Alexander, noticing the attack coming from above, raised his hand, opened the middle part of his fingers, and caught the blade.

The man, stunned by this, tried to pull the blade out, but it was stuck. It was as if it had been nailed to a wall, immovable no matter how much force he applied.

His face turned red, and the lines on it began to bulge. The others, seeing the thief's unexpected strength, their faces grew solemn.

If the person in front of them is a warrior, then they will die, as the gap in strength between a warrior and a normal person is like the difference between the foot of a mountain and its peak.

"Hurry! Attack him now—this is our chance! Now that he's occupied, if he ever lets go, he'll only end up hurting himself," the man shouted as he looked at them to his left and right.

Hearing his shout, all of them gained some courage to attack. The first two men from the left and right rushed towards him.

The man on the right carried a hoe, while the other held a shovel. Alexander, seeing their attack, decided to make his move, gripping the blade between his fingers.

With just a slight press, the blade snapped loudly, and its shards fell to the ground. Seeing this, the man holding the bolo was horrified.

"This thief is actually godly!" he thought.

Alexander then slightly raised his leg and delivered a kick to the man in front. He deliberately held back his strength to avoid seriously injuring him.

Since he was simply doing a good deed, and because these were his own people, why would he hurt them when their intentions were good? With the kick, the man flew back about three steps, landing off on the elevated platform.

The two men who had rushed forward did not falter, even after seeing this, as they were already very close—too close to stop.

"Yahhh!" both of them yelled.

From left to right, the blade of the hoe and the edge of the shovel slashed downward toward Alexander.

With his leg still raised, he bent his knee slightly, shifted his weight sideways, and delivered a powerful sidekick, breaking both the shovel and the hoe with a snapping sound.

The two attackers, seeing this, were no longer as courageous. Even though the hoe and the shovel were old, they were made of hardwood, and neither of them was confident they could break such tools with their hands or feet.

"Lie down for now," Alexander muttered, his mouth visible beneath the green quilt covering his face.

Standing straight, he lowered his knees, spread his arms apart, and opened his palms flat. Taking one step forward, he struck both men in the chest.

Their faces turned pale with shock as they were sent flying off on the elevated platform.

Their backs hit the ground as one of them exclaimed, "That hurts."

"Couldn't agree more," the other man added.

The remaining five men took a step back. They were not foolish; they had finally realized the other party's strength. Even with weapons in hand, they were like kittens before the thief.

Seeing that they were now showing signs of fear, Alexander stood there and coughed, attempting to make his voice sound deeper.

"Listen here, I'm a warrior hired by the king to investigate the problem that plagued this place. I just arrived and think that this village was abondoned, so I decided to check leading to this misunderstanding. This is my fault," Alexander admitted his wrong.

He decided not to reveal his identity, as his reputation was not particularly good. Hearing what he said, three of the men glanced at each other, while the other five whispered among themselves.

The three men who had been below climbed back up to the elevated platform, as they were not seriously injured, just hurt.

The eight of them huddled together, speaking in low voices, though not low enough to escape Alexander's sharp hearing.

"Did you hear that?" one of them whispered, eyeing at Alexander's figure who was standing observing them.

"The king actually sent a warrior. A warrior! That lazy bastard actually remembered his people and this village existed"

Another chimed in, rolling his eyes. "I thought he was very busy drowning in booze and counting his coins to do gambling. What's next? The king will hire a warrior and start planting crops?"

"Or maybe he stopped chasing women's skirts long enough to read one of our letters for help," another man snorted, earning a few muffled nods.

Then the burliest of the group leaned closer and said, "Bet he just sent this guy so he wouldn't have to deal with the mess himself. Typical king—does nothing but send someone else, while we're stuck here eating dirt."

"But isn't a king supposed to send his own people to solve the problem?" The man responded to his words.

The burly man shook his head and replied, "Just go with the flow here. We're here to talk bad about the king, not to compliment him."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"You're right!" the other man responded, forming a fist with one hand and a flat palm with the other before slamming them together, creating a loud snap.

"I agree. That king is always busy tying his hands—if it's not with women, then it's booze. If it's not booze, then it's gambling," another man added.

Then a thin man leaned closer to the group, glanced at Alexander, and warily looked back at his companions.

"Don't forget about dogs, too," the thin man said.

The faces of the seven men turned to shock as they stared at him. "Is that rumor true?" they all asked.

"What rumor?" Alexander muttered inwardly his face was baffled. It seemed there was yet another rumor about him that even he did not know.

"Well, actually, it's said that the king was so drunk and lustful that even a stray dog wasn't spared," the thin man spoke seriously, causing all of their faces to turn grim.

"What a filthy king! Even a dog wasn't spared. How could he do such a beastly thing?" The man beside the thin one slapped his thigh in a fit of rage.

"That's right! He's really such a bastard. I wouldn't even be surprised if it's a pig, a goat, or even a cow next time. But cows aren't ba—" The burly man abruptly stopped speaking as he felt all their gazes turn toward him.

He coughed awkwardly and said, "Hey, don't look at me like that! I'm talking about that bastard king doing it. I haven't done anything like that, so don't misunderstand." The burly man explained himself quickly.

Despite his explanation, all of them moved a few inches away from him, shivering at the mere thought. What kind of lustful person could even commit such a crime?

