Jimmy froze as he heard the voice. His brows furrowed and a serious look grew on his face.

Jimmy took a long look at the gaudy ring before forcing it into Atlas's hands.

"Hold onto it real quick. I guess I need to finish up with this before we keep moving. Whatever you do, little master, don't come out!"

With that, Jimmy slipped out of the tent to confront the origin of the voice.

Atlas stood inside patiently. He wasn't sure who had called out to Jimmy. He only had a vague image of the people outside. The sun's light shined onto the tent, allowing little Atlas to see silhouettes outside.

Atlas was able to see three - no - four figures outside waiting for Jimmy. When compared with Jimmy's figure, they were like giants.

"Runt, where were you today?! We were waiting for you to show up with the loot! Hoffin got beaten to a pulp because of you! You better have an explanation for this!"

The lead figure berated Jimmy as his loud voice boomed outside.

"Why can't you steal stuff on your own? You don't pay well for the items, and I'm not even a member of your gang! I don't have to bring stuff to you everyday! I'm gonna live a proper life now! I'm not working with you guys again!"

One of the back figures seemed to speak up.

"So what if you're not in the gang? Brat, you're already affiliated with us! Hoffin broke his arm because of you! If you don't pay up double, we'll waste your arm too!"

Another figure added on.

"Not just one! We'll break both of them! Let's see you live a proper life as a cripple, yeah?!"

Atlas was pale as he hid in the tent. He didn't understand the situation. He didn't know why those figures shouted or why they wanted to hurt Jimmy. He was still too young and still too sheltered to understand the struggles the commoners faced.

"I don't have money to pay you back right now... I'll pay you back later. I promise. Can't you guys just leave me alone now?"

It seemed Jimmy was acting more submissive after hearing the threats.

In response, the lead figure softened his tone.

"Hmm. You don't have money? I could've sworn you've been saving up for what? Three years now? What happened to that money?"

"W-well, obviously I gotta eat, so I don't have much anymore...."

Jimmy needed the money to make up for his past mischief so he could be a 'good' person. Only when he righted his wrongs could he be friends with Atlas.There were many people in the town he had wronged. He hadn't spent any of the money he earned off them, and had been diligently saving up. He barely had enough to pay back the people he stole from, much less to pay these thugs.

The lead figure crouched down in order to look Jimmy in the eyes. The figure's soft voice once again rose to an angry yell.

"Don't lie to me brat! I know you've got money with you!"

The shadow of the man sent a powerful slap at Jimmy's face. The figure of the young teen twirled before falling to the ground. The man's silhouette proceeded to kick Jimmy's body over and over again. After a full minute of beatings, the man's shadow stopped and pointed at the tent, making Atlas's heart momentarily stop in fear.

"Go thrash the tent. The Brat definitely has a lot save up in there! Heh, after this, let's go have a good time at the brothel, yeah?"

Hearing the man's words, Atlas paled. He backed up to the end farthest from the tent entrance. On his way back, he stumbled and fell onto the loose pile of hay.

While little Atlas was still getting up, the tarp of the tent was torn off, revealing Jimmy's assailants.

All four were muscular men. They were all deeply tanned from the hot sun. They were wearing dirty, torn rags and many scars covered their bodies. The thug who beat Jimmy, and who Atlas assumed was the boss, was bald. He was also a bit cleaner than his companions. His rags looked newer and he looked healthier overall.

Atlas's gaze then shifted to the hurt Jimmy. An ugly image was imprinted in Atlas's head. The orange-haired boy lay on the ground as if asleep. Heavy, irregular breaths struggled to travel in and out of his mouth. His face was beginning to swell, and his right eye was already purple. He looked too weak to even open his eyes.

The thugs were surprised to see Atlas hiding in the tent. A sick smile then arose from their mouths.

"Oh ho ho?! What's this? A little master?"

"Kid, why don't you scram while you can? We don't wanna mess with the noble families. If you prove to be stubborn, though, we aren't afraid of showing you what it's like in a dog eat dog world!"

The other thugs noticed the tin box containing Jimmy's saved up money.

One of the thugs reached down to pick up the tin box, but before he could, Atlas let out his voice.

"Don't touch it! If you do, then you're a bad person! Jimmy was going to return the money he stole! He wants to be a good person!"

A smirk crept up the lead thug's mouth. He looked back down at Jimmy's beaten body.

"What the heck is this, brat? Did you think you can live a 'proper' life because you can be a 'good' person? Ha! HA! This is too funny..."

The man wiped tears at his eyes as he broke out into a hysterical laughter. He then suddenly stomped onto Jimmy's stomach before looking back at Atlas.

"Noble's brat, get out of here now. I'm being serious now. There is no such thing as a good or bad person in this world. There are only the powerful and the powerless. We do what we can to survive. It's not something a spoon fed brat like you would understand."

Atlas was terrified of these people. They beat Jimmy up just because of money. To Atlas, this made absolutely made no sense. Money wasn't something Atlas would fight over. Back home, there was more money than he could count. Atlas's mind couldn't wrap around the thugs' reasoning.

"I can't just leave! If I leave Jimmy here, you'll keep hurting him! If I let you hurt him, I won't be a good person!"

The lead thug held the bridge of his nose. He appeared annoyed with Atlas's answer.

"Why couldn't you be like the other nobles and ignore this...."

He lazily looked at his companions and let out a command.

"Go teach this little noble how cruel the world really is. The brat thinks everything's as simple as good and bad."

Seeing the men approach him, cold sweat began pouring down Atlas's back.

The men were closing in on him.

Step.

Step.

Step.

The approaching figures were like a coming judgement to Atlas. Their shadows loomed over the boy, and his knees gave out. The little Atlas looked helpless in front of these men. Just as they were about reach him, an old voice came out from behind him.

"If one of you lays a hand on the young master Everwish, you'll all be going to the gallows."

The words stopped the thugs in their tracks. Surprise flushed their faces as they heard the name 'Everwish'"

Atlas slowly turned his head around. He recognized the voice, and knew that help had come!

Walking out from one of the dark alleys was a tall, middle aged man. Many wrinkles lined his face and only a few hairs sprouted from his head.

Stephen was here!

The gray haired butler peered at the lead thug.

"This is as you said, a 'dog eat dog world,' but what do you think should happen when a tiger graces you with its presence?"