A Terrifying Charlatan

"Well, does anyone wish to explain why they became bandits?" Compass Carburettor stared at the bandits, his expression unchanging from the start, as if he was taking a pleasant sip of a drink. But now that the bandits looked at his placid expression, one where the light from the lamp on the carriage flickered across, casting numerous shadowy indentations upon, they felt terrified.

"W-We had no other choice but to do this to survive!" Compass Carburettor faced the man who seemed the most terrified of them all, causing the other party to scream as he kneeled on the ground, begging to avoid death.

"Was it necessary to kill the people?" Compass Carburettor said, expressing mild anger in his tone, pointing at the bandit that seemed the least affected by everything and even seemed to be plotting a counterattack.

All the bandits were petrified by fear as they watched another one of them collapse to the ground all of a sudden. No, they noticed Compass Carburettor point at the man, and at that moment, something seemed to have condensed in his hand, killing the bandit, appearing sinistrous, like the reaper.

"W-We won't kill anymore!" All of them shouted simultaneously, banging their heads on the ground.

"Well…I can't take your words seriously, can I?" Compass Carburettor tilted his head, "What's the proof that you'll not kill another passer-by once I leave?"

"We swear on our lives to never do it!" The bandits shouted.

"That's not enough," Compass Carburettor nodded, deciding their fate immediately, pointing his finger at every bandit, one after another, saying upon finishing the action, "Alright, I've planted a curse in all your bodies. The moment you kill someone, the curse would activate and give you a gruesome death."

He then threw a metallic object towards one of the bandits, "That's my token. Every day during dusk, I want you to pray while holding it. All you have to tell is that you haven't killed anyone. Everyone must do it. If even one of you fails to do it before night sets in, then all of you can forget about seeing the light of day ever again."

He then said a simple piece, "I won't stop you from being bandits. You can still be bandits. But, I forbid you from harming the travellers and stealing more than a quarter of their wealth. Abide by it, and you'll even get a chance to receive my protection."

Compass Carburettor patted the driver, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving. I still have a lot of work to do."

He then flashed a sheepish smile, "Or, do all of you wish to spend an eternity without seeing the light of the day?"

"Grotak, get moving! Quickly!"

"We'll take care of the rest here!"

"Don't delay respected Spirit here!"

Grotak could only nod meekly, causing the carriage to begin moving once again. As for Compass Carburettor, he noticed that Grotak was unable to concentrate driving as he was too afraid, patting him once before returning to the carriage.

Fealta and Caithy were long awake, having witnessed everything in silence. Even though they were tremendously shocked, realising that Compass Carburettor had hidden himself deeply, they didn't question his methods or abilities.

But, once he seated himself comfortably and dusted his clothes, Caithy muttered, "You're one terrifying charlatan."

"Haha," Compass Carburettor closed his eyes, sensing the numerous streams of Mental Energy incident on him. The sources weren't the bandits alone, but also the monsters that had been lurking in the dark, intending to prey on them.

With their exceptional senses, they had noticed the bandits dying mysteriously, becoming terrified of the individual that had done so. Hence, their thoughts turned into Mental Energy streams that gushed into him, causing him to laugh in joy internally.

As for the thoughts about killing three bandits, he wasn't concerned. Had they been innocent, he would have been plagued by the action for the rest of his life. But, he had long since confirmed that they had killed numerous people.

The density of killing intent they could express through their Mental Energy streams was all the proof he needed. So, he didn't wish to leave them scot-free. But, he also wasn't able to kill them all.

After all, he only had six bullets in his gun. Once he ran out of bullets, his ruse would be exposed. That was why he created such an act, steadily building a rapport of fear with the driver first. Since he also wished to obtain a steady stream of Mental Energy, this plan was perfect.

He was neither a hero nor a villain. He was just a regular man that wished to do whatever was in his power to obtain the means to save his daughter. His moral compass was only averse to the notion of hurting innocent people.

As for the rest, he wasn't the least guilty. After all, had he such a trait in him, he couldn't have become a businessman in the first place, not to mention growing into the leader of the business world.

Sure, everything related to that success could be attributed to the Money-Making System. But, he was the one that did everything. And, that experience had affected his mentality.

Weighing the pros and cons of any action had become a habit deeply ingrained into his being. That was why he limited himself to killing three bandits, no more, no less. His goal was to strike fear into their depths. And, killing three was enough for that. Any more, and he would lose potential Mental Energy sources.

Now that a dense stream of Mental Energy gushed into him, Compass Carburettor first increased the amount flowing through the innumerous circuits in his Mental Energy Form before directing them towards the Jar representing his Skill of Natural Recovery (Level 6), noticing the seventh segment in it be steadily filled up.

'At this pace, I only need three days to reach Level 7 in the Skill.' Compass Carburettor smiled, 'With this, I would be able to heal from injuries and exhaustion even faster. This would further upgrade my training speed.'

'This is just the first stop.' He gazed out through the window, noticing the trees span past amid the darkness, 'I'll create numerous such sources of Mental Energy and quickly surpass whatever amount the Slave Harem System could obtain.'

'It can only passively influence Regriel to take actions to cause situations where it could reap a lot of Mental energy. But, I am actively doing that. And using my experience, I can create bigger situations.'

"Let's see who's faster."