''He was right; the number of people around it is meager.''
Alex murmured as he looked over the streets of Xeeno from the main street. Fortunately, it wasn't like a ghost town where everyone had disappeared. But the number of people around was still a lot less than in Blue Ivy. The main reason for this was the spread of Magic Fever, but that said, the number of residents in the city was still lower than in Blue Ivy. Although Blue Ivy was a coastal city, because of the monster materials that could be acquired from the underwater dungeon, people like adventurers, merchants, and blacksmiths naturally gathered there. Compared to that, this was only a small city in the countryside; it wasn't unreasonable that there would be fewer people even though this city had a Forest of Monsters, only beginners Rank monsters, and some weak, medium Rank are inside it.
〖I sense the remnant of the purple fog still lingering around.〗Silveria's voice echoed inside Alex's mind.
'I see.' Alex mumbled before activating his Eye of Truth; his left green eye turned crimson; Alex was able to see faint purple fog mixed in the mana in the air; it appeared chaotic, almost making Alex's head spin; he quickly switched it off; he continued to advance until he reached the Adventurer guild.
Alex opened the guild door and went inside.
''I see. It was to be expected.''
Those were the first words Alex said. Normally, guild staff would be working busily. But even though this was the time adventurers would usually be eating at the bar, there were almost no people in the guild. There was just one receptionist counter, who appeared to be slightly older than Leonora, and several guild staff behind her.
There was no one that could be considered an adventurer around. However, it couldn't be helped that no one was eating or drinking at the bar if the city was blockaded and food was under a rationing system. Still, as expected of a guild staff and the receptionist, they smiled and gave a polite nod when Alex entered the guild.
''I'm Sam. I've brought Aurora grass powder and other relief supplies from Blue Ivy.'' Alex said the same words he said at the entrance of the city.
Surprise,d the receptionist froze at Alex's words. At the same time, the other guild staff behind the counter were the same.
''C-Could you pass me your guild card just to make sure?"
Alex nodded at the receptionist, who spoke in a trembling voice, and took out his guild card from his Item box; because he still wore that fake ring, people mistakenly thought he possessed a space ring; well, it was convenient.
''Ohh!?"
The guild staff cheered when they saw him use his item box, which showed that the story they had heard was true.
While watching the situation, Alex handed his guild card to the receptionist, thinking their reaction was reasonable if you considered the situation with Magic Fever.
''C-Certainly, you are Sam, leader of the C Rank Sky Wolf group. Current city: Blue Ivy. I have verified it.''
Alex spoke again after storing his guild card, which had been handed back with trembling hands, into his Item box.
''So, mind tell me where do I place the relief supplies I've brought? Because it's a decent amount, I think a slightly larger space would be good.''
''Please wait for a moment. I will call the guild master over right away.''
After the receptionist said that, the guild staff headed further back in a hurry but was stopped by Alex.
''Please wait. I would like you to hand this over to the guild master. It's a letter addressed to the guild master of Xeeno's city from the guild master of Blue Ivy.'' While saying so, Alex handed over the letter he took out from his Item box. The guild staff who received it nodded and ran behind the counter.
'If it has the same structure as the guild in Blue Ivy, then the guild master's office should be further back.' Thinking to himself as he looked inside, Alex turned to another receptionist to get a bit more information about the city, precisely that forest covered in purple fog.
As expected of a receptionist, her appearance was better than average. What was different from Blue Ivy was that there seemed to be two receptionists. Was that was due to magic fever?, he didn't know.
''Magic Fever, was it? I heard that 40% of the residents were ill with it when it was talked about in Blue. I wonder how far it's spread now?'' Alex inquired.
Knowing that question would come, the receptionist shook their head before speaking.
''People showing signs of onset in Xeeno is now approaching 60% of the residents.''
''So many?'' Alex was speechless that in just a few hours, the number of sicks people increased to such an extent.
''Yes, unfortunately. I think you would know since you've delivered the Aurora grass powder here, but Magic Fever will develop if the person doesn't have a certain level of magic power.''
The receptionist sighed, but someone continued from her words.
''In other words, the threshold for Magic Fever, in this case, was considerably high.'' Along with those words, an older man in his sixties appeared from behind the counter. Alex could easily guess who he was from the timing of his appearance. His expectations were proved correct from the receptionist's words.
''Guild master.''
The person wore a cloak and had a long cane in his hand; he appeared to be a mage. He gave off the atmosphere of a veteran mage. From Rei's glance, he appeared to be in his mid-sixties, and a long beard extended from his chin.
Wrinkles covered his face but were well matched to his aura of a strong mage. He was a mage worthy of being called one.
That was Alex's first impression of Mathias Shocker, Xeeno's guild master, who currently stood before him.
Also, seeing Alex's appearance, Mathias was shocked in his mind.
(This magic power, is he really a human?)
Standing in front of him, Alex looked like an above-average adventurer boy at first glance. However, the amount of mana his body hid was enormous.
(Interesting, no wonder Celes think highly of him.)
Unconsciously, Mathias's lips curled up to form a smile as he said.
''Please follow me.''