The next day.
Shin awoke at dawn and immediately started to mobilize.
He checked his equipment, had breakfast in the Bear Point Pavilion and pushed his way through the crowded area. On the way, he stopped by at a secondhand shop and purchased a simple map that showed the area around the kingdom. Yesterday he thought he was going to return quickly, so he didn’t buy one. Even though it was a map depicting the kingdom and the surrounding area, it was only a rough sketch. Because he didn’t want to explore the kingdom yet, he decided to purchase it only if the map had a record of the northern forest.
After leaving the secondhand shop, Shin walked towards the gate. He saw a crowd there. “Is something going on over there?” Shin thought as he approached.
There was a barely identifiable vehicle which looked like a carriage. A coachman entered from the gate and several adventurers followed behind the carriage. Though the coachman seemed to be unhurt, the adventurers seemed to suffer from serious injuries. They helped each other as one of the less heavily injured adventurers lent his shoulder to one missing an arm. Anyone would agree that they had barely escaped with their lives based on their appearance.
“What happened?”
This kind of crowd loved to watch the strange group, but no one tried to be concerned. He only stared at the guards listening to the story from a distance.
(Their levels are 131, 129, 118, and 134.)
The knight leader was level 188. Assuming the ability of the knight leader was rank A, they would probably be rank C or D adventurers.
There were scratches on both the adventurers’ armor and on the carriage, one could guess it was done with sharp tools. But it would be too hasty to conclude they were attacked by thieves or robbers, because there was a huge cut on the roof of the carriage.
After a while, the curious spectators started to scatter, and the adventurers were left to be treated.
As Shin approached the gate, he talked to Beid.
“Hey Beid, what happened to that group just now?”
“Hmm? Oh Shin. They were attacked by a monster and escaped.”
It wasn’t an attack by thieves or robbers after all.
“I see. Did you ask what they were attacked by?”
“I was told not to speak carelessly. Well, I think it will be alright if it’s you. But anyway, it will be known soon.”
“Is he an important person?”
What kind of monster it was that caused the guard to be alerted, he would have to wait for Beid’s words to make sure.
“…It’s a Skull Face. You’ve heard the rumors too, right?”
“Ah, I certainly have…if I’m not mistaken, it appeared at the northern forest.”
“Yes, it has. Because there were hardly any eyewitness reports, it was thought to be a Pawn class, but, apparently, it was a Jack class. “
“Jack class…How many people were in that party?”
“Two parties with full members, 12 people in total. As you can see, only four survived.”
“I see…”
The level of a Jack • Skull Face was around 150 ~ 250. The average level of the adventurers’ party earlier was probably around 120. If 12 people couldn’t defeat it, despite the adventurers’ equipment, it was reasonable to think that the Jack • Skull Face was beyond level 200.
“All high-ranking adventurers are out now. Depending on the case, the guild master or the knight leader will come out.”
“If you think about the level, it’s an adequate move. Hmm? Will the princess go out as well? She is pretty strong.”
He recalled that the second princess exceeded level 200 and asked Beid.
“I hope not…No matter how strong she is, this is royal family you’re talking about.”
“No, when I heard about the princess, I thought of someone who is crazy about fighting. Even the Horn Dragon will be defeated by her.”
“Ah…that…”