Looking for Trouble

"My tree! My evergreen tree!! Who destroyed the tree at my home!"

Right then, accompanied by a miserable howl, a bearded, bald middle-aged man with a pale face ran over and dropped to his knees in front of the two evergreen trees that had been destroyed beyond recognition.

"Huh?!" Cain and Roxy beside him froze instantly. Wait, these trees weren't wild?! Roxy covered her forehead, wearing a smile that looked uglier than crying.

"They really were artificially cultivated trees..."

Cain crossed his arms and his mouth twitched violently.

"You! It must be you guys who destroyed my tree, you have to compensate me for my loss!"

The bald middle-aged man picked up a sickle, his face flushed red as he walked toward Roxy and Cain, looking as though he wanted to fight them to the death.

"W-What should we do, Cain..."

"It's fine, leave it to me, Master."

Cain very skillfully protected his weak master—who didn't even know battle aura—behind him, casting a calm glance at the ordinary man who didn't even possess battle aura.

"Bastards, you have to compensate me for my loss! Two Asura Gold Coins for each tree, absolutely must pay me!"

"We will compensate you for this, but it will be an honest, fair payout, not whatever exorbitant price you pull out of thin air."

Cain crossed his arms and looked at the man in front of him with a calm expression. It was obvious that a single evergreen tree didn't cost nearly that much, and the price the other party was quoting had a huge amount of padding.

Two Asura Gold Coins were enough for an ordinary person to eat, drink, and live in luxury for several years.

"You! Do you know who I am?! My younger brother is a city guard! Do you want him to come set the price?!"

"Who your brother is has nothing to do with me! Even if he's a guard, it's all the same to me. You don't get to set the price just by opening your mouth. I'll say it again: we will compensate you properly, at standard market prices, but if you keep making unreasonable a fuss, you won't get a single penny."

Sensing Cain's formidable aura, the man swallowed hard, misgivings rising in his heart. He felt that Cain was no ordinary person, and he indeed had tried to extort a lot of extra money.

"W-Who are you? State your name!"

"Second Sword God · Cain Blade Reiback." As he spoke, Cain revealed the Demon Blade: Instant Void at his waist.

"I'll allow you to come over and check, to see if I've falsely reported my identity—though of course, you'll have to duel me afterward.

"Just you and me!"

With a thud, followed immediately by silence.

Roxy, who was tightly clutching Cain's clothes behind him and shrinking her head in fear of getting scolded, heard the silence. She poked her small head out from behind Cain, curiously surveyed the situation in the arena, and then her mouth twitched violently.

Huh? What was going on?!

The middle-aged man, who had been arrogant just a moment ago, turned completely drained of color the second he heard Cain state his name. His face paled like snow, and he directly dropped the broken sickle in his hand, falling to his knees before Cain with a thud, pressing his forehead to the ground and kowtowing repeatedly.

Gone was his previous arrogant appearance; he was now as submissive as a pug.

What did the Sword God mean? Who across the entire Central Continent could possibly not know? A person like that could slaughter the entire Ranoa Magic Kingdom, and at worst, his reputation would just take a hit—no one could truly sanction a swordsman who held the Divine Rank title.

They could be said to be the strongest and freest group of people in the Human Race. Even the Asura King of the most powerful kingdom didn't dare provoke them, only seek to recruit them.

And on top of that, he was the Sword God of the Sword God Style, the undisputed head of the three major swordsmanship schools of the Human Race, the strongest among the strong!

"S-Sword God... I don't want the money for the trees anymore, b-begging you to spare this humble one's life!"

Roxy, hiding behind Cain, blinked her blue eyes, her mind completely blank as if it had been stuffed with something.

Ah, that's right! Her own disciple was the Second Sword God of the Sword Sanctum, a top-tier powerhouse of this world. How could she have forgotten something so important?!

Of course, throwing one's weight around like this wasn't right, and Cain hadn't intended to do it this way. Paying compensation for damages was completely normal, but sometimes certain people were just dishonest and would demand exorbitant sums out of nowhere. Naturally, Cain didn't indulge them either; he didn't mind using some methods to make them behave.

