Meanwhile, inside the bandit stronghold.
The spacious wooden hall was littered with empty bottles, picked-clean bones, and peanut shells, remnants of the bandits' raucous celebration after a recent raid.
"Ha ha ha, boss, when we passed by Windmill Village this morning, we encountered an idiot babbling about being some Goddess of Water."
"Given her clearly unbalanced mind, we initially wanted to ignore her, but then we found out she's actually a distant relative of that restaurant owner, Zyhark!"
"So, we gave her a beating, ah ha ha!"
Several of the bandit underlings enthusiastically shared the day's amusing encounter with Higuma, who was seated in the place of honor.
"Oh? Zyhark has such a sister?" Higuma laughed coldly after downing a large cup of wine, "What a pitiful guy, he doesn't realize he'll never be able to pay off that debt in his lifetime!"
As long as he could keep Zyhark from settling his debt, Higuma could continue to collect exorbitant interest. His ambitions were grand; if this method of lending money at high interest rates proved successful with Zyhark, the bandit group's future activities could shift away from the high-risk ventures of burning, killing, and looting.
"Come to think of it, I should thank him for revealing another path to wealth."
Hearing this, the underlings raised their cups in praise of their leader's wisdom.
"It's all thanks to your brilliance, boss. Following someone as outstanding as you is truly our honor!"
Higuma, ever arrogant and self-satisfied, couldn't help but smile at these compliments.
Just as he was about to encourage his men to drink and eat their fill, he noticed the light outside dimming as if something had covered the sky.
Outside, in the bushes by the mountain path, Aqua was enveloped in a blue glow, her eyes closed, surrounded by swirling water.
Her pink ribbons fluttered in the breeze, exuding the rich, sacred aura unique to the Goddess of Water.
"All my followers in this world, heed the command of Aqua, the Goddess of Water."
"Fulfill my wish, show the world your power, create sacred water!"
With the final word, Aqua extended her hands forward, and a large magic circle appeared in the sky above the bandit stronghold.
Whoosh! Torrents of water cascaded down like a hundred-foot waterfall, the roar booming and resounding, rapidly plummeting towards the earth under the force of gravity.
Higuma had just noticed the disturbance when the deluge descended from the sky.
Boom! The tremendous force swept through, collapsing the frail wooden huts into countless planks and pillars that flowed down to the mountain's base with the floodwaters.
Caught off guard, most bandits could only be swept away, struggling in the water, helplessly watching as their bodies were carried to the lower reaches of the mountain.
Even Higuma, the bandit leader with a stronger physique, couldn't withstand the flood's force and was swept into a tree branch in the southeast direction, his face a picture of confusion in the breeze.
In seconds, the well-established bandit stronghold was reduced to ruins, with fallen trees and debris everywhere. The bandits, recently reveling in drink, lay scattered in puddles, all sustaining various degrees of injury.
Zyhark, hiding in the bushes, looked at the chaos among the bandits, his expression unavoidably shocked.
Aqua, going all out, seemed even more powerful than he had imagined.
Thankfully, she hadn't launched this at the restaurant, or the compensation alone might have cost him his life!
Seeing the bandits in disarray, Zyhark remained hidden, not moving an inch.
Although their most threatening weapons, the flintlock muskets, were soaked and unusable, he was confident in his ability to resist blades and other cold weapons with his robust defense.
However, the bandits still retained significant combat power; it wasn't the best time to strike.
If Zyhark initially had a 30% chance of dealing with the bandits, it was now 60%.
Continuing to harass them like this for a few days could increase his odds to 90%!
Before coming, Zyhark had considered joining forces with the villagers of Windmill Village.
With their help, they could quickly eliminate Higuma's bandits.
But he ultimately decided against it.
Aside from doubting whether the villagers, who were typically fearful of bandits, would have the courage to fight back,
He didn't want to share the nearly ten million Beli bounty with anyone else! (8mill or 800k!?!)
"Well done, Aqua. Let's pull out for now and bring them more water tomorrow," Zyhark gestured for Aqua to retreat.
"This level of effort is just like sneezing for me!"
Aqua, hands on her hips and looking pleased with the praise, seemed quite happy.
"Hey, Zyhark, don't walk so fast; I don't know the way!"
By the time Aqua, immersed in the greatness of her divine power, came back to her senses, Zyhark had already retraced their path, walking more than a dozen meters away.
The setting sun in the distance gradually descended, marking the onset of night as darkness spread from the coastline.
As a deity, Aqua possessed the divine eye that could see through everything. Although her divine power was greatly suppressed in the world of pirates, seeing through darkness was not a problem.
In other words, she had night vision.
Thus, it wasn't the night itself that Aqua feared, but the ferocious beasts that became incredibly active in these woods at night and various other unknown dangers.
However, when Aqua tried to follow Zyhark, her legs gave way, and she fell flat into the bushes.
It seems the long-distance creation of sacred water wasn't as effortless as she claimed.
Or rather, she had overestimated her not fully recovered powers!
Her vision was completely obscured by the dense bushes, and Aqua could no longer see Zyhark's retreating figure.
Worse, the rustling sounds of a possible ferocious beast nearby sent fear spreading rapidly through her brain.
"Wait, wait, Zyhark, Lord Zyhark, please don't leave me behind!"
The Goddess of Water, drained and scared, cried with eyes filled with terror.
At the brink of despair, a familiar voice came from not far ahead.
"Really, wasn't it just like sneezing for you?"
Zyhark, who had turned back, parted the obstructing bushes to reach Aqua, lying on the ground and trembling.
Thinking she was about to die at the hands of a wild beast or be discovered by bandits and hung up to dry, Aqua, upon seeing Zyhark, couldn't hold back and burst into tears, clutching at his pant legs.
"Lord Zyhark! I knew you wouldn't leave me, wuu wuu wuu…"
Before she could finish, Zyhark covered her mouth with his hand.
"Keep it down, damn it. If you attract the bandits, I won't hesitate to abandon you!"
Hearing this, Aqua immediately stopped crying and nodded repeatedly.
Fortunately, the bandits were too disoriented by the sudden flood to pay attention to anything else.
"Get on, we need to leave quickly."
Zyhark bent down, silently wiping the snot from his
pant leg.
After cleaning up, he extended his hands, scooping up Aqua's slender, fair legs, and securely lifted her onto his back.
Under the deepening night, they quickly left the bandit-occupied mountain, returning to the brightly lit Windmill Village.
"Huff huff, we're finally back. I'm so tired."
Aqua, back on her feet, regained some strength and greedily inhaled the peaceful and safe air of the village.
"Why aren't you saying anything, Zyhark?"
She noticed Zyhark's silence beside her.
"...I think, Aqua, you should consider losing some weight."
Zyhark shook his somewhat sore arms.
Aqua's face turned red, and she hastily defended herself: "You! That's the weight of a goddess, not my own weight, okay?"
Zyhark couldn't be bothered with the stubborn goddess and walked towards the restaurant on his own.
Seeing this, Aqua hesitated for a few seconds before following closely behind.
"Really, Zyhark, it's super rude to say that in front of a goddess. Can't you learn a bit from those elegant and gentlemanly heroes?"
"Can elegance and gentility be exchanged for money?"
"No."
"Then what use do I have for it?"
"You've got a point there!"
...
(End of Chapter)