Alexander, who was listening to their conversation beneath the cover, had a grim expression.

"A dog? I don't even remember such a thing. If I really did that, I'd rather cut off my wiener," Alexander thought coldly.

Whoever had spread that rumor was definitely going to face his wrath, he would really beat them to death without hesitation.

It even fueled his anger more when he was cursed, stating that he's next target would be a goat, pig and even a cow.

So, he decided to stop this group of ignorant men to quell his rising anger.

"Anything else you'd like to say about your beloved king?" he asked, his voice laced with pressure.

The men, who were huddled together, exchanged nervous glances. Panic began spreading among them like wildfire.

The thin man stammered, "N-no, sir! We were just, uh… expressing gratitude! Yes, gratitude for the king's, uh… generosity in sending you!" he said with a nervous, broken smile.

"That's right, sir. We are greatly, uh… thankful for you coming here," the burly man added, sweat dripping down his face.

Alexander smirked faintly. "Gratitude, huh? I'll be sure to pass your 'appreciation' along to him… in vivid detail."

The men paled instantly upon hearing this. If this warrior ever delivered their words to the king, they were doomed. The punishment for defamation of the king was death.

As commoners, they were well aware of the severity of such a crime. Seeing their terrified expressions, Alexander decided to let it go.

"Alright then, consider this your last warning. If it happens again, it will result in punishment. Understood?" Alexander said firmly.

All of them nodded their heads one by one, agreeing with him.

Inside the house, where the door was open, a girl was assisting a woman by the waist. The woman leaned on the girl's shoulder to keep herself from falling.

"Sis, this man was actually sent by the king. I think we've really misunderstood him," the girl said to the woman.

The woman just shook his head and sigh, "Only one person? Is it even enough? The problem in just this village alone is very hard to be taken care of, he at least needed to send a group of soldiers to fend off the beast. Sigh, If only I was not too stubborn when mom and dad died, we would have already moved to another kingdom to lived peacefully."

The girl shook the her elder sister's hands compassionately, "Don't blame yourself sister, that's just only because you believe in the king's father and also the king to make the kingdom properous again. But isn't this a great improvement, since the king finally send a warrior even though its just only 1 person." She reasoned towards her.

The woman did not say anything as she shook her head in reply with a sigh at the end.

"We'll see" The woman muttered, looking at the mysterious man's back.

Alexander, with his back turned to the two females, could clearly hear their conversation. He was surprised that someone still believed in the king, despite all he had done.

However, that belief was clearly waning with time. Yet, the little girl still seemed to trust him. Now that Alexander was pretending to be a confidant of the king, he needed to show them that the king had someone powerful at his disposal.

So the villagers would trust him again, and this renewed reputation would also spread throughout the kingdom.

Suddenly, from somewhere in the central part of the village, a loud shout echoed throughout the area.

The eight men were stupefied and filled with fear, knowing that it had started again.

"What's that shout?" Alexander asked the group of eight.

The burly man hurriedly explained, trembling as he spoke, "That's the wandering beast! It comes every night when it's hungry. It always kills some of us and then comes back the next day to feed again. That's why we always turn off the lights and keep our doors shut to protect ourselves."

Hearing this explanation, Alexander burst into action, moving with incredible speed, knowing that the lives of his people were in danger.

The sheer air pressure created by Alexander's movement was like a whirlwind, causing the eight men in front of him to be pushed to the ground.

He ran down the road and spotted a house with a broken window, from which cries for help could be heard.

The ground beneath him caved slightly as he launched himself forward, leaping through the window. Inside, he saw a Direwolf about to attack someone.

"Roll!" Alexander growled, raising his leg and delivering a powerful sideways kick.

The Direwolf, sensing the danger too late, couldn't react in time. It was sent flying into the wall, its side colliding with it so forcefully that the entire house trembled.

The Direwolf growled in pain. Alexander, seeing that the Direwolf did not get up, turned his attention to the person who had shouted—it was a child.

The kid looked exhausted, his left arm heavily injured from a deep scratch. Even if it healed, a scar was likely to remain.

Worse, his head appeared to have hit something hard, as blood was dripping down his face, staining his eyes red.

Realizing he had been saved, the kid couldn't help but cry as he looked up at his savior. However, dizziness quickly overtook him, and he suddenly fell unconscious.

Alexander hurriedly crouched down, catching the kid before his head could hit the ground. Checking his breathing, Alexander sighed in relief.

"He's just tired and needs some rest," Alexander said calmly. Carrying the kid in his arms, his gaze shifted toward the Dire Wolf.

A cold, intimidating aura filled the house as Alexander walked toward the Dire Wolf. Lying on the floor with its eyes wide open, the creature observed him cautiously.

The pressure radiating from Alexander was overwhelming, more akin to that of a beast in human form.

The Direwolf wanted to flee, but as it tried to move, its bones emitted a series of cracking sounds, stopping it in its tracks.

Alexander, now standing in front of the Dire Wolf, looked down at it coldly before stepping on its head.

The sheer power of his leg was so destructive that the wooden floor cracked beneath the force, and the wolf's head was driven all the way into the ground.

[System Notification: You have slain a Level 2 Direwolf! Rewards: 5 EXP | 10 Omnipoints]