CHAPTER 74: BRAVE LITTLE WARRIORS

"T-that’s what happened..."

Egypt whispered, her voice trembling as she kept her head lowered while recounting what had happened.

She didn’t notice that, midway through her story, Rome and Dave had already slipped out of the office.

The only ones left with her now were Calyx, Alfonso, and Alpheus—who had wanted to follow the two as well, but chose to stay behind so Egypt wouldn’t be left alone.

"Where’s Uncle Dave and the bear man?" she asked, lifting her eyes in confusion.

"Uhmm... about those two.." Alfonso replied carefully. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles whitened, but he forced himself to stay composed for Egypt’s sake.

"They’re already on their way to check on Paris. So you don’t have to worry about her. We adults will be the ones to deal with those bullies."

Calyx stepped closer and placed a firm hand on Alfonso’s shoulder.

"Yeah. Which is why it’s better if Alpheus and I follow after them right now. That way, we can back them up. So Alfonso, you stay here with Egypt."

Before Alfonso could object, Calyx and Alpheus were already moving toward the door.

"W-wait, what the..You bastar—!"

Alfonso immediately paused when he realized Egypt was watching him.

The two already had slipped out, leaving him alone in the office with Egypt.

"Uncle Alfonso?"

"Uhm, do you want to rest here in the office for a while?" Alfonso asked Egypt with concern.

"No. Let’s follow them, Uncle. I want to protect Paris."

Alfonso blinked in surprise. Egypt’s expression had turned cold—something he wasn’t used to seeing.

******

On the other hand...

Rome and Dave froze at the sight before them. It was completely different from Egypt’s version of the story.

Instead of Paris being cornered and bullied by three boys, it was the opposite. The three of them were kneeling on the ground in front of Paris, who stood with her arms crossed, glaring down at them like a tiny judge.

"Do you promise you won’t ever bully me and Egypt again?" she demanded.

"We won’t! We promise we’ll never bother you and your sister again—just forgive us for what we did!" the chubby boy stammered while trembling with fear.

Rome made a move to approach Paris, but Dave quickly stopped him, shaking his head as if to say, Let’s watch first.

"Do you promise... with your butt on the line?" Paris added coldly before pulling out a pellet toy gun from her bag.

She aimed it at the boy’s back and fired a pellet close enough to sting the air beside him.

The boys jolted in terror, their faces paling as they scrambled and nodded frantically.

"No—please! We promise it won’t ever happen again! Just don’t shoot us with that thing or report us to the principal! We swear! Right guys?"

The boy turned to his friends, but both quickly looked away, too ashamed to meet his gaze under Paris’s fierce stare.

"Tsk. What immature kids.." Paris muttered, finally slipping the toy gun back into her bag.

She turned to leave—only to stop in her tracks when her eyes landed on the bear man and Dave watching her from a near distance.

"U-Uncle D-Dave?"

Paris couldn’t hide her surprise. She gripped her bag tightly and lowered her head to avoid their gaze.

"Are you going to scold me?" she asked nervously. Though curious—and a bit confused—about how the bear man ended up with him, she still couldn’t bring herself to meet Dave’s eyes.

Dave stepped closer and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Why would we scold you? We came here because Egypt told us that some kids were bullying you."

At that, Dave’s gaze shifted coldly toward the three boys, who immediately flinched under his glare and lowered their heads in shame.

Paris took a relief sigh, then looked up at him.

"Don’t worry about me uncle Dave. I already took care of them." She then glanced at the boys.

"Right? You’re not going to do that again?"

One by one, the boys hid their faces in embarrassment. Paris turned back to Dave with a proud expression, satisfied with herself.

"See? I’m good at taking care of things myself." she said confidently.

Dave and Rome exchanged glances. Like proud fathers, they both secretly nodded, hiding faint grins.

Just then, a booming voice interrupted.

"What happened? Are we late?! Where are the bullies who were giving Egypt and Paris trouble?"

Alpheus and Calyx arrived, their voices edged with concern. But the moment their eyes landed on the three boys standing silently with fear etched across their faces, they paused.

