[Vol. 7] Chapter 81: The People of "Tree"
Enrique’s question was met with silence, no one in the group had an answer. After a bit of casual conversation, they continued on their journey.
They had now completely left Layla City’s influence and entered a neighboring province. This region was also struggling with a series of disappearances, and the situation here seemed even worse than in Layla City.
The Austre Empire followed a semi-militarized system, with each province governed through its own main city. The city here was called Adelaide City, a first-tier city with a population exceeding a million. While it wasn’t as prosperous as Layla City, it still had all the usual institutions like the Adventurers' Guild, the Mercenaries' Association, and the Magic Research Institute. However, it lacked top-tier organizations like the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild.
Overall, Adelaide City was an average major city. Nothing particularly outstanding, but no glaring flaws either. The local branch of the Adventurers' Guild was slightly less prestigious compared to Layla City’s, but it still functioned well enough.
According to Enrique’s intel, Adelaide City didn’t seem to have any legendary-ranked adventurers stationed there, let alone a complete team of their caliber.
Due to its proximity, the Adventurers' Guild in Adelaide City had collaborated with Layla City’s branch multiple times to handle large-scale missions. For this ongoing disappearance case, the two guilds had been exchanging information frequently, so Enrique had a decent grasp of the situation here.
However, their current tracking mission, conducted in cooperation with Violet, was strictly confidential. Aside from their team members, only the guild master and vice master of Layla City’s Adventurers' Guild knew about it. Adelaide City’s side had not been informed yet.
According to [Tree Bow], something about this case felt suspicious. He suspected that there were spies inside the guild, possibly even within the empire’s upper ranks. That could explain why the investigation had been struggling at every turn and making such slow progress.
And the number of spies was likely more than just one or two.
Following the traces left behind by the little dragon girl, the group traveled for a while longer. As the sky darkened, Enrique glanced at a small, unremarkable young man in their team who had short hair and wore a mask.
"Alright, let’s stop here for today. We’re already in the mountainous region, this place is pretty remote. Let’s see if we can find a village or town to stay in. If not, we’ll have to camp out again."
The masked man gave a quick nod and, in a swift motion, leaped onto the treetops, disappearing into the distance with the rustling of leaves.
After traveling together for several days, Violet had already familiarized herself with the team’s members. The scout who had just left was called [Tree Monkey], a reconnaissance specialist in Enrique’s squad. Of course, that wasn’t his real name, just a code name used within the team for convenience.
Experienced high-ranking adventurers usually have similar titles. This isn’t just for show. Adventuring is dangerous work, and sometimes it means making enemies. Using code names isn’t just about sounding cool. It’s also a way to protect themselves.
[Tree Monkey] wasn’t fully human. He had some [Mountain Climber Monkey] blood in him. While he never revealed the full extent of his strength, Violet had a rough idea based on the times he had taken action and the aura he emitted during missions.
At the very least, he was at Sky level or higher. In terms of speed and mobility in complex terrain, he probably outclassed most normal Legendary level adventurers. If he didn’t have such an exceptional skill set, there was no way he would have been able to join this legendary adventurer team.
As the group took a break, [Tree Monkey] soon returned with his scouting report.
“There are no large buildings within a few kilometers, but if we climb over this small mountain, there might be a village at the foot of the other side. I saw faint smoke rising from there earlier.”
“Smoke? You’re sure it was coming from the base of this mountain?”
“Yes.”
For some reason, Enrique frowned slightly, but he didn’t say anything right away. Instead, he turned to the black-haired girl, who was representing the other team.
“[Tree Monkey]'s scouting skills are reliable. If he says he saw it, then it’s definitely there.”
The black-haired girl had been quietly observing the mountain path. After a moment, she looked up.
“That caravan… also passed through the village below.”
After exchanging glances with the priestess, [Tree Bow] quickly put away his previous look of deep thought and nodded with a smile.
“In that case, there’s nothing to hesitate about. Let’s go.”
Traveling through the mountains at night, especially in an area with poor visibility, was dangerous for most people. Unlike the well-maintained paths of scenic mountains, the trails here were rough and barely formed by repeated foot traffic.
On the shaded side of the mountain, the roads were often muddy and slippery. During the day, it might still be manageable, but at night, when visibility was near zero, slipping and falling was common. In the worst case, someone could even tumble down the slope.
Even though most of their group had strength at Earth Rank or Sky Rank, with physical abilities far beyond normal humans, that didn’t mean accidents couldn’t happen.
"Ah!"
"Hey! Watch out!"
A sudden startled shout rang out, and Le Qiaoqiao, who was closest, immediately grabbed the girl’s arm. The girl had momentarily lost focus and nearly slipped down the muddy slope.
"What happened? Are we under attack?"
The tree-spirit siblings leading the way immediately stopped and turned back. The priestess casually summoned a ‘Light Elemental Spirit’, which floated over and illuminated the two girls.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I just got distracted for a moment… Thank you, Qiaoqiao!"
The one who had almost fallen was the youngest member of Enrique’s team, a girl called Qionghua (magnificent sky). Although her name sounded like a title, it was actually her real name.
Qionghua was a pure human, dressed like a textbook magician. She wore a single crystal-lens monocle, her short black hair was tucked under a wide-brimmed mage’s hat, and she held a small wand in her hand. She was always quiet and somewhat shy. Among the team, her presence felt the weakest, she had only recently advanced to Earth Rank.
Given her age and human heritage, reaching this level was already impressive. But an adventurer team wasn’t like a magic academy, where talent was admired. In this line of work, only real strength mattered.
So Qionghua must have had some kind of special skill to be part of this group.
Hearing her flustered thanks, Le Qiaoqiao just laughed carefreely and patted the young mage’s thin shoulder in an almost elder-like manner.
"It’s fine, don’t worry about it! But you’ve been a bit distracted for a while now, and I noticed your eyes keep drifting upward. Is there something up there?"
Qionghua looked at Le Qiaoqiao in surprise. Seeing that the rest of the team had also gathered around, the timid mage hesitated before awkwardly nodding.
"You’re very perceptive… No wonder [Priest] recommended you as a companion. I was actually trying to look through the gaps in the trees to observe the stars… The night sky in this area feels strange. It’s oppressive and distorted. It’s not normal. I wanted to figure out what’s going on, so I…"
"Observing the stars?"
Hearing that, Violet, who had also approached, immediately realized what Qionghua’s profession must be. She looked at the quiet girl with newfound curiosity.
"You’re an Astrologer?"