Seeing this, Isidor stopped and looked at the man warily.
"Mr. Gary, please don't be so rude. He is just a passerby and he doesn't even have a weapon. What's wrong with giving him a ride?" the uncle advised.
"Hmph, if you insist, then so be it. But let me make this clear first - you pay me wages only to protect this caravan. If we encounter an attack, I will not spare the energy to protect him." The man called Gary said disdainfully.
"Don't worry, I don't need your protection." Isidor rolled his eyes at the man and walked towards the uncle's carriage nonchalantly.
From their conversation, he had figured out that the uncle was the leader of the caravan and Gary was just a hired adventurer.
As long as the master agrees, why should I care about the attitude of an adventurer?
As expected, although Gary was very angry about his reaction, due to the uncle's attitude, he could only return to his carriage without saying a word.
The caravan continued to move forward, and Isido stayed in the carriage, chatting with the little girl who had just greeted him.
Most of the area in the carriage is used to load cargo, and there is actually very little space left for people to sit in. Fortunately, Isidor is not tall, so he doesn't feel it is cramped.
The carriage swayed until the afternoon. Isidor stretched and was about to take a nap when he heard a roar coming from outside the carriage.
"Oh no! It's a scaly bear!" someone shouted in panic.
Isidor hurriedly climbed out of the car and saw that the convoy's path was blocked by a huge bear with many scales on its body. It was the same scaly bear he had encountered in the forest. The road here was narrow and there was no way to get around it.
"Mr. Gary! Please!" said the uncle in a trembling voice.
"Hmph, you still have to rely on me at times like this!" Gary picked up the heavy sword, roared, and rushed towards the scaly bear, fighting with the monster.
Gary's attack was powerful, but the scaly bear's defense was also amazing. The big sword hit the scales and barely broke through its defense, and could not leave any big wounds on it.
Although Gary dodged most of the attacks from the scaly bear, the fight lasted for a long time and Gary's physical strength was obviously insufficient.
In a moment of carelessness, the scaly bear slapped Gary with its claws and sent him flying seven or eight meters away. He rolled several times in the air before falling to the ground.
"I'm injured and can't continue fighting. Let's drop the cargo and run for our lives!" Gary said in pain, covering his chest.
"But I've invested a lot of money this time. If I give up the goods now, I will be completely bankrupt..." the uncle said, holding his head in pain.
"Stop fussing! What's more important, money or life? If you don't make a decision soon, you'll lose both!" Gary yelled.
"Okay, I'll abandon the cargo! Everybody get off the car! Protect Mr. Gary and retreat together!" The uncle looked back at his shivering daughter and had no choice but to give the order.
"Please wait a moment!" At this moment, Isidor suddenly stood up.
"Mr. Dwarf, do you have any solution?" the uncle asked nervously.
Isidor nodded and said, "To be honest, my hometown has a secret method of driving away wild beasts. I can give it a try."
"You dwarf, you come out to cause trouble at a time like this, do you want to kill everyone?!" Gary glared at Isidro and asked.
"No, Mr. Dwarf, if you are confident, please give it a try! If it fails, we still have time to retreat!" The uncle ignored Gary's reaction and nodded at Isidor.
Isidor dared to stand up, so he must have known what was going on.
As early as when Gary was fighting with the scaly bear, he noticed that the scaly bear looked a little abnormal: its eyes were a little dazed, somewhat similar to the mouse he had hypnotized.
Moreover, the movement of Gary being knocked away just now seemed a bit too exaggerated. The scaly bear was quite strong, but it was really horrifying to want to knock a strong man like Gary seven or eight meters away in one breath.
Could it be that someone deliberately hypnotized the scaly bear and cooperated with him to put on a good show?
Thinking of this, Isidor stared into the scaly bear's eyes and started hypnosis.
[Hypnosis successful! The target's current mental effect "Wild Guidance" has been covered]
Five seconds later, the system's prompt sounded, not only successfully hypnotizing the giant bear, but also confirming Isidor's previous thoughts -
This bear monster was indeed affected by mental magic, which is why it attacked the caravan!
