Three days later, the dense forest near the Balmount Kingdom stirred with life. Tall, ancient trees towered above, their thick canopies blocking out most of the sunlight, casting deep shadows across the forest floor. Vines tangled through the branches, and moss clung to the bark, creating a mystical, greenish glow where the light dared to slip through. Birds and creatures stirred from every direction, rustling the leaves and bushes, while the wind carried the sweet smell of damp earth and wildflowers.

Hidden in a patch of thick, wild shrubbery near the road leading to the kingdom, three figures crouched low, their faces obscured by bandanas that covered their mouths but left their eyes exposed. Angelo, Toru, and Gregory, clad in typical commoners' garb, blended into the shadows of the forest.

Gregory, always the complainer, groaned as he shifted uncomfortably. "Why did you two drag me into this crap?" he muttered under his breath, his voice dripping with annoyance. "We’ve been here for hours, and no one’s even passed by. This is so boring!"

Angelo, smirking beneath his bandana, responded casually. "Quit whining, Greg. Just be patient." He leaned back slightly, his hand resting on his knee as he scanned the pathway. "This is how we make easy coin."

Gregory huffed. "Easy coin, my ass. Not a single carriage has come through."

Toru, who had remained silent up until now, finally spoke, his voice low and irritated. "Gregory, shut up before I make you." His tone was cold, and the threat was enough to silence Gregory, though he crossed his arms, clearly frustrated.

Just as Gregory was about to retort, Angelo raised his hand, signaling for silence. A faint rumbling could be heard in the distance, followed by the creak of wooden wheels. "Look," Angelo whispered, pointing towards the road.

A simple wooden carriage came into view, drawn by a single brown horse. The carriage was modest, the kind commoners used to transport goods or people between villages and towns. Seated atop the carriage was a man with sandy blonde hair and dull brown eyes, dressed in worn clothes that spoke of a hard life. He seemed focused on the road ahead, unaware of the danger lurking nearby.

As the carriage passed by their hiding spot, Gregory sighed loudly, standing up in frustration. "That's it, I'm done. This is pointless." He began to walk away, heading deeper into the forest.

"Gregory, get back here!" Toru called out, standing and following him into the trees. Angelo stayed behind for a moment, shaking his head. "Coward," he muttered under his breath, standing up and jogging after them.

Gregory stomped through the undergrowth, muttering angrily to himself. "Those bastards don't care about me at all. I’m tired of this crap."

"Gregory, stop," Toru called, catching up and grabbing his shoulder. "Come back or—"

"Or what?" Gregory snapped, spinning around to face him. "What are you going to do, Toru? Hit me?"

Toru clenched his fists, anger flashing in his eyes, but before he could say anything, Angelo arrived, stepping between them. "What’s going on here? You two really wanna start a fight right now?" Angelo said, his tone mocking.

Gregory sneered at Angelo. "We're not animals like you," he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

Angelo's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Say that again," he hissed, cracking his knuckles as he stepped closer.

Gregory glared at him defiantly. "I said, you're an animal."

Angelo was about to lunge at Gregory when a piercing scream echoed through the forest, freezing them all in place. They looked at each other in shock before, without a word, Angelo and Gregory took off running toward the sound, with Toru trailing behind.

As they ran through the trees, Angelo, who was faster, slapped a branch out of his way, causing it to swing back and smack Gregory in the face. "Bastard!" Gregory shouted, rubbing his nose as he kept running.

Angelo reached a clearing first and immediately dropped to the ground, pulling Gregory down with him as soon as he arrived. "Shut up for once!" Angelo hissed, pointing ahead.

Through the trees, they spotted four knights in Balmount Kingdom armor, surrounding a woman with vibrant cherry-pink hair and striking amber-gold eyes. She was dressed in the fine attire of a noblewoman, her gown flowing and elegant, and her shoes gleaming despite the forest dirt. Her face was pale with fear, and she seemed to be pleading with the knights.

The knight closest to her had a broad, cruel face, brown hair, and red eyes. He smiled wickedly as he licked his lips. "We don't want your money," he said, his voice dripping with malice.

Another knight, this one with purple hair and cold grey eyes, held up a pouch filled with gold coins. "Your driver begged for his life before I slit his throat," he sneered, showing the woman the pouch.

The woman gasped in horror, her hands trembling. "No… no… please…"

The third knight, still wearing his helmet, stepped forward. "So, what can you offer us, milady?"

Gregory, hiding in the bushes, clenched his fists. "We have to help her," he whispered, his voice shaky with anger.

