Chapter 8: Traces

Royal capital Hilos, the slums.

This was the most chaotic and poorest place in the royal capital.

In this area that had spontaneously formed around Hilos City, guards’ figures were absent most of the time. 

Thus, thieves were regular visitors here, and drunks were as common as roadside mud.

A passing bard once evaluated Hilos’s slums like this:

“I’d rather live in the wilderness, kissed on the throat by wild beasts, than in this filthy, chaotic, stinking swamp!”

But even in such a repulsive environment, there were occasionally moments of relative peace.

Like now.

Two men, one tall and one short, were chatting idly by the street.

Normally at this time, they were either stealing or pouring cheap alcohol down their throats, trying to numb themselves, and definitely not standing idly by the roadside like this.

But this wasn’t because they didn’t want to—it was because the city’s guards had increased a lot lately. 

Stealing casually could easily get them caught and thrown into jail.

“Times are tough,” the tall man sighed.

“Just hang in there. They can’t keep so many guards forever. Our young king will feel the pain of that expense,” the short man followed up.

The tall man wanted to say something more when a hand suddenly appeared from behind, patting his shoulder.

The interrupted man turned his head and saw it was a young guy with golden hair. 

A trace of impatience appeared on his face.

“What do you want with Master Kurt, kid?” 

He flexed his wrist, asking in an unfriendly tone. 

“I’m bored anyway—you’d better not be looking for a beating.”

The golden-haired youth was Ed, who had come to the slums to search for the witch. 

He was too lazy to say extra words and directly pulled out a parchment from his bosom, shaking it open in front of the man.

“Do me a favor. Have you seen the person on this?”

Hearing Ed’s request, Kurt finally turned fully, but didn’t look at the parchment. 

Instead, he carefully examined the person in front of him.

A wide black cloak wrapped the body tightly, making it impossible to see if any deadly weapons were hidden underneath.

Shifting his gaze up, a youthful face with a hint of immaturity appeared in view. 

Although it was filled with fatigue, Kurt knew well that this fatigue likely didn’t stem from the same cause as his own rotting and stinking existence in the slums.

Probably some young master from a family out for fun. Kurt thought disdainfully.

He spat, the saliva flying to the ground, making the youth frown.

“Kid, why should I help you?”

“Kurt!” 

The short man anxiously tugged at Kurt’s ragged clothes. 

“We can’t afford to mess with this kind…”

“So what if we get thrown in jail? The heat’s on lately—might as well hide out there.”

But strangely, the youth showed no signs of anger at their words. 

He just nodded knowingly, then opened his other hand.

Shiny copper coins lay quietly in his palm, reflecting greedy light under the sun.

“With these, is it enough?”

“…”

In the viscous silence, the man’s gradually heavier breathing became clearer.

“Easy, easy—it’s just recognizing someone! Let me take a look for you!”

Kurt laughed heartily.

At the same time, he shifted his feet, trying to block the view from behind.

“Kurt, I saw it all.”

“Scram, scram—this has nothing to do with you, Warren, you bastard! Get lost!” 

Kurt impatiently pushed the man’s extending face back.

“This isn’t fair!” 

The short man shouted. 

“What if I’ve seen her too?”

“Come on, young master, let me help you see who you’re looking for.” 

Kurt ignored the short man called Warren, eagerly leaning in front of Ed.

Ed’s gaze circled between the two, then he suddenly spoke.

“I’ve changed my mind. Both of you take a look. Whoever recognizes the person on it, I’ll give the money to. Of course—”

He paused, lifting a corner of his cloak to reveal the black scabbard. 

“If I find out you’re trying to deceive me, don’t blame me for being impolite.”

The tall and short men exchanged a glance.

“Fine!” they said together.

Ed shrugged and lifted the paper a bit higher for them to see more easily.

“Me first!”

Kurt rushed up first.

The tall man stared at the portrait on the parchment. 

After a good while, he slowly nodded, then shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Ed frowned. “Seen means seen, not seen means not seen.”

“Um…” 

Kurt awkwardly turned his face away.

He couldn’t say he hadn’t seen her but wanted the money anyway.

Seeing Kurt stammering without a word, Ed sighed helplessly.

“You there, take a look.”

“Aye, got it!” 

The short man pushed aside the unhappy Kurt, excitedly shoving his face in front of the parchment.

“Such a pretty little chick,” he blurted out.

Ed rubbed his forehead with his free hand.

“I’m asking you to recognize the person, not to judge if she’s pretty.”

The short man smiled awkwardly and turned his gaze back to the parchment.

But soon, he shook his head with a struggling expression.

“Haven’t… haven’t seen her.”

“…Fine.” Ed nodded unsurprised and rolled up the parchment again.

Seeing the youth about to leave, both panicked.

“Hey, hey, wait—let us look again, maybe…”

“No need.” 

