Alaric… Why does his name sound familiar?
Ronan thought upon hearing his name.
“Captain Ronan, please don’t tell anyone about our involvement here. I don’t want to be disturbed during our stay here.” Alaric cupped his fists.
Ronan was taken aback, but he agreed without hesitation. “Don’t worry, Sir Alaric. My mouth is sealed. I will also inform my men to keep quiet.”
This was just a minor matter compared to what they had done for the town. Although he was a bit curious as to why he wanted to remain hidden, he didn’t probe further.
“Thank you.” Alaric smiled faintly.
“You can leave the cleanup to us, Sir Alaric. You two should return. The public officials will come here soon to inspect the situation.” Ronan suggested.
(Note: Ronan doesn’t know that Alaric is a noble so he is using ‘Sir’ here.)
“Alright. You guys be careful. There might be more monsters hidden in the darkness.” Alaric reminded with a serious tone.
Ronan smiled and nodded. “We will.”
“Oh, by the way, if you need any help, you can find me at the eastern gate of the town.”
“I will keep it in mind. We’ll take our leave first.” Alaric bid him farewell, turned around, and left with Henry.
Ronan watched them leave with a thoughtful look on his face.
A moment later, one of the warriors came to his side and reported. “Sir, only one monster had a beast soul crystal and took it with them.”
Ronan raised his eyebrows and glared at the warrior.
“There was no beast soul crystal found in the monster corpses.” He muttered.
The warrior was confused, but a look of realization dawned on him. “I understand, sir.”
“Good. Now gather everyone here. I need to tell them something.” Ronan instructed with a stern voice.
“Yes, sir!”
…
Meanwhile, Alaric and Henry were now on their way back to the inn.
“My lord, I found this in the body of the alpha hyena. The rest don’t have a crystal.” Henry took out a small black crystal and handed it to Alaric.
Alaric grabbed the crystal and observed it.
The energy contained within the crystal was denser than the beast soul crystal dropped by the Spiked Grizzly Bear.
Too bad there’s only one, but this is already a good harvest. I can use this to help my subordinates speed up their mana training.
Thinking about this, he kept the crystal inside his leather pouch.
“My lord, you should clean up first. It won’t be good if you return to the inn covered in blood.” Henry handed him a clean cloth.
“Thank you.”
Alaric used the cloth to wipe off the blood on his skin and armor.
By the time they arrived at the inn, they found out that the guests were still lingering at the reception hall.
All eyes immediately gathered on them the moment they entered.
One of the guests approached them and asked. “Hey! What’s going on out there?”
He sounded rude which made Henry annoyed. If Alaric hadn’t told them to remain lowkey, he would have already slapped this man for talking down on Alaric.
The man seemed to have realized his rudeness so he quickly apologized. “I’m sorry. I was too anxious just now because of the alarm.”
Alaric didn’t mind this minor detail.
“The town guards told us that they saw a pack of monsters outside the town, but it has already been dealt with so there’s no need to panic,” Alaric explained briefly before he headed upstairs with Henry.
Arthur who was standing guard outside Yvanna’s room immediately rushed to Alaric’s side upon seeing them.
“My lord, how was it? What happened out there?” He asked.
Alaric told him about what happened.
“I see. I thought it was something more serious.” Arthur was relieved.
“You two should head back to your rooms. I will explain the situation to Yvanna first.” Alaric waved his hand.
“Yes, my lord.”
After they left, Alaric knocked on Yvanna’s door. “It’s me.”
“Wait a moment.” Yvanna’s response came quickly.
A few seconds later, she opened the door and invited him in.
Alaric told her about the incident.
“I see. No wonder I can smell the scent of blood on you.” The elf muttered while staring at him.
Alaric wasn’t surprised by this. He was already aware of her keen sense of smell.
“Does it make you uncomfortable?” He asked.
Yvanna shook her head. “We also hunt wild animals and monsters for food.”
That night, the two talked longer than usual, deepening their unusual friendship.
***
The next day, Alaric’s group left the inn.
No one came to disturb us. It seems like Ronan did as he had promised.
Alaric thought as they headed to the eastern gate of the town.
“This town is always attacked by monsters because of its location. Why didn’t they ask for military support? There should be plenty of households in Vale and Ryvaad to ask for help.” Arthur mumbled while shaking his head.
“Sir Arthur, do you really think that they haven’t asked for support from those cities?” Henry sneered.
“What do you mean, Sir Henry?” Arthur glanced at the old man.
“I bet that their requests have been rejected. No noble household would offer support to a small town especially when they have nothing to gain.” Henry replied.
Unlike Arthur who was a mercenary his whole life, Henry has interacted with a lot of people from the nobility.
In his opinion, they were opportunists who only sought profit and power.
“Sir Henry is right. There is nothing to gain from helping this small town so those noble households will most likely reject their request for military assistance.” Alaric chimed in.
Soon, they finally arrived at the eastern gate.
Alaric and Henry saw a few familiar faces, including Ronan.
The captain of the town guards was surprised to see them. He wanted to greet them, but he suddenly remembered the promise he made to them last night.
“Captain, aren’t they…” One of his subordinates discreetly pointed at Alaric’s group.
Ronan shook his head and made a ‘shushing’ gesture.
He then stared at Alaric and saw him waving his hand.
Seeing this, Ronan smiled and waved back at him.
I hope we will see each other again, Sir Alaric.