I'm not a Witcher anymore.

Over the next two weeks, Zieg's life quickly settled down again.

After Ingram and Finn left the Church of the Earth Mother, the three reunited.

Most of the jobs available around the border town are short-distance ones—patrolling along the roads outside the town, keeping watch outside the logging camp, or clearing out a few stray monsters in the forest.

These jobs aren't exactly dangerous, but they're not easy either.

They endure wind and sun, the muddy roads are difficult to walk on, and they have to take turns on duty at night.

But precisely because of this, it is the best way to see whether a person is reliable.

Zieg doesn't talk much, but he's steady in action. When patrolling, he'll first look at the footprints on the ground, and when on guard duty, he'll always patch up the weakest point in the camp first.

After several missions, Ingram and Finn spoke to him more casually than before.

Three days after "Order of the Cat" was activated, Zieg found an old, unlit cellar and tested the medicine.

The medicine was slightly bitter when it went down the throat, but the aftertaste had a deep, lingering sweetness.

After it took effect, the outlines in the darkness were slowly revealed as if by a very thin layer of gray light, and the cracks in the bricks, the edge of the wooden barrel, and the spider webs hanging from the corner of the wall were all clearly visible.

When he raised his hand to light the torch, he felt a brief discomfort in his eyes, but it was far from enough to make him lose focus and tear up.

The judgment given by the Book of Adventure is correct.

This medicine really worked.

A few days later, the three returned early from outside the city. Ingram, unusually, spoke first, saying he wanted to invite them to his house for a drink.

His wife used to work behind the counter at the Adventurers' Guild; she was quick and efficient, and spoke fluently.

Upon seeing them enter, he first placed the stew pot on the table, then glanced at Zieg and said with a smile that Ingram, who was usually as taciturn as a block of iron, was more likely to bring people home than when he was collecting bounties.

Ingram didn't respond to that, but instead lowered his head to cut the bread, though his ears still turned a little red.

Finn saw it, but pretended not to, picked up his glass and slowly took a sip.

Zig sat at the not-so-spacious wooden table, listening to the steam rising from the pot and the wind whistling past the eaves outside the window. He felt that the past two weeks had passed faster than he had expected.

……

One day, two weeks later.

It was already very late when I returned from the farm outside the city.

Zig pushed open the heavy wooden door of the inn, the hinges making a low, hoarse scraping sound.

The chill of the outside air still clung to the cloak and boots, but a different kind of atmosphere greeted them—the warmth of the fireplace, the smoke from burning firewood, the aroma of beer and the lingering scent of roast meat, and the voices and smells of alcohol that had been hanging in the hall for a long time.

The fire was still burning in the fireplace.

But the hotel had long passed its busiest time.

Only a few tables of guests remained in the hall.

The tables were all quiet. The drunkards, the ones lost in thought, and the ones still clutching their glasses and refusing to leave all seemed listless, their spirits dampened by the flickering firelight from the fireplace. It was as if even speaking was too much of a struggle for them.

Behind the counter, the proprietress was dozing off, her head resting on the table.

Hearing the door open, she trembled slightly, groggily raised her head, her curly hair disheveled over her shoulders, her eyes still filled with the bewilderment of someone who hadn't woken up yet.

"...Who is it?"

She rubbed her eyes, and only after recognizing the person who had come out did she let out a muffled breath.

"Oh, it's Mr. Zieg."

His voice still sounded sleepy.

She raised her hand and pointed to the corner of the hotel.

"A customer is looking for you; they've been waiting there for quite a while."

After saying this, she seemed unable to hold on any longer, her head drooped, and she slumped back down.

Zieg looked in the direction she pointed.

A familiar figure sat at the table in the corner.

He was very small, and on the table sat an empty wine glass and a half-eaten plate of bread.

The man, who had been idly tapping on the table, immediately turned around upon hearing the noise.

The moment their eyes met, she perked up completely.

"Zig! Over here!"

The sound startled several guests lying on the next table, who grumbled a couple of times before burying their faces back in their arms and continuing to sleep.

The halfling girl had jumped off the chair and was standing by the table, waving her hand vigorously in this direction.

Her smile was radiant, as if she had waited so long and finally welcomed back the person she had been waiting for.

Zig looked at her and slowed his pace.

He still remembered that her name was...

"Ravenna."

Zig walked over and pulled out a chair opposite her, sitting down.

"You still remember my name?" Ravenna's eyes crinkled with laughter. "I thought you'd forgotten me long ago."

As she spoke, she leaned forward again, lowered her voice, but her tone still carried an undisguised lightness.

"I've been waiting for you here for almost two hours. The proprietress has fallen asleep several times already."

Zieg glanced at the empty wine glass and half a plate of cold bread on the table.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

He paused, then asked:

"Would you like to order anything else? It's on me."

Ravenna immediately waved her hand.

"Never mind, I'll just wait and eat by myself. My stomach is already bursting."

Zieg smiled and didn't continue the topic.

He placed his hand on the edge of the table, and his tone softened accordingly.

"You waited for me specifically, it couldn't have been just for drinking, right?"

Ravenna blinked, then burst out laughing.

"I knew it, talking to you is so much easier."

She lowered her voice even further.

"Yes, something is indeed wrong."

"Our captain asked me to ask you if you'd like to cooperate with us once."

Zig looked at her.

"What are you doing?"

Ravenna barely paused.

"Kill the goblins."

After those four words were uttered, Zieg didn't hesitate for a moment.

"I'll take it."

Ravenna was clearly taken aback.

"You didn't even ask about the payment? Or the details of the commission?"

"We can discuss the details on the way."

Zieg's voice remained steady.

"I'll take the job as long as the target is a goblin."

"Great, I knew you'd say yes."

Ravenna perked up, and even the end of her voice lifted slightly.

"Then I'll take you to see our captain now."

As she spoke, she reached for the short cloak draped over the back of the chair.

"I mentioned you to her after that mission ended. After hearing about it, she's been wanting to find an opportunity to meet you in person."

Zieg looked up at her.

"Does she know me?"

"Now I know." Ravenna draped her cloak over her shoulders and laughed quickly. "And I have a good impression of her."

She tilted her head slightly towards the door.

"The captain should still be at the tavern next to the guild. If we go there now, we can catch up."

Zig didn't ask any more questions, got up and followed.

The two left the hotel one after the other.

The border town was much quieter at night.

The daytime hustle and bustle that filled the streets had subsided, leaving only a few scattered spots still lit.

The wind swept through the street corner, carrying the smell of ashes from burnt firewood and the heat leaking from the cracks in the tavern door, swirling back and forth on the stone pavement.

Occasionally, drunken adventurers would stagger out of the alleyway, muttering something incoherently.

Further away, the soft thud of guards' boots clattering over the stone slabs during their night patrols, mixed with the faint crackling of torches burning, echoed along the empty streets.