Stop!

Gen then said, "Then tell them the truth."

And Raja then said, "Okay."

Raja then turned to Gerald and Karin and said, "Gen knows Rose and her daughter, and they are great friends.", and finished by winking one of his eyes so Gen couldn't see, but Gen then said, "Looks like you really want to chat with Miss Anna."

And Raja said, "Okay, I get it. He really does know them, and he's friends with them. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth."

Gen then turned to Gerald and Karin and asked, "Do you believe me now?"

Gerald then said, "Well, on second thought, after all you've told us today, it wouldn't be strange if you knew Rose."

And Karin said, "Indeed."

Gen then said, "Good. Well, now that we got that out of the way, I need your help, Gerald."

And Gerald said, "Help with what, Gen?"

"As I said, I plan to stop in Dekin before heading to Tólis. So I would like to know if any caravans are leaving here in the direction of Dekin. I could protect them in exchange for a ride."

"Well, I don't have the papers here right now, but stop by the guild tomorrow and talk to Lia."

Gen then stretched out in his chair and said, "Ok. Well, I guess I'll be going."

And Raja said, "You're going? I thought we'd go to another bar after here."

"Next time, I haven't rested since I left the ruin earlier today."

"Hm, ok."

"Oh, and while I'm here, do you guys know of an inn nearby?"

Karin then said, "There's one across the street. It's a good inn. It always makes a lot of money from people who come out drunk from the bar at dawn, so it's not that expensive, and the bed is very comfortable.", she then turned to Gerald, smoothed her hair and continued, "On second thought, maybe I should sleep there tonight since I'm already nearby anyway."

And Gerald said, "That's an excellent idea!", and then they both stared at each other.

Gen then said, "Well ... I guess I'd better be going. Good night to you.", and then started toward the door.

Raja then said, "I'll be going too. Leveling up has made me more tired than I expected. Good night.", and then left as quickly as possible.

As Raja was leaving the bar, he saw Gen crossing the street and said, "Hey, Gen, are you really going to sleep already?"

And Gen said, "Yeah, I'm exhausted."

"Oh, okay. Good night, and good luck."

"What do you mean good luck?"

"Hey, didn't you hear them talking? It seems that they are both going to sleep at this inn, too."

"So what? Why are you wishing me luck?"

"Well, you better be lucky they don't take the room next to you because if they do, I don't think you'll be able to sleep if I'm being clear enough."

"... okay, let's take a walk while I find another place to stay."

"Okay, what do you prefer, Gen, music, food, or people?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Just pick one, Gen."

"Well, I've eaten a lot today, so it could be music or people, I guess."

"A tie, hmm, it hurts my heart, but a decision needs to be made, and the one chosen is going to be people. Come with me, Gen. There's a bar up north. You'll love it."

"In the north of the city? We're in the south, Raja."

"Don't get hung up on the details, Gen. Just come with me."

"... ahh, tomorrow we're leaving town anyway, so today I'll go with your vibe."

...

The next day, eleven o'clock in the morning.

Gerald walked through the door of the guild with Karin by his side, and the people around started talking, "Good morning Gerald, Karin.", "Good morning Leader, good morning Karin.", "Good morning boss.", and he then replied with a smile on his face, "Good morning.", and Karin waved to the people who were greeting her.

Upon arriving at the reception, Gerald asked Lia, who was behind the counter, "Good morning Lia, what about Gen? Has he arranged for someone to accompany him to Dekin?"

Lia then said, "Good morning, Leader. Mr. Gen hasn't come by yet."

"He has yet to come by? That's strange. He left the bar before us."

Karin then said, "Maybe he stayed a little longer on the street with Raja."

"That's true. Well, he should be here soon."

...

In the middle of the road between Dekin and Diton, a medium-sized wagon was going along the road when suddenly a man appeared in its path and said, "Stop! Get down from the wagon and hand over everything you have."

The man who was driving the cart then said, "Good afternoon, friend. I don't mean anything by it, but you don't want to rob me. The only thing I'm carrying are two people and their things."

"I don't care! Get off the cart now."

Just after he said that, ten more men appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the cart.

The old man then said, "Friend, don't do this. I didn't say anything to avoid a fuss, but the two people I'm taking are awakened. You could end up losing your life in this."

The bandit then said, "Don't waste your time trying to frighten us, old man. We are the desert crawlers. We've dealt with more than one awakened person several times. Now get out of the wagon before I take you with it."

The old man then got off the wagon and said, "All right, but don't say I didn't warn you later."

As the bandit looked inside, he saw two men sleeping and several backpacks, which must have been their belongings.

He then turned to the old man and said, "It seems that you were actually telling the truth about what you were carrying, but you want me to believe that these two milk-smelling brats are awakened. You better come up with another excuse next time."

"..."

The bandit then turned to the others and said, "Come on, let's take the wagon along with these two. In fact, take the old man too. We can always use some extra manpower, hahaha."

Two men then went towards the old man and took him by the arm, and the rest started towards the carriage.

The bandit, who seemed to be the leader of the group, then said, "Number seven, you are in charge of driving the wagon. The rest of you come with me to separate their things and tie them up."

All the men nodded, and then the leader opened the wagon to get into it, but just as he opened it, he was hit by something in his stomach and went flying, falling outside, landing about two meters away from the wagon, saying, "Argh! What was that?"

The man then looked down at his stomach and saw that there was a stake made entirely of fire going through him. He then started screaming, and everyone around him looked in his direction and, at the sight of the stake, broke out into a cold sweat.

The leader then thought, 'They really are awakened.'

Everyone then looked toward the entrance of the carriage, and out of it came a blond man. The blond man then said, "Can't you guys keep it down?! I have a headache!"

He then turned to the old man and said, "Mr. Marbo, what is going on here?"

The old man then said, "They are trying to rob us, Mr. Raja."

"What? Rob us? Did you warn them that there were two awakened people in the wagon?"

"Yes."

"Well, I guess they are just dumb. Anyway, you guys decided to steal the wrong wagon at the wrong time. If I was in a good mood, I could let you guys go. However, after being woken up with all this yelling, that's no longer an option."

All the men began to back away, but their leader shouted, "Don't be afraid. He's alone. There's no way he can handle all of us at the same time."

The rest of the men then stopped retreating and started moving towards Raja, and seeing this, he said, "Well, let's get it over with so I can go back to sleep."

Raja then snapped his fingers, and several spears of fire started appearing in the air. With each one that appeared, the men who were moving towards him lost a little momentum until one of them turned and started running.

Raja then stopped making fire spears and threw one of them at the running man.

The spear went through his chest, and he fell to the ground on fire and started screaming to the point where his body was all in flames, and he stopped moving.

Raja then said, "Minus one."