Companions?

“What a hassle. I really need to look into a storage spell next.”

Xia De tossed the last headless corpse in front of him. Several headless bodies and their respective heads were piled haphazardly together, forming a small mound of corpses that reeked of a thick, metallic stench of blood.

He opened his palm, and a miniature black magic circle appeared. Then, a tiny black flame flickered in his hand. The flame was so small it looked as though it would go out with the gentlest breeze.

“Hmm, this much should be enough. Any more powerful, and this entire area might get burned to ashes.”

Xia De muttered to himself as he looked at the tiny flame in his hand. Then, with a flip of his palm, he dropped it onto the bandits' corpses.

Instantly, black flames soared from the pile of corpses. The intense heat warped the very space around them, accompanied by a faint cracking sound.

But within three seconds, the flames subsided, leaving behind nothing but a patch of scorched, blackened earth.

“Still seems a bit lacking.”

Xia De looked at the blackened earth and stretched out his hand, softly murmuring,

“Wind, Earth, Wood.”

Three magic circles lit up in front of him. A violent gale swept through, instantly tearing the area apart. As the storm dissipated, the earth began to churn, splitting open like gaping abyssal mouths before snapping shut again.

Open, shut, open, shut. This repeated a dozen times before the ground finally settled.

Finally, thorny briars thicker than pythons burst from the newly turned soil. They intertwined with one another, eventually forming a dense thicket of thorns. The glinting, razor-sharp spikes alone were enough to strike fear into anyone, deterring them from coming anywhere near.

In just a single minute, the small patch of woods in front of Xia De had been transformed into a thicket of thorns that resembled an execution ground.

Only after finishing did Xia De clap his hands and nod in satisfaction.

“There's no way they're coming back to life now. The entire area has been completely reworked, leaving behind not a single trace of what happened.”

He paused for a moment before continuing,

“Even if a few traces were left behind, anyone trying to investigate would have to destroy this thicket first. That would be equivalent to destroying the crime scene all over again—essentially helping me cover my tracks. I'd practically have to thank them! Alright, time to head back.”

With that, Xia De turned and walked back toward the direction he came from at a leisurely pace. He didn't let his mind idle on the way back, beginning to review his performance in the battle.

“First of all, I talked a bit too much this time. I underestimated the enemy just because they were weaker than me. I actually let the novelty of being a recent transmigrator get to my head and tried to play out a typical isekai web novel trope. I was clearly a lot more prudent in my past life.

“Second, my state of mind still isn't stable enough. Just because the enemy didn't act the way I expected, I let myself get distracted. In high-level fights, that kind of slip-up is fatal. No, I have to fix that!

“Third, my preparations weren't thorough enough. I actually left them room to run. It's a good thing my strength far surpassed theirs this time, allowing me to hunt them down. What if I'm not fast enough to catch them next time, and they actually escape? No, no, I need to research space magic. At the very least, I need to figure out how to set up some kind of barrier.”

With each flaw he pointed out, his face fell a bit more, and he grew increasingly depressed. But then, he thought of the first kill he had claimed, and his mood brightened slightly.

“Shadow magic is pretty handy. Using shadows to kill people is quite interesting. On top of that, my spell has a unique property—it can devour life force to replenish and strengthen the power within my body.

“I can only say...

“Not bad!”

“Xia De! What are you grinning about? You look so happy!”

Just as he returned to the village, Xia De ran into a young boy about his age who was waving at him alongside a few other kids.

“Oh, it's Huey! Don't you have to help Sister Linna watch the shop today?”

With the topic shifted, Huey didn't press Xia De further. Instead, he gave him a big thumbs-up, looking incredibly smug.

“My sister went to see Uncle Greto, so the shop is closed today! She said I could go play, so I came out to head over to the nun's place to play with Lili!”

Looking at the kid smiling foolishly in front of him, completely oblivious to the reality of the situation, Xia De felt a strong urge to facepalm.

Your sister obviously just wanted to see her lover and didn't want you disturbing them, so she set you free to get rid of her little third wheel!

Huey was the child of the village tailor, but he wasn't their biological son. He had been found in the heavy snow by his parents a few months after Xia De was picked up. It was just that no one in his family had ever told him.

When he was two years old, his parents met with an accident while going to town to buy supplies. Having lost his parents, he and his sister, Linna, had depended on each other to survive ever since.

Thinking of this, Xia De couldn't help but marvel.

Isn't the rate of picking up abandoned children in this village a bit too high? Just counting the ones already mentioned, there's me, Lili, and now Huey.

If this were a novel, maybe this kid smiling foolishly every day would be the protagonist, and Lili, his childhood friend, would be the female lead.

“Alright then, go find Lili. I'll be off now! Give my regards to Sister Vanessa.”

Waving his hand, Xia De prepared to bolt. As a mentally mature adult, there was no way he was going to run around playing with a bunch of toddlers.

“No way! I'm not letting you go, Xia De. Except for when Sister Vanessa tells stories, you barely ever play with us.”

Huey reacted quickly, grabbing Xia De's clothes to stop him from leaving.

To him, although they didn't interact much, Xia De always took great care of everyone whenever Sister Vanessa told stories, acting like a big brother to them all.

It was just that other than at Sister Vanessa's place, he never saw Xia De around the village, which made him a little sad. He had finally managed to run into him when he was free today.

So, he wasn't going to let Xia De leave. He wanted to spend more time with him!

Easily breaking free from his grip, Xia De scratched his head and put on an annoyed expression, saying to Huey,

“Ah, it's probably that Hero game again, isn't it? So boring, I'm not interested at all.”

Hearing this, Huey loudly protested, “It is not boring! The Hero is a great champion who saves the world. I'm going to be a great hero just like him in the future!”

As he spoke, he eagerly looked at his companions around him, his eyes shining with anticipation as he sought their approval.

“Then how about you stop wetting the bed first, hahaha! Otherwise, your future title will be the Bed-Wetting Hero!”

“I didn't wet the bed! That was water!”

Huey's face flushed red with embarrassment. In his exasperation, he immediately turned back to look at Xia De, but Xia De was already several meters away.

“Sorry, Huey! I really have things to do, so I'll be off. Say hello to Sister Vanessa for me. I hope you guys have fun!”

As he ran, Xia De waved goodbye to them.

Huey didn't chase after him. Instead, he cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouted at Xia De:

“The Hero isn't boring! And the Hero has many companions! Xia De, I'll definitely make you my companion!”

Xia De paused for a fraction of a second, then continued jogging back home without responding.

I don't need companions. I have no ambition to defeat the Demon King. I'm just an ordinary person—an ordinary person who only wants to survive in this dangerous world.