Chapter 183: You are a Priest!

“Light-guided Arrow!”

“You’re a Priest!!”

The moment the Golden Short Spear materialized, Gante and Cersei’s eyes went wide.

The Northern River Valley was not lacking in [Priests]. They had seen the [Light-guided Arrow] more than once before, so they recognized it immediately.

Of course, there was nothing special about the [Light-guided Arrow] itself.

After all, it was just a Ring One Magic, not some Ring Nine Forbidden Skill like [Gate of the Otherworld] or [Prayer Magic].

The problem was the person Casting it right now…

“You…”

Gante’s gaze was locked on Lu Wei, his expression a mixture of shock and suspicion.

After all, according to the intelligence sent back to Kalin Port and their own investigations over the past few days, Lu Wei was just an ordinary freelance merchant with a clean background.

His mother had died young, and his father had passed away just two months ago.

He had lived in Heitai Town since childhood and had no distinguishing features, his only virtues being, perhaps, his diligence and honesty.

However, perhaps due to his father’s death, his personality had changed drastically of late, and he had suddenly become treacherous and greedy.

With a bit of luck, he had managed to earn a large sum of money in less than two months and had opened this general store in the forest.

In short, the two words “Crafty Merchant” were enough to summarize him.

But now, the spear of light coalescing with holy energy before them was undeniable proof that the intelligence they had gathered contained serious errors or omissions.

In fact, the night before last, Gante had speculated that Lu Wei might be a [Mage].

However, Furen had immediately denied it.

Gante later thought about it and concluded it was unlikely as well.

After all, a [Mage]’s Power stemmed from their Bloodline heritage. It was the only Profession that couldn’t be obtained through hard work, and given Lu Wei’s family background, it was impossible for him to possess such a Bloodline Talent.

So he hadn’t given it any more thought.

But now, it seemed his earlier guess was at least half right.

He wasn’t a [Mage], but he was indeed a Professional.

“Mr. Lu Wei…”

A moment later, Gante took a deep breath, his emotions gradually calming.

Because the person standing before him now was no longer some “Crafty Merchant.”

He was a true Professional who owned a Weapon embedded with a Gravity Gemstone.

This forced him to treat the situation with caution.

“I apologize for my previous rudeness.”

“But there is no animosity between us. I think we can talk this over.”

After exchanging a look with Cersei, Gante took a step forward, expressing respect with his words while demonstrating his Power with his actions—

The Force Field had a negligible effect on him.

He looked at Lu Wei with a solemn expression, quietly awaiting his response.

But Lu Wei said nothing.

…

A gentle breeze blew through the silent crowd. The Golden Short Spear remained suspended above his palm, emitting sacred and sharp fluctuations of Magic Power.

To be fair, Gante was definitely what you would call “humble and courteous” among Professionals.

Even though he hadn’t previously considered Lu Wei an ordinary person worthy of conversation, he hadn’t shown much arrogance or disdain, likely because of Furen.

Whether it was an act or not, he at least appeared to be an upstanding gentleman.

Given this, it seemed Lu Wei ought to give him some face—

dispel the Force Field and resolve the issue through negotiation.

However…

BOOM—

The next second, without even opening his mouth, Lu Wei’s hand on his sword hilt pressed down with even more force.

His only response to Gante was a five-fold Force Field, instantly cranked to its maximum.

In an instant, all the weeds within a ten-meter radius flattened to the ground.

Gante and Cersei’s legs trembled violently, their knees visibly buckling as if they were carrying an immense weight. Even the ground beneath their feet sank noticeably.

“You!”

Humiliated fury instantly flooded their faces. They never imagined Lu Wei would be so arrogant.

Facing a [Priest], they believed they had already shown sufficient respect.

But it was obvious Lu Wei was not affording them the same courtesy.

“Five seconds.”

Since he had just said it was the “last time,” Lu Wei indeed didn’t repeat pointless phrases like “put him down,” instead giving them a very short deadline.

