I Think I Know Those Guys

Vayne suddenly stood up.

His head snapped sharply toward the front.

"…Gold Plate Skill?" he muttered.

At that very moment—

The carriage stopped.

No warning. No sound from the coachman. Just… silence. Suffocating silence.

"This is a trap."

Vayne's voice was low, but clear.

Arthur turned his head. "Trap? Gold Plate? What the hell are you talki—"

"Bloop!"

Bounchiechomie suddenly made a sound. But this time...

The tone was different.

Like a slime that had watched too many survival films.

Bloop… bloop…

We're in danger, gang…

If he could talk, that's definitely what he would've said.

Arthur immediately stood up.

Vayne had already leapt out—two black daggers appeared in his hands, gleaming as if coated in moonlit poison.

Arthur followed him outside.

His head turned quickly.

In front of them, the coachman stood on the ground.

His face was dark.

His eyes blank.

And his voice was cold.

"This is the last one…"

He pointed toward a small hill.

And there—

Someone stood.

Or rather… had turned to stone.

Arthur squinted.

It was Levain.

But his body…

Golden. Completely. Like a statue from a royal museum exhibit.

His mouth was open—his face frozen in fear. Unable to move.

Arthur stepped closer.

"…So this is the Gold Plate Skill?"

Lisha didn't reply.

She had already raised her staff. No small talk.

A white light sparked from its tip—

BUFF.

Vayne was wrapped in a faint aura, his body speeding up.

Arthur was buffed too. His heart pounded harder, but… strangely, he still felt chill.

From behind the bushes and rocks, bandits emerged.

Eight of them.

Three with swords, two with bows, the rest… with goofy grins.

One of them glanced at Lisha and said,

"Wow… this might actually be fun…"

Arthur stared at him blankly.

"…I'll give you three seconds to realize how wrong your life decisions have been."

Instantly—

Vayne vanished.

A shadow moved like lightning. Two bandits collapsed, their necks bleeding like leaky fountains.

Lisha raised her left hand, forming a gesture like a temple dancer… and from behind her, a wave of butterfly-shaped light emerged.

When the butterflies touched the bandits—

BOOM.

They went flying.

Arthur?

He just watched.

Bounchiechomie swayed on his shoulder, humming bloop bloop like a karaoke slime.

In 30 seconds, all the bandits were down.

Some lay unconscious. Some were twitching… oddly holding their own butts for no clear reason.

Levain began melting out of his golden state—

His body returned to normal. His breathing ragged. Face pale.

He collapsed on the ground like someone who had just watched a horror movie while being forced to drink salt water.

Lisha looked to the right, her eyes sharp.

Vayne crouched down, checking the bandits' pockets.

"…Hmm. ID card stealers."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Vayne stood, shaking blood off his hand.

"They target adventurers. Steal balance from their ID cards. Sometimes… they even cut off the hands of dead adventurers to extract the balance directly. Usually they go after Gold Card holders."

Arthur picked up Bounchiechomie from his shoulder and plopped him onto his head. 'This is scarier than real-world credit card fraud.' He thought.

He had only been speaking in his mind for a few seconds—

WHAM.

A shadowy object, shaped like a clenched fist and as dark as midnight, slammed into his stomach and vanished.

Arthur was sent flying.

His body was launched several meters back and hit the ground with a loud THUD—then rolled over twice.

"Uugh… thanks, Lisha… for the buff…"

He was still alive. But the modern consciousness inside his body genuinely thought he was about to die.

Vayne immediately turned around.

His hand reflexively drew his daggers again.

From the north, two men emerged from the dusty fog.

Their steps were light.

Their faces calm.

But their aura…

Terrifying.

One was tall and slender with silver hair, his narrow eyes giving the impression he always knew a secret you didn't.

The other was stocky, but moved with the grace of a drunk dancer who could kill you using your own shadow's reflection.

They chuckled.

Softly—but it stabbed like a needle.

"This power…"

The slender one licked his lips.

"…is good."

"Very good," the stocky one added, glancing at the hand he had just used to punch Arthur.

"Let's try a bit more~"

Vayne didn't respond.

But the air around him instantly tightened.

Meanwhile…

Arthur slowly lifted his head.

His mouth hung open—still stunned.

Bounchiechomie—who had also been blown away—was now bouncing back toward him like a traumatized but determined jelly pet.

"Bloop… bloop… bloop…!"

Arthur tried to stand. His knees trembled, but Lisha's buff was still active.

He rubbed his stomach, then pushed himself halfway up, squinting at the figures ahead.

And then he saw them.

Those two men.

Up close.

His eyes widened.

His breath caught in his throat.

"…NO. Fucking. Way."