Chapter 231 Death Omen and Memories

Misty Forest, outskirts.

It was broad daylight. A light gray mist drifted gently through the air like a delicate veil.

Only the occasional breeze stirred the branches, drawing out the soft rustle of leaves as it swirled the thin fog, revealing the forest's silhouette amid the tranquility.

Crunch—

Amid the soft scrape of brittle leaves and decaying soil compressing together, a rather thin branch snapped beneath a leather boot with a sudden, untimely crack.

An off-white robe draped down to her ankles, its hem dusted with grass and dirt. A neat, deep chestnut high ponytail swayed side to side with her movements like a nimble, fluffy little tail.

Verol walked alone through the Deep Forest.

Her slender, frail physique and utterly defenseless attire made her look completely out of place for someone traveling through the Misty Forest.

Yet her overly calm expression, paired with her pale, delicate face, made it seem as though she were strolling through a quiet, safe little garden rather than a monster-infested gathering ground teeming with danger.

Compared to the lingering dread she had felt right after leaving the Adventurers' Association, Verol had now fully regained the calm composure expected of a veteran.

At some point, a grayish-white staff had appeared in her hand, its surface adorned with natural, dark, thread-like patterns.

Its seemingly unassuming exterior might not reflect its true worth, but the gemstone inlaid at the top of the staff was enough to reveal its exorbitant cost—a highly pure black Opal with dark shadows and golden specks inside. Even a piece the size of a fingernail could fetch nearly four figures in gold coins at a jewelry shop.

And right now, the magical radiance flowing smoothly up the shaft before bursting from the black Opal at the tip further proved its identity as a high-grade enchanted item.

If sold on the market, its price might multiply several times over.

Hum—

The pale radiance transformed into a translucent, light blue shield, isolating the mist and danger outside.

—1st Circle Abjuration School [Alarm - Arcane Calendar Year 932 Improved Version VII]

While retaining the original warning function of [Alarm], it also provided physical protection, presence concealment, and various other effects.

The spell model was much more complex, and its required casting materials and mental strain had changed from the original.

However, for Verol, whose mental control and spiritual reserves far exceeded those of mages at her level, it posed almost no difficulty.

Pulling an exquisitely crafted brass Pocket Watch from the small leather pouch at her waist, she glanced down at the time.

The young woman slowly came to a halt. Her cautious gaze carefully swept over her surroundings as the translucent shield around her quietly expanded, then abruptly snapped back.

Only after confirming there was no danger nearby did she drag her exhausted body over to a stout oak tree.

Without minding the muddy ground, she leaned straight against the trunk and sat down.

At the same time, she calculated mentally:

'My body is nearing overload from going so long without proper rest.'

'Considering my current environment and the enemies I might encounter later... twenty minutes of highly efficient rest should sustain my condition until I can make camp in the latter half of the night.'

Amid her thoughts, her eyes fluttered shut. Her consciousness sank as quickly as possible, entering a state of rest.

The basic sleep of an ordinary person was a luxury Verol was only qualified to enjoy when her body and mind were on the verge of overloading and collapsing.

The roaring sense of urgency lingering in her heart was like an invisible hand, pushing her forward without a moment's pause.

She did not dare waste a single second.

"Rustle."

A sudden, faint noise from the bushes ahead caused Verol's freshly closed eyes to snap open.

Though she was highly confident in her modified [Alarm] and knew that practically no dangerous creature in the outskirts of the Misty Forest could bypass her wards to get close, she still instinctively prepared countermeasures against the unknown attacker.

First, her mind had already connected with several magical items tucked beneath her off-white robe, ready to trigger their defensive enchantments at any moment.

At the same time, before she had even fully stood up—with one hand pressing against the earth and her muscles straining to rise—her mental energy furiously surged into the spell models deep within her mind, prepared specifically for a situation like this.

Evocation, Enchantment, Transmutation... spell models from various schools rapidly charged under the push of her will.

Magical radiance surfaced between the strands of her hair, and her bangs fluttered without wind.

In less than a single breath since the sound occurred, Verol had instinctively made full combat preparations.

She was only waiting for the enemy to reveal themselves—or for the moment she finished verifying their identity—to pour the materialized wrath of her magic upon them.

