A carriage braved the snowstorm, speeding down the road.
When it bumped, the passengers were naturally terrified.
Asuna clung tightly to Luo Yi’s arm, not daring to breathe.
After all, the driver was a blind old man.
“I’m so scared…”
Asuna’s eyes met Luo Yi’s gray irises.
As the older brother, he could only dote on his sister.
“Master Bali Saihe’s driving skills… are excellent!”
But before he finished speaking, a sharp brake came—
Under the force of inertia, Luo Yi and Asuna both tumbled inside the carriage.
Yet even so, they still held each other steady—Luo Yi wore the black helmet the Master had given him, so even if he hit the back of his head, it wouldn’t hurt—and Asuna…
She lay in Luo Yi’s arms, unharmed. That was enough.
“How wonderful.”
Asuna smiled, a blush rising on her face.
“I can hear your heartbeat, you know… the pounding kind…”
The girl’s slender fingers traced circles on Luo Yi’s chest.
“Enough flirting.”
Bali Saihe’s voice came.
“Looks like we’ll have to abandon the carriage and go on foot.”
“In danger again?”
Luo Yi blinked, asking if there were still orcs active nearby.
Bali Saihe shook his head.
“It’s the Adventurer’s Guild. Those incompetent fools who ruin everything.”
Bali Saihe’s words weren’t too surprising.
As a former Brave, he could say such things—unlike many past Braves who indulged in boasting at taverns, Bali Saihe didn’t believe that a motley crew of adventurers could aid in fighting the Demon King.
So in his youth, he chose a different path: arming the allied forces of the Four Kingdoms, becoming the sword and shield against the Demon Race.
Unfortunately, that failure cost Bali Saihe his victory and his reputation.
But the Old General still held that judgment.
Among adventurers, few were useful.
Most could only make futile efforts against a dire situation.
When the three got off the carriage, what they saw was a terrible scene.
The muddy road was clogged with traffic, makeshift tents and stalls set up everywhere, flying banners from various regions.
Most banners were easy to recognize—they bore a white dove as their symbol.
The emblem of the Adventurer’s Guild, for this transnational organization among the Four Kingdoms always championed neutrality and peace—but since each branch was different, the dove’s posture and placement varied greatly.
Take the one Luo Yi knew best: under House Linde’s rule, the Baldwood Town Adventurer’s Guild branch had a green flag with a white dove standing on the back of a sheep.
Beneath that flag stood an old acquaintance.
That sighing dwarf uncle…
Wasn’t he the dwarf adventurer Du Wa Er Fu, who had met Luo Yi once before and led him to find Bali Saihe!?
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land was always exciting.
“Uncle! Long time no see.”
Du Wa Er Fu was just a dwarf sitting in front of his tent, drinking beer and dozing off.
That shout made him jump out of his chair in fright.
His small eyes darted left and right, finally locking onto the red-haired, gray-eyed kid carrying a heavy sword.
Luo Yi, of all people?
“You… did you get a job from the Adventurer’s Guild too?”
Du Wa Er Fu scratched his head, staring at Luo Yi.
“That helmet you’re wearing looks familiar…”
“It’s an old helmet.”
Bali Saie stepped forward.
“There are too many eyes and ears here. Don’t say anything.”
Though the old man had lost his eyesight, the oppressive aura he exuded through the thick blindfold still made Du Wa Er Fu nod obediently.
“Then… then pull up your hood, the wind is strong…”
Du Wa Er Fu scratched his head and laughed self-deprecatingly.
“I suppose that’s right—Adventurer Guilds everywhere hide crouching tigers and lurking dragons, not like our Baldwood Town, hiding crouching cats and lurking worms…”
Ever since the Shadow Thieves’ Guild recognized Bali Saihe and Asuna and attempted a failed kidnapping, the trio had to be more cautious…
“Um… why don’t you all come into the tent to talk? There’s free beer…”
“The kids are young; they don’t drink.”
“There’s hot drinks, ginger ale.”
Gurgle
The ginger ale bubbled, glowing amber in the dim candlelight.
Luo Yi drank it and burped, making Asuna cover her mouth and laugh.
She didn’t drink—girls burping was ugly.
An ugly girl wouldn’t get married…
Bali Saihe was more frugal; he only ordered a cup of hot water.
The branch chief of the Baldwood Town Adventurer’s Guild was a gentle, scholarly mage.
The eyes behind his reading glasses didn’t even bother to see who had come—Du Wa Er Fu had vouched for them, so they were guests.
“Ah… you don’t know about this?”
The old scholar’s nasal voice expressed surprise.
