Chapter 328

Under the dim, setting sun.

The orange-red light shone on Enri's somewhat pale cheeks, leaving a mottled patch; the light and shadow slowly shifted upward, covering her eyes.

"Nn..."

Enri let out a soft moan; the return of her consciousness made her feel a soreness in all the bones of her body.

This was the same exhaustion she felt back in Carne Village during the busy farming season after a day of hard labor—no, it was even more intense than that.

Captain...

What is everyone's situation now!

Thinking that she was still on the battlefield, Enri hurriedly opened her eyes, but was met with a dim, yellowish light, and she closed them again.

She raised her palm to shield her eyes before opening them once more.

This place... is not the battlefield?

Enri's blurred vision cleared; looking at the lamp post above her head and the familiar inn environment around her, her eyes revealed confusion and panic.

"Morning... oh, it's already evening now."

"It's about the time I calculated; you've slept for two days and two nights, Enri."

A gentle, chuckling voice came from the side.

The familiar voice eased the heart of Enri, who had just woken up with her nerves taut and tense.

"—Captain."

"I, I was able to help."

Tang Zheng was startled; he hadn't expected the first thing Enri would say upon waking up to be this.

"You must believe that you possess an unimaginable talent," Tang Zheng replied with a smile.

Although this talent was somewhat different from what he had originally expected... come to think of it, one could notice more or less from the light novel version that Enri's luck always seemed quite good.

"Nn!"

Enri's eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded vigorously.

From the very beginning, only the Captain had recognized her, even when she herself had doubted whether she truly possessed the talent the Captain spoke of.

She felt more and more that the Captain was truly amazing.

"Gurgle~"

"Gurgle~"

A loud stomach growl interrupted their conversation, as if in protest, and Enri's cheeks turned bright red in a "whoosh."

"Good timing."

"There happens to be a banquet inviting us to attend in a little while," Tang Zheng said with a hearty laugh.

A moment later.

The Evil Spirit Dog pulled the carriage, traveling along a main street in Kalinsha, slowly weaving through the crowd; as always, it drew stares wherever it passed.

Compared to the past, when passersby would only discuss and be surprised by such a terrifying monster as the Evil Spirit Dog, many people now knew that this monster represented the adventurer team.

"Captain, that carriage, could it be..."

On one side of the street, a five-person adventurer team stared intently at the carriage passing before them.

"The only ones who could use an Evil Spirit Dog—a dangerous monster with a difficulty level of over 30—as a horse to pull a carriage are them."

"The adventurer team 'Free Will'!"

The captain of the adventurer team, a large man carrying an iron hammer, spoke in a deep voice, his eyes filled with awe.

"Is it really them?"

"It is said that those two legendary undead were both dealt with by this adventurer team?"

"What kind of stupid talk is that? No matter how you think about it, that's impossible."

"However, accurate news seems to mention that the legendary undead Soul-Eater was indeed dealt with by 'Free Will'."

"Legendary undead... let alone seeing one, I hadn't even heard of them before. Captain, what is the difficulty level of a legendary undead?"

Someone in the team asked curiously, unable to believe it.

"Probably a difficulty level of over 100," the burly captain carrying the iron hammer said with slight hesitation.

Hiss—

A sound of people gasping in cold air rose up.

"That's fake!" A voice sounded, overly surprised and sharp in tone.

"Who knows? That's what the rumors say."

"It's completely unimaginably terrifying!"

"We low-level adventurers might actually get to see such high-level powerhouses with our own eyes today."

"Haha! Let's go, everyone!"

"Today might be the most unforgettable moment for all adventurers in our Holy Kingdom."

The burly captain reluctantly tore his gaze away from the departing carriage, swept it across the numerous adventurer teams of a size he had never seen before on both sides of the street, and puffed out his chest.

Over the past few days, the events that occurred in the Abelion Hills had been gradually fermenting and spreading.

The legendary undead Death Knight!

The legendary undead Soul-Eater!

An undead army of tens of thousands!

The evil organization 【Zuranon】, and so on—every piece of news was already an unimaginable and unbearable disaster for commoners and nobles alike.

And this disaster, which was said to be able to threaten a country and cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands, had actually been resolved without the vast majority of people knowing.

This indescribable sense of shock made anyone who heard the news think it was a joke!

However—

The Holy Kingdom's most elite Holy Knight Order and the Priest Order were actually stationed in Kalinsha, and some had even seen the captain of the Holy Knight Order, Lady Remedios.

