Chapter 58 Strangers (2/2)

The heavy wooden gate opened. Five guards were standing at the sides, each holding their weapons. Their gazes still showed signs of wariness as Soran entered, but they relaxed a little after Soran showed no abnormal actions after entering.

The captain climbed down from the tower to greet Soran. Noticing his wounds, the captain said, ”We rarely see adventurers who travel alone these days. Who would have thought rogues cultivated themselves like monks?”

Soran simply smiled and did not answer.

The captain waved his companions over, then pointed to the side and said, ”Stranger, we cannot fully trust you, which is why we cannot offer you lodging in our houses. If you don't mind though, you can sleep in the barn that way. There's hay inside, and I can send some soup and food as well.”

Soran nodded and bowed slightly. ”I'm very grateful. All I need is a proper place to sleep. I can't sleep well in the wilderness, as monsters might attack me.”

The captain nodded and sent a young man to bring Soran over to the barn.

After Soran left, a nearby guard asked, ”Captain? He's clean, right? He's an outsider after all.”

”There shouldn't be any problems.” The captain glanced at the barn, and said in a low voice, ”I'll test him out myself later and see if he really did exterminate the kobolds himself. It's getting pretty dangerous nearby lately, so if someone can take care of the monsters, it will help ease the pressure on us.”

The wilderness was a dangerous place. They did not have to pay taxes here, but they had to face plenty of troubles, including monster raids.

Soon, the militia captain came over along with two villagers. Soran was sitting on the soft hay, applying medicine to the wounds on his legs and bandaging them. The wounds were recovering quickly; they would be fully recovered by tomorrow at this rate, meaning he could fight at full strength once again.

The military strength of the village was not bad at all; Soran could see a few Grade 2 warriors among the guards. The village had probably produced a handful of experienced adventurers.

A slightly chubby village girl who had plenty of freckles brought soup, some pickles, and bread for Soran. She curiously looked at Soran and even blushed a little after noticing his decent looks. The guileless girl wanted to stay behind, but the captain glared at her, sending her away with a fierce glance. As she left the place, she looked back and peeked at Soran. To the villagers, a young man who travelled alone was something of interest.

Soran thanked the captain, then began to drink the steamy soup. There were mushrooms and vegetables in it, and it went well with the hard bread. It did not feel good to eat rations all the time, thus Soran fully enjoyed the proper meal while answering the captain's questions. He was obviously being questioned and probed by the other party, but Soran did not feel surprised as he was an outsider.

”You said you killed a large group of kobolds?” the young man next to the captain asked with a doubtful expression.

Soran could not be bothered with explaining with words, so he unsheathed his sword. With a simple movement, he swiftly chopped a nearby log into four pieces of similar size. The young man did not question any further and even showed signs of respect.

Soran had exhausted plenty of his stamina during the day, thus he gulped down the soup and bread, as well as a bit of dried meat that he had brought with him.

He stood up and said, ”I want to know about the distribution of monsters nearby. Would you mind giving me some information about that?”Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

”That is fine,” the captain said and nodded after being relieved of his doubts. ”There are quite a few monsters nearby, and we have been waiting for someone to come and exterminate them. You can come back anytime in the future; we'll prepare your meals and a place for you to rest.

”Ah, it's getting late I guess. Since you've cooperated so well, if you don't mind, you can rest in my house tonight. I'll find someone to clear up a room for you tomorrow.”

Soran shook his head, and replied while patting the stack of hay, ”It's fine. This is more than I can ask for already. I'm used to sleeping on hay.

”Now then, let's get to the main topic.”