On the dirt road of the village, a farmwoman hurried along, carrying a heavy wooden bucket. She glanced suspiciously at the four adventurers and turned down a side path.

A few more farmwomen and elderly people came by, and they all gave the adventurers wary looks before steering clear of them, completely avoiding any chance for the adventurers to speak.

The sky was dark, with a crescent moon slowly appearing on the horizon. The Last Defender of the Way squad arrived at the front of a relatively large house. Through the windows, the flickering glow of a yellow stove could be seen, and the aroma of fried pork lard was faintly noticeable.

Barrett approached the oak door and gently knocked with his broad knuckles, producing a "thud-thud" sound. They hoped to find a place to stay for the night.

The door was slightly ajar, and an elderly woman with a face full of wrinkles stood behind the crack, with warm yellow light spilling out from behind her. She looked at Barrett with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

Barrett bent down, lowering his tall frame so as not to intimidate the small, elderly woman. After composing his words, he said, "Hello, we're travelers from the north of the kingdom. May we stay at your home for the night?"

The old woman scrutinized Barrett's attire, and then it seemed to dawn on her. "Oh, you're adventurers."

Barrett tried to smile warmly. "Yes, we're mithril-level adventurers. We will pay you…"

"Clang!" The door slammed shut, cutting off Barrett's words and blocking the warm light from inside.

The sound of metal clanging against a lock was heard from behind the door. It was clear that the old woman regarded adventurers like she would a pestilential bird, fearing that they would bring disease into her home.

Seeing that the seasoned adventurer Barrett had failed, EeDeChi shook his head. "Young man, it seems you lack experience with grassroots work. Let me handle it next time and give you a lesson."

Barrett was used to EeDeChi, who was over a decade younger than him, calling him "young man" or "kid." He stepped back helplessly. The four of them walked a bit further down the country path and arrived at a larger house that seemed to have enough room to accommodate them for the night.

EeDeChi stepped up and knocked on the door. Shortly after, an elderly man opened it.

The adventurer leader cleared his throat, coughed, and let a small smile creep onto his face. "Good evening, sir. We are a disciplined, professional team and won't take a single stitch from the people…"

"BANG!" The door slammed shut, leaving EeDeChi's smile frozen on his face.

Barrett had expected that EeDeChi might have some trick up his sleeve. He barely stifled his laughter and said to EeDeChi, "Captain, why do you even bother saying that? The villagers are too wary of us. Only gold will sway them!"

Barrett had been an adventurer for nearly twenty years, and he was quite used to being turned away like this.

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In these remote, semi-isolated villages, any stranger who knew magic, carried swords, and was skilled in combat would naturally make people nervous and defensive.

What was unusual, though, was how excessively cautious these villagers were.

Farmers generally didn't dislike adventurers, as a righteous adventurer could help the village by hunting beasts that stole crops or caused harm, and would willingly pay gold for the farmers' produce while bringing news from other towns.

In the kingdom, if a village was a realm, adventurers were its heroes, messengers, and traveling merchants.

Unless some adventurers had committed crimes in Sheep Horn before… many ill-tempered adventurers can switch seamlessly between being adventurers and bandits. Ten years ago, when Barrett wasn't getting missions, he would occasionally work as a bandit. Of course, he always considered himself more of a rogue.

With this thought, and considering the rarity of middle-aged men in Sheep Horn, Barrett couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.

They arrived at a small farmstead made of brick and wood on the south side of the village. By now, the sky had turned completely dark, with a deep blue nightfall covering everything. A young woman, carrying a small copper lantern, was driving a few goats into the farmhouse.

This time, Stella volunteered. She lit up her staff, and the soft white magical light at its tip began to shine. At the same time, she held a few gold coins in her left hand and approached the shepherdess.

The shepherdess was about the same height as Stella. Under the gentle magical light, her hair was a fiery red, and her face had a few freckles.

Her envious gaze shifted from the staff in Stella's hand to the golden coins in Stella's palm, then to EeDeChi, who was standing nearby with a stern, righteous expression, and finally to Barrett and Sean, the two sturdy men behind Stella. A hint of wariness appeared on her face.

After Stella explained their purpose, the shepherdess finally nodded and agreed, "I need to report to the village chief. Please follow me."

The four of them, carrying the less lively twin sisters Ureirika and Kuuderika, followed the shepherdess along the winding path.

image [https://anime.aimer.vip/file_down_prprman_pictrues/baike/images/characters-compression/2024/04/3b006563-9d62-cf51-8e64-ba4b7e4e36fd.jpg]

Barrett said to EeDeChi, "See? I told you, as long as you show gold, you can find a place to stay. There's nothing in this world that gold can't solve. If there is, just use double gold!"

EeDeChi shook his head dismissively. "The reason we can stay here isn't just because of money, but because of sincerity and goodwill. It's Stella's higher Justice Value that makes her more convincing. Don't think that your life experience means you can define the world. I'm telling you, there are still many honest and kind people out there."

It seemed both of them assumed the village chief would agree to let them stay in Sheep Horn for the night. The shepherdess reassured them that although the chief had a stubborn temper, he was sharp-minded and would surely agree to this mutually beneficial arrangement.

They arrived at what seemed to be the village center. The village chief's home was a low, wooden house. The shepherdess knocked on the door and entered the house to discuss matters with the chief.

Soon, the door of the wooden house opened again. The shepherdess emerged, and behind her, a thin old man followed.

The old man was quite elderly, with a face full of wrinkles. His hair was nearly gone, with only a few white strands left swaying in the autumn breeze, like a few white threads stuck to his head.

Barrett and the old man locked eyes, and at that moment, Barrett wanted nothing more than to cover his face and quickly put his hand over EeDeChi's face as well.

They never expected that the village chief would turn out to be the stubborn old man who had sold herbs at the town market the day before.

At that time, Barrett had a heated argument with him over the price of borago officinalis, and left with a parting shot about robbing such a greedy old man if he ever went back to banditry.

Barrett still had the small bundle of borago officinalis in his spatial ring, which he had taken after tossing four gold coins in front of the old man's stall.

EeDeChi also felt embarrassed, but as the leader of the adventurer team, he prepared to say something. "Sir, our young comrade might have been a bit harsh with you before. We hope…"

"Get them out of here! Sheep Horn does not welcome these adventurers!"