"Um... Although I don't know who you are, you've been a great help. Thank you very much," said the village chief as he approached me after the bandits fled.

"You don't have to thank me, it was just a small favor. But you should all move away from here quickly. Those bandits will surely come back, and I can't stay here for long either."

"Well... We have no choice. We don't even have the means to relocate somewhere stable," the village chief said, looking at me and then at the villagers behind him.

That's true. I looked around the entire village - wooden houses surrounded by farmland. While some families seemed to rely on hunting, the overall situation could be described in one word - poor!

Move? That would mean starting over from scratch. It's not an easy thing for an ordinary village to do.

I opened my inventory and found that I only had over 10,000 gold coins left. Although this amount would be a fortune for this village, it wouldn't last long. They would suffer even more after the money ran out.

After thinking it over, I finally made up my mind.

"I'll stay here temporarily, and next time they come, I'll try to meet their leader and settle this matter."

"Thank you so much," the village chief said gratefully.

"Thank Oyado. If it weren't for her meeting me, you would have been done for today," I replied, patting Oyado's head next to me.

Just then, I noticed a flickering light in the heap of ice. Driven by my compulsiveness, I walked over and pushed aside the ice to reveal a long spear and torn clothes underneath.

I reached into the glowing pocket and took out a small bag.

"Is this... a money pouch?"

"It's my father's money pouch!" Oyado grabbed the money pouch, tears streaming down her face.

"This is your father's money pouch?"

"Um... I sewed it myself and gave it to my father on his birthday... so..."

"..."

I turned to the village chief.

"It seems they wanted to rob you and sent people to steal your money. Such a despicable method... and it made Oyado an orphan at such a young age... Hmm?"

Suddenly, someone tugged at my clothes. When I looked down, it was Oyado.

I felt like I was melting. Holding onto my clothes... It was too cute. Luckily, I'm not into lolis!

"What's wrong?"

"Kill them!"

"Huh?"

Did I hear that right? A loli tugging at my clothes is telling me to kill someone?

"Please kill those bastards who killed my mom and dad!"

"Oyado, do you realize that you're asking me to kill someone?"

"Killing... is not good, but..."

Oyado held onto my clothes with one hand, tightly gripping the money pouch with the other.

"But it's so unfair to think that these bad people are still alive while my mom and dad are in another world!"

"This world was never fair."

I looked at her and then held her hand.

"Although it's not an official request, I'll take on this task. Don't worry, I'll make sure they can't do harm anymore."

"Mhm~"

Well, looks like I'll have to kill again.

Although I've already killed several people since coming to this world, killing... I can't help it. Since my hands are already stained with blood, it doesn't really matter if I add a bit more. After all, it's better than letting the seed of revenge grow in such a young child's heart. It's better if I just erase it.

"But... who knows where their hideout is?"

When they heard my question, everyone looked at each other, revealing expressions of not knowing.

Geez, I can't possibly turn this whole mountain upside down, right?

"Well then... it seems I'll have to stay here as a guest for a while," I said as I waited for the time to tick away.

"Could it be... the warning worked?"

From that day on, I unexpectedly spent three days in this village with no name. At first, I would sit at the village entrance, sipping tea and waiting for those bandits. By the third day, unable to bear it any longer, I started searching in the direction they had left.

"What a joke, there's no navigation, not even a road sign, how am I supposed to find them?"

After two days, I had erected ice totems every 100 meters in the surrounding areas to mark the areas I had surveyed, but still, I found no trace of those bandits. It was as if they had never appeared at all.

Unfortunately, I don't have any tracking skills. The hunters in the village may be familiar with various prey, but they are completely inexperienced when it comes to tracking people.

"Do you really have no suggestions? Are there any hiding places nearby? Caves, sinkholes, or even abandoned ruins?"

On the evening of the fifth day, while eating dinner, I expressed my frustration.

"Fir, don't worry, if we can't find them, then let it be..."

Oyado looked at me and smiled.

Although I didn't know why she added the title of "brother" after my name, I'm not a siscon...

"Well..."

I forcefully gulped down a bowl of soup and continued speaking.

"I don't really care, but what if they come looking for you? That wouldn't be good, right?"

"So you're worried about our safety, Fir. Since they haven't returned, I don't think it's a big deal."

"I hope so..."

Countless experiences have taught me that leaving even a trace behind can lead to endless troubles. It would be terrible if they were plotting an attack on me.

...

Huh?

Suddenly, my HP bar dropped a bit and continued to slowly decrease every second!

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

I quickly put down the bowl and carefully examined my body... There were no wounds at all! But there was no poison indicator either!

"What's wrong with you, brother?"

"I... don't know..."

What should I do in this situation? Besides losing HP, there was no other abnormality? How am I supposed to handle this?

Right! Antidotes!

I quickly opened my inventory and used all the potions. But... they didn't have any effect at all!!!

Damn, am I going to just keep losing HP until I die? What a joke!

Damn it, my mind has been clouded with violence recently, and my thinking abilities have completely malfunctioned.

Losing HP should only happen when under attack, that's right, which means that since a while ago, I've been in a 'being attacked' state.

But the problem is, under normal circumstances, there should be an attack prompt, at least pointing to a direction... Did the system remove it during the update?

No, that's impossible. Because during the fight with the bandits before, the attack warning... Wait, did it show up? I don't remember at all... Is it because I've gotten used to fights due to recent battles?

No, no, I remember. There was indeed a warning, when I eliminated that strange wild boar in the morning, I saw the red warning sign. Which means... whatever is attacking me is not within my visible range?

Long-range... no, even if it's long-range, there should be a direction, right? What is this...

As I watched my HP bar continue to decrease, I involuntarily clenched my fist...

Huh?

The rate at which I'm losing HP has increased?

Fist clenched = muscles contracting?

Muscles? Soup? No specific direction...

"So that's it."

Saying that, I directly took out a colorless object from my ring... Well, if it's not necessary, I wouldn't let such a thing remain in my item bar.

"Brother, what is this?"

"A very frightening thing. I'm going out for a bit..."

"?"

Saying that, I ran out, drinking the blood medicine as I ran, and rushed to the side of the ruined graveyard.

"The failed product of alchemy, it's not really a failure, at least I made sulfuric acid."

After speaking, I spread out my angel wings, raised my head, and drank the sulfuric acid.

!!!!!!!!!!

Words cannot express the sensations I am feeling right now, even a 1000-word essay wouldn't be enough. At first, I could still taste something strange, but after a few seconds, I couldn't feel anything at all.

The only thing I'm doing now is constantly using skills to heal myself!

"Disgusting!!!!"

Finally, a strange liquid sprayed out, making a hissing sound as it landed on the ground, accompanied by countless things I don't even know what they are.

Unconsciously, my whole body was emitting white light. It seems like I used the skill too much.

But the effect is quite obvious, my body quickly regains feeling, with just a slight numbness that soon returns to normal.

And there were no abnormal signs after the white light disappeared.

However...

"Oh my god, I only have this one set of clothes, oh my god..."

Most of my clothes are ruined, with the collar turning black.

Although I can repair my own body, I can't repair my clothes.

"Let me see what exactly it is..."

I squatted down, using a spell to illuminate the things on the floor.

"Hmm... not this... not this... wait, this..."

I picked up a piece of metal fragment from the ground.

"This is... a fragment of a metal shell? How could something like this be here?"

Countless components flashed through my mind, comparing them to the objects in front of me. But I couldn't come up with any similar parts in this world after a long time.

"Not something from this world, huh..."

I looked towards the direction of the village.

"Micro-motor... has this kind of thing already been mass-produced? Interesting."