"Are you out of your mind?" Angelo whispered back harshly. "There are four of them, and we don’t have any weapons. You go out there, you’re dead."

Gregory, determined, whispered back, "We can take them."

Before Angelo could respond, he noticed Toru was no longer by their side. "Toru?" he whispered, looking around. Gregory tapped his shoulder and pointed up.

Toru was perched in a tree above the knights, his eyes locked on the scene below.

Meanwhile, the knights continued their assault, one of them grabbing the woman roughly by the arm. "You should be honored," the knight with purple hair sneered. "The only thing I’m about to give you is between my legs."

In desperation, the woman slapped him across the face. His eyes flashed with rage. "You bitch!" he growled, yanking her by the hair.

As the knight with purple hair raised his hand to strike the lady, she braced herself for the blow, her eyes filled with fear. But before the strike landed, Toru leaped down from the tree, crashing into the knight and pinning him to the ground. The other knights were momentarily stunned, but quickly reached for their swords.

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Gregory, emerging from the bushes, grabbed a large branch and swung it with full force at one of the knights, striking him on the head. The stick splintered as the knight crumpled to the ground, clutching his head in pain.

Angelo was already moving, kicking another knight in the chest and sending him flying backward, where he hit his head on a rock and lay unconscious. Angelo then swung a fist into the jaw of the second knight, who collapsed, unconscious before he even hit the ground.

The woman watched in shock, her eyes wide at the sudden turn of events. The knight with the purple hair, still pinned beneath Toru, cursed them all. "Hey! Damn bastards, what's your problem?!" he spat, but Toru tightened his grip, muttering for him to shut up.

Gregory hurried over to the woman, dropping the broken branch. "Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded, still trembling, and managed a quiet "Thank you."

Angelo, not one for sentimentalities, picked up the pouch of gold that had fallen to the ground. "No need for thanks. We'll just take this as payment," he said with a smirk.

Toru shot him a glare. "Return it," he ordered.

Before Angelo could argue, the woman placed a hand over her chest and said, "No, you can keep it. It's a token of my gratitude for saving me."

Angelo's smirk widened. "Well, in that case..." he began, but Gregory snatched the pouch from his hand. "Have you no shame?" he grumbled before handing the pouch back to the woman.

The knight with purple hair, now furious, began to shout, "Do you know who I am?!"

Toru silenced him with a swift knock to the head. "We don't care," he muttered as the knight slumped unconscious.

Gregory, turning to the woman, asked, "What about your carriage?"

At the mention of her carriage, the woman gasped, remembering her driver. She dashed through the bushes, Gregory following close behind, with Angelo trailing. When they reached the road, the elegant black horse stood there, still attached to the simple but sturdy carriage. The woman rushed to the door, shouting, "Mr. Kaito!"

Opening the door, they saw a man inside—her butler. His jet-black hair was disheveled, and his piercing blue eyes were wide with relief. His mouth had been gagged, and his hands tied. The woman quickly freed him, and once the gag was removed, he gasped, "My lady! Thank the goddess you're safe!"

As she finished untying him, Gregory and Angelo approached. The butler, still recovering, glanced at them warily. "Who are they?" he asked the woman.

"These are the men who saved me from the knights," she explained.

Once freed, Mr. Kaito turned to them, bowing. "Thank you for protecting my lady from those vile knights."

Angelo waved him off with a casual grin. "Don't worry about it. Your lady already paid us for our services."

The butler frowned, confused. "Paid...?"

Gregory quickly intervened, asking, "What happened?"

Mr. Kaito explained, "We were on our way back to the kingdom when the knights stopped us for what I thought was a routine check. I didn't think much of it until they knocked me unconscious." His expression darkened with regret. "I was a fool to trust them."

The woman quickly reassured him. "It wasn't your fault."

Mr. Kaito straightened up, his voice steady. "We must report this to the kingdom at once."

Angelo, his smile turning wicked, shook his head. "No, no. There's no need for that. We'll handle it ourselves."

Gregory glanced sideways at Angelo, thinking to himself, He really looks like a jackass when he smiles like that.

Toru finished tying up the knights to a tree, ensuring the ropes were tight enough to prevent any chance of escape. As he worked, the muffled sounds of Angelo and Gregory's argument reached his ears. Turning towards the source of the noise, he sighed in exasperation.

"Must you two argue every time?" he called out, glaring at the pair.

Angelo, throwing up his hands, faced Toru and pointed at Gregory. "Can you believe this guy? He didn't want to accept the money!"

Gregory folded his arms defensively. "I don’t want to take money that doesn’t belong to us."

Angelo’s eyes widened. "What?!"

