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Rohan then understood that this was Mai's revenge. He tried to convince the four men to stop following him, giving several valid arguments, but they just ignored him. 

This meant that on the first day it happened, Rohan couldn't pick up any runes. He was forced to use the extra runes he had managed to get over the last few days to pay for his room and food for the day.

The next day, he explained his situation to Welli.

Welli said, "It really is a bad situation you're in."

Rohan said, "Yes. There's no way I can compete with four other people for the white runes. One of them will always get to it before me."

"Hm, if it wasn't forbidden, I could force them to stop."

"Well, if it wasn't forbidden, they'd use it against me too."

"That's true. You're probably the weakest of the men here."

"Yes."

"Even some of the girls are stronger than you."

"That's true."

"If we look at it objectively, perhaps you could even be considered the weakest person here."

"... All right, Welli, I get your point. Now, help me think about how to get out of this situation."

"All right."

The two began to discuss various methods of getting rid of the people chasing Rohan until they came up with an idea that they both considered good and that might work.

Rohan said, "Let's hope it works."

Welli said, "Don't worry, Rohan. I told you I'll help you. I'm sure everything will work out."

"I hope so."

The next day, Rohan put the strategy into practice, which surprised his pursuers. The plan was quite simple. Rohan simply wouldn't go into the forest to look for the runes. That way, his pursuers wouldn't get any runes either, and since he was only one person and they were four, it would be much worse for them.

At first, they stood near Rohan to see if he intended to move, but after much of the night had passed and Rohan remained standing in the same place, they finally understood that he didn't intend to leave.

One of them then said, "What now? What do we do? I have some runes saved, but I still need to get some more to complete today's meals."

Another man said, "Me too."

The four of them then spent some time arguing until they reached a consensus. Two of them would go out to collect runes while the other two would keep watch over Rohan.

Two of them then headed off into the forest, and on seeing this, Rohan thought, 'Looks like they're going to be pretty careful. Well, let's see how long that lasts.'

After a while, the two men returned from the forest and shared their white runes with the other two who remained. Unfortunately, because of the time they lost at the beginning, the number of runes they managed to find wasn't enough for all of them to get their rooms and meals, which meant that some of them had to use the runes they had saved.

As for Rohan, although he didn't go out to look for runes, Welli had already agreed to pay his expenses while the problem continued.

The next day, Rohan did the same thing, and then the men split into two groups again, with two of them going into the forest and two of them staying to keep an eye on Rohan. The day passed, and the men returned from the forest, but even though they had left early, they still didn't have enough runes for everyone.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done, and they would need to use the runes they had saved again.

While the men were taking their runes out to pay for their room and food, Rohan said, "How strange that you couldn't get enough runes. Even I, who am very slow, can pick up about eight white runes a day if no one gets in my way."

One of the men then said, "What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

Rohan said, "Nothing. I just said it's a bit strange."

The men looked in Rohan's direction, understanding what he was planning to do, and ignored him. They started towards the shelter, but Rohan said to one of the men who had gone into the forest that day, "Hey, you dropped one of your runes."

They all looked in the direction he had pointed and saw that there was indeed a rune on the ground near one of them. The man then said, "That rune isn't mine. You probably put it here to create discord between us, but that won't work."

He then took the rune and headed towards the shelter with the other men.

Seeing this, Rohan thought, 'That's what we're going to see,' and then waited for Welli to return.

The next day, the men followed the same strategy, and by the end of the day, they again didn't have enough runes for all of them.

When Rohan saw this, he laughed and said nothing more.

Seeing this, one of the men who had been keeping watch questioned one of the men who had gone into the forest and said, "You didn't get enough white runes again? What's going on?"

The man then said, "I don't know either, but it's harder to find white runes than usual."

"... All right, there's nothing to be done. Let's go back to the shelter, and we'll discuss it there."

The four of them then returned to the shelter, and Rohan thought, 'It looks like another day or two should solve the problem.'

The next day, unlike before, three of the men went into the forest.

Seeing this, Rohan said to the man who had stayed behind, "Hey, did you guys decide to change your strategy?"

The man then said, "Yes, but don't worry. Even with only me here, you still won't be able to pick up any runes. After all, I'm the fastest of the four of us."

Rohan said, "Got it." and then stood silently in the same place, but he was anxious in his head as he thought, 'It's finally going to start.'

The day then passed, and the three men returned from the forest.

The man who had been watching Rohan then said, "How was it there? How many runes did you get?"

The two who always went into the forest said, "Eight runes." "Nine runes."

"I see, what about you? How was your first day in the forest?" he asked the man who always stayed with him to keep an eye on Rohan.

The man looked strange, which prompted the other man to ask again, "What's wrong? Did something go wrong? How many runes did you get?"

The man then said, while looking with what seemed to be a little anger in the direction of the men who always entered the forest, "I found sixteen white runes."

"Sixteen? How did you find so many runes?"

"... Well, while I was exploring the forest, I found ten runes. Soon after that, as I had already beaten my goal for the day, I decided to go towards the other two to help them find more runes, but that's when I saw something on the path they had taken."

Upon hearing this, Rohan couldn't help but give a small smile from the corner of his mouth.

The man who had stayed behind asked, "Hm? What did you see?"

"There were some lumps of earth that had clearly been moved. I decided to check some of them out, and then I found some runes buried there."

Right after he said this, he fell silent, and then the man who had stayed said while looking at the two who always went into the forest, "Are you serious?! You were hiding runes?!"

One of them then said, "Of course not! What are you talking about?! Why would we hide runes?!"

"Don't play dumb! You were taking advantage of this situation to accumulate runes for yourselves!"

"Of course not! We really didn't hide those runes!"

"Say no more. From tomorrow, I'm going into the forest, too."

"If you do that, who will be watching him?"

"I don't know. If any of you want to stay, feel free."

The man then went towards the shelter, and gradually, the other men went too.

Rohan thought, 'Looks like I'm finally free again.'

Some time passed, and Welli returned from the forest.

He approached Rohan and said, "So? How was it?"

Rohan said, "Perfect. From tomorrow, I should be able to look for the runes again."

"Hahaha, good. Looks like our strategy worked."

"Yes, it worked perfectly."

The men who were entering the forest were telling the truth. They weren't hiding any runes. They were really only finding eight or nine runes every time they entered the forest, and the reason for this was quite simple. Welli was deliberately picking up the runes on their way.

Before they entered the forest, Welli would watch them to see which direction they planned to take. Then, he would run ahead along the path they were taking and pick up as many white runes as possible, leaving a few along the way so that they wouldn't get suspicious.

Now, as for the runes hidden in the earth, Welli left them there, too. He positioned them so that a person who wasn't paying close attention wouldn't be able to find them, which worked on the men who always entered the forest but not on the other man who had only entered that day.

This was because Rohan had planted a seed of mistrust in the minds of the men who kept watch over him. As a result, when one of them entered the forest, he was much more attentive, even looking for any place where the other two men might be hiding the runes.

Welli said, "Well, let's get back to the shelter. Fortunately, today is the last day I'll have to pay for your things."

Rohan said, "Hahaha, that's true. It's a shame. I was enjoying standing around while you worked."

"Hahaha, get ready to work twice as hard now. You intend to pay me back for the runes I spent on you, don't you?"

"Hey, what about our friendship?"

"It'll stay strong as long as you pay me."

"Hahaha, you bet. I'll pay you. I'll even give you extra for your help."

"That's great. I can't wait, hahaha."