The next day.
Early morning.
A pale white had just begun to light the horizon.
Isolte got up early, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and ate breakfast. Then, as usual, she set off for the Water God Style dojo to practice her swordsmanship.
Life repeated itself day after day, without the slightest novelty.
Every day, she was either practicing with her sword or on her way to practice.
But today, on her way to the dojo, she suddenly heard several furtive thieves whispering in a nearby corner.
"Are you sure that kid's from out of town? No adults with him?"
"Yeah, I've been watching him for days. He comes out alone every time, and he's staying at the inn by himself."
"Ahahaha, a kid all alone. What a golden opportunity... Let's sneak over and kidnap him in a bit. Country brats from out of town are the easiest targets. Nobody will even notice if they disappear..."
"If we grab a kid like that and sell him as a slave to those nobles with weird tastes, we'll definitely make another killing."
"Huh! This sort of thing again?"
Witnessing this injustice stirred Isolte's sense of righteousness once more.
She could pretend she hadn't seen anything, but if she stumbled across something as vile as child abduction and did nothing, her conscience would reproach her.
At that thought...
She acted at once!
Isolte quietly followed the three kidnappers, eventually arriving in the most secluded part of the royal capital.
It was near an alley in the western slums.
But just as Isolte readied herself to charge in and rescue the victim, the sight inside left her stunned.
The three thieves who had looked so full of ill intent earlier were now kneeling neatly in a row.
Some were weeping with tears and snot streaming down their faces, while others shouted pleas for mercy.
All three had been stripped of their shirts and wore only shorts... They shivered in the cold wind.
Luo Ge scolded the three of them. "You three! Will you ever dare do this again?"
The three answered in unison, "We won't dare do it next time."
"Next time?"
"Huh? There absolutely won't be a next time! Please let us go..."
"In that case, get lost!"
The moment Luo Ge finished speaking, the three thieves fled as though they had been granted a pardon.
They ran so fast they practically wished their parents had given them an extra leg.
Unconsciously, the corners of Luo Ge's mouth lifted slightly. He had made a hefty profit today. The valuables he had collected alone were worth at least one Asuran gold coin.
Yes!
That was right: one gold coin.
It sounded like very little, didn't it? But in fact, a single gold coin was already a fortune to an ordinary person.
One Asuran gold coin equaled ten Asuran silver coins.
One silver coin equaled ten large copper coins.
One large copper coin equaled ten small copper coins.
Converted that way, one gold coin was actually equivalent to one thousand small copper coins.
Perhaps one gold coin wasn't much in Asura's royal capital, but as long as he left this place...
He could live very comfortably on that one gold coin anywhere outside the capital.
He had to admit, robbing the robbers really was the fastest way to make money.
It was much easier than honestly taking commissions and leveling up.
As Luo Ge continued squatting on the ground counting his money, planning to make another hefty profit tomorrow to cover his travel expenses...
He suddenly noticed approaching footsteps...
"A woman?"
He had thought the three thieves had brought accomplices back to take revenge, but when he looked up, he instead saw the blue-haired girl from yesterday.
Here in this alley.
For a moment, the two involuntarily met each other's eyes and froze.
"You again?!"
Luo Ge reacted first.
He was surprised.
The blue-haired girl before him was none other than Isolte, who had helped her out of trouble yesterday.
He hadn't expected the royal capital to be so small. They had only parted yesterday, yet today they had somehow run into each other again.
"You? So it really... is you!"
Clearly, Isolte was a little surprised too. Soon, a slight smile curved her lips.
"Oh! Looks like we're quite fated to meet. We've run into each other again so soon."
Seeing Luo Ge squatting on the ground, apparently taking stock of something, she approached him curiously.
She crouched beside him and asked with a face full of curiosity, "Excuse me... um, what-what are you doing?"
"Obviously! I'm counting money."
Luo Ge took stock of all the valuables, then casually disposed of everything worthless as trash.
Suddenly, as though something had occurred to her, Isolte murmured softly and began looking Luo Ge over. "Did you do all that just now? You subdued three adults all by yourself?"
"Is that strange?"
"Those three thieves knew a little swordsmanship, but it was all just empty flourishes. Dealing with them... wasn't really any trouble."
Listening to Luo Ge, Isolte nodded noncommittally.
"That's true."
"But defeating three strongly built adults at your young age is really impressive."
Luo Ge suddenly stood up and glanced at Isolte. "Anyway, here you are again. Do you have nothing to do?"
"Well!"
"Actually, I just happened to overhear those three talking. I heard them saying something about kidnapping a child, and I was worried, so I followed them."
"Then you're really a good person, big sis." Judging by her heartbeat and breathing, neither of which was at all irregular, she really didn't seem to be lying.
"Mm-hmm, thank you for the compliment, little brother."
After a pause, Isolte smiled and said, "My name is Isolte Cruel. It's a pleasure to meet you. And you? What's your name?"
"I'm Luo..."
Luo Ge instinctively started to blurt out his name, but as the words reached his lips, he suddenly changed his mind.
Smiling as well, Luo Ge introduced himself openly. "I'm Rudeus Greyrat. Pleased to meet you."
Elsewhere, people would have been at least somewhat surprised to hear the surname Greyrat.
But in the City of Ars, Asura's royal capital, noble surnames like that were practically everywhere.
"Rudeus Greyrat?"
Hearing the noble surname Greyrat, Isolte showed no surprise. On the contrary, she seemed quite accustomed to it.
"All right, if there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave."
Luo Ge had already wasted several precious minutes on this girl.
He intended to leave quickly and, while it was still early, continue baiting criminals around the city.
After all... he still had to earn enough travel money to reach the Sword Sanctum.
He didn't have that much free time to stay here wasting it with this pretty woman who looked like a noble young lady.
"Hey! Please wait."
Suddenly, Isolte caught up with him from behind.
"What is it?"
Luo Ge turned back.
"Your name is Rudeus, right? Sorry to be so forward, but I'd like to ask... Are you interested in Water God Style swordsmanship?"
Although Luo Ge didn't know why Isolte was asking, he answered honestly. "Uh... a little, but not very."
"I see!"
"A little interest is enough. You look like a newcomer who's only just begun practicing swordsmanship, so you must still be struggling to find a suitable dojo, right?"
"If... I mean, if you want to practice Water God Style swordsmanship, I could put in a word for you. The Water God Style dojo is recruiting apprentices lately."
"...Thank you for the offer, but I don't want to join a Water God Style dojo."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because all that matters is having fun fighting. Fighting with the Water God Style takes too much thinking. Switching your brain off and fighting with the Sword God Style is more fun."
"..."
His comparison of the Water God Style and Sword God Style immediately made Isolte frown in displeasure.
She began complaining, "The Sword God Style? What's so good about it... That's swordsmanship only a bunch of unenlightened savages would practice. Our Water God Style is the strongest of the three great styles!"
"The Water God Style is the strongest?"
Listening to the girl's sales pitch, Luo Ge couldn't help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
If he had been a complete novice at swordsmanship, he might really have believed her nonsense.
But ever since he had begun practicing all three styles-the Sword God Style, Water God Style, and North God Style...
In terms of Luo Ge's personal experience, none was the strongest. The three different sword styles simply countered one another.
It was like rock-paper-scissors. If the Sword God Style was scissors, then the Water God Style was rock, and the North Mountain Style was paper.
Of course, that countering relationship depended on all three being at roughly the same level.
If the gap in strength was too great, there was no such thing as countering. One could simply overwhelm the other with raw stats.