Several drunks stared at the gorgeous girl and swallowed hard. One had already risen, swaying toward her with a huge mug in hand. “Hey there, pretty little—”

Smack! Before he could finish, the bull-like warrior sent him sprawling, drawing laughter from the tavern.

Du Wei watched with interest. A bull of a man for close combat, an archer for ranged attacks... and the girl surrounded by her companions. She must be their leader. Is this one of those small adventuring parties I've read about?

As Du Wei learned more about this world, he discovered that adventuring parties operated much like mercenary bands. Some numbered in the hundreds; others had only three or five members. Low-level magical beasts often appeared in the southern forests, attracting adventurers who hunted them for sale or reward. Local governments also hired such parties when short of manpower, offering bounties for tasks such as capturing wanted bandits.

The Empire had no large, organized mercenary guilds. Imperial law did not permit leagues of armed men on that scale, lest they threaten the Empire’s authority. Du Wei thought that entirely sensible: controlling private armed forces was essential to a stable state.

But... there was actually a mage among them?

That was genuinely surprising. From his reading, Du Wei knew that mages were exceedingly rare. Becoming one required not only extraordinary talent, but decades of effort. According to the records, the entire Empire had only a few hundred mages. Even great noble houses might fail to recruit one. Their scarcity explained the lavish treatment they received; a household of even slightly lesser means could not afford to support one. For a royal or noble family, recruiting a mage was a matter of immense pride.

Yet this seemingly makeshift adventuring party had one. That was an oddity indeed.

The three men and one woman took a table in the farthest corner. The bull-like warrior hugged a large barrel of ale and drank deeply. The archer carefully chewed roast meat. The mage rested with his eyes closed. The gorgeous girl was plainly impatient with the excessive attention from the men around her.

Fortunately, the party did not look like an easy target, so nobody dared approach them or start trouble. Quiet talk, however, was unavoidable—especially from Du Wei’s own party.

The knights from the Count’s estate considered themselves highborn and would not take a ragtag little adventuring party seriously. After a few drinks, combined with the gloom of their exile, they were all the more eager to vent their frustrations. Others might not dare provoke the girl’s group, but the Rowling Family guard knights were not so timid. Still, with their master nearby, they restrained themselves. None went over to flirt; they merely talked in low voices.

After two cups of wine, Du Wei listened to his men discuss the girl’s beautiful legs and found it rather amusing. It felt much like the old days, when he had gone bar-hopping with disreputable friends and discussed pretty women.

After two drinks, though, the men grew more unrestrained and their voices rose. And... they did not seem to hold their fallen-from-favor young master in much respect, either.

The gorgeous girl seemed to be a little firecracker. She returned every lecherous look with a glare. Yet when a girl like her glared, it only made men drool more.

At last, Du Wei heard a knight beside him chuckle. “Look at those legs. By the gods, I’ve never seen prettier ones. A little thing that hot, in one of the Imperial Capital’s pleasure houses... she’d cost at least a hundred gold coins.”

“A hundred? Have you ever been to one?” someone immediately retorted, mocking his ignorance. “The girls there start at three hundred gold coins!”

Du Wei looked at these resentful subordinates who had accompanied him all the way here. An idea suddenly struck him, and he smiled. “Is she that pretty? She looks ordinary to me. But those legs do have a certain appeal.”

The knights were stunned. They had never expected their sullen, mute young master to say such a thing. Had they not heard that he was a little fool who barely spoke? It was precisely because they thought their master was a simple idiot who understood nothing that they had dared speak so freely.

“What?” Du Wei laughed. “Are none of you men? She’s just a girl. You are all knights skilled in martial arts. If she catches your eye, are you only brave enough to wag your tongues behind her back? I’ll put up ten gold coins. Whoever dares go flirt with her gets the reward.”

The knights finally laughed. This young master might have lost favor and spoken without much decorum, but he had suddenly become far more to their liking. At once, one of the bolder men laughed. “Young Master, I’ll take those ten gold coins!”

He rose, slapped the table, and called loudly toward the corner. “Hey, little miss! How about I buy you a drink?”

