Picking a Fight

"My trees! My evergreens! Who destroyed my trees?!"

Amid a wail of anguish, a bald, bearded middle-aged man came running over, his face deathly pale. He dropped to his knees before the two evergreens, which had been damaged beyond recovery.

"Huh?!" Cain and Roxy froze. So these trees hadn't been growing wild?! Roxy covered her forehead, forcing a smile uglier than crying.

"They really were cultivated trees..."

Cain folded his arms, and the corner of his mouth twitched hard.

"You! It had to be you who destroyed my trees! You have to compensate me for my losses!"

The bald middle-aged man grabbed a sickle and strode toward Roxy and Cain, his face red with fury, looking as though he intended to fight them to the death.

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

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

Cain skillfully shielded his frail master, who could not even use battle aura, behind him. His gaze swept coolly over the ordinary man, who did not possess any battle aura either.

"You bastards! You have to compensate me! Two Asura Gold Coins per tree—two!"

"We will compensate you, but we'll pay the proper amount, not whatever outrageous price you demand."

Cain stood with his arms folded, calmly looking at the man before him. An evergreen tree clearly was not worth that much; the man's quoted price was heavily inflated.

Two Asura Gold Coins were enough for an ordinary person to live comfortably for several years.

"Y-You! Do you know who I am?! My younger brother is a city guard! Want me to have him set the price?!"

"What does your brother have to do with me? Even if he's a guard, it makes no difference here. You don't get to decide the price just because you say so. I'll say it one more time: we'll compensate you according to the market rate. But if you keep making unreasonable demands, you won't get a single coin."

Feeling Cain's powerful presence, the man swallowed. Doubts welled up in his heart. Cain did not seem like an ordinary person, and he really had asked for far too much money.

"Y-You... 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 inspect it, to see whether I've falsely claimed my identity. Of course, afterward, you'll have to duel me."

"Just you and me!"

With a thud, everything fell silent.

Roxy had been clutching Cain's clothes tightly behind him, shrinking back in fear of being scolded. When she heard no more sounds, she poked her little head out from behind Cain to curiously look at the situation, then the corner of her mouth twitched violently.

Huh? What was going on?!

The middle-aged man who had been so domineering moments ago had turned bloodless the instant Cain announced his name. His face went pale as snow. He tossed aside his broken sickle, dropped to his knees before Cain with a thud, and began banging his head against the ground.

All his earlier arrogance was gone. He was as obedient as a lapdog.

Who in the entire Central Continent did not know what the Sword God title meant? Even if someone like that slaughtered the entire Ranoa Magic Kingdom, at worst they would gain a bad reputation. No one could truly punish a swordsman bearing a god-tier title.

They were among the strongest humans, and also among the freest. Even the King of Asura, ruler of the most powerful kingdom, would not dare provoke them and could only try to recruit them.

What was more, he was the Sword God of the Sword God Style—the foremost of the three great schools of human swordsmanship, the strongest among the strong!

"S-Sword God, I-I don't want payment for the trees anymore. P-Please spare my life!"

Behind Cain, Roxy blinked her blue eyes. Her mind went completely blank, as though it had been stuffed full of something.

Ah, right! Her disciple was the Second Sword God of the Sword God's Holy Land, one of the world's foremost experts. How had she forgotten something so important?!

Of course, it was wrong to use power to bully others, and Cain had not intended to do that. Paying compensation was perfectly natural when they had caused damage. But sometimes, certain people refused to be honest and demanded absurd prices. Cain was not about to indulge them, and he did not mind using a few methods to make them behave.

"I'm sorry! We're definitely paying you. We couldn't refuse even if we wanted to. Please state your price, bald uncle with connections in the city..."

With a kindly smile, Cain heavily patted the shoulder of the bald man kneeling on the ground, who looked about ready to cry from fright.

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

Cain picked at his ear. The man should have been apologizing to him and his master, but since someone had tried to bully them, he could not blame Cain for responding.

To deal with evil people, good people had to be even fiercer, didn't they? Otherwise, how could they keep such villains in line? Of course, Cain only treated bad people and villains this way.

Although his adorable teacher Roxy looked like an easy target, he, Second Sword God · Cain Blade, was no easy target. Cain might have spent all his time at the Sword God's Holy Land swinging a sword, but dealing with people like this was what he did best.

If all else failed, they could settle it with a duel—a duel with a life-or-death contract.

Roxy puffed out her cheeks, gathered a trace of courage, and put on an angry expression as she stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the kneeling middle-aged man who was still kowtowing.

Roxy had heard everything. This fellow 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 rob them?!

If Cain had not stopped her, she definitely would have talked back to him. Well, she probably would have.

"Ahem. Please give us a reasonable price. My disciple and I will compensate you."

Roxy cleared her throat twice with her hands on her hips, putting on a stern expression. As his master, she had to set an example for her disciple.

But when she saw him raise his head, revealing that pale, miserable face, Roxy instantly ducked back behind Cain.

"Um, Cain, just pay him. Let's not hurt anyone."

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

Cain nodded with a faint smile. The moment he looked back at the man, however, his expression darkened.

"State your price. We'll pay you accordingly."

"You... you really don't have to..."

"I don't want to repeat myself... understand?"

"O-One silver coin..."

"One per tree?"

"One for both trees."

How had this man dared to demand two Asura Gold Coins per tree from him and Teacher Roxy just now?!

Cain wanted to slash this fellow with his sword, but Teacher Roxy gently tugged on his arm. Seeing her blinking blue eyes, Cain leaned his ear closer.

"Cain, that's too low. The market price for evergreens should be two silver coins each. I've seen it before. He's probably afraid of you and just blurted out a price."

"I understand, Teacher Roxy."

Cain pursed his lips and nodded slightly. Compensation was compensation, but giving hard-earned silver coins to someone like this still felt disgusting.

He took four silver coins from his purse and tossed them beside the kneeling man. Cain clicked his tongue, and with a thunderous crash, the Blade of Light cleaved the two-meter stone slab beside the man in half!

The bald middle-aged man was so frightened that steam gradually rose from his crotch. Yellow streams ran down his trouser legs, though thankfully the thick snow concealed them.

"I'll spare you this time. Next time, charge what things are actually worth. If you dare try to cheat someone again..."

Cain sheathed his sword and gave the bald man a cold smile.

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

The man frantically gathered the silver coins from the ground and ran into the city without daring to look back. He even stumbled and fell flat on his face, before finally rolling and crawling away into the night. Cain gave a soft snort.

Killing someone in a large city was troublesome. He might even be expelled from the Adventurers' Guild. More importantly, letting his sword be stained with the blood of trash like that would be an insult to Master Gall, who had given him this sword.

"Teacher Roxy, let's go back."