Chapter 69: Sharon’s POV and Alex’s Adventure Time Part-1
A/N: Previous 2 chapters have been edited slightly to read better (removed most crappy A/Ns), added more clarification after Iris's "prank," and added a small scene where MC gives Sharon a letter to give to the knights, for his family. All changes are based on the helpful comments I received. Reread the chapters if you want to and let me know if there are still any major issues with them. Thank you for the criticisms and support for the last 2 chapters. :)
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[Sharon's POV]
Sharon watched as the knights surrounded the place, inspecting everything and watching over everyone like hawks ready to jump on any signs of suspicion or misconduct. They seemed unusually jumpy. Sharon could hazard a guess- it was likely due to the recent bombings and kidnapping of children and the Marquis' heir himself. Mostly the latter.
She too was surrounded by 5 knights, though they made it look like they were just guarding the children surrounding her or simply accompanying them. She knew the alert state of mind they were in.
One of the knights surveying the area, different from the rest and likely their captain, came to her after he made sure that the entire place was secured.
"Name."
He demanded, with a no-nonsense face and cold, authoritative voice.
However, Sharon remained relaxed. She smiled— different from the seductive smile she'd give Alex— a tamer smile, as she replied.
"Shasha. That's what people call me."
"No surname?"
"Don't use any."
The knight captain hummed, then turned to look at another young woman in a navy blue and white official guild uniform, who had been standing close by, waiting for her turn. She immediately perked up when she noticed the knight captain's gaze.
"Sir Knight."
She nodded in acknowledgment as she came closer.
"Did you confirm her identification?"
"Ah, yes sir! She's Shasha, an A-ranked adventurer from the Royal Capital of the Empire."
She replied, her face serious, but one could tell she was slightly nervous. She was young, in her 20s, with her straight dark brown hair tied in a bun and her determined but tense blue eyes. One could tell that she was new to this job assigned to her and she didn't look like someone well-suited for fieldwork. Yet the guild had sent her, rather than someone more experienced, so she was surely either talented or at least good enough for the job. There was no way the guild would send someone incompetent in such a serious scene.
"Hmm. So…"
The knight captain turned to face 'Shasha' again.
"What's an adventurer from Royal Capital doing here in the Marquis's territory, in the ruins inside the forest near its main city no less? And how did you stumble upon this… mess?"
"Well~"
Shasha's smile didn't falter as she spoke her already prepared alibi.
"I was here on a special quest from the Royal Capital's guild's Guild Master. Here's the letter."
She handed him a letter that she took out of her storage space.
The knight captain scrutinized it for a second, before taking it from her hands and opening it to see its contents.
As he read the contents, his eyes widened. But he quickly roped in his expressions. He then handed it to the brown-haired guild official, but not before glancing shortly at her.
The brown-haired guild official quickly scanned the document with a strange magical artifact without reading the contents. But midway, she stopped and gasped as she then quickly read the letter to make sure she was seeing correctly.
"A-A royal decree…"
She muttered subconsciously.
"Keep quiet."
She shut her mouth close with one of her hands when the knight captain chastised her.
"S-Sorry. I… It is a legitimate letter from the Capital's Adventurer's guild master. B-But is it alright? I don't think we were supposed to read this."
She looked at Shasha with awe, as if she was looking at some celebrity. The Knight Captain furrowed his brows as he nodded.
"Yes. I'll have to report this to the Commander so he can notify my lord, the Marquis. It'll be better if you report to your Guild Master as soon as possible. AND…"
He looked at her right in her eyes.
"Be absolutely sure nobody else hears of it. You'll not want to find out what happens if you leak this kind of information."
His words were grim. And it caused the desired effect on the female guild official as she nodded repeatedly, fear clear in her eyes.
"O-Of course! I know the conduct and rules! Please rest assured, I'll never leak any information to third parties. That's against the Adventurer's Guild's code of conduct."
He nodded in reply, then turned to 'Shasha.'
"And you. I understand why you're in this territory, but I still want to know why you were roaming around in this area. The letter says nothing about you requiring to be here."
