The Path of a Black Sheep in a Fantasy World (BL)

Chapter 45 (M)

Time is Running Out by Muse~

"We would like to volunteer." Adam proclaimed, stepping out of the crowd around the board to approach the woman. Lev jumped slightly, surprised that they offered their help. They had just arrived in Dispel, but were already showing great kindness. He had never been wrong in his intuition.

Adel tried to wipe her tears to be able to see the young man through her blurry vision. She blinked, seeing the two men before her. She could tell, from her experience, that those two were powerful, way more than what they needed to clear the monsters. Still, she wouldn't reject their generous help.

"Just to make sure, you do understand that we won't be able to offer much as a reward, right?" Adel asked, because she didn't want the two adventurers to feel offended once their job would be done. The two men looked like nice people from what she could tell, but sheep masks could easily be worn over wolves' faces. They could decide to steal their last reserves if they wanted, they were strong enough.

"Of course, and we won't accept any reward. We don't need it." Adam declared after exchanging glances with Evan to make sure it was alright with him. The giant's approval was needed as he didn't want to just decide by himself with no consideration to his partner's opinion. They weren't slaves and masters anymore, they were lovers.

"Oh my! How kind of you two, our village will never forget your kindness. I would like to talk more with you, but we need to hurry." Adel said, covering her mouth with her wrinkled hands because of the surprise. The two adventurers started to head toward the door, but as he passed by Adel, Adam could see that she wouldn't be able to follow their pace, even less with the baby. It was at that time that Lev decided to step in.

"I will take care of the child. Evan can carry Adel, I suppose?" Lev received the giant's nod and then continued, "I will also create the quest so you two will at least cumulate experience points. Bring me the left ear of each goblin you kill, and the right paw of each wolf for proof."

"Perfect." Adam answered, helping the granny get up so she could hand the baby to the dark elf. Lev cautiously took the little bundle, the child having fallen asleep after having squeezed out all the water out of his body while crying. His chubby face was red and puffed up, but the receptionist still found him endearing. Adel gave her thanks, before climbing on Evan's back so he could hold her securely as they traveled.

Evan reassured the old woman as she feared of being too heavy, when in fact, she barely weighed anything. The lovers headed out of the guild and then ran toward the direction Adel pointed to. They were so fast that the woman had to squeeze Evan's neck to make sure she wouldn't fall off. The giant noted the way her hands were rough and calloused, both from manual work and from chores. It appeared that she had been hard-working all her life. It was pretty rare for women to do heavy tasks, as they were better at delicate work that needed concentration. However, in small villages, the tasks couldn't be distributed like this, everyone needed to work and be proficient in every field. No one knew when men or women would go missing or die.

Evan's respect for Adel went up a notch, and Adam saw the change in the way the giant held the woman more securely. The warrior hid a smile, he knew that the slave had a soft side buried in his heart. It just needed to be uncovered.

Adam wondered if he would be able to convince Evan one day that children weren't always a nuisance.

He wasn't necessarily thinking of adopting kids with the giant, but at least making him stop flinching each time they crossed a child would be a great advancement. It would make the parents less cautious and make them stop avoiding them.

They followed Adel's direction for a good ten minutes, and the lovers were starting to worry that the old woman had lost her way. Just as Adam was about to ask that they stop, screams were heard, along with growls and screeches.

Adam and Evan glanced at each other, before hurrying in the noises' direction. Adel also exclaimed that it was coming from her village. The adventurers came to an abrupt halt as they saw the state of the village. Adel nearly went flying above Evan's head, but he held her back just in time.

The houses were on fire, the crops all burnt to the ground. Wolves were running rampant, chewing on sheeps, cows and pigs. Goblins screeched with their weapons raised in supremacy, triumphantly standing above corpses. Only a few villagers were left standing in the center place, making a circle around crying children held by the elderly. Women holding metal rakes kept the goblins and wolves farther away, while men with rusty swords made surprise attacks by suddenly leaving the circle and then coming back inside after dealing a blow. It was the most effective technique for villagers with no experience in fighting.

Still, it wasn't enough.

Soon, the villagers wouldn't have any energy to defend themselves. They were already starting to drop their weapons because of their weakened arms, and the blows dealt weren't that deadly anymore. The goblins snickered, discovering a break in the circle, and immediately lunged toward the opening.

However, before they could reach the children, Adam raised his arm, making a giant ice spear appear in the breach.

It effectively blocked the goblins' path. The villagers exclaimed, surprised by the ice that suddenly appeared, but they didn't stay distracted too long as the goblins resumed their attacks.

"I found help!" Adel screamed, putting her hands around her mouth to make her voice louder. Evan put her down on a high branch so wolves wouldn't be able to touch her, and turned toward the village. The villagers looked in their direction, and it could be seen with naked eyes that their fighting spirit was suddenly recovered. Women started to deal blows to the monsters too with their rakes, and the men made larger moves with their sword, trying to catch more than one beast, which they had to refrain from doing to keep their energy longer.

They knew that they would be rescued. Their lives were saved, or at least those of their children and parents.

Maybe the two adventurers wouldn't be able to kill all the monsters before they died, but they would surely save their loved ones.

Hey dear readers, Adam and Evan to the rescue!

School is starting again, so soon :(

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(1 123 words)