Date X Faction

Inside the kitchen on the second floor of the hotel.

It must be said that this place truly lives up to its name as Food Village; even the inn's kitchen occupies a considerable area.

This is perhaps because most of the people who come here are Gourmet Hunter, so the service in this regard is quite thoughtful.

The kitchen is fully equipped with all kinds of cooking utensils and seasonings, so even the most picky chef would find it difficult to find any major faults.

At this moment, the smell of blood in the kitchen became even stronger.

A large number of bizarre biological parts were piled up here, and Kevin, Men Qi, and the others were processing them.

Some of these were materials Kevin needed, while others were ingredients that Men Qi and the others had ordered; all of these parts were taken from the monsters from yesterday.

"C-Rank, it's just so-so."

Kevin muttered to himself as he carefully preserved the materials in special packaging bags.

As for how to handle the situation afterward, we can only make plans when we have time later, since this is not something that can be done in a short time.

He sealed it up and labeled it as he went.

One has to admire how large these monsters are; the parts that can be used as materials are usually quite substantial.

Some can even weigh over 100 kilograms.

"This can be used as material."

"But this part tastes amazing!"

Men Qi spoke, she reached out and pressed down on the biological part.

Kevin's hand rested on it, and their eyes met in mid-air before clashing fiercely.

If it's just C-grade Material...

Kevin looked at the size of the area and said, "I'll give you one-third."

"Make a deal."

This situation is a bit troublesome. Many parts of this place can be used as ingredients and are also quite unique and delicious, so Kevin has to discuss it with Men Qi.

It's not like it's his personal spoils.

However, there is some overlap in the needs, so we have to discuss it together.

"Finally found a B-Rank one."

Looking at the small piece in his hand, Kevin breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.

Based on yesterday's battle, we should have been able to find B-Rank materials.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, Men Qi, standing by the window, seemed to spot something. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly called out, "Come here, Kevin!"

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked, walking over with the food he was sealing in his arms.

Looking down in the direction Men Qi pointed, bathed in sunlight, Lorraine, dressed in a maid's outfit, appeared downstairs pushing a wheelchair. Seated in the wheelchair was none other than the Saintess, Melusina.

This striking young girl is holding a food box in her arms.

She seemed to sense the gaze from above, looked up and saw Kevin. A smile instantly Emission in her eyes, and she raised her hand to wave gently at Kevin.

Kevin looked at her.

They've arrived, just as expected.

"They're greeting you."

Men Qi was exasperated and nudged Kevin's waist lightly with her elbow.

Kevin snapped out of his daze, smiled, and raised his hand in response.

However, the Saintess's expression froze instantly.

Kevin's hands were covered in blood, and the way he swung them around looked rather strange.

"Well."

Men Qi sighed helplessly, pulled Kevin inside, and said, "They must be here to thank you for saving their lives. Hurry up and go downstairs."

"Didn't you want to gather intelligence? This is a perfect opportunity," she urged Kevin.

Whether she genuinely wanted Kevin to gather information or simply wanted to be a spectator, only she knows.

Kevin did want to go down and talk to the other person, so he put the materials he was holding on the table.

"Go wash your hands first! You smell of blood," Men Qi shouted.

Sigh, is this person really alright?

After busying himself for a while, Kevin finally got ready, then went downstairs to the door and looked at Melusina who was waiting for him.

"Hello, I've come to thank you for saving me yesterday."

Melusina stammered a little when she spoke, but quickly gathered her thoughts.

Lorian pushed the wheelchair forward a little.

The Saintess smiled, her face slightly flushed, and handed the food box to Kevin, saying, "This is a small token of my appreciation; it's some pastries I made myself. I hope you won't find them offensive. I don't have anything else to offer."

Kevin took the food box and looked it over.

Inside the semi-transparent food box, rows of pastries of various shapes were neatly arranged.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't just stand by and watch a girl like you get captured by a monster," Kevin said, extending his hand to introduce himself. "My name is Kevin Beg, and I'm a Phantom Beast Hunter."

The Saintess raised her hand and gently shook hands with Kevin, saying, "Melusina Vipera Lamentis, you can just call me Melusina, that's what everyone usually calls me."

Just then, Bianluoke came out of the door.

He paused for a moment when he saw the three people outside the door.

What a strange combination!

Before he could react, he heard his sister, Lorraine, suddenly say, "Brother, I happen to need to talk to you."

"Huh?" Bianluoke looked bewildered.

Lorraine looked at Kevin apologetically and said, "Could you please push Miss around the Village? She's not feeling well and needs to get some sun every day."

Melusina's eyes widened, and she turned her head sharply to look at Lorraine in disbelief.

This is different from what we agreed on before.

This step wasn't in the plan.

The girl panicked for a moment.

Lorraine let go of Kevin's hand, bowed respectfully, and then dragged her equally bewildered brother into the hotel.

Kevin wasn't stupid; he naturally saw through the scheme. But this suited him perfectly, as he could use this opportunity to gather some information.

So he took over Lorraine's position.

