Time Travel? Rebirth? I Win This Time!

The guards slowly closed in on Anna and Mike Bai, eyeing the two children like frightened quails. In their overconfidence, they carelessly set their spears aside. The guards chuckled lecherously, and one of them even thought to himself that the young boy wasn't half bad-looking—he'd never had the pleasure of that kind of experience.

Just as one of the guards was about to reach out, lost in his vile fantasies, Mike Bai struck.

A lightning-fast kick shot out, landing directly between the guard's legs, and the guard's perverse dreams were shattered in an instant. The intense pain left him incapable of thinking, his lecherous grin transforming into incoherent groans, his body folding forward as though bowing.

With the guard's neck now exposed, Mike Bai swiftly drew a hidden iron-tipped arrow from behind and drove it deep into the guard's throat. The dull arrowhead painfully tore through his blood vessels and windpipe—blood erupted in a torrent, silencing the guard's moans, replaced only by the sound of air bubbles and gurgles.

The tax collector, who had been fantasizing about how much he could sell the young girl for, was jolted from his reverie by a horrific scream. He scowled at the wooden cabin, initially thinking one of his guards had accidentally killed a child.

"If that girl's hurt, we won't get a good price for her," he muttered anxiously, worried about the consequences. Just then, the door to the cabin creaked open.

It was as though a demon had emerged from the depths of hell. Mike Bai, drenched in blood, stepped into the light, holding a spear.

Both the tax collector and the remaining guard were frozen in shock. They'd assumed that one guard could easily overpower two children, but they hadn't anticipated being overpowered themselves.

"There's been some mistake," the tax collector muttered, fear creeping into his voice. His survival instinct kicked in as he pointed at Mike Bai and barked at his guard, "Go! Attack him!"

The guard hesitated, swallowing hard. He took slow, deliberate steps toward Mike Bai. After all, he was used to bullying defenseless farmers, enjoying the company of young village girls, and watching them cower. But this was different. Mike Bai was no ordinary child—he was a killer.

Still, the guard reasoned that he could probably overpower him.

Mike Bai, eyes cold, spat on the ground in contempt. Then, he raised his spear and charged toward the guard.

"Uncle Otto, what's the secret to using a spear?" Mike Bai had once asked.

"Strike first, before your opponent can," Otto had replied.

Those words rang clearly in Mike Bai's mind at that moment.

As the guard frantically thrust his spear forward, Mike Bai moved with lightning speed. His hand on the spear's shaft was as steady as a snake coiling to strike. With a sudden twist, Mike Bai launched the spear, and it flew straight into the guard's chest, faster than the eye could follow.

The guard's body convulsed, but it was already too late. Mike Bai's spear had punctured his vital organs, and with a final, futile groan, the guard slumped to the ground, lifeless. Blood sprayed, covering Mike Bai as he stood over the corpse.

"Monster!" the tax collector screamed. He had never witnessed such brutality, especially not from a child. In blind panic, he turned and fled, not even caring about the unconscious Ginn lying on the ground. His only thought was to escape into the forest.

Ginn, still recovering from the shock, looked up just in time to see Mike Bai, drenched in blood, standing before him. His breath caught in his throat.

"Give me your axe," Mike Bai said coldly.

Ginn, frozen in fear, watched as Mike Bai snatched the axe from his hands. Mike Bai took a moment to aim before pulling the axe back like a bowstring, then flung it with all his might. The axe spun through the air in a deadly arc, embedding itself deeply into the tax collector's back.

The tax collector screamed in agony, crumpling to the ground, but he continued to crawl forward in a desperate attempt to escape. He tried to rise, but a boot pressed firmly on his shoulder, pinning him down.

Unable to turn his head, the tax collector knew instinctively that the owner of that boot was a killer with no hesitation.

"Please don't kill me! I have a lot of money!" he pleaded, panic rising in his voice.

Mike Bai, his eyes cold as steel, looked down at the tax collector and raised his spear high. "You didn't show mercy to Anna, did you?"

"Please…" The tax collector started to beg, but before he could finish, a spear pierced his mouth, ending his miserable life in an instant.

Mike Bai collected the heavy purse of coins and turned back toward the cabin.

By now, Ginn had regained his senses, struggling to push himself upright. His gaze locked onto the bloody hand Mike Bai extended toward him.

"Stop staring and get up," Mike Bai ordered casually.

It felt like a command from a demon, and Ginn, trembling, obeyed immediately.

"Enno... You..." Ginn was still in disbelief, looking at the child who had so effortlessly taken down three fully grown men.

"Well, when you're out in the world, you run into bandits and thieves. If you don't learn a thing or two to defend yourself, you'd be lucky to leave with your pants," Mike Bai shrugged indifferently.

Ginn, still trying to process the carnage, nodded weakly. But as his eyes fell on the bodies around them, his stomach churned.

"Ugh!" Ginn couldn't hold it in any longer and vomited to the side.

Mike Bai, unbothered by the gruesome scene, gave Ginn a disdainful look. He had seen death so many times it hardly fazed him.

After a moment, Ginn steadied himself, his gaze shifting to Mike Bai. There was awe in his eyes now.

For his part, Mike Bai didn't seem to care. He had witnessed countless deaths before, and this was nothing more than a minor scene in his eyes.

"Where's the water? I need to clean up," Mike Bai muttered, wiping blood off his hands and changing into a fresh set of clothes.

Afterwards, he casually counted the loot—120 silver dinars from the tax collector, another 30 silver dinars from the guards, and some copper coins.

"We've got some travel money now," Mike Bai said, tossing the coin pouch into the air. The sound of the coins clinking was sharp in the silence.

"That's great! So, should we head to Genia now?" Ginn asked, his voice full of excitement.

"No," Mike Bai shook his head. "We're going west. If Baron March finds out his tax collector has been killed, he'll send people to search the area. If we head east, we'll be in Imperial territory. Who knows if the baron has relatives there who could help him. If we get caught, it'll be all over."

He paused, then added with a confident smile, "But if we go west, we'll reach the Kingdom of France. No one there will care if we killed someone from the Empire. And from there, we can still make it to Genia."

"The Kingdom of France?" Ginn was taken aback. He had never been far from home and had trouble even imagining traveling to a place like Marseille.

Mike Bai gave a sly grin and tossed out another possibility.

"You might even have a chance to live your knight dream along the way."