The gorgeous girl glared at him furiously and seemed about to stand. One companion gently pulled her back. The mage pointed at Du Wei and murmured something. He had probably recognized Du Wei’s noble clothing and did not wish to invite trouble.

Seeing that they would not respond, the knight scratched his head, about to say more. Then Du Wei abruptly stood, whistled toward the corner, and raised his middle finger.

It was the guard knights who were most shocked by the gesture. They were trained guards from a distinguished family. When had they ever seen a noble of high status make such a crude motion? And this was the respected Count’s eldest son.

While the knights stared at their young master in disbelief, the gorgeous girl reacted more quickly. A large wine cup flew straight at Du Wei. The knight seated before him leapt up and blocked it with his arm. The cup bounced away, but wine splashed everywhere, wetting even Du Wei’s sleeve.

The knights immediately flew into a rage. Some drew swords, some shouted, and all rushed toward the party in the corner. The girl had already drawn her curved blade. After a few exchanged curses, the two sides plunged into a brawl.

The tavern fell into chaos. Cowards fled at once; the braver patrons hid at a distance to watch.

The bull-like warrior alone drew five or six Rowling Family guards. Everyone had been drinking, and at first they held back somewhat. The mage even shouted something when the fight began, likely warning his companions not to strike too hard. But once the big warrior was surrounded, a careless moment earned him a punch to the nose. Blood spurted, and his nose broke on the spot. He stopped holding back.

Sweeping his great shield across, he sent one knight flying with a cry. The man spat blood and crashed into the distant bar, smashing it to pieces. But there was too little room for the big warrior to maneuver. The knights’ swords came down together, opening several wounds across him.

The archer had it worst. In such a cramped place his nearly man-tall bow was useless. He could only wield a dagger and struggle against one knight. Within moments, a kick knocked him down.

The gorgeous girl used her curved blade to parry a knight’s longsword. Her movements were nimble, but her companions were clearly unable to hold out. She spotted Du Wei, evidently the leader of the other group, and slipped past a knight to dart toward him.

But the family guards had not forgotten their duty. The instant the long-legged girl moved, a nearby knight hurled a table at her. It struck her off balance. Another knight immediately thrust his sword, piercing her leather armor. A flash of white light flared across it and knocked the blade aside. The girl was unhurt; the armor clearly bore magical enhancements.

The mage, who had remained out of the fighting, saw the girl struck and his face darkened. He rose, lifted both hands high, rapidly traced symbols with his fingers, and chanted strange words. Pale rings of light streamed from his fingertips.

The Rowling knights suddenly felt their bodies grow heavy. Every movement slowed, and their swords seemed to weigh several times more than before. Caught by surprise, they immediately fell into trouble. Several were cut and began bleeding.

Du Wei’s eyes lit up. Slow! Real magic!

The mage backed away while his fingers flew through more gestures. A fireball burst from his fingertips and shot toward the knights. One skilled knight split it with a stroke of his sword, but sparks scattered everywhere. Flames licked several others, drawing pained cries and making them more frantic.

Flames now darted around the room. The mage had turned into a human flamethrower. The Rowling guards, who had held the advantage only moments earlier, lost it at once. Twenty men against four were now fighting only to a draw.

But Du Wei sensed that something was wrong. The mage had already cast seven or eight fireballs in succession. Du Wei did not know the exact limits of a first-level mage, but so many fireballs at once... And he noticed that the mage scarcely chanted at all. Each time, he merely raised a hand and launched another fireball with astonishing speed.

That was far beyond what a first-level mage should have been capable of.

Du Wei remembered what his books had clearly stated: mages excelled at ranged attacks but were extremely weak in close combat. The mage had no warrior guarding him amid this melee, so Du Wei grabbed a wine bottle and hurled it.

The bottle forced the mage into an almost humiliating dodge. It smashed against the wall, and splinters even cut his face. He clutched his face and cried out. Du Wei had already rushed forward, seized his throat in both hands, and tackled him to the ground.

Du Wei’s strategy was correct, but he had forgotten his own strength. He was only thirteen. A mage might be poor in close combat, but an adult could hardly lose a bare-handed fight to a thirteen-year-old boy.

