Castle Interlude

Reke stood still at the entrance of a massive castle complex.

"Kid, this isn't a place for you to be hanging around," a two-meter-tall brute said upon seeing Reke, shooing him away.

Reke didn't bother arguing with him; there was no helping it, really. Since he was still just a nine-year-old little baby, it was only natural for others to look down on him.

He couldn't just kill everyone who underestimated him; he wasn't a serial killer, after all.

Reke pulled his adventurer's license from his pocket and handed it over.

"I'm here for a mission. Help me notify them."

The guard glanced at Reke with suspicion, recalling that many experts had indeed been arriving lately. Suppressing his inner annoyance, he took the license and looked it over.

"Huh?" The guard's hand trembled, nearly dropping the document. Not daring to offend him any further, he respectfully returned the license and sent a message into the castle.

"My apologies, I am deeply sorry for my earlier rudeness. Please, follow me; I will take you to see your quarters first."

Reke wagged his tail and followed the guard into the castle.

The castle steward received the news and immediately reported it to the master of the castle, the one who had issued this mission: Parsona.

"Is that him? A Level 6 Adventurer." Parsona stood by the window, spotting Reke following the guard the moment he looked out.

"Heh!" Reke glanced up toward the top of the castle, then continued following the guard as if nothing had happened.

"Such keen senses. Truly worthy of a Level 6 Adventurer," Parsona remarked, surprised that he had been discovered from such a distance.

"Sir, look, the departure time is approaching. Should we gather everyone tonight so they can get to know one another?" the steward asked, bowing.

"Very well, let's set it for tonight. Go and prepare properly."

"Yes."

Reke retracted his perception, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"I knew it. Four-Eyes is just trash, his level is too low. Talking about how there's no one with a combat power of ten thousand..."

From the moment Reke discovered the Rock Monster to his subsequent contact with Pat and the others, he had felt that something was wrong. Logically, if this planet lacked the power to contain the Rock Monsters, it would have been conquered by them long ago; how could civilization still exist?

Interesting. It seems the answer to the mystery lies within this so-called super-ancient civilization, Reke thought to himself.

"Knock, knock—"

Reke was woken up by the sound of knocking.

"Respected adventurer, greetings. The master has arranged a banquet for this evening; I am here to lead you there."

Reke opened the door to find a slender, beautiful maid with two fox tails standing outside.

Reke followed the maid through so many twists and turns that he was nearly dizzy by the time they reached the banquet hall.

Reke's nose twitched, and he walked past the maid and into the room.

The space, spanning several thousand square meters, was filled with all kinds of food and drink. Dozens of adventurers were already present, standing in small groups and chatting.

Most eyes turned toward Reke as he entered, though some merely glanced at him before losing interest, while others kept their gaze fixed on him.

Reke was aware of all this, but he couldn't be bothered to care. They were all small fry, and none of them were as attractive to him as the food.

He walked to a dining table on his own, tore off the leg of some unknown animal, and began to eat heartily.

Before long, he had finished off one table of food and moved on to the next.

Unfortunately, while Reke only wanted to eat in peace, there were always idiots in this world who liked to seek attention.

A man with his arm around a busty woman blocked his path.

"Kid, didn't your elders teach you any manners? The host hasn't even arrived yet, and you're already digging in," the man said, pointing at the table Reke had cleared.

"Slap!"

A small booklet struck the man in the face.

The man was furious at first and was about to lash out, but then he heard Reke's voice.

"Look at it, then get lost."

The man naturally knew what had hit him. Suppressing his rage, he opened it to take a look.

At a single glance, the man's face turned deathly pale. Not daring to say another word, he ignored the busty woman beside him, returned the license to Reke, and fled the castle, not even caring about the mission anymore.

The busty woman didn't seem to care about her companion's departure; instead, she looked at Reke with interest.

She had seen the license just now. A Level 6 Adventurer was no joke; there weren't many in the entire country, and yet here was one right in front of her, and so young at that.

The woman's gaze made Reke frown. He tilted his head to look at her and said indifferently, "Do you want to die?"

His tone was as flat as if he were asking someone if they had eaten today.

The woman hadn't expected Reke to say such a thing. She raised an eyebrow, suppressed her displeasure, and said with a smile, "Then I won't disturb your meal."

With the annoying fly gone, Reke focused his energy back on the food.

The woman left the dining hall and walked up to a door, knocking on it.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Poison Scorpion, weren't you at the restaurant fishing for marks? Why are you back?"

The one who opened the door was a youth with six arms, who asked in surprise upon seeing the busty woman.

The busty woman swayed her slender waist as she walked into the room and spoke to a middle-aged man with greying temples.

"Leader, the plan this time might be no plan at all."

The middle-aged man stopped what he was doing, his eyes narrowing as a fierce glint flashed through them, and he asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

"I just ran into a Level 6 Adventurer at the restaurant who will likely ruin our plans. I almost lost my life there just now."

Recalling the killing intent on Reke, the busty woman shivered as she replied.

"Heh! Since when are you afraid of anything, Poison Scorpion? It's just a Level 6 Adventurer, right? It's not like we haven't killed one before. Besides, Leader is also a Level 6 Adventurer, so what is there to be afraid of?" The six-armed man glanced at the busty woman with disdain, his tone full of confidence.

"Brainless idiot."

"What did you say? Do you believe I'll kill you right now?"

"If you can do it, then come on. Let's see who dies first." The busty woman said dismissively, even hooking her index finger at the six-armed man.

The six-armed man's eyes bulged, but he didn't step forward. He knew just how wicked the woman before him was; talking trash was one thing, but he really wasn't confident if it came to blows.

"Gutless coward." The busty woman spat, then looked back at the middle-aged man and recounted what had happened at the restaurant.

After listening, the middle-aged man asked, "Do we have no chance at all?"

"I don't know." The busty woman shook her head blankly and continued, "That kid gave me a very strange feeling. Before he targeted me, I kept thinking he was just an ordinary child."

"But when he targeted me, my entire body resisted getting close to him, as if approaching him would mean certain destruction. That's why I've chosen to abandon this plan."

The busty woman shared her intuition regarding Reke.

"Is it really that ominous? This is troublesome. In that case, we'll treat this as a failed mission and wait for another opportunity later." The middle-aged man trusted the busty woman's judgment and made his decision.

"It's about time. Let's head to the restaurant together."