Ten minutes later the guards arrived and took the remaining matter.

Five houses burned and it was estimated more than twenty people died.

This was indeed a tragedy. But if we look at it from a different perspective, sacrificing around 20 people to kill a 5-star criminal was a very cheap price, given that normally it would cost three digits casualties to kill just one.

Currently, Clara and Gonzales siblings talked about their previous agreement.

"I'm sorry. Looks like we can't fulfill our previous contract," said Verga.

They had previously agreed that Carrado would take Clara to Night City. But alas, because the person himself had, cough, died, cough, then the deal was invalid.

"If you could wait a little longer, we can arrange another merchant to escort you..."

"No, no. It's okay. Bro Bear had saved Clara's life, so the debt had paid off."

Besides, Clara only has one week before uncle drags her back to Zariya.

"This is this, that is that!" Bernardi ruffled Clara's white hair. "We Sicilia still owe you a favor. Well, your father to be specific. If you need something please don't hold back."

"No, no. Clara's fine."

Clara really didn't want to burden them more than this, but Bernardi insisted.

"In that case, please bring one of these materials for Clara." She finally gives up.

Previously, she had also asked for their help in finding information about these ultra rare and invaluable materials. This time though, she wants one of them for free.

"Don't worry! This Bernardi will personally look for those super expensive rare items for you!" said Bernardi with a bright smile.

Although still saddened by the loss of his brother, he still has a dazzling smile. What an admirable person.

"It's goodbye then. Farewell, and thank you for everything." Clara bowed to show her sincerity.

"Wait. Where do you live? I'll take you home," said Bernardi.

"N-no need. Clara can walk by herself."

"Let us take you home then if you don't want to bother them anymore."

"Eh?"

The group of six adventurers approached Clara and volunteered to be her bodyguard.

"In that case, I will leave her to you. Please don't do something weird or else Sicilia will become your enemy. Gahaha!" said Bernardi.

"We wouldn't dare."

"Ha? Eh?"

It was decided without seeking Clara's opinion. Well, it's fine too. After all, this city is not safe.

With prominent adventurers on her side, nothing would be wrong, right?

Okay, let's stop making the death flag.

"Now then, little Clara, where do you live?"

"That…"

Six adventurers plus a little girl went to the inn in the residential area.

The trip should only take about 20 minutes. However, adventurers choose to detour, and therefore the travel time will be extended longer.

The adventurer's group consists of Pedro as archer/scout, Lial—the red-haired boy who slacks off back then—as a versatile warrior, Miko as priestess/archer, Lo as warrior/vanguard, Ath as warrior/rearguard, and Baya as a magician.

A good lineup right there. All of them were considered high rank adventurers, though not that high.

"By the way, what exactly happened in this city?" Clara asked.

"We don't know either. All we know is some bad guy snuck in and made this chaos happen and we adventurers need to clean this mess if we still want to stay in this city!" said Lial, sounding like a complaint.

"Err, you sound very displeased."

"Indeed I'm! Are there people who enjoy being jolted awake in the middle of the night to deal with monsters and dangerous criminals?!"

"Fair enough…"

Well, he got a point.

"But, isn't it natural to help out when the city is on the verge of destruction?" said the innocent girl.

"Ohhh! My heart! Being around black-hearted people every day, my heart couldn't stand to handle such a pure creature!"

Lial held his chest and made an exaggerated expression. For some reason, that movement made Clara a little annoyed. Is he mocking her?

"Kehe. Technically, We're just regular residents of this city, girl. Therefore, the law is still unclear whether we should help or not," Lo answered on behalf of Lial.

He is an old gray-haired soldier. The hair on his body was all white and his stature also resembled a dwarf, short but full of muscles.

"Of course, if the pay is good we will be happy to help," he continued.

"And the problem is the pay this time is not worth it!" mumbled Lial again.

"For adventurers, money is like a god that we worship. Without money, we will not be able to buy sufficient equipment. Without good equipment, we will almost certainly die," said Baya.

Baya is a tier-three magician. His appearance is like a mage in general with a black robe and a wooden staff as a weapon. He also helped Clara before with his body-swapping magic.

