Chapter 35: Return Journey, Demon Wolf, and Level-One Adventurer

On the road near Loren Town.

“So, you were commissioned by the town mayor here to patrol, kill some small beasts, and along the way look for His Majesty the King?”

Ed followed behind the two adventurers. After listening to their brief introduction, he asked.

“And the daughter of the Adventurers’ Guild president.” 

The middle-aged adventurer named Wilfred corrected.

“If we encounter large or pack beasts, we still have to go back and report to the guild.” 

The other adventurer, Leo, who looked slightly younger but was actually almost forty, added.

The guild president’s daughter? Could it be…

Ed vaguely had a guess.

“Then what about civilians like us who were teleported… are we also within your rescue scope?” 

He asked calmly, without showing emotion.

Ed had already put on the cloak he had given Bailis earlier, and his sword was hidden under the cloak. 

The two now looked no different from distressed civilians.

At least that’s what he thought.

“Of course.” Leo grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. 

“No matter who it is, as long as we find them and safely bring them to the church, those god-botherers will give us a reward. Though it’s usually less than one silver coin, even if it’s little, it’s still money.”

“At times like this, those bastards act all righteous and great.” 

The short figure beside the boy muttered.

“Uh, this… little friend, did you just say something?” 

Wilfred turned back in confusion, staring at the person fully covered in the oversized cloak.

“Little! Little friend?!”

The person seemed very angry and stomped her foot.

“You actually called me a little friend? I’m already ten—mmph!”

Ed covered her mouth and smiled apologetically at the two.

“Sorry, her personality is a bit odd—please don’t mind.”

“Understand, understand.” Wilfred waved his hand. “Leo and I both have kids; we know how troublesome children can be.”

Ed nodded awkwardly.

“Then I’ll comfort her—you two chat first.”

“No problem!”

Once the two adventurers ahead stopped paying attention to them, Ed quickly leaned to her ear.

“Ed!” Bailis whispered angrily, calling the boy’s name. 

“They actually treated me like a child!”

“Being a child is fine.” Ed responded softly. 

“At least this way they won’t be suspicious, and you don’t want to be recognized again and chased with swords, right?”

“Hmm—”

A very low-pressure voice.

Although due to the angle Ed couldn’t see clearly, after so many days together, he could tell just from the voice that some girl must have her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish right now.

Then, not long after, it deflated on its own.

“Fine.” She said sullenly.

“Don’t worry.” Ed comforted softly. 

“I remember there’s a disguise spell in fourth-tier magic. In a while, I’ll find a way to learn it and change the color of your eyes and hair. That way you won’t have to worry so much about being hunted.”

“Really?” The girl immediately cheered up upon hearing this. 

“Does that mean I won’t have to worry about being recognized as a witch anymore?”

“Silly.” Through the cloak’s fabric, Ed patted her head. 

“The church has special ways to identify witches, and powerful mages can also tell something’s off—anyway, hoping to use it to escape the witch identity is still too naive.”

“Why like this… And Ed, why did you pat my head again!”

“…It just became a habit.”

“This one definitely cannot become a habit! Otherwise I’ll really stop growing tall!”

“I already told you, that’s fake.”

“I don’t care! No means no!”

The two bickered softly, their voices drifting to the ears of the two ahead.

Leo glanced back at the two youngsters who had started lightly shoving each other.

“Wilfred, I always feel like that golden-haired one isn’t an ordinary person.” He said softly to his companion.

“How do you know?”

Wilfred replied without turning his head.

“Instinct.” 

Leo’s tone was extremely certain. 

“His eyes, his movements—they’re definitely not from someone who’s never seen blood. Also, did you see that cloak on him? The blood on it…”

“That’s none of our business, Leo.”

Wilfred casually scanned the road ahead.

“Whoever he is, our task is just to deliver these two ‘great transfer’ survivors to the town and collect a bunch of copper coins from the church. If you don’t want the free money, then count both of them under my name.”

“No, no, I didn’t mean that.” Leo shook his head slightly. 

“I’m just a bit curious.”

“Then shut your damn mouth—haven’t you talked enough in the taverns every day?”

“It’s different, Wilfre—”

“Wait!” The middle-aged adventurer with the thick beard suddenly hissed. “Up ahead, something seems off.”

Leo poked his head out to look—besides a large patch of roadside weeds and bushes, and the uneven road, there was nothing strange in view.

“Aren’t you being too nervous?” 

He chuckled easily. 

“This is quite close to the town—no beast could sneak to this spot.”

“Idiot!” Wilfred cursed angrily, drawing his knife from his waist. 

“Have you forgotten your bad ears? Do I need to remind you? Up ahead there’s a bunch of footsteps that clearly aren’t human—eight or nine out of ten it’s some pack-type beasts!”

“How is that possible?” 

