Chapter 36 : Do me a little favor, and I’ll spare your life!

“They ran?!”

After a brief moment of shock, the one-eyed old man let out a sigh of relief.

Although the thugs had escaped, at least they weren’t reinforcements coming to start a fight.

From the old man’s perspective, the situation wasn’t too bad.

The person they were supposed to protect was unharmed and hadn’t been taken.

None of his subordinates were severely injured or killed.

The same went for Perica.

As long as the thugs didn’t hurt Ron, that was good enough.

As for catching them?

That wasn’t her job as a bodyguard — that was something for the local town guards to deal with.

What mattered most was:

After years of working together, Perica had learned to anticipate Ron’s reactions.

He was always someone who believed in showing mercy whenever possible.

He probably wouldn’t allow her to pursue the attackers.

So Perica simply put away her magic wand.

But to her surprise, Ron was not happy about that!

“Eh? Why aren’t you chasing after them?”

“Aiya!!”

Ron slapped his thigh in frustration.

Perica was a little stunned at his words.

“Eh?”

“Master, don’t you… want to let them go?”

Faced with her question, Ron looked genuinely confused.

“Let them go? What if they come back for revenge?”

“Of course we can’t let them off!”

Getting more worked up, Ron sighed again.

“Ugh, forget it.”

“They’ve already run off — it’s too late to chase them now.”

Hearing this, Perica gave a small smile.

“Young master, you really have changed.”

Right after saying that, a brilliant green light flared from Perica’s body.

“Wind Sprint Technique, Second Tier!”

In the next second, her figure vanished.

Staring at the spot she had just been standing in — where a small crater had formed — Ron could only break into a cold sweat.

“She… she’s not actually going to chase those two bandits, is she?”

The one-eyed old mage pointed dazedly in the direction they’d disappeared.

Ron was sweating nervously too.

“I… I don’t know either…”

The very next moment —

BOOM!!

Perica crashed down through the ceiling, landing from above!

She had a thug in each hand, smashing their faces firmly into the dirt!

“Wh-what just happened?!”

The thug who had tried to rescue Kato was totally stunned.

Kato, however, wasn’t nearly as surprised.

“I already gave you the hand signal — told you not to come out…”

“Now do you see why I didn’t want you to try rescuing me?”

Kato gave a helpless, bitter smile.

“How could a monster like her be in a place like this… urgh!!”

Before they could finish their thoughts, Perica casually tossed both of them far away.

Just as they started to get up, she raised her hand and threw out two ropes.

The moment the ropes touched them, they seemed to come alive, instantly binding the two tightly in a cross-tied fashion.

“Master, I’ve brought them back for you.”

“How would you like to deal with them?”

At her question, Ron crossed his arms arrogantly and stepped up in front of the two captives.

“Speak. Who are you people, and what are you doing in my territory?”

“What was the purpose of today’s attack?”

“Where are your comrades?”

“Where’s your hideout?”

A flurry of questions came out one after another.

With blood at the corner of his mouth, Kato sneered dismissively.

“Stop pretending.”

“You weren’t even the one who beat us down!”

Hearing this, Ron let out a grunt and rolled up his sleeves.

But before he could even make a move, Perica, standing beside him, darkened her expression and raised her hand.

With a simple motion, she clenched her fist in the air.

The ropes instantly tightened several times over!

The one who wasn’t badly injured managed to bear it, but Kato, already covered in wounds, screamed in agony.

“It was only thanks to Master’s brilliant command that you two were defeated.”

“Show some damn respect!”

Perica’s gloomy expression was downright terrifying.

If Ron didn’t still want to interrogate them, she probably would’ve disposed of the two then and there.

Ron, on the other hand, was getting embarrassed from all the praise.

“Answer my questions honestly.”

“Or else… you’ll regret it!”

Ron asked coldly.

Feeling the ropes grow even tighter around their bodies, Kato coughed up some blood and shouted:

“Don’t—don’t push me!”

“We alchemists have all kinds of suicide poisons hidden on us!”

“If you torture me too much, I’ll just take one and end it!”

At Kato’s threat, Ron’s eyes turned cold.

“Oh?”

“Is that so?”

He lifted his foot and, to Perica’s shock, stepped directly on Kato’s wounded area!

“Uraaagh!!”

When did Young Master Ron become so ruthless?

Although it wasn’t exactly cruel to punish bad guys, this was a far cry from the Ron who used to set even spiders free instead of killing them.

This new Ron seemed… a little too normal.

“If you were really afraid of torture or leaking secrets,” Ron said, pressing his foot down harder, even digging his toe into the wound, “you’d have killed yourself already.”

“The fact that you didn’t means you still want to live.”

Sweating profusely under the pain, Kato finally broke and cried out:

“No—please! I’ll talk!”

“We’re just bandits. We saw how popular the market was and wanted to rob some goods while it was crowded!”

“Then why target me specifically?”

“Did someone send you?”

“If someone did hire you,” Ron added threateningly, “you better be honest now. I can protect you.”

“But if you keep lying, that person will probably silence you later anyway.”

Ron mixed threat and temptation skillfully.

Faced with that, Kato shook his head like a rattle-drum.

“No, no, no!”

“No one sent us. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision!”

“Last night, when you were paying at the inn, you caught our attention.”

“One of us saw through your disguise!”

“Our real plan was to create chaos and rob people — we only went after you because you stood out!”

Ron couldn’t tell whether the guy was telling the truth, but his own tone softened a bit.

“It better be as you say.”

“When we return, I’ll have a truth magic specialist interrogate you again.”

“If what they dig out doesn’t match what you’ve just said…”

“Hmph.”

Ron gave a cold snort.

With the questioning over, Perica asked curiously:

“Aren’t we going after his accomplices?”

Ron shook his head calmly.

“No need. Let the town’s armed forces handle the rest.”

“Right now, we have more important things to deal with…”

Once he confirmed there were no deeper conspiracies involved, Ron prepared to reveal the real reason he wanted these two captured.

He turned and nudged the other bandit — the one who had tried to rescue Kato — with his foot.

“You… want me to let you go?”

“Of course I do!” the bandit nodded frantically.

He had no desire to go to jail!

Given how uneven the local judges were, most cases were decided by public opinion!

For a serious crime like robbery, one bad mood from the judge could mean a death sentence!

But then he hesitated.

“But… if you want me to betray my comrades, forget it…”

“Relax,” Ron said coolly. “I don’t need you to betray anyone.”

“I just need you to do me a little favor…”