Chapter 25: Dissuasion

"They're all dead!?"

Larry, his frame somewhat portly, stared at the scene before him with an expression of utter disbelief. He was, at this moment, a far cry from the spendthrift youth he had appeared to be back at the tavern. The luxurious, vibrant robes that were so ill-suited for movement had been replaced by a form-fitting combat outfit—equally flamboyant in color, yet clearly far more practical. However, perhaps due to a rushed purchase that failed to account for his slightly excessive girth, the attire looked rather strained, as if he were wearing a child’s costume.

"Buddy, did you do all this?"

Larry kept his eyes fixed on Xia Nan, who stood in the open field gripping the hilt of his sword with a wary face. The tone of Larry’s voice remained thick with incredulity. Without waiting for a response, he suddenly turned away, exposing his defenseless back to Xia Nan as if he were merely a passerby stopping to gawk at a scene on the street.

"Doris, I told you, those guys earlier were just bandits."

"Adventurers are supposed to be like this!"

Unexpectedly, faced with the gruesome sight in the clearing, the golden-haired, slender young woman grew a shade paler. Yet, upon hearing the chubby Larry’s words, she actually nodded in agreement. Xia Nan even sensed a faint glimmer of excitement from her.

"Friend, it’s a misunderstanding. We have no hostility."

On the other side, the half-elf Haian had also begun to grasp the situation. He sheathed his longbow and held his hands out with fingers spread wide, signaling that he possessed no capacity for attack.

Xia Nan was not about to trust the promises of strangers easily. Furthermore, the man who had such a low presence—the one Xia Nan had pegged as a "suspected professional"—was currently standing beside the half-elf, watching him with a guarded expression, showing no signs of letting down his guard. Choosing not to respond, Xia Nan simply tightened his grip on his sword and slowly retreated, facing the group.

Noticing his gaze, Haian froze for a moment, as if suddenly realizing something. He turned to the guard, "Wood," beside him and scolded in a stern tone:

"Wood, he is not our enemy!"

Having always been addressed in the gentle, refined manner of a young master, Wood was taken aback by this sudden, heavy tone. No matter how reluctant he felt, he stowed his two daggers, though he muttered under his breath:

"That remains to be seen."

Seeing this, Xia Nan, who had already retreated to the edge of the clearing and put a significant distance between himself and the group, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The Misty Forest was complex; even the most experienced adventurers could easily get lost if they plunged in headlong without a plan. The other party’s display seemed genuine, and given that he could retreat into the forest at any moment, he had a margin for error.

*Perhaps I should hear what this half-elf has to say?*

Meanwhile, seeing Xia Nan stop, Haian let out a slight sigh of relief. He then raised his voice across the clearing to explain:

"Friend, first of all, I must apologize to you."

"Yesterday, our party just entered the Misty Forest when we were ambushed by enemies. Fortunately, our team’s strength was sufficient, and we didn't fall for it. In order to uncover who was pulling the strings, my teammates and I intentionally let two of them escape. And then, well… this happened."

Haian glanced at the two corpses lying on the ground before adding, "Friend, I apologize once again on behalf of my teammates for inadvertently involving you."

Xia Nan’s gaze swept over the group without leaving a trace. The grass clippings stuck to their hair from high-speed movement, the mud spots on their leather boots, and even the bloodstains on their armor—combined with the duo’s earlier behavior, there was a degree of credibility to what they said. Now that he thought about it, the two men who had charged at him earlier did indeed have the desperate, death-defying look of people who believed they were attacking an accomplice of the half-elf.

So, he had truly been a victim of collateral damage.

But… was that it? Was all this gravity just to keep him around to offer an apology? Xia Nan’s expression remained unchanged, but he felt profoundly strange inside. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke his first words since they appeared:

"And so?"

In his heart, however, he was already forming a theory. Perhaps he had encountered the more friendly variety of adventurers. After all, if they were truly part of the same group as the pair he had just killed, they wouldn't need to split into two waves to deal with him. If all six of them had attacked at once, or even if they had just sent that guard with the negligible presence, he would have been overwhelmed regardless. There was no need for them to waste breath here.

So… did they want him to hand over the spoils he had looted from the two men, or did they want compensation for him disrupting their plan to track the mastermind?

Xia Nan speculated on the turn of events, but to his surprise, after his "And so?" hit the air, it was as if someone had pressed a mute button. The entire clearing fell instantly silent.

"Yes, and so?" Haian opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for how to answer.

Beside him, Wood, who followed like a shadow, twitched his mouth. While he was long accustomed to his young master’s pure nature—inherited from the matriarch and reminiscent of a paladin bound by an "Oath of Devotion"—it was still hard to watch him struggle in such an awkward situation.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long. Looking at Xia Nan, who held an iron-gray two-handed longsword, the chubby Larry had a flash of inspiration and leaned in:

"Haian, didn't the new adventurer we recruited for our team die at the hands of those bandits? It would take a full day to go back to River Valley Town and recruit again, so how about…"

"Young Master, please reconsider!" Before the half-elf Haian could speak, Wood had already intervened. "This person is of unknown origin. Letting him join the team will only add unnecessary risk."

As a "Rogue" who had gained professional levels and embarked on the path of shadows and secrets, Wood observed with extreme caution. The black-haired youth appeared covered in blood and gore, but judging by his movements, he likely didn't have a single scratch on him. The two corpses on the ground were intact, save for the fatal wounds to their heads; the cuts were clean, clearly the result of a single, lethal strike.

Given how fast they had arrived after sensing the disturbance, the window of opportunity for the youth had been no more than six or seven seconds. To end a fight in such a concise and clean manner in such a short time—even if the duo were only ordinary adventurers—meant that the black-haired man holding the iron-gray executioner’s sword was far from the simple youth he appeared to be.

Coupled with the two seemingly "coincidental" meetings in River Valley Town, Wood was even more suspicious. In this situation, inviting him into the team was undoubtedly planting a ticking time bomb in their midst.