The next second.

"Rustle."

The bushes ahead swayed slightly again.

Immediately after, a large, fluffy tail and two innocent, pure little eyes entered her sight.

"A Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel?"

Looking at the large-tailed squirrel in front of her, covered in light red fur with clear, oblivious eyes, Verol did not lower her guard. Instead, she cast several spells to check for hostility, illusions, or concealment effects. Only after ensuring the squirrel wasn't an enemy in disguise did she finally relax.

Letting out a slow breath, she sat back down.

She tried to close her eyes and rest again, but the sudden spike in concentration and the highly active state of her brain from the surging mana made it impossible to fall asleep.

Perhaps the modified [Alarm] had reduced Verol's biological presence, or perhaps it was the magic particles dancing around her body.

The culprit that had disturbed her rest—the Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel—actually scurried over on its short little legs and hopped right up beside her.

Her crystal-clear amber eyes reflected the tiny figure on the ground. She instinctively reached out, gently stroking the little creature's head with her fingertips.

Feeling the delicate, fuzzy sensation against her fingertips, she inexplicably recalled her earlier encounter at the Adventurers' Association. She remembered that fierce figure.

Verol's breath caught suddenly, her heart seizing as if gripped by an icy hand.

"A Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel..."

Her lips parted as she murmured unconsciously, her thoughts quietly drifting.

These little creatures with their gorgeous fur weren't very famous among commoners right now, appearing only occasionally in the market.

But five years from now, at a noble banquet in a major city, a duchess would wear a shawl made from Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel pelts.

Clothing made from their fur would rapidly sweep through high society, becoming the ultimate accessory symbolizing status and luxury.

An organization named the Golden Wheat Merchant Guild sniffed out the business opportunity.

They wove lies claiming that "the fur of a Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel can bring good luck and protection," secretly driving up the prices.

At the same time, they carved a path with oil and steel axes, sectioning off forbidden zones in the forest and bringing in highly trained falcons and blowdarts coated with paralyzing toxins.

They slaughtered these innocent, palm-sized, yet incredibly valuable little creatures in droves.

Driven by greed, when a certain Baron refused to sell his ancestral woodlands, he, his family's castle, his relatives, and his servants were all swallowed by a raging fire one dark night.

In response, the Golden Wheat Merchant Guild, which swiftly purchased the woodlands at a rock-bottom price, merely claimed it was an accident caused by the Baron himself and had nothing to do with them.

But soon enough, this organization that briefly monopolized the velvet squirrel pelt trade through bloody methods drew the attention of true predators, lured by the guild's brutal cruelty toward anyone in its way and the massive profits hidden within the fur trade.

—The Anvil Brotherhood.

A behemoth hiding in the shadows, composed of assassins and Rogues, with a sphere of influence spanning over a dozen major cities.

A chilling campaign of assassinations and purges concluded rapidly within a single week.

The Golden Wheat Merchant Guild became history. Its amassed wealth was carved up by competitors and nobles, and the Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel business was naturally taken over by front organizations controlled by the brotherhood.

Verol stared at the little creature in her palm that was looking up at her innocently. The distant memories etched deep into her mind abruptly turned crystal clear.

"The Anvil Brotherhood," this colossus that had gathered a massive number of Class Holders through profit and iron-fisted methods.

Its downfall stemmed from nothing more than a trivial bit of "entertainment."

Two Rogues who had just completed a cargo collection mission were hauling a cart full of squirrel pelts and an entire group of young girls abducted from various villages to be sold in the underground black market.

While resting on their return journey, they decided to find some "fun" in a nearby town.

Then, they provoked that entity and had their heads lopped off on the spot.

Naturally, the Anvil Brotherhood wouldn't let such a vicious act against its members go unpunished within its own territory.

And so... the Anvil Brotherhood, hiding in the deep night, met their final dawn.

Even now, Verol still remembered the night she followed her mentor to the Anvil Brotherhood's headquarters.

The organization's banner—representing shadow and death, symbolizing glory, and valued above all else by the brotherhood's members—was reduced to shattered strips of cloth, lying quietly in the corner like a dirty rag on a tavern table.

