While a powerful demon was wreaking havoc in Deya City, Hawkins of the Hodgson Family from the royal capital had been hiding in a safe spot within Deya City, waiting for the demon to be purified by the Goddess of Life.
An elder of his family had once said, “If you ever encounter a demon attack, the safest place to be is wherever the Life Saintess is.”
After all, any demon with half a brain would try to capture the Saintess to threaten others, so Hawkins remained completely unflustered from start to finish.
And just as the elders had said, the demon attacking Deya City had eyes only for the Ninth Saintess and failed to cause a single casualty before being purified by the Goddess.
Once that demon’s domain disappeared, Hawkins ordered his Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch to search for leads on the dragon egg again…
After several consecutive days of searching, the Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch finally caught the scent of a dragon egg somewhere in Deya City thanks to her extraordinary sense of smell.
Hawkins was overjoyed and immediately led his men to follow the serpent witch’s pace. Under the cover of night, they successfully snuck into Deya Magic Academy and slipped into Tia’s office…
At the entrance to Tia’s office, the Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch flicked her forked tongue, confirmed that no one was inside, then picked the lock and strode in, heading straight to the tray on Tia’s desk.
On the tray sat a large, rounded object covered with a white cloth—nothing like a common piece of furniture or decor.
The serpent witch yanked the cloth off, revealing the smooth, milky-white dragon egg beneath it!
“I… smelled… in Deya City… the only…”
“Enough, enough. The only dragon egg you smelled in Deya City is this one, right? Listening to you talk is such a pain!” Hawkins interrupted the serpent witch’s stuttering with disdain.
“Hmph…” The witch turned her face away.
‘My forked tongue can even speak the human common language, and you’re still being picky? If you weren’t my employer, I’d have snapped at you long ago!’
Without directly touching the egg, Hawkins first carefully surveyed the office layout, then flipped through the various documents on the desk.
He discovered that the office’s owner seemed to be a teacher of priests… Was she the Chief Priest or the Dean of the Priest Academy?
Hawkins was puzzled. How could a priest have a dragon egg in their office?
He then examined the egg more closely and revealed a disappointed expression:
“This isn’t the dragon egg we’re looking for. This is a Fire Dragon egg.”
“Seriously? Then where did this dragon egg come from?!” One of his underlings asked.
Even in the royal capital, people capable of raising a dragon could be counted on one hand, let alone in a poor place like Deya City.
Hawkins thought for a moment and replied:
“In Deya City, the only person capable of raising a dragon besides the Life Saintess… I can’t think of anyone else…”
“Boss, you mean the Ninth Saintess is secretly hatching this dragon egg? Then why isn’t she hatching it at the church instead of leaving it in this godforsaken place?”
“Maybe to save face for the kingdom. Even the Life Saintess has to follow the rules sometimes. Raising a dragon requires dual certification from both the Church and the Kingdom. Getting Church certification in this godforsaken Deya City is pretty fast.”
But getting our Kingdom’s certification is a bit more troublesome.
Just having someone run back and forth would take at least a month, not to mention all the other paperwork—property certificates, adventurer certificates, capital certificates, and all that—just to prove you actually have the means to support a dragon!
“In that case, might as well act first and ask for forgiveness later. It’s not like the Kingdom would dare do anything to the Life Saintess anyway…”
‘Sigh, what a shame. I was thinking of taking this egg along and selling it at an auction for some pocket money. But since it belongs to the Saintess, forget it. Her Shadow Guards are no joke. Though… maybe this dragon egg could be my chance to forge a partnership with the Saintess…’
Then Hawkins continued speaking to the Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch: “Snake Sis, besides this dragon egg, there really are no other leads?”
“Deya City… only… this one.” The witch responded.
“Then expand the search range. Maybe that dragon egg is hidden in the Mist. According to the local rumors, I’ve heard that a lot of people use the Mist to smuggle contraband. So we should check inside the Mist too.”
“The Mist… inside? For some reason, there’s some kind of power… blocking my scouting. Perhaps I’ll need to… try going… a bit deeper…” The Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch replied with her clumsy tongue.
After rummaging around the office a bit more, Hawkins and his men discovered a basement entrance in a hidden spot. However, because the dust had been disturbed upon opening it, they couldn’t perfectly restore the scene. So Hawkins gave up on searching the basement. Besides, what big secret could a priest’s basement possibly hold?
