Chapter 10: When Spring Wind Blows, Bandits Block the Way
The “flame-type treasures, sacred relics, and high-grade magic crystals” that Ig spoke of were told to him by Verafia, who was holding her legs and frowning by the burning campfire on the first night after leaving the Blazing Chasm.
—Apparently, Miss Phoenix had to awaken prematurely due to Ig’s disturbance, hence her current strength was only Platinum Rank, requiring items containing flame power to recover.
(If her aura was suppressed, her human form was only Gold Rank.)
Therefore, under the girl’s threatening gaze, Ig, showing a “guilty” expression, successfully lured this Phoenix miss to Mies Territory by tempting her with the Crimson Light Flame Flower, a treasure of his family.
At least beside his Saint Rank father, she wouldn’t have to worry about this young lady crushing him into pieces like that stone one day if she felt displeased.
Ig thought to himself at the time.
“That’s more like it.”
Verafia hummed with her arms crossed, hiding the unusual colors in her pupils.
The girl suddenly turned her porcelain-white face from under her hood towards a cluster of trees not far away, an impatient expression on her little face. “Hey, you guys! You’ve been hiding for so long, why aren’t you coming out yet!”
Ig was startled by the girl’s words.
“Young Lady, could it be… there are others nearby?”
The branches and leaves in the thicket rustled, and then two men dressed as bandits jumped out. One of them, with his eyes peeking through the gap in the black cloth covering his face, flashed with a cold light.
“Heh heh, Miss has good eyesight! However, this mountain is mine to open, this tree is mine to…”
Before they could finish their opening remarks, Verafia glanced at them and immediately lost interest. The girl pushed the boy beside her with her small hand.
“One Black Iron, one Bronze. How boring. Ig, it’s all yours!”
“Young Lady!”
Ig staggered and let out a wail, but he quickly raised End for defense.
“What a feisty girl! How dare you look down on us West Wind Bandits! Black, let’s go! We’ll take care of this kid with the broken sword first, and then we’ll show this ungrateful girl what we’re made of!”
Angered by the girl’s disregard for them, the “West Wind Bandits” duo immediately flew into a rage, drawing their weapons and engaging in a fight with Ig, who loyably stood guard before his young lady.
The grey and old blade of End clashed rapidly with the bandits’ short swords, emitting bursts of metallic ringing.
Even though Ig felt a moment of panic internally at first, his swordsmanship, taught by renowned masters in his family since childhood, gave him an insurmountable advantage against these two self-taught bandits.
Under Ig’s swordplay, the battle situation quickly stabilized and even began to turn in his favor.
Verafia, who had brought a small stool to sit on and was nibbling on the wild berries she had previously disliked, merely watched with her delicate eyebrows raised. She would occasionally let out mocking sounds:
“Hey, why is your Dou Qi so scattered! I’ve told you to train seriously, you have no sword’s sharpness at all!”
“Is this the swordsmanship I taught you yesterday?”
“This sword strike is too slow! You could have broken through the opponent’s guard directly!”
…
As Verafia lectured with great interest, a cluster of pitch-black shadow slowly approached her from behind.
As the leader of the bandits, seeing his two subordinates struggling against this guard of unknown origin, he resolutely chose the strategy of “capturing the king first”!
—Seeing that the guard was a Bronze Rank boy, it indicated that this young lady’s strength wouldn’t be very high!
Just then, a stunningly beautiful girl’s face appeared under the hood in the eyes of the bandit, and her pair of scorching gold pupils showed a fierce expression:
“Your speed is too slow! Also, you call yourself a bandit when your stealth skills have only reached this level?”
Seeing his whereabouts exposed, the bandit leader’s eyes widened in fear, and he instinctively swung his long saber with all his might.
A sound of metal breaking, and in the bandit leader’s incredulous gaze, the long saber he had spent all his possessions to forge with fine iron actually snapped in front of the girl.
“Still using such a weak weapon to rob people? At least buy some higher-quality swords. At least they wouldn’t break so easily on contact, ruining our spoils of war!”
Fear flashed in the bandit leader’s eyes. Before he could make a sound, the girl in front of him suddenly waved her slender hand. Something completely invisible and imperceptible, yet harder than steel, slammed into his face, breaking his nose.
With a cry of pain, the bandit leader fainted and fell to the ground.
“Well, even if it’s not yet at the Domain level, it’s no problem dealing with a few petty thieves.”
Shaking her head with a helpless expression, Verafia gritted her teeth and bit down on the small berry in her hand. The sour juice contorted her eyebrows and her eyes.
“Ptooey! This is disgusting!”
Angrily throwing the “inferior” fruit aside, Verafia frowned and shouted loudly again.
“Ig! I’ve already dealt with your boss, why are you still so slow! Hurry up!”
…
Seeing their boss defeated, the remaining two members of the “West Wind Bandit Group” were instantly flustered. Their movements became scattered, and they were quickly subdued and captured by Ig.
Verafia, who had been sitting with her legs crossed on the stool, suddenly jumped down. With a curious expression, she went to Ig, who was diligently tying the three bandits securely with ropes. Her big eyes peeked out from under her hood.
“Hey, Ig! What are you going to do with these three guys?”
Hearing the girl’s question, Ig also raised his azure eyes and said.
“According to the Kingdom’s law, obstructing the road and robbing is a serious crime. Throughout history, countless commoners, merchants, and even nobles have been ruined by these roadside bandits. Miss Verafia, I plan to escort them to Vist City to let these bandits face legal justice!”
Listening to Ig’s righteous declaration, the two bandits who had not yet fainted turned pale. They had already realized what awaited them.
Verafia, however, frowned, her big eyes swirling with thought.
“Escorting them to Vist City, wouldn’t that be too troublesome?”
Although the girl’s voice carried a hint of disdain, to the bandits, it was like heavenly music:
This beautiful angel-like lady, why would you let scum like us dirty your pure and beautiful hands? As long as you give the order, we promise to run away so far that we’ll never appear before you again!
Ig frowned slightly, wanting to persuade this young lady, who seemed to dislike trouble.
Verafia’s scorching gold pupils suddenly blinked. A smile bloomed on her exquisitely beautiful face, making Ig shudder once again. The girl’s beautiful eyes curved like crescent moons, revealing her small, white canine teeth.
“Why don’t I, this young lady, just eat these wicked bandit scum in one go!”
The densely bound bandits’ faces turned dead white: This wasn’t a pure angel young lady at all, but a little devil!
