Perhaps Ye Uchiha's words had shaken him. Naofumi Iwatani lowered his head in silence, his expression shifting as unknown thoughts ran through his mind.
"Ye, if this happened to you, how would you handle it?" Naofumi Iwatani asked, still hesitant.
"I'd kill them outright, then track down and eliminate whoever was pulling the strings behind it. If you ask why, there's only one answer: because I'm strong, and the weak have no right to bare their teeth at the strong."
"If the enemy is too powerful and you lack the strength, then endure it for a while. Build up your strength and wait for the chance to deal them a crushing blow," Ye Uchiha replied in a perfectly casual tone.
Naofumi Iwatani lowered his eyes and murmured, "Is that the gap between us?"
A gap in both strength and mindset.
"What are you planning to do now? After this, I doubt there's anywhere left for you in this country. You probably don't have much money on you, either. Do you need me to lend you some?" Ye Uchiha asked, glancing at the empty coin pouch at Naofumi Iwatani's waist.
"No need. I'll survive my own way. I don't need anyone stepping in to help."
He flatly rejected Ye Uchiha's offer. After all, even companions and friends needed to maintain some distance, or even the deepest bonds could sour.
Suddenly, several unwelcome voices interrupted their conversation.
"Hey, Shield Hero, want us to be your companions?"
"Yeah, yeah. You should be thanking us."
The ill-intentioned voices came from behind him. Three male adventurers swaggered up behind Naofumi Iwatani, laid their hands on his shoulders, and laughed flippantly.
To be frank, these men had come purely to stir up trouble. Naofumi Iwatani was already used to it. People like them were easy enough to handle. Give them a little pain, and they would quickly back off.
Looking at the three men behind Naofumi Iwatani, Ye Uchiha smiled warmly. "Need me to deal with them for you? I'd be happy to have a little 'chat' with them."
Seeing Ye Uchiha's gentle smile and recalling their earlier conversation, Naofumi Iwatani couldn't help growing wary.
That "chat" definitely wouldn't be a peaceful conversation. He wants to kill them!
Though he despised these troublemaking thugs, they didn't deserve to die. He hadn't sunk so low that he wanted to kill them.
"You stay right here. I can still handle something this small myself."
Immediately rejecting Ye Uchiha's enthusiastic offer, Naofumi Iwatani said solemnly, "Let's confirm the terms of the contract first."
"Sure~"
Completely unaware that they had just narrowly escaped death, the three maintained their "friendly, amiable" smiles, looking at Naofumi Iwatani as though he were a fat lamb ripe for fleecing.
"First, you'll be paid based on the work you do. You understand what that means, right?"
"Not a clue-"
As they spoke, the men burst into shrill, mocking laughter.
Keeping a stern face, Naofumi Iwatani said, "We'll split the earnings from our adventures. I get the largest share, at least forty percent. The rest will be divided according to how well you perform. Of course, if you do nothing, you get nothing."
"What does that mean? Doesn't that mean you can just keep everything for yourself?"
After hearing Naofumi Iwatani's proposed split, the three immediately turned hostile and challenged him.
"You'll get your share if you pull your weight and produce results." After paying his bill, Naofumi Iwatani said goodbye to Ye Uchiha, stood up, and walked out.
He left the tavern and deliberately led the men into a quiet, dark alley paved with stone.
"Then let's hurry up and buy some equipment," the three chimed in, crowding behind Naofumi Iwatani.
Naofumi Iwatani replied indifferently, "You pay for your own equipment. I'm not obligated to buy it for you or train you."
"Huh?"
"Enough. I'm sick of talking to you. Hand over your money."
Dropping all pretense, the three bared their vicious intentions and ordered Naofumi Iwatani around.
"If you'd said that from the start, we wouldn't have wasted all this time," Naofumi Iwatani said coldly, reaching inside his cloak.
"Well, look at that. You're pretty obedient."
Thinking he had submitted, the fat adventurer held out his hand, waiting for Naofumi Iwatani to obediently surrender his money and belongings.
Crunch-
An orange balloon clamped its sharp teeth onto the fat adventurer's outstretched hand, gnawing viciously.
The fat adventurer let out a piercing scream. The other two immediately reacted, drawing gleaming daggers and stabbing fiercely at Naofumi Iwatani, only for his shield to block them in time.
Clang-
The blades struck the shield in a violent collision, sending sparks flying. The shield flashed brilliantly and instantly knocked the daggers away. The recoil sent the tall, thin adventurer crashing to the ground, clutching his numb, aching arm and howling.
"Damn it!"
Staring at Naofumi Iwatani in terror, the three scrambled out of the alley and vanished in an instant.
Silently watching their retreating figures disappear, Naofumi Iwatani pinned the orange balloon rolling toward him beneath his foot, his expression cold and grim.
"My defense is high, but my attack isn't enough. Because it isn't enough, I can't defeat monsters. Because I can't defeat them, I can't earn experience. Because I can't earn experience, my attack never goes up... What a miserable cycle!"
Kicking away the orange balloon as it let out a strange cry, Naofumi Iwatani clenched his fists and roared in frustration.
The orange balloon bounced away like a soccer ball, rolling off to who knew where. In the deserted alley, only Naofumi Iwatani's heavy breathing remained.
"You look rather troubled."
An eccentric man wearing a top hat and a tailcoat spoke from a corner of the alley.
He was short and portly, barely reaching Naofumi Iwatani's shoulders. Wearing round glasses and displaying two rows of white teeth, he resembled a medieval gentleman and seemed utterly out of place in his surroundings.
Naofumi Iwatani glanced at the eccentric gentleman. Deciding that less trouble was better, he pretended not to have seen him and turned to leave.
"Short on manpower."
The eccentric gentleman's words seemed to touch a sore spot, and Naofumi Iwatani couldn't help stopping.
"I happen to have just what you need."
"If you're here to introduce companions, don't bother."
"Companions? No, no. What I offer isn't anything so inconvenient," the eccentric gentleman replied, strolling up behind Naofumi Iwatani.
"Then what is it?"
"Are you interested?"
Glancing at the eccentric gentleman, Naofumi Iwatani said coldly, "Don't come near me."
The eccentric gentleman gave a strange laugh. "I like that look in your eyes. It seems you're just as the rumors say: a hero with no companions except monsters."
"If you're interested, please follow me."
The eccentric gentleman spoke as he gestured for Naofumi Iwatani to follow.
Atop a tall building nearby, Ye Uchiha stood steadily, watching Naofumi Iwatani and the eccentric gentleman leave. He had witnessed everything, from the three thuggish adventurers being driven off to the eccentric gentleman's arrival.
Before you continue