The caravan continued on its journey toward Orario.
Just as everyone had expected, with Roy—a Lv.2 adventurer—serving as their escort, the trip was largely uneventful. After all, this was only a small merchant association, not some high-profile target. Only petty thieves and minor bandits dared set their sights on them.
Roy barely needed to exert himself. With minimal effort, he wiped out those mountain bandits completely—it was nothing more than farming weak mobs in a low-level encounter.
He showed no mercy. After all, it was better to be thorough. This caravan wouldn't be making just a single trip—if he let any of them escape, the ones who would suffer later would be these merchants.
Several days later, the caravan arrived within a little over a hundred kilometers of Orario. The outline of Babel Tower was already visible in the distance.
Joy spread across everyone's faces. This had to be their smoothest trip ever. Having a high-level adventurer guarding them filled them with an overwhelming sense of security.
Some even considered offering a large sum to hire Roy long-term. However, after learning his true identity along the way, they could only abandon the idea in resignation.
This young man was no ordinary Lv.2 adventurer. He was a super rookie of the Astraea Familia, bearing the alias "Sprout of Justice." An adventurer with such limitless potential would only be wasting his talent by staying with their merchant association.
"Mr. Roy, we truly couldn't have made it without you this time," the fat man said excitedly, clasping Roy's hands.
"It's nothing. I've had a great time as well," Roy replied with a smile. This wasn't polite talk—it was the truth. In terms of food, clothing, lodging, and travel, the caravan had treated him extremely well, like a pampered lord.
Even after he killed monsters and his body was splattered with blood, the caravan brought out their precious water supplies just so he could bathe. This level of treatment wasn't even afforded to their own president.
If he had chosen to return alone, he would have been living a primitive life completely divorced from civilization.
Quietly, the fat man raised Roy's payment to 20,000 valis. Besides the wages, there was also the intention of building a relationship. If nothing unexpected happened, Roy becoming a Lv.5 or even Lv.6 adventurer was highly likely. Befriending him now would bring endless benefits in the future.
After that, the fat man clapped his hands. "There's still some distance left. Everyone, stay alert!"
Responses echoed from both the front and rear of the caravan.
Suddenly, Roy spoke calmly, "Stop."
The order spread instantly. The entire caravan came to a halt, guards drawing their weapons with vigilant expressions.
Roy's ability to detect enemies earlier than anyone else had already been proven countless times during the journey.
"Over there—about two hundred meters away."
Roy's gaze locked onto a sloping hillside in the distance, where a faint presence could be felt within the grass.
Buzz! Buzz!
Roy activated his magic. Golden lightning surged from his palm, changing form into a spear of lightning. Gripping it in reverse, every muscle in his body tensed. He took a heavy step forward and hurled the lightning spear.
Whoosh!
Carrying a violent howl through the air, the lightning spear was like a thunderbolt crashing down from the heavens. In an instant, it crossed the distance and pierced into the grass.
Two men hiding there were skewered straight through the chest. The terrifying force behind the spear blasted them backward, pinning them to a large tree.
The thick trunk trembled violently, leaves scattering everywhere.
Lightning spread from the spear across their bodies, and the two men quickly lost all signs of life.
"Are you kidding me?! That was two hundred meters away!"
"It's magic!"
The bandits lying in ambush nearby turned pale with terror.
"As usual, protect the caravan!" Roy shouted, charging forward alone.
"Yes!"
The caravan guards roared in response, watching Roy's swift figure with eyes full of admiration.
In just a few days, Roy had completely conquered these hardened warriors with his overwhelming strength. Within the caravan, his words now carried more weight than even the fat man's.
No matter where you went, overwhelming strength was always the foremost factor in earning submission.
On the other side—
A distance of two hundred meters was nothing to Roy.
In less than three seconds, he reached the grassland, charging into the bandits like a ferocious wolf entering a flock of sheep, mercilessly harvesting lives.
In the blink of an eye, corpses littered the ground.
This was the power of a high-level adventurer—often, a single person could decide the outcome of a battle involving hundreds.
Just as Roy had slaughtered most of the bandits and set his sights on a sharp-featured, rat-faced man—
The man smoothly dropped to his knees, shouting urgently, "Wait! Sprout of Justice, please spare my life!"
Roy paused, staring at the man's face. His memory was excellent—nearly photographic. After a brief moment of recall, he said, "You're the 'Moleman' from the Rudra Familia, right? The one with an 80,000-valis bounty from the Guild?"
"Y-Yes," the rat-faced man forced out a smile.
As members of the Dark Faction, they naturally couldn't receive aliases bestowed by the gods. Their nicknames were usually given by adventurers, based on their deeds.
"So there really are remnants," Roy said quietly.
The Rudra Familia had never registered its full membership with the Guild. No one knew exactly how many members it had.
Bounties had lured adventurers into killing off some of them. Roy and Ryuu had wiped out their main force on the Tenth Floor.
However, a small number had never entered the Tenth Floor. Staying on the upper levels, they fled the moment they realized things were going badly—slippery as foxes.
"Do you really think I'll let you go?" Roy asked, a trace of killing intent curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Sprout of Justice, as long as you spare my life, I'll tell you everything I know about the other remnants! I'll help you wipe them out in one fell swoop—!"
To cling to his life, the man spilled everything he knew like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.
As Roy listened, his brow furrowed. About a dozen members of the Rudra Familia had escaped, including three Lv.2 adventurers.
After the god Rudra had been sent back to the heavens, their blessings were automatically sealed. They didn't dare stay in Orario. Instead, they fled outside and converted to the service of another evil god, regaining the power of divine blessing.
Having witnessed the ruthlessness with which Roy and Ryuu annihilated the Apollo Familia, they didn't dare return to Orario. Instead, they gathered a group of bandits in the wilds, occupying a mountain stronghold.
Using the bandits as cover, they lowered the vigilance of adventurers pursuing them.
That was how they had remained undiscovered for so long.
But that wasn't what truly made Roy frown.
It was the fact that these people had seized control of key transportation routes, captured many travelers, and—out of devotion to the god Rudra—burned more than a dozen people alive every day as human sacrifices.
Such brutality would have been universally condemned in Roy's previous life. But in a world ruled by countless gods, he couldn't be sure whether condemnation even meant anything.
"Th-That's everything… I was forced to do it. Ever since I fled Orario, I haven't killed a single person. I've already turned over a new leaf," the man sobbed uncontrollably, acting with convincing realism.
But if Roy believed even a single punctuation mark of that story, he might as well slam his head into a wall.
"Since you're so sincerely repentant," Roy said, patting the man on the shoulder, "then come with me on a little trip."
The man's face stiffened. "W-Where to?"
"Of course—to your main base."
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