Splat!
A shovelful of sludge—a foul concoction of fermented rot and unidentified black slime—was tossed onto the stone bank by Xiao Yu with a heavy grunt. The puddle of filth emitted a stench so potent that even the flies usually frequenting the town's trash heaps took a wide detour.
Xiao Yu was encased in the garment he had dubbed the "Moldy Iron Plate." He bent over in the knee-deep, stinking water, his movements as fluid as a rusty hinge. The robe was heavy enough when dry, but now, soaked with sewer water and caked in grime, it felt like he was wearing a suit made of wet cement. Every time he shifted his weight, his meager 3-point Stamina bar flashed a frantic red in his mind, sending dull throbs of exhaustion through his temples.
"Xiao Yu, darling, I must say... you are the most 'scenic' Hero I have ever laid eyes upon." Mia was perched on a dry rock by the bank, leaning back with a piece of dried grass between her teeth. She was picking her fangs with the nonchalance of a bored socialite while tossing out barbed insults. "Think about it. Other summoned Heroes arrive on silk-covered beds in palaces. But you? You're either wrestling chickens or excavating manure. Honestly, even the G-rank goblins at the town gate have more dignity than you. At least they have the guts to harass a milkmaid. You? You're harassing the town's plumbing."
Xiao Yu wiped a streak of foul-smelling sweat from his brow, his dead-fish eyes reflecting a profound, soul-deep weariness.
"Dignity is a luxury that weighs less than a fart when your stomach is empty," Xiao Yu panted, his voice raspy from the fumes. "Stop the commentary. If you're so enlightened, get down here and help me lift a bucket. This stuff in the sewer... I guarantee it's more 'concentrated' than any ancient blood you've ever tasted."
"Not a chance! I am a noble vampire!" Mia turned her head away with a haughty sniff. "Touching such filth would pollute my elegant soul for eternity!" As if on cue, her stomach let out a thunderous growl, utterly betraying her 'elegant' facade.
"Right. Very elegant," Xiao Yu grunted, waving a tired hand. "This job is nasty, but the reward is two loaves of black bread. Once we collect the pay, I'll give you an extra half-loaf. If you can just zip your mouth and let me finish digging this sludge in peace, you can be my 'great-grandmother' for all I care."
At the mention of a "half-loaf bonus," Mia's mismatched eyes lit up like polished gemstones. She immediately mimed zipping her lips shut, becoming as quiet as a church mouse.
After a full day of manual labor, the pair returned to their "luxurious" residence behind the stables. Since they lacked the funds for even the cheapest inn, the straw pile was their only refuge. Xiao Yu didn't even have the energy to peel off the Iron Plate robe. As the mud on the fabric dried, it turned stiff and brittle. He looked like a zombie trapped in a concrete pipe as he collapsed onto the straw.
THUD!
The heavy sound of the robe hitting the ground echoed in the silent night like a muffled bell. Within seconds, Xiao Yu's rhythmic, slightly gravelly snoring blended perfectly with Mia's mumbled dreams of "beef jerky."
While the two were dead to the world, a set of stumbling, unsteady footsteps accompanied by drunken muttering sliced through Xiao Yu's dream like a rusty saw. Xiao Yu frowned. The iron robe was poking him at every possible angle. He struggled to turn over—a maneuver that required the effort of flipping a capsized wagon. He cracked open one dead-fish eye and peered through the gaps in the straw.
He saw Pike, the mayor's dim-witted son, staggering back from the direction of the tavern. The man reeked of cheap ale, his expensive silk shirt was buttoned all wrong, and his face bore the lewd, satisfied grin of someone who had just emerged from a "professional lady's" bedroom.
"Hehe... Xiao Hong's waist... so soft..." Pike giggled to himself. With a pathetic Stamina of 5, he swayed like a boneless noodle. Suddenly, several shadows flickered in the darkness. Black-robed men emerged like predatory bats.
"Target spotted! That's him!"
"Stamina 5... it's slightly higher than the reported '3,' but it's definitely him! It must be a fluctuating value caused by the burst of growth from his secret training over the last few days! No doubt about it!"
The lead figure pulled out a compass emitting an eerie, pulsing purple light. Because the actual Hero, Xiao Yu, was currently lying in the straw less than five meters away, the needle was twitching and jerking violently toward Pike's back. To the fanatical cultists, this reaction was proof enough.
"The compass is reacting with such intensity! This is the Vessel! Quick, before he escapes!"
Before Pike's booze-addled brain could process what was happening, he was hoisted off the ground by two burly men. "Eh? Hey! Who are you? A robbery?" Pike's sobriety returned in a flash as tears and snot began to stream down his face. "My dad is the Mayor! I'm out of money! I'll pay the room fee tomorrow, just don't hit the face!"
"Stop the act, Great Hero!" the black-robed priest cried out with fanatical zeal, gripping Pike's chin. "To hide so deeply in this backwater town, using a tavern as your cover—your wisdom and camouflage command our respect! Come with us, the Master has been waiting for you!"
"I'm not! I'm really not!" Pike wailed like a two-hundred-pound toddler. "I just went to have some fun! I'm not a Hero! Heroes fight Demon Kings! I can't even beat my dad's old pig!"
"Still acting? Take him!"
The black-robed men ignored his pleas. They stuffed a foul-smelling, unwashed sock into Pike's mouth and hauled him over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes, vanishing into the night.
In the straw pile, Xiao Yu watched Pike's chubby legs kicking uselessly in the moonlight and gave a mental thumbs-up. "Brother Pike, I owe you one," Xiao Yu muttered to himself. He tightened the moldy iron robe around him, savoring the comforting scent of mildew, and found a slightly more comfortable position to close his eyes. "You are the most dedicated shield I've ever met. To repay you, I promise to dig two extra buckets of sludge in your honor next year. Goodnight, brother."