Vicious Sejebon didn't leave right away. He had a dagger gripped in his hand. He heated it over the fire, then cooled it gently in the rain before sharpening it with a wet stone.
Swish! Swoosh!
He spent about ten minutes on this.
'Need to move fast.'
Speed was the top priority.
'Gotta pry off the iron bars with the dagger.'
Going any other route wouldn't work.
Swoosh!
He peered out through the closed wooden window, checking all around. Next, he needed a box for the bear hide—a really big box. Of course, he had one.
Clunk! Swoosh!
The peddler's wooden box creaked open. It was the peddler's pack Sejebon carried on his back, stuffed full of goods to sell.
'Careful, careful.'
He took everything out carefully, one by one, and placed them on the floor. He set them on the cloth he'd been lying on. He also covered them with rag scraps to protect against moisture.
'Good enough. Even in this downpour, a peddler's box is top-notch.'
He hoisted up the used peddler's wooden box that had been coated with waste oil and had traveled with him for ages. The rain was coming down hard, so he threw some clothes over it. If the downpour hit it directly, even used goods treated with waste oil for years could let water seep through.
'Whew.'
He tucked the dagger against his chest and carefully opened the door. There were quite a few empty houses around, and not even moonlight showed. Perfect weather for thieves to run wild.
Sejebon moved through the downpour.
'The wolves won't see shit.'
Wolves with their developed sense of smell were basically worthless in a downpour. Their perked-up ears that were great for hearing wouldn't pick up his footsteps through the rain sounds either.
Smelling him in a place full of earth scent and rain? Nearly impossible.
There was no way to see him from inside a house either.
'No way I'll get caught.'
That's why vicious Sejebon thought about robbing the warehouse. He was someone who'd lived a rock-bottom life, starting as a petty thief and making it through places crawling with human butchers to get here. A life that started with thuggery and his vicious face, a downward spiral that ended with him becoming a peddler.
But even there, his bad habits cropped up again. His eyes widened at the sight of 50 silver coins.
Whoooosh—!
Even in the insane downpour, Sejebon skillfully arrived at Rowan's private warehouse. Not slipping even once was thanks to his nimble sense of balance and plenty of experience.
Thieves loved rainy days most of all—it reduced the risk of getting caught far more than the risk of injury.
Clink, clank!
Sejebon grabbed the iron bars surrounding the warehouse and pulled once, skillfully sizing up the situation.
'Breaking through with a dagger's gonna be pretty tough.'
The iron itself had elasticity. It seemed to use folded or quenched steel. But there were no other options.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Sejebon struck down with the dagger three times. When it didn't break, he set down the oil-treated peddler's wooden box and gripped the dagger with both hands.
"Hup!"
He put his weight into it and shook his hands frantically. It snapped with a crack, but only one bar.
'Damn it.'
Sejebon's wild antics began. He sawed away with the dagger, bouncing up and down and putting his weight into it.
"Whoa!"
He slipped and nearly hurt himself but didn't stop.
The crow's beak hung open. He'd slept so much he couldn't fall asleep.
In Rowan's room on the second floor of the ranch, Kaiya blinked, opened the wooden window a crack on his own, and groomed his feathers.
Because of Kaiya acting like he was going through puberty lately, Rowan frequently went hunting with the brown wolf Dono. Thanks to that, Kaiya could sleep in as much as he wanted. His daily routine was waking up casually in the morning, eating, flying up, and sleeping in Rowan's bed.
Plus, he was getting too big for his britches and starting to see Rowan as a servant. He'd whine and fruit and jerky appeared. Now when he kicked away the bland grain powder he was sick of, dried corn would drop instead.
"Caw!"
Kaiya screeched at the top of his lungs. He couldn't see clearly what Sejebon was doing through the downpour, but he knew perfectly well what Rowan's private warehouse was.
If there was one thing you could call the smartest among animals, it'd be the black crow. That's how amazing they were.
Kaiya immediately flew to Rowan and messed up his hair with his beak. Rowan shifted his body to the side, then pulled the blanket way up. Kaiya slid right off and fell under the bed.
Kaiya flailed around, got up, and shook his head like he was having a seizure.
"Agh! What, what is it!"
Grrrr, caw!
He flew up onto Rowan's head, jabbed down with his sharp talons, and poked his forehead with his beak. Pain hitting him in his sleep made Rowan bolt upright. At the sound of Kaiya's wings, his expression turned vicious as a demon.
On top of that, the startled Dono made noise too. He looked around here and there, then went quiet. Rowan assessed the situation.
"You bird-brain?"
"Caw!"
Kaiya jabbed his wing at the wooden window frame. Rain was pattering down where the wooden window was half open. Rowan let out a sigh and headed to the window. Human vision couldn't pierce 250 meters through darkness and a downpour.
"What's there? What?"
Kaiya pointed at the private warehouse like he was frustrated. But Rowan just didn't get it. The bird's colorless vision clearly saw Sejebon raising both hands high in the air and attacking the side of the warehouse with a dagger. But this stupid human didn't know.
There was definitely a difference between human pupil dilation and crow pupil dilation too. The amount of light absorbed was quantitatively different.
When Kaiya kept pointing at the private warehouse even after getting flicked on the head, arguing back stubbornly, Rowan finally caught on to the stubborn crow's intention.
'Something's gone wrong.'
Only then did he remember the bear hide worth 30 silver coins in the private warehouse. The shining two-legged bear from the deep forest, that hideous monster that threw one-two punches with its front paws and smashed skulls with its maw! Rowan, who'd worked hard to catch that thing, frantically looked for his gear.
'Shortsword? No.'
He grabbed Sendabil's halberd, the one he'd used for deadlifts. Even though it didn't weigh much because of its length, it was a big help for training both arms.
