Sosshi village.

Clover kingdom.

In the Forsaken realm near the southwest border

exist a small village called ' Sosshi ' with fewer than 100 residents. The village was encircled by a huge wall, leaving only one entrance to the village. The wall also acts as a defensive layer for the villager.

Early in the morning, the rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky. Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the clover kingdom. And in front of the entrance of Sosshi village, there stood 3 middle age men wearing black robes, one of whom was carrying a baby in his arms.

"Good grief, the mayor is going to be mad at us," one of them muttered before yawning. He is the shortest person in the group, with a height of 5.8 feet, and has a moustache and black hair.

"We have no other option, Sid," another one of them said solemnly. He is the tallest in the group of 3, with a height reaching 6.4 feet, and has a muscular body with white hair and a long scar across his right eye. Then he walks towards the entrance leaving the two behind as well as revealing the moustache man's name.

"You are as serious as ever, Drake," Sid chuckled while looking at Drake's back before glancing at his friend beside him.

... 💤

.... 💤

"It seems like we will have to replace the title of 'laziest' in the group," Sid said with a smile as he looked at his friend, who was sleeping while standing up.

Then he looked at the baby, sleeping in his arms, Sid couldn't help but sigh at his friend's carelessness. He then attempted to take the child away but was stopped by his friend.

"Do you even know, how to comfortably carry a baby?" Sid's friend taunted him as he opened his eyes and looked at him.

The man has a muscular body second only to Drake's and is 6 feet tall. He also has a moustache but is yellow, and has blond hair.

"O-cmon!, muscle-head, I'm better than you," Sid bragged while patting his chest with a smug smile on his face.

"Hahahahaha, here do whatever you want," his friend laughed before handing the baby to Sid with a pitiful look.

Sid, who has no idea what misfortune awaits him, was staring at the adorable baby in his arms.

"Awww~ just look at his cute face. I want to kiss him so badly, but first I have to shave this unhealthy beard," Sid fretted with a little sadness in his tone.

As soon he finished speaking he smelled an unpleasant odour. He couldn't help but cast a shocked glance at the baby before looking at his friend.

"Ha ha ha ha, even kids despise your kiss Sid!, you better embrace masculinity like me, otherwise forget about being an uncle," while laughing, Sid's friend patted his back before walking towards the entrance.

"Damn you, muscle-head! you knew this was going to happen, cough...cough," Sid coughed as the odour became so strong that he had to stop his breathing.

Sid's friend came to a halt before turning his head and looking at Sid with a slight smile before saying

"It would be better if you addressed me by my real name, Blaze."

'Nobody cares about that,' Sid thought before running towards the entrance, he uses reinforcement magic to boost his strength, and in a blink of an eye, he ran past Blaze and entered the village.

...

Inside the village.

Drake was standing in front of a man in his early 30s; both of them has serious expressions on their face.

"Seihi, we might have to settle here for the rest of our lives," Drake stated in a serious tone, looking at Seihi.

"Why do you want to settle here?" Seihi asked in a tone similar to Drake's as if he was trying to imitate him. Drake doesn't care about this as he maintained his usual solemn expression.

"We lost all our money in a dungeon, and....we all wish to live a normal life from now on", Drake explained pretty straightforwardly without adding little to no details.

Seihi shook his head before placing his hand on Drake's shoulder, encouraging him to never give up.

"But there is also another reason...w- we have a kid,"

"Did you guys turn into kidnappers?" Seihi looked a little shocked and cast a questioning gaze.

"No, we are good bandits, who only take 20℅ of their guest's belongings," Drake responded in his usual tone.

"Haha, remember the first time, you came into our village?" Seihi chuckled before asking, to which Drake nodded.

As he remembers the first time they came to the village for a rest, they were turned down by the village mayor, who happen to be Seihi's father at that time. He found out Drake and his friends were bandits.

Drake and his friends tried to convenience him by saying "They are good bandits" and "They only take 20℅ of the guest's belongings " but it didn't work, so they had to sleep outside of the village.

But something miraculous happened the next morning, the village head agreed to let them stay in exchange for doing errands and huntings for the village until they left.

And it worked out pretty well, they even stole some clothes and money before leaving, and also a note saying "10℅ discount for Ya."

It all happened 5 years ago.

' we did cause a ruckus before leaving this place ', Drake smiled, but his facial expression and the scar make him look like a maniac, scary enough to frighten all the kids that were peeking through the door of their home.

"Hey!, now don't scare those kids like this, Drake," Seihi commented as he waved his hand to the kids, indicating them not to worry about this goofy man.

"Ahem*...can we get to the business?" Drake asked as Seihi smile at him before nodding.

"The thing is...you all can stay here for the rest of your lives. I have got no complaints but I have a request, can you hear me out?" Seihi said as he sighed and looked at Drake with expectation in his eyes.

"Alright, my ears are all yours."