"Tch. Life as an adventurer is expensive. You better think carefully if you want to be one."

They give Clara a lesson as a senior in this field though she is not an adventurer yet.

Everyone here seems to agree that the pay for this task isn't worth it. Clara wonders, how much do they get paid?

But she didn't ask because according to the book "Let's learn communication and manners with Komi-san", there are two forbidden questions: do not ask a man about his salary and do not ask a woman her age or weight.

"Being an adventurer sounds terrible. Then why did you guys become one?"

The adventurers looked at each other at Clara's innocent question.

"Well, because of money, of course. No matter how bad the pay is, if you initially had a financial minus then the job would still be profitable," answered Lo.

"Same here."

Not a few people who are in debt switch professions to become adventurers as a last resort. Looks like Lo and Baya are one of them.

"For me, it was because some storybooks deceived the little me," Ath replied.

…Well, it seems there are also cases where reality doesn't live up to expectations.

"My sister is becoming an adventurer, so I'm also becoming one," said Pedro.

Huh, that's a bit unexpected. The other adventurers also looked surprised at Pedro's reply.

"My turn, my turn! I became an adventurer because adventure is fun!" said Lial.

Huh? Wasn't he the man who complained a lot before long ago?

"In other words, you're a tsundere or masochist or both..."

"Pfft!"

"That's mean!"

Oops, Clara accidentally spoke her mind out loud.

"Listen, isn't it fun when we discover new things?!"

"Clara is a homegirl so she doesn't really know much about it."

"Ugh! Then why do you want to become an adventurer?"

"It was because she got tricked by a weird creature."

There's no way Clara can say that. She thought a bit before saying, "Discovering new stuff sounds pretty fun, too."

"Right!?"

They are engrossed in talking and without realizing the inn was in sight.

So far they had not encountered any problems except for being intercepted by a group of thugs once. Have they lost their minds? We're a fully armed group, you know? Well, they look drunk so let's just ignore them this time.

"E-emmm. Thank you very much. And farewell!"

Clara shows the adventurer her gratitude before running, to the back alley.

Some adventurers are confused by her actions but the older ones just say, "Ah, running from home, eh? youth…"

****

A little girl ran through the dark alleys of Denia. Luckily this town wasn't like her hometown where ragtag would pop up every once while running in alleys like this.

The alleys in this city are filled with real trash, small animals, and dying old men.

....

"He… lp."

"Clara, you don't see anything."

Her eyes must be playing tricks on her. Yup, must be it.

Clara wanted to continue her journey, but the dying old man grabbed Clara's hand and gripped it very tightly.

The petite and kind girl wanted to politely release the old man's hand, but alas, this man's strength is not a joke.

In the end, Clara gave up and decided to at least listen to the old man's last wish.

The man pointed at the severe injuries on his shoulder. Clara immediately understood what he wanted.

Clara cast healing magic on that wound. However, the wound won't close at all. She intensified her healing magic but the result remained the same.

The girl frowned slightly.

She was about to use a higher level of healing magic but was stopped by the old man. He then pointed to his other wounds.

Clara nodded. Unlike the injuries on the shoulder, other wounds are quite easy to heal.

After a few minutes, most of the wounds on his body had closed. But the old man still seemed to be in a dangerous condition.

What she did was nothing more than prolong the inevitable.

She had run out of mana so there was nothing she could do.

Clara was curious.

Who is this man? Why did he get hurt so badly?

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, but she quickly pushed it away.

If what she guessed were true, wouldn't that mean she was in big trouble?

"Don't be a curious cat, Clara. Life is expensive," she thought.

Clara wanted to leave quickly but the man still gripped her tightly.

"Good girl... Take this as my thanks."

The man reached into his pocket and handed Clara a necklace.

Like a good girl, Clara shouldn't accept gifts from strangers.

But since she'd broken so many good girl guidelines tonight, it wouldn't hurt to break one more time. What's more, the necklace had a heart design and looked very gorgeous. That is why she happily accepted the necklace.

Fatigue seemed to devastate the old man. He released his grip and fell into a deep sleep.

This time there was nothing to stop Clara from returning to the inn, from the backdoor of course.