Chapter 10: Chapter 9: Departure.

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 9: Departure

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I had been taken outside by Tiria in order to examine our vehicle before our trip.

"Here's our ride!" Tiria was standing proudly in front of a large wagon with three horses.

The wagon looked very spacious and robust. It seemed like it was more than capable of enduring a long journey.

"Neeeeeigh!' One of the horses neighed loudly.

"Where did you get the wagon from?" I asked Tiria.

"I called the Adventurer’s Guild and had one of my subordinates bring it here." My Auntie smiled as she lightly tapped on the wagon for a bit. "He had something to do, so you'll meet him later." She told me.

"I see…" I said while I was examining the wagon.

The wagon didn't really look that special or out of the ordinary. It looked like your typical wooden cart pulled by horses used in the Wild West.

After examining the wagon for a bit, I walked towards the horses.

The three animals were standing proudly.

"Oh! Do you like horses? These three are called Maroe, Laroe, and Suroe! The former two are male while the latter one is female. The three of them are siblings! Suroe is the youngest." Tiria started talking about her horses with an excited expression. She also pointed at each of them when she was saying their names.

Maroe is a stallion with caramel-colored fur with a few white spots on his neck and snout. He has a very short black colored mane. Size-wise he's the largest amongst his siblings.

Laroe is the smallest of the siblings. His fur is completely white-colored and it has a long and lush mane of the same color.

Suroe is a mare with black fur with several patches of white all over her body. One of the patches around her tail is shaped like a heart. Her mane was arranged into braids and it is decorated with several red ribbons.

"I don't really know much about horses, but they are noble and beautiful animals. Those are great names by the way." I smiled at my Auntie.

"Right!? For some reason, people tell me that I don't have a good sense for naming things… I'm glad to finally meet someone who disagrees with that!" Auntie got closer to me and started poking my cheek repeatedly…

"Is that so…?" I asked while trying to make her stop.

"Yeah! The one who is always telling me I shouldn't be allowed to name things is no one other than your father!" She said with a lot of annoyance. Her annoyance didn't make her stop poking my cheek… She started doing it even more vigorously…

"..." I just kept looking at the horses while she was having her fun.

Sigh…

"Do you wanna try feeding them? We are going to spend a lot of time on the road with them, so you should try to develop a bond with them." Tiria finally stopped poking my cheek... She pulled three apples out of her pocket and showed the apples to me with a smile.

"Can I really try!?" I asked my Auntie with excitement.

I've never fed a horse before, so I really want to try!

"Jeez, you are grinning again! You're excited aren't you?" She said that with a teasing smile. "Of course, you can feed them. Here." She kept smiling while she gave me three apples.

I took the apples out of her hands and then moved towards the three horses.

I offered an apple to Suroe first. She completely devoured it within seconds…

"A wise choice, Julius! Suroe gets jealous super easily... Whenever I feed the Maroe or Laroe first, she starts neighing with annoyance for a long time. It usually takes a while to calm her down when she gets like that." Tiria explained.

"Neeigh!" Suroe neighed happily. She pushed her snout against me… She wanted me to spoil her.

"Good girl." I started caressing her cheek while I smiled at the mare.

Man, horses really are beautiful animals!

After caressing and patting the head of Suroe, I moved on in order to feed Maroe and Laroe.

Maroe was the first of the two to approach me.

"So Maroe is next huh… He's a calm and gentle creature who loves people the most. Make sure to pamper him a lot, okay? His secret is that he loves being scratched under his chin." Tiria was patting the back of Suroe while smiling warmly.

"I see…" I then offered an apple to Maroe.

"Neeeigh! Neigh!" Maroe neighed loudly before he started smelling the fruit in my hand.

After a few seconds of smelling the apple, the stallion finally ate it. I started scratching under his chin just like my Auntie had told me.

"Neeeeeeeigh!" Maroe neighed with delight.

"Good boy." I smiled at Maroe while I kept scratching his chin.

"You seem to be pretty good with animals... Have you had pets or taken care of any animals before this?" Tiria asked me with an expression filled with genuine curiosity.