He couldn't let the thief escape while fumbling with a padlock and key. He had to break the chains in one go.
He strapped Sendabil's round shield to his forearm.
He hung three throwing daggers on his belt and pulled one out to grip in his left hand.
"Hup."
He shouldered the halberd and stepped outside. He naturally turned the axe blade down toward his body. Rowan stepped outside in his pajamas, keeping his movements casual.
Moving through the downpour, he saw a light turn on at the private warehouse.
'This crazy bastard.'
Rowan's steps quickened. He slipped a bit. His foot plunged into a puddle. He moved roughly.
'Son of a bitch. Which son of a bitch.'
Rowan felt his body heat up. But going down the path, he calmed himself down. Thirty steps before arriving, he moved quietly.
He didn't even open the lock at the warehouse entrance.
"Hup!"
He shrugged his shoulder to help lift the halberd in one motion. His right arm swung the halberd brutally. He couldn't use it freely like Sendabil, but the 165cm halberd had an especially large axe section, so its destructive power was absolutely incredible.
Even when Rowan used it, he could generate several times more force through the halberd than he could with his own strength alone. The longer the length, the more centrifugal force added, and the thicker the axe section, the more frighteningly powerful it became.
BOOM!
A sound like a meteor falling rang out, and Rowan kicked the door open and went in. He dragged the halberd like some serial killer.
Inside, vicious thief Sejebon had been bold enough to light all three torches because he couldn't see the bear hide properly in the darkness. He jumped out of his skin.
"Eek!"
He shrieked in surprise, then threw the peddler's wooden box at Rowan. Rowan skillfully smacked the box with the halberd and simultaneously worked his left hand to shoot the throwing dagger he'd been gripping.
The dagger sliced through the air.
Thunk.
One quiet sound came out, but Sejebon let out a big "Agh!" His thick thigh had been hit, but he didn't stop at all. He stuck his head through the hole in the bars. Rowan, who'd been woken up by Kaiya pecking his head and making noise, had also woken up the wolf Dono, who now appeared.
Dono opened his mouth wide.
"Grrrrr! Woof!"
"Hup."
Sejebon pulled his head back inside again, but his hair got caught in Dono's mouth.
"Gak!"
His head smacked against the hole.
Rowan jabbed the halberd to the side. Then with the round shield fixed to his left forearm, he pushed forward and hit Sejebon's head once. The halberd caught his forehead.
"Ow!"
His nose bone twisted instantly.
"You fucking petty thief, got some guts, huh? Who the hell are you?"
Rowan slapped his cheek with his left hand, then grabbed his collar and pulled. When Dono clenched the hair and wouldn't let go, he shouted.
"Dono! Turn around and come to me!"
The wolf Dono came swiftly inside the entrance on all fours, maintaining his balance perfectly. Meanwhile, Rowan grabbed the collar, shook it, and interrogated.
"You crazy to die, bastard. Who the hell are you?"
"Sp-spare me."
Rowan roughly pushed him and slammed him to the ground, grabbing the halberd and lifting it.
"Spare me? Haven't come to your senses?"
"Uhhh!"
Rowan cursed up a storm. He was really pissed. He hadn't even gotten paid by hunter Geric for the Mavros lyko before bandits attacked, and naturally Geric took off with the black wolf hide completely.
Since then, he'd become sensitive about money.
Rowan was in a situation where he couldn't help but get heated. The composure he'd had coming down the path had vanished completely. The payment for the black wolf hide he'd been planning to use to buy proper gear had disappeared, and now even the bear hide from beating down the shining two-legged bear had almost vanished too.
"Please spare me!"
Sejebon trembled. Rowan's presence was hard to believe for a 15-year-old. His build was already 170cm, and because of Sendabil's close combat tactics, he gave off the aura of a seasoned killer. He'd experienced real combat with not just goblins but black wolves.
He'd done countless hunts in the deep forest too.
Because he had the fishy wild beast smell of a hunter mixed in, Sejebon could only keep his head stuck to the ground. The dagger stuck in his thigh was moving a lot, opening the wound more, but he couldn't do anything because of his fear of death.
"Dono. Go call Dad and my brothers. Call the people at the ranch. Kaiya, you go too!"
The crow and wolf moved quickly.
Rowan kicked Sejebon into the corner. He shouldered the halberd and gripped a throwing dagger in his left hand again.
"C-can I pull out the dagger?"
He was talking about the dagger stuck in his thigh, but Rowan just glared and didn't speak. Sejebon had to stay there without moving an inch.
People gathered in an instant.
Oil-soaked torches were lit here and there, lighting up the night.
"A peddler's wooden box, a dagger with lots of scratches. Plus cutting the iron bars surrounding the warehouse. Is there anything more certain than catching him red-handed?"
Rowan said this, accurately conveying the situation to the villagers. Sejebon couldn't even lift his head.
The dagger was pulled out and he was tied with rope. Then the wounds on his thigh and face were treated with herbs. Bandages were wrapped tightly around them.
"We'll drag him to the village hall and hold a trial right away. Gather the peddlers too."
"This was something I did alone!"
"We'll see about that!"
When Sejebon defensively shouted on behalf of the peddlers he'd been with, Rowan roughly shook his head and shouted back the same way. Sejebon didn't say another word after that.
Most of the villagers consoled Rowan.
"Can't believe this crazy thing happened in the village again..."
"Better sell it off quick."
Everyone chimed in with a word. Rowan answered them and made a request to Haldanak and Sernhac.
"When I sell the bear hide, I'll take good care of you, so the warehouse repair..."
"I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow. What at this hour..."
His father Haldanak shook his head. Sernhac did the same. Rowan had no choice but to lead the guy to the village hall. He couldn't move the bear hide somewhere else in the downpour.