Toru shook his head. "Can you both just stop it and tell me what happened? Is the driver dead or not?"

Gregory, still glaring at Angelo, answered, "No, he’s not dead. They’re already gone."

"Good." Toru gave a quick nod before glancing at the tied-up knights. "Now what do we do with these guys?"

"What do you think?" Angelo walked up to the unconscious knights and slapped all four of them across the face. They awoke with startled gasps, two of them groaning in confusion, while the purple-haired knight shouted angrily.

"What the hell?!" one exclaimed, blinking rapidly as blood trickled down his forehead.

Another knight, clearly more bewildered than the rest, stammered, "I... I didn't do anything!"

Angelo grinned, his eyes gleaming as he held up one of their swords. "I just need a bit of information, and you'll all walk away free." His voice was laced with sinister amusement.

The purple-haired knight sneered defiantly. "We ain’t telling you anything!"

"Is that so?" Angelo’s smile widened as he raised the sword, eyes gleaming with a mad excitement.

Toru, sensing danger, quickly interjected, "Angelo, don’t do what I think you’re going to do."

"I’m just asking for a bit of cooperation," Angelo replied sweetly, his eyes never leaving the defiant knight. The brown-haired knight snickered in the background, mocking Angelo.

"Do you even know how to handle a sword?" the brown-haired knight taunted.

Gregory, knowing what would come next, muttered under his breath, "He really shouldn’t have said that..."

Before the knight could finish his laugh, Angelo swung the sword down, crashing it into his skull. The sickening sound of bone cracking echoed through the forest as blood sprayed from the knight's head. Angelo laughed maniacally, ramming the sword repeatedly into the man’s shattered skull.

"What do you think of my sword handling now, huh? Huh? Huh?" Angelo shouted with each brutal strike.

"Angelo, stop!" Toru shouted in horror, rushing forward. "He's already dead!"

Angelo, still grinning, blinked and looked down at the mess of blood and bone beneath him. "Oh… he is?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

The remaining knights, faces splattered with their comrade’s blood, started screaming, begging for their lives.

"Calm down, calm down!" Angelo said with a crazed expression, his hands dripping with blood. "I wasn’t planning to kill all of you. Just... cooperate."

Toru stepped forward, trying to salvage the situation. "Listen, just answer our questions, and nothing else bad will happen. Understand?" He pointed at the dead knight. "Unless you want to end up like him."

The remaining three knights nodded fervently, fear clear in their eyes.

"Good." Toru smiled. "Now, tell me... were you the ones robbing people around here?"

One of the knights, the purple-haired one, opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Angelo, still holding the sword, swung it with a maniacal gleam in his eyes, decapitating him in one swift motion.

"Wrong answer!" Angelo growled, his grin widening as blood sprayed again.

Gregory, watching the brutal display, turned and vomited into the bushes for the second time that night.

"Angelo, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Toru yelled, grabbing Angelo by the shoulder. "You didn’t even let him talk!"

"He was going to lie," Angelo said, shrugging nonchalantly. "The first one to speak is always the liar."

"That’s not how it works!" Toru fumed. "Let me do the talking from now on."

"Fine, fine," Angelo muttered, stepping back with a twisted grin still plastered on his face.

Toru turned back to the two remaining knights, who were visibly shaking. "Now, let’s try this again. Tell me, what do you know?"

The knight wearing the helmet spoke first, his voice trembling. "I swear it’s not us doing the robberies. It’s a gang. Our captain… our captain paid them to do his dirty work."

Toru frowned. "Why would your captain pay a gang to do that?"

The second knight, sensing Angelo’s eyes on him, blurted out, "It’s true! The gang… they’re meeting the captain at the end of the week to give him their loot!"

Angelo’s face lit up in excitement. "What a coincidence."

Toru asked another question, ignoring Angelo’s comment. "How many are in this gang?"

"Six... I think," one knight stammered, fear overtaking him. "But they’re not normal… they use magic."

Angelo’s eyes gleamed at the mention of magic. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

Toru sighed deeply, already dreading whatever chaos Angelo was going to cause. "Thanks for the info," Toru said, clapping his hands together in a show of satisfaction.

"Are you going to free us now?" one of the knights asked, still trembling.

"No," Toru replied flatly. "You’re coming with us."

The knights were about to protest, but one glance from Angelo silenced them. "You want to die?" he asked with a menacing grin.

"No!" they shouted in unison, terrified.

Toru called out, "Hey, where’s Gregory?"

Gregory, still crouched by the bushes, weakly answered, "Over here…"

Toru sighed. "Great."