#015
“…Muchi.”
I had been too absorbed in the Melbrain. Or maybe he used some stealth item? I didn’t notice him approaching at all. Muchi reached down and grabbed my wrist that was holding the Melbrain. At the same time, Muchi’s lackey pulled the spear away and took my bag.
“I was thinking ‘no way, no way’ but it really is Melbrain.”
Muchi’s eyes went wide as he snatched the bundle from me and checked its contents.
“This place is completely full of Inbrain, so how on earth did you find this? And so much of it too? Do you use some kind of special detection item or something?”
The lackeys looking into the bag also murmured in admiration.
“The bag is completely full!”
“Red cap mushrooms, elderberries… Wow, shit, they were saying these were almost extinct too, but how did you get them so quickly?”
“…Give it back.”
Suppressing the surge of anger and irritation, I spoke as calmly as possible. But if they’d quietly return it just because I asked, they wouldn’t be villain characters. In a worldview without proper villains, thug Muchi who had grown into a proper villain ignored my legitimate demand and tilted his head.
“I was wondering what kind of guts you had to go alone, so I followed you… No really, I’m asking seriously – how on earth did you find this? Is it because you’re a farmer? No, what does being a farmer have to do with medicinal herbs? You even survived this long with just a hoe.”
Muchi looked me over with open admiration.
“Is that beggar-like appearance a disguise? Did you wrap some secret equipment under those rags?”
Muchi even went so far as to flip up my work vest and shirt. In the process, his rough hands touched my bare skin inside the shirt… no, rather than just touching, it was more like he rubbed against it, and when I pulled back and glared at him because it felt disgusting, a leering gaze followed me with a grin.
“What’s this about? Are you planning to rob me or something?”
I couldn’t tell if he was just picking a fight based on his thug mentality or if he really intended to rob me. But even so, when he was registered with the guild, was it okay to do this kind of thing openly in broad daylight? Wouldn’t he be expelled if word got back to the guild?
At my words, Muchi grinned so wide it looked like his lips might tear.
“Robbery? What hurtful words, Raon. You mercilessly trampled on the proposal I offered you in good faith when you didn’t even have contract money to pay the guild, but I still came looking for you like this to help you out of old friendship.”
Speaking theatrically and exaggeratedly, Muchi pulled my arm to make me stand up. Even though I hadn’t been sitting down so there wasn’t any dirt on my butt, rough hands patted my butt a few times as if brushing off dust, then suddenly grabbed one side of my butt firmly.
‘This bastard…?’
I froze in shock for a moment, then roughly swatted his hand away and stepped back. But since my arm was still being held, I couldn’t completely escape from him, and he instead put more strength into his grip and pulled me close. Muchi and his gang giggled unpleasantly. I’d been uncertain before, but this made it definite.
Suppressing my anger, I spoke quietly.
“If it weren’t for you guys, I could return safely without any problems. If you’re going to talk about old friendship, why don’t you step aside now?”
I felt like head-butting him since we were so close, but it was better to keep that momentary satisfaction to imagination only. I couldn’t make an already precarious situation even more desperate.
‘I’ll endure until I reach max level, really. Once I level up, small fries like you guys…’
As I expected, these guys weren’t the type to back down obediently at my words.
“Raon, Raon. Look at this naive farmer who doesn’t know how the world works.”
Muchi casually draped his thick arm over my shoulder.
“You still don’t understand how the world works? You thought gathering here would be easier than expected, right? You probably thought it would have been a waste to hire mercenaries and pay commission fees when coming alone like this was sufficient, right? That’s why instead of crying holed up on your farm saying the world has become harsh, you should have come out earlier to see how the world actually works.”
Muchi dragged me to one side with his arm around my neck. He sat me down on a flat rock and sat next to me himself. He even returned the Melbrain and backpack. Instead, his lackeys lined up a little distance in front like they were standing guard.
“That’s right. This place isn’t that dangerous compared to other places. That’s why all sorts of vermin swarm here like this. But why do people come to places that aren’t even dangerous so heavily armed and even hiring escorts? To a place where even a bookworm like you can wander around alone just fine?”
