Chapter Sixty-Three: Bro, are you being a cow?

Forget it, now that we’ve come this far, Miss Vilyric decided not to hide anymore. The notes left by the traveler she accidentally found had made the Priestess a bit impatient. She wasn’t inclined to play any more bounty games in Demon Town.

She decided to wrap things up here as quickly as possible and head straight for the Demon Mountain Range to search for more traces left by players.

Just right, all the necessary preparations were also in place.

So, without hesitation, the black-haired girl reached up and removed the nearly indistinguishable transparent mask from her face, smiling.

“It’s me! You should remember now, right?”

“Eh? What’s going on… Wait! You, you’re not that…”

After a moment of confusion caused by the mask’s effect, the Priest suddenly gasped, clearly recalling the identity associated with this face: “the wanted criminal.”

Almost instinctively, the Priest stepped to the side, shielding the petite figure of the Priestess and her revealed face, mumbling in a panic in a low voice.

“Alright, alright, I get it! Quickly put that thing back on! This place isn’t just filled with our [Black Knight] people! The leader’s not here, and I can’t guarantee your safety!”

“Haha, it’s fine, it’s fine…”

Though slightly amusing, Vilyric felt a bit warmed by the actions of this stranger, just as she felt warmth from Uncle Lester and even the character with bangs—there are, after all, good people among humans.

Or perhaps, this is what they call kindred spirits?

Using a bit of strength, she gently pushed aside the shielding Priest and returned a reassuring smile to him. Vilyric walked directly towards the character with bangs, followed closely by the Little Dragon Daughter.

Although the Priest mentioned there weren’t just [Black Knight Mercenary Corps] members here, at least these dozen or so people in front of her should be Uncle Lester’s subordinates.

Seeing the revealed face of the Priestess approaching them, they were momentarily dumbfounded, showing expressions of confusion and disbelief. However… in the end, they did nothing and instead exchanged glances, choosing to clear a path.

Hmm, very wise.

Speaking of which, how did the people from the [Black Knight Mercenary Corps] get involved? If it were a premeditated action, Uncle Lester shouldn’t have been keeping it from this side, right?

But if it were a sudden decree, what kind of authority did it take to mobilize so many adventurers, including the [Black Knights], to act simultaneously? From what they’d seen on the way, this was probably more than half of the active adventurers in the Demon Town’s adventurer guild, at least nearing ten thousand.

With such doubts in mind, Vilyric arrived at the side of the character with bangs, who stood silently like a statue, and tiptoed a bit to tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, bangs, stop posing! What’s going on? Where’s Aileen?”

“Bangs?”

Seeing the man not responding for a long while, the Priestess tilted her head in surprise, then stepped in front of him, only to find that this guy’s face was pale. He was leaning on his sword with his eyes closed, having fainted.

“Huh…?”

Oh, right.

She had encountered so many bizarre things recently that she was almost losing her grip on normal physiological logic. The bangs character was just an ordinary human adventurer of elite quality. With that amount of blood loss and after fighting his heart out, it was actually quite normal for him to faint.

But to be standing up and passing out like that, isn’t it a bit too dramatic? If someone didn’t know better, they might think he was a protagonist from a hot-blooded shonen manga…

Never mind, such a minor injury could be healed easily.

Without taking out a weapon, Vilyric casually flicked her wrist under her cover, sending a beam of golden light toward the bangs character. The light instantly penetrated his skin and merged into his body. Soon, the wounds of various sizes on him began to heal rapidly, and the pale complexion from blood loss gradually improved.

“This is really… incredible. Little girl, you…”

Although most people didn’t witness this act, the Priest who had been watching quietly from the side could see everything clearly. Given that he was just an ordinary member of the temple staff, not particularly powerful among the countless clergy spread across the world, he still had the insight of a healer.

Such powerful holy light healing magic… This little girl must be a very devout believer. It seems the bounty on her group in the town really is quite strange; it’s no wonder the leader would go to such lengths to secretly aid these kids…

Of course, Vilyric had no idea what he was thinking. Reactions like this had long ceased to surprise her. She just smiled and didn’t say much, turning back to tug at the bangs character’s sleeve.

“Daylight’s here! Time to get up!”

“No! Aileen!!”

The bangs character jolted, as if waking from a dream, his eyes shooting open with a sudden alarm.

Then, he met the slightly cramped silver-blue eyes of the black-haired girl and seemed to freeze, not quite comprehending what had just happened.

“It’s… you? Where’s Aileen?”

“Huh? Hey, hey, are you reversing the question here? Weren’t you the one who was with her all along?”

Vilyric crossed her arms, looking utterly speechless, while the bangs character seemed to finally come to his senses, standing there with a blank expression on his face.

“Ah… right, you’re right. I remember now. I can’t believe this happened; I’m really such a fool…”

After staring at the man’s dejected face for a while, Vilyric couldn’t help her curiosity. She covered her mouth slightly and whispered.

“…I say, bro, you’re not being a cow, are you?”

“Being a cow…? What does that mean?”

“Uh, being a cow is… it means… pfft! I’m the one asking you, okay?! So what’s happened with you and Aileen while we were away?”

With that question from Vilyric, the bangs character seemed to disregard the so-called “being a cow” meaning, simply opening his mouth, his expression turning pale again after a moment. Finally, he managed to speak somewhat awkwardly.

“Aileen… she’s one of the Ghost Thieves.”

“One of the Ghost Thieves? I know! Otherwise, why would we be looking for her… wait, do you mean…?”

The Priestess was quite clever. Just hearing the bangs character say this, combined with what she had seen in the underground chamber earlier, Vilyric somewhat guessed the underlying message he was trying to convey.

“Right, Aileen is a high-ranking member of the Ghost Thieves, not just the peripheral staff we knew before, and… it seems she might have even directly participated in that incident, or rather, she could be called… the Culprit.”

Since there were others around, the bangs character didn’t explicitly say what it was, but Vilyric easily understood what he was referring to.

Before the Priestess could continue asking, the man began to murmur in frustration.

“Why… why did it come to this? It’s only been a little over a year. How could Aileen… she used to often advise me not to continue…”

He seemed deeply impacted, but considering the current situation, there wasn’t time for him to linger in sadness.

“So, it’s because Aileen left you and got close to that blonde guy that she gradually changed from the Aileen you knew to who she is now?”

“…Blonde guy? What blonde guy? Uh, are you talking about Bryce?”

The man glanced down at the dead body of the blonde guy who had been pierced through by a giant sword, the one who could not be more dead, eyes wide open. His face suddenly contorted with shock and embarrassment.

“What kind of joke is that?! Aileen could never be with such a guy! Impossible! She’s absolutely innocent! You, little girl, look so pure and lovely; how could your thoughts be so filthy?!”

“????”

   

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