Chapter 36: A Spark

The battle ended just like that.

In a way that no one had expected.

Walking through the mountain forest, the militiamen’s expressions were somewhat dazed. The huge wild boar carcass had now been tied up and was being dragged down the mountain by the militiamen. Although it was a variant, after death it was just a beast, naturally it could be used for food. Moreover, this was the “culprit” that attacked and destroyed the village, so of course it had to be brought back to the village to “display the corpse publicly”.

Although there was no problem with this reasoning, for the militiamen, it was a bit too exciting.

To be frank, at first they had merely treated this trip as taking this noble gentleman to see the destructive power of that beast, without any intention of engaging in battle with it. Because of this, when that wild boar discovered them, the militiamen’s first reaction was to quickly flee. But they hadn’t expected that the gains from this trip would far exceed their expectations – not only had they killed that terrifying variant, but no one had been injured or killed. This had already far exceeded everyone’s expectations. Originally, in their view, even if they were to eliminate this beast, many people would probably be injured, and some might even die. These were all things they could bear.

And now, these militiamen were like lucky people who had gone home carrying a stone only to find they had picked up a gold nugget, at a loss for what to do. They excitedly chatted with each other, eager to tell this to their friends, relatives, and everyone they knew. And that young noble, at this moment, was full of mysterious colors in their hearts. These militiamen hadn’t seen much of the world, but they could see that this young noble was really formidable. How formidable? At least more formidable than them and that group of adventurers, oh, and much more formidable than this wild boar.

Because of this, on the way back, the militia captain also very enthusiastically invited Julian, hoping he could accept the villagers’ hospitality. But Julian didn’t care about this. He politely declined the other’s invitation and expressed that he had come out just for a vacation and didn’t want to get involved in too many entanglements. Although they weren’t clear about the ways of high society, the villagers also understood that they shouldn’t rashly disturb the other’s schedule, so after Julian refused their proposal, no one said anything more.

Compared to these simple villagers, what those adventurers were thinking was not so simple.

“Big brother, do you really think that noble killed it?” The young swordsman shook his head, somewhat dismissively.

“I don’t believe he has that kind of skill. It must have been an accident. We all saw the power of that wild boar. Maybe it hit some hard rock and that’s why its head was smashed. That’s not strange.”

“But you also saw the wound. That was clearly man-made,” Faced with the young swordsman’s words, Scar frowned. Although he understood that the other’s intentions weren’t bad, he was too stubborn about some things. Of course, in most cases, this stubbornness was harmless, but sometimes it could cause a lot of trouble. Scar was very clear that his companion really hated nobles, thinking they were just a group of bloodsucking parasites. Of course, this was also a common problem many young people had.

However, when facing a young and powerful noble, he had to consider the dangers involved. Although the other hadn’t minded his companion’s rudeness before, Scar also knew that this was also a kind of cultivation of nobles. However, if this rash fellow crossed the line, it was hard to say what kind of treatment he would receive – after all, people’s patience had limits. Nobles were the same.

“So what?” But faced with Scar’s admonition, the young swordsman obviously didn’t take it to heart.

“He’s still so young, probably just over twenty, how could he have the strength to kill an intermediate-level variant? Come on, big brother, even if that wound was man-made, so what? He’s a noble, a noble! With money, who can’t he hire? Just wait, I dare to bet with you, that guy definitely has a highly skilled guardian by his side, that’s why this guy was so confident to follow us into the forest. What was he doing it for? Wasn’t it just to show off his strength in front of us? I can be sure, he was definitely pretending! And everything was done by his bodyguard, I’m certain!”

Saying this, the young swordsman nodded vigorously, obviously convinced of this point himself.

“That’s right, it must be like this.”

“Alright, even if it’s like that,” Faced with his stubbornness, Scar frowned. He wanted to say more, but he also understood that if he continued, it might instead provoke the other’s rebellious heart. If any trouble arose then, it would be difficult to clean up.

“Even if he really has a guardian, you should understand that the guardian’s strength is definitely not weak. Being able to do this without us noticing, it’s very likely to be a high-rank swordsman. Our teacher is a high-rank swordsman, you should understand that ordinary nobles can’t hire such a guardian! No matter whether his own strength is strong or weak, if he really has such a highly skilled bodyguard by his side, then he’s not someone who can be casually provoked. Do you want to bring trouble to our teacher?”