Besides that!

The most bustling thing in all of "Kalinsha" recently was the surging number of adventurers; a large number of adventurers were rushing in from both the north and south of the Holy Kingdom.

To celebrate the birth of an "Adamantite-ranked" adventurer team in the Holy Kingdom!

Due to the Holy Kingdom's long-standing national policy, the status of adventurers had always been relatively low!

But at this moment.

Because of "Free Will," all the adventurers appearing in "Kalinsha" felt the different looks the commoners were giving them compared to the past.

Inside the carriage.

Enri held a soft white bread roll, half-eaten, her fingers gripping it tightly.

"Miss Cuiye, did she stay in the Abelion Hills?"

Tang Zheng nodded.

Enri's shoulders relaxed; she hadn't seen Miss Cuiye earlier and had thought something had happened, though she didn't understand why the Captain had made such arrangements.

But the Captain must have his own reasons.

"Enri, how did you feel when you swung your sword to attack at that time?" Tang Zheng was somewhat curious about more detailed information regarding Enri's job.

He needed to judge Enri's future strength improvement.

"I don't know either."

"I only felt..." Enri pursed her lips as she recalled, and without reservation, she told him in detail about the situation she had experienced at that time.

Tang Zheng was lost in thought.

The Soul-Eater possessed the ability to release "Fear Aura" and "Death Aura," and the distance between the two should not have been far at that time.

Because of the "Fear Aura," everyone was subconsciously fleeing, which triggered a panic spread, yet Enri had been able to ignore that situation.

And the "Death Aura"!

The lower the level of a person, the less likely they were to pass the "Death" check, and at that time, Enri was undoubtedly the person with the lowest level on the entire battlefield.

However, at that distance, Tang Zheng could not be certain whether Enri had been affected by "Death"; if she had been affected?

—Then

Tang Zheng's gaze flashed.

The 【Hero·Believer】 job must at least possess "Fear Immunity" and "Death Nullification" among its passive abilities.

Special jobs generally have two to three job skills!

"Heroic Moment" was just one of them; he would need to judge the other skills after her level increased later.

Actually, there was no need to overthink it.

Just from the effect of the "Heroic Moment" skill, Tang Zheng already had a basic idea of Enri's job structure in his heart.

"I originally only wanted to be a supporting character in this incident."

Tang Zheng felt a headache as he heard the heated discussions on the street outside the carriage.

"High profile" was never what he wanted.

Even eliminating the Death Knight and the leader of 【Zuranon】 had been done with the help of the Slane Theocracy's power; these could all be explained away with the excuse of combat awareness and potions.

Only Enri's side...

An ordinary girl eliminating a Soul-Eater in one blow.

It was truly a bit exaggerated.

"The Theocracy will likely make some speculations about Enri," Tang Zheng mused to himself.

Let Enri pose as a "Player" and stand in the spotlight?

The moment this thought appeared, it was extinguished by Tang Zheng!

Posing as a "God-kin" would be safer than posing as a "Player."

Moreover, Enri could withstand an investigation!

The biggest difference between Players who descend into the Other World and the local natives, besides the gap in power, is that their previous history is a blank slate; they appear in this world out of thin air.

Enri is from Carne Village and has parents and a younger sister; as long as this point is investigated clearly, the Theocracy will revoke its suspicion of Enri being a Player.

The problem is...

Whether the Theocracy will suspect him because of Enri—that is what Tang Zheng is worried about.

"Fortunately, I already had Yi Mi Na make preparations," Tang Zheng thought to himself.

Since he knew the "characteristic" of Players having a blank past.

How could he not have prepared? Secretly manipulating "Eight Fingers" was originally to utilize the power of Eight Fingers to control the Kingdom's underground world.

Sometimes, turning a lie into the truth is not difficult!

"In the end, it's still a matter of strength."

"These were originally prepared to confuse the Great Tomb," Tang Zheng thought of the ritual he had set up in the lava zone according to his own concept, and his heart burned with heat.

Perhaps his own strength would welcome a major improvement!

"Still missing a little."

Tang Zheng visualized the "Death Spiral Ritual" in his mind and made modifications and adjustments to it.

The birth of the Death Knight and the Soul-Eater gave him a deeper understanding of the "Death Spiral Ritual," especially the Soul-Eater that Khajiit had transformed into.

