“Clearing out beasts?”
“That’s right.”
The town mayor of Loren Town, whose hair was a complete mess, nodded from the sofa and let out a sigh.
“You’ve probably already seen it in town. Because of the beasts, the merchant caravans can’t leave at all. Our town is also severely short on manpower. Just maintaining order around the town has taken all our strength. We simply don’t have any hands left to deal with the more powerful beasts further out.”
“Why isn’t the empire sending reinforcements?” Ed asked with a frown.
“Since the situation has gotten this bad, it doesn’t make sense for the empire to just sit back and watch, right?”
“Reinforcements?”
Silean Carl’s voice suddenly rose, but he quickly realized he was asking for help and lowered it again.
“I wish we had reinforcements, but the empire’s lords are all busy clearing beasts from their own territories. They’re constantly complaining to His Majesty the Emperor about their lack of manpower. How could they spare any attention for a small place like Loren Town?”
This was troublesome.
Ed had assumed the surge in beasts was only happening in Loren Town, but it seemed the problem had already spread across the entire Kurand Empire.
That meant on his journey home, he would have to constantly stay on guard against beasts hiding in the shadows.
His mana would be continuously drained, his stamina would gradually weaken, and then the beasts would swarm him, trying to tear out his throat while he was vulnerable.
Take a detour?
That wouldn’t work either.
Ed had briefly observed the terrain around here. There was only one road suitable for carriages to travel safely.
Travel on foot?
That was even more ridiculous. It would consume both time and energy.
Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t choose to run all the way back to the Nordvian Kingdom from the Kurand Empire using just his legs.
So in the end, the only real option was to fight his way back?
It sounded incredibly bleak.
Ed sighed inwardly.
“So—”
Town Mayor Silean leaned forward slightly and continued.
“This is a personal quest I’m issuing to you two. The requirement is to eliminate the powerful beasts around the town. The weaker ones can be handled by my people, so you don’t need to waste your energy on them.”
He paused.
“Of course, since it’s a quest, there will be rewards. I’ll pay based on the number of beasts you kill. As you know, beasts are ranked from first to fifth tier. Most of the beasts around Loren Town are first and second-tier, with a few third-tier ones. For each second-tier beast, I can offer fifty silver coins. For third-tier…”
He gritted his teeth. “Five gold coins each!”
The moment she heard “gold coins,” the girl who had remained quiet and even somewhat silent suddenly perked up.
She gently bumped Ed’s shoulder with her own.
“This sounds pretty good.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t spoken.
As soon as her clear voice sounded, it immediately drew the town mayor’s attention.
“Who is this young lady wearing the hood?”
“She’s my younger sister.”
Ed lied smoothly without changing expression.
“Her face was injured, so it’s inconvenient for her to show it. Please understand.”
As expected, his arm was pinched.
The force was soft and weak, making it hard to tell whether she was truly angry or just mildly dissatisfied with the explanations “younger sister” and “injured face.”
“I see.” The town mayor nodded in understanding. “That must have been difficult for you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Ed smiled.
“Let’s get back to the topic. I can accept your quest, but I may need to bring a few more people with me. After all, there’s still considerable risk if it’s just me and my sister.”
“No problem,” Silean nodded.
“You can pick anyone you want. You may even choose from my personal guards if you’d like. I’ll reward them accordingly as well.”
The conditions were quite generous.
It seemed this town mayor was truly desperate because of the beasts.
“Also—Light, give them those two portraits.”
Silean waved at his guard. Light walked over to Ed and handed him two pieces of paper.
Ed took them. As expected, one portrait depicted a finely dressed young king, while the other showed a young girl with pink hair and a gentle smile.
He had already learned from the two middle-aged adventurers earlier that the town mayor was sending people to search for the King of the Nordvian Kingdom and the daughter of the Adventurers’ Guild president — Miss Melina, whom he had met a few times.
Ed examined them closely.
However, the Melina in the portrait seemed much shorter than the one he had met before, and her face looked younger and more childish, like a girl in her mid-teens.
The silver-haired girl curiously leaned closer to Ed, peering at the two portraits in his hands.
She then glanced at the expression on his face and suddenly pressed her lips together tightly.
“Those two…” The town mayor was about to explain.
“I’ve already heard about them,” Ed said. “One is the king of the neighboring kingdom, and the other is the daughter of the Adventurers’ Guild president, right?”
The town mayor was slightly stunned, but then remembered that these two had been brought back by local adventurers.
It wasn’t strange for them to have heard the news.
“Since you’ve already learned about it beforehand, you probably also understand why I’m giving you these portraits.”
“To help look for them?”
“Yes.” Silean Carl nodded again.
“However, this is only secondary. It’s fine if you can’t find them, but if you do, please ensure their safety. As for the reward, I will provide extra compensation afterward — also in gold coins.”
It was an optional task, so Ed had no reason to refuse.
“Alright.”
A trace of a smile finally appeared on Silean’s tired face.
He stood up and placed his right hand over his chest once more.
“Then, I wish you both a triumphant return in advance.”
“Ed, do you know that pink-haired girl?”
On the way back, Bailis suddenly asked.
“The pink-haired one? You mean Melina, the daughter of the Adventurers’ Guild president?”
“Yeah.” The girl seemed to be lightly biting her lip. Her voice was soft and gentle, almost a little muffled in Ed’s ears.
“I just felt like… the way you looked at that portrait, it seemed like you were very familiar with her.”
“Not really familiar.” Ed replied casually.
“When I went to Hilos to look for you before, she happened to be working as the receptionist at the Adventurers’ Guild in the city. At most, I have a bit of an impression of her.”
“Then what kind of person do you think she is?”
The question was quite abrupt, so abrupt that Ed turned his head in surprise to look at Bailis.
“Why are you asking this?”
“I just…” The girl put her hands behind her back, her gaze drifting.
“I was just asking casually. If you don’t want to answer, then forget it.”
Ed really couldn’t guess what was going on in that little head of hers.
“Uh, it’s not that I don’t want to say.” He tried to recall from memory.
“She should be a rather gentle person. I’ve only met her a few times, so I can’t really give a very specific evaluation of what kind of person she is…”
“Then…”
The girl’s head drooped lower and lower, her hands unconsciously clenching tightly. “Ed, what do you think of me—”
“Mr. Ed!”
A young man’s shout suddenly came from afar, filled with tension, joy, and anticipation.
“Ah, looks like someone is looking for us.”
Ed watched as the young adventurer with wheat-colored skin, pulling along a purple-haired girl, quickly ran toward him and Bailis.
The girl’s hood seemed to have slipped a little.
The boy’s hand skillfully brushed over the silver-haired witch’s head, smoothing down a few stray silver strands before personally adjusting her hood back into place.
“Whatever it is, we can talk about it later.”
Surprisingly, this time the girl showed no protest at all to the “head pat.”
She simply remained silent, not saying a word.
The crimson eyes, red as blood, gradually dimmed.