Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz)

Chapter 13 - The Boy and the Girl

The survivors were a boy and a girl. The boy was a Platinum-level adventurer, while the girl was a Silver-level adventurer. Judging by the girl's attire, it seemed she served as a support role, a Divine Magic Caster.

Both wore expressions of dazed sorrow, a result of surviving a calamity. Upon seeing the enormous corpse of a Titan Python on the ground, they instinctively shrank back.

However, it was the boy who recovered first. After all, as a Platinum-level adventurer, his spirit was resilient. After drinking a bowl of Barrett's snake meat soup, his voice trembled slightly as he recounted the harrowing experience of the previous night to EeDeChi and Barrett.

Their adventurer team, known as "Rose of the Night," had accepted a mission from the Golden Sheaf City Adventurer's Guild to collect 20 Frost Armor Spider magic sacs.

Originally, the "Rose of the Night" team planned only to operate around the periphery of Mistwood, but they lost their way and wandered deep into Mistwood when one of their companions, a Silver-level adventurer with the Innate Talent to "sense the land of the sunrise," was bitten by a yellow-pupiled venomous lizard and fell into a coma.

Last night, they were suddenly attacked by a Titan Python. One by one, the members of the team were either crushed or bitten to death by the Titan Python. The boy and the girl passed out from suffocation while being constricted by the Titan Python.

The Titan Python, thinking they were dead, swallowed them whole. It was only after Barrett cut open the belly of the dead python that they managed to escape this fate.

The boy's name was Sean Tachya, a Platinum-level adventurer skilled with a longbow and daggers, who also handled scouting and sentry duties for the team.

He was the first to spot the Titan Python and raised the alarm before grabbing the girl and running in the opposite direction, which ultimately led them to be swallowed by the python.

Sean was not originally a member of the "Rose of the Night" adventurer team but had joined them temporarily for this mission.

"Collect 20 Frost Armor Spider magic sacs," Barrett thought to himself about the mission. The magic sacs were organs used by the Frost Armor Spiders to store their magical power. Collecting twenty in a short period would require taking significant risks and venturing into the spiders' nests, something that could not be done just by operating around the periphery of Mistwood.

A seasoned Platinum-level adventurer would not join such a low-strength team for such a high-risk mission.

But seeing the boy's concern for the girl before he had even stabilized himself, gently comforting her while her eyes still showed signs of terror and tears, Barrett roughly understood why he had joined "Rose of the Night."

The girl's name was Stella Famillion, a weak Divine Magic Caster who, judging by her surname, seemed to be the descendant of a declining noble family from the Baharuth Empire.

Originally a priestess devoted to the chief god Gaia, she had to leave the temple to become an adventurer and work off her family's debts due to her brother's gambling addictions and the high-interest debts owed to lenders.

Fortunately, Barrett had brought enough potions to restore physical strength and calm nerves. His deliciously tender and appetizing turnip snake meat soup quickly restored Sean and Stella's physical and mental conditions.

As for EeDeChi's assistance, she drank more snake meat soup than Stella did, and Barrett only hoped she would leave enough hot soup for the survivors who were greatly mentally disturbed.

Once they were all restored, the four of them hit the road again. Because Sean always cautiously protected Stella as they moved through the forest, their pace was considerably slowed, but aside from that, the journey went smoothly.

Along the way, they encountered a group of unwise Wither Beasts, Beholders, and a rather large Grizzly Storm Bear, but EeDeChi alone managed to dispatch them easily in a few rounds.

Sean and Stella were astounded by EeDeChi's fearsome combat abilities, while Barrett happily followed behind her, dissecting monster corpses and harvesting spoils, occasionally praying that more high-level monsters would be drawn to them.

After trekking through Mistwood day and night for five days, on a not-so-sunny midday, they finally emerged from Mistwood and arrived at the adventurer camp on the forest's edge.

After resting briefly in a modest inn, they hired a four-wheeled carriage and traveled to the city center of Golden Sheaf.

Barrett and Sean headed to the Adventurer's Guild and the black market to sell the spoils from their trip to Mistwood.

The Titan Python fetched a particularly high price; after all, a complete high-level mature magical beast is extremely rare. Just the five bottles of fresh venom extracted from its venom sacs sold for a total of 45 gold coins.

As for the rest of the intact snake scales, teeth, high-quality Grizzly Storm Bear hide, and even several chunks of fresh Titan Python meat, all combined, they made a tidy sum, stuffing their pockets full of gold coins.

Barrett even haughtily told the buyers that he would only accept gold coins, not silver or copper, as his spatial leather bag was already too small to hold any more if they used silver coins instead of gold.

Since all the monsters were slain by EeDeChi alone, and the valuable parts were harvested by Barrett and Sean from the monster bodies, the spoils were divided with EeDeChi taking 60%, Barrett 30%, and Sean 10%. Sean then generously gave half of his share to Stella.

The four returned to the tavern operated by the Golden Sheaf Adventurer's Guild, where they raised their glasses to celebrate their successful expedition and to soothe the pain of Sean and Stella's loss of their companions.

"How old are you two?" EeDeChi asked.

"18," Sean answered.

"I'm 17," Stella replied.

At their age, one was neither too old nor too young, Barrett thought as he sipped his beer. He had been only 15 when he had left home to work as a hunting guard for the nobility.

"So young, still a minor at 17," EeDeChi remarked after a sip of juice.

"Huh?" Barrett, Sean, and Stella all expressed confusion, giving EeDeChi puzzled looks.

"What's the matter?" EeDeChi frowned, seemingly surprised that the confusion was not hers but belonged to the other three.

"16 is an adult," Sean stated.

"Nonsense, it's 18," EeDeChi confidently insisted.

"It's indeed 16. I've never heard of it being 18. The earliest I've seen was a coming-of-age ceremony at 15, and even being considered an adult at 14," Barrett said.

"We also consider 16-year-olds as adults where I'm from," Stella added quietly.

"Whatever, you're still a minor!" EeDeChi pointed at Stella's nose in an indisputable tone.

"If you say so," Stella said meekly, not daring to argue with EeDeChi.

"As a minor, you can't join such dangerous adventures. Where is your home? I'll take you back," EeDeChi declared.

Stella panicked and began to plead quietly with EeDeChi. She thought her lack of strength made EeDeChi disdain her, so she used her youth as an excuse to push her away. Stella rambled on about how she would try harder, how great her potential was, that she would not hold them back, and even offered to do their laundry and dishes.

EeDeChi ignored all this, only realizing later that EeDeChi had no ulterior motive—she simply saw her as a minor and thus felt obligated to "protect a minor."

Stella changed her tactics and pitifully described how poor her family was, how desperately they needed money to pay debts and for medical treatment. Sean chimed in to support her, and they finally managed to move EeDeChi slightly.