Third District, Neue Fiona Village 

Three days later, as they toured the place by themselves in the street, the young Don felt his legs starting to stiff. He spotted a bench under a huge tree near the river and he moved closer to take a rest. He mannerly sat down, cross-legged while putting his pressed arms over his left leg. The harmonic hymn of the birds hanging in the branches and the cold breeze of wind coming from the east eased the young Don's fatigue. Few people were strolling around the place which gave him a pleasant time to enjoy the view of the scenery that considered the best. But there was something he was really curious what made him so furious. Watching the beautiful facade of the river made him be confused about the villagers' condition.

Thoughtful and doubtful. 

How can a village recover from a war without getting their master's assistance? How can they still maintain this peaceful way of living without any hindrance? These questions made him think there was something strange happening in this place. It almost four of the evening after he peeks at his watch. He exhaled with an exhausting sigh. He and his servant had already done their best to find some clues but for several days of investigation and listening to the gossips around the place, he still failed to get one.

“Boss, are you alright?" Justin, worried, moved closer to him. "Should I buy you some food and drink?” 

“Well," The young Don blinked several times after he turned his gaze to his servant. He almost forgot that he had to keep himself away from being worried by him. He shook his head and spoke with a rude tone. "I guess we should be... No, I kind of tired from our strolling in this village. Is this really a village or a town? So fucking huge. By looking at the architectural structure of the building, streets, the well-balanced market system and policies of each district, it made me questioned myself how can someone like me tried to ruin it.” He averted his eyes to Justin and told him, “Go get some food in the nearest store that we passed earlier. I will just be going to take a rest for a while and to inhale some fresh air.” 

Justin wiped out his boss’ sweat from his face by his handkerchief and fanned him. While doing it, he was looking at the area and watched the movements of every villager. He was vigilant about the people near them. He felt someone was watching them nearby.

“Boss, what do you want to order again? I will try to buy some to the nearest store you mentioned earlier.” He asked venerable.

“Anything not too sweet but with good taste. Make sure it was blended with good scent and its appearance looks convenient to eat.” Hermes ordered, making Justin looked confused.

Justin put his right hand under his chin and thought about it. “Anything that was not too sweet? Oh boy, that’s hard to imagine.” He murmured. “Alright then, I’ll do it for the sake of the stomach of my beloved evil boss.” His eyes sparkled as he looked above the sky.

Very optimistic indeed, as expected to my loyal servant.

“Consider it done, Boss. I’ll be back in a minute.” Justin ran as fast as he could. He disappeared in the crowd.

“What a beautiful sky. Much better than looking at the sky of  my country back then.” He sighed and wondered for the world he was living now. “I never thought I would unexpected experience like those things in this universe. Damn it, Stump G, you’d be thankful I love the sight of mother nature.” He let out a sighed again.

A few minutes later, Hermes realized that Justin taking too long to come back. Hence, he decided to look for him. He saw a shadow behind the wall, he saw the back of the person he thought his servant’s shadow because of the same outfit, he followed the person. Wandering the street, he didn’t notice he was outside the perimeter of the boundary and the person he was following had disappeared. The street was dull and specks of dirt could be seen in the area. The plants had died and the water was full of moles and feces of animals and humans. He was grossed at the smell of the district he entered. He was really sure that Justin went through in the same direction. Compare to the boundary, this place was pretty messed up. The house had no roof and rats ate rotten plants and other flesh such as cows, rabbits and human corpses who was abandoned.

Fifth District, Neue Fiona Village

5:44:11 PM

He saw a sign of tavern nearby, he was confused in the warning stated; “Beware of Bandits! Demon creatures and other kinds of stuff!”. He swallowed his saliva, turned around and chose not to step forward further. He was not a person who'll risk his life to enter the forbidden district that Chief Zamor already told about.

Where might be his servant went was still a question he wanted to be answered. He sighed, scratched his chin as he realized it. A cold breeze coming from the east hit his body. He covered himself tightly and he continued to track down his servant. Suddenly, the wind came back but his face was surprisingly hit his face with a newspaper. 

Irritated. He quickly grabbed the paper and removed it. But strange words caught his attention while reading the content. It stated:

``Mission Objective: Upon arriving the next corner, left side behind the posting. There's a group of goons assaulted an old lady. Your objective is to save the old lady. Don't get too close to the enemy. But don't let the old lady get near you. 