"Well, I was doing my 'job' in the city— that's all I can tell you, I'm afraid—it led me here and I found some of these thugs keeping a watch over the perimeter. Deciding to check out, I found out they had kidnapped a bunch of young kids. So, I had to take care of them. Can't leave these poor kids to those vile men now, can I?"
She smiled "kindly" as she caressed the black-haired cat-girl in her lap, still unconscious.
"That would be too cruel. Of course, since this isn't my jurisdiction, I immediately called the Guild, and they informed you."
The knight captain's attention also went to her, and he frowned.
"What happened to her?"
"Oh, nothing. She couldn't handle the fear and passed out. She'll be fine~"
He hesitated for a moment but then nodded. Giving one last glance at her and the cat girl, he dropped the topic. Sharon's minor compulsion spell was undetected by even the Tier-5 Knight Captain.
"Understood."
"Sir!"
Another voice disturbed the conversation. It was from one of the knights. The Knight Captain turned to address him.
"What?"
"'He' is not here, unfortunately. We've checked for any signs of him. Also, the number of children here is more than what was reported. Some of them seem to have been taken from the slums, judging by their outfits."
"Damn it… Got it. Anything else?"
"That…you might wanna see the underground cells for yourself, Captain. Just in case."
The knight beckoned him to the underground.
"Hmm."
The captain nodded. But before following the knight, he turned to her again.
"Did you see or hear anything about a red… no, a brown-haired boy around the age 16 or 17? Were there more such hideouts that these criminals mentioned in passing? We can ask that from these criminals, but they're unconscious and any quick detail will help. Even if it's something insignificant, we would like to know now."
She appeared to ponder for a moment, trying to "remember" if she had seen such a boy.
After a short while, she replied with an innocent smile.
"Nope~ As for other hideouts, I didn't hear anything like that either."
The knight captain sighed, then left.
'Too easy.'
She held back an amused smirk.
'I wonder if he will really go back home.'
Thinking back to the letter, Sharon had a feeling he wouldn't.
'A young and sheltered noble boy—no, a young man, roaming outside, incognito. Fufu. Such an amusing and daring one. Ahh, I wanted to keep him with me and have some more fun. Too bad… Oh well, she's a decent find too.'
'He seemed quite fond of her. Was it love at first sight? Or something else? There was something about this cat girl that he was attracted to.'
And she'll find out when they meet later.
'I wonder how he'll react if he saw her again with me. Fufufu, I can't wait to meet him again. Aaah, I already miss him…My, he really did take my heart away with him.'
It had been so long since she had found someone so interesting. And he was her type too…
Shasha realized that the female guild official was looking curiously at the cat girl in her lap and spoke, mostly to make small talk.
"Cute, isn't she?"
"Eh?"
The brown-haired woman turned to look at her, momentarily confused. But she quickly caught on and replied.
"Ah, yes ma'am. She is… Was she always dressed like that?"
"Hmm? Oh, no. Her clothes were too tattered, so I made her wear this instead. Also, no need to address me so formally."
"Understood. Though, that shirt looks expensive. And not something a female would wear."
The female guild employee stared at her, her face expressionless. Sharon could tell she was coming to a certain conclusion, something she didn't want her to.
"Don't fret the small details. I sometimes wear male shirts. They're comfortable, helps me let these puppies loose."
She shook her sizable bust and they tried to escape from the tight confines of her attire.
The female guild official blushed a little and turned her head, seemingly finding such an act "indecent."
"Ahem. I-I see."
She then turned to stare at the kids, who were all now quiet, most of them looking at the knights in fascination. For most of them, the knights were their heroes. And today, they felt even more so, since they came to save them.
They seemed to almost forget who really saved them. Or maybe they remembered but were dazzled by the shining silver armor and weapons of the knights.
"I… sincerely hope that the children can soon go back to their families. This event must have been very traumatizing for them."
The female guild employee spoke, her voice sad.
Sharon struggled to hold back another amused chuckle, knowing full well that wasn't all the female in front of her had to say. And that her visible expression was more an act than true concern.
"Mmhmm. It took a lot of effort to calm them down. They seem to like Knights, so that certainly helped keep them quiet. They can go to their families soon. But… too bad for this one, though. She just lost her only remaining family recently."
