The Battle for the Spoils

Tang Qi glanced at the two mercenaries walking at the very front, quietly listening to their conversation.

He then looked over the spellbook at the obscure symbols that made his head feel ready to explode after just one glance.

In the end, his gaze fell on the "intelligence representative" with the lizard's head...

To be honest, it was a little discouraging.

Compared to his own inferiority complex, Black Snake's focus was entirely different:

"How could a party with a Spellcaster have died in the Twilight Forest for no apparent reason?"

"Maybe they got lost in the forest and, when they were on the verge of starving to death, the Kobolds happened to find them?"

Gravel smacked his lips, then shook his head.

"Fine, that probably isn't possible. They must have run into something troublesome in the forest."

The two men's expressions were both unpleasant, as if they had smelled eggs that had been rotting for three days.

But unable to figure out anything more important, Black Snake could only sigh.

"Forget it. We don't usually go deep into the forest anyway. It'll be fine as long as nothing affects this town."

Those words left Tang Qi deeply worried.

The people living in the town might not need to be nervous.

But in order to record more stories, he certainly wouldn't remain in this town forever.

A forest that was too dangerous was hardly good news for someone who wanted to leave.

The topic seemed to make the atmosphere even heavier. In silence, the group left the damp Twilight Forest.

Tang Qi vaguely remembered that when they had set out to search for Star Plum, it had been noon, with the sun blazing overhead.

After entering the forest, night had fallen.

By the time they emerged from the cave, the sunlight had been blocked by the mist and the forest canopy, turning the sky into a gloomy gray.

Now, as the mist receded, he discovered that the setting sun had withdrawn into the forest, casting a few streaks of orange-red light over the outline of Star Plum Town.

It was already evening.

"It's only been a few hours, but I didn't expect it to leave us this exhausted."

After finally reaching the Manor, Black Snake removed his weapons. He brought Anbi, whom the village guards had kept watch over the entire time, out of the stable and untied her ropes in front of Tang Qi.

At the same time, he instructed him:

"Don't screw things up."

Tang Qi waved his hand. "We're already at rock bottom. Things can't get any worse."

"And one more thing."

As he spoke, Black Snake carried the basket of the dead adventurer's spoils from the wagon and placed it in front of Tang Qi.

"Jackal is dead, so the three of us will split his share evenly.

"You can choose anything you like from here, and take... twenty gold coins, too."

Tang Qi pointed at himself, completely unaware that he would be allowed to share in the spoils.

"Just take it, Poet!"

Gravel laughed loudly and patted Tang Qi on the butt, motioning for him to lean closer.

"Don't let his sour face fool you. He's all bark and no bite.

"Without you, we never would have recovered this batch of Star Plum, and we might even have been fired.

"He won't say it, but he knows that perfectly well!"

"Get lost, Gravel."

Black Snake pretended to kick the Dwarf in the shoulder, then urged Tang Qi coldly:

"Hurry up and choose, then get out of my sight!"

Tang Qi did not stand on ceremony and immediately began rummaging through the spoils.

The short sword and crossbow could serve as weapons, but for a bard, neither ranked very highly.

If he wanted to reduce the risks of adventuring, his first priority was figuring out how to stay alive.

And with his current vagabond-like appearance, he was still missing a durable piece of armor.

The brigandine would clearly hinder his movements, so Tang Qi finally settled on his target—

A short, dark-brown leather coat. Setting aside the bloodstains on it, its style was clean and practical.

He picked it up and weighed it in his hand. He soon discovered that besides the exceptionally tough snakeskin leather on the surface, the inner layer seemed to be studded with rivets for deeper protection.

This was actually a studded leather armor.

"Your luck isn't bad."

Black Snake tossed him a bulging money pouch and snorted.

"The money for the Star Plum is in there, too. Before I change my mind, get lost."

Tang Qi did not move at once. "There's one more thing."

"Say it."

"I need you to announce that this child is innocent."

