adventurers in the sewers

"Aunt Anna! She...how could she..."

Noticing the sudden turn of events behind him, Jimmy looked bewildered and muttered:

"Her husband had been hoping for her to come back, so why, even after she was rescued..."

Faced with Jimmy's puzzled question, Louis said nothing, but sighed, pulled out the dagger from the woman's body, and asked Nora for a sack.

In the process of stuffing the woman named Anna into the sack, Louis inevitably took possession of her attributes.

[You picked up the 'Villager' corpse's attributes: Gardening +15]

The number of useless jobs has increased again.

Sometimes, Louis really felt that his cheat ability couldn't read the air, and in such an atmosphere, he still had to pick up some attributes.

Louis regretted Anna's choice, but he could understand it.

A woman who has been captured by goblins for several days will inevitably face strange looks and gossip even if she returns to the village alive.

If the husband's feelings for her are not strong enough, the two may separate soon.

Just thinking about such an outcome might make some people with fragile hearts lose the courage to live.

Even though he could understand the other party's choice, Louis still didn't want to see this happen.

During the rest of the journey, he, Dana, and Nora kept watch over all the rescued women until they were brought to the village entrance.

It was around six o'clock in the afternoon, and the weather had cooled down. Almost all the villagers of Billy Village stood at the village entrance, waiting for their return.

Anne and the other women's relatives and friends who had been abducted all excitedly surrounded them, wrapped them in thick clothes, and welcomed them into the village.

Only one middle-aged man in his thirties, leading two children, claimed the body that was stuffed in a sack and left silently.

This scene dampened the joy of Louis's team's triumphant return, and the villagers' mood also became somber.

However, the village chief still warmly welcomed them and invited them to stay at his house for the night before returning to Blackrock City the next day.

As darkness fell, Louis realized that he wouldn't be able to hitch a ride with the villagers if he started his journey home now, and traveling at night wasn't very safe either, so he decided to spend the night in the village.

At the village chief's house, the village chief's wife placed a basket of cucumbers that had been soaking in well water all afternoon in front of Nora.

"The temperature has dropped, it's a bit cold, I don't want to eat."

Nora tightened her cloak and said matter-of-factly:

"You can use this to cook, I want it hot."

Louis glanced at the necromancer without saying a word.

Nora, has anyone ever told you that you are a very difficult person to please?

The village chief prepared two rooms and even heated water for them to bathe in.

After dinner, Louis took a bath in the tub and then went to bed. Nothing particularly interesting happened during that time.

However, in his deduction, Dana and Nora probably went to take a bath together.

I wonder what Dina will think after seeing Nora's true face. Will the two girls who don't get along become more harmonious?

The next morning.

When Louis woke up, he could clearly feel that the integration between the Hero's Codex and himself had increased significantly.

The overall integration rate reached approximately 13% to 14%.

Louis was delighted, as this proved his conjecture to be correct: the great undertaking of saving a thousand humans could be accomplished by fulfilling adventurer commissions.

Next, all you need to do is save each village one by one to fully integrate with the Hero's Codex.

Aside from taking a little time, this step is not difficult at all.

Therefore, his biggest challenge right now is to get all five of his attributes to 10.

To solve this problem, it seems there's no other way besides finding and touching the corpses of aspiring professionals... You can't exactly train yourself, can you?

After having breakfast at the village chief's house and replenishing their water supply, the group arrived at the village entrance.

Today, some villagers happen to be going to Black Rock City to deliver goods, so I can give them a ride back.

On the oxcart, which was mostly loaded with goods, Jimmy stood next to the owner and waved happily to Louis and his companions.

"Adventurer, we meet again."

"Jimmy? Aren't you going to Blackrock City with us instead of your girlfriend?"

Louis asked jokingly.

Jimmy chuckled and came closer, scratching his head as he said:

"Mr. Louis, I just want to go into the city and broaden my horizons. I've heard that Blackrock City is the city of adventurers, so I want to see if the adventurers' guild there is particularly magnificent."

Louis chuckled and said, "Actually, it's alright. It's not exactly spectacular, but there are definitely a lot of guild branches..."

Halfway through his sentence, as if remembering something, he asked:

"You're not thinking of becoming an adventurer, are you?"

"Uh, is that not allowed?"

Seeing that Louis's expression was strange, Jimmy became more careful with his words and his hands were busy helping Nora move the sacks.

Louis shook his head helplessly. Could it be that the three of them's behavior had given Jimmy some wonderful ideas?

Just as they were about to properly persuade the boy not to embark on a path of no return, Jimmy said something strange:

"Huh? This sack is so heavy, and there are four of them. Luckily, there's enough space on the oxcart, otherwise we wouldn't be able to fit them all."

"Miss Nora, may I ask what's in this sack?"

In response to Jimmy's question, Nora calmly replied:

"It's nothing, just the corpses of four adventurers."

Jimmy's expression suddenly froze.

He chuckled awkwardly, wanting to ask Nora if she was joking.

But after thinking that the sack that contained Aunt Anna yesterday was exactly the same as the four sacks in front of him, he ultimately didn't ask the question.

Dai Na chimed in:

"The competition among adventurers is also very brutal. Once you leave the guild's jurisdiction, no one will care whether you live or die. Even if you die, there is no guarantee or compensation."

Jimmy: "..."

With just a few words, the two girls successfully made Jimmy give up his dream of becoming an adventurer, and he fell into a state of depression throughout the journey.

The journey to Blackrock City went smoothly. They entered the city before noon, parted ways with the villagers of Billy Village, and arrived at their usual adventurers' guild.

"Mr. Louis, Miss Dana, Miss Nora, welcome back safely."

Liv, the red-haired receptionist, said with a smile.

Louis greeted the old acquaintance and then noticed that Liv seemed particularly happy today, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

"Liv, did something happy happen?"

Louis asked jokingly.

The receptionist blinked and asked in surprise:

"Is it that obvious?"

She lowered her head somewhat shyly and said:

"Yes, there is something to be very happy about, but it's a little secret of mine, so I'm sorry I can't tell you. You'll probably find out in a while."

Louis was a little curious, but since the other person was unwilling to say, he simply said "oh" and didn't ask any further.

He handed Liv the completed commission receipt certified by the village chief, who quickly pushed twenty silver coins and three thumb-sized, rhomboid black crystals with a deep luster in front of Louis and his companions.

After receiving the commission, the three quickly divided it at the counter.

Each person naturally received one magic crystal. Although Louis didn't really need it, others didn't know that his mana bar was full, and not accepting it would only arouse suspicion.

Twenty silver coins were not easy to divide. After some discussion, everyone took six coins, and the remaining two coins were designated as the team's common funds, which could be used for meals or when certain equipment (such as sacks) was needed.

Actually, Nora's custom-made waterproof burlap sacks are quite expensive.