Too tired to explain

"Mister...?"

"...oh, my dear System..."

A tiny orange-haired girl approached the gates at the southern gate of Grand Herbal and merely began to open her mouth when the guard straightened his back and stared at the sky, sucking in the air with annoyance, clearly having enough of it already.

"Miss. It has been a long day, and I really wish that it would end already, so could you please not? Just not. If that kid would show up, I would make sure to notify you or just send him your way. Okay? Please stop bothering me."

The guard gritted his teeth and breathed out, trying really hard not to blow up on the short peddler that came up to him the eighth time in a row despite two other guards besides him being available.

"...but... but the nice monk was the first person who didn't get annoyed at Beli and treated her as a proper trader and craftsperson besides Beli's papa... Beli can't just stop worrying about him..."

"...that... umm... haa..."

Belinda lowered her head and whimpered quietly, making the guard open his mouth just to close them and look away awkwardly.

"...!"

Behind the guard's back, his colleague spotted something in the distance and beckoned the third guard before pointing it to him; the first one put his hand to the side of his face trying to block the rays of the setting sun, while the other one climbed on his tiptoes and stretched his neck as if the couple more inches of height could change anything about the clarity of his vision.

"Alright, listen, I... I kind of get it. But hear me out. It really seems that your monk just went somewhere else. For a few days, a bunch of travelers and adventurers reported that Stone Fang wolves have apparently begun migrating into the nearby area and..."

"Stone fang w-wolves...?! B-but aren't those rank... rank E monsters...?! Then the nice monk got e-ea...?!"

The guard talking with Belinda took a deep breath and leaned down, speaking conspicuously, and his words made the orange-haired girl's face turn ghastly pale as she assumed the worst.

"Now, hold on! That's not what I meant!"

The guard raised both hands, trying to stop the girl's wild assumptions.

"What I mean is, the area your friend supposedly went missing is being surveilled much more closely, and not a single trace of him was found anywhere."

The man explained, lowering his hands a bit and giving the tiny girl a meaningful look.

"Stone fang wolves are dangerous, even more so when they travel in packs, but they aren't capable of eating clothes and equipment that people wear. If that makes you feel better, then at least I can promise you that your friend wasn't killed by them... around this parts..."

The guard pointed out, trying to be uplifting but ending his speech with a rather ominous revelation.

"...the nice monk is strong when compared to Beli, but he almost died when he saved Beli from the Stone Fang dog... even if he got stronger and could take down multiple dogs, Beli can't imagine him getting away from Stone Fang wolf..."

Belinda's shoulders dropped as the guard's attempt to improve her mood failed miserably.

*twack*

As the guard and the tiny civilian talked, the two guards tapped each other shoulders while nodding to each other after they confirmed what they saw, sharing rather impressed smiles.

"Yeah. Usually, if one doesn't have a high ranked Class or powerful backing, leveling up takes years – no one wants to risk their lives to gain EXP points finding monsters that don't cause trouble for anyone... well, except a few rookie adventurers year, but those never live long enough to actually get stronger... I've heard that if you actually fight higher-level monsters, the EXP you gain is higher than if your level is equal and much higher than if your prey is lower level... but I can't really confirm it myself. The last player who hunted monsters stronger than them that I've heard of was the previous Hero of Anterllen, but he died while training. The person currently holding the Hero of our Kingdom title trains behind the locked door and apparently never left the capital, so that should tell you everything that you need to know about the validity of their predecessor's method..."

"...Beli undertands..."

The guard tilted his head from side to side, agreeing with the girl's statement and pointing out, trying to make a wise face, and Belinda nodded with a sigh.

"Anyway, even though it's hard, you better forget about that monk. Oh, and stop trying to accuse some beginner adventurers about stealing a cart."

"...Beli knows that the cart they brought with them was the cart she entrusted the nice monk with... but Beli will try..."

The guard breathed out and declared, making the orange-haired girl sigh but end up nodding in reluctant agreement.

"H-hello. Umm... do you know that there is, like, an infestation of Stone Fang wolves out there? I could barely get out and... Oh, umm... I mean, do... do you recognize me? I was kind of stuck in a cave for... a while... I'm not even sure for how long but that wolf and all... Ah. Sorry, I'm speaking gibberish... I had nothing to eat and couldn't allow myself to sleep the whole time, so..."

"Of course, I recognize you, boy! By the System, you do look like you went through some rough times!"

