Erwin walked to the open changing room... or rather, the wardrobe, took off his clothes, and put the change of clothes into the cabinet. Then he took a bath towel provided by the bathhouse, found a pool with no one in it, leaned against the edge of the pool, and slowly sat down, immersing his whole body in hot water.

"Phew..." He let out a long breath, dipped the towel in water, and placed it on top of his head, silently enjoying the moment.

Everyone gets tired, George and Matthew are exhausted, so how could he not be? Wearing heavy armor for a long time is nothing short of torture for ordinary humans, especially when they have to stay vigilant at all times.

However, no matter what, he couldn't show fatigue. If even he is tired, what about the others?

Someone always has to hold on, right?

Thinking about it, Erwin wiped his face with the towel.

Amidst the white steam, a child who looked only fourteen or fifteen approached Erwin: "Boss, want a scrub-down?"

"Scrub-down?" After pondering for a moment, Erwin nodded: "Sure. How much?"

"Just three copper coins, very cheap!" The child squatted down on the ground and began fiddling with his tools.

"I didn't bring money in here, I'll give it to you at the entrance later." Erwin got out of the water and sat by the edge, back facing the child.

"That's fine, boss!" The child earnestly began to splash water on Erwin, rolled up his sleeves, and started scrubbing vigorously.

"Has anything happened in Kapu these months?"

"Anything happening?"

"For example... any rumors about the Earl around here?"

"Hmm... haven't heard anything. Boss, is this your first time in Kapu?"

"How do you know?"

"Ha ha ha ha, if you come a few more times, you won't ask like that. When winter arrives here, the mountain roads are blocked by snow. It's not just the road to the mountain that's blocked. I can't even go to nearby settlements, just had to stay home. How could there be any rumors? Let alone about the Earl."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Those fences we saw when we came, are they newly built?"

"The one guarded by soldiers, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Those are newly built."

"Oh."

"How old are you?"

The two chatted sporadically.

...

"Why not do it in the bathroom?" The middle-aged man in armor asked the girl.

The girl continued watching Matthew and George, replied softly: "No need, wait until he comes out. If you solve it with one knife inside the bathhouse, the other two would definitely run. Patience is needed."

...

It was about an hour before Erwin finally came out of the large bath.

Matthew and George were still waiting in the bathhouse corridor.

Matthew hesitated for a moment before taking ten copper coins from the money bag, handed them along with the three copper coins to the child who followed Erwin out.

"Consider the rest a tip for you."

"Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!" The child happily took the ten copper coins and ran away.

Watching the child's back, Erwin was putting on armor while turning his head towards Matthew and George: "Has anything happened?"

"What could happen, just waiting for you?" Matthew shrugged.

After getting fully armored, the group prepared to leave.

However, just as Erwin stood up, a scream rang out from the large bath.

"Someone stole something!"

Instantly, all three stood still.

Turning around, they saw a bearded, chubby man wrapped in a towel rushing out, shouting at the bathhouse owner: "Someone stole my stuff! My belongings are gone!"

"What belongings?" The bathhouse owner hurriedly came out from behind the counter.

The three stood there silently watching.

"A very valuable gemstone, entrusted to me by Lord! If lost, you're all finished!" The chubby man said as he scanned the surroundings, shouting: "Until the gemstone is found, no one is allowed to leave!"

His gaze lingered on Erwin's group for a second.

Meanwhile, four burly men already rushed out from the bathhouse, dressed in thin inner garments, and blocked Erwin's way out, standing at the entrance.

At the same time, the chubby man had already rushed into the large bath with the bathhouse owner, seemingly to check the "crime scene".

"I think... this is targeted at us," Matthew whispered.

"But we didn't steal their gemstones, how could they target us?" George was a bit confused.

"Wait and see, won't you?" Erwin whispered.

"They're targeting us, and we still have to wait and see how they're targeting us?"

"Otherwise? If we rush out now, regardless of whether we took the gemstones or not, we're thieves. We didn't come to Kapu just to bear the suspicion of being thieves and then slinking back home."

"That's true..." Matthew sighed helplessly, "That's why good people are more cowardly. In White City, no one would 'suspect' me of theft, even if it was really me who stole."

Suddenly, Erwin and George turned to look at Matthew.

Matthew had to change his words, his gaze faltering: "I mean... even if I'm highly suspected. I assure you, even if gemstones were really lost here, it has nothing to do with me."

...

A girl standing on the distant balcony quietly watched.

...

Soon, the shop owner and the stout man who lost something hurriedly returned to the counter.

"It's not inside, so it must have been stolen! Nobody has left the bathhouse since just now, right?"

"No, I remember no one has."

"Then the things must still be here. We'll know after a search!" Saying that, the stout man looked at Erwin's group.

"Here it comes," Matthew whispered.

Erwin stepped forward directly, spreading his arms, and said, "You can search us first, search quickly so we can leave."

The stout man waved his hand, and two bare-chested burly men immediately stepped forward and started searching Erwin, their hands all over him.

Erwin even turned to look at George and Matthew.

"How do you search wearing armor? Take the armor off! Everyone take the armor off!"

Well, here comes the main issue.

"No," Erwin replied casually.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not possible. You can search, but taking off the armor is impossible."

"I don't care if it's possible or not! I just want it off! If you don't take it off, you're a thief!"

Suddenly, both sides started pushing each other.

"Stop! How much is one gemstone worth? Do we need to steal gemstones?" George hurriedly took out his money pouch, holding it high, but no one paid attention to him. One of the burly men collided with him, causing the money pouch to fall, scattering gold coins everywhere.

...

The girl on the distant balcony slowly started smiling.

...

"Stop!" Matthew suddenly drew his longsword.

Immediately, everyone quieted down, all eyes on Matthew.

"Stop, if you don't stop, we'll have to act..." Matthew's resolve suddenly became a bit weaker.

"This... this is robbery! They're not thieves, this is clearly robbery!" The stout man who claimed to have lost something suddenly screamed.

Two men scrambled and ran out the door.

The people at the bathhouse counter quickly separated, confronting each other.

"Oh no, they're definitely going to call the guards." Matthew, holding the sword, was a bit panicked.

Not just Matthew was panicking, Erwin and George were also a bit uneasy.

Can they fight against the guards?

Of course, they can, with magical armor on, even a hundred knights' troop could be defeated. But, are they really going to fight the guards?

After a moment of hesitation, Erwin could only grit his teeth and say, "We'd better leave here quickly."

Saying so, he quickly turned and left the bathhouse.

However, as soon as he stepped out, he saw a large number of soldiers rushing over from a distance.

The ones leading were the two men who had just run out.

"It's them! They robbed the gemstone that the Lord entrusted us to buy!"

"This is bad," Matthew whispered.

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