Tang Qi pulled Anbi, who had remained silent the entire time, over.

The girl had only hoped that this matter would end soon, so that after returning home, she could prove to her worried sister that she was fine.

She had never even considered clearing her name of a completely fabricated crime.

Now, her drooping snow-white ears trembled faintly.

Black Snake frowned. After a brief hesitation, he rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"What a nuisance... Hey, you there. The Kobolds in the forest did the whole thing. Remember to tell the village official later and clear her name."

He pointed casually at one of the guards and gave the order. Then he ignored everyone and walked toward the estate, stretching lazily.

Tang Qi, meanwhile, lifted the tattered cloth on the wagon to cover Kuru's figure. After Kuru dismissed his clansmen, Tang Qi followed the guards toward the center of town.

Following Black Snake's order to the letter, the village official sent guards through the streets and alleys to announce the result to the residents of Star Plum Town—

It had been the Kobolds in the forest who had stolen the boots in the middle of the night, destroyed the Star Plum at David's house, and ultimately stolen Lord Mel's "Shining Star."

None of it had anything to do with Anbi.

Yet the truth of the case could not actually change the townspeople's opinion of Anbi—

People shunned her not because of how vile her character was or how many evil deeds she had committed.

It was because of the innate curse she carried.

Anbi had lived in this town long enough to understand that perfectly.

"It's okay, Big Brother Tang Qi. You weren't wasting your effort. Anbi is very happy..."

Compared to the contemptuous looks and prejudice, Anbi was more afraid that Tang Qi would feel sad after realizing that he was powerless to change anything.

She did not want her new friend, like her sister, to be unhappy because of her.

"It doesn't matter if they don't believe Anbi. Anbi's already used to it. As long as Big Brother and Big Sister know that Anbi isn't a bad child, that's enough..."

Someone who was not strong enough could never have survived safely in this environment until now.

Tang Qi merely smiled and gently stroked her furry ears.

In truth, he was in a good mood and had not been affected at all.

As far as he was concerned, he was simply doing what he wanted to do.

He would work hard for it, but he would not deliberately pursue some so-called result.

He would enjoy the process with a clear conscience. As for whether the outcome was good or bad, that did not depend entirely on him.

But he did not say anything more and was about to follow Anbi back to the tavern.

Unexpectedly, a nervous call from a boy stopped the two people and one dog-headed man in their tracks—

"An, Anbi!"

The two turned around together and saw that it was the boy from David's family who had cursed Anbi at noon for stealing and destroying the Star Plum at his home.

The boy stood beneath the setting sun, his face flushed as he fidgeted awkwardly.

It seemed that calling out to Anbi had already exhausted all his courage.

"George, what else do you want? I wouldn't mind cursing you here for the entire day!"

Anbi assumed that the boy was still looking for trouble. She bared her claws viciously in warning.

"I, I..."

The boy, George David, closed his eyes as if accepting his fate. His voice was as faint as the buzzing of a mosquito.

"I'm sorry."

"What did you say?" Anbi could not hear him from so far away.

"I said—sorry! I was wrong to accuse you! I'll never call you a monster again!"

After shouting it out, the boy felt that he had completely humiliated himself.

If his parents had not insisted, he never would have come over and stuck his face out like this!

He covered his face and ran away without looking back, disappearing around the bend in the dirt road.

Tang Qi raised his eyebrows and smiled at Anbi.

"Looks like clearing your name wasn't completely useless?"

But Anbi did not show the smile that should have come after having her name cleared of the misunderstanding.

Quite the opposite—she stood frozen in place, clutching Tang Qi's sleeve and trembling.

"I, I..."

"What's wrong?"

"He shouldn't have apologized to me!" Anbi shouted.

An emotion called guilt scraped against her heart like a sharp blade, tormenting her conscience.

"Because, because—"

"Because you really did destroy the Star Plum at their house?"

Anbi's face went pale.

"How did Big Brother Tang Qi know!?"