"Bed-wetting girl?"
Seeing the words written on the envelope, Kurose Akira turned back toward Lucia with a puzzled expression.
Sensing Akira's gaze, Lucia felt a flicker of confusion rise within her heart.
Her fingertip moved slightly, and the envelope lifted like a fallen leaf caught by the wind, drifting gently into her hand.
When she read the words written on it, she froze for a brief moment. Beneath the white veil, her golden-red eyes narrowed subtly, and a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
But that was all.
Lucia did not display any stronger emotion. She calmly put the envelope away and said evenly,
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Akira nodded, though his mind was filled with questions.
He recalled how earlier, Marei Rhine had asked Lucia whether she had ever seen a golden giant dragon—and how Lucia had denied it outright.
Yet the illustration on the envelope clearly depicted that same golden dragon, alongside a drawing of Lucia as a child…
After returning to the Adventurer's Guild, Akira immediately submitted the special commission for his promotion to D+ rank.
[Special Commission: Succubus Breeding Program (Completed!)][Congratulations! Your player evaluation has advanced to D+ rank! You are now only one step away from C-rank and founding a guild of your own—keep it up! ヾ(°°)!]
…?
[You have obtained one free trait refresh opportunity.][Congratulations on completing a special commission!][You have obtained one Adventurer Recruitment Scroll (Blue).]
Another recruitment opportunity!
A smile spread across Akira's face.
At present, he possessed the Ultra-Rare Trait [Seven-Colored Radiance] and the Rare Trait [Forbidden Fruit].
Although the [Vampire] trait had not yet been acquired, it was not a decisive issue. To collect all three portraits of the Vampire Progenitor—who knew how long that would take? At the moment, only the location of the second portrait was known, and even that one couldn't yet be obtained. As for the third, there was no trace of it at all.
He couldn't afford to wait forever.
Before recruiting a new adventurer, Akira briefly browsed the available D+-rank commissions.
Perhaps because he was on the verge of advancing to C-rank—and officially founding a guild—there were only five D+-rank commissions available.
Each was significantly more difficult, but the rewards were correspondingly generous.
According to information on the forums, completing all five would unlock a special commission for guild creation, and this particular commission was said to be… unusual.
But as for what made it special, no one knew. You could only find out after completing the first five.
"Let's recruit a new member first."
Akira turned his gaze toward the blue recruitment scroll resting on the guild's wooden counter.
At the same moment, Ivsha and the others all looked toward him as well.
Because every recruitment scroll meant one thing—
A new guild member was about to be born.
"Ahem~"
Akira picked up the blue scroll and tossed it into the air.
In an instant, dazzling multicolored light bloomed in midair, painting a beautiful scene like a meteor streaking across the sky.
Immediately after, eight traits appeared before Akira's eyes:
[Forbidden Fruit][Seven-Colored Radiance][Perverted Middle-Aged Man][Bald][Disappearing Corneas][The Dead][Gastroenteritis][Streamer]
"?"
Akira frowned slightly upon seeing them.
Aside from the two traits he already possessed, the remaining six were… abstract, to say the least.
He glanced at the remaining number of refreshes.
20 refreshes left.
"Refresh!"
[Turtle][Long-Distance Runner][Loves Dancing]
"Refresh!"
[...]
"Refresh~!"
After seven refreshes, three new traits appeared before Akira's eyes, causing him to hesitate for a moment.
[Genin][Pirate][Daughter of the Forest]
"Daughter of the Forest…?"
Something about that trait felt promising.
"…You'll do."
Akira made his selection immediately.
The instant his fingertip touched [Daughter of the Forest], his vision was flooded with strange strings of garbled data.
Then, one system prompt after another appeared.
[The adventurer you are recruiting is——a Daughter of the Forest who possesses the Forbidden Fruit and emits Seven-Colored Radiance!][Searching for a suitable adventurer… Please wait…]
[WARNING!][The adventurer you are attempting to recruit is currently trapped in a Forest Birdcage and requires your assistance!]
[Character Quest — "A Beautiful Figure from the Forest" (Activated)!][Quest Reward: Additional Trait +1!]
"?"
Akira stared at the prompts, clearly confused.
The adventurer hadn't even joined the guild yet—so why had a character quest already been triggered?
He immediately opened the detailed quest description.
[Quest Description: Virola, who was expelled by her own people, was later hunted by humans. She is currently imprisoned within a Forest Birdcage located south of the Starfall Kingdom.]
"South of the Starfall Kingdom…"
Akira didn't hesitate.
He immediately led the guild members toward their destination.
As for submitting Lucia's character quest—there would be time to deal with that after they returned.
In the blink of an eye, the group arrived in the southern region of the Starfall Kingdom.
Before them stretched a vast, dense forest, covering an area nearly half the size of the kingdom itself—and notably, it lay outside the Starfall Kingdom's jurisdiction.
It was a land without an owner.
The forest had no name, as though people deliberately avoided speaking it aloud. Yet countless races lived here.
Most of the inhabitants were demi-humans or beastkin, though there were also several human villages scattered throughout.
Akira was currently riding on Marei Rhine's back, flying toward the location of the Forest Birdcage.
Loserine cast him a questioning glance.
"Did something happen?"
Akira nodded gravely and explained the situation to everyone.
"A new guild member is in danger. We're heading there to help her."
"Where exactly is she?" Lucia asked.
"The Forest Birdcage."
"…The Forest Birdcage?"
Lucia frowned slightly upon hearing those words.
Akira and Ivsha immediately looked toward her, puzzled by her reaction.
"Do you know why this forest has no name?" Lucia asked slowly.
"I don't," Akira shook his head. "I know almost nothing about this place."
"Because this is where the daughter of the Goddess of Nature fell," Lucia replied softly.
"…The resting place of the Goddess of Nature's daughter?"
Akira frowned, clearly taken aback.
"According to legend," Lucia continued patiently,"the Goddess of Nature used leaves, soil, streams, and other elements to create several daughters. Each of them governed different regions of the Magic Continent—forests, mountains, rivers, and more."
"Due to the constraints of the world's laws, the Goddess of Nature was eventually forced to depart for the Divine Realm, leaving her daughters behind on the Magic Continent."
"For tens of thousands of years after her departure, calamities followed one after another. War and plague spread endlessly. One by one, the daughters of the Goddess of Nature sacrificed their lives to protect the lands they governed."
"This forest is the place where the daughter born of leaves fell. Long ago, this land was nothing but barren yellow sand. But now, it has transformed into a lush forest—becoming a home for countless living beings."
"So that's how it is…"
Akira nodded slowly, deep in thought.
Just then, Lucia spoke again—this time with a note of solemnity in her voice.
"As for the Birdcage within the forest… it is actually the burial site of that daughter of the Goddess of Nature."
"The Birdcage contains divine laws left behind by the Goddess of Nature herself. Its power is so overwhelming that even a demi-god cannot escape it."
She turned to Akira, her gaze serious.
"…Are you certain she's really trapped there?"
...…
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