Chương 20: Marielle Hearth

"Nice choice. You're very decisive." A languid voice suddenly sounded from above.

"Who?!" Kyle quickly jumped back and looked up. His eyes widened upon seeing the person standing on a tree branch. What came into his sight was a red-haired, beautiful woman, whose red eyes shone with amusement as she looked at him.

"Miss Hearth? What are you doing here? Are you involved in this ambush?" Kyle placed his palm on the hilt of his sword, his expression filled with vigilance.

'This is bad; both my mana and stamina are running low, and I didn't sense her gaze or presence at all.' A trace of cold sweat flowed down his face as he looked at the beautiful woman above. He never thought that another person was hiding in the dark, so he didn't conserve his mana one bit.

'She's on a completely different level from Evan. Is she also part of the Bloody Hand!' Kyle was extremely nervous. That would be the worst-case scenario.

"Hahaha! Relax, little Kyle, I'm not part of their team, nor do I intend to harm you. You don't need to be so nervous," Marielle chuckled and said.

"Besides…" Her body slowly turned transparent and disappeared.

"If I intended to harm you, you wouldn't even have the chance to react." Her voice sounded right beside his ears, her hot breath tickling his ears. Kyle's pupils shrank. He quickly turned to the side, coming face-to-face with Marielle. He immediately jumped back, putting some distance between them.

'An afterimage! I didn't even see how she moved. She must be an extremely powerful professional.'

"Pfft! It was a little joke, Kyle; as I said, you don't need to be so nervous." She laughed and said mischievously.

"Miss Hearth… Your joke is a bit bad for the heart," Kyle said wryly.

"Ah, well, sorry about that. You're always so polite and distant; I thought teasing you a bit would break the ice." Marielle said with a faint smile on her face.

"As for why I'm here… Well, it's because that guy over there has been snooping around my inn, asking about you. I followed them to see what they're up to." She said, pointing at Evan's corpse.

"I see." He nodded; however, he still felt a bit uneasy. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Seeing that Kyle was still very much on guard against her, Marielle sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm not greedy for your sword. Valecguard, right? It was Darius's main weapon when he was an adventurer." She calmly said. Kyle's eyes widened in surprise.

"You know my father?" Marielle had a look of nostalgia on her face, as if recalling memories that she held dearly.

"Yes, we were all members of the same party for a while, your father, my husband, and I." She said with a faint smile.

"He visited me two years ago and told me to take care of you. He didn't have much time left, and he knew that you would become an adventurer in the future."

"You're much more outstanding than your father, whether it is your talent as a swordsman or your fighting instincts, strategic thinking, and on-the-spot decision-making. I've watched the entire sequence of events, and I have to say that you did very well." Marielle nodded with appreciation. Seeing that Kyle was about to open his mouth, Marielle raised her hand and said.

"Let's keep the questions for later. I'll answer them all back at the inn. Now, take this corpse back to the valley where you fought so that I can burn them all." Kyle looked at her for a moment before nodding and agreeing.

"Alright." Before pulling Evan's corpse away, Kyle carefully searched for any valuables. He took away the daggers and a money pouch containing almost 40 silver coins. Marielle watched with a look of amusement but didn't say anything. While dragging the corpse back to the valley, they passed by the corpse of the giant goblin. Kyle looked at it for a second before continuing on their journey. He was the one who killed it. While the giant goblin was a rank 1 monster, it was at the absolute bottom of that rank.

Aside from its strength, which was noteworthy, it was miles away when it came to speed, reaction, and intelligence. That's why just two apprentices were able to stall it for so long. A few minutes later, they were back in the valley. Kyle looted the other corpses, netting him a total of 105 silver coins and 246 copper coins, including 4 daggers and 1 short sword. The greatsword is too big and conspicuous, so he doesn't plan to take it back. After stacking the corpses, Kyle turned to look at Marielle.

"Good job. Remember to burn up the corpses of your enemies in the future. Otherwise, it would be easy for mages to extract information from them, leading back to you." She winked at him before pointing her palm at the corpses. A faint light flashed from a ring on her finger before a blaze engulfed the corpses, turning them into ash in just a few minutes. Feeling Kyle's gaze on her ring, Marielle pointed at it.

"This is a magic item inscribed with four 1st circle spells, including Firebolt. When you have enough money in the future, I recommend buying a suitable magic item; it will be very useful for future adventures."

"I see, thank you for the recommendation," Kyle nodded and said. Marielle just chuckled at this.

"By the way, I don't recommend that you cut off the ears of these goblins and take them back to the guild. It will easily become a lead if someone investigates the deaths of these four, though that would be unlikely." She looked at the goblin corpses around and said.

"Finally, don't worry too much about the Bloody Hand; they won't care about such grunts. As long as you don't publicize that you killed them yourself, no one will take the initiative to approach you. And don't carelessly display that sword of yours in the future, at least until you become a copper-grade adventurer." Marielle clapped her hands and said.

"Well then, see you later. We'll talk once you go back to the inn." Marielle waved and said before disappearing. Only then did Kyle heave a sigh of relief.

'Dealing with someone who can easily take your life is so stressful, even if she had no malicious intent.'

"Back to town, I guess."