Part V

They turned to find three big men standing behind them, each very angry at something. The man turned away, and one of the men behind him grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around.

"Don't turn your back on me, you little maggot! You responsible for this?" He pointed down at the man on the floor with a headache. The man in the stool turned away again.

"No, he is. If he hadn't tried to threaten this woman into sleeping with him, I wouldn't have had to do that. It's his own fault. I just did what was needed." He started on the next mug of water, drinking this one slowly. The man behind him knocked it out of his hand.

"Hey!"

"We got us a hero! Well, hero, since you decided my brother here was a villain and was more important than this bitch, I guess we'll have to play the bad guys, won't we?" His friends smiled. It had been awhile since they'd had a fight. They were getting antsy. 'Hero' stood up calmly and faced them with a look that let everyone know there was fire in his eyes. No one backed down.

"Is the brief thrill of a bar fight really worth losing your lives over? Well, fine! But just know that you're about to die at the hands of...Stradi, the Genocidal." Two of the men, the ones who had been silent, gasped and ran out. The other one stood his ground. The two men, the 'hero' and the villain, stared into each other's eyes, neither one willing to look away first. Marianne stared at 'Hero' as a wicked grin began to stretch across his face.

'Stradi!? But...he's a demon! Evil and carnage incarnate! Why would he help me?'

The villain drew a crossbow and aimed it at 'Stradi'. "Don't move a muscle. You are under arrest."

"You're a sheriff?" Marianne gasped.

"You're a sheriff?!" 'Stradi' gasped. "They'll let anyone uphold the law here. If the safety of this village is really your concern, then just walk away before I have to destroy it."

"I won't because it's not. My only concern is the price on your head, Stradi. Now, come along quietly and I'll make sure they execute you quickly."

"You really don't care about this place, do you? You only want money."

"That's right. These people can all rot for all I care. If I can live rich, I'd kill them all myse--*" The speech was cut short by a chair splintering on the man's head.

"Selfish FOOL!!" A man held the former-chair's legs in his hands, and gnashed his teeth. "You'd let me die for some money, huh!? Me and my family!? I'll kill you first!" By now, the sheriff's brother had gotten up and, in a show of brotherly love, tackled the man with the chair legs, temporarily foregoing his pursuit of unwilling sex. As soon as he hit the floor, someone who had been sitting with him got up and joined the fight, then another person and another until most of the bar was involved in a chaotic battle royale. Chairs and tables broke, jaws snapped, limbs were bent and broken. Punches landed with such frequency that it almost sounded like one continuous blow. 'Stradi' grabbed Marianne by the hand and ran out with her in the confusion. She blushed as he led her this way.

They got out of the town's border and stopped to rest.

"Thank you again. You saved me twice today. But why? I always heard you were....malicious." Marianne spoke timidly. 'Stradi' looked at her questioningly until he realized what she was talking about.

"Oh! Ha ha ha! I'm not really Stradi."

"You aren't?"

"Of course not. Stradi would've helped that man drag you away, then killed him and **** you himself."

"oh... So, what_ is _your name?"

He looked at her and spoke with mild suspicion. "You first."

"My name is Marianne Valengard." She curtsied slightly, a habit from childhood she had still not broken.

"Sagus Bolinheim."

"Sagus. That's such a nice name. Sagus."

"Thanks," he said, unused to the compliment. "I, uh...like your name, too."

A short stretch of quiet passed between them before Marianne ended it. "I guess after all that, I won't be getting the job I went in there for."

Sagus chuckled. "Probably not."

Marianne smiled and spoke in a mock-serious tone. "Well, mr. Bolinheim, since your heroics lost the job for me, I think I should go with you on your travels. You owe me that much at least." She found it hard to contain a laugh. He was shocked at how forward she was.

"I owe you? Hey, if you want, I can take you right back to the cafe. I'm sure at least one of those men would be happy to see you."

Her tone changed. "No, please don't! I didn't mean it! I was only joking."

He glared at her, then smiled. "So was I." They both laughed.

"May I travel with you? I don't have anywhere else to go, and maybe I can repay you for helping me today."

"It'll be dangerous. You might die."

"No one is beyond ****'s grip. I might as well die helping someone rather than just getting attacked by a mugger."

"...Well put. But I wouldn't feel right putting you in harm's way, especially for my own grudges."

"You'll just have to protect me, then." She blushed and smiled. 'What's wrong with me?' she thought. '_I'm acting like a character from one of the stories I used to read. Like a princess talking to a brave, handsome knight. Then again he did save me, twice. And he is very handsome, or the parts of his face I can see are, anyway. So, he is sort of my knight. Still, this isn't like me! Why am I acting so different around this man...Sagus?_'

Sagus sighed. 'Strange,' he thought. 'Usually after I help someone, I can just leave them where I found them, no second thoughts. But somehow it feels like if I leave here without her, I'll regret it. I've left pretty girls behind before. None as pretty as her, but still, pretty nonetheless. Maybe...maybe I should take her with me. It'll be good to have company for a change.'

"I guess I will."

"I can go with you then!?"

"I suppose so." Marianne cheered and threw her arms around Sagus.

"Thank you so much! I'll do my very best to help you!"