Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 48 The Adventurers' Guild Returns (Please continue reading)
'Havent! Come quick, Haven, come quick!'

'Will Hill, you can't escape.'

'Fight! Fight!'

Lying on the bed, Haven frowned, his expression contorted with rage, his hands gripping the blankets tightly.
"Who are you? Don't go, don't leave me!"

With a shout, Haven sat up in bed, his bangs damp with sweat and plastered to his forehead. He looked at the sunlight streaming in through the window, slowly exhaled, and lay back down.

"It was just a dream... phew... hiss... I can't quite remember what I dreamt about."

After calming down, Haven turned to look at the bed next to him and sat up again. There was no one in the bed where Paimon usually slept. That shouldn't be the case, that guy usually sleeps even longer than him.

Looking around, Haven noticed a letter on the blankets of Paimon's bed. He went over and opened it.
Will, my good brother, I'm leaving. Don't look for me. So much has happened these past few days that has made me realize I'm a really bad person.

I've decided to venture out on my own. What you said at the dinner table yesterday was absolutely right. To earn respect from others, you have to rely on your own abilities. I can no longer stay under my uncle's protection; I want to become an independent person that I can rely on.

Even though we've only known each other for a few days, you're my brother for life. Until next time we meet...

Paimonius

Looking at the letter Paimon left behind, Haven scratched his head in frustration, wondering if he had instigated a minor to run away from home.

After cursing the unreliable guy, Haven got dressed, took another letter left by Paimon, and headed to Wells' room.

"Uncle Wells, are you really not going to send someone to look for him? What if something else has happened to him?"

Wells lay peacefully in bed, clutching the crooked letter Paimon had written, gazing out the window for a long while before slowly shaking his head.

“He has made his choice. Since he has embarked on this path of no return, we mercenaries are prepared to die at any time. At least Paimon is right about one thing: he cannot survive under my protection forever. One day he will have to face life alone.”

Haven sighed as he looked at the pale-faced man covered in bandages. Wells, lying on the bed, seemed to remember something and turned to Haven, saying...
"Will, I'm really sorry, as you've seen, the mercenary group is currently in a bad situation. We've been dismissed by the merchant guild, so we can't take you to the capital."

Upon hearing that Wells was concerned about this matter, Haven quickly waved his hand and said...
"It's alright, Uncle Wells, I'll figure out a way myself. What are your plans next?"

Hearing Haven's words, Wells lowered his head again and gave a bitter smile.

“What other plans do I have? Once my injuries have healed a little, I plan to return to the village. Over the years, I’ve saved up some money to share with the families of the brothers who died in battle. If that’s not enough, I’ll keep working until the day I can no longer work.”

Looking at Wells's somewhat dry and gray hair, Haven scratched his nose, thought for a while, took out paper and pen from his spatial ring, and began to write while leaning over the table next to him.

"Here you go, make sure you don't lose this."

Looking at the envelope in his hand, Wells asked with a puzzled expression.
"Thank you for taking care of me during this time. Once you've recovered, you can take this letter to Lord Talen, the Knight Commander, in Whiterun. He'll know what happened after reading it."

"Oh, we can't accept this, Will. We haven't been able to help you much."

Haven stepped forward and pressed Wells down as he struggled to get up, saying with a smile...
"Don't be so formal. Paimon is still my good brother. Alright, I'm leaving now. See you in the future!"

Watching Haven's departing figure, I glanced at the letter in my hand.

"So this child is the son of the Knight Commander of Whiterun. No wonder he's so outstanding."

Having stepped out of the four-star hotel, Haven shielded his eyes with his hand, looked at the bustling crowd on the roadside, scanned the area, and after confirming the location of the Adventurers' Guild, walked over.

Polly seemed a bit smaller than Riverwood, but there were still many street vendors. It was 11 a.m., and feeling a little hungry, Haven went to a roadside food stall and bought two fried pies. The conversation of a passerby waiting nearby piqued Haven's interest.

Hey, did you hear?

"what?"

"That thing, the Misty Forest incident."

"Ah! You mean this? I heard, I heard. Six mercenary teams went out to explore, and not a single one came back."

"Hiss~ That's terrifying, I'm too scared to leave town."

Watching the two women sway away, Haven's interest was piqued by their conversation. He took the fried pie the stall owner offered and asked...

"Boss, what were they just saying?"

"What did you say, sir? Who is it?"

"The misty forest that those two women just mentioned."

The boss finished his work, stood up, took out a wine flask from his waist, unscrewed it, and took a small sip.

"Oh, you mean the misty forest?"
Here's the thing: two weeks ago, a few mercenaries returned to town covered in wounds. They said they'd found a lot of magical herbs deep in the Misty Forest and brought back quite a few. I heard some of them sold for over ten gold coins. Tsk tsk tsk.

Speaking of gold coins, the boss took another sip of wine and kept shaking his head and sighing.

"and then?"

"And then? Then the mercenaries in town heard the news and rushed to the location the mercenaries had mentioned, and now almost half a month has passed, and not a single one has returned."

Haven finished the two fried pies after hearing the boss's message.

"Oh, I see. Three more, boss."

Hearing that Haven wanted three more, the shopkeeper quickly put down his wine jug and began making them, asking as he filled the dumplings.

"Judging from his clothes, he's probably a mercenary. If you're interested, you can check out the Adventurers' Guild. I heard they're issuing a bounty to organize another investigation."

He took the freshly fried pie from the shop owner, nodded, and walked towards the Adventurers' Guild.

The Adventurers' Guild in Poring Town is a three-story building made of pine wood.

Pushing open the wooden door of the Adventurers' Guild, Haven smelled that stench of sweat mixed with pine resin and blood again. He stood at the door, took a few deep breaths, and then went inside.

There weren't many adventurers inside; there were only about thirty or forty scattered around.

Having learned from his previous experience, Haven went straight to the quest posting area and sure enough, he saw an exploration quest for the Misty Forest on the blackboard on the left. The rewards seemed quite generous: 1 gold coin for providing any useful information, and 10 gold coins for joining a search team organized by the Adventurers' Guild.

However, Haven wasn't very interested in that and started looking for information about going to the capital on the mission blackboard.

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(End of this chapter)