Sorry! We're definitely paying this money—we even have to pay it now whether we like it or not. Please state your quote, bald uncle with connections in the city..."

Cain wore a gentle smile as he heavily patted the shoulder of the bald man on the ground who looked like he was about to be scared to tears.

"Y-Yes! I'm sorry!!"

Cain picked at his ear. Originally, he and his master should have been the ones apologizing, but since someone wanted to bully people, he couldn't be blamed for this!

If villains were villainous, shouldn't good people be even more villainous? Otherwise, how could they keep those villains in check? Of course, he only targeted bad people and villains.

Although his cute teacher Roxy looked like a soft persimmon, he, the Second Sword God · Cain Brand, was no soft persimmon. Even though Cain had always just swung his sword at the Sword Sanctum, when it came to dealing with this sort of person, Cain was an absolute expert.

If all else failed, they could just have a single combat match—the kind where you signed a life-and-death waiver.

Roxy puffed out her cheeks and mustered a shred of courage, putting on a very angry expression as she akimbo-ed her hands and looked down at the middle-aged man kneeling and kowtowing on the ground.

Roxy had heard everything just now. This guy had actually demanded two Asura Gold Coins per tree from her and Cain! That meant four Asura Gold Coins in total! Why didn't he just go rob someone!

If Cain hadn't been blocking her, she definitely would have snapped back. Well, she probably would have snapped back, anyway.

"Ahem, please provide a reasonable quote, and my disciple and I will compensate you."

Roxy put her hands on her hips, gave a light cough, and wore a serious expression on her face. As the master, she needed to set an example for her disciple.

Yet the moment she saw the pale, bitter face raised toward her, Roxy flashed right back behind Cain at the speed of light.

"T-That, Cain, just paying the money is fine. Let's not hurt anyone, okay?"

"Don't worry, Master, I'll pay him."

Cain nodded with a faint smile, his expression turning gloomy the instant he looked back at the man.

"State your quote, and we will compensate you honestly."

"R-Really, there's no need..."

"I don't want to repeat myself a second time... Understand?"

"O-One silver coin..."

"One for a tree?"

"Two trees for one."

How on earth had this guy dared to demand two Asura Gold Coins per tree from himself and Teacher Roxy just a moment ago?!

Cain wanted to give this fellow a taste of his sword, but Teacher Roxy gently tugged on his arm. Looking into those blinking blue eyes, Cain leaned his ear closer.

"Cain, his price is too low. The market price for an evergreen tree should be two silver coins each—I've seen it before. This guy is probably scared of you and just quoting random numbers."

"Understood, Teacher Roxy."

Cain pursed his lips and nodded slightly. While compensation was compensation, handing hard-earned silver coins over to a guy like this felt utterly disgusting.

Pulling four silver coins from his pouch, Cain tossed them beside the kneeling man. He clicked his tongue, and with a booming crash, the Blade of Light cleaved the two-meter-long stone slab next to the man cleanly in half!

It scared the bald middle-aged uncle so badly that he couldn't help himself—steam slowly began rising from his crotch, and streams of warm yellow liquid leaked down his trouser legs, though fortunately the thick snow covered most of it up.

"I'll spare you this time. Next time, charge the proper amount. If you dare try cheating people again..."

Sheathing his sword, Cain cast a cold smile at the bald man.

"Understood! I understand, Lord Sword God! Thank you for sparing my life! Thank you for sparing my life!"

Watching the man frantically scoop up the silver coins from the ground, running off frantically into the city without even daring to look back, tripping headfirst into the snow before scrambling away on all fours into the darkness, Cain let out a faint cold snore.

Killing people in a large city was still quite troublesome, and it might even get him expelled from the Adventurers' Guild. More importantly, it would stain his sword with the blood of scum like that! He would be letting down Master Gall who had bestowed the sword upon him.

"Teacher Roxy, let's head back."