A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Moreover, Garuda seems to have indirectly released himself from prison.

Although Bray felt that all of this was magical, like a dream, well, at this point, he could only accept it.

After obtaining a bow from Garuda out of nowhere, Bray successfully left the prison.

After being released from prison, Bray felt a great sense of relief.

Moreover, in the following year, he finally climbed to the level of a D-rank adventurer thanks to his new weapon.

Although my shooting skills are still debatable, I am indeed useful in actual combat and cannot be called useless.

Even at my worst, I'm still better than before when I couldn't even hit a rice ball rabbit. This feeling of gradually getting stronger is really nice.

However, he returned to Newham several times during that year and met with his sister Lux on several occasions.

Lux's progress is much greater than I imagined; she's already a celebrity among her classmates. It's quite impressive.

However, as the older brother, he did not fall behind and made considerable progress.

This time, he received a rather difficult commission: to follow members of the Empire's Knights to defeat a powerful monster.

The destination is Skahn village.

This commission will likely be an important experience for him, and the reward will be substantial.

Of course, as a D-rank adventurer, he was only an assistant.

There were many adventurers who assisted the Knights alongside him.

There was also a girl among them who didn't look like a B-rank adventurer at all.

"Ah, young man, why can't there be more good men in this world?" A girl with a long pink ponytail sat next to Bray and said helplessly.

She was someone Bree accidentally harassed on the road, and she called herself Naruko.

Honestly, Bray didn't want to get involved with Naruko because she was annoying and a complete idiot.

First, he got into a fight with a rooster, and then he became the local leader of the kids.

This is either calling someone an idiot or something else entirely.

“There must be plenty of good men in this world,” Bray said with a smile to Naruko.

"No, no, no, I've already been in several relationships before."

"Believe me, there are more scumbags than scumbags in this world." Naruko patted Bray on the shoulder with an air of wisdom, like a man who had been there all along.

“It’s no use telling me all this, I haven’t talked to you about it,” Bray said with a wry smile.

It's pointless for her to say these things to herself, a single person, since she doesn't understand them anyway.

"Too young." Despite being a year or two younger than Bree, Naruko spoke with an air of maturity.

"Yes, yes, yes." Bray could only nod hurriedly.

“Even a good woman like me can’t attract a good partner.” After saying that, Naruko tried to support her chest with her arm.

However, Bray couldn't sense any charm from her, who was covered in chicken feathers.

“Tell me about the person you met earlier,” Bray said casually.

“A handsome tribal chief, two dashing underworld leaders, two handsome Eastern nobles, a dashing smuggler, and a heroic soldier…” Naruko began counting on her fingers.

"Alright, stop counting... You have such peculiar tastes," he said irritably.

“I’m not going to keep counting, there aren’t any left.” Naruko looked at Bray, puzzled.

“But I always feel like something’s off about you.” Naruko’s intuition told her that something was wrong with Bree.

"What's wrong with me?" Bray looked himself over but couldn't find anything wrong with himself.

"Hmm hmm hmm hmm..." Naruko also began to examine Bray closely, trying to figure something out.

"The eyes... they don't seem to match." She clenched her right fist and punched her left palm.

"?" Bray looked puzzled and instinctively touched his eyes.

“I think it looks pretty good,” he replied speechlessly.

"It doesn't feel right," Naruko said, shaking her finger.

"What are you even talking about?" Bray didn't want to stay with Naruko any longer.

“So you’re not suited to be a spirited young man,” Naruko said, pointing to her eyes with both fingers.

“…” Bray stood up from his chair, ready to leave.

"No! Waaaaah, don't go!" Naruko lashed out with her whip, binding Bray's feet.

Bray was easily thrown to the ground, getting a mouthful of mud.

"What are you doing?!"

“We’re companions, we agreed to travel together, you can’t just abandon me like this,” Naruko said matter-of-factly.

“I’m not one of your companions.” Bray pulled out his dagger for self-defense and was about to cut the whip.

Upon seeing Bray's actions, Naruko quickly put away her whip.

This whip is quite expensive; it wouldn't be good if it got scratched by the whip.

Just as Bray was about to "argue" with Naruko, a female knight arrived with her subordinates.

“Breclas, right?” the female knight asked Breclas.

"Correct."

“Let’s go, everyone else is ready except you,” she said to Bray.

“Okay, I’ll go now.” Bray nodded quickly, taking the opportunity to leave.