The female guild official's face froze, then her expression turned gloomy. This time it wasn't just a simple façade. It was real.
"That's… unfortunate. She'll have to spend her life in an orphanage then."
"Hmm, do you reckon I can adopt her?"
Sharon's casual remark caused the guild official to falter, then shake. It was very minute, so nobody else noticed it. But Sharon did and it caused her to smirk internally in amusement.
The female guild official looked her in the eyes, barely hiding the incredulous stare. She seemed to find any signs of a joke or lie.
"Why? You think I can't take care of a little girl?"
"Uh, um, no—I mean, you're an adventure. One on an important quest, no less. I am not sure it's a good idea to adopt a young girl while on duty."
"Heh. Who says that? I can multitask. You underestimate me, miss 'guild official.'"
"… Why do you want to adopt this child anyway?"
The female guild official ignored the change in her tone and asked, her own tone differing slightly. Her mask was breaking. If anyone else could read her mind, they'll know she was ready to pounce on Sharon, but barely holding on. But Sharon knew. Even without using her magic, she knew. And she couldn't stop her smirk from leaking.
"Hmm. Well, I don't know. I guess, on a whim? She seems interesting."
Sharon's smirk seemed to cause shudders down the guild official's spine and Sharon couldn't help but be amused even more. She wanted to chuckle at her but held it in.
"You—"
The female guild official's reply was cut short by the Knight Captain's shout.
"That's it, we're leaving! There's nothing more to find here. Make sure that these scums don't escape."
At his command, everyone started moving.
"Let's talk later… Shasha."
The female guild official spoke, dropping all pretenses.
Sharon smiled.
"Sure~"
The guild official moved away, donning her original persona back, and followed the Knight Captain.
Sharon herself stood back up and followed the knights escorting the children.
She had her work to do as well.
'Hopefully, "he" hasn't been notified of my absence. That would be… irritating.'
She turned to look at the cat girl and smiled.
'I should take care of her before anything.'
[End of Sharon's POV]
***
*Growl*
My stomach grumbled, indicating that I was, obviously, hungry. I hadn't eaten since yesterday at the festival before my day was ruined.
"Ugh."
Groaning, I kept walking the stone-paved path, leading me to my destination… probably. I had been walking this path for the last 3 hours. I wasn't physically tired from it but was hungry and bored… and a little lonely.
The "adventure" had been fun for the first hour, looking at the outside world, the new flora and fauna— mostly flora— but after a while, the same repeating tranquil(mostly) forest scenery and occasional grassland had been uninteresting and the walk ahead quite boring.
There were no monsters, bandits, or anything during my travel so far. No special or sudden event. No unexpected meetings. Nothing. It was too anticlimactic and boring. Not that I was particularly hoping for such troubles to come my way, but it was certainly a little disappointing.
But then again, what was I expecting? It wasn't as if I was the protagonist of this world. The real protagonist was somewhere else, doing who knows what. Heck, he was probably doing some pre-story quest or something. I had no idea.
The game never really talked a whole lot about his past.
Looking around and seeing the similar scenery as the last time, I released a resigning sigh.
"I… may have underestimated the distance."
It was supposed to be a short journey. At least I had thought so. So, why was there still no town in sight?
I groaned again, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding.
'Don't tell me I'm… lost. No way, right? … right?'
All that surrounded me was the sole man-made road leading straight and the forest. That was good. I wasn't deep in the middle of some jungle, at least. But on a road, that led to a town. Hopefully.
***
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
The_POZ
The_POZ I'm back! (Kind of.) With lots of new chapters! And I have a good news. I have finished Volume 1 already. So, expect more frequent releases for a while, until we catch up.
Next chapter will be around the usual time.
P.S.: Iris’s “reality-breaking” prank will stay as it is. It’s not “reality-breaking” if you read the start of the next chapter and fit in with the context of MC’s ‘strange fear’ at the moment that popped up just before that. (Iris was just pulling his leg knowing full well he was kind of in a weird state of mind. She can be a troll sometimes.) And it was also meant to temporarily mislead the readers into believing that reality and 4th wall were broken. (They weren’t.) But fuck, I ruined it all with my crappy A/Ns, poor delivery, and whatnot. God damnit!
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