Volume 1. Chapter 4. The Trail of Courage in the Darkness.

The next day, Nia led the way to the northern city of Norf. Changing her name to Una to hide her identity as a union mage.

When entering the city of Norf, the soldier guarding the city gate stopped them to ask for taxes.

Because Nia's clothes looked too luxurious for an ordinary woman, the soldier assumed that the three men behind her were slaves.

"Our clothes don't even look like slave attire. Why would that soldier jump to such a conclusion?"

Cini was a little disappointed with the soldier guarding the city entrance.

"In our world, the clothes you wear are so strange and foreign even though your world is modern clothing."

Nia explained why the previous soldier considered the three heroes to be slaves.

"So where are we going first?"

Vail wanted to confirm their main destination.

Nia stopped walking and thought for a moment, then decided to buy clothes that fit the world where the three heroes were summoned.

After the three of them put on the clothes they were given, Nia brings them to the adventurer's guild to register.

"Welcome to this guild. My name is Elia. Can I help you?"

The girl at the reception desk greeted their arrival and introduced herself.

"We want to register as adventurers."

Nia told the reason for her visit.

"I understand, please... wait a minute."

Elia took the Crystal ball from behind and gave four brown papers to register.

Put both of them on the reception desk.

"Please touch the crystal ball. The light that appears from the Crystal will determine your class."

"After all, you can fill out the form to register as adventurers."

Before touching the Crystal ball, Nia reminded them again to hold back the power in the assessment Crystal.

Rii was the first to touch the Crystal ball, the second was Cini, the third was Vail, and closed with Nia, who touched the Crystal ball.

Elia was so surprised to see their strength, which was ranked A the arrival of new adventurers with A ranks was almost non-existent in the city of Norf.

"Even though we have held back our strength, our power level is ranked A."

Rii said when they were in the inn room.

Cini approached the room window and opened it to see the city, and his actions caught Vail's attention.

"What's wrong?"

"I think, I've fallen in love with that receptionist girl."

The atmosphere became silent when Cini expressed his feelings of falling in love at first sight.

"Huh?"

His two friends were confused by Cini's change in mood.

"You fell in love with a girl you just met a few hours ago?"

"Does it sound strange?"

Cini wanted to make sure after hearing Vail's words.

"...you're like an easy guy who falls in love easily."

Rii told Vail the reason for asking.

Cini cleared his throat and asked them to continue the previously postponed conversation.

"So what should we do?"

"We've already been swept away by the current—now we just go with the flow."

Rii used an analogy to answer Cini's question.

"Even though we have power, it's not certain that we can win. The fact is that people who have war powers in our world are considered a threat by the world."

Vail said the main factor was whether they managed to defeat the ancestor of the demon king.

"Then, if an attack occurs. We should run as fast as we can and bring Nia with us."

Rii suggested to his two friends their emergency plan in case an attack occurred in Norf City.

"It's only right that we protect the one who summoned us,"

Vail agreed.

A few days later, Una returned alone and entered the guild to give Elia three beast teeth.

"Eli... I'm back."

"Welcome back Una…"

Elia and Una had grown quite close, with Una stopping by to chat almost every day.

Una placed a leather pouch on the counter, filled with three silver wolf fangs, an orc ear, and a boar's tusk. Elia exchanged the materials for thirty silver coins as payment.

"...where they are?"

Elia asked curiously because the three of them were rarely seen in the guild except for Una.

"They're outside the city gates, lazing around under a tree."

Una answered after putting the money into a small bag at her waist.

"If they have free time, it would be better to use it to take other requests. I actually don't understand what they're thinking."

Una was a little annoyed by the three heroes' change in attitude, while Elia could only laugh a little when she heard that.

In the afternoon, Una came to the three of them, who were still lying under the tree.

"How long are you going to be like this? Get up, or I'll step on your heads."

Una gave a little warning.

"Sit down, you'll find out the reason."

Rii asked Una why they felt so at peace under the tree.

"What am I doing it for?"

Approaching the tree and leaning against it, a cool breeze soon fanned her body. Nia felt a moment of peace and slowly closed her eyes to enjoy it.

"Can I ask something?"

Una opened her eyes, hearing Cini's words.

"Ask me?"

Una was a little curious about what Cini would say.

"You've hidden your identity for so long. Have you ever thought about coming back?"

Cini said what she thought about how to return to the Union as Nia Aghture.

"If it was me before, I might have wanted to go back, but now I have a new life with you guys as an adventurer."