"Go back to the forest!" Isidor ordered.
The scaly bear did not leave the forest voluntarily in the first place. Isidor's order coincided with its own thoughts, so the scaly bear did not resist at all and just ran away.
This time, everyone was stunned.
"There really is such a secret technique! Mr. Dwarf, thank you so much, you saved my life and property!" The uncle was so excited that tears streamed down his face, and he almost knelt down to Isidor.
"It's just a small favor. You said that travelers should help each other." Seeing this, Isidor quickly helped the uncle up.
"Hmph, because I have already severely damaged the bear monster, it felt that the risk of continuing to fight was too high, so it ran away." Gary looked at Isidor hatefully, then turned to explain to everyone.
"Bandage Mr. Gary's wound and send him to the carriage to rest." The uncle did not comment on Gary's words, but just asked someone to carry him down to rest.
Isidor originally wanted to tell the uncle about the anomaly he had observed, but then he thought that he had no concrete evidence and it would be inappropriate if he wrongly accused someone, so he kept the matter to himself.
The carriage continued to move forward, but the uncle's attitude towards Isidore was very different.
"Mr. Dwarf, thank you so much for this time. Speaking of which, I haven't asked your name yet, which is really rude." The uncle said enthusiastically to Isidor while driving the car.
"My name is Isidor. Don't be so polite. I just happen to know this trick." Isidor said with a smile.
"That's impossible! Mr. Isidor, I don't have much cash on hand right now. When the caravan arrives in town, I will sell the goods and immediately pay you three times the money for hiring Gary!" the uncle said firmly.
"That's not necessary. I took action to protect myself. How can I charge you for this? Besides, you didn't charge me for the ride, so the two can offset each other." Isidor declined.
"Since Mr. Isidor is determined not to take the money, just pick a few things from the goods! Just consider it as a thank you gift." Seeing Isidor's firm attitude, the uncle had to change his words.
"Well...I don't know how to do business, so..."
"Mr. Isidor, the cargo I transported to Grimdor this time is all equipment for adventurers. I see that you are unarmed, so it would be a good idea to take a few items for self-defense. The world is getting more and more chaotic day by day, and you can't do without some means to protect yourself." The uncle advised.
"Well, that's a good idea!" Isidor immediately became interested when it came to equipment.
Since coming to this world, he has never found any weapon that suits him.
Although I picked up some sticks and used them in the goblin's lair, they were not weapons so much as just a wooden stick with a few nails stuck on it.
In addition, the image of sticks and goblins was so deeply rooted in people's minds that he was worried about revealing his flaws, so he did not carry those weapons.
Now that the uncle has taken the initiative to offer to send equipment, it can be said that this is exactly what he wanted.
"Since Mr. Isidor has no objection, let's set up camp here! It's getting late, I'll have people light a bonfire and bring out the equipment for you to choose from!" Seeing Isidor's happy face, the uncle immediately ordered his men to light a bonfire and bring out the goods for Isidor to choose from.
Chapter 16 Backstab
When the box was opened, Isidor couldn't help but be dazzled.
The box is filled with all kinds of equipment: armor, swords, bows and crossbows, staffs, shields, and much of the equipment is brightly colored, looking very fancy.
"The equipment sold to adventurers is different from that supplied to the army. The army requires uniformity, while adventurers require distinct individuality, so some special treatments will be made on the color tone." The uncle saw Isidor's confusion and began to explain.
"I see. These equipments look really beautiful. If I were an adventurer, I would definitely be willing to buy them." Isidor picked up a dark blue sword, drew it out of its sheath, and stroked the slender sword.
"Adventurers' equipment is also divided into different grades. A top-quality equipment will be made of expensive rare metals, and then forged by top craftsmen. It will then be quenched in different ways according to needs. Finally, runes will be engraved or enchantment stones will be inlaid, and even blessings from the church will be given." The uncle said, listing all of his equipment.
"Do you have equipment like that in your cargo?" Isidor asked curiously.
