Chapter 97 - 95: Didn’t I Tell You Not to Appear Before Me Again

Chapter 97: Chapter 95: Didn’t I Tell You Not to Appear Before Me Again

Half an hour later, Lu Wei walked out of Theodore’s house.

Aryan didn’t leave with him. She said she was staying behind to help her aunt with some chores and just asked Lu Wei to come pick her up for dinner later... something Lu Wei had promised yesterday.

"Come get me at sunset~"

"Oh, right, please tell the Master for me~"

"If there are a lot of patients, please ask him to hang in there~"

Waving goodbye from the doorway, Aryan’s voice was as crisp and cheerful as ever.

But Lu Wei felt something was a little strange.

At a glance, it looked just like a wife seeing her husband off to work.

’Sigh, having such high Charm isn’t always a good thing.’

Muttering this to himself, Lu Wei headed toward Daffodil Lane alone, calculating his current savings.

After paying the "project fee," he still had 12 gold coins left.

It probably wasn’t enough to buy Professional Skill Books.

But Sebas seemed pretty easygoing. Maybe he’d let him buy on credit.

Either way, he’d see how things were tomorrow.

Besides that, perhaps he really should help Bai Ya learn a few useful Skills.

The Skills [Theft] and [Lock Picking] were no joke. Even if not used for misdeeds, they had plenty of other uses.

Considering the "combat prowess" Bai Ya had just displayed...

It was obvious that even if she mastered Combat Skills, she wouldn’t be that strong.

Therefore, her future role in the Mushroom Squad would be the "all-around logistics person."

Cooking, lock picking, a human map, equipment maintenance, and so on.

Mirana and Furen, on the other hand, would be the Warriors.

One responsible for Burst damage.

One responsible for the front line.

After all, Furen had a pretty sharp tongue, so learning [Taunt] in the future shouldn’t be too hard for him.

As for himself...

Without a doubt, he would naturally be the captain, assassin, scout, commander, and spiritual leader.

Juggling so many roles was a lot of pressure.

But it couldn’t be helped. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.

And with that, the distribution ratio for spoils became very clear.

Bai Ya and the other two each had only one duty, while he had five, so a 1:1:1:5 split was perfectly reasonable.

’Hmm... we’re still missing an Archer or a Mage.’

Walking along at a leisurely pace, Lu Wei idly analyzed the Mushroom Squad’s current roster and found the same old problem—

a lack of ranged attack options.

This meant the team’s "firepower diversity" was incomplete, leading to a lack of coordination in battle, and ultimately creating a situation where "even though it’s a team, everyone still fights for themselves."

To put it simply—

when a fight broke out, he, Furen, and Mirana would all charge in, leaving only Bai Ya trembling in the back.

This might be fine for some Ordinary fights.

But against a powerful enemy, it was a different story.

Of course, with Lu Wei’s current Power, it wouldn’t be hard to attract an Archer to join if he just took Furen or Mirana to the Central Plaza for a little demonstration.

But they would most likely only recruit a newbie.

As for experienced veterans whose combat strength could match the Mushroom Squad, they most likely already belonged to established teams and were hard to find.

What’s more, there was the issue of reliability.

’Sigh, I wonder if there are actually any Elves in the forest.’

’If there are, it’d be great if I ran into one this time.’

’A beautiful Elf maiden, separated from her kin by accident, then attacked by a monster and gravely injured.’

’On the verge of death, she’s discovered by me by chance, then joins the squad and becomes a trustworthy Archer for the team.’

’She might even have a cross-species love story with me... I can let Furen have that part, since he seems more interested in Elves.’

’All I need is a loyal team member.’

’That shouldn’t be too hard, right?’

’After all, this kind of plot has been done to death in novels, so it must be based on plenty of real-life evidence.’

Looking up at the vast, cloudless sky, Lu Wei fantasized in his heart.

...

...

