"Lil Cloe, stay inside, don't come out. Whatever happens."

"sob…sob… but..."

The old man patted the not so little girl with a bitter smile on his face…

"Like I said just now, it will be ok..."

"Alright, I will do as you say grandpa, but you must take care of yourself…"

"Of course… I will be out in a few seconds sir…"

Having no choice but to treat these despicable bandits as some sort of librators and offering them what's within morale limits all in the hope that his little grandson will be able to get help, the old village chief tried to hold his anger in… If only… If only he didn't…

"Here you are, old fogey, why are you this late!"

"I'm sorry for being late sir, I will have them prepare the food right away…"

"What food, you know what we want the most now! Don't act retarded!"

"But! But! We already had an agreement!"

The buffy body of the chief suddenly appeared on the scene as he seemed to have run impatient with quite the savage look on his face…

"Old man, you should stop acting stupid… I know that your agreement was nothing but a way to stall for that boy to get you help…"

"No no no… it's not like that… We just sent him to get more food supplies for our honorable sirs…"

"Cut the bullshit, I know you sent him for that sect, that already makes our agreement null, and since I'm in a good mood, I will let you in on a little secret…"

"Eh…"

At this point, most of the village dwellers have already came out to watch what will the outcome be, while the others were shut in their houses afraid to even confront the bandits directly.

"Your little boy won't find the help you so dearly put your faith in, all the powers on the vicinity are already busy with something, all he will find is nothing but despair, hehe."

The bandit chief laughed off as he kicked the old village chief to the ground…

"Ah! Cough… Cough…"

"Grandpa!"

"Chief!"

As the cry and coughs of the old village chief came out, the teenage yet mature girl couldn't help but rush out for her grandfather…

"Oh! Old man! Why didn't you tell me that you already prepared 'entertainment' for me! I might be able to forgive your mischief thanks to your thoughtfulness!"

"No! Cough… Cough… No! You can't touch her!"

The old man stood up with all his might as he stood before the naive girl that didn't understand how cruel this world could be…

'Do I really have to use that… I wanted to at least say goodbye to Gran as well, but I guess I have no choice…'

Suddenly, sand started bustling around the old man, as it seemed that he wasn't going to fall that easily…

"Hmmm?"

However, before the bandit chief could pay enough attention to what was going to happen…

"Excuse me…"

A light-blue haired youth in blue leather armor walked nonchalantly into the scene, while having a lost like expression…

"Is this the 'Village that needs help'?"

`~~`~~`~~`

A few seconds earlier…

As I finally arrived at my destination, I found that the village was simply too empty with no deep signs of attack in place…

'Did that guy misdirect me due to his anxiousness...?'

"Grandpa!"

"Chief!"

Hearing the cries, I finally found a direction to look at...

'Oh, it seems like the people are cramped somewhere, let's go check, it would be a pity if it's the wrong village, but whatever works, I just want a place to gather information from anyway…'

While helping people was a righteous action that I wouldn't mind doing anyway considering I had the power to, I couldn't do much if the one who wanted help had mislead me…

It wasn't like I would track the guy who might just have been confused to ask him about the correct position…

'Here they are!'

"Excuse me…"

"..."

"Is this the 'Village that needs help'?"

`~~`~~`~~`

"What are you doing here, lad?"

The bandit chief was quite irritated by the act of that strange youth who seemed to hold no worries, as if to contradict how the situation was playing out…

"Young man, please take this girl with you out of here, if I were to live I will reward you properly!"

The old village head's eyes flashed as he noticed the young man, urging the girl to leave with him…

'That old man seems to be a bit… different. He somehow judged me to be worthy of his trust this fast? Is he also having trouble thinking due to his anxiousness?'

"No need."

{Don't hesitate, young man, hurry up, I know that my situation isn't good, but even my granddaughter should be able to hand you the reward!}

'Is that 'mental transmission'…? No, it's just a method to deliver words to just one person I guess…'

"Like I said, no need for that."

'Stop worrying old man, this won't take much time, I will take your words for the reward part tho…'

{Eh!}

"Old fogey, do you really think this lad would be to help you? Can he even protect himself?"

The slim bandit that seemed to be the bandit chief's spokesperson took out his knife as he dashed towards the incomprehensible youth…

"I can do that, yes, thanks for your concern."

Splash!

Seemingly out of nowhere, a fist met the bandit a few steps before he reached the youth, turning him into… a splash of blood…

"Oto, I have been facing a few formidable fellows lately, that's why I didn't manage to hold back, sorry for the mess I made, old man…"

"..."

"Why did you all go silent, hey, old man, who else has been troubling you."

'Judging from the situation, I already got the gist of what's happening, but just to be sure…'

"Lad! No, no, Young hero! What brings you to this humble village, could you possibly be from that great sect?"

"Hmm?"

"If so, then whoever told you to come here was just misleading you! Right, misleading! We are in no way threatening the well-being of this village, we were just visiting the village to improve the relationship with our neighbors! isn't that right ol- respected village chief?"

"Vile bandit… You thought you were being smart, manipulating and believed that you had the situation totally in your control, making a fool out of us, yet… When you miscalculated the outcome and the situation seemed to be in your disadvantage, you want to play house now?"

"Did you really think I meant what I said just now? I was just joking, joking! If that joke was too much, then I'm willing to compensate you!"

"No need! We don't need your filthy help. Young man, this vile bandit is the one who have entered with the intention to assault our village along with his vile men who are enjoying our food in the big food hall, please do as you see fit…"

'Why did this suddenly turn this dramatic…?'

"Well, my guess was right after all, considering what you have done… it might be better to kill you and your men, but since you will have to repay what you have eaten, I guess a beating would be enough…"

'I need to practice holding back, after all…'