Chapter 36: Showing a Little of What He Could Do
The rain fell in a fine, dense curtain over the muddy road, splashing up murky water.
The rain made an already difficult road even harder to travel.
Chenxi followed at the very rear of the convoy, and the deep prints left by his boots were quickly filled with rainwater.
Ahead of him were the rowdy shouts of the mercenaries and the heavy creaking of carriage wheels.
Out of habit, he kept a certain distance from them, enough for him to observe the entire situation and also enough for his weapon to display its greatest power.
Inside the carriage, Anastasia leaned against a soft cushion, her expression full of irritation.
Clearly, she did not like this sort of weather.
The sound of the rain made the commotion outside seem a little distant.
Sitting opposite her was the maid, Mayfield, who gently lifted the curtain over the window just enough to open a narrow slit.
“Miss, that adventurer at the back is indeed very unusual.”
Mayfield’s voice was somewhat grave. At first she had only been curious, but the longer she watched, the more she realized that this adventurer was anything but simple.
Anastasia did not turn around. Her gaze remained lazily fixed on the swaying curtain before her.
“That man who looks unbearably dull?
What about him?”
“His movement pattern is erratic, but just now I imagined myself in every position where he appeared, and every single one of them was the optimal place for observing everything ahead.”
Mayfield’s brows drew together slightly. This was deeply strange.
It was not that Chenxi himself was strange, but rather why someone with his strength would be in a place this small.
“Hm?”
At last, Anastasia showed a little interest. She shifted her posture and reclined in the carriage as though she had no bones at all.
“A master?”
“Without question. When he concealed himself, even I could not find him.”
Mayfield said this with complete seriousness.
A serious expression appeared on Anastasia’s face, but it did not even last for two seconds.
She quickly returned to her lazy, languid state.
A master? Then he is a master. What does that have to do with me?
Recruiting talented people for the family is the sort of thing my elder brother and the others are supposed to do.
Spending all day researching potions is already exhausting enough for me. Where would I find the time to bother with anything else?
Not my problem!
I did not hear a single thing!
Mayfield shook her head helplessly. The young lady could do as she pleased.
As she herself had said, the family’s affairs could be handled by the master and the other young masters and young ladies. If the young lady liked living this way, then she could live this way.
...
At the front of the convoy, Captain Buck wiped the rain from his face and cursed the miserable weather.
He turned back to glance at the figure at the rear of the group, only to find that he had disappeared yet again. He snorted through his nose.
“Putting on an act.”
A mercenary beside him, carrying a long spear, heard that and let out a sneer. “Boss, why bother with him?
He is just some lone-wolf adventurer. No matter how strong he is, could he really be stronger than our thirty-odd brothers?
Who knows whether those materials were just luck? Everyone says he is strong and that he can go deep into the Dungeon.
But who has actually seen it?
Have you?”
“Hahaha! Do not say nonsense. I certainly have not seen it!”
“Neither have I! Hahahaha!”
Chenxi’s hearing was excellent. He heard every mocking word from the front.
But inwardly, he felt nothing at all. If anything, he almost wanted to laugh.
He had seen this kind of contempt countless times before. It was not worth wasting time over.
Compared to those idiots barking, he cared much more about the surrounding environment. It was true that he liked rain.
But on rainy days, both movement and reconnaissance were affected to a certain extent. For example... right now.
His eyes sharpened. Under normal conditions, he would have noticed it long ago.
At the edge of the dense woods to the front-right, a cluster of bushes shook unnaturally, accompanied by a strange, sickly sweet scent.
Several mercenaries walking near the edge immediately grew alert and tightened their grip on their weapons.
“Careful! Something’s there!”
Someone shouted.
The bushes parted, and an enormous green serpent thrust out its head. Its dark green eyes gleamed with greedy light through the curtain of rain, and saliva dripped from its fangs.
It had clearly been lured by the scent of the convoy.
A Green Python. The name was somewhat unimaginative, but its strength was not to be underestimated.
