***

Before long, I arrived in the forest and saw a group of people walking toward the city of Goldbay. It was Fatty and the others, my subordinates. They were wearing robes and tattered clothes as if to prove the struggle that they had to go through to arrive here. Some are even supporting the other on their shoulders as they walk.

‘What happened? Did their betrayal get found?’

I only gave them tasks related to the Truth Society. So it’s very likely that their injury and current appearance had something to do with it. Of course, now that I’m here, such injuries can be solved with ease.

[Bianca’s Healing Art]

I landed on their center and spread out a healing wave centered on me. Immediately, a gentle light surrounds them and begins to heal their wounds over time.

“Oh! Ooh!”

“I can feel alive again!”

“This familiar light… is it the boss?”

Along with the ones who already found me, everyone widened their eyes as they looked at me standing in their midst. Their expression was as if they had seen a ghost. Some even trembled in cold sweat as if they remembered the true education they had received. It was a precious bonding time for me too, so I can’t help but reminisce with fondness as I smiled at these people.

“Heuk! The boss is smiling?”

“No! Look again! It’s a wicked grin of the devil!”

“Is he going to do that again? Is that why we were healed?”

I can hear you all, you bastards. It seemed like I was the only one who thought well of our passionate night in the forest full of shout and screams. It can’t be helped, I guess. I nodded in understanding. It was then that the fat guy hurriedly approached and kneeled before me as he shouted with emotions.

“Boss! You’re safe!”

It was a joyful expression, which was a weird expression if you compare it to everyone else who seemed to look at me with mixed feelings.

"You seemed happy."

"Of course! Now that the Society found our betrayal, you are the only one we can rely on."

The others nodded at his words, as if agreeing with decision. It was a rational choice on their part to grab strongly onto the only rope they had left.

"I see, so it was like that after all."

What he said was not a lie. I nodded as he confirmed my suspicion of them being found out by the Truth Society.

Well, considering who led the organization, it was only a matter of time until their cover got blown up. And since the fake prophet seemed to be obsessed with killing me, he must have been using all of his prophetic power to find out more about me.

Fatty said, "And Boss, since you are here, does that mean you trusted my advice and ran away from the city?"

He trembled as if feeling touched before shouting with excitement.

"You made a wise choice, Boss! Now that you are here, you can be at ease! You will be safe as long as you get out of the city of Goldbay."

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"Hmm… it's the reverse, actually."

"Yes?"

"I didn't run away, I came here to bring you all back to Goldbay with me."

"Yes?!"

At my words, everyone seemed agitated.

"P-Please reconsider, Boss!"

"No, Boss! It's clearly a trap!"

"We should hurry up and leave!"

The fat guy, on the other hand, was silent as if trying to understand my intent.

"Boss… could it be… are you going to protect the city?"

I nodded at that.

"Right. So tell me, what's the situation?"

***

We walked toward Goldbay as the fat guy explained what's going on.

"The black dragon's army… Or rather, his disciple is coming to this city right now."

"Which disciple?"

"The black magician."

"Ah…"

A tricky one is coming.

"Why suddenly?"

"That's… it must be because news of the prophet hiding in this city has spread."

"What?! The prophet is in this city? How did such news even spread?"

"I-I don't know either. I'm not sure whether it's true or not, but that's how the news spread amongst influential people."

"Hmm…"

It was weird that news about the fake prophet was spreading like this. Especially since he had always been careful to hide such information from leaking. So I can only think of the spreading of this news as a deliberate attempt on his part—a trap to lure the people who had been chasing him, mainly Nicht and his disciples, to the city of Goldbay.

'As for the reason why… it's probably to pit them against me.'

He probably saw from multiple prophecies that I would be staying in this city around this time. So, the fake prophet would be pretty confident that his prophecy this time was correct and decided to lure Nicht to this city to kill me instead. Or we might end up killing each other without him having to lift his own hands.

Either way, he got me good this time… Tch.'

It wasn't the first time I had fallen into an enemy's trap, but it still annoyed me every time. This was originally a strategy game after all, so it wasn't weird for schemes and traps to be found.

Let's consider the other possibility too. It's also possible that the fake prophet was indeed hiding in this city. Which means, the news was true.'

At the very least, he would be curious about the result of our fight. Curious enough to send someone close to him to spy on us or come here to see the result for himself. Which one is more likely? Whichever it is, I can probably find the fake prophet when everything's over.

'But did his plan stop at the spreading of this news? Or was there another plan behind this?'

I tried to remember my enemy's personality and tendency. What kind of person was the fake prophet?

He had tried to kill me several times. Whether it's to pay mercenaries to lure monsters, paying an innkeeper to poison me, or to send assassins weaker than me. The problem is he did that without knowing that I could overcome them with ease. So all of his plans were half-assed at best, and full of holes at worst.

His way of thinking was much simpler than what I remembered about him from the game. This was several years before the main story begins after all, so he might be lacking experience here and there. But I think the way he only plans for one thing at a time is the same now and then. So I probably don't have to worry about there being another danger after this.

'Okay. So I can leave him aside from now.'

It's good that I can focus on the danger ahead. I only need to do something about Nicht's disciple now. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that fighting Nicht's disciple will be dangerous. But I had been expecting to fight black magicians and sorcerers anyway, even if it's not against Nicht's disciples. So I have done quite a bit of training to deal with them.

'The problem is, something huge will happen if we fight in the city.'

Sure, I can get the guards and mercenaries to help in my fight. But if we fight in the city, there's no telling how many people will die.

Also, it might take too long to subdue them if I were just to wait until he arrived. And if I took too long to deal with them, even Nicht might appear to help his disciple and fight me 2 on 1.

'I can't let that happen.'

This means the only thing I can do is to ambush Nicht's disciple before he arrives in the city and finish them there. Having decided on what to do, I asked the fat guy.

"Do you know where Nicht's disciple is?"

"No."

"Do you know where they are coming from?"

"Most likely, from the west of Goldbay."

"The west…"

I thought of Arte for a moment. The orphanage was also on the city's west side.

'Even more reason for me to hurry, then.'

I took out a money pouch from my subspace and gave it to the fat guy.

"Go hire mercenaries to help you, especially people with tracking skills. Find the black magician as soon as possible and tell me."

"What about you, Boss?"

"I will join the search, but later. Since we are dealing with a black magician… there is something I have to prepare first."

That was how I parted ways with my subordinates. Back then, I didn't even think that Arte was desperately searching for me and would even get herself involved in our fight. It was the moment when a fourth party joined this three-way-fight and flipped everyone's plan on their head.

***