“Business this bad lately? Only worth this much?”
Adventurer Victor set the cloth bag on the counter and asked casually.
The young man running the buyback stall sighed, deftly sorting through the magic cores without looking up.
“Victor, old man, how long has it been since you last came to town?”
“Not long. About half a month.”
“No wonder you didn’t know.” The young man pushed a pile of silver coins over.
“Divine disasters have been happening more and more often lately. Everyone’s on edge, merchant caravans won’t risk traveling, and supplies aren’t moving. That’s why the buyback prices dropped. These used to fetch two gold coins. Now it’s only thirty-five silver.”
“…Looks like things are pretty rough, huh, kid.”
Standing beside him was a little girl with the same sky-blue hair as his. The color was the exact shade of a clear blue sky, but the age gap between them seemed unusually wide.
Victor had a scruffy beard and looked to be in his thirties—definitely an “old man” by most standards—while the little girl appeared to be only twelve or thirteen.
To the buyback clerk, they looked more like father and daughter than siblings.
Victor stared silently at the silver coins.
Thirty-five silver.
Barely enough to cover half a month’s living expenses for him and his little sister.
“Three years ago, everyone thought it was all over,” the young man chattered on.
“Who could’ve guessed the divine disasters would come back? And this time they’re even weirder—targeting crowded places on purpose. But now… there’s no second hero like Abel.”
Victor lifted his head and looked out the guild window.
In the town square stood a stone statue—a young man holding a longsword, gazing up at the sky.
The base was engraved with the words: In gratitude to Hero Abel Noct for saving this town.
He had passed through here years ago and casually wiped out a bandit group.
The townspeople had erected the statue to thank him.
He hadn’t even been sixteen at the time.
“Aren’t the knight orders and the adventurers’ guild still around?” he asked, keeping his tone neutral as he looked away.
The young man snorted.
“Don’t even mention it. Those Church and kingdom knights only care about promotions and titles. They only handle crises in big cities. They couldn’t care less about remote little towns like ours. I heard several more towns got infected and wiped out recently—not a single survivor.”
“Who would be like Knight Abel, ignoring fame and fortune just to save people? Guys like that are the absolute minority!”
He paused, glancing at Victor without the slightest idea that the hero he admired was standing right in front of him.
“As for adventurers, it’s all about money. Guys like you, old man—sticking to the remote areas—are the rare ones.”
Victor—no, Abel—didn’t know what to say.
He glanced back at the sky.
In that direction, Sky City had once floated.
Three years ago, he had personally slain the Goddess of Vengeance and watched the city fall as a meteor shower.
So why were the divine disasters still happening?
The root cause had been the Goddess of Vengeance—she was the one who triggered all those calamities.
Could his memories from the game in his previous life have been completely wrong?
After all, the game’s main storyline hadn’t truly ended back then. It wasn’t unreasonable for later events to have changed.
But now… who was his sword supposed to point at?
Abel felt a rare moment of confusion. A few days ago he had met Aiko, and she said the Church had already begun investigating, but they still had no leads.
Do not blame yourself, my knight.
Sutis’s voice sounded softly beside his ear.
The little angel had somehow moved right up next to him. Her emerald eyes looked at him earnestly as she whispered, “This is not your responsibility. Sister Aiko and the others are investigating too. They’ll find clues eventually. You’ve already done so well.”
Abel nodded and ruffled her hair.
“Speaking of which,” the young man suddenly grew excited, “we’ve got a real powerhouse around here lately! You know Miss Salia, right?”
Abel’s hand paused mid-motion.
“I’ve heard of her,” he replied casually.
“Oh man, Miss Salia is the super rookie who showed up just half a year ago!” The young man’s eyes sparkled.
“In only six months she shot from bronze rank all the way to steel rank! She’s been protecting more than a dozen border towns single-handedly!”
Sutis blinked, looking like she wanted to say something.
Abel gently squeezed her shoulder.
“That impressive?” he asked.
“Of course!” The young man gave a thumbs-up. “They say when she fights, she doesn’t even blink. She cuts those monsters down in just a few moves. That’s what a real expert looks like!”
Abel smiled but said nothing.
Just then—
The town’s alarm bell suddenly rang out, sharp and urgent.
The young man’s face changed drastically. Without another word he spun around and ran, shouting over his shoulder as he disappeared out the door:
“Old man, run! A divine disaster is here! It’ll be too late if you wait!”
The street instantly descended into chaos.
People screamed and scattered in every direction. Vendors abandoned their stalls. Mothers clutched their children and stumbled along. The entire town fell into panic.
Abel stood up and walked to the doorway.
In the direction of the town square, a massive silver-white figure was slowly descending.
It was a humanoid monster over three meters tall, its entire body covered in silver shell-like armor and wielding an enormous spear.
The moment it landed, the stone slabs of the square cracked apart. The shockwave flipped over nearby stalls.
“Level-four divine knight apostle,” Sutis said, standing beside Abel. Her emerald eyes narrowed slightly. “If you weren’t here, this town would be finished.”
Abel nodded, preparing to step in—
The nearby crowd had already retreated far enough that no one should see.
Just as Abel and Sutis were about to synchronize—
A sky-blue figure suddenly charged in from the side and landed right in front of the divine knight apostle!
Water-blue long hair, silver light armor, and a sky-blue cloak fluttering wildly in the wind.
Abel recognized her. For some reason, over the past half year he and this girl had “accidentally” crossed paths dozens of times. She was none other than the “border guardian goddess” Salia that the buyback clerk had been praising so highly.
She gripped her sword and stood before the towering monster. Her slender frame looked as delicate as a porcelain doll.
Yet there was no fear or retreat on her face.
“It’s Miss Salia! We’re saved!”
The town guard members shouted excitedly:
“Quick! Evacuate the civilians! Don’t disturb Miss Salia’s fight!”
“With Miss Salia here, that monster is as good as dead!”
The guards began organizing the evacuation, steering everyone well away from the square. None of them showed any intention of helping.
To Abel, however, Salia’s expression looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Sutis blinked, leaned close to Abel’s ear, and whispered, “Oh, it’s her. You two really do seem to have quite the fate, don’t you?”
Abel nodded silently in agreement.
They really did have quite the fate.
He watched the figure in the square.
Salia’s sword was trembling.
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