"So that's what happened to you! Ha! You're so damn lucky to survive! The Stone Fang wolves suddenly leaving their spawning ground is a serious problem that's currently under investigation. Anyway, good job not becoming a victim of this mess!"

While the guard and the peddler conversed, someone approached the gate and called out to the other two guards in a weak voice and had both of them greet him back warmly.

"..."

"..."

The guard and the peddler stopped talking and just looked at each other in silence...

"Oh, a-about the whole victim thing... By any chance, did someone find and return my cart? Before I got trapped in that cave, I left it near the stream, but when I made it out, it was gone. I mean... there were four Stone Fang dog corpses on it, so the Stone Fang wolves might have become interested in it, but they wouldn't be able to, you know... eat the whole cart, right? I don't want to accuse anyone of thievery, but... you know..."

"Hmm... no, no one came to us with a found cart."

"Hey, the shortie that asks about you every day mentioned something about a cart. Oh, there she is, nagging Seven again!"

The trio continued the exchange, and one of the guards pointed toward his comrade and the orange-haired girl.

"...?"

"...?"

The guard named Seven slowly turned around, and Belinda stepped out from behind him to have a look at the person that approached the Southern gate right before it closed.

"Hey there, Belinda! I guess it's been a while~ Please don't be angry, but I kind of lost the cart you got for me... tehehe...?"

A black-haired boy in very dirty and torn but still recognizable monk attire also looked over, raising his hand as a greeting and laughing awkwardly at the orange-haired girl.

"NICE MONK!"

"Whoa...!"

Belinda cried out and charged at him, hugging him with enough power to almost knock him off balance.

"H-hey, if I can't find it, then I will pay you back, okay? The thing is, I kind of need a cart for that to happen, so... umm... Hey, I smell really bad right now, so..."

*GROAAAAAAAAAR*

"...!"

Zorey raised his brow and muttered apologetically, but his words got interrupted by the bloodthirsty growl coming right out of his stomach, so loud that it startled Belinda and made her realize her actions.

"...but everything has to wait; I must eat something... and hopefully get some sleep..."

"Oh, you definitely deserve all the rest you need. Surviving a week in a cave hiding from the Stone Fang wolves must have been a nightmare."

The young priest of death gave a weak smile and lowered his head apologetically, getting instantly backed up by the guard that the tiny peddler kept pestering.

"...hiding from...? Umm... that's not exactly what... oh, whatever..."

"...Beli will get you another cart... even though Beli knows what happened to the old one, but Beli will tell you about it after you rest..."

The orange-haired girl turned her back to the tired boy giving the helpful guard a confused look and sniffled.

"Beli is happy that you didn't drop her as a business partner."

The girl added and hurriedly went back to the city.

The guards at the Southern gate had some more encouraging words of praise for the black-haired boy, but even though they all seemed to misunderstand what exactly happened, the young priest of death had no strength to explain everything and went on his way to the Temple after smiling at them.

"...ugh... I bet the teacher and big sister would be angry at me..."

Zorey sighed to himself while dragging his feet through the east wing and making his way to his room, where he grabbed a change of clothes and entered the bath.

After thoroughly cleaning his body several times, Zorey had a close call with almost drowning as he dozed off in the bath, but thankfully he survived that ordeal, too, and could safely make his way to the dining room.

"Boy! Where were you this whole time?! I haven't seen you for eight days straight! I thought that you got kidnapped or something!"

Mrs. Luterestia called out and started scolding him the moment he stepped into her domain.

"...Technically, that did happen, but not really...? I'm sorry for making you worry, Mrs. Luterestia. Wh-what did my teacher and big sister say about my absence...?"

"..."

Zorey bowed apologetically towards the angry kitchen lady and asked in a pitiful voice, causing the anger on the older woman's face to disappear, replaced with a caring smile.

"Young Gael didn't return from his job yet, and the past few days, lady Brigitta seemed to be so busy with something that she couldn't focus on anything else. It doesn't look like you're in trouble. I choose to believe you weren't out there making trouble, so..."

*GROAAAAAAAAAAAR*

"!!!"

Mrs. Luterestia breathed out and assured Zorey, nodding her head – and the black-haired boy's stomach ended up announcing how famished it was, causing the young priest to flinch and blush from embarrassment.

"Sit down. I was practicing new recipes, so your punishment for making me worry will be to taste test all of them."

"Thank you very much!"

The woman chuckled and pointed the boy towards the tables, making him cry out in pure joy.