Old York was truly panicking now.
The noises from the Graveyard earlier were loud enough for anyone to hear.
As the Gravekeeper…he should have been the first to rush over and see what was going on.
But…not to mention the terrifying explosions from over there………..
Even the Marquis Family Carriage parked at the gate—he didn’t dare approach it to inquire.
What was he supposed to do now?
The Graveyard had been vandalized, and he was just a lonely, isolated Gravekeeper with no children or family.
If he died here…it would be simpler.
But this was the resting place for the rich…his corpse would probably just be thrown out by someone.
The more he thought about it, the more distant he felt.
He slumped against the wall of his small hut, staring blankly ahead.
“Hey! Gravekeeper! Gravekeeper, where are you!”
Just as he recalled the girl he’d fallen for at twenty years old…
Old York suddenly heard someone calling outside.
It was a clear, bright young girl’s voice…
This made the old Gravekeeper lower his guard and slowly poke his head out the door, looking toward where the voice came from.
There stood a girl with red twin ponytails, glancing around cautiously.
“Hey! Little one! Come over quickly, it’s dangerous outside!”
Old York hurriedly beckoned her in.
“Ah~ you’re here…um, part of the Graveyard got damaged~ This is compensation, to repair it~”
The girl saw Old York’s head peeking out and immediately unfastened a money pouch from her waist, tossing it over.
“Eh!”
The pouch traced a parabola in the air.
Old York reflexively reached out to catch it, feeling the weight of coins inside…
Hiss…quite a lot, probably a mix of silver and copper coins…
He thought this as he slightly opened the pouch…
Shiny~
The next second, the golden glow nearly blinded the Gravekeeper!
“Hiss…?!”
This pouch was full of gold coins!?
At least twenty coins!
My heavens…in over sixty years of life, this was the first time he’d seen so much money.
Old York stood dumbfounded for over ten seconds, and just as he was about to say something…
He realized the girl had already left, swinging her red twin tails as she hopped onto the Marquis’s Castle carriage.
“Eh! Wait…”
The sound of hooves drowned out the old man’s voice, leaving him alone and disheveled in the night breeze.
Should he go check the Graveyard?
Uh…or maybe not?
Wait until the lord of the house arrives tomorrow…
Old York shook his head.
His face, pale from fear moments ago, was now flushed with excitement.
Well…with this money, even if he kept only a third, he could live comfortably for the rest of his days.
Alright…keep some, then tomorrow…he’d say he got frightened and quit.
His life…was precious indeed now…
Old York hugged the money pouch tightly, unable to hide his joy.
After looking around for a moment…he hurried back to his room.
But just twenty minutes later…
Step…
Two figures appeared again at the edge of the Sanctuary.
“I say, Little Mute…what are we doing here so late? Didn’t you hear about the haunting at the place we stayed last night?”
Bena, her brown hair tied into a neat high ponytail, glanced around nervously.
Yesterday’s incident was quite a mess—after all, Sha Lin had her tongue cut out and nearly died…
The scene had been quite bloody; Bena had witnessed it herself…
Later, the entire Mercenary Company almost turned their rented place upside down but found no ghosts. Now everyone was unsettled.
She wasn’t exactly scared, but the faint stench of decay in the air made her feel physically uneasy.
Beside her, the white-haired girl remained as silent as ever.
Her pale blue eyes stared ahead at the Sanctuary, and she quickened her pace toward it.
“Eh! Wait up! Seriously…”
Bena sighed slowly.
This girl…was so unpopular because of her personality…
But…who else could be her sister in name only…?
Shaking her head, Bena thought this to herself and quickened her steps to follow.
The two circled inside the Sanctuary.
Finally…they stopped without a doubt at the scene of chaos created earlier by the Black Lady.
“Looks like…there was a battle here…”
Bena bent down, eyeing a tombstone seemingly bisected by a claw, clicking her tongue.
“Such sharp claws…Could it be some lone Divine Kin wandered here?”
Judging from the scene, the fight was over.
Of course, a Divine Kin with such overwhelming strength—even if they had arrived during the battle—wouldn’t have been much help.
Mercenaries relied on numbers and formation.
While Bena considered this pragmatically…
Reliel frowned, standing before a still-intact tombstone.
The name on it was…
【Alex Seledon, Outstanding Swordsman, Excellent Companion】.
Reading the epitaph, the other party seemed to be a mercenary as well…
But why was she drawn to this tombstone, observing it alone?
She had come here guided by an inexplicable intuition, just like when visiting the Slave Market…
Alex Seledon…
A name she’d never heard before.
Could this person have some connection to her?
The girl rubbed her chin in thought.
Although Reliel was smart, the information she had was too little…
She couldn’t analyze or speculate about her situation like the Eldest Daughter of the Marquis.
At that moment, she instinctively looked down…and accidentally saw a line of small text below the tombstone…
【Oh dear, always one step slower than me~ Such a slowpoke, you’re hopeless—practice more~】
— Ileya Bateos respectfully (@><)☆
“… (卝○.○) …?”
“Hey! Little Mute~ did you find what you were looking for…”
Bena had just walked over from the side but suddenly saw Little Mute lift her foot and stomp on a well-preserved tombstone…on the ground in front?
Pfft!
Pfft pfft pfft!!
And not just once—she stomped wildly, kicking up dust like she was venting all her anger!
Uh…?
Even though she grew up with Reliel…
Though her heart was not as cold as it appeared, her mind was certainly calm and rational.
So why was she so irate today?
Bena cautiously stepped forward and looked at the ground Little Mute was furiously stomping on.
But the writing was already trampled beyond recognition…
“Um…Little Mute?”
Whoosh!
Reliel suddenly turned sharply, her blue eyes brimming with rage…
“Are you okay? What’s got you so angry?”
Bena frowned and poked Reliel’s forehead.
“… I…”
The girl opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but finally just took a deep breath…
She shook her head at Bena.
She wasn’t as good as the Eldest Daughter of the Marquis, in any respect…
That was a fact.
And even though, by her nature, she wouldn’t normally care about such things—there were so many stronger than her in this world…
She had already given up on becoming the strongest…
But…but why!?
Why did she have such a huge emotional reaction when she was surpassed and couldn’t match up to that person!?
Damn it!
It’s so frustrating!
So frustrating!!
She ran her hand through her hair, and for the first time, a trace of frustration appeared on her usually expressionless face…
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