Chapter 130: Adventurers and Villagers

Two days later.

Near River Valley Town, in the countryside.

The gray-white mist that had filled the air, lingering like a shadow of death, had long since vanished without a trace.

In its place were bright sunlight unobstructed by tree canopies, fresh air mixed with the scent of soil, open grassy plains, winding country roads, and rising wisps of smoke in the distance.

Compared to Wuwu Forest, it felt as if they had arrived in another world.

No need to worry about furry, venomous spiders dropping from treetops and crawling into your collar; nor need to guard against dangerous monsters lurking in the mist and shadows, coveting your fragrant flesh and blood.

The only thing you might need to watch out for is perhaps the occasional pile of dog dung by the roadside.

Walking along the undulating dirt road through the fields, the soles of the feet felt firmer than the leaf-covered muddy ground, bringing a sense of steadiness to the heart as well.

In the ears was the faint sound of chain mail rings rubbing and clashing with body movement.

Long accustomed to it.

But to Xia Nan at this moment, it sounded especially pleasant and comforting.

The Green Blood Squad had now completely left Wuwu Forest and returned to the Human world.

They were on their way back to River Valley Town.

Although many unexpected events were encountered during the adventure, fortunately, the team had not suffered any casualties.

Not even serious injuries.

They had also gained mission rewards far exceeding the past.

It could be said to be a complete success.

Even Adeline, who was usually not inclined to show emotions to outsiders, had a smile on her face.

"This trip back, we can earn at least twenty-something Gold Coins, right?"

Abi's body was slightly hunched, with equipment they had stripped from the Gnolls on his back; his expression was excited, and his steps were light.

Knowing he was a newcomer, whether in experience or strength, he had a clear gap compared to the several members of the team.

Feeling he had not made much contribution to the mission, he not only actively helped clean up the battlefield and do what he could, but also voluntarily carried the vast majority of the squad's heavy loot.

This relieved much of the burden for Xia Nan and others, allowing them to be more composed when encountering danger.

"Twenty Gold Coins is definitely there." Berg, carrying a Longbow on his back and trailing at the end of the team, replied in a relaxed tone, "Just the Reward for that 'Flesh Eater' plus the bounties for the Goblins, when divided among everyone, is already quite a lot."

"Plus the second-hand equipment you're carrying, and some odds and ends."

"Maybe it could reach thirty Gold Coins!"

Freed from the high-pressure environment of the forest, Berg had completely recovered from that state of restless anxiety, returning to his original "old hand" self.

The whole person finally managed to relax.

Hearing this, Abi's expression showed a bit of reverie; he pinched his fingers and calculated:

"If we calculate based on twenty-five Gold Coins, sending seven back home and paying off the five Gold Coins owed before, that leaves..."

"A full thirteen Gold Coins!"

Abi's eyes immediately lit up.

"Once we get back to town this time, I'll go to the Iron Hammer Shop and buy that premium Leather Armor set I was eyeing before."

"Just over ten Gold Coins; I'll grit my teeth and buy it outright!"

"Spend it all, not saving anything for yourself?" Berg teased from behind him.

"You just entered the profession, haven't saved much yet, right?"

"If you spend it all this time and the next few missions don't go smoothly, won't you not even be able to afford normal supplies?"

Hearing the other person say this, Abi's originally somewhat excited expression immediately became conflicted.

"Then, maybe... save up a bit more?"

"Hahaha." Berg laughed loudly, leaned in, and patted the other's shoulder, "I was just joking; if you want it, just buy it."

"Since we're in the Adventurer business, who still thinks about tomorrow?"

"Just live well in the present!"

"But..."

Xia Nan stood aside, saying nothing.

Listening to the two chat, he had a thought in his heart.

He had previously been a lone wolf, going out to do missions alone.

He was also lucky, and with a bit of strength, there were many twists and turns, but he had managed to get through them all.

The harvest was abundant.

All the earnings from the adventure were his own; he didn't have to split them equally with other teammates.

Therefore, he had no personal experience with the income of ordinary Adventurers.

Now thinking about it, for seventy percent of the bottom-tier Adventurers in River Valley Town, changing to a set of equipment worth over ten Gold Coins was clearly not something easily decided upon.

It might even require dipping into savings.

It was absolutely impossible for them to do as he did, changing all their equipment every ten days or half a month, even skipping maintenance.

