Roger the Bounty Hunter did not expect to have struck gold when he had somehow gotten lost deep in the woods.

He had first noticed the girl’s miraculous power when he had stumbled upon them near a dirt path. Of course, he had been in hiding at that time, and no one had noticed his presence.

He watched as the little girl healed the little boy to perfect health. While people with healing abilities were rare, it was not as if they could not be found. However, the little girl had been a beastman who was said to be unable to use strong magic. To him, the girl who was able to use the rarest light attribute magic was simply a treasure, or perhaps a miracle.

His greed could not help but salivate at the thought of selling the girl to the highest bidder. Which would pay a higher price, the Church or a private buyer, he thought.

Although he was uncertain just how strong the girl’s powers were, it did not change his mind. He needed to obtain the girl, by hook or by crook. Who knows, the girl might be a window of opportunity for him to get a big break.

Since then, he had followed the girl quietly, watching from afar as he bided his time.

“?! Who’s there?!” Sieg who had detected the malicious intent of the bounty hunter snapped his head in caution. He whipped out his weapon and produced a whistle from a pouch, calling out to Druuk who had been loitering in the village.

‘Shit!’ Roger cursed as he backed away. The strong-looking beastman had noticed him, and through experience, he knew that he should not confront the man without knowing his strength.

Immediately, the bounty hunter fled the scene, leaving Sieg’s area of detection.

Druuk who had rushed to the family’s side was instructed to take Leila and the twins away, bringing them to safety. Sieg stayed behind, scouting for any danger. He made a mental note to remind the village chief to increase the security.

After seeing that nothing was out of the ordinary, Sieg finally relaxed his guard. He gathered the objects that they had left on the ground, feeling sorry for his family since their picnic trip had been cut short. But there was nothing he could do; their safety was top priority, after all.

He sighed, promising to himself that he would make amends for the picnic again another day. With that in mind, he returned to the village, placating his worried family.

After putting the twins to sleep, the couple headed towards the chief’s house. Druuk was left to guard the children, making sure that any and all intruders would be ripped to pieces before they could even dare to touch a single strand of the twins’ hair.

“What was that just now…?” Leila asked Sieg, her eyebrows drawn together.

Sieg took her hands into his, raising it so he could kiss the back of her hands lovingly. “It was nothing. Lately, there’s been a lot of unknown people walking around in the forest, so Leila, you should be careful too when you go out.”

“Mn.”

“Oh? Saint, father-in-law, what brings you here?” The two was greeted by the chief’s son, Kian. The young man smiled at them in a welcoming manner.

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A vein almost popped on Sieg’s forehead at the sound of the boy’s voice. “Don’t call me father-in-law!”

Kian seemed to have grown used to the exchange, simply pretending he did not hear him.

Ever since Leila had gotten married and had children, Kian seemed to have weaned out of his first love, instead diverting his affections to Leila’s daughter, Riel, who was like a younger version of Leila. Of course, as her father, Sieg was not very fond of the young man’s interest towards his daughter who was still much too young.

“We’re here to report about some suspicious activities in the forest,” Leila said, also ignoring Sieg’s annoyance.

“Come on in, father is resting inside.” Kian nodded, leading the way.

“Leila, Sieg! How rare of you two to come visit me!” The chief greeted boisterously.

The couple nodded towards him in greeting. Since they were worried about leaving their children alone for too long, they planned to make the trip short, so they did not bother to sit down.

“I detected a suspicious person around the village’s border. While that person has ran away, I’m sure they will come back soon. It’s best if we tighten the security in the village.”

“I got it. I’ll arrange for a patrol unit and tell the villagers to watch out for anything suspicious.” The chief had also noticed that there had been some outsiders roaming around the forest and other villages around Greywolf Village, so he had the same train of thought as Sieg.

After receiving the chief’s words, the couple finally left with slightly better moods.

One week later, within a decrepit building somewhere.

“Are you sure this will be easy?” A rugged man with a scar on his face asked Roger the Bounty Hunter.

“Don’t worry about it; with these babies, those beastmen can’t defeat us.” Roger grinned confidently. In his hands were two consumable magic items known as Magic Bombs. He had spent his entire fortune trying to procure them from the black market.

The Magic Bomb was far more lethal than an ordinary bomb. Due to its rarity and danger, not many was sold, but he was able to get his hands on not just one, but two of them.

“That’s—“ The scar-faced man’s complexion paled, but then he broke into a smile. “No wonder you were so insistent.”

“Haha, you know me.”

“A beastman child that could use healing magic, you say…” Another person’s voice sounded. The person raised their head from the piece of parchment which contained the details of their plans, “sounds interesting.” Half of the person’s face was hidden by the hood of their cloak, but the other half showed their mouth which was curled into a morbid smile.

“Just the five of us is enough since we have those Magic Bombs with us, huh.” Another voice added. “This job better be good. You know I’m on the wanted list in Rantel, right? If they found out I destroyed another beastman village, they might send their general after me, haha.”

“Who told you to be so genocidal,” replied another voice with an eye-roll.

“Don’t worry; I saw a pretty good looking woman back there. From the looks of it, she seems to be human. I assure you that she's quite a looker, too. Definitely worth your time,” Roger commented.

“A human? In a beastman village?”

“Yeah. I heard the target call her ‘mommy’. Can you believe it, a human mothering a beastman?” Roger cackled.

“Oh? Maybe that’s why the beastman kid you mentioned can use magic; it’s a mutt.” The cloaked person said, their head tilted in deep thought.

“Could be, but who cares?” Roger shrugged. “This is easy money, I tell you.”

Someone in the group sighed. “This is why people have a bad conception on bounty hunters.”

“Hey, anything goes as long as it pays, alright?” Roger frowned. In the bounty hunters’ circle, it was rare to find someone with even a little bit of morals. They were basically criminals who hunted other criminals. “If you don’t want to do it, you can leave. Door’s that way.”

The bounty hunter with a slight sense of morality pursed her mouth, staying silent. She needed the money and Roger had offered to pay her a hefty sum. She couldn’t not take the job, even if it meant sacrificing innocent people. Well, at the very least, the target was a beastman, so she could feel less guilty about it, she thought.

“That’s what I thought,” Roger smirked. He knew the woman could not resist the temptation of money. Neither could he, and the rest of the people gathered within the abandoned building.

“We’ll set off tomorrow morning. I marked the directions when I left last time, so it shouldn’t take too long to get there. Disperse.”

“”“Got it.”””