[Vol. 7] Chapter 85: Time Discrepancy
Following Marcelo, the self-proclaimed village militia captain, Violet and the others stepped into the building where he had been earlier.
He gestured for them to sit down, then removed his large sword and the mechanized gauntlet on his arm, both of which were somewhat bulky and in the way, before hanging them on the wall. Once that was done, he casually sat down in front of them.
"Alright, there's no one else here now. I don't really understand why you're hiding your true rank, but at this point, I assume it's not a problem anymore, right?"
Marcelo sat across the table, glancing at the three adventurers. The Tree Spirit race siblings sat properly, while the black-haired girl, unlike the others, chose not to sit at all, leaning lazily against the wall instead.
"That said, I have to admit, your Adventurers' Guild responds surprisingly fast. I wasn’t expecting backup this soon. I was actually planning to head to Adelaide City tomorrow morning to ask for help myself…"
"……"
Noticing the odd expressions on the faces of the two adventurers in front of him, Marcelo frowned slightly, as if he had just realized something.
"Wait… Don’t tell me, you aren’t the reinforcements sent by Adelaide City’s Guild? You just happened to be passing by?"
"Reinforcements from the Guild, huh…"
From the moment they entered Adelaide Village 192, [Tree Bow], [Tree Wall], and Violet had already sensed something was off. A feeling that grew stronger as they got closer. Given their experience as legendary adventurers, there was no way this was just a coincidence. If the village’s state wasn’t the result of a deliberate illusion, then…
Deep in thought, Enrique fell silent for a moment before finally responding, his words catching Marcelo completely off guard.
"Captain Marcelo, I have a question for you. Please answer honestly, this is very important. Can you do that?"
The half-bear man briefly glanced at his weapons and gauntlet hanging on the wall, a flicker of surprise flashing across his rugged face. However, he remained calm and gave a small nod.
"Go ahead."
"Alright… then let me ask you this. According to the standard imperial calendar, what year, what month, and what day is it today?"
Marcelo's expression froze for a moment.
As a veteran personally selected by the empire’s higher-ups to lead a village militia and serve as an official liaison officer, he might not have been highly educated, but he was certainly literate enough to handle basic administrative tasks, writing reports, submitting requests, and so on.
Naturally, he was also familiar with the imperial calendar. Converting dates to the world standard calendar might be tricky for him, but reporting the date according to the Austre Empire’s system was no problem at all.
After thinking for a moment, he spoke in a deep voice:
"Today’s official date is Year 125 of the Grand Emperor’s Calendar, August 21st. It has been exactly ten days since I last went to Adelaide City to report the situation and submit a request to the Guild… Is there a problem?"
The Tree Spirit race siblings exchanged glances. Even as legendary adventurers who had seen countless strange events, they could barely conceal the shock and disbelief in their eyes.
"This… is a huge problem."
The Austre Empire’s calendar was established 125 years ago, marking the end of the empire’s wars of conquest and the birth of the unified nation. The Grand Emperor himself had designed the calendar, replacing the world standard system that had been used for over a thousand years. Since then, the empire and its vassal states had fully adopted it as the official dating system, making it a symbol of Austre Empire’s dominance.
In short, imperial soldiers never get this date wrong.
And the mass disappearance case, which had spread across several provinces in the empire’s southeastern region, had first started making waves in early August, Year 125. Just about two weeks before the date Marcelo had reported. His timeline matched up perfectly with the known events.
But…
"Captain Marcelo, what if I told you that today is actually October 13th, Year 125. And that nearly two months have passed since the date you believe it to be? Would you be able to believe that?"
The half-bear veteran didn’t frown this time. Instead, he simply tilted his head to the side, a look of genuine confusion crossing his face.
"…What do you mean? A mistake in the calendar?"
Before her brother could respond, Sophie the [Tree Wall] spoke up, deep in thought.
"Considering what we saw on the way here, if what you just said is true and not some kind of deception, then the only logical conclusion is—"
"Wait a second."
Before Sophie could finish her sentence, the priestess girl, who had been casually leaning against the wall and idly toying with the hem of her robe, suddenly interrupted. With a sly smile, like a fox up to mischief, she stepped forward.
"What she means to say is that maybe our calendar has gotten a little mixed up. Good thing you corrected us, Uncle Marcelo! Otherwise, we would've embarrassed ourselves when we got back to the city~"
Enrique glanced at Violet in surprise. He clearly didn’t understand why she was doing this, but his instincts as an experienced adventurer kicked in. He immediately played along, forcing a laugh.
"Ah, yeah, exactly! Haha… You know how it is. I’m terrible with dates!"
"…?"
Marcelo, being a seasoned veteran, wasn’t so easily fooled by such a flimsy excuse. But just as he was about to press further, Violet dramatically stretched and yawned.
"Haah~ We’ve been traveling all day, and I can barely keep my eyes open. Honestly, why does a delicate little priestess like me have to walk through mountains and forests like this…? So unfair…"
"Uncle Marcelo, since you’ve already confirmed we’re real adventurers, could you arrange a place for us to stay? Nothing fancy, just something clean. We’ll pay, of course!"
"Uh, yeah! We’ve got a long journey ahead tomorrow!"
Marcelo silently watched them for a few moments, his lone eye gleaming with thought. It was obvious he could tell they were hiding something, but in the end, he simply gave a small nod and said nothing more.
"You don't need to pay. If you leave this house and head to the westernmost rooms under the watchtower, you'll find a few empty spaces. They're meant for adventurers passing through. Not the most comfortable, but good enough for a night's rest. If you don’t mind, you can stay there tonight."
"Also, unless you're planning to leave, do not wander too far from the watchtower, and especially don't roam around the village without reason. I don’t want villagers complaining to me tomorrow that adventurers are causing trouble. Understood?"
As the team's representative, Enrique nodded quickly.
"Oh, of course! Thank you, Captain! We appreciate it. You should get some rest too!"
After exchanging a few polite words, the three swiftly left, following Marcelo’s directions. Violet gave them a subtle signal, and they didn't linger any longer than necessary. Marcelo didn’t bother to see them off. He simply nodded and stayed at the table, silently watching them leave.
As they walked, the group deliberately avoided the wandering magical lights from the watchtower, keeping to the shadows. Only once they were safely out of sight did Sophie finally ask the question on her mind.
"What was that about? Why did you stop me from speaking? Is there something wrong with Marcelo?"
Violet shook her head.
"Can't say for sure if there's anything wrong with him. But you saw it too, this entire village feels off. The time discrepancy isn’t just a simple calendar mistake."
She paused, her expression serious.
"We don’t have enough information yet. Jumping to conclusions now would be reckless. Let's wait until tomorrow and see what happens first."
Then, suddenly, she stretched out her hand toward them.
"Alright, both of you, hands out."
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm casting buffs, obviously! You do know priests can ward off evil spirit, right?"
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