After a simple breakfast, the party began packing up camp.
Ye Wei'an walked over to the luxurious tent and touched each item inside. The silk cushions, rosewood bathtub, and folding bed all vanished without a trace. At last, even the tent disappeared into his system inventory, leaving only faint impressions on the ground.
Ailian went to help, too. Renn was struggling to carry a chest, but the girl lifted it with both hands and easily placed it on the horse, without even breaking a sweat.
Watching this, he scratched his head and muttered, "Young master, is it too late for me to apply to be your bodyguard? I want to get this strong, too..."
Cain shot him a glare, and he sheepishly shut his mouth.
"Let's go." Once everything was packed, Ye Wei'an swung into the saddle.
Normally, having awakened her Monk levels, Ailian's agility and sense of balance far surpassed those of ordinary people. Riding a horse should have been effortless.
But when Cain led a docile mare over to her, the girl acted as though she hadn't seen it. Her big, dewy eyes gazed at Ye Wei'an.
"I... I'm still a little scared." Her face flushed, and her voice was soft. "I think I overdid it while practicing earlier, and my legs are still weak... If I fall because I can't ride steadily, I wouldn't mind getting hurt myself, but I don't want to cause trouble for you and everyone else."
Cain listened from the side, the corner of his eye twitching almost imperceptibly.
When you lifted that chest with your bare hands just now, you didn't look like your legs were weak at all.
But this time, the straightforward knight wisely chose to keep quiet. He turned around quite naturally and pretended to be focused on checking the horseshoes.
"So, what are you planning to do?" Ye Wei'an asked, amused by the little maid's clumsy acting as she tried to keep up her "delicate" appearance.
"Could we... do it like yesterday?" The little maid blinked her bright eyes.
How could Ye Wei'an fail to see through her little scheme?
"Hop on."
"Yay!" Ailian cheered, lightly pushing off with her foot. In a swift leap, she landed on the horse in front of Ye Wei'an—looking nothing like someone with "weak legs."
Then, like a kitten that had found its nest, she curled up in Ye Wei'an's arms and contentedly closed her eyes.
And so, the party set off once more.
With the minimap guiding them, today's journey went just as smoothly as yesterday's.
Under Ye Wei'an's lead, they crossed the forest, avoiding every potential problem. They didn't even encounter a single enemy.
Though they took a rougher trail, they made just as good time as they would have on a flat road.
"The young master is practically the lord of this forest," Harold murmured to Renn. "Following him, I feel like we could sleep all the way to the Baron's Castle."
As the setting sun dyed the sky a sorrowful, deep purple, a small town built against the mountains appeared on the horizon.
They had reached Firefall Town.
The town guarded the entrance to a gorge along the main road east. It was an essential stop for anyone crossing the edge of Hurek Forest on their way to Firefall Valley, the Summerstar Family's territory.
Lights had already begun to gleam across the town, warm and inviting in the dusk.
For the warriors who had spent all day trudging through a hot, damp forest, those lights meant hot soup, dry beds, and safe walls.
"We finally made it!" Renn wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The undershirts beneath the three warriors' armor were already soaked through. More than anything, they wanted to hurry into town, find a tavern, down several mugs of cold ale, and wash the dryness and dust from their throats.
"Hold on!"
Just as Renn loosened his reins and prepared to rush toward the town, Ye Wei'an stopped them.
Cain's heart tightened. He raised a hand and made a tactical signal almost by reflex.
Renn stopped as well. He and Harold spread out to either side, forming a loose fan around Ye Wei'an and the horses.
"Young master, is something wrong?" Cain asked quietly, his eyes warily scanning the defenses at the town entrance.
Ye Wei'an didn't answer immediately. His gaze was fixed on the minimap.
At the entrance to Firefall Town and in several blind spots along the main street, three or four red dots stood out among a mass of yellow dots representing neutral figures.
Considering Ye Wei'an had never been to Firefall Town and couldn't possibly have any enemies there, their identities were all but obvious. Who else could they be but Gray Crow's spies or hired thugs?
