Dissuasion

"Everyone's dead!?"

Larry, who was slightly overweight, stared at the scene before him with an incredulous look on his face.

By now, he no longer resembled the wastrel heir he had been back at the tavern.

His luxurious, brightly colored robes, which had made movement inconvenient, had been replaced with equally vivid but far more practical fitted clothing.

Perhaps he had bought them in too much of a hurry and failed to account for his somewhat oversized build, because they looked overly tight on him, as though he were wearing children's clothes.

"Buddy, did you do all this?"

Larry stared intently at Xia Nan, who stood guard in the open clearing with a hand on his Sword Hilt, disbelief still heavy in his voice.

Without waiting for Xia Nan to respond, he suddenly turned around like a passerby gathering to watch a street spectacle, exposing his defenseless back to Xia Nan.

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

"Adventurers are supposed to be like this!"

Unexpectedly, although the slender blonde girl's face had gone even paler at the sight of the carnage in the clearing—

Upon hearing Larry's words, she actually nodded slightly in agreement.

Xia Nan even felt that she seemed faintly excited.

"Friend, this is a misunderstanding. We mean no harm."

On the other side, the Half-Elf Hai An had also roughly figured out the situation. He put away his Longbow and held both hands out before him, fingers spread, showing that he was incapable of attacking.

Naturally, Xia Nan would not easily trust a stranger's promise.

What was more, the man with an extremely low presence whom he had marked as a "suspected Professional" was currently standing beside the Half-Elf, watching him warily without showing any sign of restraining his hostility.

So Xia Nan offered no further response. He merely tightened his grip on his longsword and slowly backed away while facing the group.

Noticing his gaze, Hai An froze for a moment before seeming to realize something.

He turned around and sternly rebuked the Guard beside him, Wood.

"Wood, he is not our enemy!"

The young master, who usually spoke as softly and gently as a Matriarch, had suddenly used such a harsh tone.

No matter how unwilling Wood was, he still put away the two daggers in his hands, though he muttered under his breath.

"That's not necessarily true."

Seeing this, Xia Nan, who had already retreated to the edge of the clearing and put a considerable distance between himself and them, raised an eyebrow slightly.

The Thin Mist Forest had a complicated environment. Even experienced adventurers could easily lose their way if they rushed in without a care.

Their behavior did not seem false.

And with his ability to retreat into the forest at any time, he had some room for error.

Perhaps he could listen to what this Half-Elf wanted to say.

At the same time, seeing Xia Nan stop, Hai An relaxed slightly.

Then, across the entire clearing, he raised his voice and explained.

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

"The day before yesterday, our party had just entered the Thin Mist Forest when we were ambushed by enemies."

"Fortunately, our party was capable enough, and we didn't fall for it."

"To find out who was behind them, my teammates and I deliberately let two of them escape."

"And then, this happened..."

Hai An glanced at the two corpses lying ahead and added.

"Friend, for inadvertently involving you, I apologize to you once again on behalf of my teammates."

Xia Nan's gaze swept inconspicuously over the group.

Grass clippings stuck in their hair from moving at high speed, mud splattered over their leather boots, even bloodstains on their armor...

Combined with the pair's behavior just now, their story did carry some credibility.

Thinking back, when those two had charged at him just now, they really had worn expressions of desperate resolve.

So they had mistaken him for the Half-Elf's companion?

Then he really had suffered an undeserved disaster.

But...

That was it?

They had acted so solemnly just to keep him here and apologize?

Xia Nan's expression did not change, but he found the situation particularly strange.

After pondering for a moment, he finally spoke his first words since the group had appeared.

"So?"

At the same time, an idea had already formed in his mind.

Perhaps he had encountered one of the friendlier types among adventurers?

After all, if they really were with the pair from earlier and wanted to deal with him, there was no need to split into two groups like this.

They could have simply sent all six people at once. Even if they had only sent that Guard with the barely noticeable presence, Xia Nan would have had no way to fend him off.

There was absolutely no need to waste words with him here.

So... did they want him to hand over the spoils he had taken from those two, or did they want compensation for disrupting their plan to track down the mastermind?

Xia Nan was silently guessing how things would unfold next, but the moment he spoke those words—"So?"—it was as if someone had pressed a mute button. The entire area instantly fell silent.

"Yes, so what?" Hai An opened his mouth, but for a moment, he did not know how to answer.

Wood, who stayed at his side like a shadow, could not help twitching his mouth.

He had long grown accustomed to his young master's kind nature, inherited from the Matriarch and as pure as that of a Paladin who upheld the Oath of Devotion.

But now that he had truly run into such an awkward situation, even he found it hard to keep a straight face.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long.

Looking at Xia Nan ahead, who held an iron-gray Two-handed Longsword, a thought suddenly flashed through Larry's mind. He leaned closer and said.

"Hai An, didn't that adventurer we just recruited die at those bandits' hands?"

"Going back to River Valley Town to recruit someone else would take a whole day there and back. How about..."

"Young master, please consider this carefully!" Before the Half-Elf Hai An could speak, Wood stepped forward to dissuade him.

"This man's background is unknown. Letting him join the party may add many risks for no reason."

As a Wanderer who had already gained a Profession Level and stepped onto the Path of Shadow and Secrecy—

Wood observed very carefully.

This black-haired young man appeared drenched in blood and looked exceptionally battered, but judging by his movements, he probably did not even have a single scratch on his body.

The two corpses in the clearing were intact, save for the devastating injuries to their heads. The cuts were smooth, clearly fatal in a single blow.

And considering how quickly they had rushed over after noticing the disturbance, the young man could only have had six or seven seconds.

To end the fight in such a clean, efficient manner within so short a time—

Even if the pair had not been particularly formidable and could only be considered ordinary adventurers—

This black-haired man wielding an iron-gray Beheading Longsword was far from as simple as his youthful appearance suggested.

Combined with their two seemingly "coincidental" encounters in River Valley Town, Wood could not help growing even more suspicious of him.

Under such circumstances, inviting him into the party was undoubtedly like planting a ticking bomb among themselves.