Minced meat mixed with entrails and severed limbs soaked in thick blood were scattered across every inch of the room, as if even the air itself had congealed into the color of blood.

And the ambitious leader of the organization—who had dreamed of developing the brotherhood into the most powerful underground faction on the Aifala Continent and had already completed his Transcendent Tier class advancement—had his head used to build a towering mound of corpses, along with every other member at the brotherhood's headquarters that night.

It wasn't until that day that Verol first learned the name of this entity from her mentor:

—"Death Omen" Xia Nan.

Her fingers stroking the squirrel's head unconsciously tightened, and a sharp sting immediately flared at her fingertip.

The pale red figure flashed before her eyes as the startled Bright-Tailed Velvet Squirrel squeaked and vanished into the depths of the grass.

Meanwhile, a tiny cut dripping with blood appeared on Verol's finger.

"Damn it!" Recalling the black-haired young man sitting across the table in the Association's meeting room once more, her face suddenly stiffened and turned grim.

"It was clearly just a normal commission. Why did I have to run into an entity like that?"

"Moreover..."

Verol lowered her head, the shadows cast by her bangs making her expression look uncertain and volatile.

'In my memory, this infamous big shot shouldn't make his mark until three years from now during some adventuring quest, right?'

'Based on the timeline, he should have just started out in the business not too long ago. He should be miles away from becoming a Class Holder.'

'Yet right now, he clearly already possesses the qualifications to step onto the Association Second Floor.'

'This means he hasn't just obtained a Class Level, but has also already completed the Association's Advancement Quest.'

And... in the second-floor meeting room, Verol had been afraid of arousing his suspicion and hadn't dared to unleash her mental senses to thoroughly scan him.

But during those brief tens of minutes sharing a room with him, she had clearly felt the condensed aura radiating from his body.

It was far denser than that of a rookie who had just become a Class Holder.

It felt like he was a veteran who had been exploring his Path for years.

'Why?'

Verol's doubts practically overflowed from her heart.

'Why is he so fast?'

'Could it be a chain reaction caused by my return?'

'No! Impossible!'

'It's only been a few years since I came back. Just re-memorizing spells, gathering intel, and meditating to increase my mental strength in the city took up a lot of time. Plus, I'm very far from Rivervale Town.'

'There's no way I could have influenced things all the way out here!'

'Then why?'

Verol was completely baffled. This unfamiliar turn of events, deviating from her control and changing from her memories of the future, made her feel faintly uneasy.

At the same time, she couldn't stop a trace of relief from welling up deep inside her.

Fortunately, she had seen Xia Nan's face from various periods on the bounty posters of many underground organizations. She knew what he looked like and roughly knew he hailed from Cloudclimb Province.

That was why she had recognized his identity the moment she walked into the meeting room.

Otherwise, if she had angered him because of her attitude or some other reason...

She had absolutely no desire to have her head chopped off and stacked on a mound of corpses.

Thinking back on it now, her behavior at the time had seemed overly enthusiastic for their very first meeting. It was a bit abrupt.

'Will that make Xia Nan suspicious?'

Verol thought uneasily.

But regardless, she had indeed bought the Resonance Relic from him at a price far above the market average.

She had even taken the initiative to provide a purification service, solving the trouble of his lycanthropy curse.

Having gone that far, even if she couldn't leave a good impression in his heart, he surely wouldn't be dissatisfied with her, right?

'Not necessarily...' Recalling Xia Nan's reputation among Class Holders in her memories, she couldn't be sure.

'Forget it. I've already made it out of the meeting room safely anyway. I just need to be careful and avoid all contact with him in the future.'

Xia Nan himself had no conflict with Verol's mission, nor was there any connection between them. There was no need to force herself to cling to him just because he would become a big shot later.

Besides, given his fierce reputation in her memories... it was best to stay as far away as possible.

Though she didn't know why Xia Nan's growth speed was so much faster than she remembered.

But time was tight right now. She didn't want to get close to investigate the changes, nor did she dare.

'I should be almost there, right?'

Dispelling the stray thoughts from her mind, Verol stood up and looked toward the dense forest ahead, estimating the distance to her destination.