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Chapter 32: Such A Wonderful Adventure

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"I want to lead the hunt for the next contract. It's my contract next so please grant me this request." Lucas said to Selena who patiently listened to what he had to say.

They have already traveled far away from the village and are heading to their next target. They stopped in a small town on their way and stayed in an Inn.

Lucas waited until Selena was alone or at least with Natalia before talking to her, and now Selena found herself having a headache at his stubbornness.

She really thought he would be more useful. She saw that the Axes he had on him were mid noble artifacts, and thought he will be helpful... She thought wrong.

She really felt like she had only been making bad decisions as of late. The only one who isn't troubling her is Boarlian.

"You should know that the process of the hunt is quite complicated, and requires a lot of know-how. So why are you still so headstrong about this?"

Lucas however wasn't deterred, not one bit. "I know of my shortcomings, so if you feel like I am making a mistake, you can stop me. I will also ask for your advice. Please, let us do this my way."

Selena saw it in his eyes, 'He won't change his mind, would he. Just what has become of my life. An annoyance followed by another.'

She released a sigh before saying with a stern tone, "I'll give you one chance to lead, but if for one moment you endangered our lives, I'll take the lead back. Also, know that if something was to go wrong, it's your responsibility."

"I understand." Lucas nodded before leaving.

The two were left alone, and only then did Selena ask, "Did you contact the family? What did they say we should do?"

Natalia nodded before recounting the message she received through the Hexagnal.

"I told him everything that happened so far and his strangeness. They told me to keep an eye on him and get as much information about him as possible... But not do anything that could endanger him because someone must be protecting him in the dark."

Selena frowned but nodded nonetheless, "The helious family is after all the most isolated and secretive of the bunch, so it makes sense they'd take this opportunity to get as much information about it as possible, especially since Val isn't so secretive."

Natalia shook her head disagreeing, "It would've been better if he was secretive. As for how he acted so far, he just doesn't seem to care, and he is obviously knowledgeable enough to understand what and what not to say.

Moreover, he seems extremely dangerous. He's either experienced enough to be numb to emotions or he simply felt nothing doing what he did back then.

In fact, his hands were still and no nervousness could be seen on his face despite facing a fearful experience. He remained just as calm and collected as he's always been."

Selena frowned even more, "You're right. Perhaps that's why they want us to keep an eye on him.

I guess we'll have to put up with dealing with him for a while. Hopefully, he won't make me kill myself with anger."

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"Anyway, we should get moving." The group then assembled and set out to their next target under Lucas's lead.

He indeed stayed true to his words and kept asking question after question to Selena, all for the sake of not screwing up.

Val on the other hand was reading a book on his horse while letting the latter follow the group by itself.

The book was named 'A list of preferable tameable beasts.'

It's about exactly that. The most useful beasts, the best of them.

'Too many things to do. I need to get a new art collection. I also need to get myself new pets. I really miss them. Perhaps I shouldn't have given them away before my death. Perhaps they would've followed me here if...'

His thoughts can't help but wander away from time to time, and so they wandered more as he glanced at the group.

'Such a wonderful adventure. I am the center of a conspiracy I know nothing about. Fate is definitely trying to set me up.

The beauty of this world is trying to distract me from thinking of the worst... But even the worst is entertaining.

There are so many possibilities that could explain how am I here, but being the pessimistic person that I am, I can't help but expect the worst.

However, the worst is often interesting and entertaining, exactly my cup of tea, so I don't really mind diving deeper into the spider web until...

Hmm, Griffins, looks like a possibly good pet, but they're rare... An endangered species huh.

Too bad that Dragons don't exist in this world. It's likely that they existed in the past, the legends have told me that... Well, Wyverns will do for now.'

Unfortunately, the bloody book took his wandering thought back to its embrace, and so the march continued.

The next contract's target this time resides in a mansion not far from Aliversta town. This contract and the last are both relatively close to the town as they were both taken from there.

It didn't take them long to reach it. A mansion surrounded by a wall, and a small farm.

The group paid great attention to the mansion's permitter and what they can observe from outside but noticed not a single soul in sight.

It's not rare for people to build houses or mansions outside of towns and cities. What's rare is for those people not to be seekers. It's extremely dangerous otherwise.

Seekers however prefer it that way. An isolated place where they can perform whatever experiment they wish, and cause as much destruction as they want.

That option is only available in training areas in town and cities, for a price of course.

That's why seekers usually work together to create special places for them alone, such as small villages or large houses where they have ample freedom.

"It's strange. The contractor is obviously well enough to buy the necessary things to vanquish the specter themselves, and they must be a seeker otherwise they wouldn't take the risk of living here.

If the specter is too strong, or hard to deal with then he would've hired black-ranked specter hunters. Us being hired could only mean he specified grey hunters. We aren't even that.

Moreover, it's all too silent and deserted. We should keep our guard, and be as careful as possible. Let's bless all our weapons right now just out of caution."

Selena had to take control of the group for a minute here, seeing Lucas not pointing those things out.

Lucas understood so he said nothing and handed them his Axes, and so did Boarlian.

Trees here weren't as dense as they were in the forest not as many, but there exist. The group's location was on a higher ground which allowed them to see a bit of what lies inside the mansion's outer walls.

Selena pointed at one of the trees inside before saying, "Let's tie our horses to that tree, the further away from the mansion the better, but leaving them out here is also risky so we'll settle for that."

She made sure to explain all of her choices. She didn't mind helping Lucas learn a bit of common sense and necessary know-how of the way of the hunt.

The outer walls' gate was strangely wide open, yet none one was in sight. That made the group even more cautious, and nervousness started rising among them.

"Lucas, feel free to cast your body strengthening art now. It might consume all of your ether before we even face anything, but it's better than not being able to cast in the heat of the moment."

Selena softly advised, knowing that might embarrass him but she still had to say it nonetheless.

He still needs experience after all and while she's the same, she had her fair share of tough training which made up for her lack of experience to a certain extent.

"No, I can handle it." That was Lucas's answer. Selena spoke no further, it's not like she didn't expect his response. She still felt obligated to advise him though.

"Ok, let's head inside," Selena added with her daggers in her hand. The others also had their weapons in their hand, ready for the worst.

Val on the other hand kept his bow still tied to his back, instead, he pulled out his rapier. The gorgeous work of art of a weapon is ready to be used as intended. Perhaps... Just perhaps, he won't use it as an arrow.