Ye Wei'an wasn't surprised.
Firefall Town belonged to Baron Summerstar, and Gray Crow was the baroness's personal servant.
With that status, planting a few informants and recruiting a few local thugs here would have been easy.
But he didn't point that out. Instead, he offered another explanation.
"That mastermind has worked with Grumman the Butcher more than once. Anyone who can maintain a long-term partnership with the largest bandit gang nearby must be a local power in Firefall Town. If we stroll in there now, we'll practically be telling them outright: the ambush failed, and we've delivered ourselves right to their door."
Cain suddenly understood, then shuddered at the thought. "Thank goodness you warned us, young master. We nearly made a terrible mistake."
"You've spent a long time in the army. It's only natural that you're unfamiliar with these sorts of tricks," Ye Wei'an comforted him.
"Then... how should we get in?"
"Don't worry. I've already made preparations."
To Cain's astonishment, Ye Wei'an took a heavy greatsword out of his system inventory, along with a piece of Studded Leather Armor that covered only the lower body. They were Grumman the Butcher's gear.
"Aren't they waiting for Grumman the Butcher to return and report?" Ye Wei'an hefted the weighty sword and smiled faintly. "Then I'll disguise myself as Grumman and give them a 'surprise.'"
With that, he began to chant a spell.
"Alter Self."
As the last syllable left his lips, a faint crackling sound came from inside him.
His bones stretched and shifted under the pull of magic. His refined features seemed to be reshaped by an invisible hand: his cheekbones rose, his jaw widened, and his skin turned rough and dark, marked by several vicious old scars.
His slender, well-proportioned frame swelled, solid muscles bulging beneath his clothes until they strained against the fabric. In just a few breaths, the handsome young nobleman had become a hulking Barbarian with a face full of flesh.
"Th-this... He's exactly like that bandit chief." Cain and the two warriors stared in astonishment.
Even knowing it was the effect of a spell, they were still shaken by the lifelike transformation before their eyes.
"Cain, take off your armor and put this on." Ye Wei'an—or rather, "Grumman"—pulled a few spare sets of dusty, coarse clothes from his inventory and ordered him in a hoarse, gruff voice.
"Also, put away your swords and switch to those battered blades and broken axes we took from the bandits. Remember, you're not soldiers now. You're a bunch of underlings who earn their keep working for me!"
Watching "Grumman," who had perfectly copied even the man's demeanor and tone, Cain promptly carried out the order.
The three of them took off their conspicuous standard-issue armor and swords, changed into filthy roughspun clothes, and rubbed dirt and bits of grass into one another's faces and hair.
Of course, for a few professional soldiers to pass themselves off as bandits, putting on makeup and changing clothes wasn't enough.
Ye Wei'an gave them some expert advice.
For example, they should give up standing tall with their chests out, deliberately hunch over, stop looking so focused, and try to seem more careless...
In Ye Wei'an's eyes, as someone with the Actor feat, their performances still had plenty of flaws. But they would be more than convincing enough for spies and hired thugs.
After all, Ye Wei'an himself was the star of this show.
At last, it was Ailian's turn.
Ye Wei'an reached out and tousled her neatly combed, smooth hair until it was a mess. Then he tore several slits in her pretty maid's dress and smeared dust on the hem and cuffs, even exposing a small stretch of dirty ankle.
"Ailian, bear with me." Ye Wei'an loosely tied a hemp rope around her wrist. "From now on, you're the spoils I captured this time—a frightened little slave girl."
Far from being afraid, Ailian seemed eager to play along.
She blinked hard, trying to make her big eyes well up, then hunched her shoulders and pretended to tremble. "Young master... I mean, Chief, is this all right?"
"Perfect!"
Ye Wei'an slung the enormous greatsword across his back and broke into a textbook vicious grin.
"Let's go. We'll head back to town and collect our reward."
And so, led by their "bandit chief," the party swaggered out from the edge of the woods and headed toward Firefall Town.
Before you continue