[You’re not the only group looking for , cough cough...]
The Tree Spirit’s words made Shami alert.
"What’s going on?"
[Not all demons obey the Demon King... So magical creatures have been seeking for quite a while... They should be nearing the forest... If you don’t agree today... your trees might get chopped down, cough cough...]
"Don’t worry. I’ll deal with them for you."
Having seemingly heard sothing grave, Shami furrowed his brows.
"Let’s go, Shami."
Before Shami could speak, Lureya quickly dragged him out of the forest.
[Such a reliable elf maiden and Demon King... Seems the Demon King has been trained?]
On the road.
Lureya looked at Shami vigilantly.
"Shami, don’t you think that Tree Spirit’s words were strange?"
"Was it too slow?"
"No, but it felt weird..."
"What’s weird..."
"Can’t quite tell."
The golden-haired elf pondered and pinched her chin, suddenly realizing.
"Though he’s an old man, his mouth is full of ○○○."
"You’re just the sa! Tree Spirits, who have lived for so long, wouldn’t be surprised to have that kind of knowledge!"
...
Outside the forest.
A team of rcenaries slowly dismounted from the carriage, followed by a white-haired girl jumping out of the cargo hold.
"Hey, Oka, is the cargo alright?"
A man’s voice ca from the front.
The white-haired girl quickly poked her head to check.
"Nothing’s damaged!"
"Then bring over the things we need!"
"Oh, oh..."
The girl quickly responded, moving the goods forward.
Though she’s a Swordsman and the task was to protect the convoy, why is she doing this cargo moving?
The small face of Oka Lina, the Hero, showed a tinge of discomfort.
But to pay back Shami and Miss Lureya, this has to be done!
The so-called cargo are several sharp drills.
Watching the rcenary team in front of her pick them up and head into the forest, Lina stood frozen.
The girl had accepted the commission at the Adventurer Guild in Eden City.
The commission wall of the Adventurer Guild isn’t only filled with simple errands.
Bounty hunting, monster slaying, city protection... A variety of tasks from different forces can be seen on the commission wall. Even so gray-area coded commissions appear on it.
The task the girl received now is a commission for stealing gold.
After leaving the village, she went to challenge the Demon King but failed, and returned to the village.
She didn’t know the depth of the commission wall at all and eagerly accepted seeing that she could earn 10 Gold Coins from completing this task.
On the surface, it’s a task to escort the convoy, but she was inford on the way that she also needs to handle special situations, like if powerful wild animals or resistant Rolling Stone Spirits appear in the forest when the rcenary team is stealing gold, she’ll handle them.
For the sake of Gold Coins, the girl gritted her teeth and agreed.
To steal gold involves destroying the forest surface, cutting down lots of trees.
For gold, is it really worth it...?
"Oka, why are you just standing there, co over here quickly."
"Is it really necessary?"
"What do you an, of course, it’s necessary, this place is rare for digging up gold with shallow soil layers, we have to strike first!"
A man from the rcenary team carried a drill barrel and walked into the forest.
Lina stood still, not moving.
"Miss Oka, do you want to co over and rest for a bit?"
Just then, a blue-haired man ca in front of Lina, about 1.9 ters tall, almost thirty, with a cheerful face.
The man was Shute, the leader of the Tree Hunter rcenary group, whose main job was hunting Tree Spirits, but they’d accept any kind of covert job.
"Captain Shute, the Adventurer Guild said this forest is a protected area, stealing gold doesn’t conform to laws, right..."
Shute confidently said, "Relax. Once we get the gold, we can hire villagers to plant new saplings, no damage at all."
The white-haired girl furrowed her brows, evidently disbelieving the man’s words.
Although he was a captain, he was the real culprit behind constantly allowing the rcenaries to behave atrociously.
"Oh, by the way, I heard Miss Oka was also a Hero who once fought the Demon King."
"Yes, there was such an event..."
"Really, then we’re truly connected, I also participated in the battle against the Demon King, haha."
Shute laughed, several things fell from his sleeves.
Lina was taken aback, picked them up for him.
"Captain Shute, you dropped these..."
"Oh? Isn’t this the ’Sli Hundred Beams Kill Badge’ awarded by the Adventurer Guild for killing a hundred slis? And this ’Goblin Nest Destroyer Badge’ for destroying ten Goblin Nests? How did they accidentally fall out... this brings back mories..."
Clearly dropped them intentionally to show off...
The white-haired girl didn’t expose the man’s bragging, but once again looked worriedly at the forest.
Seeing the girl unresponsive, Shute changed the topic.
"By the way, Miss Oka, I’m also a swordsman. You’re a swordsman too. We’ve participated in the Demon King’s subjugation together, why not share so old stories in the carriage? The sun’s a bit harsh out here."
"No, no, I’d rather stay outside..."
Lina shook her head, smiling as she refused.
