Outside of the Throne room..
"Sir Carfeld!" Julian approached as he called Carfeld's name, he had been waiting for a bit for Carfeld to come out of the throne room.
"Sir Julian!"
"Welcome back, you seems happy, did something good happened inside?"
"Ah, yes, i've talked with His Majesty about various things, but if i had to summarize it, His Majesty invited me to explain what happened in the inner forest of Monoghriad, other than that, i was also rewarded with more large golds and this sword.."
Carfeld then pulled out the sword from his waist and showed it to Julian, the sword had a faint glossy blue color in the blade and its handle intricately designed to look mesmerizing for the eyes.
"W- woah, this is– A pure mithril sword.. What a beautiful weapon, indeed it is a worthy gift for a person like you."
"You flatter me Sir Julian, i don't think i deserve this much, but i can't deny His Majesty's gift, so i took it without a thought.."
Suddenly, Julian tapped Carfeld's shoulder with a slight smile on his face.
"I think you should be more grateful, and stop underestimating yourself."
"— Right, i guess you're correct, haha."
"Well then, i have something to do after this, so i'll get straight to the point, Sir Carfeld, actually there's a personal request for you that is sent by Sir Alaric, he says he wants you to investigate a place."
Julian's request came out of nowhere and it surprises Carfeld, he didn't expect to be thrown into another mission right after he came back from one.
"W- what do you mean?"
"You see, Sir Alaric heard a rumor from a passerby on the street that–
Hearing Julian's words made Carfeld chuckled and he quickly cut Julian off to say his answer right away.
"Hahaha, sorry sir but i'll pass, i think i'll enjoy my retirement in peace, that last mission is my sign to leave the knights order."
After Carfeld answered, there was an immediate change in Julian's facial expression, he looks disappointed but also understanding with Carfeld's situation, in the end he accepted Carfeld's refusal.
"Ah, is that so— Right, you're going to be married, i completely forgot about that, how can i send someone that is about to live happily to a deadly mission again" Julian said as he scratches the back of his head, he then continues..
"Well, i appreciate your time, i will tell your answer to Sir Alaric— actually, i have something more important to do after this, and it's not in my habit to be late, so i'll be going now, be careful on your way."
With that last sentence, Julian walked away from Carfeld.
"You too!" He replied.
Carfeld stood at his place for a little while, watching Julian make a turn before he also walked at the same direction, however he didn't turn to the same path as Julian, but instead he goes straight, because that's the path that would lead to the outside of the castle, Carfeld left with a smile after that.
***
More than a week later, in a Village located at the border of a Kingdom named Silverglen, which is a relatively small kingdom that is clamped between Latricia on the East and Highlios on the west with the Monoghriad Forest at the North...
It's cloudy, the sky is dark, and so does the ground, a sign was placed at a dirt path that leads to the village with wooden fences that served as a border or protection wall, the sign is crooked to the side and there are many cracks and crevices with the wood, there's also words engraved in it that welcomed any newcomer that might have come to the village by saying greetings and also informing the people about the village's name, it was Whisper's Den.
"Ugh, by the lords, this place is awful, so all of the informations were true after all— Why the hell that guy send me here in the first place, he should've know i can't stand strong scents..."
A man walked along the dirt path with relaxed pace and he came across the same crooked welcome sign, it seems like he was here for a reason, at first glance he looks like a knight, but upon closer look, that man only have armor that is covering his left shoulder.
With a blonde yellowish hair that is stretched up to his chin and a crimson eyes that one might find familiar, the man only wore an outfit that is best described as adventurer-like, with a leather pouch and boots, he also has a shoulder armor, but that too is not that useful as the armor was used to hold the dark cape that the man wears on his back.
However, there is one another striking feature that is quite unusual from that man, and that is, a beast ear, that's right, that man is a demihuman, and from the looks of his relatively big fluffy ears, it's safe to assume that he is either a fox demi or a wolf demi.
The man walked past the sign and entered the village, he covered his nose due to the bad odor that keeps getting stronger the closer he get to the village.
"Whisper's Den, huh.. it's not a bad name, but the village itself, ugh— I don't think so, my nose is hurting from all of this foul smell.." The man said in disgust.
Upon entering the village, it was pretty clear that this village has been abandoned due to some disaster or incidents, looking at how all of the houses and buildings are practically unused and broken, with just a light push, one of these buildings would probably fall into pieces.
The smell that he was referring to is a smell that is similar to a rotten food and feces mixed with rotten corpses, its a smell that not even those who worked as a feces collector would want to imagine.
"Goddamnit, just what the hell happened.." The man asked.
His ears twitched a couple times and his blonde tail wags angrily, because demihumans have heightened sense of smell, they can smell things that usually wouldn't be detected with a human nose, but that would also mean every smell they feel will be similar to twice as strong as it normally should, so it's fair to say that when a demihuman said the smell is horrible, it should not be taken lightly.
"Fuck, i need to get used to this stench.."
The man finally let go of his nose and he seems to be grabbing something from his leather pouch, a few moments later he pulled out a magic crystal with the size of his palm, it was a large magic crystal and usually a magic crystal of that size would be able to store a lot of mana, therefore it can cast more advance and powerful spells if used correctly.
"Ahh!! I feel like my nose is tightening— Okay, so, if i remember it correctly, it was like this?"
He held the magic crystal in his hand and began to channel it with some mana, it turns out that man was a mana user and he is able to use magic, however he doesn't seem to be carrying a magic staff, infact the only thing that could be called a weapon in there is the sword on that man's waist, which is strange.
Soon after he channeled the magic crystal with some of his mana, the crysal glows and it emits a radiant light that shone its surrounding, although to be honest it's still daytime, the weather right now is cloudy, dark clouds swarmed the sky and covered the sun, preparing to unleash a downpour to the earth.
Swooosshh!!
"Is it activated?" The man said.
At first, nothing really happened, the magic crystal only shone in a bright light without any significant changes or magic circle appearing from it.
"Did i do it wrong?—
!!!
The man turned towards his back, as if being caught off guard, he watched all of his surrounding just to make sure nothing is strange, his eyes squinted to focus more intensely, after a few moments of observing, the man then turned again and calmed down.
'Did i get too cautious? It feels like someone is watching me..'
Glurb~ Glurb~
Suddenly, a gurgling sound was heard from the magic crystal, soon after that, a wobbly line began to appear and it is slowly stretching, pointing towards a mysterious place in the village with seemingly no reason.
"Ah, so this is what the crystal was meant for, detecting dark magics residue is a great help indeed."
The man stood quietly in the middle of the village, he looks down and puts on a serious face before facing towards the place where the wobbly line is pointing at.
'Alright, let's see what i can find.'
And so, the man took a step and walked along the wobbly line to the mysterious place that may or may not be dangerous and filled with horrors..