[Location: Dragonbone Prairie · Grace’s Ho]
"Knock knock knock~"
Accompanied by the sound of knocking, hurried footsteps followed, and a girl’s anxious voice called out:
"Dad, is that you?"
But what she saw upon opening the door was a cold, steel armor.
"Huh?"
From behind the armor, Alice’s figure erged. She shook her head, clutching her sword sheath, and said:
"Sorry, Grace, after cleaning up the Tree Demons at the boundary, we didn’t find any traces of your father."
The brilliant stars in the girl’s eyes dimd just like that.
But she still tried to gather her spirits and opened the door to welco the group inside.
"Grace, has soone co over?"
A more mature voice ca from the corner, as a peasant woman stepped out from around the farmhouse.
Grace whispered, "Mom, it’s the adventurers who ca to our ho today."
Then she added, "They’re willing to help us search for Dad."
The middle-aged peasant woman approaching looked skeptically at Louis and his group.
Grace carefully eyed Louis.
"Mr. Caesar..."
Louis stood there like a steel fortress, speechless.
William spoke in a deep voice, "We wandered around the border and only found a shepherd turned into a living dead."
Grace’s heart sank, and she couldn’t hold the basin of water, which fell from her hands.
Before it hit the ground, a shadow caught it.
Louis grabbed the basin held by his own tail and handed it over, saying:
"The living dead isn’t a broken leg."
aning, it’s not your father.
Grace raised an eyebrow, her face flushed with embarrassnt at being seen through, which soon turned into empathy.
Grace’s mother, who had approached, glanced over the three-person team.
Upon seeing the armored Louis, a trace of fear flickered in her eyes.
Then noticing Alice, who looked ready to claw at any mont like a big wild cat, she frowned.
It wasn’t until she saw William that her expression lightened, and she asked sowhat nervously:
"May I ask, did you not find my husband at the border?"
Louis turned around, finally speaking:
"No, we took a serious look around, and not even beasts were seen at the border of Dragonbone Prairie, let alone living people."
By the ti Louis and the others returned from the border, it was already late at night.
Dragonbone Prairie was neither too big nor too small, and after running around it, they completed the sweep in the sunset’s afterglow.
Having found nothing, Louis and his group could only choose to turn back.
The normally enduring ground dragon, after pulling the caravan for a whole day, was now sticking out its tongue and rolling its eyes outside the house.
William asked Grace’s mother for so water and was feeding the ground dragon.
The dragon lowered its head and drank guzzlingly for quite a while without raising it.
"Normally, there are still so wild animals at the border. Her father used to like hunting there," Grace’s mother said worriedly.
"Now that the beasts are staying hidden and the living dead have appeared, such strange things haven’t happened in Dragonbone Prairie for a long ti."
Hearing this, Grace turned her head aside and silently shed tears.
She was very worried about her father’s safety.
Louis quietly watched Grace and said softly, "Expanding the search to a larger area is just not possible with only the three of us."
Grace managed to say, "I, I know, but thank you all the sa, Mr. Caesar!"
Their family was just ordinary shepherds on the prairie; such a job requiring long-distance travel and a large manpower deploynt was far beyond what her family could afford to pay for.
Ultimately, she could only let out a long sigh:
"Oh great God of Glory and Justice, please bless my father with safety!"
Louis shook his head, and from within the dull armor, a voice erged:
"Praying to the gods does less than praying to ."
"Grace, I have a thod that might save your father, but I don’t know if you dare to try it."
The others looked at Louis with subtly changed expressions.
Such words, "Praying to gods does less than praying to ,"
this world does indeed have True Gods.
Louis’s words were sowhat blasphemous.
Yet, it was indeed Grace’s potential salvation.
Excitedly, she asked, "What should I do?"
"It’s simple, co with us to the Imperial Capital tonight. In the morning, I need you to do this..."
Everyone looked at Louis, eyes filled with astonishnt.
Finally, William couldn’t stand it any longer and shouted:
"No, Your Highness, this is absolutely impossible! At that ti..."
"William," Louis said in a deep voice, "do what you need to do and trust ..."
William’s gaze at Louis was full of complexity and heartache.
Even Grace’s gaze at Louis was full of surprise,
Late at night.
The carriage did not pause for long, relentlessly rushing toward Tino City.
Only this ti, the carriage held another young girl inside.
...
[Ti: Year 14470 of the Star Calendar, November]
[Location: Ense Empire · Imperial Capital Tino · Adventurer Guild]
Accompanied by the dull clash of armor, the bells at the Adventurer Guild’s door swayed slightly.
"Welco to the Ense Guild..."
Seeing the armored warrior walking in, the receptionist’s eyes lit up.
The adventurers gathered in the guild discreetly observed this person whose equipnt was so finely crafted, looking cumberso.
He was wearing cold armor and a steel helt, giving off more of a knight’s impression than a scrappy adventurer’s.
Most importantly...he didn’t have an adventurer rank tag.
Which ans, he was a complete newbie.
Possibly so young master fooled by a bard’s exaggerated tales, sneaking off in family armor for an adventure.
Every year, several such fools appeared in the Adventurer Guild.
They successfully entertained adventurers’ dull afternoons with their actions, even their lives.
"Mr. Caesar! Are you hurt at all?"
The receptionist’s smile blood like a flower in the warm sun.
The male adventurers in the guild were even more displeased watching this.
Louis ignored the indescribable expressions around him.
Under the alias of Adventurer Caesar, he said in a low voice:
"I want to turn in a few tasks."
"No problem."
The receptionist eagerly said:
"Would you like to make you a cup of tea?"
"No need, I’ll speak, you listen."
"Okay, sure!"
Louis took out a pouch of sorted materials.
"First is the task for the giant sewer rats."
"While training in the sewer, we were ambushed by a mixed swarm of sewer rats and prairie rats."
"These are the left ears of the 72 giant rats I killed independently. Please process the task settlent."
The receptionist’s expression gradually shifted from confusion to amazent:
"Huh? You were the one who cleared out the giant sewer rats? I thought it was Lady Alice."
Facing everyone’s astonished gaze, Louis said, "It was ."
"Alright, distinguished porcelain adventurer, before the God of Contract, please be responsible for your words and actions."
Seeming concerned that he wasn’t aware of the task completion process, the receptionist explained with a smile:
"This is a thod using the power of the God of Contract to verify the truth of your claim; it’s a guild procedure."
Louis understood, nodding, "I am willing to take responsibility for my words and actions."
The receptionist, full of energy, waved her single braid and prepared to head to the back:
"Certification complete. Due to the unusual abundance of the giant sewer rats, the task difficulty has been increased from porcelain level to mountain bronze level, totaling 7 settlents, 10 silver each, totaling 70 silver, let get it for you..."
"Hold on, there’s more."
"Huh?"
Louis took out five goblin left ears, five nightmare venomous spider front legs, eleven evil centipede heads, and two Wild Boar Princess tusks, finally placing the unwithering wooden core of the Tree Demon.
"Please settle these as well."
The receptionist exclaid, "Huh?"
"Huh!!!"
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