After restoring the office to its original state, Hawkins and his men quietly slipped out of Deya Magic Academy. He then gave orders to his underlings:
“You all keep trying to make contact with that demon hunter named Reg. If he can be reasoned with, reason with him. If not, tie him up and bring him to me. But don’t make too much of a scene. That demon hunter squad of theirs is personally led by Chief Priest Kashan, who came all the way from the royal capital. I can’t afford to offend her.
Also, the 8th Rank Ranger that the Chief Priest brought along is no pushover—he can sniff us out at any moment. So whatever you do, don’t stir up too much trouble, got it?”
“Yes, boss!” The underlings all nodded in understanding. So over the next few days, they began trailing Reg day and night, looking for the right opportunity to capture him…
Two days later, on a cloudless day, while Hawkins was still enjoying the rough pastries of Deya City, all of his underlings who had been assigned to tail Reg suddenly came running back with battered and swollen faces, looking utterly miserable. This frightened many of the passersby.
One of the underlings, throwing all dignity aside, immediately ran up to Hawkins to complain:
“Boss, those demon hunters are absolutely insufferable! They deliberately lured us into an alley and ambushed us, beat us into this state, and kept accusing us of being blasphemers or something while they were at it. When they finally had enough, they just said ‘Sorry, wrong target’ and then let us go!”
“Huh? That happened?” Hawkins was shocked:
“Wait a minute—you and Massimo are both Four Rank. How could you lose that badly to a patrol team no matter what?!”
Hawkins had four underlings here—two at Four Rank and two at Third Rank.
Dealing with a demon hunter patrol team led by only one Four Rank hunter with an average level below Third Rank should have been a piece of cake.
That was all calculated by Hawkins.
“That’s not it!” The Four Rank underling quickly explained:
“We actually had a slight advantage at first! But then they directly fired a signal flare to call over two other patrol teams to back them up!”…
Meanwhile, at a secluded alley entrance with few passersby, Reg’s demon hunter patrol team was sitting there, gasping for breath.
Their faces were covered in bruises—clearly they’d just been through a brawl.
Weierda, the Four Rank demon hunter, rubbed his bruised cheek and gnashed his teeth:
“I didn’t expect those guys to be that strong! The weakest one was above Third Rank, and the two strongest were even above Four Rank. We almost got flipped!
Anyway… Reg, are you alright?”
“I’m not. My head’s still ringing…”
Reg’s level, below Third Rank, was already at the bottom of the team, so in the fight just now, he’d basically been on the receiving end the whole time.
For every ten punches he took, he landed maybe one.
Fortunately, neither side was fighting to kill—both just wanted to teach the other a lesson.
They also avoided vital areas and deliberately aimed at the face.
“This will pass with a little rest. Look on the bright side—for such a small price, those two won’t dare tail you anymore, right? Don’t worry. Our Demon-Hunting Army is very protective of its own. If they dare come again, we’ll keep beating them!”
Weierda consoled him, then asked:
“So what exactly did they want to ask you about? I pressed them hard for a long time, but they absolutely refused to answer.”
“Uh, I don’t know the specifics either… And honestly, only my friend would know. Unfortunately, he left Deya City long ago, so they won’t find him anytime soon. That’s why they tried to use me as a way in.”
Truth had once told both Reg and Anderson that the matter of the Dragon Egg of the Illusory Realm must be kept absolutely secret, that no one could speak a word of it.
Besides, who knew if Truth could “see” in real-time through the mark on Reg’s body?
So Reg had to be extra careful—being a servant of a powerful being wasn’t exactly easy…
“By the way, could it be that precious dragon egg that the Hodgson Family lost?”
Suddenly, one of the demon hunter teammates, whose cheek was half-swollen, spoke up:
“Captain, do you remember hearing a rumor at a tavern in the royal capital? A young master of the Hodgson Family, bragging drunk, let slip that their family had acquired a very precious dragon egg from the Land of Exile. But during transport, they discovered it had gone missing and vanished.”
Now the Hodgson Family seems to be frantically searching for leads on that dragon egg, but they’re also afraid that if the news leaks, it’ll invite competition from all sides…
“I just thought—if you’re shipping goods from the Land of Exile to the royal capital, you’d have to pass through the Dea Plateau. So could it be possible that the legendary precious dragon egg was lost… right here on the Dea Plateau?”
