA…*
Bones snapped so loudly that the onlookers looked away, while the remaining gang members couldn't even scream and mostly fell unconscious due to the unbearable pain they felt because of Ezra's rapid bone snapping.
Ten minutes passed and Ezra was done with that, so he called a gang-member who began shivering, with his teeth clattering like it was ice season.
"Hey"
"Y-Yes sir"
"Go down there, and clean up the mess" Ezra said as he pointed to the stairs leading to the gang storage.
"Yes, I understand, what else?"
"Don't you dare steal anything, or else…"
"I-Is that all?"
"Of course it is, what were you expecting?" Ezra asked with a raised brow.
"N-Nothing, of course"
"Good, you can go" Ezra said as the gang member sighed in relief, quickly moving away before the boy changed his mind.
Seeing that the pee would soon be taken care off, Ezra darted his eyes towards the gang members and asked…
"Where are the secret files kept?"
The answer came immediately.
"I don't know, please don't kill me"
"I swear I don't know anything either"
"Only the boss and his two boys know where it's kept"
The gang members answered and Ezra didn't think they were lying, especially considering the current situation.
'Do I have to wake him up?" Ezra thought, looking at the unconscious boss.
At that moment…
"UGH!"
A loud groan of agony echoed.
The boss had woken up.
