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nArad walked out, approaching Aella and the rest. “Are you all okay?” .

nNigel giggled, “You are something, cough,” He started coughing blood.

n“Did you kill all of them?” Aella asked, “No, some ran deeper. And I didn’t chase them.”

n“Are you a high-rank adventurer?” One of the men around asked.

nArad stared at them, “No. What I want to know is, why were you there?”

nChester lifted his head, “They are from a merchant’s caravan. Our job is to guard them.”

n“So the goblins attacked, and you all got captured?” Arad looked at them, unable to believe the story. They could have run.

nOne of them standing behind growled, “They couldn’t even do their job,”

n“It’s your fault for sticking down to your slow wagon. It’s one thing with ten goblins and another where there are over fifty!” Chester growled at the man, glaring at him with a deathly stare.

n“Your job was to protect us and the merchandise. That’s why we hired you!” The man grunted from under his teeth.

n“You’re the one who wanted to go through the shortcut. We warned you that this area is over our capacity. Our deal was to protect you on the main road, not the forest road.” Chester tried to stand but couldn’t.

nThe man grunted, “We lost a day. We should get moving.” He approached Arad, “How about a deal? Would you like to escort us instead? You seem more capable,”

nArad looked at him, “No, I have to escort Nigel and his party to the guild. You get back to the city and get a stronger party.”

n“Well, sir, we are a bit late. Can’t we hire you here and finish the trip?” The man rubbed his hands, “Our goods are still in the mine. We need to get them before those green monsters damage them.”

nArad walked past the man, “If you wanted to take the short and dangerous route, find a strong party. Escorting them back home is more important.”

nThe merchant growled, “Fine, good luck carrying them home alone.”

nArad approached Nigel, stripping his heavy armor, “Aella, help me. We need to make them light enough to carry. All the heavy armor and weapons need to go.”

nThe merchant smiled, “I could buy those from you,”

nArad glared at the merchant, “I feel like I could punch you in the face, scram!”

n“No can do. The forest is dangerous.” The merchant smiled.

nArad sighed, tieing the armor and weapons to a rope(Taken from Chester’s stuff) and then to his hip. He then carried Nigel and tied Chester to his back.

n“Aella, can you handle the two girls?” Arad looked at Aella carrying the other two girls.

n“No problem, they aren’t that heavy,” Aella replied, smiling.

n“Sorry for troubling you,” Chester mumbled.

n“Don’t worry about it.” Arad smiled.

nAbout an hour later, they reached the city’s proximity, and the guards spotted them from the walls. Immediately, a guarded wagon rushed to them from the gate, “NIGEL!” Nigel’s father shouted.

nThe wagon stopped, and the guard took Nigel and his party from Arad and Aella, resting them on the wagon. “Let’s take them to the guild. We could get a healer there.” Arad suggested, and Nigel’s father nodded.

nThe merchant and his friends also stuck around like a leech.

nCRACK! They reached the guild, rushing through the door. “A healer!” Nigel’s father shouted at the top of his lungs.

nNina jumped forward, followed by two clerics.

nThe clerics started working immediately. And Nina stared at Arad, “What happened?”

n“Found them in a mine. Got kidnapped by goblins because this idiot wanted to take a short route.” He pointed at the merchant with his thumb.

nThe merchant snorted, “A whole four adventurer and couldn’t take on a couple of goblins. What did I pay for?”

nNina stood and looked at the merchant, smiling, “Let me confirm. You wanted to change the route?”

nThe adventurers looked the other way.

n“Yeah, do you have a problem? I request a…” CRACK! Nina swung her fist, hitting his face with the back of her hand. BAM! The merchant’s body flew away, smashing a few tables before hitting the guild’s door, crushing it, and going to the street. CRACK! His body smacked into the stone corner of the building on the other side of the road, cracking his skull open.

n“DEAR!” A woman screamed, “YOU!” She glared at Nina.

nCLENSH! Nina grabbed the woman by the face, lifting her with one hand, “Did you agree with him to take the short route.”