"How is that possible? Usually only A-level and S-level adventurers can afford that kind of top-grade equipment. The price of one piece is almost equal to all my goods. My goods are mainly for adventurers below B-level, so most of them are mid- and low-quality, but there are also a few high-quality ones, such as the sword in your hand." The uncle laughed.
"This sword is really beautiful, it's a pity that I don't know how to use a sword, otherwise I would definitely choose it." Isidor said as he stroked the runes on the sword.
"You can learn if you don't know how to use it. In such troubled times, it's never a bad idea to learn some martial arts to protect yourself. Moreover, this sword is engraved with the 'shock' enchantment. As long as you inject magic power, you can shock the opponent's weapon. It's perfect for self-defense." The uncle recommended.
"Okay, then I'll take this one! Let's put away the others." Isidor nodded, put the sword back into the scabbard and placed it beside him.
"Wouldn't you like to pick something else? Like fine mail, shoulder armor, neck guard, shield, etc.?"
"No need. Carrying too much armor will hinder movement. I'm not a professional warrior. It's better to prioritize escaping when I can." Isidor said with a smile.
"That's true. Then I'll give you a few more bottles of potion. The red one can restore life, and the blue one can restore magic. The recovery value of each is 30 points." The uncle said, giving a box of potions to Isidor.
"Then I won't be polite." Seeing that it was hard to refuse the kindness, Isidor accepted the potion.
At this time, the caravan members had also prepared the food, and everyone happily ate dinner around the campfire.
As they were eating, the uncle suddenly felt that the number of people was not right, so he asked, "Where is Mr. Gary? Why didn't he come to eat with us?"
"I don't know. We didn't see him either." The caravan members all answered indifferently.
"I know you all have complaints about Mr. Gary. It's my responsibility. I only paid attention to the adventurer's battle record and didn't investigate his character issues. But now that we're together, let's just treat him as a partner for now. After all, if we encounter monsters in the future, we'll have to rely on his fighting power." The uncle persuaded.
After hearing what the uncle said, someone finally decided to go and call Gary to come and have dinner together.
"Oh, if I had known earlier, I should have hired a few more C-rank adventurers. Even though they would bring less goods, at least their attitude wouldn't be so bad." The uncle said to Isidor with some regret.
Seeing this, Isidor comforted the uncle with a few words. After a few drinks, the uncle talked more and told Isidor all about his experiences traveling around the country over the years.
The purpose of Isidor's trip was to gather intelligence, so I didn't mind his nagging and listened carefully to his story mixed with drunken talk.
At this moment, the caravan member who had just gone to look for Gary came running over in a panic, shouting, "Oh no! Gary is not on the carriage at all!"
"Why are you panicking? If he's not in the carriage, just look around! Maybe he just went to pee." The uncle said with a frown.
"Not only is he not on the carriage, he's also sawed off the axle!" the caravan members shouted.
"All the axles have been sawed off?" The uncle stood up suddenly and said to his men in surprise.
"They've all been sawed off! They must have done it secretly while we were eating! Boss, what should we do?" The caravan members said at a loss.
Before the uncle could say anything, he heard a whistle, and more than a dozen torches were lit in the darkness. A group of bandits had surrounded the caravan without anyone knowing.
"Old man! Leave the things behind, otherwise your head will be like this stone!" The bandit leader walked forward carrying a big axe, and chopped the rock on the side of the road with one axe, actually breaking the stone into pieces.
"Mr. Gary, could you please explain what is going on?" The uncle ignored the bandit leader's threat and looked at Gary who was hiding in the crowd with wide eyes.
"Hahaha, old man, you can't blame me. It's hard and dangerous to make money as an adventurer. I'm just making some extra money." Seeing that he was recognized, Gary stopped hiding and walked to the front of the crowd, dragging his greatsword.
"Gary, did you collude with them from the beginning?" the uncle asked in a trembling voice.
"Ah, that's right. We have a warlock among us who can guide wild beasts. We originally wanted to use the scaly bear to scare you away and take the goods directly. We didn't expect you to be so ignorant, so we had to use force." Gary sneered.
