You know the old saying 'out of the frying pan into the fire,' right? Well, that's basically what happened to me, although it was the opposite. 'Out of the fire into the frying pan.'

Yeah. I managed to escape those religious fanatics with the power of my Golden Big D. Hehehe. Sorry, I can't resist. Ahem; I meant I escaped with the help of the bracelet I hid inside my pants.

I must admit, I likely exhausted all my good luck surviving that beam assault. I can't help but ponder the dire consequences had the bracelet not absorbed that energy. Which brings me to my current situation.

The bracelet worked, and I was teleported to a different location. Originally, I thought that the bracelet could only teleport you within the city, but such was not the case for me. I was teleported to an unknown location, in the middle of a forest.

Damn, it happened so fast. The moment I was teleported, I was ambushed by a group of people. I couldn't see them very well; my vision was blurred from the teleportation, making it difficult to discern them clearly. Nevertheless, they successfully captured and brought me to their hideout.

Once my sight cleared, I swiftly surveyed my surroundings. It turned out to be a cave or a cavernous storage space, evident from the barrels brimming with vegetables scattered about.

I tried to move, only to discover they had bound my hands and legs with normal ropes. Seriously?.

In a world brimming with magic, they chose to truss up a seemingly skilled paladin with ordinary ropes? Are these people good in their heads? What are you talking about, Leo? Normal ropes are enough for you.

Step. Step.

Hearing footsteps, I swiftly turned to the cave-room entrance and spotted a light. Four men entered the room. Two humans. A DWARF! Damn, what a nice beard. And an Elf. Tsk, I'm not interested in Elf men. I want a WOMAN! Do they have Neko-chan?

"Are you insane, Dwaba? Why bring him here?" one of the humans berated the dwarf angrily.

"HEY! Don't shout at me, lad! I was minding me own business with the boyz when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere,"

The dwarf, apparently named Dwaba, scratched his beard as he defended himself. The other human, a muscular man with a scar on his face, glared at him.

"Killing him and leaving his corpse there was the safest option; we don't need more trouble," the scar-faced man grumbled.

"By the Forge! I'm a blacksmith, a craftsman. I breathe life into things. I can't take the life out of someone, even if they're our enemy," the dwarf attempted to throw a punch at the scar-faced man. However, the Elf intervened, preventing a fight from starting.

Sighs of relief emanated from behind them, and as I glanced toward the entrance, more people appeared, mostly young and clad in rags, with the better-off ones wearing simple brown shirts and shorts.

"You look calmer for someone in chains." The Elf approached, addressing me.

Chains? What do you mean by chains? They are just simple ropes, buddy.

Leaning to the cave wall, I said, "I'm enjoying the conversation; why did you have to stop them? I wanted to witness their brawl."

"HAHAHA~" Dwaba, the dwarf, burst into laughter, displaying his fist to the scar-faced man. "See, lad, he likes to fight too. I was right not to kill him."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"It means everything to me," Dwaba retorted, pulling a wooden hammer from his belt.

"Calm down Dwaba," The Elf stood between the two again.

"So, a Paladin who likes to fight, why am I not surprised?" The Elf said.

Raising an eyebrow, I asked out of curiosity, "What do you mean by that?"

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Kneeling close to me, the Elf peered into my eyes with his emerald gaze, revealing a profound darkness and resentment. "You people like to fight, slaughtering the innocent or anything that isn't human, forcing us out of our homes, selling our women into slavery, all in the name of your filthy Aspect."

Aahh! I understand now; the paladins wronged them. I empathize with his hatred, considering I narrowly escaped being killed by them myself.

"Exactly," the scar-faced man approached, brandishing a knife. "We suffered at your hands. See this scar? A paladin gave it to me." Pointing the knife at me, he declared, "I'm going to do the same thing to you."

WHAT! Hey…Hey! Hold on a second. Don't you dare touch my handsome face. You would break the girls' hearts.

"Ahem…sorry, buddy. But I'm not actually a paladin."

"Eh?" They all stared at me, puzzled for a moment.

"What do you mean?" the Elf inquired, breaking the silence.

I slowly raised my hands, causing everyone to flinch. I even noticed a green glow around the Elf's hand for a moment.

Magic. I see; they fear me, or rather, the paladin.