“Privet Town has been besieged by orcs for days now. It’s an urgent, fire-on-the-brows matter.”
“And that convent in Privet Town, Maisonlogi, is no ordinary building. Not only is it the site of an ancient elven temple and a place honoring the Moon Goddess—the convent houses many noble ladies of the Kingdom of Norsenia for study. Those orcs dare to lay their filthy paws there? Ha! Just wait for the armies of the noble lords to give them a beating!”
Even so, those words couldn’t hide another fact.
Why was everyone staying here, not moving?
Luo Yi hit the nail on the head, and the chief told him the truth.
Because they couldn’t win.
“They say the orc chieftain besieging Privet Town is none other than Azog, son of the former Orc King, Ba Er Ge…”
the old scholar said.
“That fellow favors a pair of curved blades. He bears a grudge over his father’s death at the hands of the Shield of the Kingdom, Bali Saihe… Now that the Old General is gone, he thinks he’s back in his prime. He’s volunteered to be the vanguard and spearhead, and in recent years, he’s wandered up from the southern mountains to here.”
Luo Yi instinctively glanced at his Master—but Bali Saihe remained unmoved.
“Azog’s underlings are nothing to sneeze at either. The reason we’re all stuck here doing nothing is because of that Lu Bu Li Zi—”
Lu what-zi?
Luo Yi panicked the moment he heard the name.
“Lu Bu Li Zi was Orc King Ba Er Ge’s mount—a cunning king of the wargs, a reincarnated demon wolf.”
Bali Saihe traced three holy marks on his chest as a sign of reverence.
“That wolf is three times the size of a normal warg, pitch black and terrifying—and it has a third eye…”
“Oh… Could this senior be a seasoned adventurer?”
The old scholar had to adjust his glasses and look at him with new respect.
But no sooner had he put his glasses on than Bali Saihe left his seat and went to doze off in a corner.
“Grandpa is so…”
Asuna pouted.
“Lu Bu Li Zi… what’s the problem?”
“Ah, little miss, it’s a huge problem. That beast is a survivor of the war back then. After many years, it’s become fiercer and more cunning. In name, it’s still Azog’s subordinate, but in reality, it’s a veteran of two eras, leading all the wargs in the orc army… This area is nothing but forest and hills, perfect for those wargs to bite and cause chaos everywhere.”
Luo Yi had to nod—earlier on the road, he’d already seen similar unfortunate souls…
“If we want to advance another step from here, we’ll have to face waves of warg attacks… Fighting alone won’t work.”
“Then why not band together and go all at once?”
Luo Yi countered.
The other could only sigh.
Because adventurers… preferred to fight alone.
The crisis at Privet Town was just a sheet of paper on the Adventurer’s Guild bulletin board, listing the bounty.
Not enough to split among everyone!
“I bet half the kingdom’s Adventurer’s Guild has shown up… This money can’t be divided fairly.”
The chief smiled bitterly.
“Everyone just wants to sneak in and try their luck, to be the hero who lifts the siege.”
“That’s wrong!”
Asuna shook her head.
“Everyone should unite…”
“If they could truly unite, that battle back then wouldn’t have been lost!”
“In short—Lu Bu Li Zi’s wolf sons and grandsons block the road. We can’t break through for now, so we have to wait for reinforcements. Those nobles won’t stand by…”
The chief counted on his fingers as if pinning all his hopes.
“No matter how many wolves there are, they can hardly stand against a regular army, great knights, and crossbow units.”
“Which noble armies are coming?”
Luo Yi asked casually.
The humiliation he’d suffered under House Linde pained him deeply—those noble lapdogs, every single one of them, were just useless gluttons.
He didn’t trust their abilities…
But what about the Adventurer’s Guild?
A… camp of failures?
That couldn’t be right.
Asuna was happy as long as she was with Luo Yi, so she didn’t care much about what the chief said.
She could wait.
But for some reason, Luo Yi couldn’t sit still in the end.
Because the chief said this—
“There are quite a few nobles… Nobles near Privet Town all want to send their daughters to Maisonlogi… I can’t remember all of them, but the most recent one I know is the young lady of House Linde, the only daughter, the spoiled one—she was still crying when she arrived at the convent gate. I’m half a man of Baldwood Town, and since I’m indebted to Count Brian of House Linde, I naturally remember…”
The red-haired, gray-eyed boy couldn’t stay seated.
He left his seat directly.
“Luo Yi!?”
His Master and sister’s voices came from behind.
But Luo Yi couldn’t keep sitting there drinking ginger ale.
Because Sister Xue La was in danger!
He had to go save her!