"I killed five people from the kingdom back then. It's a debt that will eventually have to be repaid." Wolfrang was drunk, but he spoke calmly about what happened that day.

The spring water we drank was not poisonous; the purple color was probably due to chemicals in the minerals. It was harmless to the body, and the only effect we could feel was a full stomach.

Let's call this spring water Red Bull Spring.

Lying on the grass, if you want to gaze at the sky, you have to squint.

How many layers does the sky have? How many shades of blue are there? At what height can you see the horizon of this world?

In the face of such a sky, one should relax and not think about anything. But I always remember one thing - the kingdom wants to cleanse the southern plains.

"How will the kingdom treat us?"

"I don't know."

"If you get shot, does it hurt?"

"Yes, it does."

"So far, how many bullets have you taken to protect me?"

"Just one."

"Yeah, I remember."

"We haven't changed at all."

I wasn't surprised anymore when Medusa said these words. She was still the monster skilled in archery, and I was still the fool who wanted to live a peaceful life with her in the countryside. Despite the changing world, our desires remained the same.

"If there were no guns or magic in the world."

"Then let's throw away the guns."

"If I throw away the gun, I feel like I'm just a little bug that can be easily crushed by anyone."

The tool of a gun can't be described as good or bad. I have never owned something that can take a life at any moment, but now I do. Human life is stronger than anything else, but also more fragile. A tiny lead pellet the size of a nail, hitting someone's head, will kill them.

The biggest difference between Medusa and me is that she always has the urge to kill, while I only have that urge when pushed to the limit. But now, Medusa is starting to adopt my style.

We had a conversation like this before on the road.

"Wife, let's not kill people all the time from now on."

"Why not?"

"Don't you understand the concept of daily life? Daily life."

"I don't understand."

"Daily life is just playing around, joking, and laughing every day."

"Can you speak a language humans can understand?"

"I apologize, I won't speak Chinese anymore~"

"I know what you're thinking. A happy life is within reach."

"Yeah, it's within reach."

I don't know if a happy life is really within reach, but at least it's not happy yet. At least there's still one thing left for us to resolve.

Finally remembering that Feather was still hungry, we got up and continued searching for food. Maybe Red Bull Spring could really restore magic and strength, but as a magic novice like me, even if I drink a whole bucket, it won't be of much use.

What exactly is the Dream Forest? We had no idea at that time, we only knew it was a small forest like a fairy tale wonderland. It wasn't until later when Gray explained that we realized how sacred this place was. Drinking two sips of the spring water without permission was a more serious crime than breaking into a palace.

As we jokingly returned to where we tied the horses, we encountered adventurers for the second time.

But this time, we were destined to lose.

There were three reasons:

First, we came face to face with our opponents, and a distance of over ten meters was very disadvantageous for us.

Second, Medusa was seen, and there was no room for negotiation anymore.

Third, this group of people not only had a large number, but also multiple magicians.

"It's Medusa!"

"Understood, Medusa and a human."

The adventurers began to shout, and there was no panic in their voices. It sounded more like a conversation confirming the type of monster.

"They should be adventurers."

"Like those five from before?"

"Yeah, pretty much. What should we do?"

"I see eight of them."

"Even if they have ten people, should we run or fight?"

Deep down, I didn't want to fight against the kingdom's adventurers, but reality never gave me a choice. My wife and I hid behind two trees, discussing our strategy.

"Husband, let's fight."

"Yeah, but let's not go all out. Just scare them away if we can."

My wife didn't say anything, nodded, and pulled out her short bow. I held my gun and tried to steady my breathing as much as possible.

Since the incident with Huang Mao, we haven't fought humans anymore. It's inevitable to underestimate them. In small-scale conflicts, humans definitely can't beat monsters, that's become my fixed mindset.

Even if we don't underestimate them, we absolutely can't beat the "Rose Forging" squad, authorized by the first royal in the Kingdom Inslay.

I trusted my wife's arrows and the gun in my hand. After deciding to attack, she shot the first arrow. The arrow didn't use magic, it was fast and hit a man's wrist who was holding a rifle.

Strangely, the penetrating wound on the wrist didn't cause the man's screams of pain as I expected. Instead, it triggered a fierce counterattack from the other side.

"Bang!"

The first shot, just the first shot, hit my wife's tail!

"Damn."

I was at a loss for words, unable to express the astonishment in my heart.

My wife was clearly also very surprised. When she shot the arrow just now, she was also in a high-speed moving state, yet she was still hit by a human with poor accuracy using a matchlock gun.

These people aren't easy to deal with.

I looked at my wife hiding behind the tree and pointed to my forehead with my index finger, meaning there was no need to go easy on them. My wife understood immediately and chanted a spell for a magic arrow.

"Who are you?!"

