“So it’s you. Didn’t expect you to be so lucky.” Sean looked at the other person and said.
Come to think of it, he had no real connection with this female thief. Back then, she bumped into him and left a bounty hunter’s badge with him. Looking back now, a Silver-level bounty hunter definitely wasn’t her—she probably stole it from somewhere.
“What do you mean by that!”
“Oh, so you know it’s me too. We’ve met before.” The girl’s eyes showed a hint of confusion.
“Didn’t we meet just a few days ago? In that small town.”
Sean was referring to the town where they stayed the morning after the battle with the goat-man. At that time, only a dozen or so mercenaries were present, and they all knew each other well enough not to forget.
“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about earlier, a long time ago. About a month ago. I wasn’t entirely sure before, but after seeing your relationship with Freya, I confirmed it was you. We met in a small town outside Koga City—don’t you remember?” The female thief finally brought up that matter.
That day happened to be the first night when he and Freya had just headed north from Koga City. It had indeed been nearly a month!
“Is that so.”
“Even if you don’t admit it, I know. The Red Dragon Witch, Freya. When I saw her that day, I thought she looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure at the time. Later, I found out she did go to Koga City and even quelled the rioting crowd there.”
To ordinary people, the details weren’t known. The news that spread was just about the riot and the assassination of Count Hamilton, so the girl’s words were within Sean’s expectations.
“In all these years, I’ve never heard of her being close to any man. Back then, I saw you. And after my observations this time, you’re very close to her, so it must be you!”
Sean had initially thought she had been tailing him and knew about his secret meetings with Freya over the past few days.
So that’s how she figured it out!
No wonder—he hadn’t sensed anyone following him, so how could she have known?
“Not bad.”
“Hmph, you can’t fool me.” The girl said smugly.
She wasn’t tall, probably around the same age as Igunia, but due to different living environments, her complexion and height weren’t as good as Igunia’s. Still, her pinkish hair color was quite rare—likely from a northwestern ethnic group.
That Ashaman tribe!
Gwen, one of the earliest archaeological team members, was from that tribe, and her hair color was also a very rare shade.
Although Sean didn’t directly confirm it, he clearly acknowledged his identity, so the girl walked up to him without hesitation.
“Give it back to me.”
“What?”
“The thing you took from me.”
Sean fumbled in his pouch for that bounty hunter’s badge.
“This isn’t yours, is it?! A Platinum-level bounty hunter badge isn’t something someone of your level should have.” Sean now had a decent understanding of professions and social norms, so he knew this well.
“It was lost while in my possession, so it’s mine.” The girl refused to admit it.
“Fine, have it your way!”
He tossed the badge into the girl’s hand. This badge was useless to him now.
A noble didn’t need to keep playing mercenary for missions. The money wasn’t enough to satisfy him anyway. This time was special because of the circumstances and the tight schedule. If there was a next time, Sean was confident he could handle it better.
“You—”
The girl clearly hadn’t expected Sean to return it so easily. If that was the case, why did he say he didn’t have it back then!
Suddenly, she recalled that during this time, the mercenaries had called him “Master.” Being addressed as “Master” showed respect, and judging by the battle that day, he was indeed a strong fighter, using a firearm in combat.
She had never seen such a fighting style in all her years! At least, she had never seen anyone use a firearm to fight like that.
“So you’re not a real bounty hunter either?” She looked at him with some suspicion.
“What do you think?”
“How about we team up from now on? Even though you’re with Freya, there are some missions she definitely won’t join. We can split all the rewards evenly.” The girl hesitated before saying.
Sean looked at her.
He didn’t detect any sign of lying.
“Sorry, I don’t plan to keep taking mercenary missions. And I’m not Freya’s little man.”
Why would he give up being a noble to be a mercenary? That would be a joke.
And team up with a thief?!
He wasn’t that reckless!
But her words did remind him of something—what to do next.
It had been a long time since he left home. It was time to go back. After going in a big circle, he had finally wrapped up this incident.
When did it all start?
Probably from the time the avalanche in Taylor Mian Town requested rescue—that was when he got caught up in this big mess.
The remaining days in Takoma City wouldn’t be easy. The Black Feather Knights might need to stay a while longer before leaving, but since the fog had cleared, airships from surrounding cities could come.
The first batch of civilian news was spread through them. Soon, merchants would arrive and continue spreading the story.
As long as the world wasn’t destroyed all at once, news of a disaster in one place would quickly reach others.
When things quieted down, Sean would think back to Weissman’s summoning ritual.
What ancient god were they trying to summon?
Or rather, what were they trying to bring, including something beyond reason like Gehros?
Could the Cain Tablet be meant to tell people about these things?
For a moment, Sean also developed a strong interest in these unknown fields.
But for now, Takoma City wasn’t suitable for studying such things.
None of the mercenary squad members had died this time. After a few days of rest in the city, Jonathan led the group to bid Sean farewell. Since Sean had previously given up his claim to the reward, they came to confirm it once more.
Mercenaries might be self-serving, but they valued their reputation; otherwise, it would be hard to survive in the guild.
So they needed to confirm with Sean again.
This Takoma mission was over. Regardless of the outcome, in principle, everyone was entitled to some reward.
Sean said he didn’t want it, but deep down, he regretted it a bit.
How many mercenaries had survived? If the 5 million gold coins were split, each person would get tens of thousands. What a shame to miss out on so much money.
With this matter settled, the only thing left was to tell Freya he was going back.
Not to Riyetis City, but straight back to his Taylor Mian Town.