Gradually removing my helmet and revealing my messy brown hair and black eyes, I saw their narrowed eyes observing me. I even detected a sigh of relief from the dwarf, presumably glad he didn't mistakenly kill me thinking I was a paladin. I'm glad too that he didn't.

"See, I'm not as golden as them; I stole this armor from a paladin and escaped the city. I, too, was on the brink of being executed by them."

"I see," the Elf said, lowering his head and staring at the ground.

"Nonsense!" the scar-faced man shouted, pointing the knife at me. "There's no way you're not a paladin. You teleported; this is a trick by that Oracle witch."

Hearing this, the Elf raised his head, looking back at me. "If you're not a paladin, then do you mind explaining how you teleported to our base?"

Hmm?...Should I tell them? I can't trust anyone, but my survival hinges on convincing them I'm not a paladin. Apparently, even the absence of golden hair and eyes isn't enough. It's worth a shot.

By now, I had given up on hopes of getting a cheat code or a system like those heroes in the novels I read.

"I have something that helped me with that." Slowly reaching into my pants, I faced the four men who observed my every move. "Cough…do you mind turning around?"

"Oh, please. No one is interested in your small peanuts," the scar-faced man said, rolling his eyes.

"SMALL PEANUTS!" I shouted, my voice resonating in the cave and forcing the Elf, who was close to me, to cover his ears.

"What do you mean by small peanuts? I bet you have a small peanuts. In fact, drop your pants, and let's compare sizes. If yours is bigger than mine, I'll call you brother for the rest of my life."

"..."

All of them stared at me in shock, unable to process my sudden outburst.

Good. I accept no insult to my Big D. NO SIR!

"Pfff…" Dwaba, the dwarf, covered his mouth, attempting to stifle his laughter. "HAHAHAHA." He burst into laughter, and like a trigger, the rest followed suit.

The cave echoed with laughter as the tension in the room dissipated. Even the Elf couldn't help but crack a smile, shaking his head at my unexpected response.

The scar-faced man, however, kept staring blankly at me, and I even noticed some redness in his cheeks.

"He silenced you real good, aye," the dwarf approached, slapping his back. "So, are you going to accept his challenge?"

The man snapped, turning his face. "No, I'll pass."

Tsk. Coward.

The dwarf chuckled, turning to me with a thumbs up. "Good one, lad; I like you already."

"Can we get back to the serious talk?" the Elf said, drawing my attention.

I pulled out the magical bracelet from my pants, immediately noticing the sun symbol on it was burned.

"I see you used the teleportation bracelet," the Elf spoke, taking the bracelet from me and examining it. "This one is burned out from the amount of magic used, but wait a second, that's strange?"

"Stranger? What do you mean?" I asked.

"The bracelet only works inside the city; under normal circumstances, you shouldn't be able to teleport out of the city."

"I thought the same too." Nodding, I added my theory about it. "I think that beam attack from Dorn somehow got absorbed by the bracelet, causing it to overcharge or something, teleporting me outside the city—"

I stopped, noticing their shocked faces. "What?"

"You said Dorn, yes? The Grandmaster Dorn? You took an attack from him?" the second human suddenly asked, shaking.

"Yes, The old man with the oversized white armor and golden skulls."

"And you survived."

"You lucky bastard," the dwarf said.

"Not as lucky as you think," I said, showing him my tied hands.

"Oh, believe me, you're lucky," the Elf said, standing up. "The Grandmaster Dorn? Is…let's just say that he's the type of person you send if you want a city to be wiped out from a single attack."

Oh, damn! I just survived a nuclear bomb in the form of a person. That's awesome. I'll wear it like a medal of honor.

"Untie him," he ordered, and to my relief, no one opposed his command. The dwarf approached, removing the ropes.

"My name is Lirael of the Silver Leaf," the Elf introduced himself.

"Leo is the name." Standing at my feet, I asked, "So can you tell me where I am? And how far I was teleported?"

"You're in our hideout deep in the forest. As for the teleportation, Solara Sanctum is just a half-day walk from where we caught you."

I see; I didn't teleport far away from them. Well, I should be grateful for not ending up in some of the city levels.

"So what happens now?" I asked, unable to fathom why he released me. Don't get me wrong; I'm grateful that he did, but why?

Lirael smiled, understanding my question. "That depends on what you can do."

Smiling back, I said, "What do you need?"