"Are these the bullies Egypt was talking about?" Alpheus asked, already about to stride toward them. But Rome immediately raised a hand, stopping him.

Instead, Rome stepped forward himself. He removed the bear mask from his head, his cold gaze locking onto the boys.

"Are you bullying the twins?" His voice was deep and commanding.

The boys instantly paled. They had always thought of the bear mascot outside the school as kind and friendly. But now, stripped of the mask, the bear man seemed far more terrifying than their teacher—or even Paris.

It wasn’t just his voice or his piercing stare that shook them, it was the resemblance he bore to the twins. In that instant, the boys realized the man in the bear costume was somehow connected to the twins.

Paris couldn’t help but keep her gaze fixed on the broad-shouldered man with his back turned.

She couldn’t hear what the man under the bear costume was saying to the bullies, but something about him drew her in, filling her with curiosity and a need to see his face.

Just as she was about to catch a glimpse of the bear man’s face, Alfonso arrived, carrying Egypt in his arms.

"Paris!" Egypt called out.

Setting Egypt down, Alfonso let Egypt run toward her sister. Egypt’s worried eyes immediately darted to Paris.

"What happened to you? Did they hurt you?" Egypt asked, glancing at the three boys, who were now being scolded by Alpheus, Dave, and the bear man.

"No. I managed to handle them," Paris replied calmly. "How about you? What happened with you and the other two boys who were chasing after you?"

"Ah, those two?" Egypt scratched her head. "I managed to get them under control too... somehow. I used this." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pellet toy gun, identical to the one Paris had.

"And after that, they ran away in fear, so they didn’t chase me anymore before I came straight to the principal’s office to report what happened."

Calyx, who had been listening quietly to the twins, couldn’t help but smile in relief. Just moments ago, he had been worried about what could happen to them at the hands of the bullies.

Now, seeing how Egypt and Paris had handled the situation, he realized they were braver and sharper than he had expected—they could protect themselves.

Alfonso, also listening to the twins, couldn’t help but be proud.

"S-So you’re saying you managed to take on the bullies using the pellet toy gun I gave you?"

Paris and Egypt exchanged a small, almost conspiratorial smile. "Yes. It helped us a lot, uncle. Good thing we brought it with us today."

Calyx paused, then looked at Alfonso, who now had a wide grin on his face.

"Good girls. I’m glad you used it well. This uncle can’t help but be proud of you."

"Wait... so you’re saying the twins got their pellet guns from you?" Calyx asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Alfonso replied with a proud nod. "I gifted them because I see a lot of kids playing with them these days. Paris and Egypt turned out to be more interested in guns than I thought, so I gave them one. But I honestly didn’t expect it would actually come in handy like this."

"Tsk. Pellet guns are all you could give them? What a cheapskate."

Dave interjected after finishing talking with the bullies. Then he smirked at the twins.

"Twins, what do you want instead of that pellet gun? A real gun? Or maybe I should assign a couple of bodyguards to follow you around so no one can ever bully you again?"

"What are you even saying, Dave? You can’t just give something like that to kids!" Alpheus also cut in, though his expression softened when his gaze landed on the twins.

"How about I give you both a phone instead? That way, you can call us right away if anything like this ever happens again."

"Tsk. Stop it, guys. None of that’s enough." Calyx said, shaking his head before crouching slightly so he could meet the twins at eye level.

"How about I gift you a car instead? A cool one. That way, if anyone tries to mess with you again, you can just drive off and escape them."

"Pfftt- What are you talking about, Calyx? Do you really think the twins can drive? Don’t be ridiculous." Alfonso laughed.

"It’s still better compared to your cheap little pellet gun," Calyx shot back, smirking. "Seriously, a pellet gun? That’s all you could think of? You didn’t even put in any effort."

Alfonso’s grin faded. "Excuse me? That pellet gun helped them deal with those bullies. It wasn’t useless. Unlike your car idea—how would they even use it?"

"Guys, enough! Stop bickering. And don’t use that kind of language—the twins are right here."

Alpheus then cleared his throat, casting a firm yet gentle glance at the twins.

"But seriously speaking... what would you actually want more? A simple pellet gun, a bodyguard to watch over you, a car, or a phone?"