Ryu and Sera teleported to the entrance of the village.

The village gatekeeper, an old man, pointed his spear at the two who appeared suddenly. However, recognizing Sera, he lowered his spear.

"Sera, is that you? Where have you been? Marin has been worried sick! And who is this person?" asked the old gatekeeper.

"I went to fetch an adventurer!" Sera exclaimed, "This is Ryu, he'll take care of the bad guys!"

"You're an adventurer?" the old man questioned, "I don't know what Sera has told you, but our village doesn't have the money to hire adventurers. You've come a long way, but we can't offer you any reward. You should go back."

"No problem, Sera already paid me," Ryu replied.

"Don't worry, I paid him with all my saved-up allowance!" Sera reassured.

"You… thank you…" the old man mumbled.

While Sera's allowance couldn't have been much, there was no way an adventurer would accept a job for such a small amount. Sensing this, the old man bowed his head in gratitude.

"It's kind of you, but you really should go back. There are 30 bandits. A young man like you wouldn't be able to take them all on."

"That's not a problem," Ryu calmly stated.

"But…" the old man began, but was cut off.

"Sera!"

A young girl rushed towards Sera and embraced her. This must be her sister, Marin.

"You idiot! Where have you been? I was worried sick!" Marin exclaimed.

"Don't worry, big sis! Ryu will take care of the bad guys!" Sera said confidently.

"Ryu?" Marin asked.

"I'm from Miml. I'm a traveler and adventurer, Ryujiin. Sera asked me to take care of the bandits," Ryu introduced himself.

"I see. Thank you for coming all this way. But please, go back. I don't know what Sera told you, but we don't have the money to hire adventurers. And you, a young boy like you, wouldn't stand a chance against so many bandits. Please leave, before you get hurt…" Marin pleaded.

Although younger than Ryu, Marin seemed to be a very responsible young girl.

"I already received payment from Sera. Besides, I'm an adventurer who can defeat dragons, so a hundred or two hundred bandits are nothing. But I understand if you don't believe me. So let's say I'm just a passing traveler. I just happened to be in the village when I saw the bandits. That way there's no problem, right?" Ryu suggested.

"But!" Marin argued.

"It's my own business if I get killed. Don't worry about it. Just watch…" Ryu said, ignoring Marin and entering the village.

With no other choice, Marin led Ryu to their house.

She warned Ryu to stay inside and not come out, no matter what happens. Then, she went to inform the village chief about Ryu's arrival. It was a common practice in small villages to inform the chief about any visitor. The chief would assess if the visitor posed any threat to the village, and without their permission, no one could stay.

Sitting on a chair in the kitchen of Marin and Sera's house, Ryu activated his Divine Eye and checked the village's layout. Expanding the range, he spotted a group approaching the village.

Although they were arriving earlier than expected, it had to be the bandits.

Ryu quickly assessed the bandits' strength. Most of them were just common thugs, not much of a challenge. However, one among them had strong magical power. That must be their leader.

After a while, Marin returned with the village chief.

"Please, take care of my sister," Marin pleaded.

"Of course, I'll take good care of Sera. I'm so sorry about this…" the village chief replied.

It seemed Marin was ready to sacrifice herself for the village. The village chief did not enter the house and left immediately.

Of course, Marin didn't need to sacrifice herself. Ryu would resolve the issue before that. He teleported to the entrance of the village and waited for the bandits.

…

…

…

"Who are you?" the bandit leader demanded.

"Just a passing adventurer. I happened to be passing through the village and saw a lot of bandits coming. I just came to take a look," Ryu answered casually.

"You know we're bandits, yet you still came here? Are you trying to join us?" the leader inquired.

"No… I thought there might be some bounty hunters here, but it seems you're just a bunch of weaklings."

"You're making fun of us!" shouted Bandit A.

"Shut up!… Are you a bounty hunter? Well, we're just weaklings, no bounty hunters here. You won't earn anything by staying. Just leave, you'll only waste your time."

"Oh, too bad. Say, I heard there are some perverted bandits kidnapping girls. Do you guys know anything about that?" Ryu asked.

"Hmph, you've been hired by the village, haven't you? But what are you going to do, all alone?"

The bandits drew their swords at once.

Just then, a figure galloped towards them on horseback.

"I made it! Ryu, are you okay?!"

It was Catherine, who had ridden all the way from Miml.

"What are you doing here?" the bandit leader asked, confused.

"I'm Catherine, master of the Adventurer's Guild in Miml!" she announced proudly.

What was she trying to achieve by announcing herself?

She had also just called out Ryu's name.

Ryu was facepalming.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Catherine.

"I came to help!" Catherine replied enthusiastically.

"You just wanted to see my ‘hunt,’ didn’t you?" Ryu retorted.

"Uhhh… no, what are you talking about?" Catherine stammered, trying to play it off.

Ryu had intended to use Dimension Slash to behead them all, but Catherine had ridden all the way here to see him.

So, Ryu decided to give her a show and demonstrate how he would defeat them.

Ryu drew his magical sword, Fragarach, from the subspace and prepared to strike.

"Hmph, just another body count. Finish them!" the bandit leader commanded.

The bandits charged forward at his command. But before they could reach Ryu, he dashed through the crowd at blinding speed.

In the next moment, the bandits’ heads were rolling on the ground.

He had used high-speed movement combined with his slashes, but Catherine could easily follow his movements.

Only the bandit leader remained.

Ryu left him alive because he wanted to ask him something. It was just a precaution, but Ryu had a bad feeling about this.

"W-what… what’s going on?" the bandit leader stammered, confused and terrified.

Ryu approached the leader and asked, "What were you planning to do with the girls after you kidnapped them?"

"N-none of your business!" the leader shouted, drawing his sword and charging at Ryu.

Ryu effortlessly dodged the attack and easily beheaded the leader.

There was no need to hear his answer. Ryu could read his thoughts.

Reading his mind, Ryu discovered something that made him even more uneasy. His suspicions were confirmed.