After the war ended, Tang Zheng specifically went to the corpse pit to conduct research and investigation.

Additionally.

Through the means of resurrection, he had already obtained complete information from the leader, and he also knew the specific identities and current locations of the remaining eight disciples of 【Zuranon】.

The leader was actually truly connected to the Slane Theocracy, but he was not a person of the Slane Theocracy as imagined, but rather a figure born 200 years ago, during the era of the Thirteen Heroes.

"If anyone asks about your ability, just say it is the effect of a natural innate ability," Tang Zheng said to Enri.

"Nn, I understand," Enri said, though she felt some confusion in her heart, she still nodded vigorously.

—Adventurer Guild.

The Adventurer Guild in Kalinsha was relatively old, and because it received little attention, coupled with the scarcity of adventurers in the Holy Kingdom.

The existence of the Adventurer Guild was more symbolic.

At this moment!

In front of the Adventurer Guild, which had always been empty, a dense crowd of adventurers had gathered.

These people were all adventurer teams that had rushed over from nearby cities and even from the South Holy Kingdom.

Rumbling—

The vibration of wheels rolling on the ground came from far down the street.

"They're here!"

A soft cry came from among the adventurers.

In an instant, pairs of excited, fiery, and curious eyes looked toward the carriage pulled by the Evil Spirit Dog coming down the street.

Accompanied by the tightening of the chains controlled by the Evil Spirit Dog, which stopped the carriage's forward momentum, the wheels slowly came to a halt.

Click!

The carriage door pushed open.

Tang Zheng was the first to step down from the carriage; looking at the hundreds of adventurers gathered in front of the Adventurer Guild, a helpless expression appeared on his face.

Enri followed closely behind, and facing those pairs of fiery gazes, she subconsciously wanted to lower her head.

"You are no longer the Enri who needs others to take care of you and hides in the back."

Tang Zheng spoke to the figure behind him and walked toward the Adventurer Guild.

The shadow that had been blocking the front gradually moved away from Enri.

Miss Cuiye was not there either.

Usually, she only needed to follow behind Miss Cuiye.

Enri's fingers trembled slightly; looking at the clean white back in front of her, a voice suddenly emerged in her heart.

'I can already help the Captain.'

This was what she had just said not long ago!

Step~

Enri took a step forward; the inferiority and caution that came from the border village deep in her light brown eyes were gradually disappearing.

Step—

Enri's other foot stepped firmly on the ground; she suddenly put her hands behind her back and revealed a simple, kind smile to all the adventurers looking at her.

Her braid bounced slightly on her left chest as she quickly caught up to Tang Zheng.

A hint of heroic spirit gradually condensed in her stride!

"The young man walking in front must be the leader of 'Free Will'."

"That's right!"

"It's the 'Genius Alchemist' Tang."

"Are there only two of them? I thought the 'Free Will' team had three people, and one of them was even a demi-human."

"A demi-human? Maybe they knew that people in our Holy Kingdom hate demi-humans, so they didn't come along."

"That girl is so young; could it be that she was the one who eliminated the legendary undead as rumored?"

"She feels so weak."

"Wait, she smiled at me; so cute!"

"..."

Whispers and discussions rose continuously from the adventurers on both sides.

Chairman Bo Tejin had already been waiting at the entrance of the Adventurer Guild; seeing Tang Zheng and the other appear, he took the initiative to walk up quickly.

"Welcome back, Mr. Tang, Miss Enri."

Chairman Bo Tejin bowed slightly, his face carrying a look of respect as he spoke to Tang Zheng and the other.

His gaze lingered briefly on Enri in particular.

If it hadn't been confirmed by members of the Holy Knight Order, he really couldn't imagine that this ordinary girl could actually slay a legendary undead.

Heavens!

I actually let this Miss Enri open the door back then.

However.

Her aura was indeed a bit weak.

Chairman Bo Tejin suppressed the various thoughts in his heart and immediately withdrew his gaze after a brief pause.

"This is a bit too lively, Chairman Bo Tejin."

Tang Zheng gestured toward the surrounding adventurers.

Changing an adventurer's rank badge isn't actually a big deal; even for an "Adamantite-ranked" adventurer team, there isn't really any special ceremony for changing badges.

The reason for the current situation,

Tang Zheng could roughly guess that it was Chairman Bo Tejin's intention, all for the sake of the Adventurer Guild's extremely low presence in the Holy Kingdom.

(End of chapter)