"Then, Miss Melusina, I will temporarily take over the maid's duties."

Where would you like to go?

Melusina had no choice but to turn her head away, not daring to look at Kevin, and lowered her head slightly to face forward, saying softly, "Let's go—let's go to the square, thank you."

"Okay, hold on tight."

Despite saying that, Kevin pushed the wheelchair very steadily and slowly towards the square.

This girl is quite shy.

That makes sense, considering she was a girl confined to the Village.

But why is that?

Although Kevin couldn't accurately determine the other person's specific feelings towards him, he could clearly distinguish between goodwill and malice.

Melusina for him were undoubtedly pure goodwill, from the very first time they met.

Even when all intentions are good, there are still differences between them.

The other party's attitude towards Kevin varied, and the degree of their goodwill also differed; simply put, there were varying degrees of strength.

The stronger the goodwill, the closer the attitude towards Kevin.

During yesterday's battle, Kevin failed to fully appreciate Melusina's kindness.

But today, he could clearly feel that the other party's goodwill was all too obvious.

Although Kevin was reluctant to admit it, the other person seemed to genuinely like him.

Why is that?

It couldn't have been love at first sight, could it?

It just doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it.

Kevin felt that while he wasn't ugly, he wasn't handsome either.

The original owner of this body had a rather gloomy temperament. Kevin has been in control of this body for nearly two years. Although his temperament has changed a lot, at most he has become more gentle and pleasing to the eye. He can barely be considered a sunny and good-looking young man, but he is not handsome enough to make people fall in love at first sight.

Kevin agrees that love at first sight is nothing more than lust at first sight.

"It seems the Village all call you a Saintess?"

Kevin asked as he pushed the wheelchair.

"It's just that everyone in the Village has given me this honor; I prefer that everyone call me by my name directly," Melusina replied.

Although he couldn't see her expression, Kevin sensed from her tone that she didn't seem to want to talk about the topic any further.

Could it be that she is dissatisfied with her status as Saintess?

There seem to be quite a few problems here.

Kevin then changed the subject and started chatting casually with Melusina.

After chatting for a while, he roughly learned about Melusina's preferences and found that she seemed to be no different from ordinary girls. She liked interesting experiences, scenery, and snacks, and also seemed to be very interested in comics.

He began to cater to their interests, chatting as they walked.

"The situation was extremely critical at that time."

"And then? What happened in the end?"

During her conversation with Kevin, Melusina quickly relaxed and stopped being nervous.

As the two chatted, Kevin kept an eye on the emotions of those around them.

Although the destination was the square, Kevin intentionally pushed the wheelchair towards areas with more people.

Almost all the villagers in the surrounding area turned their gazes towards her, and you could hear them greeting Melusina every now and then.

Most of the villagers looked surprised as Kevin pushed Melusina in his wheelchair.

However, the emotions they exuded were all different.

Although Kevin couldn't accurately judge the villagers' specific emotions towards him, he could at least discern their inclinations towards good or evil.

Some people showed goodwill towards his behavior, and some of their goodwill was so strong that it clearly exceeded the normal range for treating strangers.

Even though Kevin's actions yesterday saved many people, such excessive kindness is still somewhat unusual.

At the same time, there was also malice mixed in with the crowd, ranging from subtle to intense.

Kevin looked around and secretly marked all those who were emitting malice.

Two of them stood out; their malice, though not the most extreme, was the easiest to detect.

These two were the guards who had previously accompanied the Village Chief.

The group of people spreading goodwill is quite diverse, mostly women and middle-aged and elderly people over forty years old, while the group with the strongest malice is also this same group.

Kevin was increasingly confused about what was going on in this Village.

Men Qi and two others secretly witnessed the entire process from the second floor of the hotel.

"See? I guessed right. I told you the Saintess would use the opportunity of expressing her gratitude to get to know Kevin."

Men Qi said smugly.

She even made this bet with the two of them yesterday.

Buhaci's expression was grave. He gently patted Men Qi and said, "This might not be a good thing."

After hearing this, Men Qi composed herself and nodded, "Okay, that's true."

Although she enjoyed watching the spectacle and was happy to see this situation, now was definitely not the time to be distracted.

"This Village has too many problems; it's probably too late to sort them out in a short time. We need to figure out the threats from outside first," Gowen said, frowning.

Unlike the situation inside the Village, their purpose for this trip, or rather, Kevin and Men Qi's original intention for coming here, was to go hunting.

They had just finished a hunt, and many targets hadn't even had a chance to be targeted yet, but now there was something of unknown origin secretly watching them from the outside.

The Village's Curse protection mechanism obviously played a certain role in preventing such incidents; otherwise, yesterday's Hunting Day wouldn't have resulted in this unexpected situation. It's clear that the other side seized that opportunity to launch the attack.

Meanwhile, Kevin had already pushed the Saintess to the square and stopped under a tree.

"You really like reading comics?" Kevin asked.

Melusina's eyes sparkled as she nodded vigorously. "Yes! Comics are really interesting, aren't they? The characters are so vivid, the stories are so exciting, and you can even learn about the outside world through these stories and details."

