The World is in Chaos.

And when chaos reigns, there is always a certain profession that comes to mind.

"Hey, Charles! Keep your eyes peeled!"

"Shut up, you hulking gorilla. I know what I'm doing."

That profession was none other than banditry.

It was an inevitable consequence of chaotic times. After all, when wars were frequent, there was little time to farm, leading naturally to poor harvests.

Moreover, with monsters frequently descending and wreaking havoc on the fields.

Unless you were a peasant in a large kingdom.

The residents of small villages had no way to survive except by turning to banditry.

Of course.

This didn’t apply to Charles and Dance.

They just seemed to fit the role of bandits as if they were born for it.

With Charles’s keen eyes spotting people crossing the mountains and crafting plans, and Dance beginning the banditry with his massive frame.

Despite appearances, they were relatively mild-mannered bandits.

They only took half of people’s belongings and didn’t harm anyone.

Banditry was just a way of life, and so was passing through the mountains. Their main goal was simply to ask for a small ‘donation’ of property.

Ironically, they were completely unaware that their non-lethal habits meant that the kingdom didn’t bother sending a hunting party after them.

And so, the brothers were sitting idly on the mountain again today, their eyes peeled for any new targets.

"Agh… Banditry hasn't been going well lately. Should we just head back to the village?"

"What are you talking about, you gorilla? Our village burned down. Don’t you remember?"

"Oh, right."

Dance scratched his head.

Now that he thought about it, that was true.

The reason they started banditry in the first place was that after spending their days hunting boars in the mountains, they returned to find their village completely burned down.

Not that they had much attachment to the village.

It wasn’t like there were any villagers left, since everyone had fled when they were children, leaving only Dance and Charles behind.

Anyway.

Since the place they called home had burned down, they decided to leave and wander the land.

Eventually, they became bandits.

And they were relatively satisfied with that life.

"Hey, hey! Someone’s coming!"

"Where?!"

At Charles’s shout, Dance, who had been lazily lying down, jumped up and looked around. But all he saw was the dense forest. Charles, grabbing Dance's head and fixing his gaze, pointed it out.

"There, do you see it?"

"Oh, ohhh!"

He did see it.

A small group of people riding in a carriage.

But the strange thing was, there was no horse in front of the carriage. There was no horse or driver, yet the carriage was moving on its own.

"Is that a monster?"

"Idiot, that’s an automated carriage."

"A what now?"

"Ugh, you idiot! It’s just a very expensive carriage that moves on its own!"

"Oh, I see."

As he exclaimed in realization, Charles noticed something peculiar.

As he had mentioned.

That automated carriage was incredibly expensive.

Not just expensive, but absurdly so. Rumor had it that you would have to sell an entire village to buy one of those.

So while carriages were generally the privilege of nobles.

Automated carriages were even more exclusive.

Naturally, such a carriage should have been surrounded by a dense guard. Whether it was automated or not, it wasn’t capable of fighting on its own.

But there was no guard.

There weren’t even armored knights, mercenaries, or even a beggar acting as a bodyguard—nothing at all.

"That’s strange…."

Operating such an expensive carriage without a guard?

"What’s strange about it?! It’s a gold mine waiting for us!"

"Hey, hey! Gorilla! Hold on a second!!"

But Dance, who paid no mind to such things, had already charged ahead.

Charles had no choice but to follow him.

'Well, it’s good that there’s no guard.'

Such careless thoughts were common among bandits who didn’t think too deeply.

"Hey there! Hold up a second!!"

The massive Dance, who had rushed ahead in an instant, blocked the path of the carriage. The giant, over two meters tall, stood in front of the carriage, which seemed to recognize him and automatically came to a halt.

He had been ready to block it with his own body if necessary.

But it turned out the carriage was smarter than he thought.

Nodding in approval, Dance shouted loudly.

"I am the bandit Dance! Pay the toll, and I’ll let you pass!"

"Hurry up, get out here!"

Charles, who had quickly joined Dance, shouted as well, and their booming voices echoed through the forest. The sound was so loud that the birds resting nearby flapped their wings and took to the sky.

