Chapter 11: Audrey’s Curiosity

Lina sobbed uncontrollably as she hugged the recovered orange cat, and her family offered a basket of eggs and a bag of flour as thanks.

However, having acquired Tree Body Sprint and the Poison Lizard as spoils, he wasn’t particularly concerned about those rewards.

After some polite refusal, he finally accepted, mentally calculating how many cakes he could make from the eggs and flour.

But his mind wasn’t on that at all right now.

On the way back, during a casual chat with Ailya, he learned that Tree Crown Venom Lizards rarely ventured to the outer edges to hunt.

Due to their agility in the trees, the depths of the Misty Forest were their primary activity zone.

Besides, he hadn’t run into any Knight Order members scouting the forest on his return.

These monsters were becoming more active. If they broke out of the Misty Forest, the first to suffer would be those living on the town’s outskirts.

A faint unease settled in his heart, but since things had come this far, he decided to eat first.

Meanwhile, at the Town Lord’s Mansion.

Audrey Wyatt was frowning at a map spread out across the table.

“Is there any word from the Third Reconnaissance Squad?”

Standing beside Audrey, a dark elf with gray-purple skin was intently studying a roll of parchment in her hands.

Her name was Raelin Wyatt, Audrey’s adjutant, a Dark Elf.

On the parchment she held, words kept appearing one by one, then piecing themselves together.

“We’ve received word. Originally four knights, but three more from the Kingdom joined along the way, making seven in total for the rescue.”

“The monsters dragged the Third Reconnaissance Squad into the central area of the Misty Forest, costing us a whole day to extract them.”

“Two of the three knights from the Third Squad are dead, one is critically injured and unconscious. Only a knight named Jack from the Kingdom survived, with minor injuries.”

“What about our people?”

Audrey’s delicate brows furrowed even more. Although these soldiers assigned to the reconnaissance squad weren’t directly under her command, they were still comrades.

“Squad Leader Hai Er is seriously injured, the other three have minor wounds, and one horse has mysteriously disappeared.”

Audrey lightly tapped the wooden table. The casualties were higher than she’d anticipated, but at least her subordinates were safe.

“Details? What kind of monster?”

Raelin looked seriously at the newly formed sentence on the parchment and said:

“It was a Berserk Mode Wind Wolf. Three adults.”

Audrey nodded, then made another mark on the map. There were already three similar marks.

This marked the fourth instance of abnormal monster activity.

“Captain, I think something’s off.” Raelin hesitated before speaking up. “The berserk patterns of these monsters are very similar…”

“It doesn’t seem to be caused by natural factors, does it?” Audrey finished Raelin’s sentence for her.

She stared at the red dots marked on the map, lost in thought.

When connected, those red dots formed a semicircle, guarding some area deep in the forest.

Audrey was a bit surprised. “That thing is protecting itself.”

By then, Raelin had put away the parchment. Leaning in at Audrey’s words, she whispered curiously:

“Master, what exactly are we out here to retrieve?”

Audrey shook her head with some frustration. She herself didn’t know what they were supposed to find.

She even suspected that the people above her didn’t know what the target looked like.

After all, the clearest information she’d been given was, “The target is very brightly colored and clearly of great value.”

They hadn’t even told her if it was alive or dead.

Audrey looked at Raelin’s cold, beautiful face so close to hers, then raised her hand and flicked her lightly on the forehead.

“How many times have I told you? Don’t call me ‘Master’ outside. Call me ‘Captain.'”

Raelin covered her forehead, verbally complying, but inwardly felt a thrill of joy.

‘Master flicked my forehead. It hurt a little, but it felt so good. I want her to touch me again.’

Audrey sat down on the sofa, poured tea for herself and Raelin, and changed the subject.

“By the way, has there been anything noteworthy in the town lately?”

Raelin thought for a moment, then replied, “There’s one rumor that’s quite interesting.”

“There’s a young man in town. They say he knows some magic, can help style hair, bake bread, and even block out sound interference.”

Audrey set down her teacup, curious. “Block out sound interference?”

“Yeah. An old man in town asked him to set up a Soundproof Barrier.”

For a mage, styling hair and baking bread were trivial tasks.

Many mages had probably last baked bread during their academy days, when instructors taught them how to control their mana.

But soundproof magic was something only mages at Tier 3 and above could do.

No wonder Audrey was puzzled. The jump from styling hair to soundproof magic was quite a leap.

Audrey grew interested in the rumor. She lightly brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and asked curiously:

“Where did you hear this rumor?”

“This morning, a girl was going around calling the young man the ‘Great Detective.’ She said he helped her find her cat, which had run into the forest.”

“Then I went and looked into him a bit.”

“The Great Detective?” Audrey raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.

“Kids might exaggerate, but they say he found it in just one morning.”

Raelin seriously recalled Lina’s cute face and couldn’t help but smile.

“And the cat supposedly ran into the forest. That young man even hunted and brought back a Poison Lizard.”

Audrey’s fingers paused slightly. She said softly, “He went into the forest?”

Raelin remembered then that civilians were forbidden from entering the forest by official notice. But she didn’t dare jump to conclusions and said cautiously:

“I only heard about it. I’m not clear on the specifics.”

“But… there’s something coincidental. On their way back, Hai Er and the others found traces that looked like a fight.”

Audrey nodded and poured another cup of tea for herself and Raelin.

She hadn’t relaxed in a long time. One of her worries had been about finding a guide, but it seemed like that would soon be resolved.

A young man who could enter the forest and return safely, and who knew magic.

Seeing Audrey’s relaxed brow, Raelin instantly guessed her thoughts. She asked curiously, “Master, do you want to meet him?”

“No rush.” Audrey took a sip of tea, her pink lips parting slightly. “Let’s wait and see. Hai Er and the others need time to recover from their injuries too.”

“Besides, this town’s Harvest Festival is almost here. Let’s experience it ourselves.”

“And one more thing.”

“What is it, Master?”

“Stop calling me ‘Master’ outside.”

Raelin held her ceramic teacup, sipping tea, her light purple eyes peeking at Audrey from behind the cup.

Unfortunately for her, Audrey was thinking about Lu Xin and didn’t make a move to touch her.

Raelin: (╥﹏╥)

Back at the Small Broken Wooden House, Lu Xin suddenly paused while cooking.

Ailya, lying lazily on the table, saw her personal chef stop and immediately pounded the table in protest.

Lu Xin glanced at Ailya and asked, “Were you just thinking about me?”

Ailya replied, “I’m always thinking about you.”

Lu Xin nodded. No wonder he felt a chill down his back. Ailya was getting too hungry.

He’d better speed up, or Ailya might just eat him.