"Hey, Aria, are you sure this is the way to your vige?"


    "Hmm? Yes, big brother must trust Aria!"


    "Haaah…Fine…"


    After dragging the three bandit leaders for about ten minutes, the unconscious little girl whom Shye found in Conn-Thor''s room abruptly regained consciousness, proving to be quite a handful with her constant chatter, causing a considerable headache due to her inability to keep quiet.


    ''Well, at least she''s fine and healthy…'' Shye mused as he nced at Aria who was resting on his shoulder, holding on like a cat as he ran at speeds considered as terrifying for a mundane human like her.


    Yet, somehow, there was no fear in her eyes, only excitement.


    Amused, Shye continued running for a few more minutes, ncing asionally to see if the bandits were still behind him.


    Finally, after around five more minutes, shaky wooden walls came into view, leaving Shye amazed at Aria''s memory.


    Entering the vige, people looked towards Shye''s direction as though he was a ghost.


    Well, there was someone who was supposed to be a ghost beside him: Aria.


    "Little Aria!! You''re back!! What happened to you?! We heard from your parents that you were abducted a week ago. We thought you were already gone!"


    "Oh?! Little Aria is back?!"


    "Little Aria! It''s great that you''re safe!"


    "Little Aria, where''s your sister? I heard she was abducted too. Did you two meet?"


    Upon realizing that the little girl was Aria, who was abducted a week ago, the vigers suddenly dropped what they were doing and swarmed her, asking her all kinds of questions regarding what happened to her, what the bandits'' hideout looked like, and was the boss scary.


    Being the chatterbox that she was, Aria answered all of their questions, making Shye almost pull his hair out in frustration.


    Fortunately, Aria''s father swiftly caught wind of his daughter''s return and promptly rushed towards the vige entrance with tears and snot on his face, tripping all over before arriving at the scene after five more minutes.


    "ARIA!!"


    "Hmm? Father!! Aria is back!! And Aria will never leave you again!!"


    "Father promises that you will never go through such trauma again! I love you, little one!"


    "I love you too, father!"


    Shye, being quite the emotional young man himself, couldn''t help but shed a few tears at the father-daughter reunion, hoping that one day, he could experience it himself.


    After a few emotional minutes, the father suddenly asked Aria: "W-Where''s your sister? S-She was abducted by those damned bandits as well…Did you two meet?"


    "Yes, father. Me and my big sister Amelia were locked up in the same prison cell, however, I was summoned to the boss'' room first so I don''t know what happened to her…"


    Hearing the father''s question, Shye immediately stepped in.


    "Hello, sir. I''m Shye Crowley, the adventurer who epted your vige chief''s request. You don''t have to worry about Aria''s big sister as she was the one who asked me to save Aria, whom I found unconscious in the bandit boss'' room. I believe that myrade had already escorted your other daughter back to Carlton Vige and would be escorted here soon by the residents of the said vige."


    "Thank heavens!! My children are alive!! My only reason to live!! May the Gods bless you, sir adventurer! Thank you for saving my daughters'' lives!"


    ***


    A few days quickly passed.


    "Haaah…that was a stressful quest wasn''t it, boss?"


    "Hmm? I''d say it was pretty chill. I thought that sinister old dog would be stronger."


    "..."


    Hearing Shye''s words, Seira couldn''t help but nce at him.


    She was a wee bit stupid, however, even she could deduce that Shye had a few secrets.


    After all, Conn-Thor was considered to have the strength of a mid-emerald-ranked adventurer; possibly even stronger.


    If her boss could take the bastard down easily, then it meant that he at least had the strength of a high-emerald-ranked adventurer (Emeralds approaching the Diamond rank).


    Seeing that Seira didn''t respond, Shye looked at her, causing her to slightly panic and change the topic.


    "O-Oh! It''s feeding time. Wait, boss. Let me feed these darned bastards or we wouldn''t get double the rewards!"


    Sessfully finding a valid reason, Seira swiftly acted, taking out a few pieces of bread and jerkies and stuffing them inside the hungry bandits'' mouths.


    They were already close to Balkrow City and it would be a shame if the bastards died before they could hand them over to the appropriate authorities.


    Sure enough, after walking for around twenty more minutes, the familiar Balkrow City walls and gates came into view, bringing a smile to the duo''s faces.


    Arriving at the gates, the eyes of the guards widened upon seeing what Shye and Seira had in tow: three humans—battered and bruised, especially on their faces which seemed to have encountered a tribtion of fire.


    After a quick token check and a few questions regarding the bandits, the guards let the two of them through.


    Naturally, dragging such battered individuals inevitably captured the surrounding people''s attention—both residents and adventurers.


    Shye initially didn''t care, however…


    [Congrattions! You''ve earned 50 points!]


    [Congrattions! You''ve earned 37 points!]


    ''Hoh? It seems that there were quite a few who knew who these bastards were…'' Shye mused as another clever idea popped up in his brain.


    "EHEM! Uhm…Seira, let''s go this way…I kinda missed the city so…let''s walk around for a bit."


    "Oh? Okay? I guess that''s fine…"


    Seira thought Shye''s request was weird, however, he was the boss so she could onlyply.


    After walking for around half an hour inside the city while flexing his "catch", Shye earned around 4,500 points, bringing a satisfied smile to his face as the two of them walked towards the guild''s Balkrow branch headquarters.


    A few minutester, the two of them arrived in front of the branch headquarters, prompting heads to turn their way.


    "H-Hey, look! Shye Crowley has returned!"


    "D-Do you guys think the rumors about their quest were true?"


    "You idiot! Wasn''t it basically confirmed to be true by Miss Aya''s mildly flustered expression when Gordon asked her?"


    "B-But if she didn''t admit th–"


    "Shut up! Didn''t one of our Rubies, Mark Granger, who is a close friend of one of the emeralds, already confirm it?!"


    Again, their arrival stirred up amotion.


    After all, their quest was one from the special lounge—out of reach from low-ranked adventurers like most of their guildmates.


    Hence, they had a lot of questions in their minds.


    However, once Shye and Seira entered, dragging the three bandit leaders inside the guild, all of their questions vanished into thin air.


    [Congrattions! You''ve earned 742 points!]