She only stayed near the cargo hold because she felt the man was eyeing her body with ill intent.
But since he was the employer issuing the commission, she couldn’t express this subjective assumption.
Shute withdrew his greedy gaze, secretly throwing an eye brimming with hatred at the white-haired girl.
Did you really think I wanted you for work?
For such matters, I’m enough on my own, hiring you was just because of your face.
Not interested in such a strong build and rich professional record?
But it’s fine, nowadays among lower-tier female adventurers, seven out of ten are gold-diggers, acting all pure. It’s just pretending to maintain a thin veneer of respectability, right?
Shute secretly let out a cold laugh.
Seems I must use that trick to make her submit under my feet.
"Speaking of which, I’d really like the chance to spar swords with Miss Oka."
"Is Captain Shute skilled in swordsmanship?"
"Ah, within Eden City, I’m within the top ten, I suppose."
Seeing a small fish on the hook, Shute continued.
"The reason my swordsmanship holds a position in Eden City mainly owes much to the teachings of my mother’s third aunt’s cousin-in-law’s husband’s elder brother."
"He’s a legendary figure. As a swordsman yourself, Miss Oka, you surely know his na. Want to guess who?"
"..."
The white-haired girl was absent-minded, not even knowing how to respond, quietly turning her face aside.
Absolutely don’t want to guess!
Since the chat was dull, she forced herself to engage to avoid awkwardness, regretting it imdiately...
Fundantally wanting to block out the noise altogether... who wants to guess your family’s genealogy... starting from the third cousin, the connections beco unfathomable...
If not for the money, she wouldn’t do such a boring thing.
Properly training in swordsmanship, killing the Demon King, living als-worry-free with Shami three tis a day is all the girl hopes for.
On the other side.
Having just arrived outside the woods, Shami and Lureya saw the rcenary group in action and instantly spotted the white-haired hero Lina among them.
"I don’t know why, wherever I see Lina now it doesn’t seem surprising anymore..."
Shami muttered, staring at the white hair.
"I feel the sa... normally, with such nice weather, inviting Lina for a picnic here wouldn’t be out of the question, but this isn’t the ti to discuss such matters."
Lureya glanced at Shami beside her.
"With Lina here, we’re completely unable to act. It seems like those people are stealing gold. They all look like bad guys! By the way, what about other monsters the old tree spirit ntioned?"
Shami also thought deeply.
To stop that group, a confrontation with the white hair seems unavoidable.
anwhile.
The gold thieves had entered the forest, half holding sharp cutters searching for suspicious stones, while the other half began drilling.
In this forest, it’s not just the soil that can produce gold, there are also these mysterious stones appearing in the forest.
Cutting them open offers a good chance of obtaining rare gold.
"Hey, here you are."
Lureya handed sothing over while looking at Shami.
It was a black stocking.
With a serious face.
"Got no choice. This one’s never been worn. Want to wear it?"
"How can you so easily say such things, handing over worn socks to others is already common practice?"
Shami refused the black stockings in the golden-haired hand, looking at Lina outside the forest.
Speaking of which, who’s that blue-haired guy? Anyone with eyes can tell Lina’s annoyed by you, just get away will you.
That said, the conversation indicated the blue-haired man’s strength might not be weak.
Also, that baffling ’earned the Sli Hundred Beams Kill Badge by killing over a hundred slis,’ makes one want to shove his head into the ground.
"Shami, there’s a commotion over there!"
Lureya hurriedly tugged Shami, and suddenly the forest not far away beca restless.
"It’s the Rolling Stone Spirit, I cut the Rolling Stone Spirit’s ○○, and it fell!"
"The ○○ of a rock is still a rock!"
"There are five Rolling Stone Spirits! Quickly grab weapons!"
Rolling Stone Spirits?
Aren’t those common monsters? Though they’re not extinct, appearing here surely ans they’re the creatures the old tree spirit ntioned.
"Such a hassle, Lureya, go stall the rcenary group and Lina who haven’t entered the forest yet. I’ll go check the situation over there."
"Eh? If it’s just a regular rcenary group, it should be okay, right? But that man seems quite skilled, I heard him say sothing about the top ten in Eden City swordsmanship."
The blonde girl paused, realizing.
"No way! No idea from what perspective I should approach! Whether seen by Lina or by that group, being an Elf Maiden coming out because the forest is in danger warning them not to destroy it is a strange thing. There aren’t even baseless legends saying every forest has a little elf guarding it now."
"The Elf Race is close to nature, but not so forest guardian ambassador. Humans wanting to destroy the forest leave us helpless to forcibly stop them! Whichever way, it doesn’t make sense!"
"Isn’t this difficult for you, Lureya? Surely the Elf Maiden’s mind has already thought of a solution."
"No amount of flattery will help, I’ll readily admit I’m quite dumb at tis like this."
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