Rewards: You'll earn a trophy of a savior. ``

A big question mark left his mind puzzled. What was this newspaper meant to? The only person he knew who gave him this kind of treatment. It was none other than his arc nemesis. "Stump G. What's this?" 

He threw the paper after he tore it apart.

He began his searching and he arrived in the place stated in the paper without meaning to come there. But a strange and loud noise was begging for help, making his mind crumpled towards her location. As he approached the area, the voice was getting louder per meter.

“Somebody, help me!” a voice of an old woman bullied by three thieves in the quiet and isolated corner. No one was near to the place but only him.

He hid behind the post and murmured, “... No wonder this is a forbidden district, there's a lot of fools enters this place with no idea upon them. Oh I know, maybe this is my chance to increase my great reputation. Hang on. But how.., “ He thought, putting his hand over his chin. “Hmmm, thinking about this, it might cause my life to be in danger. If I save the old woman from those thugs, will they reward me? Will I be considered a hero? But it only works for main characters and their capture targets. I wonder if she'll tell her a story about my effort to the public. Oh whatever, let’s see what I can do about this.” Hermes smirked, imagining his great epic expectation of being a hero.  

But something made him rethink and judged the situation. An old woman in the forbidden district with baggage was really suspicious conduct. Who might be a fool will enter the place which will risk their lives? But looking at the situation, the old woman was getting hurt by the bandits and if he didn't do something, her life would perish. He clicked his tongue and made a quick decision; Save her or leave her? 

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Play a hero or run away what always his character will do? Risking his life for the sake of the old hag was a foolish mistake he would commit but if he wanted to show up his guts then he must take action.

He showed up and ordered the thieves to return her luggage and stopped their harassment.

“Hold it right there! Stop it now, or else?”

"Oh, he really showed up, " the red-haired man murmured. "Foolish mistake. He really did change. But his sense of fashion is... no sense at all." 

"Boss?" two of his comrades looked at their leader. The red-haired man nodded once telling to do their job.

“Or else, what? Hey kid, just step aside from here. It’s none of your business.” The yellow-haired man declared, pulling out his knife.

"Greetings, foolish morons. My name is Aljen," the young Don spoke, showing a noble appearance. "Remember my name, as you'll experience a lot of shame as you guys unluckily faced me alone. Release that woman and I demand you all kneel before me if you want to live." 

He didn't mean to buff his existence but his mouth made it be more persistence. He kept his facade even though he was really scared to say those words. 

Embarrassed. 

He needed to make sure to fool them that he was an inevitable man. 

“Boss, the prey has shown up, " the shirtless bald man silently laughed, "Excluding the weird mask he wears, that outfit can be sold at a high price. The shoes have a good price of around 200 Luzers. If we take him as a slave, we could earn a large portion of money!” He tossed his knife, caught it as he approached the young Don, two steps ahead. 

“Oh my, good idea. That could be good in our business.” 

He remembered his character's body was a useless person. He didn't possess any kind of blessings related to magic. Although he had a brain and mastered everything related to science and technology, he was freaking weak in close-quarter combat. Therefore, he needed to deceive the enemies. And don't let them got near to his position.

“Oooh,” Hermes shrugged his arms, “Do you really think you can take me down easily? I know you're planning something." 

"Hmm.., " the red-haired man surprised; his choice of words tittered him. "He must read the situation very carefully. This young man has a keen eye but he was bluffing from the very beginning. Let's play along and see what he can do." he smirked.   

Hermes clicked his tongue and resumed his bluff, "To think you guys are hurting and targetting that old hag. I'm sorry, I mean old lady. Do you guys have no idea that there's authority will get you and bring you to prison?" His words didn't startle them but they only boisterously laughed instead.

“What’s so funny then?”

“Guards are easy folks to be bribed by money." the red-haired man explained. "As you can see, kid. This whole area is under our protection. The security system was so fuckin' weak that we, small-timers, could easily get in.”

He thought and folded his arms. He muttered, "Aah, that’s explains everything. I see. Poverty outclassed the mindset of the authorities in this district and money prevails over dignity. Manipulated…  The security system was already partially unstable in this district so bandits can easily breakthrough. Gosh, why Chief Zamor didn’t even tell us about this? Oh yeah, that reminds me, he already told me earlier before we went to the Village hall. C'mon, I’m a game developer of this world so I should be more knowledgeable about this event. …. Jeez, it’s been over ten years since it was ended so how I can I even recall something like this."

