Matthews had gathered some cloth and bamboo from the village and made a few folding fans. That winter, he had also taught the village children some basic martial arts. Now, as they were leaving, the village chief and the others saw them off at the village entrance.
As he spoke, the village chief took a dagger from inside his clothes and said to Matthews, "I found this earlier, too. It's no use to me here, so you can have it!"
Matthews thought for a moment. He had encountered danger soon after arriving in this world. It made sense to have another iron weapon for self-defense, so he accepted the dagger the old village chief held out to him.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Thank you, Chief."
The children Matthews had taught all winter stood in neat rows, their eyes brimming with tears as they called out, "Thank you, Teacher!"
"Brother, shouldn't we say goodbye to them again?"
"Let's go."
Matthews walked away without looking back. He knew he was a sentimental person, too. Staying here would certainly be pleasant, but he didn't want to spend his whole life in peaceful obscurity. This was a magical world where people could live forever—how could he not go and experience its extraordinary wonders?
That night, Matthews and Mia slept in a tree. They had no money, so they had to walk all the way to the capital of the Furio Empire. That was where the magic academy was, as well as the church that tested people for magical talent.
"Rumble—"
"Mm."
Matthews, who already had the strength of a sixth-level warrior, was the first to wake at the thunder of approaching hooves. There was no way such a large group of riders would be out here in the middle of nowhere!
"Not good."
Matthews quickly realized that this wasn't the peaceful world he had lived in before. This was a high-martial world with bandits and mercenaries. Hooves thundering like this meant one of two things.
Either an army was passing through, or bandits and horse thieves were on their way to rob a merchant caravan guarded by mercenaries.
Neither was something he could handle right now. Matthews clearly remembered that in the original story, the bandit leaders the protagonist encountered after leaving the Magic Beast Mountain Range had been seventh- or eighth-level warriors.
He was just a nobody. In a world where Saint Realm warriors could destroy kingdoms or cities, a Saint Realm warrior's ordinary attack was probably comparable to a conventional tactical missile.
If a seventh- or eighth-level warrior wanted to kill an ordinary person like him, wouldn't it be as easy as crushing an ant?
Matthews scooped Mia up and ran. Still groggy from sleep, she asked him, "Brother, what's going on?"
"We're in danger."
Matthews had still been careless. If they had stayed up in the tree without moving, the passing bandits might not have noticed them. But the moment the two of them ran, they gave themselves away completely.
"Boss, there's someone there."
"Mm, I sense them. The target comes first. Go kill them."
Two bandits rode out and chased after Matthews.
Hearing the pursuing hoofbeats, Matthews knew they wouldn't get away if they followed the road.
He looked around in the night. They had chosen a wooded area beside the road earlier. The ground here was fairly flat, without any hills or dips. There was no way they could shake off the riders!
He had no choice but to carry Mia into the woods. When the bandits saw them enter the trees, they reined in their horses at the edge of the forest. Horses weren't suited to charging into the woods, and their leader probably wouldn't be pleased if they damaged one.
"You stay and watch the horses. I'll go kill them."
With that, he jumped off his horse and chased after them. Matthews had Mia with him, so he would probably be caught soon. If he kept running, he wouldn't have the strength left to fight back.
"We can't get away. Go hide."
Mia looked at Matthews, then turned and ran to hide behind a tree.
"Haha! Why'd you stop running? You made me chase you all this way. If I get back late, I probably won't even get any soup!"
Seeing Matthews take a defensive stance, the bandit glanced at his beast-hide clothes.
"Damn it. I thought you might be a scout or something. Killing you would've earned me a decent reward, but it turns out you're just a pauper."
He charged forward. Matthews had only trained in the rough-and-ready techniques of farmers. When ordinary people encountered danger, they usually aimed to kill with one blow and didn't rely on many moves. The bandit hadn't cultivated any Battle Qi, either. He was only an ordinary fifth-level warrior.
His attacks were broad and forceful, using moves he'd learned in fights. Most of the time, they relied on their leader to gain the upper hand before swarming their opponents. So Matthews was still able to handle the situation.
The bandit couldn't take Matthews down right away as they dodged and weaved around each other.
"Haha! I didn't expect you to know a few moves. Now killing you will be even more exciting!"
After he spoke, the bandit swung his broadsword with even greater force.
"Here's my chance."
After the bandit's next strike, Matthews spotted an opening and stepped in from the left. Seizing the moment, he plunged his dagger into the bandit's chest. He immediately leaped back after landing the blow, but the bandit still slashed his abdomen.
Matthews clutched his wound and stared at the bandit.
"You—you were hiding your strength the whole time. You're actually a sixth-level warrior!"
The bandit had thought his fifth-level strength would let him kill Matthews with ease. He hadn't expected to die here. After the bandit fell, clutching his chest, Matthews stepped forward and cut off his head.
"And you called me a pauper. This is only three or five silver coins."
Matthews picked up the bandit's broadsword and left.
"Brother, are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. I've got a bit of padding on my stomach."
Matthews quickly bandaged his wound, then left the woods with Mia.
The bandit watching the horses waited a long time, but his partner never came out. He soon grew impatient. "What's taking so long to kill someone?"
Grumbling, he drew his long saber and headed toward his partner. More than ten minutes later, he reached the place where his partner had been killed and found the body. He gripped his blade in a tense defensive stance, scanned the area for a moment, then slowly retreated.
He figured that if his fifth-level partner could be killed, then he could be killed, too. So he left the body behind. Bandits risked their lives for a living, and getting killed was their own fault. He wasn't about to put himself in danger.
Matthews walked for most of the night before stopping to rest in a tree with Mia.
The next morning, Mia looked at Matthews's wound and said, "Brother, your injury is so bad. Let me bandage it for you!"
The best thing would be to disinfect the wound with alcohol before bandaging it, but Matthews didn't have any.
"Build a fire."
Mia quickly started one. Matthews cleaned the dagger for a while, then held it over the flames to heat it red-hot!
"Brother, what are you doing?"
"Treating the wound. Go get some water."
Mia obediently went to fetch water. Once she was some distance away, she heard a sharp, bloodcurdling scream.
"Ah—!"
When Mia ran back, she saw Matthews pressing the red-hot dagger against his stomach, his skin smoking!
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