About ten minutes or so later, Lu Wei returned to the "Sawing and Sewing" clinic.

But before he could even enter, he heard a familiar voice.

"I told you! All my money was stolen by a bastard!"

"...No, no! I’ve already been to three clinics!"

"Please, just treat me! I swear I’ll pay you back!"

"The city guard? How am I supposed to get to the city guard in this state???"

"..."

The man’s voice was pained and furious, clearly audible even through the door.

As he spoke, he would let out strange gasps from time to time, "HISS... HA... HISS... HA..." It sounded like he was injured but had no money for treatment.

As for why he had no money...

’Good grief, what are the odds?’

Outside the door, the "culprit," Lu Wei, looked surprised. He hadn’t expected this guy to be so unlucky as to run into him again.

That’s right. The man inside was the same one who had just tried to con Bai Ya.

After the man had fled, Lu Wei had immediately cornered him at the other end of the alley and had a very "polite" exchange with him.

After their exchange, the man had a sudden awakening. His soul and body both received a complete and thorough baptism.

In the end, not only did he hand over all the money on him as compensation for Bai Ya, but he also broke one of his own ribs to prove his resolve to mend his ways.

To all of this, Lu Wei would swear he wasn’t lying in the slightest.

He hadn’t even touched the man during the entire process.

He had only applied a little bit of a four-times Force Field, and the man had immediately thrown himself to the ground.

’He must have been moved by my sincere admonishment and prostrated himself to show his repentance.’

’So... why is he calling me a "bastard" now?’

’It seems he hasn’t truly repented after all.’

’Sigh, how heartbreaking.’

CREAK. Lu Wei pushed open the door with a grief-stricken expression.

The next moment, the man shuddered as if he had seen a ghost, pointed at him, and stammered in terror:

"You... you, you..."

"Me what?"

Lu Wei cut him off with a frown. "Didn’t I just tell you not to let me see you again, or you’d have to break another rib?"

"..."

???

’You did say that, but you can’t just come looking for me!!’

His legs feeling a little weak, the man was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected Lu Wei to be so shameless.

A moment later, he managed to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than a crying face and said sheepishly,

"I-I’ll leave right now..."

"Leave? I’ve already seen you! Do you think you can still get away?"

Lu Wei’s face hardened. "And didn’t I just hear you say some bastard stole your money pouch?"

"Huh?"

The man’s face instantly turned deathly pale. "N-no, no, you must have misheard. I never said that..."

"Oh, so I misheard? Alright then."

The man had just breathed a sigh of relief at Lu Wei’s words, but in the next second, Lu Wei continued,

"But regardless, I saw you again. So, should I help you, or will you do it yourself?"

"..."

’Demon!’

’This kid is definitely a Demon!’

’A rib for a single silver coin!!’

’No, wait, I didn’t even get the silver coin!!’

Seeing Lu Wei’s "you’re definitely breaking another rib today" expression, the man’s face filled with despair.

Since escape was impossible, after weighing his options for a moment, he chose the less painful of the two—

"I-I’ll do it myself..."

Muttering with a mournful look, the man mentally prepared himself again and finally, gritting his teeth, punched himself in the ribs.

"THUMP~"

Judging from the sound, the punch wasn’t heavy at all. It was clear that people have a hard time being cruel to themselves.

However, the man immediately put on an act of extreme pain, hunching over and begging,

"Th-this should be enough, right..."

"Did you skip breakfast?" Lu Wei asked, eyeing him sideways.

"I-I’m injured, this is really all I can manage..."

’Sigh, I have to waste my Magic Power again.’

Shaking his head, seeing that the man was so incorrigible, Lu Wei decided to once again help him turn over a new leaf.

But before he could even reach for the hilt of Confession, Elder, who had been watching the spectacle from the side, suddenly grabbed a hammer of unknown purpose from a shelf and enthusiastically offered it to the man.

"Here, use this."

"..."

The man: ???