"Don't ask me why the City Lord wants to capture Tang, I don't know as well," Pauline shook her head as she continued in a low voice, "They need a justification to capture Tang, they killed Deril and Murie but the plan is backfired because Tang is far stronger than they thought to be."
Selena's pupil shook a bit, but deep inside her heart, she was actually very grateful to the City Lord. Thanks to this the chance to avenge her family was in her hand right now.
Pauline noticed the shake on Selena's face, "I know, you are just a victim of the City Lord's scheme, but I hope you can hold back for now. Don't do something silly by facing Tang alone."
Selena did not give a reply to the female guide. She lowered her head as the aura around her was getting gloomier. She acted like she was very devastated by the news that his party was wiped out because of the city lord's scheme. Her acting was perfect as Pauline did not notice any slightest suspicion in her.
The silence ensued for a couple of minutes. Pauline did not disturb the girl even when the order came. The waitress noticed something with the change of atmosphere. She immediately returned for her duty after delivering the order.
"What about the Diamond Rank Party? I heard two Diamond Rank Parties and one Heaven-Diamond Party from the capital visited our city, do you know anything about them? Why do they come to a remote city such as Waskin City?" Selena did not dwell any longer in Deril and Murie's case. She had gotten what she wanted, it was time to continue with her third task for today.
Pauline once again furrowed her brows, "You haven't given up for your revenge," she let out a sigh, "This is classified information, I hope there's no third party will hear our conversation."
"I promise, we can set a contract or an oath if you want to–" the female guide cut in midway, "There's no need, I just need your promise. I trust you."
"Yes, Diamond Rank Parties have arrived in the city. However, they come for the Beast Stampede not to capture Tang. Don't put your hope in them, though I heard they are interested in the quest," Pauline told Selena what she knew about the Diamond Rank Parties.
"I can only tell you that much, unfortunately," the female guide took a sip of the coffee she ordered. Her eyes never left Selena though, she was truly concerned about this lone girl.
"That's fine, thank you," Selena replied with a quiet voice. She wanted to ask these Diamond Rank Parties' identity but it could be too much. Pauline might be suspicious of her if she asked her too much even with the pretext of revenge.
"So, what's your plan? Don't tell me you are going to chase Tang alone? What about your family? You can take a break and meet your family," Pauline was truly concerned about Selena. She was afraid the young girl would be reckless to chase after Tang.
Pauline shifted the topic from Tang to Selena's life. She advised her of a few good places to calm her mind, and so while they had their breakfast.
Half an hour passed quickly, they had finished their breakfast, and Pauline had to come back to the guild. They bid farewell in front of the restaurant. The female guide hugged Selena and kept advising her to stay calm about the revenge.
"Now, I don't expect that I will finish my task earlier, what should I do now?" Selena walked around aimlessly. She got all the information she was tasked with, albeit a bit lacking about the Diamond Rank Parties.
"Let's hang out a bit to see if I can get more information about the Diamond Rank Parties," she stopped in front of a building. There was a big sign with "Paradiso" written on it. Paradiso was a well-known bar for the adventurers to gather, the best place to get more information, "It's too early, but that's fine," She entered the bar.
*** ***
Time passed, the sun was ready to set on the horizon as its yellowy rays bathed the city. Selena came out of Paradiso after she got all the information she wanted.
After she came out of the bar, she immediately headed toward the north gate. The head terror continued, the mages tried to stop it from time to time, but their effort was futile since Tang Shaoyang easily overpowered the mage.
The head terror continued that caused a mass panic to the common folk. She heard a lot that the people in the city decided to migrate to other cities. Beast Stampede was a big source of terror, now someone strong targeted the city too. It terrified the people.
The atmosphere of the city was quite gloomy, and all of this was one man's creation. He was alone, but that was enough to cause the city into distress, "He is amazing," Selena muttered in a low voice as she made her way to the north gate.
"Halt! State your business!" The guard was on a high alert. Not everyone could go to the Orin Forest after the two big incidents.
"I want to go to the forest," she replied curtly while showing her golden badge. The young guard furrowed his brows, scanning the woman from the top to bottom. No matter how he looked at her, her class was for sure not a battle class.
'I am confident this woman is a cleric or maybe a healer, why would she go alone to the forest?' The young guard was assessing the situation. He was about to ask her more questions until a big hand fell on his shoulder, "Let her pass."
That was his captain's voice and the young guard nodded his head, "Yes, Sir!" He opened the door on the gate and Selena smoothly got out of the city.
"Her party is one of many parties wiped up by that monster, she would usually come at this time and mourn for her friends and come back tomorrow morning," The Captain Guard told his subordinate the backstory.
"But wandering around in the forest in the night is dangerous. And she's just a healer too, Captain!" The young guard tried to remind the captain, but the latter shook his head and shrugged, "But she's fine until now, this is the third day she comes out at this time."
Of course, Selena was not mourning for her party. That was just an excuse for her to get out of the city without much hassle. Fortunately, the Captain Guard was generous enough to allow her to get out of the city.
She was on her way to meet Tang Shaoyang to relay all the information she had gathered, and also handed the skill scrolls. Their rendezvous meeting was at the old Ropina Village. It would take a few hours to reach the village by walking, but she did not mind that.
She kept walking at her pace while her thoughts drifted away. Selena was thinking of a way to end Aren's life. Just like the man told her, death was a mercy.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a figure that suddenly blocked the road. A man dressed in all blacks stood up ten meters away ahead of her. Even though his face was covered with black clothes, Selena recognized the figure. He was Dan, the assassin of the Quora Party.