Don't move, it's a robbery!

Although Eve looked tired, her expression was very serious. I realized she wasn't joking, so I straightened my posture and asked her what her concerns were.

I don't understand what's wrong with the collaboration I proposed. I do the work, they handle the details, I get most of the reward, and they also earn a lot; as for credibility, I consider myself to be quite principled, and I've saved their lives before, so we have a foundation of trust.

Not only me, but Leos and Little Dot felt the same way. When Eve saw that we didn't understand, she explained her concerns to us.

"A wanted criminal is not wealth in itself. Even if you catch a wanted criminal, you still have to find the person who issued the warrant to get the reward."

"Wanted warrants are issued by chambers of commerce, gangs, nobles, city halls, or even the state. Generally speaking, warrants issued by the state or city hall are more reliable, while those issued by chambers of commerce and nobles can sometimes lead to disputes and defaults. The worst are warrants issued by gangs; their reliability is extremely questionable. Some gangs might even kill someone to cover up a bounty."

"But there is another situation, even worse than the bounties offered by those small gangs."

She placed Tina's wanted poster on the table, then pointed to one of the spots with a serious expression.

"See this place to collect the bounty? It's the Asarich City Hall. It sounds reasonable, but Asarich is a city within the Kingdom of Lars. If I remember correctly, it has been occupied by other countries, and multiple countries at that."

"In other words, the city hall here has virtually no credibility."

"Most importantly, since someone is willing to offer such an astronomical bounty on Tina without explaining why, it means she must have some extremely important secret. So how can you guarantee that you won't come across these secrets during the capture and transport process?"

"How are you going to convince those behind the scenes that you haven't been exposed to these secrets?"

Hearing Eve's words, my excited heart finally calmed down.

Upon careful consideration, I have to admit that what she said makes a lot of sense.

The reason I have such a high bounty is simply because I've offended too many people. They've teamed up, which is why that frightening number is so high. But what about Tina?

Why would someone offer such a high reward for a girl who doesn't seem to have any special abilities?

Eve, being an elf, truly sees things from a different perspective than I do, and I was convinced by her.

Of course, I am actually quite clever, but I was blinded by the high reward before and didn't think about the secret behind it.

"It seems you've all figured it out. Let me give you a piece of advice: there's no such thing as a free lunch. Next time you encounter something like this, think more about the reasons behind it, especially you, Robin Hood, aren't you a perfect example?"

"I?"

"Yes, although you can't compare to this guy, your bounty is still ridiculously high. Many bounty hunters have treated you like a delicious snack, but you should know best what happened to them."

I rubbed my nose, feeling like I'd been lectured, but I wasn't angry. Instead, I felt like I'd learned something.

"Alright, since the cooperation is canceled, I'll take my leave. Looks like getting rich overnight is out of the question. I'll just stick to being a bandit."

I was somewhat disheartened and ready to leave, but as soon as I turned around, Eve stopped me.

"Don't go! You've come at the right time. Do you still have those potions you gave me before?"

"Huh? What do you need all this for?"

"Of course I'll conduct experiments. Did you think I'd just use it on myself after finding a way to break the magic circuit? I don't want to die so soon; I'll definitely conduct live experiments first."

"Okay, how much do you want?"

"I was going to say all of them, but I figured you wouldn't give them to me anyway. How about this, just give me 50."

"How many?!"

My eyes widened in disbelief. This little vixen had already asked for almost 3% of my stock with just a few words. Did she know how much effort I had put into making these little pills and how many wealthy people I had robbed?

"No way! I spent several thousand gold coins just on raw materials! Do you know how hard it is to earn money these days? You just throw money around! At least give me the cost price!"

Eve was also a little embarrassed, clearly realizing that she had been somewhat rude, so she turned to look at March, seemingly preparing to borrow some team funds first.

"no."

"Machi! I haven't said anything yet!"

"So, are you going to tell me?"

"Of course we should tell them! Didn't we just earn a few thousand gold coins before?"

Upon hearing that Eve was going to use the team's funds, Little Dot's ears immediately perked up, and he decisively sided with March.

"Hey, hey, hey! Eve, I got a share of that money—no, two shares! That money was meant to help the orphanage. How can you bear to let those poor orphans continue to live on the streets?"

"March, little one, please don't do this. Eve, don't be angry. You can lend me my share first..."

"Leos, you already lent the money to Galio."

They were bickering and making a ruckus, but in the end, it all boiled down to one thing: they'd risk their lives for their friends, but if they didn't have money, they simply didn't have money.

What a realistic display of team spirit!

I increasingly feel that going it alone is a good option, at least I don't have to worry about whether others are involved in my income and expenses.

Eve had no choice but to take out her share of gold coins, and after counting them, she found that she had less than 500.

"Is this enough?"

What do you think?

"Well, I don't have any other options. How about you think about whether I can pay in another way?"

Eve's words were a bit strange; I had a feeling she was trying to seduce me.

I glanced at Eve; her cold, beautiful face paired with sky-blue eyes exuded an aura of mystery and nobility. I must say, Eve's appearance was truly stunning. No wonder she was an elf—she had legs, a great figure, and her looks were impeccable.

