Arrested

"Stop the cart! New Star, go check the crates."

Several fully armed mercenaries surrounded the ox cart, urging Catherine to drive it into the clearing at the Manor.

Tang Qi immediately spotted a man in full plate armor, a greatsword strapped to his back, who had clearly been waiting for some time.

He strode straight toward them, his armor clanking with a pronounced rhythm, like evening bells tolling as the end drew near.

The man did not even bother questioning them, which meant he had known all along that the ox cart carried inferior goods passed off as genuine.

Tang Qi did not understand.

Was Black Snake really so shortsighted that he thought shifting all the blame onto an outsider would absolve him of failing to guard the goods?

But things had already come to this, so Tang Qi could only grit his teeth.

As he climbed down, all he could think about was how to drag Black Snake down with him.

"Get down here, and don't try anything."

"I wouldn't dare." Tang Qi genuinely would not.

Never mind how powerful their leader was.

If those mercenaries rushed him and each stabbed him once, that would be enough to turn him into a pincushion.

The man marched the three occupants off the cart. A young man in robes then hurried over to his side, and the slender wand in his hand suddenly released a magical glow that flowed into his eyes.

Before they encountered the caravan, Tang Qi had decided to make a last-ditch attempt and had Kuru cast Silent Illusion around the ox cart.

But New Star had clearly drawn his conclusion before looking for evidence.

Their hastily made disguise could never fool people who were already suspicious.

New Star looked around before finally fixing his gaze on the star plums in the cart—

"Only magical auras from the illusion school."

Since the spellcaster had neither recited an incantation nor connected to the Magic Web, Tang Qi guessed it was a Magic-Detecting Wand that could reveal the sources of magical auras.

It could expend spells stored within the wand to cast Detect Magic.

"Say something I can understand!"

"That's why I suggested you read more, Explosive Wolf. At least it might help you conceal your ignorance."

"Cut the fucking crap!"

New Star ignored the mercenary captain and instead studied Tang Qi and his two companions with interest.

Eventually, his gaze settled on Kuru.

He yanked open Kuru's robe.

After an exclamation of surprise, he grabbed its head.

"So it really is a kobold? Come on, let me see where it is..."

"Rua!"

New Star handled it roughly, his nails almost digging into Kuru's scales.

"Sir, you..."

Tang Qi tried to step forward and pull him away, but a greatsword immediately barred his path.

Explosive Wolf's brow was tightly furrowed, as though he were holding back a fire that might erupt at any moment.

"Stand still if you don't want to die."

"It's not here, it's not here! How is that possible? How could a kobold capable of learning spells not have an Intelligence Headband?"

New Star searched it haphazardly, but his fingertips met only cold scales. Finally, he grabbed the kobold's shoulders, looking almost deranged.

"Listen, little fellow. Hand over all your treasures, and I'll have them spare your life. All right?"

The Intelligence Headband he mentioned was a magic item.

It could awaken and enlighten the mind, and occasionally give highly intelligent creatures flashes of inspiration, but its effects only worked while it was worn.

So he had heard about the kobold mage and coveted that magic item?

But Kuru was not yet capable of making objects invisible.

Its intelligence probably really was a gift from a god.

Kuru was furious at these humans who kept threatening its life at every turn.

That did nothing to diminish its desire to survive, however.

It did not understand what New Star wanted, but it understood the word "treasure."

"Spare me, spare me!"

It promptly knelt and repeatedly knocked its head against the ground.

"Hand over, treasure!"

It hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to part with its most beloved treasure to save its life—

"Is this... a stick?"

New Star stared at the wooden stick it offered him, his brow tightening.

This was not what he wanted.

Kuru nodded vigorously and raised the staff to show him.

"Straight, stick!"

Kobolds were generally rather indifferent toward family ties.

But Kuru was not an ordinary kobold.

This was only an implement for connecting to the Magic Web, a keepsake left behind alongside that mage's spellbook.

