After leaving the venue with Mida, Wei Bai remained silent.
Feeling that Wei Bai seemed to be in a bad mood, Mida quickened her pace and stepped in front of him.
“Hey, don’t be so downcast. Look, we won!” Mida flashed a smile.
Wei Bai focused his gaze on her cheerful face and composed himself.
“Yeah, we won.”
Wei Bai felt a sense of melancholy.
Although they had won and secured the championship of the God of Cooking Competition along with a substantial prize, he felt no joy.
Instead, a deep sense of worry weighed on his heart.
Who could have imagined that this competition would involve Count Arni, especially when he had just recently had a dispute with the Count’s son?
His impulsive actions had put Mida in danger as well.
While he could potentially protect himself, Mida was different; she was just an ordinary little girl.
Although he knew that even if he hadn’t thrown that punch, the noble would have eventually found trouble with Mida, he would have at least had more room to maneuver.
The threats and retaliation wouldn’t have come so quickly.
Mida might not have sensed it yet, but based on his years of experience, Wei Bai already knew the gravity of the situation they were facing.
This time, Count Arni had merely used money to attract some low-life thugs to harass them.
Next time, it might be a targeted assassination, and the time after that?
Perhaps, when the time came, the Count would simply fabricate a baseless charge and deploy the army to arrest him.
After all, with Count Arni’s years of influence in the territory, the people would only believe the “kind and selfless” Count.
Thinking of this, Wei Bai couldn’t help but frown.
Mida, seeing Wei Bai’s absent-minded state, grew worried.
She didn’t know what Wei Bai was thinking, but she felt a faint sense of unease.
“Sigh, never mind… Mida, let’s go. I’ll walk you home.”
“Okay!”
Mida’s small face beamed with a happy smile, as if she were completely unaware of what was about to happen.
—
The Manor of Count Arni.
“Father, Father! You must kill that kid!”
Count Arni’s son—the young man Wei Bai had beaten in the tavern that day, Burn Arni—was currently sprawled on the floor in front of Count Arni, crying out his grievances.
“Get out! You useless, spendthrift brat! You’ve completely disgraced our noble family’s name!”
The Count, who had been elegant and refined at the competition earlier, was now fuming with rage, his mustache twitching with anger.
“Father, help your own son! So many people were watching in the tavern that day. If you don’t help me, your son’s reputation will be gone forever!!” Burn wailed, wiping away non-existent tears.
“Get lost, you brat! I’m already trying to find a way to clean up your mess. Stop annoying me!!”
“Father! You have a way? What is it?”
Hearing his father say this, Burn immediately scrambled up from the floor in excitement, patted the dust off his clothes, and looked at his father with anticipation.
“Your father isn’t like you, losing face every single day and showing no potential.”
Count Arni scolded his son, but his tone gradually took on a hint of indulgence.
He was still very permissive with his precious son.
“Father, can that kid really be killed?”
Burn was delighted by the prospect.
If that kid died, not only would he regain his pride, but he could also keep that little girl in the palm of his hand.
“What, you don’t trust your own father?”
“No, no, I’m just worried. That kid seems to have a bit of skill.”
Hearing his father’s response, Burn immediately rushed forward with a forced smile to explain himself.
“So what if he has skill? Even if he were a Gold Medal Adventurer, he would still have to stay obediently in Carven City.”
Count Arni gave a dismissive snort.
He didn’t believe Wei Bai could handle all the dark forces of the city alone.
Besides, he had the guards of Carven City as his backup.
Unless that kid was a master of both magic and melee combat, the guards of Carven City could simply drown him with numbers.
But such a thing was impossible.
For one person to possess both the terrifying explosive power of a mage’s spells and the close-combat abilities of a warrior, they would have to be a genius among geniuses.
As Count Arni thought of this, a cold sneer appeared on his face.
How dare someone publicly challenge a noble’s authority?
Once he had Wei Bai torn into a thousand pieces, he would seize that little girl and ravage her properly.
—
Over the next few days, under Wei Bai’s protection, no accidents befell Mida.
Instead, every time Wei Bai finished work and sent Mida home, several masked bandits would always rush out from street corners and alleys on his way back, shouting that they were going to punish him for fixing the competition.
The result was obvious.
Wei Bai could beat them with one hand tied behind his back.
