The ‘Ranger’ looked panicked and said loudly:
“He and that girl, they are with the Mad Frogmen, they are slandering me, get him out.”
The villagers’ gazes turned to Eric again.
But no one dared to step forward.
“Heh.”
Eric sneered.
He didn’t think about proving himself, nor did he think about finding more evidence.
Only female protagonists would think that morality is the truth of the world.
In male protagonist stories, strength is everything.
Eric drew his short sword and pointed it directly at the ‘Ranger’.
“Why trouble the villagers? You come, you come yourself?”
“Didn’t you say you had the ability to drive away the Mad Frogmen? Didn’t you have Exploding Arrow? Didn’t you say you could cleave boulders with your blade?”
“Come, come down, prove you have this ability, come.”
The ‘Ranger’ turned pale with fright.
The confident and composed manner he had when firing the Exploding Arrow, and his arrogant demeanor when cleaving the boulder, instantly vanished.
Margaret looked at the Ranger’s expression and immediately understood.
At first, she hadn’t doubted the authenticity of the ‘Ranger’.
After all, from the moment he appeared, the ‘Ranger’ had occupied an absolute leading position, whether in his words or actions, he always put on a facade of considering everyone’s well-being.
Now, Eric’s certainty and the ‘Ranger’s’ panic made her have other suspicions.
She stood beside Eric and said loudly:
“Since you want to be the hero who saves the village, first prove that you have the strength of a hero.”
“Come down, defeat us, prove your strength.”
Judy looked terrified.
She looked at the two in shock, still not understanding why Eric, who was always cautious, and Margaret, who was always calm, had suddenly become so passionate.
However, Judy didn't care about that; she raised her staff, and a strange and chaotic magic quickly gathered through it.
“You bad person, you come and try.”
Weakly, but fiercely.
Eric felt embarrassed.
Aren’t you intentionally lowering my prestige?
But never mind, although she’s silly, her courage is commendable.
“What, you don’t have that ability?”
Eric continued to press.
The ‘Ranger’ paused, then hastily took out a longbow and arrows from behind him, drew the longbow, and said loudly:
“Don’t force me to act.”
Eric curled his lip.
Still pretending.
He also took out a longbow and arrows from behind him, nocked an arrow, and said:
“Go ahead and act.”
The ‘Ranger’ looked at the longbow in Eric’s hand; it was a brown longbow with moon patterns on it.
Only then did he realize that he had truly met his match.
But at this point, he had no choice.
He aimed the arrow at the spot he had already prepared:
“I’ll give you one more chance, otherwise, this will be your fate.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the arrow shot out.
He still held a glimmer of hope that if he performed the Exploding Arrow once more, the other party would be frightened and would yield to him.
But Eric just smiled slightly.
The arrow was already on the string.
The Moon Elf Longbow glowed with a silvery-white light, and the arrow, entwined with silvery-white magic, shot out like light.
With a “snap” sound.
In mid-air, the ‘Ranger’s’ arrow was directly shot into two pieces by the white light.
The villagers looked at the arrow on the ground, and when they looked at the Ranger again, they all had suspicious expressions.
The ‘Ranger’ was drenched in sweat, he turned to look at Eric, and argued:
“You cheated! My Exploding Arrow only triggers when it hits the target, you despicable person.”
Eric drew his bow and nocked an arrow again, firing it.
The arrow landed precisely where the ‘Ranger’ had just aimed.
“Boom!”
An explosion sounded, and the villagers gasped in surprise.
Eric put away his longbow, walked towards the ‘Ranger’, and slowly said:
“A little trick made with gunpowder, do you have any other tricks?”
At this moment, the villagers truly reacted.
They looked at the ‘Ranger’, and a few impulsive ones even rushed forward directly, wanting to apprehend this acrobat.
The ‘Ranger’ hastily drew his iron sword again and brandished it in front of the villagers, saying:
“This sword of mine can cleave boulders, who among you wants to come up and try?”
The villagers who had stepped forward hastily retreated again.
No one wanted to be the first to suffer, what if it was true?
Eric wasn’t worried at all; he walked directly in front of the ‘Ranger’. The ‘Ranger’ also hardened his heart and swung his sword at Eric.
But how could such an unprofessional swordsmanship injure Eric, who was taught by a divine Ranger?
Eric directly grabbed the ‘Ranger’s’ wrist.
With a twist of his hand, the iron sword fell to the ground.
He picked up the iron sword, twisted his wrist, and captured this fraudulent ‘Ranger’, dragging him towards the deceased villagers.
“Everyone, watch carefully.”
The iron sword was inserted into the wound on the back, passing through to the chest.
It fit perfectly, and the evidence was conclusive.
Eric drew the long sword from his waist and held it to the ‘Ranger’s’ neck.
“Is there anything else to say?”
Judy only reacted at this moment; she held her staff and said with an incredulous expression:
“Wow, so you were a fake Ranger.”
Margaret looked at Judy speechlessly.
You just realized now?!
The villagers were filled with righteous indignation and immediately shouted loudly:
“This swindler!”
“Give us back our 50 silver coins.”
“Damn it, he even wanted us to pay another 50 silver.”
Atai'er had been watching Eric's actions.
The profession of Ranger has always been criticized in the human world.
They have many names: stride-takers, freemen, assassins, rebels; among these names, positive images are few and far between.
The reasons for this, besides the difficulty in finding successors—the biggest problem—
It was because many people used small tricks to impersonate Rangers and swindle people.
“Eric, it’s time.”
Atai'er said.
Eric understood in his heart and nodded.
With a swing of his short sword, he cut off the ‘Ranger’s’ head.
Until his death, the Ranger kept begging for mercy.
He used the Ranger’s green hat to wipe off the blood from the short sword.
Eric felt nothing at all.
To be honest, Eric didn't quite understand why some people felt psychological pressure when killing someone.
For someone who deserved to die, wasn't killing them eliminating a menace to society?
He should feel proud after killing them.
Punishing evil and eliminating wickedness, drinking wine with a severed head—how enjoyable.
Eric felt that if he killed a hundred more people like this in the future, he could give himself the title of 'Blood-Handed Butcher'.
To satisfy his youthful chuunibyou tendencies.
“Alright, villagers, this was just a fraud.”
The villagers looked at the ‘Ranger’s’ head lying on the ground, then at the expressionless Eric, and their eyes widened.
The ground was stained red, and blood flowed, seeping into the soil.
Many people even covered their eyes.
Margaret’s mouth was agape, and she was completely frozen in place.
“At least… there should have been a trial process… Ugh—”
Margaret went aside to vomit.
When she was a bandit, at most she would strip people’s pants and throw them into the water; she never even seriously injured anyone.
Seeing such a scene was truly a great discomfort.
Judy, who was usually the most timid, now picked up her staff and ‘thump, thumped’ the Ranger’s head on the ground.
“That’s what you get for falsely accusing the frogs, for deceiving the villagers, for bullying me…”
Atai'er looked at everyone’s reactions, holding the green lantern, and fell into thought.
“Is this your true nature, Eric…?”