Chapter 88: 88 Report.

Somewhere in the frontier town inside the mansion lord, where many servants were busy preparing dinner for the house head, The Head Maid Irena walked toward the kitchen, her eyes swept over the bustling place.

“Nina, come here. I have something to tell you”.

“Head Maid?”. Nina adorably tilted her head and glanced at the other staff, curiously watching her.

“Um, excuse me”.

The girl bowed her head and followed the Head Maid, while the other servants’ gaze didn’t leave the little girl for a second.

With a gentle creak, the door closed, and Nina was facing Irena, who waited for her in the empty hall.

“Head Maid, is there anything I could help”. Nina curled the finger on her skirt, gulping the tension that built up in her chest, ’Did I make a mistake?’.

The stretched silence seemed like a rope coiled around her neck, choking her slowly.

“Nina?”.

Irena’s voice broke the little girl in a daze as she jolted with lowered gaze.

“Y-Yesh!?”. Nina’s stammered voice brought Irena to open her eyes wide in realization.

Irena chukled and addressed the trembling girl gently. “Nina, I didn’t come here to scold you”.

“Eh?”. Nina lifted her face and saw the Head Maid’s melted expression. “T-Then what is it?”.

The Head Maid nodded and firmly said, “Nina, take a rest for tomorrow. You did a wonderful job despite still little”.

“But, I used my off time yesterday to celebrate my birthday”.

Irena shook her head, reached out to a pocket in her uniform, and drew a tiny pouch. “Take a rest, you are still a child”.

Nina reached her palm and caught the falling pouch in her hand with a ’clink’. Her pupils trembled as she realized the content.

“A money?”.

The older woman nodded and pointed to the kitchen room about what had happened.

“That was a birthday present from all the servants in the house, and of course, me, and the family head also poured their hearts into it”.

“But,!?”.

Before the girl spoke her mind, the Head Maid Irena crouched, meeting her at the same level. The woman gently patted the girl’s head, tenderly caressing her silky emerald hair.

“Would you accept it? We put so much into preparing that and hope you could spend it with your mother, who always awaits you in that house”.

Nina squinted her large eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks and clutched the pouch to her chest. She wiped the tears away and blinked with eyes glittered by the light.

“Thank you, Head Maid and everyone”. Nina spread her lips wide, revealing her innocent smile that invoked Mowan’s motherly instinct.

“I’m glad you like it”. Irena pulled the girl closer to her chest and wrapped her hand around her small and trembling body. “Spend the rest of the day with your mother tomorrow, okay?”.

“Um, I will”. Nina nodded, reached around the Head Maid’s back, and gently surrendered her body.

’Thank you, everyone. I’m happy to be a part of this house’. Nina nudged deeper into the woman’s nape and muttered, ’Tomorrow, what gifts should I bring to Mom? Is she going to be surprised? Happy? Hehe, I can’t wait’.

The two shadows that tightly clung to each other separated under the glow of blazing skies. Both shadows shared a warm laugh together before returning to their own post, leaving a lingering warmth in the atmosphere in the Midnight mansion.

***

A new day embraced the two youngsters who stood before the mansion wearing thick clothes as the temperature suddenly dropped.

Jin lifted his gaze, staring at the glaring sun, and the incoming winter wind slightly dimmed the light.

From morning, Jin could feel the tips of his fingers freezing, which signaled that winter was truly coming, even though it was already mid-Ianoios.

“Shall we?”. Jin turned to his side, watching Silvia rubbing her hands together.

“Um”. Silvia nodded and walked beside the boy with their shoulders touching each other.

The cold that numbed their nerves couldn’t stop the schedule they had planned to meet Iris and report to the Guild beforehand.

Jin hastened his pace and arrived before the busy central town despite the stinging cold. People wore thick clothes, and some stall owners dared to promote their sales.

“Can you make it alone?”. Jin turned to his side, watching Silvia, who watched the bustling town.

“Um, I remembered the path to her house”. Silvia nodded, her eyes brimming with confidence.

“Good, be careful out there”.

“Okay, right, almost forgot”. Silvia dug her palm into her chest pocket and pulled the bracelet. “Here, the Orcs that Iris and I collected”.

“Alright”.

Jin took the magic item and bid his farewell to Silvia, who walked away. Her shadows stretched away before she vanished from his sight.

He shifted his attention toward the white building ahead of him. The door that kept open welcomed any people inside, whether it was for an adventure or a client.

A loud clattering of utensils and a tangy smell of ale filled the interior as the Adventurers were relaxing, and some of them present to chase the boredom of staying home.

The quest board on his left was still parched with numerous unfinished quests. Jin hopped toward it to verify if there was a rewarding quest that fit his category.

’Oh, another Cockatrice subjugation, but the rank and condition was a bit’. Jin narrowed his eyes, watching the detailed quest.

Jin planned to take a request while the girls were out of his radar, not because of recklessness, but he wanted to get used to his newfound power that rose after the battle in the North.

Also, the fact that he lost his calm when dealing with a monster with an unusual combat style, he developed. Jin wanted to gain some familiarity and proper control of his technique.

However, the quest to subjugate a Cockatrice was prompted for Gold-rank adventure and above. Or with a party of Adventure filled with a Silver-Rank member.

“Well, let’s keep it for later and hope no one ever takes the quest”. Jin exhaled and glanced toward the counter.

No people were lining in his sight, he lifted his feet and strode toward the counter with the familiar face moving around a pen behind the desk.

“Mrs. Layla?”.

Layla stopped her hand and lifted her gaze to meet with Jin, “Adventure Jin, what was your business coming here?”.

“I want to report the quest we took yesterday”.

“Very well”. Layla cast aside the paper before her and took another form under the desk, “Go ahead, I’m listening”.

The boy shared their tales from yesterday’s Adventure and carefully observed the woman in front with knitted brows.

Over time, as the story reached the cave, Layla’s face drained of its color.

“Please, can you repeat that part?”.

“We dived into the cave to find many Orcs, approximately twenty of them with one Orc Chief, then,”.

“Okay, stop right there!”. Layla raised her palm, trying to catch her breath after hearing the outrageous story. “Then, you said they were all killed by your group?”.

“Yes”.

Jin nodded, his calm voice brought stifling silence around the room who heard the conversation.

All eyes pulled toward the boy’s back, his composure and strength he showed the other day, still leave a mark in their souls.

The dread that washed over the color on their faces vividly cast a menacing illusion of their dismembered body parts.

Those bloody images resurfaced, and some of them began to throw up the food in their stomach, chasing away the merry atmosphere in the room.

Their faces clouded, silence hung in the room as the other receptionist glanced sideways in wonder, noticing the shifted mood in the place.

“Did you have the carcasses?”. Layla’s calm voice broke the stillness in the room as they watched her in a new light.

“In here”.

Jin showed the woman a bracelet, and Layla nodded before pointing toward the right side of the room, where a lone door was strapped to the wall.

“Please proceed toward that door. We will process the monster bodies there”.

“Alright”. Jin nodded and accidentally glanced toward the restaurant side.

In a unified move, they all averted their gaze from him, eyes trembled, and faces were pale as a sheet.

’Are they afraid of me?’. Jin’s emerald eyes flashed, and he saw many of the adventures inside here were below Silver-rank.

His lips curled upward, ’It seems the quest will be available for a while’.

Jin walked toward the door as his thoughts wandered toward the two girls who were currently meeting. ’Let’s finish this report and tell them my plan’.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep