Being an adventurer was actually a very dangerous profession.
Ed watched as several mangled adventurer corpses were carried into town on stretchers.
A few cries of alarm rose from the crowd of onlookers, followed by soft sobs that quickly turned into heart-wrenching wails.
Most people, however, simply shook their heads slightly or let out a sigh.
At most, they offered a word or two of comfort before turning away.
Then they went back to their daily tasks as if nothing had happened.
It wasn’t that the townspeople were cold-blooded.
They had simply seen too many similar scenes lately.
Numbness and helplessness had filled their bodies and hearts from the bottom up.
They could barely guarantee their own safety—how could they spare the energy to shed tears for someone else’s misfortune?
If no one capable of solving the crisis arrived, Loren Town might remain trapped in this predicament until the day reinforcements finally came… or until the beasts wiped them out first.
“So pitiful…”
The silver-haired witch looked at a mother still kneeling on the ground and sobbing.
A trace of reluctance appeared in her eyes.
“Have they been living like this every day lately?”
She had once experienced the misfortune of losing family.
That near-suffocating pain and chill—she could still feel it as if it were yesterday, even four years later.
“Probably,” Ed said, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword before slowly releasing it.
“The beast encirclement of Loren Town happened even before the demon army’s surprise attack on Hilos. The town has been cut off from supplies for at least ten days. If not for the edible beast corpses and the grain stored in the warehouses, the situation would be far worse right now.”
“Mr. Ed is right,” the wheat-skinned young adventurer said as he walked up from behind them.
“Life in town has been getting harder and harder lately. In another half month or a month, the Town Mayor might have no choice but to order everyone to take up weapons and charge out for a life-or-death battle against the beasts outside.”
“So, to prevent that from actually happening, we must open the road between Loren Town and the nearest city as quickly as possible,” Ed continued in a grave voice.
“Whether it’s for us to leave or for the townspeople here, this is an urgent matter—the time left is limited, and the cost of failure is something neither we nor this town can bear.”
He suddenly thought of the Adventurers’ Guild president’s daughter again.
Since the town mayor had asked him to search for Melina, it meant someone else had commissioned the mayor as well.
That person was very likely the legendary guild president himself.
“Or, if the beasts are too strong, we can stall until the day reinforcements arrive,” he amended. “Either way, we need to eliminate enough beasts to buy time. So, Kelta, have you found a suitable candidate?”
After Ed and Bailis had agreed to let Kelta and Sylvia join the team, Ed had immediately sent the more locally knowledgeable Kelta to find a suitable teammate—ideally a sturdy shield guard who could stand at the front and block attacks for everyone.
But the young adventurer only shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ed,” he said quietly.
“Most of the adventurers in town capable of being shield guards left with the last merchant caravan before the beasts surrounded us. The ones still here either just carry a wooden shield for show or are too scared of the beasts outside to agree to leave town with us no matter what.”
Ed closed his eyes and rubbed his brow.
In his ideal team composition, there should have been at least one strong, reliable shield guard to prevent the group from being attacked from multiple directions and picked off one by one when facing beast packs.
But clearly, that idea would be difficult to realize in Loren Town right now.
“I understand,” he said, opening his eyes. “We’ll put the shield guard issue aside for now. How are your wife’s preparations coming along?”
“W-wife?”
The young adventurer’s face turned red, and his words suddenly became stuttered. “Mr. Ed, Sylvia isn’t my w—”
Before he could finish, the ponytail girl beside him twisted his arm, making him yelp in pain.
“Kelta, would you like to repeat what you just said?” the Potion Master girl asked with a dangerous smile.
“Wait, Via, don’t do it yet—at least not in front of Mr. Ed…”
“Hm?”
“I mean, we’re still just dating. To officially become husband and wife, we should go through the wedding ceremony witnessed by the priest,” the young adventurer honestly corrected himself.
“Hmph, that’s more like it.” The light purple-haired girl let go, satisfied.
Sylvia turned to Ed and gave him an apologetic smile.
“Sorry for the spectacle, Mr. Ed.”
Her expression turned serious.
“I’ve prepared various potions for four people—enough for us to get through two or three full battles against beasts.”
“It’s nothing. That was my mistake,” Ed said, shaking his head.
“Since you two are mostly ready, I think it’s about time I properly introduced myself.”
He turned to face the young couple directly.
“Ed,” he said, pointing at himself. “I specialize in swordsmanship. As for my strength…”
He thought of the level-four adventurer Morales, who had burned his mana in a final desperate attack yet still failed to injure him.
“I suppose I count as a level-five adventurer?” Ed hesitated for two seconds before saying.
The young couple exchanged glances.
“Level five?”
Kelta swallowed hard.
The highest-tier adventurers he had seen since arriving in this town were only the level-four ones who had been chased around by a third-tier demon bear.
“Also, I can use some low-tier spells, so I suppose I can be considered a low-tier mage as well,” Ed added.
“Mage?”
This time it was Sylvia who cried out in surprise.
“What’s wrong, Via?” the young adventurer leaned in.
The girl shot Ed an apologetic look, then hurriedly pulled Kelta aside and turned away.
“You idiot, Kelta—do you know what it means for a mage to appear in a place like this, even if he’s only a low-tier mage?”
She pressed her head close to the young adventurer’s and spoke in a low voice.
“I don’t,” Kelta shook his head blankly.
“Good, you don’t need to know,” Sylvia said, quickly glancing at Ed before looking away again, her voice even softer.
“Mages have always been an arrogant and self-important bunch. Even the Town Mayor of Loren Town rarely gets the chance to meet one, let alone join a team led by a mage—this is basically like gold coins falling from the sky!”
“But I don’t think Mr. Ed is that kind of person,” the young adventurer said hesitantly.
“You missed the point, you idiot Kelta!” The girl lightly knocked on his head.
“What I mean is, we have to seize this opportunity. Maybe we can finally pay off the sum my father demanded. Then…”
The girl stopped mid-sentence and exchanged another glance with the young adventurer.
The two of them turned back around.
“Mr. Ed, we are truly honored to join your team,” Kelta said with a solemn expression.
Ed waved his hand.
“It’s too early to thank me. Prove it with your actions. Also, there’s one more person I need to introduce to you.”
He stepped aside, but the girl behind him shifted her feet and shrank back behind him again.
“Bailis?” Ed called out helplessly.
The girl was reluctantly pulled out by him.
“Hello, I’m Bailis,” she said, head lowered. Beneath the shadow of her hood, crimson light flickered uncertainly. “I’m also… a mage.”
“Bailis is my younger sister,” Ed continued for her. “However, her face was injured, so it’s inconvenient for her to show her real appearance. Please understand.”
“Of course, of course! That’s completely understandable!”
Kelta hurriedly waved his hands, indicating he didn’t mind the details at all.
On the other hand, Sylvia beside him stared at the silver strands of hair faintly visible beneath the girl’s hood, lost in thought.
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