This sort of monster usually appeared in groups, though for the moment only this one had shown itself.
Its individual strength was excellent. Its physical body was extremely powerful, and it also carried a trace of venom.
“Damn it, it’s a Green Python!”
One young mercenary’s voice trembled slightly as he instinctively took half a step back.
The appearance of a Green Python meant that casualties were inevitable!
Their mercenary company was not strong enough to deal with a Green Python without losses.
Captain Buck cursed and immediately began ordering his men to surround and kill it so it would not delay the journey.
This job was highly profitable, but that was not the thing he valued most.
If he could establish a connection with the person in the carriage, then...
At that very moment, a dull sound shattered all his fantasies.
Bang!
The sound was not loud, yet everyone present froze.
The Green Python, which had only just revealed its full body and was preparing to strike, suddenly had its massive head thrown violently backward.
Its entire head exploded on the spot!
The tremendous force sent its entire body flying backward before it crashed heavily into the mud and water, splashing filthy slurry everywhere.
Its body convulsed wildly.
The entire process had happened with shocking speed.
From the moment it showed itself to the moment it collapsed dead, no more than two or three breaths had passed.
All noise came to an abrupt stop.
Every expression on every mercenary’s face froze solid.
Dozens of eyes turned in unison toward the rear of the convoy.
Nothing.
There was nothing there.
They could not see what the attack had been. They could not see where it had come from. They could not even see where Chenxi was now!
That was right. There was no information they could gather at all!
Inside the carriage, Anastasia’s lazy expression vanished instantly.
Mayfield’s brows drew together slightly. Just now, putting herself in the Green Python’s place, could she have avoided that strike?
Yes, she could have. But she would certainly have been injured.
And after taking that hit, would she have been able to find Chenxi and kill him?
This time, the answer was no.
Unless she had regarded that young man as an enemy from the very beginning, she could have found him and killed him.
But if that young man had wanted to assassinate either her or the young lady, then he... would definitely have succeeded!
“You must be joking...”
“Miss, I believe we can recruit this adventurer on the young master’s behalf.”
“I think that sounds excellent!”
Too lazy to care?
Who said that?
I, Anastasia, certainly did not say any such thing!
...
Captain Buck stood there with his mouth open, the order he had been about to shout jammed hard in his throat.
The flesh on his face twitched, and cold sweat mixed with rainwater ran down his neck.
He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.
His thoughts were exactly the same as Anastasia’s.
This had to be a joke, did it not?
Was that not a little too absurdly strong?
An instant kill!
And such an effortless instant kill at that!
The mercenary who had mocked Chenxi for being unworthy of his reputation had gone deathly pale, and the hand gripping his spear trembled slightly.
He swallowed and looked toward his captain with pleading eyes.
Boss, you have to save me. I think... I might be a little dead!
“Aren’t we moving?”
At some unknown point, Chenxi had appeared right beside Buck, staring at him expressionlessly.
Every hair on Buck’s body stood on end. “M-Move! Move, move, move! What the hell are you all standing around for?! Keep moving! Protect the young lady’s carriage!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs. Because of Chenxi’s sudden appearance, his first word even cracked.
Damn it, how is this guy like a ghost?!
The convoy began moving again, but the atmosphere was now completely different.
The mercenaries’ whispered chatter vanished entirely, leaving only the heavy sound of marching footsteps.
No one dared to turn back and look at Chenxi again, but every single one of them felt a chill down their spine.
None of them believed their heads were harder than a Green Python’s!
If he could kill a Green Python in an instant, then killing them... would not that be as easy as turning over his hand? As easy as turning over his hand!
...
Hidden in the shadows, the corners of Chenxi’s mouth curved upward.
Children, I feel wonderful.
Watching them tremble in fear put him in an excellent mood.
I, Chenxi, never hold grudges. If I have a grudge, I settle it on the spot.
(All the mercenaries: At the start, you even said you did not care!)