"I used to work part-time at a zoo when I was a teenager." I replied.

"A sue? Part-time? What's that?" My Auntie was confused.

Oh, right… They don't have those here...

"It is pronounced: 'Zoo'. A Zoo is a place where exotic animals from all parts of the world are gathered in small replicas of their habitats and then they are displayed in front of the masses for entertainment." I explained. "Although that was the original purpose of Zoos, many have now taken the role of preserving and ensuring the survival of many endangered species." I nodded to myself.

The Zoo I worked at when I was a teenager was one of those Zoos. They were able to make an endangered species of birds repopulate to a decent extent in just five years.

"Wow… To think your world would have such a thing…" Tiria looked genuinely amazed.

"And you haven't even heard about amusement parks yet! Hehehe." I chuckled while caressing Maroe's cheek.

Jeez, now I want to get on a roller coaster… I shouldn’t have mentioned amusement parks...

Now then… I think I shouldn't let Laroe feel left out.

I stopped pampering Maroe, who seemed a bit unhappy about it and moved towards the smaller white horse.

"Julius, be careful with Laroe... He can get really moody and he doesn't really like to be touched by strangers. He's the least sociable of the siblings." Tiria warned me.

"Okay, I'll be careful." I nodded at her.

I looked at the imposing white horse and then offered him my last apple.

The stallion simply ignored me…

"..."

"..."

I didn't move at all… I kept my arm extended towards Laroe to offer the apple.

It soon became a staring contest between me and the animal…

"..."

"..."

It seemed like neither of us wanted to back down… 

This fierce staring contest between the stubborn horse and me lasted a few more minutes… Until…

"Neeigh…" Laroe neighed before quickly eating the apple and then looking in another direction.

For some reason, I felt like Laroe was a bit irritated that I didn’t back down.

I simply smiled in response when the stallion stopped staring at me. 

Hahaha! It looks like I won this round, Laroe!

"I think Laroe likes you. Off to a good start, it seems!" Tiria smiled and nodded to herself.

"He seems a bit moody and irritated." I smiled bitterly.

"Oh, don't worry! That's just his way of saying that everything is good! If he hated you, you would have been kicked a lot by now." Tiria kept smiling at me.

Oi… Tell me that sooner! Don't endanger a child just like that!

Sigh… I guess it is a good thing Laroe "liked" me...

While I was thinking of how lucky I was about not being kicked by a horse, I noticed the door of our house being opened...

The twins immediately came out of the house followed by our Mother and Father.

The twins were wearing identical yellow dresses and matching shoes. The two of them had changed their hairstyles: their usually loose hair had been arranged into two braids.

(It might be a bit difficult to distinguish the two of them now…) I thought to myself.

My Mom was wearing a white blouse, a long brown skirt that reached her ankles, and leather boots. She was using a white piece of fabric to cover herself from the sun.

Fred was using his usual attire that consisted of a white tank top, brown pants, and leather boots.

All four of them were carrying backpacks. Fred was carrying the largest and heaviest-looking backpack.

For the record, I don't have a backpack since I don't really have anything to take to the trip besides the essentials.

Everything I need to take fits in my pocket or it is attached to my belt, so...

"Yahoo! It is time to go on a trip!" I heard Liliana's excited shouts.

"Are you sure you aren't forgetting anything girls?" Our Mom asked my older sisters. For some reason, she started winking at them.

"Ah!" Liliana looked like she had just remembered something… 

Liliana quickly walked towards Luna and grabbed her by the hand.

"Thanks, Mom! Let's go, Luna!" Liliana smiled at our sister and then started walking towards us.

"Hey! J-J-Just wait for a minute! I'm not ready yet!" Luna said while blushing and panicking a bit.

"C'mon! It will be fun!" Liliana simply kept dragging our sister despite her protests.

I just smiled bitterly since I was already used to Liliana dragging Luna into her whims.

After a few moments, the two of them reached us and the wagon.

Luna was averting her gaze while Liliana was smiling from ear to ear.

