Chapter 72: Is There Something Wrong with My Constitution?

“Large-scale disappearance case?”

In the inner lounge, the Priestess reclined on the sofa, tilting her head slightly.

“Do I really have some kind of cursed constitution? How come everywhere I go, something goes wrong? Should I go back and exorcise myself…?”

“Huh? What did Miss Vilyric just say?”

“Nothing, nothing…”

Alright, back to the main topic. Although Adventurers and guilds are not in a subordinate relationship and there’s no obligation to follow the latter’s summons, the Adventurers’ Guild is fundamentally an organization based on the United Kingdom of Humans, making it somewhat a group under a certain Miss Queen’s command. Since we’ve crossed paths and have some free time, there’s no need to hastily refuse.

I can guarantee the registration of the two newcomers, so that’s not a problem. After leaving the other three women outside to register their information temporarily, the Priestess entered the inner room alone with the Tree Bow and Tree Wall to hear the situation and then decide.

Unexpectedly, the news was quite explosive.

However, if it’s only to this extent, it really feels a bit lacking…

The Black-haired Girl lazily asked without much enthusiasm.

“So how big is this case, how many people have gone missing? Has it really reached the point where a legendary-level Adventurer has to step in to solve it?”

The legendary Treant Tribe youth who called himself Enrique nodded slightly, sitting across from the girl, pondering for a moment with a wooden cup filled with tea in his hands, yet seemingly too preoccupied to drink, as if considering how to explain.

“To be honest, we are not entirely clear on the specific numbers. The issue of missing people is not just happening within the City of Leila; it has already spread throughout many of the southeastern provinces of the Empire. The truly serious areas are actually in those relatively remote villages and towns where information is closed off.”

“As the most prosperous coastal city and economic trade center in the southeastern part of the Ost Empire, the Adventurers’ Guild here is relatively the largest in scale.”

“Because there are so many high-level Adventurers here, including the likes of me and Sophie as legendary ones, a lot of the problems that local guilds can’t handle end up being relayed here seeking help.”

“At first, it was just a few people going missing; local guilds accepted commissions to investigate and submitted the tasks for record. But gradually, the situation started to feel wrong.”

“As time went on, the case showed no signs of being contained. In fact, it grew larger, and more areas began reporting similar incidents. The Adventurers sent by local guilds to investigate either found nothing or, quite simply, disappeared themselves without ever returning to report to the guild.”

“We realized something was off and quickly dispatched high-level Adventurers to investigate the most severely affected areas while contacting some larger cities and guilds at greater distances. We found that not only around the City of Leila, but they had also been experiencing similar mass disappearances, primarily concentrated in those remote village and town areas.”

“Later on, the Adventurers who traveled to various places returned to the Coastal City and finally brought back some useful information. For example, in certain remote mountain villages with poor transportation, entire villages of over a hundred households have vanished, while the disappearances in big cities are rather scattered, mostly involving defenseless children.”

“Through constant tracking and investigation, we found traces of suspected cult activities at some of the incident sites, but whenever we were about to make a major breakthrough, the involved personnel either went missing or ended up dead, making it difficult for the guild to continue pursuing the investigation. It’s incredibly frustrating.”

“Disappearance of people due to cults, this sort of thing does indeed happen from time to time…”

The two legendary Adventurers exchanged glances, and Enrique looked at the Black-haired Girl sitting across from him, who was merely muttering to herself with no visible reaction.

“Miss Priestess…”

“No need to be so formal; we are colleagues here, just call me Vilyric.”

“Alright, Miss Vilyric, because the situation has developed so strangely, we suspect this matter involves some dark, sinister, mysterious power. According to guild records, you are skilled in holy magic and possess excellent capabilities against all kinds of evil beings and cult rituals.”

“Originally, we planned to go to the temple to ask a senior priest for assistance with the investigation, but as you are an Adventurer, you are undoubtedly more suited to join us in this case. Would you be willing to join us, Miss Vilyric?”

Hehe, what a straightforward invitation!

But that’s fair; since the conversation has reached this point, being overly formal would just be a waste of time.

The Priestess propped her chin, nodding with a half-smile, half-serious demeanor.

“So, is this a formal commission from the guild? If you all are looking to form a team specifically to investigate this matter, are the personnel ready? And how will the profits be divided? Lastly, how do you plan to conduct the investigation?”

Vilyric asked three questions in quick succession, each sharper than the last. However, Enrique seemed prepared and answered immediately.

“Of course, it’s a formal commission, and it falls under the second-tier legendary mission. The remuneration will come directly from the official budget of the Coastal City Empire, with a total prize of 30 million Quarks, divided equally among the members of the team that solves the case.”

“I can decide to allocate one-third of the entire prize to Miss Vilyric. Even considering her status as a legendary-level Adventurer, this would still be a rather generous income. Additionally, the guild will also provide extra rewards, such as precious materials, combat techniques, magic scrolls, or magic manuals.”

“30 million Quarks…”

In terms of Adventurers, this is indeed a considerable reward. Quark, being the highest-level common currency issued by the Ost Empire, has an exchange rate nearly on par with Holy Light coins. This money could buy equipment enough for a full set of legendary gear and could be quite enjoyable.

Of course, over here in the Ost Empire, professions like Adventurers typically don’t place a high priority on wealth. After all, if normal people just want to make money, they can definitely join some larger, profit-driven mercenary groups. Though it comes with some restrictions, it’s certainly faster and safer to earn money.

So, to put it romantically, in the Ost Empire’s vast environment, many Adventurers perhaps choose this profession to “pursue their inner justice.”

The two before me are evidently such types. They’re not exactly goody-two-shoes, but they are definitely idealistic and possess a sense of justice. If they see an old lady fall by the roadside or a child lost alone, nine times out of ten, they would step up to help.

Thus, the tasks undertaken by such individuals usually have difficulty aligning in terms of difficulty and rewards.

Seeing the Black-haired Girl just silently scrutinizing them without replying, the Treant youth, feeling a bit anxious about not understanding her attitude, hesitated for a moment and decided to press on hard-headedly.

“As for the specific strategy for the investigation, since the cases of disappearances outside the city are too scattered and irregular, we currently plan to start with the missing children cases in the City of Leila, trying to catch some leads and then proceed from there…”

“Oh~~”

Deliberately elongating her tone, the Priestess clumsily cut through any hidden meanings.

“So, basically, the current progress is zero, right?”

“Uh…”

Enrique awkwardly turned his head slightly, while sitting next to him, Sophie Linwood immediately rebutted with displeasure.

“That’s out of our control! You don’t understand, ever since the disappearance case spread to the City of Leila, the number of high-level tasks we need to handle suddenly increased dramatically. One moment, it’s some high-ranking official’s son getting kidnapped and needing rescue, the next it’s the sea magical beasts approaching the coast that need repelling. It’s like they’re all piling on us like crazy!”

“Weren’t we just on the sea? That was when I and Lady Priscilla were requested by the Imperial Navy to help take down a few fifth-tier sea giants, who recently started attacking ships left and right for some unknown reason. We were already exhausted after being entangled with them for several days, and now we still have to deal with this mess! It’s really tough, you know?!”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

Those high-level commissions started popping up only after the disappearance case began in the City of Leila…

Noticing the Priestess’s eyebrow raise, Enrique thought his sister’s bluntness might have annoyed her, and was just about to speak up to remedy the situation when suddenly there came a loud, frantic knocking from outside!

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!”

Before anyone could respond inside, the voice of a certain Miss Thief rang out from afar.

“Boss! Boss, this is bad! Something big has happened! The little troublemaker you keep… she, she’s gone missing!!!”

“? ”

   

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