Of course, to some extent, the high damage rate of equipment could also be considered the price he paid as a "lone wolf."

Didn't you see that since he joined the "Green Blood" Squad, he hadn't even visited the "Rock Hammer" Tiejiang Shop for a long time?

Oh... here I need to mention one thing.

According to Xia Nan's observation over the past half-year, although Adventurers had the habit of saving, a considerable portion of them often squandered the Gold Coins they had worked so hard to earn in taverns.

Living in a drunken stupor, numbing their nerves with alcohol to soothe the unease in their hearts.

Considering the exaggerated pressure of this profession, like walking a tightrope, where one could lose their head at any moment.

It was also barely understandable.

After all, even Xia Nan was accustomed to settling three meals a day at the White Tit Tavern, spending far more than an ordinary household.

He told himself that since he had been reborn, he could not treat himself poorly.

Yet was it not also a way to relieve stress through fine food?

It was just that his expenses were far less than those of the gamblers and drunkards.

"I suggest saving it for now. The Hunting Day is nearing its end; the price of supplies in town will soon return to normal levels, and there won't be as many Goblins in the forest for you to kill as there are now."

Still walking at the very front of the formation, Adeline, the squad captain, explained her view to Abi.

"If the armor shows no obvious damage, you can keep using it."

"What Berg said earlier was actually correct."

"Having savings sufficient to start over is, at least for an Adventurer, quite important."

As the "benefactor" who had brought him into the profession, Adeline's advice undoubtedly carried far more weight than Berg's.

Abi nodded seriously, his mind already dismissing his original plan to spend a huge sum updating his equipment.

"Is the Hunting Day ending soon..."

Xia Nan, overhearing the others' conversation, muttered to himself.

Indeed, recently on the Association's quest board, rewards related to the "Hunting Day" had clearly decreased compared to earlier.

Then it was about time for him to leave the squad.

There was no pulling or tugging; since the moment he joined the Green Blood squad, he had already stated his intentions.

Adeline and the others understood this clearly.

On one hand, the Attribute Panel on his body, along with a series of magical equipment, made him unsuitable for teaming up with Adventurers he did not know well;

on the other hand, he needed to set aside some time to find the final combat technique required to gain a Professional Level, making it impossible to sustain long-term, high-intensity Adventurer missions.

Even if he wanted to use Goblins to raise the Proficient level of 【Tooth Hunt】.

The combat volume and rewards from acting alone were far, far greater than those from teaming up.

And by selecting only nests located on the outermost edge of the forest, with his current mobility, he would basically encounter no danger.

In short, at least in the short term, Xia Nan had no intention of acting with the squad.

Thoughts swirled and fluttered in his mind.

Suddenly, a burst of clamor drew Xia Nan's consciousness back to reality.

His gaze instinctively turned toward the direction from which the sound came.

He saw that beside the road, at the entrance of a small village, a large crowd of figures was gathered.

"My lord, all the villagers of Cui Xi Cun sincerely thank you for resolving the Goblin tribe near our village."

"But as you know, the 30 Gold Coins from the Association reward were already gathered by me, going door to door, one by one."

"The village... truly cannot produce a single Gold Coin."

An elderly man resembling a village head, dressed in simple hemp clothes, leaned on a cane and spoke cautiously with his body bent low.

His words conveyed deep sincerity and earnestness.

However, the few people standing before him clearly did not appreciate it.

They were likely Adventurers from River Valley Town as well.

A five-person squad; their equipment was not considered fine, but the iron armor and sharp blades radiating a metallic sheen and reflecting cold light caused the civilians ahead to unconsciously lower their heads, daring not to meet their gaze.

"No money!?"

The leader among the Adventurers was a middle-aged man with a scar on the corner of his eyebrow.

"Do you know how many Goblins were in that nest?"

"For the safety of your village, my brother's newly bought armor was almost ruined!"

Speaking, he turned sideways and pointed with his right hand at the chest of a sharp-nosed, monkey-faced Adventurer behind him.

On that Leather Armor, covered in dust and mud stains, a large, shattered wound was clearly visible, almost revealing the underlayer beneath.

"100 Gold!"

Scar tilted his head back, looking down at the hunched old man ahead, his voice sharp and loud.

"Produce 100 Gold, and this matter is settled; consider it bad luck for us brothers, and we will no longer trouble you."

The words traveled through the air into his ears.