n“What did you do? You bitch!” The woman cried.

n“Changing route to a known dangerous path while knowing the limitation of the party you hired is against the rule, and I take it intended to kill adventurers.” Nina tightened her grasp, causing the woman’s cheekbone to crack, “Did you attempt to kill Nigel and his party?”

n“You bitch!” The woman cried.

n“I take that as a yes,” Nina didn’t have the patience or brain power to think the situation through. In her mind, attempted murder is still murder.

nCRACK! Clenching her fist harder, she crushed the woman’s head and threw her body outside the guild with one swing.

nArad just stood there, watching silently.

nShe’s a monster,

n^I know. We should make sure never to anger her,^

nOne of the guards looked at Nigel’s father, “Sir, this is a bit too much,” He looked at the two killed merchants.

nNigel’s father looked back and then at Nina, “I know. But the case is closed. Those two attempted to kill Nigel and his party by taking a short route into a dangerous area,”

n“What?” The guard gasped, knowing it wasn’t probably enough reason for murder.

nNigel’s father glared at him, “Want to try arresting her? The last time we tried, we lost a hundred men and gave up. Move away. We need to clean the corpses.”

nNina sighed, looking at them. “Arad, care if we talked a bit?” She said with her usual smile.

n“Of course,” Arad replied with a wry smile, and they headed to the private room.

n“First, thanks for saving them. The guild marked the area as a forbidden land to low-rank adventurers. They would have died without you.” She bowed, putting her hands on the table.

n“No need to thank me,” Arad said with a pained smile.

n“And that gets me to my point. What were you doing there? Did someone send you there?” CRACK! Arad heard the table edge that Nina was holding crack.

n“No, no one. I heard Nigel got captured, so I went to help,” He looked away.

n“Who told you?”

n“I did hear someone in the distance…” Arad struggled to find an excuse.

n“Fine,” Nina sighed, “I won’t prey further. You saved them after all.” She relaxed on the couch, “But that area is dangerous. Monsters roam day and night with great numbers.”

n“Sorry,” Arad looked down.

nAella looked at Nina, “Was it okay to kill those two merchants?”

nNina looked up, “Merchants always try to save cost by sending low-rank adventurers to dangerous quests without telling them the details. The adventurers usually end up dead or disabled for life.”

n“The merchant wanted to take the short route from the beginning, but instead of hiring a high-rank party, he took Nigel and his party and wanted to force them to do it?” Arad looked at Nina.

n“Pretty much. It plagued the guild a few years ago. And it was a pain to deal with.” Nina sighed.

n“That one thing, but I was wondering if the guards will attempt to arrest you?” Aella stared at her.

n“Last time they tried was when a noble wanted to marry me. Let’s say they learned a lesson.” Nina smiled.

nAttempting to arrest her will cause more casualties, and the city would rather put up with her than lose her power to another town or nation. All S-rank get the same treatment.

n^I still can’t see it.^

nIf another city wanted to attack Alina, they would have to consider facing Nina as she lives here. That could be enough reason for them to give up. Her mere existence is a strategic advantage.

nArad stood, “Can I leave? Just look at me,” Arad opened his arms, showing Nina all the wounds across his torso.

nNina glared at him, “They aren’t bleeding, and your movements aren’t hindered. How did you get those wounds?” She smiled, “You don’t have to answer. I’m quite happy that you have the strength to survive such a fight.”

nArad sighed, “Nothing escapes your eyes,”

n“Go get yourself healed. I have a special guest for you.” Arad nodded and headed out. The clerics healed Ningel and his party. So they started healing Arad immediately.

nAfter getting healed, Arad went back to see Nina. She put a piece of paper on the table and smiled, “The client asked for you personally, and upon reading the quest details, I can confirm, you’re the only available adventurer who can take the quest. Amber is out and won’t return for a while.”

nArad nodded, “Who is the client?”

nNina smiled, “An old friend of mine, the archmage Merlin.”

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