Edward was the first to react. He was surprisingly fleet-footed and nimble. So much so that he somehow managed to throw a bunch of gold coins towards the counter and pocket the items he had previously collected, all while sprinting out the door towards the enraged voice.

The rest looked at each other, dumbfounded. Only for a few moments, though, as they soon rushed after the man. This group was led by Em and Severin. They had a better idea of what just happened and, therefore, managed to accept the situation somewhat faster than the other remaining adventurers; Not to mention the slight lead the two of them had over the group that was crammed on the other side of the room.

The people outside were just as confused. Maybe even more so than the people coming from the inside.

A person that had just a few minutes earlier entered Severin’s store suddenly appeared next to them. Just outside the irregular-shaped area, which was demarcated by the strange wooden fence, all around the wooden hut and made out of the very same material.

By all means, the suddenly translocated person should’ve been the one most confused in this situation.

Instead, he was the first to act. The moment he found himself staring at the building which he had just been inside, he screamed some unintelligible, but obviously angry, words, giving everyone a scare.

Without thinking any further, he started to rush forward like an enraged animal. A comparison which was rather apt considering that the heavily armored tank was using a skill which was commonly referred to by the name ‘bull rush’; A skill used as a gap closer to allow for quick engagement as one slammed, usually shield-first, and with full force, into the enemy.

Edward seemed to have already crossed more than half of the distance separating him from his ward when Timothy, Miriam, and all the others arrived outside.

Just in time to witness Simon’s angry charge.

But before anyone could even think about stopping him, something else happened.

[Automatic defense system activated.]

Neither Severin nor Emily was given enough time to process the notification.

Boom

It sounded almost like an explosion.

The moment Simon would’ve, once again, entered the store’s premises, a massive, translucent, but still clearly visible, purplish barrier manifested itself in his way. The thing was the most saturated at the point of impact and gradually lost its color outwardly. Until it couldn’t be seen anymore. As such, the full extent of the barrier couldn’t be easily observed. Based on the thing’s curvature and positioning, though, just along the wooden fence, no one of the people who had seen this phenomenon doubted that the barrier stretched over all of Severin’s property.

Then, after a second or two, the whole thing disappeared again.

But that wasn’t what had everyone stunned. Using barriers on that scale as a means of defense, while extravagant, wasn’t unheard of, despite its prohibitive costs. No, what scared them was what happened to Simon. Instead of just being blocked, which was usually how any kind of barrier worked, it was as if Simon was the one being charged.

Upon impact, he was helplessly, and with full force, flung backward for more than fifteen meters. Only the fact that Simon, as a tank, could take a lot of punishment and had a rather extensive health pool, prevented him from getting seriously hurt. Meaning he got away with just a few broken bones.

In hindsight, he was very lucky with the spot he had been transported to when blacklisted by Severin. Depending on the initial starting position of his mindless charge, the crash could’ve easily catapulted him off the sides of the mountaintop and down towards his death.

Like this, it was only his ego that was really hurt.

Then hell broke loose.

“What was that?!”

“What the…”

“Did you see this?”

“Wasn’t that Simon?”

“Haha. Whatever that was, it serves him right!”

“What just happened?”

“Did I miss something?”

The voices of around twenty people erupted. Some shouted in amazement, while others missed the whole thing or wondered if they were still inebriated.

Still, others became fearful and skeptically glanced towards the ordinary-looking fence.

Among them, Lynn and Andreas could hear Xander’s audible gulp.

“What was…that?” The people in the immediate vicinity, those that had just come out of the shop, all slowly turned towards Severin for answers.

“That’s a force field…?” No one seemed to be able to spot that Severin himself wasn’t all that confident in his answer.

“That’s what happens to troublemakers!” The girl’s cheerful exclamation caused not only Xander, but all the people who had made a ruckus inside the store, to turn pale. They didn’t exactly understand how this ‘force field’ functioned, and they weren’t too keen on finding out either.

…

Given the chance, Edward would’ve preferred to stay at the mountaintop and get some more information on the mysterious store with its strange powers and incredible products. And as long as he remained physically unharmed, he didn’t mind Simon getting taught a lesson like that, either.

But right now, that sadly wasn’t really an option. Especially now that he had to fear that the young man would be blinded by rage and do something even more stupid than usual.

But, while Simon was indeed seething with rage, he was more levelheaded than expected; Probably fearing to embarrass himself even further. Then again, wouldn’t that be a first? Edward kept such thoughts to himself as he seized the opportunity and somehow managed to relatively quietly and without much resistance, convince Simon to let himself be escorted off the mountaintop. Luckily, at the moment, no one seemed to care about them.

Looking at the eerily calm [Warrior], Edward knew the whole thing wasn’t over yet.

“Did you at least take some of the items with you?” Simon’s voice was very low, barely audible.

“Yes, sir.”

“Give them to me.”

“Yes, sir.” Ed knew better than to mention anything that just happened and calmly obeyed the orders. A few years of training guaranteed that his voice didn’t betray his true feelings.

Simon inspected the tooltips of the items in front of him. More thoroughly this time.

After taking his time, he reluctantly grabbed a red jelly cube and put it into his mouth. While not unbearable, his health points had still taken a hit.

From the side, Ed could see a look of confusion appearing on Simon’s face before he opened his eyes wide in shock. One after the other, as if suddenly driven mad by the previous incident, did he use up every single one of the remaining items. No matter if the advertised effects did stack or not.

Only after every single one of the items was finally gone did Simon seem satisfied. A cold, twisted grin appeared on his face.

“I knew it. That son of a bitch. Head towards the Society’s nearest branch office. Right now!”

Edward didn’t dare to ask what the [Warrior] thought he ‘knew’, and who he was referring to, though he had a vague idea. Instead, he had a very bad feeling as he adjusted the flying ship’s course.

“Yes, sir.”