Liliana immediately walked towards me and gave me a hug.

This is the third hug that she has given me today…

I'm really glad that I have gotten so close with my new sisters so quickly.

"Julius, we have something cool to show you! Close your eyes and cover your ears until I say so!" Liliana's excitement didn't seem like it was going to stop growing.

"How cool is it?" I asked.

"You'll see!" Liliana was not planning on spoiling their surprise.

"Okay then. You managed to convince me." I nodded in agreement.

"Great!" Liliana suddenly stopped hugging me. "You must absolutely not open your eyes unless I say so, okay!? If you do, you'll have to give me all of your desserts for the rest of your life!" Liliana told me the consequences of not doing what she says…

That seems kinda unfair… Well, since it is only keeping my eyes closed, I won't protest about it.

I simply nodded in response and closed my eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll cover his ears!" Our Auntie was strangely excited about this...

My ears were covered by Tiria's hands almost immediately…

I couldn't see or hear anything… I just patiently waited until I was told I could open my eyes up again.

(Hmm… I'm getting a bit sleepy… I think I'll take a nap on the way to the town of Norvek…) I thought to myself while I was waiting.

No… That's not good… I should at least try to look and enjoy the landscape of this new world. It's my first trip here after all.

(Speaking of Norvek… I wonder if they sell exotic ingredients there. I really hope they have a wide variety of fruits or vegetables so I can try growing them myself here at home…) I got lost in my own thoughts…

After the day I was adopted, I started helping out Lilia in the kitchen. I mainly did it for two reasons.

The first reason is that I have been feeling a bit homesick… 

Even though it has just been two weeks, I'm already missing a lot of things from Earth… 

Things as mundane as listening to music while studying, going to coffee shops, or even watching sports on TV...

One of the things that I miss the most is the food, obviously.

Things like pizza, burgers, hot dogs, paella, pasta…

So, I have been unsuccessfully trying to make food from Earth with what little we have here.

I'm not trying this because I'm being ungrateful and I don’t like what I’m being served… I absolutely love Lilia’s cooking! 

But she has also complained to me about the lack of ingredients available to us...

Our diet mostly consists of meat, soup, bread, some vegetables, and small amounts of nuts and mushrooms that my Dad forages from the forest.

Things like wheat, rice, or sugar can only be bought in town, so Mom regulates the amounts she uses for our meals...

She's often saying that she would love to be able to go to the market like she used to do when they lived in the capital and buy her favorite ingredients and some exotic meals from food stalls…

I really want to impress my new family with a dish from my homeworld. I want to repay everyone for their kindness… You could say that's one of my motives for trying to make food from Earth...

Anyway, as for the second reason I help in the kitchen, I just wanted to spend more time with my new Mom.

Yep, that’s it. There are no more reasons.

…

…

...

Okay, there's maybe a third reason… 

I wanted to see if there was a skill for cooking, or at least, one related to it and if there was, I wanted to see how quickly I could level up the skill…

But I think I will keep that reason to myself…

(But even if I find some ingredients, it doesn't mean that I will be able to prepare everything I want… Sigh…) I felt a bit discouraged.

While I was lost in thought, I felt how Tiria's hands had finally stopped covering my ears.

Since I was deep in thought, that action caught me completely off guard...

"You can open your eyes now!" She whispered in my ear.

Jeez, I wonder how much time I spent just thinking about food…

After quickly composing myself, I opened up my eyes.

The twins were still standing in the same place from before, but there was definitely something odd about it…

Both Liliana and Luna were showing me their best poker faces while holding each other's hands...

Our parents were standing nearby while looking at us with interest.

"Listen here, Julius. This game is called: 'Find the Correct Twin'! I think you can already guess what this is all about!" Tiria placed herself in the middle of the twins and I… She had a smug expression on her face.

Identical twins wearing identical dresses… They were planning on playing this game from the beginning huh…

I just nodded in response to Tiria.

"Now… Which one do you think is Luna? Is it the one on the left? Or maybe, is it the one on the right!? C'mon! Make your bets!" Our Auntie started speaking with an overly exaggerated theatrical tone.