“I guess the playtime is over.” The red-haired bandit said, lifting his sword behind him. "Capture that man."

“Yeah, it seems pretty interesting to take his clothes.” The bald bandit replied, licking his knife from his tongue.

'Seriously? My clothes? That guy is a pervert! I change my clothes and its now pure white sleeves! 'Hermes covered his body when he got chilled from the bald one.

“Don’t move!”

“Huh?” The red-haired bandit was confused. “What now?” 

“You two, don’t you know what would happen if you tried to attack me?”

“.... No,” the two bandits replied ensemble. “What gives?”

“Look at the corner, the red wall.” He pointed his right side.

“... Red one? What just did you call me, kid?” He stepped his right foot towards him but Hermes immediately warned him. His face turned blue after he saw it.

'Oh, he's good. To think he set up a magical crossbow! Boss, you're wrong about this kid.' He thought.

“I said, don’t move. Look at your right corner, please!”

The red-haired bandit looked at his right and saw a big hole. He became cautious when he saw something from it.

“Hey, Rag, why did you stop moving? Hey rag, rag!” The bald bandit said, moving closer to him. The young Don quickly raised his hand with full of confidence. “Don’t move, pal. Something is pointing in this direction. Well, whatever. There is nothing I can do but to use it.” Hermes raised his hands while still gazing with the dark face at the bandits.

“Eh? What the heck, it’s a crossbow?” The bald one panicked. Giving the red-haired bandit to sweat. Hermes, clueless, stepped forward with an antagonistic manner.

“Darn it, if we take a step, that weapon might trigger the other set of traps in this place. Damn, this kid has a lot of secrets on his sleeves. No wonder he is too confident to show himself. We shouldn't just approach him without asking for help?”

The bald bandit looked behind him. Several flashes of dark strings lay scattered behind the leader, holding the old lady from his side. His face started to drop a lot of sweat when he realized they were seriously screwed.

“Boss, don’t step backward! There is a trap behind you!” He warned, pointing the same direction of the strings. It was almost two inches from the neck of their boss.

“What?” he has almost reached the string behind his neck.

“Don’t touch it, sir. That string…. That magical string might be a poisonous type. Looking at the purple color, it could be one. I experienced to touch something similar from my previous occupation as a merc. I was lucky back then to have an antidote. It was one of the type of assassination item to kill an enemy behind the scene.” The bald bandit explained, wiping out his sweat from his face. They turned their attention to Hermes. They envisioned him as an evil cunt and powerful opponent.

”What the heck? How did that bastard set this one from my back?” He asked, moving forward away from it.

The old hag took a glance at the string, checking if it was real or not by her own eyes. When she noticed Hermes looked at her condition, she began to do something, “Oh dear, please… please don’t hurt me!” The old lady panicked, pushing herself away from the leader.

“Shut up!” he said, giving her a hard punch from her face.

“Old hag! You dirty bastards. That’s an old lady, show some respect to your elders!” Hermes screamed in anger.

“You dirty bastard, how did you set a trap in this place?”

'…. Eeeh? What trap is he talking about? Seriously, I just warned them to look at the right side because it was the direction of the guards.' The young Don, surprised, was unable to respond for a few seconds.

Hermes turned his gaze in the direction of the bandit’s pointing at. He found a crossbow inside the wall and the string behind the leader.

'What? I didn’t even know there was a crossbow in that side. What the heck are those strings? I don’t have any slight idea of what they are afraid of that one. What’s special in that simple thing…. Unless they mistakenly thought it was a poisonous weapon. Oooh…' His face turned dark and his scarlet eyes trembled with the scheme. 'What a coincidence.'

“Ooh, you finally realized, maggots." He shrugged his arms and stepped three steps forward. "You see, I already held your asses from the beginning. Judging in your ugly and filthy faces, you’re a group of stupid assholes who don’t like to negotiate in a good way. As per saying, to make a dog to listen to his master’s words, he must give them a little bit of taste of food to follow his command. Now, now, now…. put down your weapons in the ground, raise your hands and hand over the old lady immediately.”