Chapter 67

### The Late Morning in the Capital City

After opening the shop, I walked down the stone-paved street alongside Lillia.

First, we headed to the Adventurer's Guild to take on the usual collection requests.

The first floor of the guild was as quiet as ever.

The dungeon had been cleared, and there were no requests for monster hunts in the forest.

The only requests were for dealing with animals that were causing trouble in the fields.

"I'll go and take the request, then."

"Alright, count on you."

Lillia, swaying her white nun's habit, headed towards the reception desk.

I idly scanned the mission requests posted on the bulletin board.

—Rats, boars, wolves... huh?

Are forest wolves starting to appear?

They're D-rank, but they travel in packs and are quite coordinated. They're a bit dangerous.

While I was looking at the bulletin board, I heard a jingling sound from behind.

I turned around to see the guild master, Rubel, standing with his arms crossed.

His red twin-tails were dazzling even in the morning light.

"Good morning, Rubel. Is there something you need?"

"Yeah, good morning. I have a question for you, Alex."

"What is it?"

"You seem to be taking forest requests every day. Has anything changed in the forest?"

"Not really. It's pretty peaceful, you know?"

"Hmm..."

Rubel narrowed his eyes suspiciously and looked at me.

Not understanding the meaning, I asked.

"Is there a problem?"

"If there's a cause, it can only be you, Alex."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The ecosystem in the southeastern forest is changing."

"Ecosystem?"

I tilted my head at the complicated word.

Rubel spread his hand, jingling his bracelet, and explained in detail.

"It seems that all the demon and magic beast species that lived in the forest have completely disappeared. As a result, the animals they preyed on have exploded in numbers... I understand that the monsters near the forest are dying due to herb collection, but it's strange that they've disappeared even deep in the forest."

Rubel furrowed his brow even more as he looked at me, and I could feel the pressure of his authority.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

—It's definitely because I'm living in the mansion at the deepest part of the forest.

I felt my cheek twitch as I tried to defend myself.

"Yeah, I've been going quite deep into the forest to collect herbs. I might have overdone it."

"Hmm. Well, let's just leave it at that, then."

Rubel's tone was far from convinced.

He placed his hand on his chin and looked me up and down as if sizing me up.

To change the subject, I shifted the topic a bit.

"So, is it bad if things stay like this?"

"If the number of rats, rabbits, and boars increases, the number of wolves and bears that eat them will also increase."

"Like Blood Bears and Great Bears. They're strong, and regular adventurers would have a hard time dealing with them."

"Even Giant Bears might appear. If that happens, the current number of adventurers won't be enough to handle it. And..."

"And?"

"I've heard reports of a White Boar appearing."

"White? Are there really white boars?"

"Yeah, they're very rare. They sometimes appear in sacred springs or sanctified areas, known as holy places. They're called holy beasts... Do you really not know anything, Alex?"

His red hair flared up as he leaned in close.

His sharp, slanted eyes glared at me from a distance where our breaths almost touched.

I felt an intense beauty.

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and answered nervously.

"N-no... Maybe it's because I've been collecting too many herbs... heh, heh, heh."

"Hmm... Well, let's just leave it at that. Sorry for the interruption."

With a tone that clearly indicated he was still suspicious, Rubel turned his back and left, waving his hand behind him.

I sighed in relief as the storm passed.

—It's definitely my fault.

I hadn't caused any problems before because I had been traveling around the kingdom, clearing monsters.

I had never stayed in one place for so long.

—Well, what should I do?

Should I just stay in the dungeon room?

I don't want to. The comfort of that house is hard to forget, and I want to spend time with Lillia.

I should practice suppressing my holy aura.

Just then, Lillia returned.

She tilted her head as she watched Rubel leave.

"What happened, Master?"

"Rubel said the monsters in the forest are disappearing and the animals are increasing. Apparently, holy beasts are also appearing."

"Wow! As expected, Master—"

Lillia was about to praise me loudly, so I quickly covered her mouth.

Rubel, who was about to disappear into the guild master's office, glanced back.

I pulled Lillia's arm and left the guild.

As we walked down the stone-paved main street, Lillia lowered her eyebrows and apologized.

"I'm sorry, Master."

"No, it's fine. They haven't found the mansion or Kou's dungeon yet. But it would be good to practice suppressing my holy aura."