Muchi pulled my head close and whispered in my ear. Hot breath puffed out, giving me disgusting chills. I tried to pull my head back, but a large hand gripped my head and wouldn’t let go.
“As you know, from that fork in the road ahead to the bus stop is one straight path. Anyone who wants to take the bus has to pass through that road without exception. Here’s a quiz. How many teams of bandits will an obviously easy-target farmer bachelor encounter while walking alone with a full backpack from here to the bus stop? 1) One team. 2) Five teams. 3) Ten teams. 4) Too many to count. Now, what’s the answer?”
I felt like I’d been hit in the head. I thought this healing game only had monsters as direct threats to my survival, aside from environmental pollution. Of course, as the environment became devastated it became harder to make a living, and people became somewhat more irritable because of that, but there still hadn’t been any direct crimes by humans.
Throughout the tutorial I was attacked by monsters but never once by people. Muchi’s gang was the first time I’d had trouble with humans. But bandits?
I rolled my eyes to quickly check the mini-map. On the map, just as Muchi said, there were quite a few people marked from where the fork was to where the bus stop was located, and apart from the steady flow of most people moving toward the bus stop, I could see several groups stopped here and there. If I hadn’t heard Muchi’s words, I wouldn’t have suspected they were bandits even seeing that situation. I would have thought they were gathering in groups to rest here and there since there was time before the bus arrived.
But if they really wanted to rest, they would rest at the relatively safe bus stop, not stop in places where there was danger of being attacked by mobs.
“Looks like you’ve realized now. Surprised? Your eyes got all round? How cute.”
Muchi chuckled.
“Now, I’ll tell you the answer. The answer is… drumroll please…”
Like imitating a quiz show host, Muchi scrunched his eyes and nose as he drew out his words.
“Ta-da! It’s number 1. Why? Because an easy-target farmer youth with no weapons would die immediately at the hands of the first bandits he encounters. He wouldn’t even get a chance to make eye contact with the next bandits.”
“…So you’re saying you guys are those first bandits?”
“What are you talking about, Raon. Really now, do you want to treat your childhood friend as a bandit? I told you I came to help.”
Childhood friend, my ass. Among the NPCs that were set up as having played together when we were young, this guy wasn’t included. He wasn’t a main NPC to begin with. Ah, was this guy one of the kids drawn in the background? Judging by his personality, instead of playing together, he probably threw dirt at me and Eira when we were playing.
“So how exactly are you going to help? Are you going to escort me to the bus stop? Should I pay you the escort fee we talked about yesterday?”
If I could get rid of him with that, it would be fortunate at least. But if he’d back off quietly after getting that in this situation, he wouldn’t be a villain.
“That would be too thuggish. Why do you keep trying to treat us that way? I’m getting hurt, Raon.”
Then what the hell do you want? It’s also annoying how you keep calling my name pretending to be friendly. It’s not even a nickname, it’s my real name!
When I frowned, Muchi rubbed my brow with his finger. When I turned my head away in disgust, he giggled again, finding something amusing.
“Then what is it? What do you want if you won’t let me go?”
“Join our team.”
“What?”
“Let’s work together hand in hand.”
Muchi said with a smirk.
“You just focus on gathering, and we’ll keep you safe. No need to put in requests to the guild and wait around, and no need to prepare expensive equipment or transportation separately. We’ll take care of everything. Of course, we’ll also sell what you gather safely through one-stop service. You know finding trustworthy trading partners is also work these days, right? Even though we look like this, we have solid backing. We’ve secured stable trading contacts who will buy what you gather at high prices, that’s what I’m saying.”
So he was saying they’d do everything that should be done through the guild. And not just this one-time deal, but an almost exclusive contract. It sounded plausible on the surface. But if it was really such a sensible business as it sounded, they wouldn’t be holding someone back and threatening them with weapons when the return bus time was cutting it close.
But rather than rejecting it outright, I should gauge the atmosphere first.
“What’s the ratio?”
“Oh, interested? Now that’s how you should come out.”
Muchi’s face lit up with pleasure.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