From the look of him now, if Gante’s group of three didn’t compromise within five seconds, he would definitely make a move.

This unyielding stance only fueled the anger on Gante and Cersei’s faces.

“You dare!”

The Female Holy Knight hissed out an angry shout and took a heavy-breathing step forward.

Although she was trying her best to remain steady, the step still looked difficult, and she had lost all of her earlier composure.

It couldn’t be helped. While Professionals certainly had Power and Resistance far exceeding ordinary people, most Low Level Professionals prioritized increasing their [Magic Resistance].

This was especially true for melee-focused Professions like [Warrior] and [Holy Knight]. Since their primary threats were Magic spells that could come from anywhere, their need for Magic Resistance was extremely high.

Physical Resistance, by comparison, was not as important and was often overlooked.

Because of this, although they could remain standing in a five-fold Force Field strong enough to crush a goblin, and could even continue to fight, it was hard to say how much of their Power they could actually use.

What’s more, Gante was still carrying Furen.

If a real fight broke out and Furen was accidentally injured…

“Enough!”

Suddenly, Gante finally roared, stopping Cersei, who was walking step-by-step toward Lu Wei.

His face was ashen, his chest heaving violently.

A few seconds later, he finally made a choice and began to undo the rope binding Furen, all without a word.

‘Yes!’

‘Looks like they were scared off!’

‘That scared the hell out of me!’

Seeing this, Lu Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief internally.

Then he turned to look at Clara, who was still completely stunned and had no idea what was going on.

‘If it had been Bai Ya, in this situation, she would have definitely asked a dumb question like “What’s wrong?”‘

Fortunately, Clara wasn’t Bai Ya. She was quick on the uptake and immediately understood his meaning.

So she quickly ran over, helped Furen down from Gante’s back, and then, with Theodore’s help, carried him back to Lu Wei’s side.

…

‘Man, I almost got into a fight with two Professionals for your sake, and you’re still sleeping here!’

‘For such a huge favor, charging you 10 gold coins isn’t too much, right?’

‘Your silence is your consent.’

‘Great, now you owe me 10 Gold Coins.’

After glancing at Furen, Lu Wei shifted his gaze back to Gante. A moment later, he released his left hand, and the Golden Short Spear in his right hand vanished.

The Force Field effect instantly dissipated. Feeling the weight lift, Gante took several deep breaths before looking up and saying, word by word:

“Mr. Lu Wei, you will pay the price for this.”

“Mm, I’ll be waiting.”

Since bad blood had already been created, Lu Wei certainly wasn’t going to back down. He nodded dismissively.

“Now you can go.”

“…Fine.”

Gante did his best to suppress his inner rage. “But you must guarantee that Young Master Furen will not be harmed in any way while we are away.”

???

‘How can you be so shameless?’

“What kind of harm? Like what you were just doing?”

Lu Wei sneered. “Don’t worry. No matter how shameless I am, I would never harm my own companion.”

…

His expression froze. Clearly, Gante was no match for a Crafty Merchant like Lu Wei in an argument.

So he stopped talking, simply untied the coin pouch from his waist, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed it at Lu Wei’s feet.

“This is payment for taking care of Young Master Furen for the next few days.”

“Also, you should understand that we only conceded because we were worried Young Master Furen would get hurt, not because we are afraid of you.”

‘Yeah, yeah. Warriors are so damn stubborn.’

‘Not convinced? We can settle this right now!’

“Enough with the nonsense.”

Lu Wei glanced at them sideways. “Are you leaving or not? Or are you staying for lunch?”

“Hmph, no need.”

“I’ve said what I needed to say. You’d best watch yourself.”

Gante snorted coldly. He was probably too embarrassed to keep posturing. After one last look at Lu Wei, he was the first to turn and leave.

Cersei was next.