"Gary, as an adventurer, you actually stabbed your employer in the back. Don't you have any honor at all?" the uncle scolded loudly.
"Don't go crazy here. How much is honor worth? And only a fool like you would get backstabbed. Okay, stop talking nonsense and quickly hand over the goods..." Gary had only said half of his words when he suddenly felt a strong wind behind him.
Years of adventurous life made him subconsciously dodge the attack by leaning sideways. A huge axe cut deeply into the ground where he was standing.
"Okay, you see there's a lot of money to be made this time, so you don't want to share it with me, right? Have you forgotten that without me, you would still be nothing but a bunch of petty thieves?" Gary stared at the bandit leader who attacked him, and said in shock and anger.
"No, no, listen to my explanation. I didn't mean to chop you. This is a misunderstanding!" The bandit leader shook his head hurriedly.
"A bunch of bandits, trying to plot against me! I, Gary, am not someone to be trifled with!" Gary roared, swung his sword and chopped straight at the bandit leader. The bandit leader was unable to pull out the axe that was stuck in the ground for a while, and was actually chopped into the chest by the sword, killing him on the spot.
Seeing how agile he was, it was obvious that the injury he had suffered before was also fake.
When the bandits saw their leader dead, they dropped their torches and fled.
"Bah! A bunch of losers, just go away and save yourself the money!" Gary grinned and turned around to look at everyone viciously.
The caravan members had already picked up their weapons at this time. Although they were outnumbered, they were trembling all over when facing Gary. They just stayed in front of the goods and did not dare to go forward to meet the enemy.
This is a matter of course. If arming a few ordinary people could deal with a B-level adventurer, there would be no need for them to pay a large sum of money to hire Gary.
"What? Do you still want to resist? If you just let me kill you, you can die more easily." Gary wiped the blood off the sword and said to everyone with contempt.
"Don't panic, use long-range weapons to attack!" the uncle commanded.
Those caravan members who knew how to use a crossbow shot with arrows, while those who didn't picked up stones and threw them at Gary.
Facing the barrage of arrows and stones, Gary was not afraid at all. He was seen waving his sword, easily knocking down the crossbow arrows as he advanced, and he did not dodge the stones that hit him, but walked forward despite them.
"Haha, a bunch of idiots, I don't have to chase them." After successfully shortening the distance between the two sides, Gary sneered and was about to swing his sword and rush forward to chop randomly, when he suddenly felt a chill in his stomach.
He lowered his head and saw an inch-long green sword protruding from his abdomen, with blood gushing out.
Gary turned around in disbelief, only to see an inconspicuous dwarf standing behind him.
Chapter 17: Counter-Backstab
"Mr. Gary, how does it feel to be stabbed in the back? You said that only fools would be stabbed in the back, and now I am returning this sentence to you exactly as it was." Isidor drew out his sword, immediately distanced himself and stood aside and said.
"You despicable dwarf!" Gary was furious when he saw this. Regardless of his own injuries, he turned around and slashed at Isidor with a sword.
Isidor did not dodge, but instead held the sword horizontally and used the spine of the sword to steadily catch the blow.
Gary thought he could chop the dwarf in front of him in half with one sword, but Isidor's strength value was as high as 210 points, which was not much inferior to his. Coupled with the influence of his injuries, the gap between the two sides was even narrowed.
"Shock!" Isidor shouted, injected magic power into the sword, and activated the weapon's built-in rune magic "Shock".
The runes on the sword emitted a dazzling light, and a shock wave was emitted from the sword, which suddenly knocked Gary back several steps.
At this time, the second round of crossbow arrows had already been fired. With a few whooshing sounds, several more crossbow arrows pierced Gary's back.
"I surrender! I surrender! Please spare me! I am willing to give away all my savings!" Gary finally couldn't hold on any longer, half-knelt on the ground, spitting blood from his mouth, and quickly raised his hands in surrender.
"You're really strong. You're still alive." Isidor put his sword on Gary's neck and glanced at his own panel.