The old trick, distracting the enemy's attention through language. But my plan once again fell flat, as no one responded at all!

In a real battle, no one will listen to your nonsense. What they want is your life.

Prediction, yes, I still have this trick. Counter the enemy's actions by predicting them.

However, this trick also doesn't work. I can't even observe the enemy's position, let alone make predictions.

The second shot rang out, apparently the opponents didn't want to give me any time to gather my thoughts. This shot hit the tree behind me, and wood chips scattered over my ears. My heartbeat changed from a folk song to heavy metal rock, they were really ruthless.

I wife shot the second arrow, and from the sound, it should have hit the target. She also moved to the tree closest to me.

She was more nervous than I imagined. When a monster's life was threatened, they also felt fear.

Damn, did I set too many flags?

"We should run away."

"If we run, what about the horse?"

When my wife mentioned it, I suddenly remembered that Wolfrang's horse had feathers, and I still had to return it to him.

"But we can't beat these people."

"Not necessarily."

"If we run out of petrification magic, we still can't gain the advantage..."

"I might be able to use it twice."

"Use petrification twice in a row? Have you tried it before?"

"Well, I won't know until I try."

"In that case, I'll go right, and you go left, then you can loop around."

I gestured for my wife to attack the enemies on the left, while I held off the enemies on the right as much as possible.

Many people use the phrase "we lost, but we did our best" as a consolation to themselves, but if they also lose their lives, they definitely wouldn't say that.

Before putting the attack plan into action, I still held onto a little hope, but after actually charging out, I realized that the tactical moves of a nerd like me were useless.

The biggest difference between shooting games and real battles isn't what many people say, such as the heavy recoil of the gun, the difficulty of aiming, or the weight of the gun. In a game, all you need to pay attention to is the small 21-inch screen; in a real battle, you need to pay attention to the 360-degree surroundings, including under your feet.

Unfortunately, I'm just someone who plays games, not a soldier.

Facing four rifles at different distances and heights, I chose the most practical move of falling and rolling.

The gun didn't go off, instead, a transparent gem flew towards me, the sunlight through the gem became unusually dazzling. That wasn't a physical phenomenon, but magic. Then the gem collapsed and disappeared in front of my eyes, leaving no trace.

"What kind of magic is this?"

The question was immediately answered. An invisible force pressed the surrounding grass into a neatly formed rectangular shape, with me right in the center. The feeling of being squeezed was indescribable pain.

Painful yet non-lethal, but it makes me distinctly aware that my life no longer belongs to me.

I am lying on my back, facing the sky. The azure sky is still as vast as before. Half an hour ago, my wife and I were looking up at the sky like this. The changes happened so quickly, so dramatically.

The gun is now too heavy to lift. I had thought that I would lose one day, but never did I imagine losing so miserably.

Miserable to the point where I didn't even get to fire a single shot.

My nose feels hot, sore, and probably bleeding. Breathing is difficult.

"Sister Melissa, the humans are caught."

"Yeah, what about Medusa?"

"She's over there, already restrained."

"Alright, tie him up first. I'll go deal with the monster."

I faintly hear the voice of a mature woman, probably the captain or someone important. They seem to have deemed me powerless and released the magic that was weighing me down. Immediately, I begin to cough incessantly, but my mind remains clear.

These people are clearly not fools. A foot clad in riding boots comes straight down on my right hand holding the gun.

"Don't touch my wife..."

I use every last bit of my strength to lift the barrel with my right hand and fire it directly at the person's shoe sole.

"Ah!"

I hear the man's cry of pain as expected, followed by a thud as he falls to the ground. In my line of sight, there is a person wearing a dark blue robe, with a large gilded octagram symbol on it, the symbol of a magician. She becomes the target of my second shot.

But the second shot hits the ground, and my gun barrel is immediately stepped on by someone else.

"Sister Melissa, be careful!" the person who was shot warns.

The butt of the gun strikes my left temple, causing my vision to blur. The revolver, which I considered the most powerful weapon in the world, is now out of my right hand.

My glasses are slightly flattened, having fallen to the ground during the process of being bound by these people. I am highly nearsighted, with a large difference in prescription between my eyes – 600 degrees for the right eye and just over 100 degrees for the left. When I close my right eye, I can still barely make out things. At that moment, I have only one thought: I want to see if my beloved Sasha is still alive.

If she's dead, then I have no reason to live either.

"Husband!!!!"

"Run, hurry!!!!"

Amidst the chaos, I can still hear my wife's voice. The simplest, most direct five words that she would never utter unless facing imminent death. My final act of resistance that day was using the bound body to break free from the person holding me, and running towards the blurry sound source.

I can't remember if it was three steps or five steps that I managed to run outside. The blow to the back of my head made me lose consciousness effortlessly, and it may have left some lasting effects.

And thus, my memory of that day ends here, in the daytime.