Hmmm…

"Quick question. What's the prize if I win?" I asked.

"Oho! So you're interested in the reward, eh? Why don't we leave it as a surprise? I think it is better that way!" Tiria tried to dodge the subject.

"Don't run away from my question! I'm getting a bad feeling about the reward now…" I voiced my concerns.

As soon as those words left my mouth, I noticed that one of the twins looked slightly annoyed. 

(Gotcha!) I smiled as soon as I realized the identity of the annoyed twin.

"The mystery of the reward is the best part of the game! C'mon! Now, it is time to choose!" Tiria still tried to shift my attention from the reward back to the game. 

"Alright then." I simply shrugged before looking at the twins. "Hmmm… This is difficult… Very difficult indeed…" I started rubbing my chin.

"Is it too difficult for you? If you fail to choose appropriately, there will be consequences! And I mean some really serious consequences!" Tiria tried to pressure me into rushing my decision.

"Like?" I asked.

"Like not getting the mysterious and awesome reward!" Tiria kept using that fake theatrical tone…

"That's not a real consequence…" I looked at her with a deadpan expression.

Both Lilia and Fred were looking at us with a lot of amusement... Unlike one of the twins who seemed to be getting really frustrated. The other twin was still keeping her perfect poker face.

I guess I should stop teasing her now.

"Of course, it is a consequence! If you lose, you'll never know what the reward was!" Tiria made a lot of emphasis on the reward part…

"I think I can live with that..." I shrugged again. "By the way, Luna is the one on the right. That means that the one on the left is Liliana." I purposely said as if it wasn't a big deal.

For a moment, there was silence after I gave my answer…  That silence was broken by one of the twins.

"Ehh!? How did he find out!?" The twin on the left side, in other words, Liliana looked completely dumbfounded.

On the other hand, Luna was averting her gaze while blushing. 

"How did you even find out!?" Even Tiria looked dumbfounded.

"Easy. I have psychic powers." I showed my Auntie a teasing smile.

How did I find out? It is really simple, to be honest. I could tell which twin was which from the beginning.

You see my dear and non-existent friend, Liliana scratched her knee while we were playing yesterday in the afternoon. That's how I recognized her.  

Also, her emotions pretty much gave away her identity when I was trying to tease her.

You are reading story Echoes of Fire and Shadows at novel35.com

"So? What is the incredible reward you were talking so much about?" I asked my Auntie while grinning from ear to ear.

"Seriously, how did you even find out!?" Tiria still looked a bit flabbergasted. "Tsk… I was hoping that this game would last for longer… Fine, do you wanna know what the reward is!? Then listen veeeeeery closely, Julius… The reward is…-!" Just as Tiria was about to say what the reward was, she was interrupted by an unknown voice.

"Man, taking a dump in the most dangerous forest on the continent really is the most relaxing thing ever!" A man spoke cheerfully. "Sigh… Why am I even working for this lunatic?" His previously cheerful voice now sounded completely dejected.

The voice seemed to come from behind the wagon…

At that moment, I made eye contact with Fred and Lilia. They simply shook their heads and smiled bitterly.

I think this won't end well...

"..." Tiria turned her head and looked in the direction the voice came from.

"Why me of all people? Why didn't she choose someone else to torture…" The man spoke with annoyance. "Sigh… Let's find this lunatic bitch and go home…" He said as his head appeared on the corner of the wagon.

Uh oh…

This will definitely end up badly!

The man had a visibly tired expression. He walked towards us with his eyes closed, thus he didn't notice that we were there.

The man is around 1.80 meters tall. He has a bit of a tan and his hair is brown colored. His attire consists of black leather boots and a long and bulky-looking red robe with strange patterns.

"A lunatic bitch huh… You have become pretty brave all of a sudden, Martin." Tiria smiled at the man.

I felt chills down my spine as soon as I heard my Auntie's terrifying tone… She's genuinely pissed off!

"Oh…" The man opened up his eyes with surprise. His eyes were as blue as the ocean.

