Ch. 55 He apologized immediately.

“Did I say something wrong? My apologies.”

He apologized immediately.

“You guy…” Mia felt a tic mark appear on her head. “Don’t think you can gloss over everything with an apology!”

Although what Patches said was a minor matter, Mia was annoyed by his attitude.

“This is being reasonable! Apologizing is being reasonable with you!” Patches shouted unconvinced. “Any reasonable Soldier would accept an apology, right? I’m a reasonable Soldier. No matter what others do, as long as they apologize to me, I’ll forgive them!”

“What if someone wants to kill you?”

“As long as they kneel and apologize, I’ll forgive them! Don’t think I haven’t seen people like that before.” Patches shouted righteously. “As long as there’s an apology, grudges are just water under the bridge, right? Don’t you think so? If apologies were useless, why apologize at all?”

“Did the people you scammed do anything wrong?”

“No, they were just unlucky.” Patches said nonchalantly. “If I fall one day, I’ll just accept my bad luck. It’s his skill if he can scam me… Oh, right, haven’t I fallen now? I don’t hold a grudge against you.”

…What an unassailable robber’s logic.

This speech of Patches’ is even reflected in the game.

Even if the player-controlled Tarnished attacks Patches again after he becomes friendly, as long as you perform the ‘Kneel’ gesture, Patches will act as if nothing happened, put away his weapon, and continue doing business with you.

Even if the player accidentally gets killed by an annoyed Patches, when you return, he’ll still be there, setting up his stall with an indifferent attitude, claiming he forgives you.

This level of magnanimity puts even the Turtle Pope to shame. If he didn’t like to trick people, Patches would be a total saint of an NPC.

Mia sighed.

This guy really is the same inside and out.

Does he hold others to the same standard he holds himself?

It’s hard to say whether this guy, who is completely free of double standards, is actually a bad Soldier or a good one…

Could Patches’ moral compass be considered a form of simplicity?

Mia looked into the distance with a touch of melancholy.

The words Patches just said about protesting the Erdtree and the Two Fingers were still echoing in her mind.

To become a qualified Lord, one needs more than just strength.

She turned back to look at Wilden.

Wilden nodded at her. Silent as ever, but firm.

“Hmph…” Patches rolled his eyes at the two of them exchanging glances.

“So, can you untie me? How many times do I have to apologize…”

“I’m happy to.” Mia replied sullenly.

This guy’s bandit logic left Mia not knowing how to retort.

“Hurry up and walk! You inexplicable guy.” Mia urged.

Because they were escorting Patches, the group’s speed slowed down again.

Patches started howling again without any decency: “I’m dying of thirst, I can’t walk!”

“Just die of thirst then!” Mia retorted angrily.

“I need to pee!”

“You son of…”

No, no, a beautiful girl shouldn’t swear…

— —

Later that day, the group lit a campfire under a cliff in the grasslands.

They had now left the lakeside and turned northeast, looking for the main road and the nearby Waystation Street Ruins.

Patches had been noisy for most of the afternoon, and Mia finally couldn’t stand his physical verbal attacks, so she cut the rope on his hands with a knife.

Of course, this didn’t mean Mia had simply accepted Patches as a member of the team.

Even without the rope on his hands, he wouldn’t escape being monitored.

The three Spirit Wolves kept a constant eye on this bald head; as long as Patches made any out-of-line moves, the Spirit Wolves would issue a warning.

Furthermore, as spirits, the Spirit Wolves didn’t need to rest.

Want to run? No way. Can a mere Patches outrun a wolf?

Want to distract them? There are three wolves here. Even if Lappland loses focus, there’s still Texas, and even if Texas loses focus, there’s still Red.

Each Spirit Wolf kept at least one other Spirit Wolf and Patches within its line of sight at all times.

It was a 24-hour, all-weather, no-blind-spot monitoring system, including automatic alarms, automatic crisis management, and other functions.

Even on the grasslands without a prison, Patches couldn’t escape Mia’s grasp.

Night had fallen.

“I’ll keep watch.” Kalé walked to one of the Spirit Wolves: “How about you catch a few rabbits for me?”

Only Mia could tell the difference between the three Spirit Wolves.

The Spirit Wolf stood up, circled Kalé a few times, and ran toward the distant grassland.

This wasn’t the first time the Spirit Wolf had done this kind of work.

Although it came with cool fluorescent special effects, it could move without making a sound and didn’t emit the scent of a wolf.

It was unexpectedly useful when helping with hunting.

Only one of the three left, and Kalé took its place.

Even if he didn’t take its place, with the remaining two watching, Patches couldn’t do anything.

He could only squat in a strange posture, looking distressed.

Kalé sat down on a rock next to Patches and tossed a handful of Rowa fruit into his mouth.

He chewed while staring at Patches.

“Oh my, oh my, isn’t this the Nomadic People merchant?”

When Patches looked up at him, he immediately put on a smiling face: “The Nomadic People are all rare good people.”

“You’ve met the Nomadic People, have you?”

Kalé leaned forward, very interested in what Patches said.

“Then do you know, we Nomadic People have a rule?”

“Oh?”

“Even if we are looked down upon, abandoned by others, we don’t need to think about seeking anything, but for those who have hurt us, we must never easily forgive them.” The merchant narrowed his eyes, staring closely at Patches:

“Having such a rule, sounds very persistent and annoying, right?”

Patches could feel the dangerous gaze in Kalé’s eyes.