CHAPTER 135: WAY

Itai started drinking beer and after a few gulps, redness appeared on his face.

Sugi patted him on the back. "Is this the first time you’re drinking beer?" he asked.

"Well, yes," said Itai.

"Then enjoy it properly!" he exclaimed.

The evening passed and everyone was getting increasingly drunk.

"W-Why did you become bandits? I w-was just an ordinary bartender but then I found out I’m the Prince of Death and that I’m immortal," said Itai. He was quite drunk and barely speaking.

When Itai said that, everyone started laughing. "At your service, Prince of Death," said one of the bandits in a fit of laughter.

"It was rude of us that we still haven’t introduced ourselves to the Chief, I’ll start," said Sugi.

Sugi was a big old man who used a mace and wore heavy armor. He was originally a blacksmith who, due to family problems, hired himself among bandits. He has ten children and a wife, because of whom he steals, to provide for them.

Next was Ortem, a stylish young man with a sword. A former traveler and trader of exotic goods; he lost everything when he was robbed. He turned to banditry because of debts that arose from drowning his sorrow in alcohol.

The third was Omoni. An ordinary farmer whose entire family died, and only his mother remained, bedridden and in need of regular alchemist medicines or she would die. That’s why he became a bandit, and all the money he earns goes into treatment which is extremely expensive.

The fourth was Drogan, a muscular man who used a greatsword. He even absorbed more than half a year of military training for the Empire because he had good talent, even Talent C. But during one mission he lost his entire unit and was accused of espionage. The Empire wanted to execute him, but he heard rumors that he would be taken into custody and so he fled before the Empire could catch him.

Since he was a wanted criminal, he couldn’t make a living with any regular job. He joined the bandits and even trained some of them.

When Flain heard Drogan’s story, he inwardly smirked. A man trained by the Empire of Light was defeated by a weak Early Stage 1 skeleton, and in a 1 vs 5 at that.

The last was Ahshi, a short, skinny man with brown shoulder-length hair, an archer. He was an orphan but was taken in by a hunter who raised him as one. He was the only person who joined the bandits because he wanted to, not because he had to. He made a living as a hunter but that job didn’t really fulfill him, he rather wanted to fight. But he didn’t have enough talent to become a military archer and so he joined the bandits.

"Well, that’s all," said Ahshi.

"You all have pretty interesting stories, and I understand why you became bandits," said Flain.

Meanwhile, Itai collapsed to the ground and passed out. Which made everyone start laughing again.

"I haven’t seen a young man drink for the first time in a long time," said Omnoi with laughter.

’My king, I believe you do not fit in with these primitives,’ came Aran’s voice in Flain’s mind.

’I don’t see that as a problem, don’t bother me unless I ask for advice or something necessary comes to your mind.’ Flain replied.

’Forgive me, my king, I will avoid such insignificant suggestions in the future.’ Aran apologized.

The evening went on until everyone had fallen asleep. Flain was the only one still in his senses, which suited him — at least he could be alone. Well, not entirely, since he had two unreliable slaves inside his soul.

In the morning, everyone woke up and set off on the road again. Itai was seriously getting on Flain’s nerves because he kept complaining that his head hurt, which made it hard for Flain to concentrate.

They walked through a coniferous forest into a meadow. There, the monsters — or rather animals — were stronger. They even came across a 2-meter-long Stage 2 beetle, but it was harmless.

Flain didn’t kill them because it would slow down their journey, and he wasn’t sure if this attempt would survive. He wanted to find out what Stage the beetle had — if it was stronger than Flain, it surely had a stronger sense for magical energy and would detect Flain first. That’s why Flain didn’t know if he’d survive.

Another evening passed, and after that, by around noon, they should reach their destination.

"Hey, I haven’t felt this calm in a long time." Omoni said as he put a piece of roasted fish into his mouth.

"I’d really like to fight already. Calm isn’t for me." Drogan said.

"Same here, Drogan. Chief, when are we going to fight something? So far, it’s only you who kill everything." Ahshi asked.

Flain still needed them and didn’t want to risk them getting killed by something.

"Don’t worry, it’s coming soon, with a fight." Flain said.

"Don’t bother the Chief. He’s way more experienced and stronger, and he knows what you can handle and what you can’t." Sugi scolded them.

"Don’t get worked up, Sugi, or you’ll pop a vein." Ortem said with a smirk.

"Ortem, don’t provoke or you won’t get a drop of beer." Sugi said.

"And who are you to decide that?" Ortem said, his smirk widening even more.

"Don’t start. A man can’t even have peace while eating." Omoni complained.

Night came, and the bandits offered to take the night watch. Flain said he would keep watch and if anyone wanted to join, they could.

Everyone except Itai and Omoni wanted to. But even so, after a while they all fell asleep — the only one who stayed awake all night was Drogan. Flain talked with him, and Drogan even challenged him to a match, but he quickly came to terms with reality.

He looked pretty tough and had a deep voice, but he wasn’t that strong — he was just a Pioneer, which was still pretty decent for a bandit who focused on robbing regular mortals.

He confided in Flain that he didn’t like how weak he was or the kind of work he was doing. Whenever he had time, he trained his body, but it was going very slowly since most of his time was spent watching the surroundings and looking for prey. So, he couldn’t fully dedicate himself to it.

Morning came, and the group set off on the road again. This was the day Flain would meet the chief...