Eventually, Sirius bought the food for four coins and ate at a table near the inn's entrance, it seemed to be the only one still available.
People kept glancing at him, but Sirius didn't care. His mind was occupied by a more pressing concern: the money he still had.
Eight silver pieces and four copper coins remained. If he kept spending six copper coins per day like today, he'd be left with just four silver pieces and eight copper coins by the time he reached Sephoria. That was far too little. He needed that money to get all the way to Sephoria City, buy a mercenary badge, which alone cost one silver, and still find a place to live.
So, starting today, Sirius would limit himself to one meal per day. That way, he'd still have six silver pieces left. The difference was significant.
A drunken man at the table to his left suddenly staggered toward him.
"Hey, kid, you seem to have a lot of money. How about sharing some with me? Don't worry, I'll pay you back one day!
It was... yet another lie. In just a single day, out of the four people Sirius had spoken to, two had already lied. How could he not be annoyed?
"No thanks. I'll keep my money to myself."
"You seem to misunderstand, boy. That wasn't a question."
Sirius calmly drew his saber and pointed it at the man.
"Come any closer, and you'll lose an arm, sir. I'm already quite irritated by your behavior."
Despite being only fifteen years old, Sirius didn't fear adults in the slightest. In truth, there were only three things he feared:
The death.
The unknown.
And the possibility of failing to revive his grandfather.
A drunken, unarmed middle-aged man? Not frightening at all. No one in this inn had weapons, and an Early Self Vision martial artist like Sirius could easily handle twenty ordinary men. Even if they all came at him at once, he could either fight or flee with ease.
"C...Calm down, kid..."
The man stepped back, then suddenly lunged forward, trying to punch Sirius.
Sirius reacted instinctively. With one swift motion, he sliced off four fingers from the man's right hand. He hadn't expected such recklessness, how could an unarmed man dare to strike someone holding a sword?
Blood spilled from the hand, and the man let out a scream.
"ARGHHH! How dare you?!"
Sirius hadn't wanted to maim him. He didn't enjoy hurting ordinary people. But this was the second time someone had tried to attack him today, and without reason. His patience had reached its limit.
On just his second day outside, Sirius had already drawn blood.
The wounded man grabbed his severed fingers and stumbled backward, yelling:
"Everyone! Kill that brat! I'll pay ten silver coins!"
But no one moved.
"Why?! Didn't you see what he just did?! He cut off my fingers!"
The innkeeper was the first to reply.
"Our lives are worth more than ten silver coins. That young man's clearly a martial artist. There's no point in fighting him, it'd be suicide."
Sirius hadn't wanted to draw attention. He simply wanted to eat in peace. And yet, the entire room now stared at him with fear.
"Can I finish my meal without being disturbed? I'd be grateful."
Ten minutes later, Sirius finished eating, then headed upstairs to his room.
The inn had grown silent. The innkeeper let out a sigh as he stared at the tense atmosphere.
"So he was a Self Vision junior..."
Sirius had no idea that, by imperial decree, all innkeepers were required to be at least Late Self Vision Realm cultivators, due to the prevalence of bandits. Every village had at least one person at the Completion Realm, and every city had someone at the Crimson Step Realm, as a matter of security.
Some called it excessive. But thanks to this law, countless lives had been saved.
And sometimes... even that wasn't enough. The Saber Gang, for instance, had five bandits at the Completion Realm, and they had managed to destroy an entire village.
In his room, Sirius resumed his training. He swung his sword while simultaneously trying to guide his internal energy, doing both at once wasn't easy, but he managed it with relative success. Even though he didn't put too much effort into it, maintaining both focus and motion was still mentally draining. So, he trained deep into the night, unaware of the time passing.
For the first time, a faint trace of energy escaped from his upper daitan. He was on the right path toward reaching the Mid Self Vision stage.
He had originally intended to explore the village again that day, but the previous day's events convinced him to remain in his room, training endlessly.
The training caused no pain, nor did it leave him too exhausted. But keeping his concentration for more than ten hours was its own form of torment. Sirius was truly mentally exhausted after this session. In fact, it had been nearly twenty hours, a full day of intense training and unwavering concentration.
At dinner, Sirius went downstairs to the counter.
"Two copper coins, please," said the innkeeper.
Sirius paused, puzzled. Why had the price suddenly dropped?
Then he understood: it was because of what had happened the day before.
It seemed that even the selfish or the cruel could be humbled in front of strength. The stronger one was, the more respect they earned, and fewer people dared to challenge them.
So there was no reason to worry that others wouldn't want to be protected by him. If he was strong , strong enough to be absolute, then everything would fall into place.
Sirius had greatly underestimated the power of absolute strength. In truth, it allowed you to do what you wanted, when you wanted, wherever you wanted.
He had once believed that strength was simply a tool for self-defense, and that words and discussion were the true means to resolve conflict.
But he now saw how mistaken he'd been.
Sirius's understanding of the human world deepened once more.