28 The Rewards

The landscape in front of Caroline Darrel changed every second. Lakes, rivers, meadows, forests, mountain ranges, and farms; all under the bluest sky and the withiest clouds. Before, she was too worried to appreciate such a scene, but now, it was the only thing her eyes could see.

(The world is so beautiful...) She thought, however, her look was not warm; in fact, there was a sliver of ice in her heart right now. (But... at the same time, so cold.)

After hearing Rose's words and witnessing for the first time people dying, her perspective on life has changed. There was now a sense of urgency inside of her.

(The day I finally found my dream was also the day I gave up on it. I did wrong. It never was about whether or not it was possible to fulfill my dream, it was about having something to fight for, something to make this fleeting life worth living...) Her eyes then became much less cloudy. (It's all about striving.)

Some time later, Lurep Village walls appeared within the line of sight of the flying group.

Thorn was the first to descend at the village gates, followed suit by Rose, Cure Song, and the fourteen civilians.

The carriage driver goblin and the two mercenary war elves came to a stop in front of Rose's party and looked at them with grateful smiles.

It was the goblin who represented everyone to say: \"Let me thank you all again for your timely help.\" Taking a deep breath, he continued: \"Thank you.\" He then handed a pouch to Rose. \"All our money is there. Although it's just double the amount of money my carriage is worth, we hope it'd be enough to show our gratitude.\"

Putting the pouch away, Rose sternly reminded: \"Don't forget, the best you guys can do to thank us is keep your mouths shut about our real strength and about what happened to the knights. Okay?\"

\"Yes, yes, of course.\" The other party nodded ceaselessly.

At that moment Caroline Darrel suddenly tugged Rose's jacket, taking Rose by surprise.

A confused look on her face, Rose asked: \"What?\"

In response, Caroline Darrel looked around warily, then grabbed one of Rose's fingers and dragged her toward a nearby tree.

Behind the tree, it was with a gentle smile that Rose asked once again: \"What?\"

\"W-what you said before... it made me understand something very, very important...\" Struggling with her own words, Caroline Darrel fidgeted. \"T-that's why... I want to know what your dream is.\" Only at the end of her sentence did Caroline Darrel looked up directly at Rose's eyes.

Rose did not turn her own eyes away but gazed back, her expression thoughtful.

As a fresh breeze made the tree's leaves rustle, and washed over the two standing girls; Rose's look turned solemn.

In that instant, Caroline Darrel realized that she could not hear any sound anymore, as though Rose's gaze alone could silence the whole world.

\"*Gasp*...\" Caroline Darrel involuntarily gasped as her heart skipped a beat.

Rose's lips slightly parted, but did not move afterward; and still, they let out a sound that only Caroline Darrel could hear.

Listening, the little gorgon stumbled two steps backward, her entire body shuddering and her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Breathing raggedly, Caroline Darrel remained speechless for a long time. She finally understood why Rose had to put her everything on the line at every step. Putting anything less will never be enough to even have the slightest hope of reaching such a dream.

Caroline Darrel closed her eyes, her heart pounding hard. (To think that there is someone who views my impossible dream as a mere first step...)

\"... 012 382 F...\" She muttered.

It was now Rose's turn to get surprised. \"An address?\"

\"My family owns an inn. It'd be nice if your party could visit us someday. I'm sure my mom will be happy to give you all our best services for free.\" Caroline Darrel smiled.

\"Eh...\" Rose could not help but smirk. (She didn't say it's impossible, instead tried to help me... Oh, I like this little girl so much more now.)

\"Due to what happened with Arnold, it'll be troublesome for us to stay in Lurep Village for too long; so I'm leaving tomorrow. Besides, it's hard to predict whether or not I'll come back to this village.\" Rose turned toward her companions, and walked as she said: \"It'll be only for one night but I'll make sure to enjoy in full your hospitality. See you there later, I have something to do first.\"

With that, Rose's party departed.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Lurep Village Mercenary's Guild Branch. Branch Head Office.

At his desk, Arger Dal sat staring with a frown at his younger brother, Vei Dal.

\"I can't believe this. You really didn't know who she is?\" The older brother asked.

\"Of course not, how could I have guessed that she was THAT Rose? If I knew, I'd have been too nervous to even speak in her presence...\" The other party seemed both confused and shocked by the whole situation.

Arger Dal's eyes suddenly narrowed. \"You don't look afraid enough. Why?\"

Taking a deep breath, Vei Dal slowly answered: \"Well, someone of her status definitely has a protector. She'll be alright.\"

\"Don't just assume the best-case scenario right off the bat!\"

\"*Sigh*... But you are assuming the worst-case scenario. In the first place, we don't know for certain if those two Alchs are behind the disappearances. And secondly, how could Rose and her party find the culprits so easily?\" The younger brother calmly said, refusing to believe his luck could be that bad.

It was at this moment that a lady's worried voice suddenly came in from behind the door: \"Branch Head, a mercenary named Rose is insistently asking for a meeting with you. What should I do?\"

The brothers exchanged glances for a second, and finally Arger Dal's frown disappeared as he said: \"Let her in!\"

Just as his voice started to fade away, the door was flung open and Rose barged in.

\"Is it true?! Just because of some formalities we won't receive the accumulated reward for the M rank job?!\"

Her words left them both so astonished their expressions became comical.

