Chapter 23: A New Journey

"Captain?" Mira said quietly.

The captain shook his head. "Sorry. It’s just that... hundreds of Laughing Fiends went into that forest, and you were the only one who went after them."

Ethan understood what he meant. If he were in the captain’s position, he probably wouldn’t believe it either.

"You can send someone to check if you don’t believe me."

The captain hesitated.

"I didn’t mean that I don’t believe you."

"I know."

Ethan wasn’t offended. It was a strange thing to hear, after all.

The captain finally nodded and turned toward one of the guards.

"Go and check the area around the road. Take a few people with you. Don’t go too far."

The guards exchanged glances.

None of them seemed eager to leave the safety of the barricade after hearing what had happened, but they couldn’t ignore the captain’s order.

One of them sighed and grabbed his weapon.

"Let’s go."

A few others followed him through the gate. They kept their weapons ready as they disappeared into the trees.

The captain watched them leave before turning back to Ethan.

"How did you manage to deal with so many Laughing Fiends?"

"My Shadow Wraiths."

The captain paused.

"How many do you have?"

Ethan thought about it for a moment before answering casually.

"A small legion."

"A legion?" Mira asked

Ethan nodded and shrugged.

"Something like that."

The captain didn’t know what to say to that, so he let the matter drop.

Still, the thought stayed in his mind.

If Ethan was telling the truth, then he had an entire force of Shadow Wraiths following him around. And if he called that a small legion, then just how many did he consider a large one?

He glanced at Ethan again but decided not to ask.

A few minutes later, the guards returned.

The guards hurried through the gate, carrying something between them.

The captain’s eyes narrowed.

One of the guards dropped the body onto the ground. It was a Laughing Fiend, its body still intact.

Another guard held out his hand. Two essence buffs were floating above his palm.

"Captain, we found these on the road."

The captain stared at the body before looking at the Essence Buffs.

Since less than an hour had passed, the Essence Buffs had not yet dissipated and could still serve as evidence. But nothing is more believable than the dead body of a laughing fiend.

His expression slowly changed.

Although they had only brought back a few bodies, the number of Essence Buffs made it clear that many more Laughing Fiends had died. There was no reason to waste time carrying all the bodies back.

With both pieces of evidence in front of him, there was no longer any reason to doubt Ethan’s words.

He let out a slow breath.

"I see..."

He had expected Ethan to delay the Laughing Fiends and give the village more time to prepare.

Instead, the entire force had been wiped out.

The captain let out a slow breath before turning toward Ethan.

"Thank you."

Ethan waved it off. "You don’t have to thank me. I had my own reasons for doing it."

The captain raised an eyebrow.

"I received a Regional Quest to protect the village," Ethan explained. "Taking care of the Laughing Fiends completed it. I also got the full contribution since I dealt with them myself."

"I see."

The captain’s shoulders relaxed a little. At least Ethan hadn’t taken such a risk for nothing.

Even so, the captain was still grateful. Whatever his reasons were, the village had been spared a battle.

"Even so, you saved everyone here," he said. "We owe you one."

Ethan gave a small shrug. "Then we’ll call it even."

The captain couldn’t help but smile at that.

"What will you do now?" he asked.

Ethan glanced toward the road outside the gate.

"I’m heading to the city."

The captain raised an eyebrow. "The city?"

"Yeah. There’s nothing much left for me to do here."

That answer made sense. This was only a novice village, after all. Someone like Ethan probably wouldn’t stay here for long.

Mira, who had been standing nearby, looked at him.

"So you’re leaving?"

"That’s the plan."

"You aren’t going back to that village?"

Ethan shook his head. "No. I don’t have any reason to go back."

Mira was quiet for a moment before giving a small nod. "I see."

Ethan glanced at her. "When you see the elder, greet him for me."

Mira blinked. "That’s all?"

"What else should I say?"

She thought about it and then smiled faintly. "I don’t know. Maybe that you left without saying goodbye."

Ethan gave a small shrug. "Then tell him that too."

Mira shook her head with a quiet laugh.

"Fine. I’ll tell him."

Not long after Ethan passed through the village gate, his attention was drawn to one of the Shadow Wraiths he had left behind.

He slowed down and glanced back at the village.

Through the Shadow Wraith’s senses, he could see Lin Yue sitting outside the village, gently combing the little fox’s fur. The fox seemed to enjoy it, sitting quietly as she ran the comb through its soft fur.

Ethan watched for a moment before something caught his attention. The fox’s tail moved slightly, revealing a second tail.

When he had first seen the fox, it only had one.

He continued watching as Lin Yue stroked its fur. The second tail was still small, barely more than a thin tuft of fur, but there was no mistaking it.

It was growing another tail.

"Interesting."

But that wasn’t the only strange thing as its eyes shifted away from Lin Yue and settled on the ground beside her.

More precisely, it was staring at her shadow.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The fox wasn’t simply looking at Lin Yue’s shadow. It seemed to have noticed that something was hidden inside it.

For an ordinary beast, noticing a hidden Shadow Wraith would be impossible. Being able to tell that the shadow itself was different was even more unusual.

Ethan wasn’t too surprised. He already knew the little fox wasn’t an ordinary beast

With a thought, he recalled the Shadow Wraith.

The shadow quietly disappeared from its hiding place and returned to Ethan’s Legion Space.

The fox immediately lifted its head and stared at Lin Yue’s shadow, where the Shadow Wraith had been hiding moments ago. Its ears twitched as it looked around in confusion.

Lin Yue noticed its reaction.

"What is it?"

The fox shook its head as if it understood her, then went back to sitting beside her.

Lin Yue smiled and continued combing its fur.

After recalling the Shadow Wraith, Ethan turned away from the village and continued down the road toward the nearest city.