"I'll go too!" Naruko suddenly raised her hand.

"Who are you?" The female knight was a little confused when she saw the pink-haired girl.

“A Rank B adventurer is volunteering to participate in your request,” Naruko shouted.

“This…” The female knight looked at Naruko with suspicion.

"Believe me, I'm a really good person," Naruko said confidently, hands on her hips.

"Alright then." The female knight also felt that having another B-rank adventurer wouldn't be a bad thing.

Although she still thought Naruko's actions were acceptable.

However, she can make plans when Naruko starts acting strangely.

Bray's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Hey lad, let's go!" Naruko stood by the minefield, issuing orders like a leader.

"I..." Bray hesitated, his eyes filled with despair.

He doesn't want to be with that stupid, infatuated woman.

However, no matter how much he resisted, it was an undeniable fact that Naruko had become a member of the fight against the monsters.

Just as Bray was about to wail, he suddenly froze.

He didn't know why he had an urge to look behind him.

In the end, he turned around following his inexplicable impulse.

The first thing that came into view was a swordsman wearing white armor, and behind that white swordsman were many pale blue phantoms that looked exactly like him.

Bray rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating.

When he closed his eyes and then opened them again, the white swordsman and the blue phantom had all vanished without a trace.

It was as if it had never existed.

Could it be that someone was really there, or was it just my imagination...?

Yet why did those things feel so familiar to him? He didn't know when it started, but Bray felt a sense of unease pervading his surroundings.

But if you insist that he explain exactly what's wrong, he can't.

This sense of unease became even stronger after I had witnessed hallucinations.

However, he chose to ignore this sense of incongruity because he was going to join the Knights to fight monsters.

Unfortunately, Bray got separated from the Knights on the way.

I don't know why, we just inexplicably got separated.

This dense forest doesn't look so complicated that one would get lost.

But now the fact is that I'm lost, and nothing I say will make a difference.

I wonder if the raid will be over by the time I find a team.

"Ugh, what bad luck," Bray sighed.

He leaned against a tree with a helpless expression, trying to calm himself down.

My mind is a bit confused right now, so it's hard for me to find my way.

Even though he knew he shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him, he couldn't help but smash the tree he was leaning against.

But it's okay if you don't smash it, but if you do, something bad will happen.

Not only did the tree shed a large number of leaves, but a pitch-black egg also fell from the tree.

The egg was jet black, with a horny shell that looked like a layer of armor.

The egg landed right in front of Bray, just a hair's breadth away from hitting him.

Bray crouched down and examined the egg that had appeared out of nowhere.

He looked at it from left to right but couldn't identify what kind of egg it was. However, since it had fallen from a tree, it was probably a bird's egg.

Bray was momentarily at a loss for what to do with the strange egg. Should he take it back himself?

But he was reluctant to sell eggs or hatch them.

He tentatively tapped the egg with his bow; the tapping sound was muffled, as if there was something inside.

No, this is an egg. Isn't it normal for life to grow inside it? Bray wondered if he was being stupid.

“Should I take it back? But I need to catch up with the group.” Bray wanted to take the strange egg with him, but he had already separated from the group.

He was suddenly caught in a dilemma.

Before Bray could dwell on it for long, cracks began to appear on the bird egg in his eyes.

"Crack, crack." The sound of the eggshell cracking seemed to tell Bray that his gentle tap had broken the egg.

No, he just tapped it casually. The eggshell shouldn't be that fragile.

However, the egg didn't give Bray time to be stunned; it quickly made a "pop" sound.

The eggshell at the top was pried open by the strange sound.

The broken eggshell was hanging on a little girl's head.

The child looked like an elf, probably only seven or eight years old.

The first person she saw after hatching was Bray.

“…” Bray and the girl looked at each other and remained silent.

The next second, the elf girl's long ears began to flap, as fast as a fan.

Bray thought the girl was cute... but before that, he had a big question in his mind.

That's why a little fairy girl hatched from the bird's egg.

Although the bird egg itself was strange, it was still too illogical for a girl to hatch from it.

"Breda!" The girl quickly crawled out of the eggshell.

"Wait a minute!" Although Bray still had many questions to ask, he decided to let the girl get dressed first.

He took off his coat and put it on the girl; at that moment, he felt like a loving father.

After putting on Bray's tires, the girl happily ran around him.

"How do you know my name?" Bray couldn't help but ask.