"But I don’t have a single copper coin left on ," Igor said to the two n blocking his way, his expression innocent.
The short, stout robber scratched his head, turning to his lanky companion. "W-w-waited half—all d-day long and w-w-waited—for a p-p-poor—guy! Wh-wh-what do we do?"
"Oh, enough chattering," the lanky robber replied impatiently to his partner, then turned to Igor, brandishing his axe. "If you don’t have money, hand over your valuables."
This was not the first ti Igor had encountered a robbery; since the mont he left the academy, he had been prepared to face all sorts of difficulties.
However, he never expected to encounter so many robberies on his journey.
He had encountered gangs of bandits and thieves several tis on his previous travels. Although he had managed to survive these incidents without any real harm, the experiences left a vile impression on him.
Those unpleasant mories churned in Igor’s mind, gradually evolving into necessary survival experience.
However, this survival experience felt rather inadequate and sowhat peculiar...
There are so many unfortunate souls in this world...
Facing two unknown robbers, this was the first thought that popped into Igor’s head—a product of his limited, and currently sole, survival experience. After all, in his past encounters with robbers, Igor had always given them as much money as he could. Of course, back then, those bandits and thieves had ended up writhing on the ground, clutching their stomachs, grimacing and groaning in pain.
"I don’t have anything valuable left to give you either," Igor answered honestly. The Spirit Book might be valuable, but he wasn’t planning to hand it over.
"Y-y-you say you d-don’t have it, s-so you just d-don’t?" The stout robber didn’t believe him.
"Don’t try to trick us! Ugh, we’re ruthless robbers, you know!" The lanky bandit brandished his axe again.
Truthfully, Igor wasn’t particularly afraid of the axe. At the Yonder Travel Academy, although he wasn’t considered an official student, he had learned everything he was supposed to.
Spirit Sensing, Physique Technique, Spell Identification, Alchemy Equation...
However, there were many things the academy didn’t cover, like the harshness and complexity of reality. Igor never had to worry about money at the Academy; Teacher Russef Hadi usually paid for things.
During Igor’s ti at the academy, people helped each other through difficult tis. But after embarking on his journey, Igor discovered this wasn’t always the case.
The bandits and thieves he had "helped" never returned the favor. Every request for assistance, whether for Divination or asking for directions, had to be resolved with money.
It was precisely these experiences that made Igor understand the importance of Equivalent Exchange. Of course, every concept has its flip side; the importance of Equivalent Exchange also made Igor realize his own ignorance and... well, his bad luck.
Yes, bad luck. He had sohow spent all his money on this journey, not to ntion encountering frequent robberies, thefts, and even a kidnapping earlier this morning. The crucial point was, he still didn’t understand what it was about him that attracted these people.
These two before him seed like pitiful souls, driven by harsh realities to resort to robbery. It suggested their lives had been pushed to a dead end... Igor was filled with pity.
Igor continued munching on his flatbread. Hunger wouldn’t solve any problems—a piece of wisdom he’d only recently grasped.
"H-h-he—he’s l-looking—d-down on us, bro!" Igor’s eating action greatly displeased the stout robber, who turned his head, seeking his companion’s opinion.
"Hmph! Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! If you keep this up, I’ll search you myself!" The lanky robber had recently endured a painful experience and didn’t want to stir up more turmoil in his mories.
Kadi, the creature lurking in the shadows, almost chuckled at the unfolding scene. These two bumbling thieves were comical enough, but the fellow in the cave’s reaction was bizarrely odd.
During his idle days wandering Dawn Peak, Kadi had witnessed nurous instances of theft, robbery, brawls, and even murder. This was one reason he found ’aberrant’ individuals so intriguing. In his experience, robbers usually wore a ’don’t ss with ’ mask. These two, however—one looking inexperienced, the other bored—clearly weren’t professionals. Treasure Hunters encountering robbers typically reacted in one of two ways: either they’d throw their heads back and laugh, their faces screaming ’I’m not afraid!’ or their legs would tremble, and soon enough, they’d wear a ’Spare , good sir!’ expression of cowardice.
Yet the fellow in the cave was surprisingly calm, eating with a serene expression. His furrowed brow seed to convey a hint of pity and, hmm, sothing akin to regret.
Kadi watched with amusent. The lanky robber was now cautiously searching Igor, and Kadi eagerly awaited the next exciting developnt.
"This guy really doesn’t have anything valuable, just a battered old book!" the lanky robber turned and shouted. It didn’t seem like he was shouting at his stout companion.
Sure enough, a dark figure was hidden in the bushes not far behind the stout robber. The figure rubbed its chin, inwardly cursing the two imbecilic robbers.
This dark figure was the Alchemist from the previous night—the one whose jaw had been dislocated by Musa, the Earth Wolf, forcing him to flee in a panic. But compared to the Scholars and Wizards who also coveted the Spirit Book, this Alchemist was far more obsessed. His resentnt had stopped him from descending the mountain. Instead, he had stealthily retraced his steps, hoping to try his luck.
Unexpectedly, his gamble paid off. Kicked awake by a pack of Earth Wolves near an extinguished bonfire, he pieced together what had happened. He then feigned descending the mountain to evade the Earth Wolves’ relentless, sweeping searches, and spent the night freezing in the bushes.
In the morning, he witnessed the Earth Wolves’ various disgraceful antics and inwardly rejoiced that the Three Fools hadn’t been captured by Black Mountain. Amidst the Earth Wolves’ furious brawling, he managed to waylay two other fools, making these aspiring-millionaire simpletons his underlings.
He hadn’t wanted to reveal himself initially because the dayti sun was a bit scorching and didn’t suit him. But these idiots couldn’t even manage a simple robbery properly...
Besides, he had now heard ntion of a book...
He darted out from the bushes. Enduring the pain in his jaw and the sun’s searing heat, he spoke hurriedly as he approached, "Leeb da buk!"
His incomprehensible utterance was t with bewildered stares and a chorus of "What?"
"Leave... the book..." he managed, enduring the pain.
"No." Igor’s reply was resolute.
This "No!" infuriated the Alchemist. He waved his hand at his two idiotic underlings. "Kill him!"
"W-we... we’ve never killed anyone!" The stout robber’s stutter vanished.
"Heavens, killing soone is a capital offense!" the lanky one exclaid, stamping his foot.
"Then... then just beat him up!" He was so enraged he no longer felt the pain.
"Look, just give him the book, alright? Don’t make things difficult for us," the lanky robber pleaded, apparently trying to reason with Igor.
"Look at him, desperately pulling that cloak over himself. He’s clearly not a good person. Only a Dark Wizard would fear sunlight. You must be a vile practitioner of the Dark Arts!" Igor completely ignored what the robber was saying.
"Exactly! It’s because he’s a bad guy that you have to listen to him! Because he’s strong!" the lanky robber persisted.
"Well, I’ve never been afraid of bad guys!"
This scene made Kadi’s eyes widen in disbelief. The fellow in the cave had been subdued by that Fighter in a single move! Yet, the Dark Alchemist had held his own against that sa Fighter for a good while. Where did this guy get the audacity to say such a thing?
"Argh, we’re really cursed, running into soone like you!" The lanky robber and his stout accomplice surrounded Igor. "Don’t bla us; we’re desperate too. Don’t worry, we won’t hit you too hard. I’ll use the flat of my axe, and my brother here will use the back of his knife..."
Before the two moronic robbers could finish, Igor had already snatched the knife from the stout one’s hand. With a swift motion—CRACK!—he snapped the handle of the lanky one’s axe in two.
This... Unbelievable! Kadi thought.
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