"Have you actually done things like that?"
Side asked, shaking the accumulated snow off her boots.
Generally speaking, a person's first instinctive assumptions and inferences were closely linked to their personal experiences.
No matter how she looked at it, she didn't think what those burly men on the distant snow were trying to do was kidnapping, human trafficking, or organ harvesting.
"Not at all."
Lanqi shook his head. But seeing Side's disdainful look, he pulled a Certificate of No Criminal Record issued by the Protos Empire out of his bag anyway:
[Verification Result: Person Inquired: Luoqi McCarthy; Nationality/Region: Protos Empire / Southwestern Province / Lilom City; Document Type: Resident Identity Card; Criminal Record: None found.]
At the bottom was an official seal from the Herrom South Station Police Bureau of the Imperial Capital.
He proudly showed it off to Side, pointing at the text with an air that said everything without needing words.
"I think normal people wouldn't go out of their way to get one of those issued," Side commented objectively.
"I call this taking pride in being law-abiding."
Lanqi put away the certificate and gave an even prouder huff.
Farther across the snowfield.
Drawn by the commotion from the snowy woods, the bandits stared at the two distant figures who were completely ignoring them and chatting among themselves. Their expressions immediately turned quite bizarre.
"Boss, are they looking down on us?"
"Heh, when this young master from the south first noticed us, didn't he also fail to realize how serious his situation was?"
The bandits cast a glance at the noble youth still putting up a final struggle behind his barrier, sneered, and turned their attention back toward the woods.
Even across several dozen meters through the swirling snow, the bandit scout could see them clearly after casting an eyesight-enhancing spell.
"Not bad. Another pretty boy. The woman's decent enough too."
The brazen remark drifted toward the woods along with the icy wind.
Upon hearing the bandits' commentary, however...
"..."
Lanqi looked at Side and offered a sympathetic smile.
As if to say, *I'm prettier than you.*
In truth, no matter how she disguised herself, Side was still an exceptionally attractive woman. Too bad that in the eyes of this bizarre gang of bandits, she seemed to be merely "decent."
"..."
Side didn't bother warning Lanqi about how that smile would affect his favorability rating.
She simply tossed the luggage to him, rolled her wrists, and walked off alone toward the bandits and the youth.
A fierce battle ensued.
...
Looking at the several corpses lying sprawled on the snow, Lanqi fell silent for a moment, then looked back at Side.
"Do you have something to say?" Side asked him.
"I'm worried that saying it will lower favorability again."
"The moment you said that, it already went down."
Sitting on his knees in the snow, the youth stared in shock at the two young people who had just saved him. Standing beneath the sun over the snowfield, their backlit silhouettes looked deeply shadowed yet incomparably dazzling.
From beginning to end, he had never felt any tension from them.
It was as though they were genuinely just on a sightseeing tour across the snow.
Though they looked like good people, Xiaya could not shake a subtle, inexplicable sense of discord about them—
Whether encountering bandits or finishing them off, neither showed any emotional fluctuation, standing there casually shooting the breeze.
They were the kind of people who could stand boldly in court, say, "What's the big deal? It's just killing someone, isn't it?" and then still win the case.
Finally.
The green-eyed young man seemed to notice Xiaya, who had been sitting dazed on the ground for a long while unable to rise, and smiled warmly at him.
"Can you stand?"
Lanqi extended a gloved hand toward Xiaya.
"Thank you."
Xiaya, a refined youth with a somewhat timid demeanor, took Lanqi's hand and was pulled to his feet.
"My name is Luoqi, and she's Side. Do you happen to know the way to Chinston City?" Lanqi asked, shooting a deliberate glance at Side.
Even Xiaya could tell what that glance meant.
It had evidently displeased the aloof, light-haired girl holding the map once again.
"We're from the Protos Royal Magic Academy, heading to the northern border front to work on some academic projects."
To reassure the shaken Xiaya, Lanqi produced his identification from the Imperial Capital, Herrom, while Side presented her student transit pass.
They did not tell the youth they were priests of the Extinction Branch; after all, revealing an affiliation with the Resurrection Church might dictate the other party's stance.
They clearly had a much better identity to use.
People from the academy faction were known for their neutrality.
"The Protos Royal Magic Academy... No wonder you two are so incredible, senior brother, senior sister! I do know the way to Chinston City. If you go around that snowy forest and head forward for a dozen or so kilometers, you'll be there. I was on my way to Chinston City too, but then I ran into an illegal syndicate from the snowfields."
Filled with awe and respect, Xiaya bowed hastily to his saviors.
Though he didn't know what dangerous project had brought them to such a chaotic and perilous northern region, skilled as he was at recognizing official documents, he quickly discerned that what they held was genuine. Besides, if it were forged, they would be stopped and arrested upon reaching Chinston City.
"That's wonderful. Would you mind if we traveled together?" Lanqi asked in a genial voice.
What he was best at was asking for directions, and he never treated those who guided him poorly.
"Of course not!"
Hearing this, Xiaya nodded vigorously, as if finding his savior.
He had been dreading encountering danger along the road again.
The two remarkably powerful youths before him carried themselves with poise and confidence even out in the northern wilderness. Even back at the Protos Royal Magic Academy, they would likely rank among the very best second- or third-year students.
Yet Xiaya didn't dare pry, fearing it would be impolite. Inwardly, he could not help wondering whether they might even be among those who could contend for the legendary ten seats...
Then again, the young lady of Viscount Laiwen Chinston's household would certainly know more about that academy.
She had visited the Imperial Capital, Herrom, the previous year and was acquainted with some upperclassmen from the nobility there.
Though northern communication blockades might cause some delay in news, if these two were indeed illustrious students at the Protos Royal Magic Academy, the young lady might well have heard their names.
Of course, it was also possible that his own shallow experience was making him overthink things.
After all, those in the academy's ten seats were typically sixth-tier powerhouses, the most outstanding young geniuses in the Empire—rare figures of might even across remote provinces.
Chapter 309