Causing Xia Nan to frown involuntarily.

Although there was some distance between them, he could clearly see that the Leather Armor the other party claimed had been destroyed in battle with Goblins was actually an "old antique" that should have been discarded long ago.

Anyone who still wanted to live and return to River Valley Town for a drink would never wear such a thing.

They wouldn't even accept it at a general store.

Moreover, even if, as the other party claimed, it were a brand-new, fine Leather Armor.

It could not possibly have a value as high as "100 Gold".

Damn it, his Chain Mail and Studded Leather Armor, both from the renowned smithy Rock Hammer, added up to only ninety-five Gold Coins.

He dares to ask for 100 Gold for a piece of Leather Armor that is almost ruined; does he really treat that trash like an antique?

Xia Nan even suspected whether the damage on that Leather Armor was truly caused in battle.

Or whether they had simply picked one out from the scrap pile at the smithy to extort money.

"What do they mean? Wasn't the quest reward already entrusted by the villagers to the Adventurer Association? Where does asking the quest issuer for a second reward come from?"

"Moreover, even if there were losses during the mission, what does that have to do with these villagers?"

Before Xia Nan could speak, Abi, the Adventurer rookie in the squad, could no longer restrain his anger and accused them.

Putting aside simple notions of good and evil, as a newcomer who had only recently entered the profession and might even have been plowing fields in the fields on this day last year.

He almost immediately took the villagers' side and launched a condemnation against the money-extorting Adventurers.

In contrast, the veteran adventurer "Berg," who had been in this line of work for many years, displayed an ambiguous attitude.

He simply crossed his arms over his chest, watching the crowd by the roadside as if enjoying a show, making "tsk tsk" sounds from his mouth.

"They feel the quest reward isn't enough and want to earn a bit more, that's all."

"This sort of thing is far too common."

"But 100 Gold Coins... even if they sold all these villagers, they couldn't pay it. How..."

"Are you stupid?" Berg scolded Abi, reminding him, "Even a rookie like you knows they can't come up with that much money; do you think these adventurers don't know?"

"It's just to make it easier to demand a higher price later. Watch, they'll be coming right now."

"Common?" Xia Nan noticed the other's word choice and murmured to himself.

Having traveled to this world for over a hundred days, he had gained a certain understanding of the "Adventurer" profession.

He knew very well that it wasn't just Abi; including his original self, Adeline and Berg in the party, and even eighty percent of the low-level adventurers in River Valley Town, had all once been the ordinary villagers standing before them, too afraid to lift their heads in the face of swords and blades.

But as soon as they put on a tattered piece of Leather Armor that no one would want even if left on the roadside, they transformed, acquiring the identity of an "Adventurer."

They could then strut and show off before these ordinary commoners who shared their same origins, forcing them like bandits to hand over all their possessions.

Just as Berg had predicted.

Knowing the villagers could not possibly produce the huge sum of "100 Gold Coins" they demanded.

After merely pressing the point a couple more times, they made the village elder's already hunched body bend even further.

The adventurers, led by Scar, then revealed their true purpose.

"If the Gold Coins aren't enough, that's fine."

"Use other things to make up the difference!"

"Wine, livestock, fabrics... bring out everything that can be sold; I'll take a loss on my end."

A hideous grin spread across his face as greedy eyes fixed upon the old man ahead.

The village elder was no fool; naturally, he knew the other's purpose could not possibly be that 100 Gold Coins they could never produce.

Seeing the other make a request, he was just about to step forward to negotiate further.

Behind him, the crowd that had been quiet suddenly erupted into a commotion as Scar's words fell.

"Village elder, Bonnie was just born; I really cannot..."

"Jack was snatched away by a Giant Eagle last year; we only have one plow ox left in the family. For next spring's plowing..."

"Village elder, don't you know Mr. Fran of River Valley Town? Can you speak with him? I..."

Seeing the old man instantly surrounded by the villagers behind him, those few adventurers made no move to urge him on, simply standing there quite leisurely, waiting.

And just at this moment, that sharp-nosed, monkey-faced adventurer wearing tattered Leather Armor seemed to suddenly discover something.

His eyes suddenly lit up.

He pointed toward the crowd to his companion beside him; they exchanged a glance, and a strange smile appeared on their faces.

It was a blonde girl with a simple hemp braid and freckles on both cheeks.

(End of this chapter)