This branch had only one M rank job.

\"D-did you complete the job successfully?\" Vei Dal asked word by word.

Rose pretended to calm down a bit and attempted to dig some dirt on them as she had planned. \"Mmm? Those funny faces... so you knew Arnold Alch was the culprit?\"

The brothers once again exchanged glances, this time horror could be seen in their eyes. They had let a princess take a dangerous job already, they couldn't afford to let her know that they had an idea about who the culprit was.

Feeling cold sweat on his back, Arger Dal did not dare to delay his explanation: \"No, no. We couldn't be more shocked by the news, Arnold? Of all the people… How could have we known? It's just that it has been years and nobody has completed that M rank job, that's why we got so surprised earlier…\"

\"Oh… is that so?\" Rose looked at them intently, making the brothers even more nervous.

Seeing their reactions, Rose understood the truth. A trace of an evil smile then appeared on her face. \"Ah, whatever. I won't delve deeper into it, of course, as long as the complete reward is properly delivered.\" It was with great emphasis that Rose said the last sentence, not giving any room for negotiation.

\"*Sigh*…\"

\"*Sigh*…\"

Arger Dal and Vei Dal couldn't help but sigh ruefully and shake their heads at the same time.

Branch Head slowly got up, went in front of Rose, and solemnly bent the knee. \"I'm sorry.\"

\"What are you apologizing for?\" Asked Rose.

\"Even the Guild Master can't break the rules of the Mercenary's Guild arbitrarily. I'm so sorry.\"

A vein popped out on Rose's forehead. \"If you are really that sorry, then why not just give me the money from your pocket?\" Her voice was so calm and cold it sent shivers through Arger Dal's spine.

Cursing inwardly, Arger Dal wondered how could a Second Level Basic Awaken cultivator make a mighty Fourth Level Basic Build cultivator like himself feel like passing out just with words. However, to his misfortune, he had no choice but to plaster an ingratiating smile on his face and meekly say: \"I'd like very much to do so but the accumulated reward isn't something my measly personal income can compare to…\"

(This shameless old fox! He prefers to lose face rather than money!) Burning anger surging within, Rose began to plan a suitable counterattack.

But before she could even open her mouth, Branch Head's eyes flashed with craftiness. \"However, there are other things that I can do to make it up to you. Although M rank jobs have incredible rewards and are jobs that we desperately want to complete to raise the reputation of our guild; we don't allow just any mercenary to take them. Obviously, we don't want them to die pointlessly. But seeing that you got the ability to make an M rank job seem like nothing special, I can give you a recommendation letter for another M rank job that surely will bring you immense wealth once you complete it.\"

One of Rose's eyebrows rose slightly. But she remained silent, not completely convinced that the compensation was good enough.

Understanding Rose's silence, Arger Dal added: \"And of course, I'll give you a one-star veteran party license!\"

Only now did Rose nod in agreement. \"Mmph! You can feel proud of yourself for you'll witness the foundation of Rose's Mercenary Party!\"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Rose and her party walked through the streets of Lurep Village.

\"Hehehe…\" Holding in front of her a golden card with 'Party leader: Rose' written on it, she could not stop giggling.

\"What's so special about it anyway?\" Thorn lazily asked.

Cure Song: \"You don't know?! Have you been living under a rock your entire life?\"

\"Yeah, you can say that.\" Thorn sounded even lazier.

Putting the golden card away, Rose said: \"It'll be very useful to our purposes later.\"

\"Humm… If you say so.\" Glancing sideways at Rose, Thorn continued: \"By the way, there's something that has been bugging me the entire time. Since Arnold had at his disposal those knights, Cley Alch must have been backing him up, correct?\"

Rose: \"Correct.\"

\"But you ordered us to hide the knights' corpses, which means that there's no evidence of Cley Alch's involvement in the kidnapping now. Won't that let him off the hook and allow him to retaliate against us later on?\"

\"Yeah, but it's more important for us to keep our real strength hidden. Besides, he won't be able to retaliate openly, so he will be forced to use the Assassin's Guild.\" Rose's voice was extremely calm, as though there was nothing to be afraid of.

\"Oh, so that's how we'll deal with Cley Alch! Rose, you definitely are the smartest person I had ever met! Hahaha…\" Cure Song couldn't help but laugh heartily.

\"*Sigh*…\" Thorn looked at them irritated. (What the hell are they talking about?! Won't it be too dangerous to have the Assassin's Guild trying to kill us?!)

\"Don't worry about it, Thorn. We'll be alright.\" Rose then proceeded to explain in detail the situation to Thorn.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Later that night, Lurep Village Mercenary's Guild Branch released the news about what happened to Arnold Alch and the M rank job.

Since nobody obtained the accumulated rewards from the Mercenary's Guild or the Adventurer's Guild, the money was returned to the people who had given it.

One of those people was Derek Niun!

At the lobby of the Mercenary's Guild, he stood unmoving facing a board where the notice was announced.

There was a big pouch on his hand filled with the coins that had been reimbursed to him.

His expression was unreadable as memories of his little sister came back to him. Slowly a tear formed in the corner of his eye.

\"At long last… you have been avenged. I hope… you can rest in peace now…\" He whispered.