Sally's Father's Former Teammates

Sally's Father's Former Teammates

"Welcome, adventurers."

At the village entrance, Village Chief Kenny wore an enthusiastic smile on his slightly aged face. He hurried forward and clasped one of the adventurers' hands, making his warmth and welcome clear.

"Greetings, Village Chief. My name is Lester, and these are my team members. As for the letter we asked the Adventurer's Guild to deliver to you, I believe you already understand why we've come."

After speaking, Linus forced a faint smile onto his long, gloomy face. Paired with his one-eyed appearance, it looked incredibly awkward. The other adventurer-dressed men behind him hurriedly put on smiles as well.

"I know, I know. Chris was once a member of Sir Lester's team. You've come this time to visit your former teammate's child, Sally, and deliver the things Chris once entrusted you to keep for her!"

After hearing Lester's words, Kenny's smile grew even more enthusiastic. His slightly narrowed eyes made him look almost like a kindly old man. The Chris he mentioned was Sally's deceased father.

"It seems you already understand everything, Village Chief. Then I won't say anything more. Please call Chris's child out at once so we can give her the things he left in our care. After all, we're adventurers, and we have a task to complete."

Looking at the enthusiastic Kenny, a hint of mockery flashed through Lester's eyes. He then put on an anxious expression and peered into the village, as if they really were in a hurry, just as he had claimed.

"Well... um..."

The next moment, Kenny, who had been incredibly enthusiastic just now, began to look evasive. His hands gripped his clothes nervously, and his voice became hesitant and stammering.

"What? Don't you trust us!?"

As he looked at Kenny, Lester slightly narrowed his only remaining eye, and his entire presence grew gloomy. The adventurers behind him also turned to look over, placing their hands on their weapons.

"No... no. How could I deceive you, Sir Lester? It's just... just..."

Kenny's body trembled as he shakily raised his head, looking terrified beyond measure. He stammered as he spoke, but he was too frightened to explain himself clearly.

"What exactly is it? Old man, you'd better spit it out!"

The next moment, a large hand lifted Kenny into the air. Gene, an adventurer who had been standing behind Lester all along, had long since grown exasperated with his captain's drawn-out plan. It was only an ordinary village. Why not simply charge in and seize the girl? Why waste time putting on this act?

"Gene, stop!"

Just as Kenny's face turned purple from being choked and his body began convulsing, Lester's gloomy voice rang out. Gene, who was gripping Kenny tightly, hesitated for a few seconds before angrily throwing Kenny to the ground.

Seeing Kenny gasping for breath, his face filled with terror, and the villagers nearby silently suppressing their anger, Gene spat on the ground and walked off to the side in annoyance.

"Village Chief Kenny, you've seen it yourself. My teammates aren't like me—they aren't easy to reason with. So, can we meet Sally now?"

Lester crouched in front of Kenny and spoke slowly with a false smile. His eyes, however, were so gloomy that they inspired fear. It was clear that Lester was growing impatient as well.

"Please wait a little longer, honored adventurers. Sally recently went to a nearby town with Grandma Oran, who adopted her. But I promise that you will definitely see Sally by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Looking at the gloomy Lester, Kenny scrambled over and fell before him. He hurriedly told them what he knew about Sally and loudly promised that he would bring her to them by the day after tomorrow at the latest.

"Oh? Is that so? Then we'll believe you for now, Village Chief. You won't disappoint us, will you?"

As he spoke, Lester turned and surveyed the villagers around them before looking at Kenny with a smile. His meaning was already perfectly clear.

"Of course, of course! I promise that all of you honored adventurers will definitely see Sally by the day after tomorrow!"

Kenny nodded vigorously, his eyes full of pleading as he looked at Linus. He looked utterly terrified of death.

"Very good. Then we'll give you two days. But remember: if we haven't seen Sally in two days, you know what will happen."

"Yes, yes, yes! We understand, we understand!"

With that, Kenny hurriedly climbed to his feet and waved over one of the watching villagers. He told him to lead the honored adventurers to an empty house in the village so they could rest properly, and to prepare food for them.

As for Kenny's order, the villager merely gave him a deep look. Out of the respect and trust he had held for Kenny for decades, he said nothing and silently led the adventurers away.

"Village Chief."

After the adventurers left, Oster, who had been guarding the village watchtower, rushed over. He wanted to question Kenny about why he had not told the adventurers that Sally was in the woods not far outside the village, but Kenny stopped him as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Oster, you don't need to say anything more. I know what you want to say. But you should also know what kind of people Chris's former teammates are. If we tell them where Sally is, you know what will happen, don't you?"

As he spoke, Kenny stared fixedly at Oster. He knew that those adventurers really were Sally's father Chris's former teammates. But after Grandma Oran had brought Sally back, the villagers had learned at least a little about what had happened to her.

That was precisely why, after Grandma Oran died, they had driven Sally out of the village but had not expelled her from the area entirely. Even when Sally saved those slimes, the villagers instinctively chose to ignore it.

"But if we don't hand Sally over to them, those adventurers will definitely kill us!"

Oster endured Kenny's knife-sharp stare and gritted his teeth as he voiced his thoughts. After he finished, the nearby villagers quietly echoed him. Although they sympathized with Sally, they would never sacrifice their own lives for her.

Of course, if they had truly been willing to give their lives for Sally, they would not have driven her from the village out of fear after Grandma Oran died.

Kenny swept his gaze across the crowd. Most of the villagers he looked at lowered their heads, but a few stubbornly stared back at him. In their hearts, exchanging the half-human, half-ghost monster Sally for their own lives was an incredibly worthwhile bargain.

"Leave this matter to me. I'll resolve everything!"

Looking at the villagers, Kenny sighed inwardly. Compared with those adventurers, Sally now had an even more terrifying presence beside her. Just as Kenny was about to continue speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes involuntarily shifted toward a certain direction.

He raised his head and told the villagers to leave everything to him, then turned and walked into the village.

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