His expression suddenly became one of pure terror.

"Umm… Boss, It is not what you're thinking, I swear!" He panicked and tried to lie his way out of it.

"Cut the crap, I don't wanna hear your pathetic excuses. I hope you’re prepared for the afterlife, trash." Tiria had a smile on her face… That smile didn’t reach her eyes…

That smile was completely terrifying…

“Boss… I swear it is nothing but a misunderstanding! I was not talking about you!” Martin desperately pleaded with Tiria.

“Oh my… Those are some poor manners… To use such a vulgar word in front of a bunch of children… That’s simply unacceptable.” Lilia also had that very same smile on her face. A smile that didn’t reach her eyes…

I got chills down my spine even though that smile wasn't directed at me…

“Tiria, I think we should teach him some manners... It’s been a while since I had target practice with a real moving target.” My mother said something that caught me off guard.

“I agree. Any last words Martin?” My Aunt showed him a very intimidating gentle smile.

“N-N-No… You got it all wrong… I’ll apologize for a thousand…- No! A million times!” The man was quickly consumed by despair. 

He immediately got on his knees right in front of Tiria and looked prepared to ask for forgiveness as many times as needed…

"Please! I really didn't mean to call you a bitch! I'm really…-" The man had just messed up badly...

Oh… He just dug his own grave, didn't he?

Tiria suddenly looked at my dad, the twins, and me…

"Please, go ahead and get on the wagon. I need to have a long conversation with my soon-to-be deceased employee." Tiria showed us a genuine and warm smile before placing her hand on Martin's shoulder.

"Ah… This can't be the end…" Martin's whole body started to tremble in fear.

"Don't worry... If anything goes wrong, I’ll be able to heal you since I am an expert in healing magic. Fufufu!" My mother let out a burst of chilling laughter. "Shall we?" She asked while looking at Tiria.

My Aunt simply nodded while still keeping that very same terrifying smile from before… She started dragging Martin towards the forest. My Mom followed them shortly after.

"Noooooooooo...!" Martin screams of terror resounded in my mind…

I don't think he will survive this situation… I'll pray for his soul…

I then looked at my father and smiled bitterly.

"Well… You heard them, kid. Get on the wagon." Fred spoke with a deadpan expression.

"I agree…" I nodded in agreement.

Well… It seems like bad words are a bad thing to teach children, but violence is apparently okay…

That's really strange and a bit messed up...

Before Fred and I could even get into the wagon, one of the twins decided to ask something very important...

"Dad, what's a 'bitch'?" Luna seemed genuinely curious. Her embarrassment from before was long gone.

Fred and I looked at each other and exchanged a panicked look...

Oh boy… This is gonna be difficult to explain... 

"Yeah, what does that even mean?" Liliana joined in. She tilted her head in a very adorable manner. 

Liliana seemed to have forgotten about how I found out about her identity during our game.

"Well… Umm… That's…" Fred was understandably struggling to explain what that word meant to his young daughters…

In the end, it took Fred and me a couple of minutes to explain what a 'bitch' was… The loud sounds of explosions in the background certainly did not make things easier...

---

-----Liliana's POV-----

We were finally on our way to Norvek! We left the forest a few minutes ago, which means that we are on the roads of the vast grasslands of the Empire!

My father was sitting at the front of the wagon alongside our Auntie and Martin, the guy that was beaten up by my Aunt and my Mother

Martin was fortunate enough that he managed to survive his encounter with them... When they returned, he was as pale as snow and had bruises everywhere.

Anyway, my mother is currently…-

"Zzz… Zzz…" My mother was completely asleep.

She fell asleep almost instantly when the wagon started moving.

My younger sister and younger brother are sitting beside me. The two of them were reading while having peaceful expressions.

Jeez… I don't know how they can read while the wagon is shaking…

I'd definitely get dizzy if I tried to read while traveling on the wagon like they are currently doing…

"Julius, please tell me how you recognized us!" I looked at him straight into his eyes…

"I have a sixth sense." He replied while reading.

"Pretty please~." I used my legendary and irresistible puppy eyes.

