York had been thinking about how he would become famous after reporting this matter, so he didn't notice Michael and Mr. Royce's suddenly solemn expressions.
How could this be?
Magical Beast Invasion?
Y Village was located in a very remote place. There were only a dozen or so families there.
There were few resources near the village, and the environment had become extremely unlivable after the Magical Beast invasion more than ten years ago.
The magical families in the village had moved away in recent years, leaving only the old, weak, sick, and disabled who could not move. The only one who had magic power was the old village chief, but he was only a beginner mage. Moreover, he was already old and weak and almost had no strength to fight.
Under such circumstances, if the village encountered a magical beast, it would be almost impossible for them to fight back.
York thought they were just too tired and waved his hand in front of their eyes. "Are you listening to me?"
Michael came back to his senses and grabbed York's collar. "What else do you know about this bounty mission? Who issued it?"
"Huh? Let go a little first," York said in fear. Michael had unconsciously released his magic power just now, and the magic power of a high-level mage had made him feel pressured and almost suffocated.
This time, Michael reacted and hurriedly let go of his hand, indicating for him to continue. He also expressed that he would give him the exclusive rights to report on this mission.
After York was released, he bent down and panted heavily. A circle of red marks quickly appeared on his neck. After a while, York said, "I don't know who posted the mission either. The other party posted the bounty anonymously. I saw it was addressed to your name, so I sent it over immediately."
"Sorry, we were a little excited." Mr. Royce apologized on behalf of Michael. "We will handle this mission well. If there's nothing else, I won't entertain you today. You can go back first."
York rubbed his neck and quickly left after saying goodbye. A sense of near-death fear gripped his heart. He almost thought he was going to die.
"Sigh, what should we do?" Mr. Royce's face was gloomy. He had written to his sister last month, who said everything was fine in the village and they could go to school peacefully.
But now, everything had turned into a bubble.
Royce's sister didn't have any magic power, and she was very thin. If she encountered a magical beast, she would not even have the ability to escape.
Michael also felt a sense of powerlessness. He was already racing against time and planned to return to the village to bring his sister over after some time.
He would let his sister live with them when it was safer here. After all, the three had lived together since they were very young.
"Although I don't know who posted the anonymous mission." Carl analyzed calmly. "But it might not be the worst case. I think we should go to the village first and see the situation before coming to a conclusion."
The reward for this kind of exclusive mission could be obtained from the reward hall. If the mission presenter was unwilling, it was fine to not appear from the beginning to the end. This also meant that Michael and the others might never find out who had issued the mission.
"Let's pack up first," Michael said as he forced himself to calm down.
Y Village, daytime.
Michael and Mr. Royce sorted out the information they had obtained from the database, and they studied it for another day and night. Michael had used the treasury space to obtain many bottles of top-tier alchemy potions, which had greatly improved the equipment and strength of his teammates. Mr. Royce also developed a real teleportation talisman. This time, it could ignore distance and teleport anywhere.
After being taken care of for such a long time, there was finally some movement in the eggshell. From the outside, one could see the little bird slowly growing inside. This also meant that their incubation had worked.
However, the hatching of the egg was still at a critical moment. Nina could not leave the egg alone for a long time, however. Therefore, the team members in this mission were still Captain Michael, Vice-Captain Royce, and Team Member Carl.
The group rode their magic broomsticks to the sky above the familiar village. From the sky, the once peaceful village had turned into ruins. The few remaining tiny houses had collapsed.
Michael landed on the ground and carefully stepped over the ruins. He walked all the way to the familiar houses, praying in his heart that it would not be the worst outcome.
Along the way, Michael encountered many corpses of villagers and some animals raised by the villagers. These animals had lost their owners and were wandering aimlessly, starving to the point of skeletons.
The village was very small. Normally, when Michael ran, it would only take him half an hour to walk from the east to the west of the village. However, this time, they all tacitly agreed that no one would take the initiative to run. They dragged the half-hour journey to more than an hour. It was as if he had arrived a little later; he would be able to see the ending.
But the moment to reveal the ending had come.
The cozy little house did not collapse, but the door and windows were gone. The ground was still left with the huge claw marks of magical beasts. The spirit wolf following them sniffed the air and let out a low howl in alarm.
In the past, when they walked here, they would have seen Royce's sister rushing out of the room with a smile, chattering about the exciting things that happened at home.
But this time, no matter how many times Michael and Mr. Royce shouted at the door, there was only an echo. The entire room was frighteningly empty. This silence and strangeness emanated from the door, tightly surrounding the few people at the door.
For the first time, Michael hated how small the house was. From the door, he could see the entire interior of the house. He could not even lie to himself that his sister was just hiding and sleeping.
Time seemed to have stopped at this moment. The group stood quietly at the door for a long time. Carl asked hesitantly, "Why don't we go in and take a look? Maybe there will be some clues."
Michael nodded blankly and pulled Mr. Royce through the empty door. As they moved, dust rose in the air. It seemed that no one had appeared here for a long time.
Mr. Royce turned the entire house upside down like a madman, but no miracle happened. Royce's sister disappeared into thin air. Mr. Royce searched for a while and finally started crying softly.
Back then, Michael's parents died during the magical beast attack, and Mr. Royce's parents passed away not long after adopting Michael. The three grew up together, and now, his sister was nowhere to be found.