Ed waved his hand and pulled out copper coins from his bosom, slapping them into each man’s hand. 

“Take them.”

“Oh, you’re such a kind-hearted lord!”

“A great benefactor!”

“One, two, three… nine, ten. Haha, no going hungry for the next few days!”

Amid the unrestrained laughter of the tall and short men, Ed sighed numbly.

Including these two, in the past two days, he had asked over forty people.

But no progress.

In this headless fly-like random searching, finding the witch didn’t seem easy.

If he used gold coins, could it speed up the search?

But he had promised that “adventurer companion” not to use gold coins easily unless absolutely necessary.

Frowning in thought for a while, Ed finally decided that if there were no results by nightfall, he’d return to the Adventurers’ Guild and discuss with that “companion” again.

With the goal set, he turned and left the area.

Ed looked up at the sky. 

In the occasionally cloud-covered sky, the dim orange sun hung slantingly behind the clouds. 

Soon, it would sink below the lined houses along with the last faint light.

At that time, what would be left for this city’s slums was hours of darkness.

Additionally, Hilos’s weather had been poor these past few days, with rain being common.

Tonight was probably no exception.

In such an environment, finding the witch was like a fool’s dream.

Ed sighed.

“Better head back first.”

But as he passed a fork in the road, a somewhat hurried footstep suddenly sounded from the corner, rapidly approaching his direction.

“Again.”

Ed’s hand touched the sword hilt. 

He was even getting used to it—people in the slums mostly didn’t care about your identity; they only cared if you had money on you.

But this time, what appeared in his eyes wasn’t some vicious man with a homemade dagger, but a small cloaked figure in grayish-brown.

A child?

Watching the figure barely reaching his neck running toward him, Ed frowned.

He rubbed the sword hilt but finally decided not to act yet, to see what this child was up to.

“Move, move!” Seeing Ed blocking the way, the person shouted in panic.

Hm…

Didn’t seem like a robbery.

Ed relaxed and subconsciously stepped aside, letting the person pass quickly.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but as the cloaked person passed, they seemed to cast a grateful look at him.

Ed scratched his golden hair, not thinking much of it—just a child rushing home before the rain.

But after walking a few more steps, he suddenly stopped in place.

In the distance, several clearly angry rough voices grew clearer, mixed with chaotic footsteps.

One, two, three, four—four people.

What were they up to this time?

“Where did she run to?”

“Seems like this way!”

“Chase fast—don’t let her escape!”

Ed narrowed his eyes. Chasing someone? Chasing that child earlier?

The footsteps grew closer. Soon, several burly men with sticks or knives appeared in front.

Ed sized up the few in front of him.

Honestly, their faces didn’t look like good people, and they held miscellaneous weapons.

The leading man looked left and right, then cursed.

“Damn, she can really run.”

He turned to the youth standing there with arms crossed. 

“Hey, did you see anyone run past just now?”

“Haven’t seen.” 

Ed chose to lie with his eyes open, following his instinct.

The leading man flashed his knife. 

“Kid, I did see her run this way. You’d better tell the truth, or don’t blame us for being rude!”

To this, Ed just gripped the sword hilt at his waist.

A snowy white chill flashed, then vanished abruptly.

“Maybe if you describe it more clearly, I’ll remember.”

The leading man felt the person in front was purely stalling, but thinking of that instant chill, he suddenly couldn’t say any harsh words.

The man irritably scratched his hair and pulled someone from behind to the front.

“Horn, you’ve seen her! Tell him what that thief looks like!”

The man called Horn looked not young, with a short, uneven beard. He scratched his head in distress.

“Let me think… Hair seemed silver…”

Ed’s brow suddenly raised.

“Um… What color were the eyes? Oh, red!”

Horn suddenly felt the youth’s aura change—from lazy to serious abruptly.

“You’re sure?” 

Ed asked deeply.

“Sure… sure, I saw it with my own eyes!”

“Silver hair, crimson eyes…” Ed murmured softly, then smiled gently. 

“Then you’re in luck—I just saw her go that way.”

He pointed in a certain direction. 

But it wasn’t the way the grayish-brown figure had fled.

“Really?” The leading man’s face lit up.

“Of course—I never lie.” Ed nodded solemnly.

The leading man sized up Ed for a while, glanced at the pitch-black scabbard, and finally just snorted heavily.

“I remember your face. If you dare trick us, we’ll see about that!” With that, he waved to the few behind. 

“Let’s go! Don’t let that thief run again!”

The noisy footsteps sounded again, but this time, they grew farther from Ed. 

Soon, only the youth remained in the alley.

In the twilight glow, Ed gazed in the direction they left, his hand slowly lifting from the sword hilt, drawing the sword from the scabbard.

“The witch, huh.” 

He murmured. 

“We really are lucky.”