"That's true... But the increase in holy beasts might not be bad."

"Huh? Why not?"

"If the kingdom or the church recognizes it as a holy place, people's entry will be restricted."

"I see. If we can get the deepest part of the forest recognized as a holy place..."

It wasn't a bad suggestion.

The problem was that we had no connections with the kingdom or the church.

—Maybe I should ask Sophia to return to the church and work hard. She's smart, and she was the one who noticed Marius's false testimony.

"Alright, let's work hard to protect our home."

"Yes, Master's powerful holy aura will surely attract more holy beasts! —I'll work hard too!"

"Then, next, we need a detailed world map. We've already obtained the stone, and Edgar will bring the orb."

In fact, we discovered that there were more evil deity busts than we had imagined, so we needed large maps for each town and region.

"Okay, let's go to the bookstore."

Lillia linked her arm with mine.

Feeling her soft warmth through the fabric, we headed to the bookstore.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile.

On a sunny morning.

In a shabby house on the outskirts of the capital, five children were gathered around a table for breakfast.

They were eating the leftovers from yesterday's feast, each in their own way.

They were the children of Edgar's team.

Edgar and the princess were nowhere to be seen.

The young healer sighed as she sipped her stew.

"Captain must have already left... It would have been nice to say goodbye..."

"Maybe he'll be back soon?"

The young swordsman Yuma casually replied while eating bread.

The young explorer Shima asked.

"So, what are we doing today? Rats? Boars?"

The young hunter Moku, adjusting his glasses, said intelligently.

"I think we should take the day off and prepare properly."

"Not fight?""Just because he's not here, we can't slack off. Captain will be sad.""We can handle rats, right?"

"No. Because Captain isn't here, we need to prepare thoroughly. Until now, even if our preparations were sloppy, Captain could save us because he's so capable. —But from now on, that won't be the case. We need to eliminate the risk of our swords being damaged and unusable in battle, or running out of potions, or having our food spoil."

Moku's words were met with nods of trust from the children.

"Got it. I'll follow Moku.""Me too.""But what should we do? Should we all go together?"

"Yuma and Keiri, who are good with weapons, should check and maintain everyone's weapons and armor."

"Understood.""Roger."

"Shima and Chana, check the supplies, potions, and emergency rations. Test the supplies to see if they work, and buy more if needed. For the emergency rations, let's get enough for five people for three days."

"Got it.""Okay."

The healthy girl and the young girl both nodded with serious smiles.

The young swordsman tilted his head in confusion.

"What about Moku?"

"I have something I want to research."

"Got it. If Moku says so, I'll leave it to you."

"Then, let's meet back at the house in the evening."

"Understood!""Roger!""Alright!""Okay!"

With enthusiastic responses, the children went their separate ways.

◇ ◇ ◇

The young Moku was holed up in the royal library in the capital.

With his slender body and thin arms, he carried several thick books to the reading table.

He was surprisingly weak for an adventurer.

Moku was well aware of this.

He couldn't protect the team like the young swordsman Yuma, nor could he deliver powerful blows like the young warrior Keiri.

He couldn't shoot precise, one-hit kills with a powerful bow like the young explorer Shima, nor could he maintain the team with vast amounts of magic power like the young healer Chana.

Because he was weak and unreliable, he tried to be useful in other ways.

Instead of trying to defeat enemies himself, he focused on harassing them to lead the team to victory.

When the captain wasn't around, he observed the flow of the party, strategized, and gave instructions.

This was how the young Moku worked hard.

In the morning sunlight streaming through the small windows, he adjusted his glasses and turned the pages.

He referenced several books and consulted others.

Time passed quietly.

Finally, Moku found the answer.

Through several dictionaries, he discovered the meaning of the word he was looking for.

His eyes widened behind his glasses.

"Katawake... A ceremony where the deceased's belongings are divided among family and friends to remember the deceased. —So, that means! Captain Edgar is...!"

He pushed his chair back with a loud creak and stood up.

With a worried expression, he quickly returned the books to the shelves and left the library in a hurry.

Thank you for the bookmarks and ★ ratings!

By the way, the bookmarks have surpassed 20,000! I'm very happy that so many people are reading this!

I'll keep updating!

The next chapter will be updated tomorrow

→ Chapter 68: Edgar's Team and the Dragon's Thoughts