Chapter 48

The letter from Rasmoa Rosiz arrived on the day Rio and his companions had been promoted to Rank D.

"There's a letter from your hometown village."

Receiving the letter from the old man sitting at the reception, Rio and his companions immediately returned to their inn and opened it. The envelope, addressed from his mother to avoid revealing that they were acting on Rasmoa's instructions, contained several letters and a report.

"The letter even includes news about the village. Lord Rasmoa really cares about us commoners."

Grateful for the consideration shown to ease their worries about their hometown, Rio read the report. It seemed that Rasmoa also did not know much about the nightmares in Rihelan. As he read the report, Rio pushed away Shiraha, who was trying to rest her head on his shoulder, and moved the letter so she could read it too.

The nightmares in Rihelan seemed to have started five years ago. An intelligent, unknown animal and the evil beast leading it had invaded the fortress town, causing numerous casualties. At the time, the town had no moat and its defenses were weak. The only military force was a small guard unit that had developed from the town's vigilante group, along with many adventurers active in the Rihelan forest.

The incident began with a discovery report in the Rihelan forest. The animal, discovered by adventurers, had a shape similar to a chamois, covered in a mass of fluffy black fur. It had sharp, extendable horns and communicated with a unique call, coordinating highly with its pack. The pack was large, with an estimated number of nearly a hundred. After several new adventurers died in the shallow part of the forest, the Adventurer's Guild recognized the danger of this animal, provisionally named it "Tereop," and issued a warning.

Ideally, the village, like Rio's hometown, would have fortified its defenses, gathered information, and requested knights from the lord. However, the fortress town was an independent-minded place composed of drifters. Since survival required strength, a hunting party was immediately formed upon receiving the warning. The Tereop hunting party entered the Rihelan forest and engaged in battle with the Tereop. Although the battle results and casualties were minimal, the hunting party, having experienced the Tereop's high intelligence, felt the lack of manpower and returned to the fortress town. This was the prelude to the nightmare. The Tereop, due to its high intelligence, had experienced and understood human group tactics and even learned about the existence of the fortress town.

The fortress town requested the dispatch of knights from the neighboring lords. However, the lords were reluctant to send valuable forces to a town that had not paid taxes due to its independent nature. Amid this, the Orls family took action.

"Here comes the name of the Orls family."

Surprised by the unexpected connection, Rio muttered. The Orls family had lost a gemstone found by Karyl, which had been stolen by bandits. While the Adventurer's Guild of the Orls territory was the actual party involved, seeing the name in this context made Rio suspicious. However, in the context of the Rihelan nightmare, the Orls family's actions were those of a benevolent lord who quickly came to the rescue of the fortress town. Considering that the town had not paid taxes, it could even be considered a good deed.

The report's description became vague from that point. The dispatched army from the Orls territory arrived in Rihelan, entered the forest with the Tereop hunting party, but was defeated and fled back to the fortress town, where chaos ensued and the town was attacked. The street battle, though barely repelled, became known as the Rihelan nightmare. Afterward, rumors suggested that the hunting party and the Orls family's knights blamed each other for the failure, leading to deteriorated relations. The fortress town sent condolence money to the Orls family for the fallen knights, effectively severing all ties.

"...Selfish."

Shiraha succinctly muttered. Based on the report, the fortress town seemed quite selfish. While they had fulfilled the minimum obligations with condolence money, it was a harsh story considering they had not paid taxes. However, it was just a rumor, and without knowing the full truth and detailed circumstances, it was hard to take sides.

"Shiraha, do you think a third party could have prevented the conflict between me and Yudo?"

Shiraha furrowed her brow at Rio's question.

"Kick Yudo out."

"Wait, wait. Eliminating the cause is a last resort. Look for a way to reconcile."

Surprised by the unexpected solution, Rio quickly negated it. After thinking for a while, Shiraha came up with another answer.

"Listen to both sides?"

"Yes. In the case of the Rihelan nightmare, we are that third party. It's not good to take this information at face value. Do you understand?"

Seeing Shiraha nod in agreement, Rio let out a sigh of relief.

"Besides, even if we believe everything in this report, Galdrat's position is a mystery. If he had no connection, that would be one thing, but since he uses knightly sword techniques, it's possible he was a knight of the Orls family."

"Did they force him to become a slave because of the deteriorated relations?"

"Lord Orls wouldn't stand for that. Besides, it wouldn't make sense for the adventurers to show respect to Galdrat."

Concluding that thinking without sufficient information was futile, Rio paused his thoughts.

"The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know. Investigating is quite interesting."

"I find watching you interesting too."

"Take that back. That was too vulgar."

Still, since it was a request from Rasmoa, they couldn't just abandon it now. Rio put the letter back into the envelope and was about to put it away when Shiraha reached out.

"I'll put it away."

"Sure. Thanks. It's important, so don't lose it."

"Okay."

Shiraha smiled and put the envelope into a hidden pocket inside her bag. Since their actions on Rasmoa's behalf were a secret, Rio had intended to take it if she tried to hide it in a poor place, but he stood up feeling relieved.

"First, let's find the Tereop that caused the Rihelan nightmare. It might have the gemstone."

"Are we going deep into the forest?"

"We need a good reason to go deep into the forest, so I'll look for a similar quest first."