After a brief struggle, Du Wei was pressed underneath him instead, both arms twisted and pinned. Just as he was about to shout—bang! The mage rolled his eyes and passed out, collapsing onto Du Wei. Du Wei pushed him aside and saw his loyal servant Ma De standing there, terrified, with a wooden table leg raised in his hand.

Without the mage's support, Slow, or the barrage of fireballs, the Rowling knights rallied and charged again. After a noisy, clattering brawl, they swept the field.

The bull-like warrior could not withstand so many opponents. Two sword cuts to the leg soon brought him down. The archer had already been knocked unconscious. The gorgeous girl was the hardest to handle. Her skill was ordinary, but her magically enhanced leather armor made her agile, and her curved blade was no common weapon: it cut two knights’ swords in half. Only after several more knights were free did they bring her down and pin her to the floor.

Du Wei caught his breath. A terrified knight helped him up and found him an undamaged chair. The guards were ashamed. As protectors, they had allowed their young master to be endangered.

Du Wei did not care. He understood the situation perfectly now. These adventurers were all quite ordinary. Their martial skills were mediocre. The bull-like warrior was the best of them, and even he merely possessed more strength. More importantly, not one of them could use battle aura.

They could not use even the most rudimentary battle aura. They were complete nobodies.

Yet that alone showed how little favor Young Master Du Wei possessed. The twenty guards assigned to him were clearly the Rowling Family’s absolute worst stock. Twenty men fighting four had still needed so much effort.

Father must truly have given up on me to send such a sorry lot as my attendants, Du Wei thought bitterly. Otherwise, would the Rowling Family, whose Count was the second-ranking figure in Imperial Headquarters, lack capable men?

It was no mystery. What knight of real skill would willingly accompany an incompetent young master into exile? Only those without ability had no choice but to accept the order.

His knights apologized in ashamed tones, but Du Wei paid them no attention. Instead, he examined the captured weapons. One look at the bull warrior’s great shield bored him. Then he walked to the fiery girl and carefully studied her leather armor. After a while, he gave a delighted cry.

“Just as I thought!”

After studying so many books on magic, Du Wei had grown ever more fascinated by the subject. He could now confirm that the leather armor carried at least two enchantments: one for agility and another for strength.

Two enchantments on a single piece of armor made it highly valuable. Even in the Imperial Capital’s best weapon shops, it could fetch a considerable price. Many skilled fighters would pay dearly for it. So how had this long-legged beauty, whose martial skill was practically laughable, acquired such fine equipment?

Du Wei examined her curved blade as well. Set into its hilt was a gem that seemed to be the sort of tool described in his books, one used to store magical power.

“Hmm. Another magically enhanced weapon.”

Even more valuable was the silver bow and arrows she carried. Silver was comparatively soft and unsuitable for ordinary weapons, but it was excellent for dealing with mages.

It was common knowledge that metal possessed an innate repulsion toward many forms of magic. High-level mages often cast protective spells on themselves to compensate for their weakness in close combat. Those silver arrows were clearly designed to pierce such magical defenses.

This was a rare spellbreaking bow. It offered little advantage against ordinary people, but was an excellent weapon against mages.

Du Wei could not help looking the long-legged girl over again. Such a low-level fighter carried high-grade magically enhanced weapons—and even an exceptionally rare weapon designed to break magic.

His gaze lingered on her too long. The female prisoner apparently misunderstood, and even the family guards beside him began to read something into their young master’s intentions. After all, when a half-grown boy kept staring at a girl’s chest, misunderstandings were unavoidable.

“Take off that girl’s leather armor,” Du Wei ordered casually.

In truth, he was simply interested in the magical equipment she possessed. He even had the urge to find a quiet room immediately, study these items carefully, and compare them one by one against the questions that had arisen from his books.

But the knight assigned to carry out the order looked troubled. “Um... honored Young Master, do you truly mean to take it off here...?”

His words trailed away, and his expression was suggestive. From the long-legged girl’s fiery curves and the cleavage visible above her armor, it was obvious she wore little underneath it—at most a small undergarment.