The quiet carriage.

As they stared at the silent carriage, Dance whispered to Charles.

"Hey, do you think there's any money in there?"

"Well, it’s an automated carriage, so they must have money. Why?"

"I’m just wondering if something so small could fit a person."

As he said, the automated carriage was quite small.

Aside from the entrance door, it seemed like the minimum size possible had been achieved, making it a very compact carriage.

From a distance, they had thought it looked small due to the distance, but it wasn’t. The carriage was genuinely tiny.

"Sigh… It feels wrong to rob them."

Dance considered this.

The automated carriage must be extremely expensive.

But it was also very small.

And without any guards or mercenaries, it was just the carriage rattling around on its own.

Naturally, this was enough to ignite their imagination.

"Could it be a fallen noble?"

"What?"

"You know, like in those stories. A rebellion suddenly breaks out in their family! With no choice but to flee in a small carriage after losing their parents in the rebellion!"

"Oh, look at you, using your head for once?"

"Haha, this is nothing."

Under normal circumstances, such talk would be dismissed as nonsense.

But Dance's words were unexpectedly sharp.

Considering the fact that despite being an expensive automated carriage, there were no guards, and it seemed too small to hold anyone, his guess about a fleeing noble was not entirely implausible.

"Hmm… It does seem a bit pitiful…."

"Hmm… Certainly…."

Sporting a scruffy beard.

The over two-meter-tall, hulking bandit hesitated.

Dance, who looked like he could crush ghosts along with bandits, surprisingly had a soft heart. He was so hesitant to kill animals that when he caught one, Charles had to be the one to finish it off.

One of the reasons they never killed people was also largely due to Dance’s reluctance.

On the other hand, Charles was short.

He kept his beard neatly trimmed, and his height was just about the average for a grown man.

With his relatively intellectual appearance, one would hardly guess he was a brother to the hulking Dance, given their differences.

The one thing they shared.

Was a surprisingly tender heart.

Of course, Charles didn’t mind when it came to animals… but when it came to other humans, it was hard to ignore.

"Maybe we should just let them go?"

Dance’s whispered suggestion.

Charles pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"Well, banditry has been pretty profitable lately. We can afford to skip a few days."

In truth, they weren’t that well off.

They were poor enough that they’d have to survive on leaves in a few days.

But surely, they were better off than a fallen noble.

Just as the two of them were about to step aside.

——Clatter!

The carriage door opened.

"……!!"

Who could it be?

They stared at the door with tense anticipation.

——Wriggle, wriggle.

"……??"

Something small wriggled out of the open carriage door.

"A worm…?"

That was their first thought.

But it was actually a very small snake.

It had whiskers and ears, making it look less like a snake, but its small size didn’t raise much concern.

One question remained.

Why on earth was a snake emerging from there?

As the two of them stared blankly at the snake.

It opened its mouth and took something out.

"Th-that’s!!"

"Gold coins!!"

It was a gold coin.

One so valuable that you could probably buy a whole building with it.

It was their first time seeing one.

Even though they had been bandits for quite some time, they had never come across a gold coin.

That’s how rare gold coins were.

The sight of the gold coin caused greed to flicker in their eyes.

"Can we… take it?"

Dance muttered unintentionally.

The snake nodded.

With cautious hands, Dance picked up the gold coin.

It was genuine.

Not just a coin painted in gold, but an actual gold coin.

It was a windfall.

At the same time, seeing the snake wriggle back into the carriage, greed began to rise again.

If it was willing to part with a gold coin so easily.

How many more gold coins could there be inside that carriage?

But they decided against it.

The gold coin alone was already more than enough of a haul for them.

"Please… continue on your way."

"Travel safely!!"

Charles and Dance cleared the path.

The carriage moved slowly through the gap they had made and departed.

"I never thought I’d see something like this in my life."

"A snake crawls out and spits out a gold coin—if you’d told me this a few days ago, I’d have slapped you."

The two bandits.

Grinning widely, pocketed the gold coin.

It was a lucky day.