“I didn’t want to do this either, but I had no choice! You have to trust me on this one, Leon!” Trista said to him with tears flowing down her face.
“Bullshit! As if I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth now!”
‘Miss Camille was right! Adventurers cannot be trusted! I was too naive! But even then, why did they suddenly decide to kill me?!’
“We had to kill you because there’s a bounty on your head!” Jeff suddenly said in a loud voice.
“What? A bounty? Why would there be a bounty on my head?! I didn’t even do anything!” Leo frowned when he heard this, as he believed that it was just an excuse.
After all, it hasn’t been that long since he became an Adventurer, and this was his first official mission. He didn’t offend anyone either, so it didn’t make any sense for someone to put a bounty on his head!
Furthermore, he’d only spoken to very few people as ‘Leon’, and all of the people who knew ‘Leon’ had no reason to put a bounty on him.
Leo suddenly thought of Miss Camille for some reason.
‘Did she put a bounty on me as part of training? No… She wouldn’t do something this dangerous and devious!’ He didn’t want to believe that it was Miss Camille who put a bounty on his head, as she was someone who hated betrayal.
However, it was true that she wanted him to experience the cruelty of this world by himself, and his current situation is exactly that— a cruel reality.
“It’s true, Leon! There’s really a bounty on your head!” David said. “We received a notification yesterday night right after we returned to our own rooms! It’s an official bounty, and we would receive one billion dollars if we could kill you!”
“It’s not just the money! We were promised a free promotion as an Adventurer, so I would become a B-Rank Adventurer!” Jeff said.
“Leon, I was opposed to it! I didn’t want to kill you! However, these guys all decided to kill you, and if I didn’t do the same, they would’ve gotten rid of me too! Please! I don’t want to die!” Trista said with tears flowing down her face.
“She’s lying, Leo. Although Jeff was the first to come to a decision, Trista was the one who convinced the other two to kill you.” Lilith said.
Leo gritted his teeth and asked them, “Who put the bounty on me?!”
“W-We don’t know! We only saw the notification and the reward!” Dean said.
“Please! Spare us! We will give up on the bounty!” David said.
Leo narrowed his eyes and stared at them in a cold manner, “I may be naive at times, but I am not stupid.”
“Miss Camille was right. I am no longer in my old world… I need to stop acting like I am still in a forgiving world. If I want to survive in this world, I will need to act like I am part of it!”
A vicious light flickered within Leo’s eyes, and Lilith could tell that something within him had changed at that moment.
She suddenly noticed the front doors of the vehicle open, and two people came out of it with rifles in their grasp.
“Leo! Watch out!” She exclaimed.
Leo snapped his head to look at the two drivers for the vehicle and pointed his palms at them while they pointed their rifles at him.
Bang! Bang!
Two loud and distinct noises resounded as the men with the guns opened fire on Leo.
At the same time, Leo also released the Black Bullet that he had been holding back this entire time.
The barrage of Black Bullets took down one of the bullets, but the other one managed to avoid the Black Bullets and reach Leo, grazing his right cheek.
The moment Leo could feel a burning sensation on his face, the barrage of Black Bullets reached their targets.
The two drivers fell to the ground as lifeless corpses after their bodies were riddled with holes.
Despite killing another human for the first time, Leo couldn’t feel any remorse. If anything, his anger flared after being shot by the drivers.
“Now!” Trista’s voice suddenly resounded.
‘Shit!’
Leo cursed inwardly as he sensed a sranobes.net the others, who took advantage of his distraction to cast their magic spells.
However, he didn’t completely panic. After training with Miss Camille, who would constantly attack him when he least suspected it, he got used to reacting to sudden magic spells flying at him, and compared to Miss Camille’s casting speed, these Adventurers were as slow as a turtle.
As the magic spells were released by the casters, Leo actually turned to face the others and walked towards their magic spells, dumbfounding them.
However, right as the magic spells were about to make contact with his body, Leo suddenly disappeared from his location and appeared a few meters behind the magic spells.
After missing Leo, the magic spells continued to fly until they fell to the ground several meters away, hitting nothing.
“It was fun while it lasted.” Leo muttered in a low voice as he pointed his palms at Trista and the others.
“Wait—” Trista shouted as she gestured for him to stop.
Leo ignored her and released his magic, but it was not Black Bullet. Instead, a long line of black flames spewed from his palms and engulfed the Adventurers.
“Aaaaaah!”
Trista and the others screamed in pain as their bodies were quickly incinerated by the vicious black flames.
Leo gritted his teeth and watched them burn without blinking until they eventually stopped moving.
Once the black flames dissipated, only their badly charred bodies remained.
Leo fell on his knees afterward, and he proceeded to puke out everything in his stomach while tears flowed from his eyes.
Lilith didn’t say anything to him and waited for him to calm down.
Sometime later, Leo went back inside the vehicle and laid on the bed with a dazed look on his face.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Leo opened his mouth and spoke in a low voice, “Lilith, why didn’t you tell me earlier about their betrayal? What if they succeeded in killing me?”
“I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure that you would believe me, and I am well aware of the risks. However, I wanted to show you the reality of our world no matter what. I’m sorry. If you want to blame me, go ahead.” Lilith responded with a tranquil expression on her face which implied that she didn’t regret her decision.
Leo scoffed, “Do you really take me for an idiot? Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Eh? You would’ve believed me? After watching humans for hundreds of years, I learned that most of you would rather believe what you want to believe instead of the truth until it’s shoved in your face because you all instinctively prefer to walk the easier route over the more difficult one. Nina Wraith is the perfect example. She lived in a delusion that she could revive her mother until she saw the reality with her very own eyes. I guess I underestimated you, Leo. I’m sorry.”
“I won’t blame you, nor am I angry. However, you shouldn’t do this again. Don’t assume things for me, especially when my life is in danger. I might not be able to forgive you for a second time.” Leo said.
“I promise!” She vigorously nodded her head.
“Anyways, our problem isn’t solved yet. There is still a bounty for my head out there, and I just killed the drivers for this carriage. What should I do now? What will the Adventurers’ Guild think of this situation? They might even revoke my Adventurer’s License because of this.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that. It was simply self-defense that you killed them. As for the drivers, they also tried to harm you.” Lilith said.
“Of course it is, but is there any proof? We’re the only ones who know the truth, and you don’t even count because only I can see you.”
“These things happen more often than you think. I’m sure they’ll understand if you explain everything to them. Furthermore, if it’s true that there is a bounty on your head, they can look it up and that should be more than enough proof.”
Leo frowned and asked, “How do these things even work? Can anybody make a bounty? Like, can I put a bounty on someone who doesn’t deserve it? That just sounds crazy and chaotic to me.”
“No, I don’t think that’s how it works. Bounties are only given to convicted criminals. If it’s an official bounty, it must be approved by the Adventurers’ Guild and the government. However, you’re just a nobody who became an Adventurer recently, and your identity is even fake. This bounty on you is most likely unofficial despite what that guy said.”
Leo pondered for a moment before asking her, “I don’t want to suspect her… But do you think Miss Camille is behind this?”
“Miss Camille, huh? I want to say that’s impossible, but nothing is impossible in this world, so I wouldn’t rule her out completely. However, I think it is very unlikely for her to be the one behind this. After all, she’s someone who hates any sort of betrayal, and this is definitely considered one if she was behind it.”
“That’s what I am thinking. I guess we’ll find out once we get back to the city and ask her.” Leo sighed.