The outside world—it's perfectly normal for a girl imprisoned in Village to yearn for freedom.

This is perhaps a shared "desire" in the hearts of everyone in this Village.

"Moreover, the love and family relationships depicted in comics are particularly enviable."

Envious of romantic love and family affection?

In Kevin's mind, comics should be more about celebrating love and friendship.

Kevin usually enjoys reading romantic comedies and action manga; these two genres make up a large portion of his reading preferences.

"Won't you try some?" Melusina suddenly turned her head and asked.

"What?"

"The desserts I made."

Kevin then remembered the food box he had been holding, and after a moment's thought, he opened it.

These pastries look incredibly tempting.

"It looks great," Kevin complimented.

"They're not just pretty; these desserts taste amazing too!"

Melusina smiled broadly, her red eyes fixed on Kevin, while the hidden White Snake coiled around her also poked its head out, staring at Kevin as well.

Kevin picked up a pastry and put it in his mouth. It tasted pretty good. Fortunately, no strange hallucinations occurred, which prevented him from embarrassing himself.

As far as desserts go, this was the most delicious Kevin had ever eaten.

"It's delicious, the best dessert I've ever had."

Upon hearing Kevin's praise, Melusina's face Emission a radiant smile, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

Kevin was eating a snack, but sweat was starting to bead on his forehead.

He keenly sensed that the kindness emanating from Melusina was growing stronger.

Dude, is this really well-intentioned?

Kevin was puzzled; he already knew exactly what this emotion was.

Seriously? I just said it was delicious, is it really necessary to get this worked up?

I didn't do anything special.

Kevin felt helpless and was already sweating profusely.

He suddenly realized that being able to sense emotional fluctuations wasn't always a good thing.

He only wanted to gather information, not to deceive the feelings of an innocent young girl.

"Is the taste not to your liking?" Melusina seemed to notice Kevin's unusual behavior and asked suspiciously.

Kevin quickly shook his head. "No, it's just too delicious. I'm completely absorbed in this delicious food."

Upon hearing this, Melusina's spirits rose even higher.

Kevin turned to look at Melusina and stared straight at her.

Girl, please don't do this, it's scaring me.

It was just a casual compliment, nothing more than a perfunctory remark; there was really no need for such a big reaction.

Looking into Kevin's eyes, Melusina's eyes welled up with tears, and her ears burned.

Finally, feeling truly embarrassed, she silently turned her head to the side.

Kevin rushed into the hotel at dusk.

Men Qi and the others, who were in the hall, immediately surrounded them upon seeing this.

"How did it go? How did the date go?" Men Qi asked eagerly.

Have you gathered any intelligence?

"What exactly is going on with that Saintess?" Buhara and Gowen also asked.

Kevin pushed the three men aside, walked to a stool alone, sat down, took a sip of water, and caught his breath.

He ignored the three men and instead looked at Bianluoke sitting behind the counter, saying, "I want to buy some information. What's the deal with the Saintess in your Village? There's no religious faith here, yet Saintess exists; that's very strange."

Upon hearing this question, Bianluoke simply shrugged and shook his head.

"She's about the same age as my sister, and my sister was chosen by the Village Chief to take care of her. But for us young people..."

Melusina seemed no different from ordinary people, except that she lived in Castle; there was nothing particularly special about her.

Seeing the expectant looks in everyone's eyes, Bianluoke sighed helplessly, "Fine, you obviously don't want to hear this."

"Then I'll tell you what I know. After all, my sister takes care of Melusina, although she never tells me anything about Melusina, but I've lived in this Village for so long."

Furthermore, due to livelihood reasons, Bianluoke would deliberately collect some interesting information about the Village.

"First, I have to explain to you that I'm considered an oddball in the Village. Although no one says it outright, everyone knows that taking over the inn means selling information, so I'm secretly ostracized by everyone. You can understand, right?"

Normally, Bianluoke wouldn't discuss these things with his guests.

But since the Hunting Day, he realized that these men seemed to have become involved in some of the Village's events.

The group nodded in agreement.

"Although the Village is small, it is divided into three factions: the Village Chief Faction, the Hunting Faction, and the Neutral Faction."

"The Village Chief and the others attached great importance to the Saintess. Unlike the attitude of others, they genuinely regarded the Saintess as a sacred being."

"But everyone else just treated her as an ordinary Melusina."

After hearing this, Kevin understood.

Those who harbor malice towards me are probably Village Chief Faction.

Other factions mostly extended goodwill towards me, though to varying degrees.

If you look at Melusina normally, she'll just be a pitiful girl.

She is beautiful, but has a disability.

"Then why didn't the people the Village Chief Faction come to cause me trouble?" Kevin asked.

After all, his close behavior with Melusina today would obviously provoke those people.

Bianluoke simply looked at him quietly and said, "Because they don't want to die."

Kevin then realized what was happening.

Oh right, I almost forgot about that.

I'm pretty good at hitting people.