Chapter 25

Three days had passed, and Naya showed no abnormalities after being possessed by light. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Early that morning, Dawn City’s Adventurer Guild was packed with adventurers from all walks of life. Rumor had it the bounty for Butcher had tripled in just three days!? Adventurers aiming to clear the Irlanto Outskirts were going wild over it!

“Who else but the second prince would dare splash cash like this?” Leon muttered, eyes fixed on the bounty board.

“The client is the Druidic Faith—folks who worship Nature’s Will,” Aile replied.

“What god is Nature’s Will?”

“Probably the continent’s own will! Druids preach balance, claiming the disaster ten years ago was Nature’s Will restoring equilibrium.”

“Huh? Mercurial Deity’s followers say the same thing,” Leon said.

“Yeah,” Aile grumbled. “Next thing you know, some poetry god’ll pop up, saying sorcerers drop dead from just hearing a song?”

“You’re hilarious, Aile.” Leon turned to Ruri—“Ruri, who do you think did it?”

“The Last Sorcerer,” Ruri hesitated. “Ruri thinks Aio is most likely.”

As she finished, Aile swept Ruri into a hug and gave a thumbs-up—“You’re so lovable!”

Today, Ruri wore a short-sleeved sailor-style uniform with a black pleated skirt. She favored black, supposedly for its low-key vibe.

Though Ruri lacked combat skills—only summoning a blank magic book—the trio of high-level players had no trouble carrying a newbie. Plus, with Angelic Faith remnants lurking, leaving her home alone felt unsafe.

“Leon, look there,” Naya said, linking arms with him.

The crowd parted automatically—Archdruid approached with four disciples.

This guy… his beard looked like a green mop, tangled like overgrown grass. He couldn’t be that old, right? Just never shaved.

Leon watched Archdruid halt by the bounty board. A disciple stepped up, pasting a new poster over Butcher’s old one—it read:

Butcher! Bounty now 10,000 silver coins!!!

Oh my god!

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Archdruid raised a hand: “We Druids uphold nature’s balance. Goblin numbers now threaten it severely—and this mutant, Butcher, must be eliminated! So—” Cheers erupted! “Mobilize! Rally your companions! Clear the Irlanto Outskirts! Defeat Butcher! Claim the bounty!!”

“Ooooh———!!!!”

Leon eyed the adventurers rushing headlong. “This’ll get bloody.”

“The bounty’s tempting,” Naya said.

“Aile, no opinion?”

“It pushes everyone to clear Irlanto Outskirts faster. The kingdom reclaims land sooner, and I get closer to the Light Fragment. No downside,” Aile replied.

“True.” Leon squinted at Butcher’s poster—a hairless, snarling dog-like creature. “Goblins look like this?”

“It’s a mutant…” Aile shrugged.

“Hi～～～～～” A girl waved at Leon and Naya. The hunter from their Cockatrice coop—“You’re here too? Challenging Butcher?”

“We wait for Leon’s call… But hunters have tracking skills, right? With so many in the Guild, why hasn’t anyone found Butcher after days?” Naya asked, puzzled.

“That goblin’s cursed,” the hunter girl said. “Tracking fails—sometimes pointing to nowhere.”

“Eh…?”

“Tracking’s a hunter skill? Sounding targets seems mystical,” Aile asked.

“Our god grants it. Wolf God Alfinis is a white wolf.”

A white wolf… Well, at least she didn’t blame his howl for the disaster that killed sorcerers.

“Anyway, we won’t lose to you this time,” the hunter girl declared.

“Let’s go,” Leon said, hand on his sword. “I’ll test Butcher’s strength. See why it’s worth ten thousand.”

To be continued.