Yet the staff was exquisitely fashioned. Perfectly straight, it was broad at the top and narrow at the bottom, with gnarled extensions at its head twisting into a claw that reached toward the sky.

It could not resist such a straight stick.

It still remembered how, when it first picked up this straight staff, it had been so happy that it danced its claw dance for three days. It had been far more exciting than eating fresh pork.

The staff had been with it when it learned its first cantrip.

At night, it always slept with the staff in its arms.

It was its most important companion.

If it would save my life, surely my companion would be willing to sacrifice itself...

But the inexperienced Kuru did not yet understand.

The treasures it cherished might be worthless in someone else's eyes.

"Are you messing with me?"

New Star had never imagined that a dim-witted creature whose scales ought to be stripped off and stuffed into his spell component pouch would one day play such a cheap joke on him.

When people became too angry, they sometimes laughed.

And so, laughing, he snapped Kuru's staff with a crack—

"Rua!!!"

The straight staff broke in two before Kuru's eyes.

Crying, it crawled over to the broken staff and tried to fit the pieces seamlessly back together, but no matter what it did...

The fracture looked just like the tear in its own heart.

"Where exactly did you put your headband? Or is it some other wondrous item..."

Seeing that the spellcaster was about to torment Kuru further, Tang Qi could no longer worry about the sword blocking his path—

He had not yet seen the Ruins or the Dragon Egg behind Kuru.

He hurriedly explained.

"Sir, it's a kobold with naturally high intelligence. It isn't wearing any magic items."

"Naturally?"

New Star gave Kuru a puzzled look.

He had, in fact, seen an exceptional case like Kuru before—

A troll that wore a headband and loved reading.

When analyzing and researching spells, possessing a treasure that granted flashes of inspiration could often yield twice the results for half the effort.

But he had no way to snatch that magic item from its owner.

That was why he had set his sights on Kuru.

Now that he realized its intelligence was innate, he lost his earlier interest.

Explosive Wolf, however, grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.

"A talking kobold... Those rich people with a taste for oddities should be interested in buying one. That should probably make up for its theft of the star plums.

"Put it in shackles, throw it on the wagon, and take it along."

Several mercenaries seized Kuru's limbs and chained it to the wagon.

Explosive Wolf finally turned to Tang Qi.

"As for you, you're a bard, aren't you? Before sticking your nose into other people's business, you ought to think about the price you'll pay."

"Where will I be taken?"

Tang Qi knew that, as the accomplice who had devised the plan, he probably would not escape punishment either.

"To our employer, of course."

As land under Dragon Gold City's jurisdiction, everything in this little town was protected by the city's laws.

Then he would probably be taken all the way to Dragon Gold City to face judgment under its laws—

That was a good thing. At least these people were somewhat reasonable.

After all, even if they drew their swords and punished him themselves, no one in this isolated town, hemmed in by mountains on three sides, would say a word.

"All right."

Since he was getting arrested either way, Tang Qi simply raised both hands and gave up his futile resistance.

"No need to trouble yourself. I'll do it myself."

He walked straight up to the mercenary holding the shackles and held out his hands. Once his wrists were securely locked, he followed behind the mercenary.

Catherine, who had driven the cart here, knew she would not escape either. She simply followed Tang Qi's example, saving them some time.

"Good. Knowing when to cooperate is a kind of wisdom. It'll spare you a great deal of pain."

Explosive Wolf was happy to see it.

He was merely a mercenary hired to escort the caravan, paid to protect the star plums.

If his employer had not promised extra pay, what would these prisoners' schemes have to do with him?

Filled with unease, Tang Qi was shoved into the Manor's stable.

Amid the foul stench of manure, he looked up.

To his surprise, he spotted someone familiar.

Tang Qi could not help moving closer and saying:

"What a coincidence. You're here too?"

Sitting on a pile of straw in one corner, firmly restrained by the familiar long cangue and leg irons, Black Snake could not stop the corner of his mouth from twitching.

"..."