”Haha, don’t worry your cute head about it. Even if we don’t know what kind of monsters we are after, the guild would never post any missions while mentioning the wrong difficulty. Based on the reward we might get, this mission should be a cakewalk with all of us together,” Bruno said with a confident smile.
”Little bunny, don’t worry. This nuisance near the shore only started happening recently, and that is probably why there is not much information. Besides, if it’s too much for us, we can always retreat. Anyway, stick close to big sister here, and I can protect you even from the scariest trolls,” Verona said with a wink as she lightly squeezed Azu’s arm, only to be astonished at how muscular it felt.
Could rabbitmen be well built like this? What does he do in his home to get such robust arms?
Pobi and Pubo also took this opportunity to look at Sera and said, “Cute Miss, you can stick close to us. We brothers can make sure not even an insect will harm you.”
Sera politely smiled as she stood closer to Viktor and said, “No need to trouble yourself but thank you.”
Just her smile was enough to make Pobi and Pubo feel like their hearts had been stolen and fell into a daze, not even feeling disappointed by her words. Anyway, she would be traveling with their group, and that was more than enough.
Viktor subtly smiled as he casually shrugged off Verona’s hand and said, “Then let’s get going and return before the skies get dark.”
”Of course,” Brono patted Azu’s back with a veiled glint in his eyes as the group set out for the Lulling River.
Viktor and Seraphina were walking behind this group of four, and right before they could even reach the gate on the border of the town, the two saw many dark elves wearing long dark robes walking around the town with vigilant eyes.
Seraphina unconsciously tensed up seeing them while Viktor gently tapped her soft hand to reassure her that everything would be alright.
He could see that these dark elves were going around and knocking on people’s houses and guessed that they were probably investigating the death of the dark elf he killed.
Since four days had passed, Viktor thought that Nahulle’s friends must have known about his death a bit too late. They probably must have thought to pay Nahulle a visit after a few days. Otherwise, he would have seen such a scene before.
And when they reached the border gate, Viktor saw that the lizardmen who were guarding the borders were sweating before a couple of dark elves who seemed to be asking them some things.
It also seemed that some of the dark elves had temporarily taken over the job of letting people in and out, conducting careful checks as if to catch the criminal.
Viktor didn’t expect the dark elves to be so zealous about these things and felt that maybe he should have taken more careful precautions. After all, they must have already noted down the list of people who entered that inn that night, and surely they must have known that two rabbitmen also entered the inn.
But then again, he also knew there was no time to waste, and he needed answers quickly for the sake of Seraphina and her daughters.
And right when they were about to step out of the border gate, a dark elf stopped the entire group, “Halt! Show me your papers, and you, remove your hood,” The dark elf demanded as he looked at the woman wearing a baggy cloak and standing beside the rabbitman.
By now, Brono understood that Azu was right about Sera being too shy, and he could also see that she was using the hood out of shyness and not having too many people look at her due to her irresistible figure and beauty.
And so he decided to use this situation to get some brownie points as he slightly laughed and said to the serious-looking dark elf standing before him, “Good sir, no worries. She is with us, and we are on a very important mission. Just to assure you, please take a look at this.”
Viktor narrowed his eyes as he saw Brono taking out some small gold token and showing it to the dark elf. He was unable to recognize what that was, but the moment the dark elf saw it, his expression changed as he looked at Brono and his group with a strange look and waved his hand, “Let them pass. They are fine.”
Viktor and Seraphina exchanged subtle glances, wondering what that was about, as the group of six walked out.
”What was that token you showed to him?” Viktor asked as if he was genuinely curious about it.
Brono smugly smiled and said, “Just take it that our group got friends in high places. As I said, you both are in good hands. We have never failed a single mission so far, and that earned us quite some respect in this town.”
Viktor felt that he was telling a half-truth but also knew that he was hiding something.
”Everyone, stay focused, especially you two. Do you see that big forest over there down this road? It is the infamous Blackmere Forest. Once we enter that, we might come across dangerous creatures, and even if they are wild, they are intelligent as well. So stick close to us since we have to go through that forest to get to that river,” Brono said as he pointed at the dark forest ahead, and even from afar, Viktor felt that this forest gave off a dark vibe as expected.
Viktor narrowed his eyes since he had already heard some rumors about the Blackmere Forest. It was a place that only the strongest adventurers in town frequented, and even some of them never returned alive. In fact, adventurers who venture out for loot and rewards die daily in that forest, and not even their remains would be left behind.