Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 167: Marked by the Thuderbird

After Aster gained some distance, he turned back to check, before sighing in relief. "I'm still not used to big crowds," he sighed, before continuing onward, walking to the Adventuerer's Guild.

He was brisk walking, so he reached the guild faster than usual. Only a little over 20 minutes had passed. As soon as he entered, he quickly saw a familiar face and waved.

"Zena, I'm here to submit some bandits. Can you check if they have bounties?"

"Aster!" As soon as the snake lady receptionist saw him, she quickly gasped in surprise. "I heard your party got dragged into a mysterious teleportation incident! It's great that you're safe." She sighed.

When Aster approached, she leaned across the counter and whispered. "I heard that the mayor had a part in the quick dispatch of the Black Numbers. You're really loved, huh~?"

"Enough gossip; the guild's about to close." Aster scratched his head. "Anyway, where can I place the heads of those I hunted?"

"... Heads?"

Zena was puzzled, wondering what he was saying. She thought that, like last time, Aster took a video of the heads. However, since he was wary of the battery consumption, he didn't do it. Instead, he brought the actual heads!

"P-Please follow me to the back. Ellie, please take over reception!"

Although she was already used to seeing videos of dead bodies whenever someone was claiming bounties, seeing an "actual" head firsthand was rare. Of course, it was extremely uncomfortable even for Zena, but she had no choice—it was a part of her job!

Zena slithered her way to the back of the counter and waited for Aster to follow. They walked to one of the private rooms, and there they asked him to show her the heads.

"Here..." As if he were just showing melons, he let the heads roll out of his Spatial Fanny Pack. "Also, I want these appraised and sold too," he added, stacking the loot he got from the monsters he fought.

"T-These are...!" Zena, upon seeing the faces of the heads, quickly gasped. "Joph and his gang! B-But they're supposed to be on the 30th floor? How..."

"Ah," Aster raised his head. "Due to the teleportation incident, I was sent to the 30th floor. Well, if you see the monster materials, that should be obvious."

"Thirty—?!"

Zena stared at Aster as if looking at a weird animal. "Excuse me, Aster, but can you show me your Adventurer's Card?"

It was part of the procedure, either way, so Aster passed it to her without much fuss. However, Zena's eyes spread wide upon seeing his level.

"Level 41?! And what's with these stats?! Aster, really, what happened back there?"

Of course, he could understand her shock. However, Aster was tired already, and it was too bothersome to explain. "I just did my best to survive, that's all."

*Arf!*

"Ah, and of course, this little buddy of mine helped a lot too," he added while lifting the little dog up, and patting his head.

Since he was hiding behind Aster's shadow earlier, Argus managed to slip past Zena's detection. But now that she had seen it, she could feel that the little puppy was a lot stronger than she was!

"A... puppy?" she asked, tilting his head. "Could it be related to this weird line in your card? Divine Pet?"

"Honestly, I don't know either," Aster shrugged, telling the truth. "For now, I'd be grateful if you completed your job first, and chat later."

"Ah! Right!"

Remembering what they came there for, Zena began inspecting the heads that Aster "collected," before checking the bounty list. After about ten minutes, the process was done.

"Joph's gang is quite a known criminal group on the 30th floor, but since they have a Space Element Mage, it was hard to catch them. As such, their bounties were quite high," Zena explained.

"In total, you got 587 million Tels of combined bounty, with 16 million Tels worth of materials. All in all, 603 million! As a bonus, let me bump it up to 610 million Tels!"

Checking the list that Zena gave him, Joph, the leader, and the Space Element Mage both had 200 million bounty each, while the rest were quite random. 'I didn't expect they were worth this much.' He pondered.

After seeing the money appear on his card, he was just about to stand up and leave. However, right then, something happened.

*BAM!*

The door to the private room, which should be reinforced with spells, was crushed in one blow.

"...!"

Aster quickly moved to a defensive position, putting Zena behind him by reflex. Of course, Zena's level was way higher than his, so it was an unnecessary gesture. Still, it was something that brought a thin smile to her face.

The other party, the one who blasted the door open, quickly entered his view.

She had pure white wings spread wide, giving her a fluffy impression, with her feet floating about half a meter from the ground. She had clear blue eyes, filled with confidence and curiosity, along with her long, grayish-white hair that swayed with every beat of her wings.

"I detected little Joph's mark in here and came to finish him off, but..." The woman spoke in a slightly dreamy tone as if she were half asleep. "Zenearith? Are you hiding Joph from me...?"

Her blue eyes scanned the room, seeing the alert Aster, the dog who looked relaxed by his feet, Zena, who looked like she was having a headache—and several heads lined up on the floor.

"... Ah, Joph! Why's he only a head now~? Did this boy hunt him, perhaps?"

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A cute frown appeared on her lips, scanning Aster's face from up close. Aster, on the other hand, was unable to move freely. The pressure that the woman before her was releasing was something he hadn't felt before!

"A-An angel...?" He tried forcing his tongue to move, asking what was on his mind.

"Aha~! What a cute reaction~!"

The woman laughed sweetly, waving her fan made of long plumes of white feathers, covering her lips. "Sorry, but I'm not an angel. I'm a—wait, that's supposed to be a secret~!" She added with a light wink.

"Still..." After her laughter ended, she scanned Aster from head to toe once more. "You must be strong to defeat Joph despite being 20 levels lower than him. You're interesting; I'm starting to like you, kid~!"

The next moment, her body was covered with golden sparks. "Well then, see you later~!" And leaving those words, she vanished in a flash along with a thunderous sound.

She came like a tempest and left like a storm.

"What's with that woman...?" Aster couldn't help but worry.