This adventurer is overly righteous.

The wooden door was harder than the adventurers had anticipated, so much so that they failed to break it on their first attempt. However, the next time they increased their strength, and the wooden door finally snapped.

"The old man was crushed to death."

Upon entering the house, the adventurers lifted the wooden door that had broken off from the bearing joint and the lock, and put it back together like building blocks. Then they saw a thin, small figure trapped under the door—an old man.

He had just been leaning against the door, holding a knife as a weapon, but he hadn't expected these adventurers to be so powerful. The immense force with which they broke down the door knocked him down as well. He fell to the ground, blood gushing from his head, and died instantly.

But the adventurers were not afraid. They calmly stripped the other person of their clothes, not even glancing at the wide-eyed, wrinkled face.

The old man had a large, gruesome scar on his abdomen, but this did not frighten the adventurer in the slightest.

He's just a dead man. They're all experienced adventurers. Why would they be afraid of a dead man?

They dried the old man's body with his clothes, and then put the wet clothes over his head to prevent his blood from flowing everywhere and causing a foul stench. However, out of a perverse sense of humor and revenge, they made the old man look extremely ridiculous.

They admired their masterpiece and laughed heartily.

After laughing, they began to deal with their clothes, which were completely soaked by the rain. Because they were so wet, they had to take off their clothes along with their armor and put them by the stove to dry.

It looks like this downpour will last a long time, enough for their clothes to dry again.

However, he was not naked; they took other clothes from the old man's wardrobe to wear, showing no respect for the dead.

After all, they can't refuse, can they?

After their bodies warmed up again, the adventurers felt hungry again. They had been traveling all night, only drinking some water along the way, and had been feeling hungry for a long time.

So they ransacked the old man's house, finding all the edible food and a small money bag in the bedside cabinet containing eight silver coins and thirty-one copper coins, which should be all the wealth he had accumulated.

The adventurers accepted it without hesitation, placing the precious meat and ale in front of them, eating and drinking heartily, laughing and having a great time.

A flash of lightning streaked past the window, followed by a deafening roar that interrupted the boy's voice. Kroya and he looked out the window together. The rain was like a huge curtain, and something seemed to be happening afterward, making them uneasy.

"Ahem..." The young man coughed lightly, then continued what he hadn't finished saying earlier, "In short, my mother was killed by a crazed adventurer when I was very young. My father tried to stop him, but was stabbed in the abdomen. Fortunately, he received timely medical treatment and survived."

He lifted his shirt, gestured, and ran his fingers diagonally from his right rib to his hip.

"I was too young to remember what happened around me, so my father would always show me that scar. He told me that adventurers were all scum, and this was the best proof..."

However, the boy immediately changed his tone to avoid making the atmosphere of their conversation heavy and awkward.

"But I still have a thought in my mind." The boy scratched his head, a little embarrassed, but this was the only thing he could say to Kroya. He solemnly said, "I want to become an adventurer."

This turn of events surprised Croya slightly, but from the boy's eyes, it was clear that it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather the result of long-term consideration.

  

"I don't want to be a farmer my whole life." The boy spoke to Chloe Adam as a reliable mentor, even though they were almost the same age. "I want to become an adventurer, to accumulate wealth through adventures, and to hone myself."

For these young men from the countryside, there are few paths to advancement in this peaceful world without war, and becoming an adventurer is the only option.

Even though the job of an adventurer is fraught with danger and infamous, people still flock to it.

After all, adventurers can earn money relatively quickly.

"But I want to be an adventurer completely different from the image my father portrays, like Mr. Kroya..."

"A righteous adventurer, worthy of being called a hero!"

Looking at the boy's hopeful expression, Croya wondered if he should pour cold water on him to bring him to reality. There were many rural boys like him, but their ideals and original aspirations rotted away very quickly.

"I don't really recommend you become an adventurer." Kroya pondered for a moment, everyone has their own choices. "But if you're coming to Whitestone Town, I can help you a little. However, right now, I'm going to tell you what I know about adventurers."

After all, the adventurer in the other party's imagination may be a completely different thing from the adventurer in reality.

"You will be responsible for your future choices, so listen carefully..."

"Gurgle..."

The boy wore an extremely serious expression, but his stomach made an inopportune hollow sound, instantly dispelling the solemn atmosphere surrounding his life choices.

"Excuse me, I'll go prepare some food. Mr. Croya, you must be a little hungry too." Perez stood up, his face slightly flushed, and began rummaging through the house.

However, he couldn't find the exquisite food he wanted to serve his idol, because he had started saving money to buy weapons and equipment early on, and the meals he had been eating lately had been perfunctory. After all, he couldn't be careless with the equipment and weapons, not to mention the ten silver coins membership fee.

He couldn't do that to Croa, so Perez thought to himself that he might be able to ask his father for help.

Just then, the noise outside the window had subsided somewhat compared to the beginning; the hail had stopped, and the road was piled with ice blocks of various sizes. Perez thought he could just make it through the rain to find his father and ask for some meat to cook.

Perez didn't know how his father would react to seeing Croa, so he decided it was best to prevent them from meeting...

"Then why don't we all go to your father's house together, so we don't have to make two trips back and forth?" Croa suggested. Perez then decided to go all in; he would have to confess to his father sooner or later, so he might as well take this opportunity to be direct.

At least Mr. Kroya's existence is enough to prove that his father's view of adventurers was somewhat too extreme.

So the two of them, wearing cloaks that kept out the rain, went to Perez's father's house, which was also on the edge of the village. Because Perez had tentatively expressed his desire to become an adventurer in the past, the father and son had a falling out and ended up living separately.

But no matter what, they are still father and son, each other's only family in the world.

"Boom!"

Another bolt of lightning struck, and the two quickened their pace in the rain. The probability of being struck by lightning in the rain was very small, but Perez felt unusually irritable and uneasy.