Thud. Shattered apple fragments fell heavily onto the wooden floor.
Asman, along with Rick and Dana, gaped at the aggressive action.
Sirius looked at Asman and said,“I’m strong.”
It wasn’t something a young girl should say, but neither could such apple-crushing grip strength come from an ordinary girl.
Sirius had proven her worth to Asman.“Hmph.”
Asman gave a brief exclamation of admiration.
It wasn’t just about crushing the apple.
Even Asman could have shattered an apple if he tried, after all.
However, Sirius hadn’t smashed it by striking down or pulling her arm back for momentum.
She’d pulverized the apple into tiny bits using only the sheer force in her palm.
Asman recalled the forgotten merchant’s creed: Don’t judge people by their appearance.
This was the principle merchants must uphold because even someone who looks humble now could rise to prominence later.
‘If she’s this strong at this age…’
Asman no longer saw Sirius as merely a girl of his daughter’s age.
Sirius was a mercenary here on a mission and a person worth investing in.
With reconnaissance urgently needed, Asman decided to take Sirius along.
“We’ll leave as soon as preparations are done.”
This wasn’t because Asman trusted their skills but simply because he trusted his instincts as a merchant.
*
The road heading north out of Garcia.
Sirius trailed behind the carriage led by the coachman.
Rick, the silver-ranked mercenary, took the front, while Dana, the archer whose close-range combat was weak, covered the side, leaving Sirius naturally to take the rear.
At first, when they left Garcia, the scenery was quite beautiful.
Flowers proudly displayed their colors as if boasting to the world.
Sirius spent her time watching the fields full of flowers.
There wasn’t much else to do unless they encountered bandits.
When hunger struck, they’d stop by the roadside to eat.
Asman provided meals filled with rare and precious meats, followed by sweet fruit juices for dessert.
Though it wasn’t the kind of food typically given to mercenaries, Asman quietly handed them over without a word.
Mostly, Asman ate inside the carriage with the coachman, while the three would find a flat spot near the carriage to sit down.
Rick, munching on chicken legs, joked,“Totally free meal!”
“Exactly,” Dana nodded.
Sirius observed them both.
Despite claiming to be lovers, they didn’t feel that way to her.
Books often described how lovers’ gazes melted each other, but none of that seemed present here.
To Sirius, they were clearly just friends—nothing more, nothing less.
Suddenly, Rick’s hand moved toward Dana.
Smoothly, he wrapped his arm around her waist, causing her to frown slightly.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
Rick suddenly asked Sirius.
“…Sirius.”“Hmm…”
Rick narrowed his eyes and scanned Sirius’s body.
For an ordinary woman, such a gaze might have been unpleasant, but Sirius didn’t mind.
Perhaps mistaking her reaction, Rick gave a meaningful smile.
After that, there wasn’t much conversation.
After eating enough, Sirius resumed walking alongside the carriage, repeating this routine for several days.
Sirius didn’t dwell on these repetitive days.
She had once spent months in the monster forest and lived over twenty years in LaBrana, so this felt like a fleeting moment to her.
In contrast, Rick occasionally complained about being bored during meals, and Dana increasingly tapped her calf more frequently.
Still, the carriage didn’t stop.
Since the land Asman wanted to explore was close to the Baitan Kingdom, it required significant travel time.
One day, Asman handed out food from the carriage and said,“Not long now, hang in there a little longer.”
At this, Rick and Dana sighed in relief.
Sirius didn’t show any particular expression.
Asman carefully observed her.
Clearly tired, yet since leaving Garcia, she silently carried out her duties well without complaint.
Even upon hearing they would soon arrive, her indifference made him see her as someone destined for greatness.
Asman’s lavish meals weren’t due to kindness but part of his strategy to make a good impression on Sirius.
He couldn’t gain anything immediately from her now.
But planting seeds early meant reaping double rewards later, so he aimed to impress her beforehand.