The demon hunter teammate said this sharply, and Weierda suddenly had an epiphany.
He looked over at Reg:
“Right, Reg, do you think that’s the reason? Those guys are from the Hodgson Family, and they came to you to find out where the dragon egg is?”
“Uh… well…” Reg played dumb on the surface, but internally he was cursing up a storm.
‘Is the royal capital really that small?! How could they coincidentally hear such an obscure piece of intel and immediately figure it out!’
Just then, as Reg was still thinking about how to play dumb and respond, Hawkins’ voice suddenly rang out from nearby: “Found you!”
A furious-looking Hawkins led his crew menacingly toward Reg and the others.
Besides the four underlings with black eyes and swollen faces, he’d brought even more people this time—though the Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch was notably absent.
But even with Hawkins charging in so aggressively, Weierda remained completely relaxed. With a mocking tone, he said:
“We weren’t exactly trying to hide, you know. What? Judging by your look… are you planning to make a move against us demon hunters? Little young master, would you like me to introduce whose direct subordinate I am?”
“Hmph!” Hawkins snorted lightly:
“I indeed don’t dare to touch you right now…”
Demon hunters were the elite troops that answered only to the Church of the Goddess of Life, and the divine oracles the Demon-Hunting Army received were far more numerous than those given to the church’s high-ranking officials in the royal capital.
The importance and status of demon hunters went without saying. Even someone from a great family like Hawkins wouldn’t recklessly provoke them.
“But then again…” Hawkins continued:
“The status of demon hunters is certainly special. But as a member of the Hodgson Family, I still have plenty of ways to make life difficult for you lot below Fourth Rank… Do you know who leads the Fearless Demon Hunter Squadron?”
“Hmph, why bring up the name of my idol Hector?” Weierda replied with disdain.
In the royal capital, a large number of adventurers joined the Demon-Hunting Army partly because they were inspired by the Fearless Demon Hunter, Hector. In the minds of many commoners, Hector was their hero.
According to most accounts and historical records, the number of demons Hector had slain could basically circle Deya City.
After nearly ten years of hunting demons, many demons in the royal capital’s outskirts would tremble in fear just at the sound of his name, greatly ensuring the safety of the populace.
One of the battles that made Hector most famous was when, at Eighth Rank with exquisite demon-hunting equipment, he single-handedly gravely wounded an Original Demon!
Unfortunately, he’d fallen one move short and failed to capture that Original Demon.
He himself was nearly killed by it, and it was only because the Goddess of Life acted in time that his life was saved…
‘Wow, an Eighth Rank hunter nearly caught a level-ten Curse Demon using traps and combat experience. Now that’s a promising talent. Must nurture him, definitely must nurture him!’ Having true strength was exactly the reason the Goddess of Life personally intervened to save Hector. She also had the Church award him the Fearless Medal based on his heroic deeds.
From then on, the Church would periodically select the most formidable demon hunters to receive the Fearless Medal, and also established an elite team among elites—the Fearless Demon Hunters.
Currently, the level-eighty-nine Hector served as the leader of this Fearless Demon Hunter team.
Hawkins chuckled lightly:
“What else? Obviously I’m going to call him over to teach you short-sighted fools a lesson!”
“What? Are you saying you can call someone like Hector—that small fry—over here? Pfft. If you can call Hector, then I can call the Hero of Sun City over too!” Weierda continued to mock.
‘Oh crap? No way!’
This time it was Reg’s turn to panic. He didn’t know much about who Hector was, but he was all too familiar with the Hero of Sun City.
He was genuinely afraid that Weierda would summon his own father right to this spot! Even though he knew Weierda was just mocking Hawkins…
Fortunately, Weierda was only joking.
But Hawkins was definitely not joking:
“Heh heh, let me tell you the truth. Hector has a pretty good relationship with our family. During a rough patch in his past, our family funded him several times. And the reason I invited him to Deya City this time is perfectly legitimate—strong demonic energy fluctuations have appeared here. For the safety of the local citizens, our Hodgson Family decided to invite the justice-loving Hector to come take a look at what’s going on…”
“And while he’s at it, help our family handle some trivial matters, haha!”
“…”