Nia said she had chosen to start a new life with them as an adventurer.

"What about your family, don't you miss them?"

Rii's words made her silent for a moment. Then, from under the tree, she looked up at the evening sky.

"They were gone when I was nine years old,"

Said Nia in a soft voice.

After hearing that answer, the three of them got up and sat under the same tree.

"...sorry, I don't know about that."

Rii immediately apologized and regretted a little for making Nia remember her family.

"It's not your fault. My family was killed when the demon army led by the demon king Zerk attacked my hometown."

The three of them were silent and listened to the events that happened ten years ago in the world that called them.

"How did you survive the attack?"

"Vail...!"

Cini scolded his friend for being too blunt about Nia's past.

Nia took off the black gem earrings and put them on her right palm.

"I don't know if you believe it or not, but the demon king Zerk's army mysteriously disappeared when a ball of darkness slammed into the ground from the sky."

"Then... the darkness turned into black gem earrings on both of my hands."

The day was getting worse. They decided to return to the inn before nightfall. But just as they entered the city, they were surprised by a strange man carrying an unconscious Elia with a wound in her stomach.

In the night, Elia opened her eyes and saw Una sleeping on a chair near a bed.

"Una?"

Seeing Una sleeping on a chair with both hands holding Elia's right hand. Then turned to the door because Rii opened it and approached.

"Rii,"

Elia tried to sit up in bed, still holding Una's hand.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. How did you get here?"

"We saw you being carried by a strange man to be rushed to the healing home."

"Is that so,"

Elia felt that she had caused too much trouble for the stranger and her three friends, she turned a head and rubbed Una's head with her other hand.

"Can you tell me what really happened?"

Not long after, Vail and Cini see Rii come out and approach them, knowing what has happened to Elia.

"How?"

Cini was curious whether Elia had told Rii or not.

"Elia protected a girl from being chased by a man. When she screamed for help, a man stabbed her in the stomach with a knife."

Cini became furious hearing his friend's explanation.

"That bastard has to pay for what he did...!"

Cini said with a face full of annoyance and clenched one of his hands.

Rii took them to the scene, asking Cini to use tracking magic to find the traces of the man who stabbed Elia.

Meanwhile, the man who stabbed Elia returned to bring the girl who had previously escaped from the dilapidated house.

Her mouth was gagged with cloth, thrown to the floor, facing the boss of the person who ordered the man.

"You did well, Tami. Go, I want to talk to her privately."

"Understand, Mr. Noel,"

Tami left the room without another word, leaving the boss alone with that girl.

Noel got up from his chair and walked towards the girl on the floor.

"It's no use running away, Cindy. You are destined to be the one who pleases the nobles who will make me rich."

Cindy was so scared her body was shaking when Noel's right hand touched her cheek. Slowly, the hand explored her face until it stopped right at her hair to be pulled so hard.

"Ssshhh... no, don't cry. I've spent money to feed you nutritious and delicious food without you asking, and you have to do your job without me asking."

"Satisfy all the nobles and make me rich that way, a mutually beneficial symbiosis occurs."

Letting go of the hand that was pulling Cindy's hair and making her fall.

On the other hand, they followed the trail of magic from the strange man who stabbed Elia and saw the city soldiers on guard because nobles from the Seor kingdom visited Noel's residence.

"What should we do now?"

Vail wanted to make sure of their plan before going inside.

"I'll put them to sleep using magic, after that we'll look for the perpetrator who stabbed Elia."

"Okay..."

Rii didn't mind Cini's suggestion, as did Vail, who agreed with his friend's words.

The soldier who was on guard suddenly fell asleep and had difficulty focusing his eyes.

"Why am I so…"

One by one, the soldiers fell unconscious. They were put to sleep by Cini's magic.

"Come on... it's time to make that person pay for his actions."

Cini said after using his magic.

They followed Tami's magic trail again, and it led them to a closed garden courtyard.

Between the lotus-covered walls, Vail saw a hidden door in front of their eyes.

They entered, and the first thing they found was an unpleasant smell. They also heard the moans of several women.

"There's no mistake, this is a place to satisfy lecherous men."

Rii said that after hearing the women's moans, even though they were so far from the room, they produced the sound.

Slowly descending the stairs, they heard Tami's conversation with Noel, who was below them.

"If I heard correctly, you said that the girl was protecting Cindy, right?"

"That's right, master. She is an adopted daughter of guildmaster who was protecting the girl. And I was forced to stab her to avoid unwanted things."

Noel smiled at his subordinate's answer.