Though Leo still didn’t quite believe, he cautiously grabbed his bow and arrow from his back.

Facts proved this decision was extremely correct.

Because after just a few breaths, several ferocious black shadows suddenly burst out from the bushes!

“It’s demon wolves!” 

Wilfred gritted his teeth and roared.

The demon wolves didn’t roar loudly; they silently and swiftly spread out, forming a semicircular encirclement in front of the group. 

Facing them directly was the obviously largest and fiercest one—the alpha wolf.

“There’s an alpha wolf too!” 

Leo cried out, quickly nocking an arrow. 

“How could they be on this road? We didn’t hear any strange sounds on the way here!”

“Who knows! One, two… twenty!” 

Wilfred’s voice and the hand gripping his knife trembled unavoidably. 

“Heaven, I can handle one or two, but twenty?”

Leo tried shooting an arrow at the alpha wolf, but it missed without doubt. He held his bow, swallowing hard. 

“How about we run?”

“How to run?” 

Wilfred growled low. 

“Turning your back and running will only make you die faster! Plus, there’s only one road back to town nearby—running back will just meet more troublesome beasts! We can only fight them head-on!”

“But with just the two of us, it’s impossible…”

Before the two could figure out a plan, the demon wolf pack seemed unable to hold back any longer.

With a howl from the alpha wolf, they arched their bodies, pushed off with all four paws, and pounced fiercely!

“Here they come!”

Wilfred roared, swinging his steel knife with all his might, while not forgetting to duck low, barely dodging a demon wolf’s sharp claws!

The blade sliced across the demon wolf’s belly. After a miserable cry, the wolf crashed straight to the ground.

But Wilfred felt not even a shred of joy.

Because demon wolves weren’t ordinary wolves—a cut on the belly might be fatal to a wild wolf, but for a demon wolf, it was just a minor injury.

Sure enough, after flailing on the ground a couple times, the demon wolf slowly stood up again!

Wilfred had no time to follow up; seven or eight demon wolves were already attacking him again, while the remaining ten-plus chased after Leo, who was trying to distance himself to shoot arrows!

But with human leg strength, how could they outrun beasts?

Leo could only dodge extremely awkwardly under the encirclement of a group of demon wolves.

Though Wilfred had slightly fewer wolves on his side, the most troublesome alpha wolf was there too!

“We’re done…” 

Wilfred couldn’t help thinking despairingly.

He, Leo, and the two survivors who had barely escaped today would probably all end up in the wolves’ stomachs.

But at this moment, this middle-aged adventurer, relying on his sharp hearing, suddenly caught a faint scraping sound amid the chaotic small battlefield.

It sounded a bit like a sword blade rubbing against its sheath.

“Hmm, looks like we can’t wait any longer.” He heard the golden-haired boy’s voice again. “I was planning to see how strong the adventurers here are.”

“You should hurry up and act.” 

This was the child’s voice. 

“They look so weak—they probably won’t last much longer before dying.”

No response—just an extremely fast sword shadow sweeping across. 

In an instant, the ferocious alpha wolf had its head directly chopped off.

Thud.

The huge wolf head fell to the ground, rolling a few times before stopping at Wilfred’s feet.

The battlefield strangely fell into a freeze.

Whether wolves or humans, at this moment they all just stared blankly at the golden-haired boy standing there quietly, holding his sword.

“Damn it!” 

Wilfred couldn’t help cursing coarsely.

This freeze was broken by someone.

The boy swung his sword again in an instant. 

In the blink of an eye, several more demon wolves cried out miserably and fell.

The remaining demon wolf pack finally seemed to realize something was wrong. 

They slowly gathered together, then slowly retreated from the group’s view.

“They withdrew?” 

Leo stared with wide eyes, face full of disbelief.

Wilfred finally snapped out of the shock, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

“The alpha’s dead—it’s normal for them to retreat when they see the situation turning bad…” 

He muttered to himself, full of gratitude.

Seeing the demon wolves retreat from view, the golden-haired boy simply wiped his sword on a nearby demon wolf corpse, then sheathed it.

“You two—are you Level-Two Adventurers?” 

He asked.

The two exchanged a glance, nodding like pecking chickens.

“Yes, we’re both Level-Two Adventurers, this…”

“Ah, I forgot I hadn’t told you my name yet.”

“Going to use a fake name again.” The girl muttered extremely softly.

“So, let me formally introduce myself now.” The boy ignored her, simply smiling and extending his hand to the two. 

“Level-One Adventurer, Ed.”

“Level One?!” 

This was the two middle-aged adventurers’ incredulous voices.

“That’s not fair! The first time you told me it wasn’t—mmph!” 

This was some witch’s outburst, along with another muffled whimper as her mouth was covered.

Not far away, a black cat that had been sniffing the scent of the footprints on the ground suddenly lifted its head, revealing that pair of green vertical pupils.