24 Tragic Ending (2/2)

He still felt that something was wrong, but he did not know what it was.

After breakfast, the old couple left the house.

Both of them looked rather happy. The old man bought food from the fair, and the old woman fetched a lot of firewood.

They worked and lived as usual. Soon, smoke curled up from kitchens as evening fell. It was as regular as the behavior of other NPCs in the game. Their lives were the same no matter what happened.

Betta found nothing wrong after observing for a whole day, but he felt more and more uneasy.

In the end, he held back his strange feeling and came to the entrance of the town.

Soon, Roland made it back, too.

As a Mage, he was not as strong as Betta, who was a complex class. He rested twice on the way and finally made it back before nightfall.

Roland smiled when he saw Betta. ”You haven't closed the quest yet, have you? I gave it a lot of thought on the way. Informing them of their grandson's death is too brutal. We might as well keep it a secret from them…”

Roland was suddenly stunned, because he saw a fire rising in a house next to the lake… The night had not entirely fallen yet. From his perspective, he saw a glittering fire right beside the setting sun.

”It's the James' house!”

Roland shouted and ran forward. Having practiced magic near the lake, he knew the couple and would nod at them when he met them.

Betta's face turned pale when he saw the house on fire.

Roland reached the house. He was going to launch Ice Ring at the house to put out the fire, but he gave up in frustration after observing for a second.

The fire was too huge and had burned through the wooden house. Anyone inside must've been killed.

Betta approached the place, too. His face was paler and paler, and his body was shivering.

In the end, he gnashed his teeth. ”Brother Roland… The skull we found belonged to the grandson of this old couple.”

What?

Roland's heart was instantly chilled.

He was frozen, unable to move.

The fire attracted a lot of villagers. Many of them intended to extinguish the fire, but they all shook their heads and gave up when they saw the reddened house.

Someone mumbled, ”Why is the James' house suddenly on fire? Who came here first?”

”Mr. Roland and another noble.”

”What exactly happened here?”

”Who knows?”

Falken finally came, too. He asked Roland, ”What exactly happened here, Mr. Roland?”

Betta shivered, his body appallingly pale. He turned his head away, not daring to look at the villagers.

”I found Sam's head and gave it to the James couple,” Roland said calmly, sighing.

Falken looked at him and shook his head slightly.

The other villagers also stared at Roland and Betta in silence. They all dispersed in the end.

The fire did not die out until dawn.

Nothing was left on site except for the ash and the rising smoke.

”Quest accomplished. EXP +376, reputation in Red Mountain Town -10.”

A notification appeared in Roland's sight.