Chapter 25: Persuasion

“They’re all dead!?”

Larry, slightly chubby, stared at the scene, his face full of disbelief.

At this moment, he was no longer the spoiled rich kid from the tavern.

His luxurious, flashy but impractical robe had been swapped for equally vibrant but far more fitted combat gear.

But perhaps bought in haste without considering his slightly oversized build, it looked overly snug, like child’s clothing.

“Buddy, you did all this?”

Larry fixed his eyes on me, Xia Nan, standing in the clearing with my hand on my sword hilt, face wary, his tone thick with incredulity.

Without waiting for my response, he turned abruptly, exposing his unguarded back to me like a street spectator.

“Doris, I told you, those guys were just bandits.”

“Adventurers are supposed to be like this!”

Surprisingly, facing the gruesome sight in the clearing, the slender blonde girl, though paler, nodded in agreement at Larry’s words.

I even sensed a hint of excitement in her?

“Friend, it’s a misunderstanding. We mean no harm.”

On the other side, the half-elf Hai’an, having pieced together the situation, lowered his longbow, hands open before him, palms up, signaling no threat.

I wasn’t about to trust strangers easily.

Especially with that low-presence man I suspected was a “professional,” standing warily beside Hai’an, showing no sign of relaxing his hostility.

So I said nothing, just gripped my sword tighter, slowly backing toward the clearing’s edge.

Noticing my gaze, Hai’an blinked, then seemed to realize something.

He turned to his guard “Wood,” tone stern:

“Wood, he’s not our enemy!”

His young master, usually soft-spoken like a doting mother, suddenly speaking so harshly.

Wood, though reluctant, sheathed his two daggers, muttering:

“Not necessarily.”

Seeing this, I, now at the clearing’s edge with considerable distance from them, raised a brow slightly.

The Mist Forest was complex; even experienced adventurers could get lost plunging in blindly.

Their demeanor seemed genuine, and I could retreat into the woods anytime, with room for error.

Perhaps I could hear what this half-elf had to say?

Meanwhile, seeing me stop, Hai’an sighed in relief.

Then, across the entire clearing, he raised his voice to explain:

“Friend, first, I apologize to you.”

“Yesterday, our team entered the Mist Forest and ran into an enemy ambush.”

“Fortunately, our group’s strong enough; we weren’t caught.”

“To find out who’s behind it, my teammate and I let two of them escape on purpose.”

“And then… this happened…”

Hai’an glanced at the two cooling corpses on the ground, adding:

“Friend, for unintentionally involving you, on behalf of my teammates, I apologize again.”

My gaze subtly swept over them.

Grass bits stuck in hair from fast movement, mud on boots, even bloodstains on armor…

Combined with the two men’s desperate charge earlier, their story held some credibility.

Now thinking back, those two had charged with a do-or-die desperation.

They must’ve mistaken me for the half-elf’s ally?

So, I was caught in the crossfire.

But…

That’s it?

All this solemnity just to keep me for an apology?

I kept my expression neutral, but inwardly found it odd.

After a moment’s thought, I spoke my first words since they arrived:

“So?”

At the same time, I had an idea.

Maybe I’d run into the friendlier sort of adventurers?

If they were with those two, to take me down, they wouldn’t have split into two waves.

Six together, or just sending that low-presence guard, and I couldn’t handle it.

No need for all this talk.

So… do they want the loot I took from those two, or compensation for disrupting their hunt for the mastermind?

I speculated on what came next, but my “so?” seemed to hit pause, silencing the clearing.

“Yeah, so?” Hai’an opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

Wood, ever at his side like a shadow, twitched his lips.

Though used to his young master’s pure-hearted nature, inherited from his mother, upholding the “Oath of Devotion” like a saintly paladin,

when faced with this awkward spot, even Wood struggled to keep a straight face.

Thankfully, the silence didn’t last.

Watching me with my iron-gray two-handed longsword, Larry’s eyes lit up, leaning in:

“Hai’an, didn’t that adventurer we just recruited die to those bandits?”

“Going back to River Valley Town to find another would take a whole day round trip. How about…”

“Young master, please think carefully!” Before Hai’an could speak, Wood interjected.

“This man’s origins are unclear. Adding him to the team would only add risks.”

As a “Rogue” who’d gained a class rank, treading the path of shadows and secrecy,

Wood observed keenly.

The black-haired youth seemed bloodied and fierce, but his movements showed no scratches.

The two corpses were intact except for fatal head wounds, cuts clean—one strike kills.

Given how quickly they’d arrived after the commotion, the youth had maybe 6-7 seconds.

To end the fight so cleanly and swiftly in that time,

even if the two were average adventurers, not outstanding,

this black-haired man with the iron-gray beheading longsword was far from the simple youth he appeared.

Plus the two “coincidental” encounters in River Valley Town made Wood even more suspicious.

Inviting him in now would be planting a time bomb among them.

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