The sunset reflected on the river, like golden leaves scattered across the surface, shimmering and glistening.
The gentle breeze of early autumn brushed through the forest, rustling the leaves, bringing the first chill after the peak of summer.
This chill carried a hint of desolation.
“Hmph, little girl, be reasonable and hand over your valuables!”
On the road by the river, several rugged men clad in animal hide skirts surrounded a delicate young girl, their faces fierce, like wild wolves hunting a fawn.
The leader was a man with a large scar on his face. Looking at the cute girl before him, he couldn’t help but sneer:
“If you behave, we might not do anything to you, but if you don’t… hehe, then don’t blame us for being rude.”
“I’m an adventurer.”
The surrounded girl gripped her magic wand tightly, her eyes showing no sign of submission.
“Do you realize the consequences of trying to rob me?”
“Haha, of course, I can see you’re an adventurer.”
The Scar-faced Man laughed heartily, seemingly not valuing the girl’s status as an adventurer at all.
“But you’re a magician, right? And from the complete absence of battle aura from you, you’re purely a magician.”
“…”
Seeing the girl’s silence, the Scar-faced Man’s smile grew even more insolent:
“If you had companions, even ones who could only delay us for a moment, we would run far away, but you’re alone. A lone magician is, no matter where, a coveted prize.”
The Scar-faced Man’s gaze swept over the wand in the girl’s hand, revealing unconcealable greed: “Just this wand alone must be worth a lot of money.”
“… Damn it.”
The girl instinctively hid her wand behind her back, stepping back a few paces, trying to put on a fierce expression:
“Aren’t you afraid of encountering a righteous person passing by, who might take action to uphold justice?”
“A righteous person? Hahaha—”
The Scar-faced Man and his underlings exchanged glances, laughing uncontrollably.
“Is she really that naive, this little girl?”
“Wh… What, did I say something wrong?”
“Hmph, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
The Scar-faced Man shook the gleaming large blade he carried on his shoulder, laughing wildly:
“Beauty, haven’t you realized? We are professional bandits!
Professional! Do you know what professional means?”
“Plan everything in advance!” Bandit A shouted.
“Define the operation route!” Bandit B said.
“Accurately determine the target!” Bandit C laughed.
“Ensure everything goes smoothly!” Bandit D stood with hands on hips.
“Right, right, that’s what being professional is!”
The Scar-faced Man waved his hand grandly, laughing:
“We’ve scouted this area ahead of time. There’s definitely no one passing by, and the so-called righteous person you mentioned naturally won’t appear.”
“…”
The girl’s cheek twitched.
Isn’t this just a robbery? Why does it feel like high-intelligence crime?
“But what if, what if there’s someone you didn’t notice?” The girl still clung to a sliver of hope.
“What if? Haha, if you’re talking about ‘what if,’ then it’s only the river we haven’t scouted.”
The Scar-faced Man made exaggerated expressions:
“Are you suggesting that your so-called righteous person would emerge from the river? Hahaha, don’t make me laugh. Is the righteous person a mermaid living at the bottom of the river…”
Splash!
The Scar-faced Man’s words were abruptly interrupted by the sound of intense splashing.
In the shimmering light of the sunset, a golden-haired man suddenly broke through the river’s surface, emerging from the water.
His short, sleek golden hair was swept back, revealing an unusually handsome face. Clear water droplets dripped down his well-defined chest muscles, sparkling brilliantly.
“A… Mermaid!”
Bandit A shouted in shock.
“Bullshit!”
The Scar-faced Man slapped Bandit A’s head: “Look clearly, that’s a man!”
“Oh, oh.”
“I finally… got out!”
On the river, the golden-haired man suddenly raised his arms to the sky as if to embrace it:
“I’m finally free!”
His voice was so uninhibited, like a soul that had been imprisoned for a long time finally seeing the light of day. Even from a distance, the Scar-faced Man and his gang could feel the joy radiating from the golden-haired man.
“What the hell?”
The golden-haired man suddenly turned his gaze to the people on the shore, his direct stare causing even the usually unshakable Scar-faced Man to feel uneasy.
He started swimming towards them.
As the water got shallower, more and more of his body revealed until everyone on the shore realized…
He was completely naked!
“B-boss.”
Bandit B’s voice trembled slightly:
“We didn’t run into a pervert, did we?”
“Very likely.”
The Scar-faced Man’s expression turned serious.
If they had encountered a pervert today, and such a handsome one at that, then his plan would have to change slightly.
He turned to look at the girl.
The girl was covering her blushing face, shaking her head vigorously.
Good, it seems she wasn’t the so-called righteous person.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
“How are you?”
The golden-haired man came ashore, completely unbothered by his nudity, warmly shaking hands and greeting everyone.
“The weather is really nice today.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Bro, that outfit looks really cool.”
“Do you know where this is?”
“This is…”
Looking at the overly familiar golden-haired man, Bandit C couldn’t help but swallow hard:
“The wilderness west of Bairland.”
“West, so I’ve run far enough. An shouldn’t be able to catch up now. After all, to be safe, I floated in the river for a whole day and night.”
The golden-haired man, Mu’en, murmured to himself.
Previously, using a light spell to briefly blind An, Mu’en had jumped into the river and used the current to flee.
Uncertain of how far An’s “young master detector” could reach, Mu’en had hidden in the river for an entire day and night, using the water to erase all traces of his presence.
Fortunately, after advancing to the second rank, his body, protected by battle aura, didn’t lose its temperature in the early autumn chill. Just floating along required minimal effort.
Once he was sure An couldn’t catch up, Mu’en found a calm part of the river to come ashore.
Which was here.
Only, he didn’t expect to run into people as soon as he got out.
And, by the looks of it, they were in the middle of a robbery?
After a brief moment of thought, Mu’en realized the people he had warmly greeted were actually a group of bandits?
What crappy luck.
——Better get out of here.
He had no weapons, and with fewer hands, playing the hero was a very unwise choice.
“Haha, thanks for the directions, I’m off now.”
Mu’en smiled politely, then turned and expertly made his escape.
“Wait.”
But just after taking two steps, the Scar-faced Man’s voice came from behind.
“Yeah? What’s up, boss?”
Mu’en turned back, forcing a smile.
“Hmph, kid, you’ve figured out what we are, haven’t you? You’re just going to walk away like that?” The Scar-faced Man sneered.
Bad news.
Mu’en’s mouth twitched as he chuckled awkwardly: “Relax, I’ll pretend I saw nothing.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Then what do you…”
“What I mean is, we’re bandits. When bandits run into people…”
The Scar-faced Man stared at Mu’en, slowly enunciating each word: “The natural course of action is to rob them.”
“Robbery?”
Mu’en’s expression was odd.
He looked down at his completely naked self, then back at the Scar-faced Man: “Are you serious?”
“Hehe, who said I’m after your money.”
The Scar-faced Man licked his sharp blade, his gaze burning as he stared at Mu’en:
“I’m here for your body!”