"I'll think about it." He looked at me for a second, smiled, and then returned to read the book with our sister…

I really wanna know how he found out about our identities during our game!

No one had ever managed to recognize us during our game…

This is the first time that someone actually wins against us…

There's no way I can't allow this mystery to go unsolved! I'll have to use my secret and most reliable weapon… Clinginess!

I quickly moved towards Julius and started hugging him tightly.

"Please tell me~." I tried to use my puppy eyes again.

"I'll think about it." He gave me the same response from before…

"I won't stop hugging you unless you tell me how you recognized us!" I gave him an ultimatum.

"I do enjoy long hugs, so you're gonna have to stay there for a while then." He smiled warmly at me.

This cheeky younger brother… Jeez!

"Are you completely sure about it!? I will keep hugging you for eternity!" I tried to scare him a bit.

"It will be an enjoyable eternity then." He nodded to himself before returning to reading his book.

Ah… Did he just turn my ultimate weapon against me…?

No way! I can't be defeated so easily! That's so unfair!

…

I just kept enjoying the warmth of Julius while being annoyed that I didn't manage to get him to tell me what I wanted to know…

He won for now...

"Julius, what do you want to see first when we get to Norvek?" Luna suddenly spoke and changed the topic.

"Hmm… I think I want to go to the Church of Lord Melius first. I also want to visit Lady Lia's Church." Julius thought deeply about it before replying.

So he wants to go to the churches first huh…

Julius revealed something very important about himself yesterday during lunch…

Julius told us the story of how he met the Creator God, Melius, and how he was reincarnated by the God of Creation himself in order to be released from his seal…

It was a shocking story that left me dumbfounded... Well, even the adults were completely flabbergasted by Julius' story...

It was really difficult to digest that the Creator God was sealed away and that no one had noticed that it happened…

It was even more difficult to believe that it was done by the God of Deceit, Agmos. A god that is only revered by thieves and liars.

Agmos is also responsible for Julius' death in his previous world…

Julius told us about his wish to get revenge on top of the mission that was given to him…

My father, my mother, and my auntie agreed to help him and support him since he's our family now.

But they agreed to help him on two conditions that he absolutely must follow… 

The first one is that Julius will need to become strong enough to carry out his mission and the second one is that he'll have to be eighteen before he can try to fulfill that very same mission.

Luna and I are also going to help him regardless of those conditions, of course!

"I'm hoping to find anything about Melius' seal and where to find Lady Lia." Julius was rubbing his chin.

"I'll go with you! I'm sure we will be able to find something!" Luna suddenly became flustered.

"Thank you, Luna. With your help, I'm certain that we will find what we want to know." Julius showed her an innocent smile.

Luna immediately blushed as soon as he saw him smiling.

Sheesh… She must be feeling happy right now.

I'm a bit jealous though...

"Aren't you forgetting about someone? Where's my 'thanks for your help, my dear older sister'?" I whispered in his ear.

"Are you coming as well?" He asked me with a curious expression.

"You don't want me to come…?" I used my puppy eyes against him once again.

"Of course I want you to come with me." He looked at me with determination.

"Then please say it!" I hugged him even tighter than before.

"Liliana, please come with us." He asked while smiling bitterly.

Music to my ears~.

"Of course, I will go! I can't let my younger siblings do some mischief on their own!" I smiled back at him.

"Then we will go together. Thank you!" He showed me the very same innocent smile that he showed Luna just a few moments ago.

Hehehe! The way he smiles is incredibly adorable!

"You don't need to thank us! We're family!" I winked at him.

"T-T-That's right! We will always help each other!" Luna quickly joined in. She was obviously still blushing.

"I'm glad that you think like that... I'm really thankful that I met all of you." Julius had a slight blush on his cheeks. He seemed to be embarrassed about admitting that.

I immediately grinned from ear to ear as soon as he said that.

Sheesh… That was very cute!

"I-I-I'm also glad that I met you too!" Luna said while her face was completely red from the embarrassment.

Awww! That's just adorable!