Hearing this, the young swordsman finally restrained himself a bit. He frowned, carefully considered for a moment, then shook his head.

“Of course I don’t intend to bring trouble to our teacher…”

“You’re not young anymore,” Scar put on a stern face and continued.

“Don’t always act on emotion like a child. Even if you don’t like someone, don’t always show it on your face. This isn’t a good thing. Even if that noble gentleman wants to show off his strength, so what? He hasn’t harmed your interests, why do you care so much?”

“But I just can’t stand the arrogant air of these nobles,” The young swordsman snorted coldly.

“They just have a bit more money, a bit more status and power than us, why are they so high and mighty?”

Hearing these words, Scar frowned. He opened his mouth wanting to say something, but in the end just shook his head helplessly.

“Now that variant is dead, our mission can be considered complete. I think we should prepare and continue on our way. You know, our trial journey is still long. Don’t be distracted by such things.”

As everyone had expected, when the militiamen carried the wild boar carcass back to the village, they quickly received a warm welcome from the villagers. At the same time, Julian appropriately excused himself, leaving those troublesome social interactions for the militiamen to handle themselves. He returned to the inn, wanting to have a good rest. But Julian hadn’t expected that at the entrance of the inn, he would see two familiar figures.

“Hello, respected sir,” Seeing Julian’s arrival, the middle-aged swordsman in the lead stood up and gave him a swordsman’s salute. Julian nodded in response. To be honest, this outing had been very rewarding for Julian. Originally, Julian didn’t want to mix with these villagers, not out of noble arrogance, but because Julian’s current identity was in a semi-confidential state. Although these villagers wouldn’t take it too seriously, it was always better to be careful.

However, when he heard the militia captain say that beast was a variant, Julian changed his mind. After all, few people knew how variants appeared, or bothered to understand these dangerous creatures. But Julian was quite familiar with this – only two influences could produce variants, either external magical influence or internal magical influence.

And now, after killing that variant, Julian hadn’t sensed any magical fluctuations on the wild boar’s body. That meant this wild boar hadn’t mutated from consuming some substance containing magic, but from external magical influence.

This was already a great gain for Julian.

Danger often accompanies opportunity. The more dangerous, the more opportunity there is.

He really hadn’t expected that such a good thing was hidden in Twilight Forest.

For the first time in his life, Julian felt that he knew too little about his own territory.

Just wondering what kind of expression that princess would show after knowing this – just thinking about it now already made Julian very expectant.

“You are… leaving?” While imagining the possible reactions of Ophariel, Julian displayed an elegant smile and turned his gaze towards the middle-aged swordsman’s waist.

“Yes, respected sir,” Scar nodded.

“You have removed that annoying and dangerous monster for the villagers here, so we as mercenaries have no reason to stay any longer. I think my companion and I will travel west for experience. That will be a good trial for us.”

“Then, I wish you a smooth journey.”

“Thank you for your blessing, respected sir.”

Saying this, Scar nodded to Julian and was about to leave. Unexpectedly, at this moment, Julian suddenly spoke up and asked.

“Excuse my rudeness, but on your way west… will you pass through Dark Ravine?”

“To be honest with you, that is indeed one of our destinations, respected sir,” Faced with Julian’s question, Scar was stunned for a moment before answering.

“It’s rumored that there are many fierce beasts there, which is a good place for adventurers to challenge themselves. We naturally wouldn’t miss it.”

“In that case, could I ask you for a favor?”

“This… please speak directly.”

Hearing this young noble’s request, Scar silently pondered for a moment. Although they were mercenaries and it wasn’t strange to do things for money, what did this young noble want them to do?

“My request is very simple,” Julian’s smile was very bright.

“On the east side of Dark Ravine, there’s a small town. It’s… very unique. I think you’ll be able to find it when you get there. I just hope that when you reach Dark Ravine, you can go to that small town and convey a message for me – ‘The white rose has bloomed again’. That’s enough.”

“The white rose has bloomed again… I understand, respected sir,” Scar recited this sentence softly, then nodded. Julian also showed a gentle smile, then took out five gold coins and placed them in the middle-aged swordsman’s hand.

“Then, this is the reward. I hope you can complete the mission smoothly.”