How could street thugs who only knew how to bully citizens be a match for an adventurer who had fought through life-and-death battles?
However, today, Wei Bai wanted to test the new spells he had learned.
He hadn’t had the chance to cast the 7th-Tier Spell he had studied in the library a few days ago, but he had learned many low-tier and mid-tier spells.
Through his experiments over these past few days, Wei Bai discovered that his pendant currently seemed capable of releasing only mid-tier spells up to the 5th-Tier; anything higher seemed impossible to cast.
No matter how he tried to control it, the magic wouldn’t release.
After reflecting for a while, Wei Bai concluded that his own strength was insufficient.
Left with no choice, Wei Bai had to start from the basics.
Being somewhat uneducated, he really couldn’t understand the complex incantation formulas, so he could only pick ones with simple incantations and smaller power outputs to learn.
Even so, he had mastered several spells with decent power.
Wei Bai looked at the bandits in front of him, who had bare arms and wore masks while holding iron rods, and a smile spread across his face.
“Brothers, have you made your peace yet?”
“What peace? Stop trying to play tricks on us!”
The lead bandit was stunned, clearly not understanding what Wei Bai was up to, and retorted fiercely.
Wei Bai didn’t say another word.
He gripped the pendant and began to chant the incantation.
The bandits looked at Wei Bai’s behavior and exchanged puzzled glances.
As they sensed an abnormal aura emerging around Wei Bai, the bandits realized his intention.
“Dammit, it’s magic! Charge, don’t give him a chance to guide the mana!”
The lead bandit clearly knew how to deal with mages: close-range combat.
On a battlefield, engaging a chanting mage in close combat was the most sensible choice.
Thus, the group of bandits moved in unison, rushing toward Wei Bai.
Their tactic would have been very effective against a traditional mage who would have no way to defend himself, but unfortunately, what they didn’t know was…
The lead bandit rushed in front of Wei Bai.
Looking at Wei Bai still chanting, he couldn’t help but snort inwardly, a mocking expression appearing on his face.
“Death is at your door and you’re still charging up your magic? Take this strike from your grandpa!”
Along with the bandit’s roar, the iron rod in his hand swung down toward Wei Bai’s head.
“Clang!” Just as the bandit was feeling smug, thinking he had succeeded, the sound of metal clashing reached his ears.
He looked at the silver longsword in Wei Bai’s hand in disbelief.
“How is this possible? Aren’t you a mage?!”
At that critical moment, he hadn’t expected Wei Bai to draw a longsword with his backhand and steadily block the iron rod.
Wei Bai gave the bandit no time to think or attack again.
His spell chant was already finished, and waves of high temperature began to spread out from the front of the pendant.
“3rd-Tier: Flame Snake.”
Accompanying Wei Bai’s voice, a fire snake about five or six meters long, its body burning with raging flames, leaped out from the pendant and pounced on the group of bandits.
“Aaagh!”
Along with the sound of scorched flesh and the screams of the bandits, the fire snake twisted joyfully, and the accompanying flames consumed and incinerated them one by one.
Several bandits turned around and tried to flee, but the Flame Snake noticed them, quickly chased them down, and swallowed them whole.
Very soon, the group of bandits was gone.
The surroundings were empty, leaving only Wei Bai standing there amidst a ground covered in black ash.
“Sorry, I’m not just a mage; I’m a warrior too.”
Wei Bai grinned at the piles of ash on the ground before dispelling the Flame Snake magic.
Magic really is convenient; these troublesome guys died without me even having to lift a finger.
Wei Bai felt no particular way about these bandits.
They were evildoers to begin with, so dying was their proper end, and it could be considered a service to the people.
Tucking the pendant away, Wei Bai sheathed his longsword, casually brushed the dust off his clothes, and walked toward his residence.
I’m exhausted.
I need to get home and sleep.
I really miss my bed.
Wei Bai didn’t encounter any other troublemakers along the way.
Feeling cheerful, he hummed a song and returned home.
The moment Wei Bai closed his door, a dark shadow on a tree near the entrance also disappeared.
A moment later, the door that should have been tightly shut opened a crack.
After observing the outside, Wei Bai closed the door once more.
“Tsk, a restless fellow followed me the whole way. Did he really think I didn’t notice? If I couldn’t even notice that, I would have died in a Goblin Nest long ago. I reckon this guy is probably off to report to his master now…”