"I was sleeping at the time in my wagon," the lizardman admitted. "And then before I knew it, I woke up with a blade to my throat. There were four of them, all human, and I didn't get a good look at their faces - and truth be told, I am not very good at differentiating human faces from one another. It was in a clearing over there, and this was two nights ago."

That wasn't much information to go on, but I hadn't expected much more. "I see. I will make a note to be more careful. Thank you."

"Oh, I doubt that they'd pick a fight with you, Master Liberomancer. They were fine robbing someone in their sleep, but cutthroats rarely want to mess with someone who can actually fight back. One look at what you're riding is probably more than enough to get them to reconsider."

"I don't think so either, but it never hurts to be careful," I said. I couldn't help but remember bandits and robbers in certain video games who would try to rob you even if you were dozens of levels above them.

The thing was, any rational person would know not to pick a fight with a Liberomancer - but the problem also was, if criminals were smart, they probably wouldn't be criminals. That and these desperate times could force people to desperate measures. And despite how much magic I knew now, all it would take is a stray arrow in the wrong place and wrong time… it was a good thing I had made it a habit to wear my helmet whenever I was outdoors.

"Indeed," he said as he started to run off. I hoped he did make it to the lizardmen village in time - or maybe he'd have a change of heart and decide the human village was good enough.

"Urru?" the bear grunted at me expectantly.

"Alright, fine, you win!" I said, using [Fish Haul] again and tossing the bear a few treats as we made our way forward.

I was basically using my mana to feed something I had created myself using a skill - in other words it was completely pointless.

But I couldn't deny that it put me in a somewhat good mood regardless as we trekked along.

After all, he was my sole companion on this journey.

Sun Jiao tapped his foot. What was taking those idiots so long?

The sun was about to set, and they had to act soon. Their supplies were running thin.

Two of his lackeys walked in - both of them shook their heads, indicating they hadn't found anything.

Sun Jiao sighed. This wasn't good. But as he was about to resign himself to an empty stomach tomorrow and possibly the next few days, the last member of his gang walked in.

"I think I know who our next target is," the newcomer said. "I saw this man, who looks rich. And best part is, he's traveling on his own."

Sun Jiao's heart quickened. An easy and profitable target? Just what they had been looking for!

Sun Jiao was the leader of this small team of four - a team of bandits, that is. Though to call them such would probably be a massive exaggeration. The word 'bandits' would make one think of massively built, muscular brigands who were armed to the teeth. It would be more accurate to call them a glorified group of pickpockets, given that they were all relatively thin and weak, and Sun Jiao was the only one with a proper weapon.

He had a sword strapped to his belt - though in all honesty it was more for show than anything else given he had never been properly trained when it came to fencing. He probably would've been better off using a spear given his relative inexperience with fighting with something fancier, but this was something he had managed to steal so it had cost him nothing. He also thought that it made him seem far more intimidating than any kind of makeshift spear that he could make on his own.

And that was more important to him than actual usage - he did not anticipate a scenario where he would actually have to use the sheathed blade so long as he played his cards right.

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Sun Jiao was thinly built and the weakest of them physically, which is why the impression that he had a deadly weapon with him was so important. The reason he was their leader was not just because he was more knowledgeable than the rest, but because he was a Rank One Liberomancer.

Ordinarily, as a Rank One Liberomancer, he would have employment opportunities which would make joining such a gang of troublemakers quite beneath him. As a matter of fact, before turning to banditry, he was employed in a far more productive setting.

The issue was that during such work, there had been a number of 'incidents' involving harassing some female customers ('harmless flirting' in his own words) and he had then been fired from his first job. And then his second. And his third. As well as his fourth. By the time he was on his fifth job he finally stopped this behavior but then came in to work late one too many times and after he missed a serious deadline was fired from that one too.

Liberomancers thrived and fell based on their reputation - and he had tarnished his one too many times, and was unable to get any more work. It spoke quite a lot to how much he had soiled his own name - given that when Stefan had first come to Arconia, he had essentially had zero reputation of his own but was still able to get work the very same day.

There was also the issue that he had never properly finished his education - his father had abandoned his family during his early teens, and as such, he was unable to grasp some of the longer words and sentences in the more complicated Rank One grimoires. Because of this, his advancement had slowed to the point where he had no hope of reaching Rank Two in his current condition - if he could pass that threshold however, he could probably convince people to give him another chance.

However, he was unable to sell any grimoires he made without being a member of a bookstore, and without money couldn't buy even the simpler Rank One grimoires to pad out the number of slots he needed to fill just to get to Rank Two.

Things had still not been too bad for him and he had been able to find odd jobs here and there. That was, until the recent dryad invasion and many businesses in the capital being adversely affected and even this lifeline being snatched away from him.

And so, he had ended up in this current position. Engaged in petty theft for petty cash. Even then, he had spent more nights hungry than not. Thievery does require other people to have something to steal in order for it to be viable, and there just wasn't enough to go around no matter how you put it. Additionally, the more such acts became widespread, the more on guard people were - either hiring guards or only moving in large groups to deter bandits.

"And where is the target right now?" Sun Jiao asked.

"Probably about to go to sleep, I saw him setting up camp about half an hour from here," the man answered. A smile almost formed on Sun Jiao's face - attacking or extorting a village was impossible with their numbers, so anyone who chose to rest out in the open was a tantalizing mark. However, what the man said next wiped this ephemeral smile off of Sun Jiao's face. "One thing you should know though - he was riding this huge bear which was as tame as a maid's old gelding. But it's gone now - I think he might be a Liberomancer."

Sun Jiao sighed, walked up to the man, and slapped him across the face. His patience was greatly exhausted leading this band of losers. They didn't seem to have a single brain cell between all three of them.

"You idiot! You're trying to tell me that you saw a man riding a bear - meaning he is either a Rank Two Liberomancer, or has a tamed bear, and your first idea is 'let's rob this man?' Do you wish to get all of us killed?" Sun Jiao asked.

The reason that they had been able to operate for so long without getting caught was because they chose their targets well - that was also why they had occasionally passed up on what might have otherwise been juicy opportunities, because he had judged at times that the risk was too high.

Unfortunately, the others were clearly rather bad at doing this kind of risk analysis. For that matter, they were bad at nearly everything which is why they had banded together under his banner.

"But boss - he's just one man," the man countered. "Once he's asleep, we'll just grab what he has and then make a run for it."

Sun Jiao sighed again. He raised his arm, and the man flinched, though Sun Jiao lowered it. "I was considering striking you again - but then realized that it would be a waste of a slap. One man? Are you aware of how powerful a Liberomancer can be? Some of them can slaughter a hundred men easier than you can take a dump!"

Sun Jiao had heard the tale of a Rank Three earth elementalist from Meloukas who had destroyed an entire castle on his own by ruining the foundation upon which it stood, sending over ten thousand men to their deaths.

More recently, there was a rumor of a heroic Liberomancer from Arconia who had slain ten thousand dryads with a single spell when it had been under siege. Surprisingly, the person who was said to have done so was neither the governor nor one of his sons, nor the famed Master Jiah Pei, but some newcomer whom no one had ever heard of before. "The fact that he's traveling alone means he's either exceedingly confident in his own powers, or is a demonic Liberomancer. Either way, we should stay miles away from him. How have we been successful up till now? By stealing from the elderly and the weak!"

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