Golden hair.
Blue eyes.
A face that looked unfamiliar, not like someone from the Kurand Empire.
Anjenan’s gaze swept over the youth standing before him.
Moreover, he looked far too young.
The priest frowned slightly.
“So you are the one Leo mentioned who wiped out the kobold camp?”
He actually found it hard to believe that such a young youth could be one of the mages Leo had spoken of.
After all, in any country, mages were one of the rarest professions.
Under the pressure of money and effort, many young people who aspired to this noble occupation eventually gave up halfway.
Even those who stubbornly persisted usually ended up, if they lacked talent, as mere apprentices doing odd jobs and cleaning in high-tier mages’ towers.
They couldn’t even cast a few decent attack spells, let alone fight.
“It was me,” Ed said, trying his best to ignore the gaze of a certain girl behind him and nodding as steadily as possible. “To be precise, it was the four of us.”
Four people.
Anjenan remembered that the middle-aged adventurer who had been drunk since noon when he first inquired had indeed mentioned a team of four.
Two of them had been in town for some time, and Anjenan could somewhat claim to know them.
The young lady named Sylvia seemed to be a low-tier apothecary certified by the Apothecary Association.
As for the other young man, in Anjenan’s impression, he was only slightly braver than ordinary adventurers, capable of wielding a small knife or dagger and daring to venture alone near demon beast nests far from safe areas to gather information.
But those two didn’t look like the noble and powerful mages Leo had described at all.
So the remaining possibilities were these two unfamiliar faces.
Anjenan shifted his steps slightly to the side.
The short figure in the cloak entered his field of vision.
In other words, it was this golden-haired youth and that mysterious little girl behind him?
Two young spellcasting geniuses?
That sounded even more unbelievable.
The priest wanted to take a closer look at the secretive little girl to see what role she played, but the golden-haired youth suddenly moved as well, blocking his view once more.
“Priest, she is not convenient to meet people. Please understand,” the youth said in a steady voice.
Anjenan suddenly realized that his behavior might have been somewhat inappropriate for strangers.
“I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”
“It’s fine,” Ed shook his head. “However, please state your purpose.”
The priest fingered the golden pendant around his neck.
“I simply heard that a team of heroes had solved the major problem of the kobold camp and wanted to come see the heroes’ bearing for myself.”
“We’re hardly heroes. We just happened to be good at fighting,” Ed replied neutrally. “If that’s all you came for, Priest, then you may leave now.”
There was a faint sense of detachment and rejection in the youth’s voice.
Having seen all kinds of people over the years, Anjenan naturally understood what it meant.
He was unwilling to interact much with a clergyman like himself.
The priest sighed softly in his heart.
“Um, Mr. Ed, the priest is probably just curious and doesn’t mean any harm…”
The light purple-haired apothecary girl sensed the atmosphere was turning awkward and stepped forward to ease the tension.
“Priest is actually a very good person. Most of the injured in town are treated by him, and he rarely accepts payment from anyone…”
“Miss Sylvia, you don’t need to speak for me.”
The priest in the light white robe gently waved his hand.
“After all, I was the one who was rude first this time—Ed, may I call you that?”
The youth nodded silently.
The priest lowered his head.
“I apologize once again for my discourtesy.”
He raised his head again and stood straight. Paired with his neat white robe, his attitude appeared extremely sincere.
“Although it might be inappropriate to ask at a time like this, I still want to ask one question—of course, if you feel it’s difficult to answer, you may refuse.”
Seeing the priest’s sincere attitude, Ed only hesitated for less than half a second before nodding.
“Go ahead.”
“You and the little girl sitting at the table are both mages, correct?” the priest asked in a low voice.
The little girl who had buried her head deep within the circle of her arms seemed to tremble slightly.
“Yes.”
Ed answered calmly.
“Any other questions?”
Anjenan’s gaze remained locked on the youth, as if looking through him at the small figure behind.
“So young…”
He smiled warmly.
“Well, I have no more questions. I hope you can pull this town out of its quagmire.”
“We will do our best.”
“That’s wonderful. Until next time, Ed, and the unnamed mage lady.”
The priest drew a neat circle over his chest one last time, then turned and left.
“May the Holy Father’s light shine upon us both.”
His voice gradually faded until it disappeared into the wind.
“Whew~ He’s finally gone.”
The girl lifted her head out of the circle of her arms and let out a big sigh of relief.
“Miss Bailis, are you very afraid of priests?” Sylvia blinked.
“It’s not that I’m very afraid…”
The girl slightly raised her hood, revealing her crimson eyes.
“I just don’t like him very much,” she mumbled.
“Hmm… The priest has always had a very good reputation in town. He might have just been too anxious. I hope Miss Bailis won’t dislike him because of this.”
“It’s not for that reason… Ugh, anyway, I just don’t like him.”
“Oh…”
As if trying to change the subject, the girl turned to look at the golden-haired youth who was still standing there stiffly.
“You… why are you still standing there?” As she spoke, her voice gradually grew softer. “Hurry up and find a seat.”
“You’re not angry anymore?”
The youth asked with his back to her.
“I was pretty angry at first.”
Bailis watched as the youth turned around, looking like he didn’t dare meet her eyes while clutching his golden hair.
She suddenly let out a soft laugh.
“Who told you to call me a child? But now…”
The girl grabbed his hand and, under the youth’s surprised gaze, pulled him down to sit beside her.
“As long as you’re still by my side, I can’t stay mad at all.”
“My, my.”
Sylvia stood up.
“I just remembered I promised Kelta we would prepare supplies together, so I’ll head out first.”
Then, under Ed’s pleading gaze, she smiled brightly and walked out of the inn.
“Don’t worry, I really aren’t angry anymore.”
Bailis shifted her chair closer so she could sit nearer to Ed.
“Anyway, in just two more years, you won’t be able to say ‘you’re still too young’ anymore, right?”
“Th-this…”
“Hmm?”
“Y-yeah, I guess so.” The youth stammered.
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