I swear I really want to stay forever with these two!

Without wasting any time, I wrapped one of my arms around Luna while I kept the other wrapped around Julius. I immediately pulled the two of them closer to me and hugged them as tightly as I could...

"You two are going to make me blush!" I smiled at the pair.

The two of them blushed a lot, but they still returned the hug.

I really wish we can just stay like this forever…

---

-----Martin's POV-----

How…? How did I end up in this situation…?

Why do the gods have to be so cruel with a poor retired adventurer like me…?

I was sitting at the front of the wagon with the legendary "Skull Crusher" and my boss and Guild Master, the "Demonic Wind"... I was sitting right between them…

"Martin." My boss, Tiria, immediately called my name.

"Yes!" I shouted with fear.

I barely survived the nightmarish punishment that Tiria and the wife of the Skull Crusher inflicted upon me… I don't want to experience something like that again…

I was really lucky...

"Easy there. I'm not going to beat you up since you have apologized and reflected on your actions." My boss patted my shoulder.

I flinched as soon as she did that...

"Well, although I say that, Fred might want to have a mock battle with you." Tiria shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

I didn't need to look at Skull Crusher to know that he was looking at me with murderous intent...

I'm dead… I'm going to die today… It will be a miracle if I manage to survive until we reach Norvek...

"Aye." Fred said only a single word. That single word made me feel chills down my spine…

What was that…? I think I can already hear the carriage of the Goddess of Death, Skell coming to claim my soul…

"Well, never mind that. Have you confirmed the information I asked for?" She asked with a serious expression.

Of course, the possibility of my death is not a problem for her…

Sigh… Maybe I should retire from working at the Adventurer's Guild too… This job is way too underpaid…

"I did. No one is looking for the boy. We made several groups of adventurers check every single village, no matter how small it was and we still got nothing." I gave my report to my boss.

Sigh… My boss can be so unreasonable at times…

She only gave me two weeks to check every single village and town in this enormous country to see if I could find the parents of the black-haired boy…

It took several sleepless nights and a lot of gold to get enough people to carry out that task… It was an absolute nightmare…

"I imagined as much... Good job." She smiled at me.

"Thank you…" I had to contain my tears of frustration after receiving a single 'good job' for all of my suffering…

"What about the other matter I asked you about yesterday?" She looked at me and then smiled.

While many men would be envious about getting a smile from a beautiful woman like Tiria, I can only see a demon disguised as a woman… Her smile gives me goosebumps...

"I didn't have a lot of time to conduct interviews, but I was able to make a list of individuals who seemed willing." I started looking for a piece of paper in my pouch while not letting go of the reins of the wagon.

"That's very good then. Give the list to Fred. He and Lilia will conduct the interviews when we arrive." My boss seemed satisfied with my results.

When I managed to get the piece of paper, I gave it to the giant muscular man seated by my side without looking at him.

Martin, for the love of the gods, keep your eyes on the road! Don't make eye contact with the legendary soldier that quite possibly wants to beat the shit out of you!

The Skull Crusher quickly took the paper out of my hand without killing me in the process…

"Hmm? So they want to move from Norvek? That's a pleasant surprise." Fred sounded a bit surprised yet somewhat happy about the list.

"Is it someone you know~?" Tiria asked with amusement.

"Aye." The Skull Crusher replied with a single word.

"It looks like getting people to move to your new village is gonna be easy. Anyway, Martin, did you prepare my house for me and my family?" My boss smiled at me again. That smile didn't reach her eyes.

"I did! I did! I worked all day long and everything is ready!" I immediately nodded vigorously.

I also had to stay up almost all night to get to The Forest of Falgren to pick all of them up…

Sigh… They really don't pay me enough to do this job…

"Good." Tiria looked pleased by my answer.

Soon enough, silence returned. I could only hear the sounds that our horses and the wheels of the wagon were making...

But despite the comforting silence, the pressure of being in the middle of these two monsters made my stress levels skyrocket…

I don't think I will be able to endure all the way to Norvek with these two beside me…

---

Chapter 9: Departure

END

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