Satisfied, Asman nodded and instructed the coachman to depart.
“If you’re done eating, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The coachman finished eating and climbed onto the horse.
At that moment,
Swish!
An arrow flew through the air, piercing the coachman’s head.
Watching this from inside the carriage, Asman’s eyes widened in shock.
He quickly crouched low inside the carriage and shouted,“Bandits!”
Upon Asman’s cry, Rick gripped his sword hilt.
“That direction…”
Rick calculated the position based on the trajectory of the arrow embedded in the coachman’s head.
He guessed it came from a small patch of bushes on the mountain trail, but the bandits hiding among the foliage left no trace of movement.
While Rick gritted his teeth, suddenly,
Whoosh!
An arrow flew toward him.
Rick swiftly raised his sword horizontally to defend himself, but the situation remained dire.
“Dana, can you see anything?!”“…Nothing.”
Dana, leaning against the carriage, kept scanning the bushes but couldn’t determine where the arrows were coming from.
“Let’s run!”
Realizing the situation was bad, Rick threw the dead coachman off the horse and mounted it.
Just then, a deep voice echoed out.
“You should stop.”
A massive shadow emerged from the bushes, revealing a muscular man.
“If you don’t want to die.”
His chilling tone sent a shiver through Rick as he stepped forward and blocked the horse’s path.
“Get down.”
The simple command made Rick’s body tremble like a leaf.
The overwhelming presence alone was intimidating.
Rick was a silver-ranked mercenary.
Ordinarily, he wouldn’t fear someone without drawing swords.
However, some things didn’t require a duel to know the difference in power.
The oppressive aura emanating from the man standing before Rick revealed the gap between them, even without wielding a sword.
“Hand over the carriage. I’ll spare your lives.”
Upon the man’s words, Asman checked Rick’s condition and sighed deeply before stepping out of the carriage.
The man shook his head toward the bushes, and about nine others surrounded them.
Asman and Rick stood by the roadside under the watchful spears of the bandits. Sirius and Dana were in the same predicament.
Just as the remaining bandits were about to loot the carriage, Sirius muttered softly,“Guard.”
As she moved to approach the carriage, Asman stopped her.
“No. You’ll die unnecessarily.”
Asman’s arm extended in front of Sirius, who looked at his eyes and stepped back.
Asman sighed in relief.
Though they would suffer losses from the bandit attack, at least their lives would be spared, which he considered fortunate.
Fortunately, they were almost at the Vatican Kingdom.
With full bellies, they could walk and reach within half a month. Keeping quiet would help avoid the worst outcome.
What might seem like bad luck to some was a stroke of good fortune for Asman.
‘Better than dying.’
Had he not stopped Sirius, things might have escalated further.
Fortunately, Sirius understood Asman’s intentions, so for now, the best course was to avoid provoking the bandits and wait quietly.
Of course, not everyone thought this way.
‘Shit…’
Rick hung his head, replaying the recent events.
His pitiful cowardly behavior without even fighting lingered in his mind.
Still trembling with fear, all he could do was suppress his anger inwardly.
After all, he knew he couldn’t possibly win against such an opponent.
Regardless of whether one was a mercenary, knight, or bandit, everyone faced moments like this in life.
Rick was experiencing it now.
He resolved to use this as a lesson to grow stronger.
Until he saw Sirius preparing to fight the bandits alone.
Rick’s confidence shattered instantly.
‘Am I… weaker than a kid like her?’
His pupils trembled. The emotions he had barely suppressed began to boil up again.
Was it anger? No.
It was shame, embarrassment, and humiliation.
Feelings entirely foreign to the usually arrogant Rick.
‘No… No… No… No… No…’
His lost confidence transformed into arrogance.
‘I am… I am…’
Rick’s head, which had been bowed, slowly lifted.
‘I am…’
Eventually, he placed his hand on his waist and shouted,
“I’m not weak!”
Rick’s sword shot up like lightning.