The Female Holy Knight’s gaze was even colder. It felt like if Furen wasn’t a factor, she would have rushed forward to fight Lu Wei in the next second.

As for Mirana…

To be honest, in that situation just now, Mirana, with her [Petrifying Lizard Hide Armor], was likely the only one of the three who could have posed a threat to Lu Wei.

After all, the Physical Resistance from her 31 points of [Power] was already considerable. Add to that the [Tenacity] effect of the Leather Armor, which increased Physical Resistance by 50%, and she could probably move freely even in the five-fold Force Field.

But in the past few minutes, Lu Wei hadn’t even glanced at her once.

Only now, after Gante and Cersei had already turned to leave, did he finally shift his gaze to this woman.

Their eyes met. The emotion in Mirana’s eyes was complex.

She seemed to want to explain something, but she never spoke.

Lu Wei’s expression was exactly the same as when he faced Gante and Cersei.

Or perhaps, even colder.

There was no anger, no disappointment.

He simply looked at her calmly, then calmly looked away.

As if looking at a complete stranger.

…

…

A few minutes later, a forest breeze rustled through, and with the sound of rustling leaves, the figures of Gante, Cersei, and Mirana disappeared into the dense woods.

Although the crisis was over, a dead silence still hung over the area outside the general store.

Watching Lu Wei, who seemed to be lost in thought, everyone looked at each other, not daring to speak, their minds filled with different ideas.

From Anna and Zovir’s perspective, the story went something like this—

Mirana had betrayed the Mushroom Squad, colluding with two fierce-looking people in an attempt to drug and kidnap Furen.

But Lu Wei descended like a divine soldier, suddenly appearing with the busty Clara. He used a Magic spell that “made a Golden Short Spear appear out of thin air” to scare them off, stopping the kidnapping just in time.

Mm, that was basically correct.

However, in the eyes of Theodore and the others, the focus of the story was completely different.

Priest??

Lu Wei is a Priest??

How is that possible??!

‘But that Gante fellow couldn’t be mistaken, right!’

‘He’s a Professional, so he must have had solid evidence to say that!’

‘Besides, Lu Wei really did just use a very powerful-looking Magic spell!’

‘What was it called again?’

‘Oh, right, Tubular Arrow!’

‘It sounds so powerful!’

‘Wait, Lu Wei’s moving!’

‘Is he done thinking?’

‘What will he do next?’

Seeing Lu Wei suddenly lower the arms he had crossed over his chest, everyone held their breath, silently observing his every move.

But as it turned out, Lu Wei was just changing his posture.

“Uh…”

Theodore and the others were taken aback but could only continue to wait.

Another few minutes passed before they heard Lu Wei say in a deep voice:

“You all go on with your work. I need to be alone for a bit.”

They all drew a sharp breath.

‘It really is a tricky situation!’

“Alright, everyone stop crowding around. Get back to work!”

Theodore nodded quickly and waved to dismiss the crowd of artisans.

Then, he and Clara prepared to carry Furen back to the general store to rest.

Supporting Furen by his arms, one on each side, they quickly walked about ten meters away.

Seeing Lu Wei’s extremely grave expression, and since he himself was technically involved in this matter, Theodore couldn’t help but worry and glanced back one more time.

In his line of sight, Lu Wei was still standing in the same spot, head down, right hand stroking his chin, looking like a deep thinker.

‘Sigh, looking at him like this, little Lu Wei is really responsible.’

‘He doesn’t want us to worry, so he’s quietly thinking of a plan by himself.’

‘Aryan was right about him. He really is a trustworthy person.’

Nodding with emotion, Theodore was just about to look away.

But in the next second, out of the corner of his eye, he caught Lu Wei moving. He seemed to be furtively looking around.

Then he suddenly bent down and, with lightning speed, snatched up the coin pouch at his feet.

The motion was smooth and fluid, all in one go.

It made Theodore wonder for a moment if his eyes were playing tricks on him.