Because of the potion, their skin color looks strange, but when the lights are off, they all look the same.

Hmph, just because she's somewhat pretty, she dares to covet my beauty. How shameless!

But it's not impossible.

I imagined Eve completely naked in front of me, and I almost had a nosebleed.

Sure, sure, let's just settle this then.

(˶╹ꇴ╹˶): "Do you remember what she looked like after her rampage?"

Upon hearing "West Copper's" words, the image of the beautiful elf in my mind instantly transformed into a burly man over 2 meters tall. He struck a fit pose and looked over with a profound, philosophical gaze.

Oops! The person on top is now on the other side.

"No, no, no, no! No way! Absolutely not! I'm not a pervert, how could I possibly offer such a condition? Don't try to seduce me with fake beauty!"

My head was spinning so fast I could barely see myself clearly, and I firmly rejected Eve's seduction.

"What's in your head? What I meant was, can't you offer knowledge as a reward?"

"Huh? You mean this?"

"Otherwise what?"

I felt a little awkward and quickly coughed twice, trying to change the subject. But Eve didn't give me the chance. She suddenly put on a contemptuous expression, her lips slightly upturned in a half-smile, her voice full of mockery.

"Oh, it's nothing. You don't need to make that face. I've seen plenty of lecherous little devils like you who have the desire but not the courage. I won't hold it against you."

Hiss~ How dare you look down on me!

I immediately retorted, "I may not have other things, but I've never lacked guts."

Holy crap! Should I just knock her out, take her back, and do it to her?

Since she's provoking me like this, it shouldn't be considered a violation of the rules I set out in the first place if I take action, right?

Seeing that I had already started to reach for the stick, Leos quickly changed the subject, saying that we could put aside the wanted criminal for now, but what about the bewitched boy? Should we just kill the forest witch?

Eve nodded, indicating that this would indeed remove the charm effect.

I was the one who did it, not because I particularly enjoy killing, but because the forest witch's blood is also an ingredient for making medicine. Right now, I'm running low on pills, so I naturally wouldn't let go of an opportunity to replenish them.

Just as I made my move, the forest witch suddenly opened her eyes, as if she had been awake for a while but hadn't found a chance to escape.

Her eyes were filled with despair as she cast her charm spell again, sending a kiss flying towards me. This kind of sneak attack was obviously going to miss, and I easily dodged it, but I still felt the terrifying power of the forest witch's charm.

Although I avoided her, a moment of reluctance still briefly arose in my heart, as if this old lady were the most lovely and gentle beauty in the world, and to hurt her would be like shattering all the treasures in the world.

I hesitated for a moment, but I always act faster than I think, so by the time I realized what was happening, her head was already smashed.

"Oh! Blood collection! I almost forgot about the important matter."

........

Tina woke up from a nightmare and then began to cough violently.

For the past few days, she felt like she was living in some kind of nightmare, as if she had become a puppet, wandering around in a wooden cabin in the forest.

Oh right, it's that forest witch!

Tina remembered what had happened.

After her near-death leap from the edge of a cliff, Tina briefly shook off the cavalry behind her, but she knew that if things continued this way, she would be caught up sooner or later.

To restrain the warhorses, Tina did not flee along the main road, but instead chose a primeval forest. The complex terrain and intertwined trees were natural obstacles, making it impossible for knights fully equipped with armor to advance.

Of course, Tina herself didn't escape very quickly either.

On the third day of her escape, Tina ran into trouble again when several skilled trackers found her by following her trail. Tina tried to shake them off but failed, so she fought them to the death.

The result was obvious: Tina easily achieved a brilliant score of 0/1 and was easily captured alive by the scouts.

Ah, right, Tina's hand skills are mediocre, not to mention she's been on the run for three days straight and her strength is completely exhausted.

The matter should have ended there, but an unexpected event occurred. A forest witch suddenly appeared and, using her charm, caused several scouts to kill each other. Tina successfully went from being a prisoner of the scouts to becoming a prisoner of the forest witch, and then evolved from a prisoner of the forest witch into a puppet of the forest witch.

It can only be said that an unlucky mother opens the door to unlucky things, and bad luck comes to the house.

Because Tina is indeed very beautiful, the forest witch is very satisfied with Tina's appearance, so she abandons her original choice of appearance and uses Tina as the benchmark to determine a new direction for beauty enhancement.

Perhaps fearing she would forget Tina's appearance, the forest witch didn't rush to kill her, but instead kept her in her lair for comparison during future transformations. In any case, Tina was lucky enough to survive.

Then the forest witch died, and her memories before her death were transmitted to the minds of every puppet.

"These are... the memories of the Forest Witch? Who killed the Forest Witch? Was it that guy with the stick?"

Tina remembered the man's face. If she had the chance, she should thank him. But right now, her priority was to leave this place and find the subordinate her father had sent out before.

The closest city to here should be Linde City.

My father sent a subordinate to hide here a long time ago, but lost contact a few years ago. So in recent years, he sent another one, who is currently living in seclusion in the no-man's land of Linde City.

"What I hold in my hands is the last hope of the Kingdom of Lars, and I must find a way to get the message back."

Tina hardened her gaze, then staggered forward.