Chapter 86: 86 Edin Klar

Thin mist shrouded the farm that never saw sunlight year-round; on both sides of the road, wheat ears tall enough for two people rubbed against each other in the wind, making a fine rustling sound.

The tinnitus gradually worsened; Edin pressed his throbbing temples, his knuckles turning pale blue from excessive force.

Some nonexistent whispering sounded in his mind, as annoying as the sound of chains dragging over stone slabs.

Edin's steps unconsciously slowed; stumbling, he found his companion ahead had already walked more than ten paces, their figure about to be swallowed by the swaying wheat waves...

In a daze, a warmth like a stream suddenly washed over his spine, and a pale golden halo spread from his shoulders and neck to his entire body.

The persistent buzzing vanished instantly; even if only temporary, it made Edin feel incomparable comfort.

"Are you okay? If you feel unwell, tell me early!" A freckled face blocked the drooping wheat ears; the priest gently helped the tottering Edin up.

Shaking his gradually clearing head, Edin broke this somewhat ambiguous posture.

"Sorry, my fault. Thank you, Fan..."

The name reached his lips but got stuck; the priest... what was her name again?

The priest seemed not to notice this, simply smiling and saying, "We are teammates, let's go quickly; we'll fall behind them."

Right, we can't fall behind!

The Abyss requires more coordination than any other dungeon.

Hurrying to catch up, he found the two standing before a barn door.

The rogue was trying to pick the lock; the warrior, seeing them catch up, scolded, "Why are you so slow? Is this kid dragging us down?"

The warrior's gaze glanced at Edin, but the priest stepped forward and said, "I was careless and delayed us; I am very sorry."

Seeing the priest take the blame, the warrior said nothing more and quietly waited for the rogue to pick the lock.

Click—

"Done!"

With the rogue's whistle, the barn door was pushed open; the rotting oak door latch made a teeth-grating scraping sound.

Upon entering, everyone was shocked by the scene before them—gold coins, a barn full of gold coins!

The rogue's deer-skin boots sank into the pile of gold coins; he picked one up and examined it carefully: "Gold coins of the Ancient Kingdom! We hit the jackpot!"

The warrior and the rogue pounced; countless gold coins were scooped up by them only to fall through their fingers.

"Hahaha! This must be the secret treasure of this floor!" The warrior emptied his backpack directly, shoving handfuls of gold coins inside.

The priest was somewhat restrained, but excitement flickered in her eyes.

Only Edin, the newcomer, stood blankly outside the barn, at a loss.

"What... what are you doing?"

Before Edin's eyes, not a single one of the gold coins they spoke of was visible; only a warehouse full of grain.

Buzz—

The tinnitus started again; lifting his gaze, the grain vanished, replaced by a warehouse full of gold coins.

The warrior's backpack was already full of gold coins; there was no room for even a bit more.

"No, this is wrong, this is a trap! Get out quickly!"

Edin shouted the warning with all his might, but the warrior and the rogue paid no heed, solely focused on collecting their "gold coins."

The priest seemed better off; at least she heard Edin's warning, but her first reaction was to turn and cast 【Remove Curse】 on the two teammates completely lost in their delusion.

Her instinctive kindness made her miss the chance to escape.

Grass claws smelling of rot swept past Edin; one straw man after another emerged from the wheat fields on both sides.

Edin was forced to retreat step by step, nearly caught several times.

After retreating far enough, he looked back; the straw men had long since filled the barn...

I should save them... at least I should save the priest...

Even though he thought this, his feet were already sprinting along the path he came. The auditory hallucination returned; this time no one was there to dispel it for him; could he... still escape?

The surroundings grew darker and darker; Edin reached out, wanting to pull away the darkness blocking before him—

"Hmm?"

Coarse linen curtains were suddenly pulled open; the morning light of midsummer poured down like hot milk, the blinding light making his eyelashes tremble.

Edin reflexively raised his elbow to block his eyes, shifting his body to sit up against the wall.

The back of his head pressed against the cold wall bricks; he pressed his throbbing temples with his palm, as if that could squeeze the dream fragments out of his mind.

The exhaustion after the nightmare made him feel as if someone had stuffed him in a sack and beaten him all night.

When his peripheral vision swept over the strange woman beside him, her chestnut long hair was spread across a wrinkled pillow.

What did I do last night?

Right, mushrooms!

He picked up the green mushrooms still half a pack left by the bedside and, with a look of disgust, threw them all into the trash can.

"Damn sleep aid."

Originally, he got some because he heard this stuff could aid sleep; who knew it would aid sleep but cause such a dream!

The nightmare that hadn't plagued him in fifteen years was reawakened by a few broken mushrooms.

Truly, he said he would rest well to replenish his spirit for the dungeon; after this sleep, his spirit was even worse.

Anyway, there are five days...

Edin buried his head back into the quilt.

"What was that priest's name again?"

—

Inside the Adventurer's Guild.

Mirabel tossed the bounty acceptance record onto the table; standing beside the desk was the girl who had been on night duty last night.

"Who are these two, Housalei and Housate? When did they appear among the Diamond-rank adventurers? Didn't you find those names suspicious when you filled out the form?"

"But... but they both have Guild ID tags..." The girl sounded aggrieved; she had followed the rules.

"Forget it, forget it..." Mirabel waved her hand, dismissing the girl from the office.

In truth, she knew she couldn't blame the girl; a Level 56 Illusionist deceiving an ordinary girl was child's play.

Even if she had been in the girl's place, she might not have seen through it either.

She was just irritated; these adventurers were more troublesome than the last.

First, the Begon squad confidently threw themselves away, and now this confident Edin wanted to tackle a team quest alone.

But what if this guy dies?

Would she have to issue another S-rank extermination quest?

Mirabel flipped through Edin Klar's file page by page, her eyebrows rising higher with each turn.

Judging by his record, this guy wasn't doing this for the first time.

He preferred taking exploration quests, whether solo or team-based; whenever he encountered a team quest, he would use illusions to bluff his way through.

Since his completion rate was quite high, and even when he failed he brought back useful intelligence, did other branches seem to tacitly approve of this?

Moreover, there was no record of him ever suffering serious injury.

Oh...

There was one instance.

As a novice, he experienced a party wipe in the Strawman Abyss; only he survived from the four-person squad, and the curse left him with a loss of taste.

After that, he changed his area of operation, never returning to the Strawman Abyss, instead wandering between other dungeons, and arrived in Mute Wind Town after the Demon Tide.

He seems to be someone with some ability; since there aren't many Diamond-rank adventurers in Mute Wind Town right now, it might be worth letting him try.

(End of Chapter)