Ch. 20 - Harvesting the Spoils of War

Tang Qi glanced at the two mercenaries walking ahead, quietly listening to their conversation. He examined the spellbook again, where just a single glance at those obscure symbols threatened to make his head explode. Finally, his gaze settled on the lizard-headed 'intelligence specialist'.

To be honest, it was quite demoralizing.

Compared to his inferiority complex, Black Snake's focus was entirely different:

"How could a party with a spellcaster die inexplicably in Dawnmist Forest?"

"Maybe they got lost in the forest, and when they were on the verge of starvation, the kobolds picked them off?" Stonecrusher smacked his lips, then shook his head. "Alright, that's unlikely. The only explanation is they ran into something troublesome in the forest."

Neither of them looked pleased, their expressions as if they'd smelled rotten eggs for three days.

But unable to figure out more crucial details, Black Snake could only sigh: "Forget it. We don't normally venture deep into the forest anyway. As long as it doesn't affect the town, it's fine."

This statement made Tang Qi worry.

People living in the town might not need to be nervous.

But to record more stories, he wouldn't stay in this small town forever.

An overly dangerous forest was hardly good news for someone who wanted to leave here.

This topic seemed to make the atmosphere heavier. The group continued in silence, leaving the damp Dawnmist Forest behind.

Tang Qi vaguely remembered that when they'd decided to set out in search of starberries, it had been noon with the sun blazing overhead. After entering the forest, the sky had sunk into night. When they emerged from the cave, sunlight was blocked by mist and leaves, turning the sky a gloomy gray.

Now, as the mist receded, he discovered the sunset had retreated into the forest, sending a few rays of orange-red light to illuminate the silhouette of Starberry Town.

It was already evening.

"Just a few hours, and it's already this exhausting."

Finally arriving at the manor, Black Snake removed his weapons and brought Anbi—who had been under constant guard by the village militia—out from the stable. In front of Tang Qi, he untied her bindings.

At the same time, he instructed: "Don't screw things up."

Tang Qi waved his hand dismissively: "We're already at rock bottom. How could things get any worse?"

"And another thing." Black Snake carried over the crate of spoils from the deceased adventurers on the cargo wagon and placed it before Tang Qi. "Jackal is dead. His share will be split equally among the three of us. You can pick any one item from here, and take... twenty gold coins as well."

Tang Qi pointed at himself, completely unprepared to participate in dividing the loot.

"Just take it, bard!" Stonecrusher laughed heartily and slapped Tang Qi's rear, gesturing for him to lean in close. "Don't let his sour face fool you—he's tough on the outside but soft inside. Without you, we never would've found those starberries and probably would've been fired. He won't say it, but he knows it clear as day!"

"Screw you, Stonecrusher." Black Snake pretended to kick the dwarf's shoulder, then coldly urged Tang Qi on: "Hurry up and pick, then get out of my sight!"

Tang Qi didn't stand on ceremony, quickly searching through the spoils.

While shortswords and crossbows could serve as weapons, as a bard, they weren't high priority for him.

To reduce the risks of adventuring, he first needed to consider how to survive. And dressed like a vagrant, he currently lacked durable armor.

Plate armor would obviously impede his movement, so Tang Qi finally settled on his target—a short, deep brown leather coat. Setting aside the bloodstains, its style could be called clean and efficient.

He picked it up, testing its weight, and quickly discovered that besides the tough snake leather surface, the inner layer had rivets embedded to add an extra layer of defense.

This was actually studded leather armor.

"Not bad luck." Black Snake tossed him a bulging coin purse and snorted coldly. "The money for the starberries is included. Before I change my mind, get lost."

But Tang Qi didn't immediately move: "There's one more thing."

"Speak quickly."

"I need you to declare this child innocent."

Tang Qi pulled over Anbi, who hadn't made a sound this whole time. The girl had only hoped this matter would pass quickly so she could prove to her worried sister that she was fine when she returned home. She'd never even considered clearing her false accusations.

Now her drooping snow-white ears trembled slightly.

Black Snake frowned. After a brief hesitation, he sighed and rubbed his forehead: "What a pain in the ass... Hey, you. The whole thing was done by kobolds in the forest. Go tell the village official later and clear her name."

He casually pointed to a guard and issued the order, then without acknowledging anyone else, stretched lazily and walked toward the mansion.

Tang Qi lifted the tattered cloth on the cargo wagon, concealing Kuru's form. After the latter dismissed his tribesmen, Tang Qi followed the guard toward the center of town.

The village official, following Black Snake's orders strictly, dispatched guards to go door to door, announcing the results to Starberry Town's residents—

It was kobolds from the forest who had stolen the boots in the dead of night, destroyed the starberries at David's house, and ultimately made off with Lord Merle's "Starshine."

All of it had nothing to do with Anbi.

But the truth of the case couldn't actually change how residents viewed Anbi—

People ostracized her not because her character was so terrible or because she'd done terrible things.

But because of the curse she was born with.

Living in this town, Anbi had long been well aware of this.

"It's okay, Tang Qi-gege. You're not doing this for nothing. Anbi is very happy..." More than those cold stares and prejudices, what Anbi feared most was that Tang Qi would feel sad discovering he couldn't change anything. She didn't want her new friend to be unhappy because of her, just like her sister: "It doesn't matter if they don't believe Anbi. Anbi is already used to it. As long as gege and jiejie know Anbi isn't a bad child, that's enough..."

Someone who wasn't strong enough couldn't have survived safely in this environment until now.

Tang Qi just smiled and gently rubbed her fluffy ears.

Actually, he was in a good mood and hadn't been affected at all.

For him, he was simply doing what he wanted to do.

He would work hard for it, but wouldn't deliberately pursue some so-called result.

Enjoying the process with a clear conscience—as for whether the outcome was good or bad, that wasn't entirely up to him.

But he didn't say much more, and was about to follow Anbi back to the tavern.

Unexpectedly, a nervous shout from a youth stopped the two people and one... kobold in their tracks—

"An-Anbi!"

Both turned around to discover it was the David family's boy who had loudly cursed Anbi at noon for stealing and destroying his family's starberries.

The youth stood in the sunset, face flushed red, fidgeting awkwardly.

It seemed that stopping Anbi had already exhausted all his courage.

"George, what else do you want to say? I don't mind cursing you out here all day!" Anbi thought the youth was still looking for trouble, so she viciously extended her claws threateningly.

"I... I..." The youth George David closed his eyes as if resigned to his fate, his voice as faint as buzzing flies: "I'm sorry."

"What did you say?" Standing so far away, Anbi naturally couldn't hear clearly.

"I said—I'm sorry, I wrongly accused you! From now on, I'll never call you a monster again!"

After shouting this, the youth felt he'd completely lost face. If his mom and dad hadn't insisted, he never would have come over! He covered his face and ran backward without looking back, disappearing around the bend in the dirt road.

Tang Qi raised his eyebrows, looked at Anbi with a smile, and said: "Seems like clearing things up wasn't completely useless after all?"

But Anbi didn't display the smile that should come after a misunderstanding was cleared up. Quite the opposite—she froze in place, clutching Tang Qi's sleeve, trembling: "I... I..."

"What's wrong?"

"He shouldn't have apologized to me!" Anbi cried out loudly. An emotion called guilt scraped across her heart like a sharp blade, torturing her conscience: "Because, because—"

"Because you really did destroy their starberries?"

Anbi was shocked: "How did Tang Qi-gege know!?"

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