With her eyes closed in meditation, the little one, Sakuya, slept soundly, hugging her own arms tightly. Bexia had already blocked out her hearing, preventing her from hearing the continuous sound of the magic cannons. At the same time, he wondered what had happened for such a big commotion to occur.
But Sakuya was holding on to him. He wanted to withdraw his hand slightly, but Sakuya suddenly tightened her grip, as if afraid to be separated from him, depending on him so much that Bexia couldn't bear to leave.
Bexia didn't pay too much attention to the sounds outside. After about half an hour, the sound of cannon fire stopped. Bexia cast a few protective spells around them and then turned around, protecting Sakuya's soft body and falling asleep. To be honest, he hadn't had a real good rest since they started this journey.
The night passed without words. The next morning, Bexia came out of the room and ordered two servings of food at the restaurant below the inn. Many people at the surrounding tables were discussing the events of the previous night, as if there had been flying monsters preparing to attack the Alliance City under the cover of darkness, but they were completely wiped out by the magic cannons.
At the same time, Bexia seemed to hear some other news, such as "the period of monster unrest has come" and "the extermination mission is starting again". It seemed that attacks from monsters had become a regular occurrence, and there was even a sense of anticipation in their tone.
Of course, Bexia could somewhat understand their mindset. After all, this kind of thing would definitely bring them great profits. Otherwise, why would they be so eager?
However, compared to the adventurers' expectations, Bexia could sense that the situation in the Alliance City was not as adventurers described. It seemed to be purely about increasing profits. The number of soldiers in the city had obviously increased, especially on the city walls, where there were soldiers with bows and arrows stationed every few steps. There were also large metal cylinders placed around, which were the so-called magic cannons.
The atmosphere in the city was not as relaxed as that of the adventurers. After all, the soldiers of the kingdom were the main force against monsters, while adventurers played a supportive role. And adventurers had no such concerns. If there was danger, they could simply flee, unlike these soldiers who could only charge forward and not retreat.
Bexia strolled through the Alliance City with Sakuya, bought two ordinary storage items, one for Sakuya and one for himself. Although he had the spatial realm, a general storage item could conceal its effect, so that it wouldn't seem strange to others.
In addition, Bexia gave Sakuya a near champion-level invisible cloak. Now that he had the Thousand Transformations Robe, which not only had the effect of the invisible cloak, but also could resist any attack below the level of a Sovereign, there was no need for him to keep the invisible cloak. It was just right to give it to Sakuya for her protection.
"Oh! This is the Adventurers Guild?!" Without realizing it, they had already reached the entrance of the Adventurers Guild. It seemed that Bexia remembered the identification process from yesterday and walked in with Sakuya.
The Adventurers Guild could be said to be the most popular organization on the continent. Stepping inside, unlike other Adventurers Guilds in different places, this one had been transformed into the appearance of a tavern. Numerous adventurers sat inside, drinking and bragging, their discussions revolving around hunting monsters or discovering treasures. Of course, these rough men also had their fair share of vulgar language. The topics they discussed were a bit inappropriate, mostly about geisha.
"Yoohoo! This guy looks unfamiliar. Probably a newbie."
"Little girl, do you want Uncle to take you to buy some candy?"
"Kid, want to join our monster hunting team? We give special treatment to newcomers."
"………"
Bexia's arrival naturally caught the attention of these adventurers, but most of them ignored his presence and carried on with their own business. However, there were a few busybodies who tried to give him some advice, but Bexia simply ignored them. There were many people like that among adventurers; it wasn't worth wasting time on such matters.
Bexia led the somewhat timid Sakuya forward and walked to the counter. The bartender-looking staff member wiped the crystal glass in his hand and asked, "Can I help you?"
"My adventurer badge fell off, and I need to get a new one. Also, I want to apply for one for the little girl," Bexia said.
"This little one is too young, and her strength is not enough to become an adventurer," the bartender said after giving Sakuya a casual glance.
"Could we make an exception?" Bexia pinched his fingers, indicating that money could solve the problem. The bartender glanced at him and replied, "One hundred gold coins!"
"No problem!" Bexia promptly paid the money. After a simple inquiry for information, Bexia and Sakuya obtained their adventurer badges. Bexia was a little speechless about this place; there wasn't even a strength assessment. They only asked for basic information and issued the adventurer badges themselves.
However, little did Bexia know that these black iron-level adventurer badges were as common as dirt in the Dark Border. The Adventurer's Guild had no time to manage such low-level adventurers, so very few higher-ups would pay attention to this level. That was why the bartender easily gave them the badges. Even if someone higher up found out about it, they wouldn't care.
"Oh, by the way, I want to ask about the monster outbreak. Any news?" Bexia inquired.
"The outbreak has already begun. The first line of defense has been breached, and it won't be long before they reach the Alliance City!" The bartender's expression remained unchanged, as if he was casually discussing some insignificant matter.
And of course, that was expected. After all, such outbreaks occurred every two or three years in the Dark Border. The more you encountered them, the less impact they had on you.
"Emergency mission! Emergency mission!" Suddenly, a young man in leather armor rushed down from the second floor, holding a piece of parchment in his hand. He used a nail to pin it onto the task board nearby, and at the top were four prominent blood-red words: "Emergency Mission!"
"What's going on? Why is there a sudden emergency mission?" The appearance of the young man attracted the attention of all the adventurers in the tavern. After all, an emergency mission was not an ordinary task. It could only be issued with the approval of at least three vice guildmasters or the guildmaster themselves, and each time it meant a major event was about to occur.
"This time, it is a once-in-a-century large-scale monster outbreak, several times larger than the usual ones. This mission was jointly issued by several city lords. In addition to the rewards from the Adventurer's Guild, you can also earn merit points in the Dark Border!" the young man said loudly, using magic to enhance his voice so that everyone in the tavern could hear him.
