They walked on, entering the village. Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin looked right and left, checking their surroundings. The houses in the village appeared to have been abandoned; none of the buildings were damaged, everything was standing as it should be, but there were absolutely no residents.
There was a four-story building with a sign above the door that read INN, a few steps next to it was a two-story building with a sign indicating a Blacksmith and an Equipment Shop. A little further down the road, they saw a three-story building, slightly wider than the others, with a hanging sign above the door that read Hunter Guild.
Across from the Guild building was an auction house for selling items through bids, and they also saw one-story residential buildings that looked empty and neglected.
"Hey, is this village always this empty?" Shel asked.
"Hmm... it shouldn't be. I was here about a month ago, and it was still bustling," Marle replied.
"Did the Dire Wolves we're supposed to hunt eat all the villagers?" Lilin asked.
"Wow, if that's true, we're too late, then," Shel responded.
"How about we try going inside the Guild first?" Dash asked, pointing backward with his thumb.
"Yeah, let's go in," Marle suggested.
They opened the door and walked inside. All four of them stared, dumbfounded, because there was absolutely no one inside. Many tables were simply abandoned but actually tidy. The entire room looked very clean, as if it had just been vacated. Marle walked to the counter, then went behind it to look under the desk, but no one was there.
Shel walked around looking at the tables and saw leftover food and drinks still sitting on plates and glasses. Lilin noticed several weapons, daily necessities, and things like sleeping tarps that looked like they had been simply abandoned in the corners of the room, while Dash checked the back area and found no one. They eventually gathered again in front of the counter.
"This is weird. It looks like they just left this place. There's leftover food and drinks on the tables," Shel said.
"Yep, and someone deliberately left stuff in the corners of the room," Lilin added.
"No one is in the back area at all," Dash said.
"Let me look at the quest again," Marle said.
She immediately pulled the Guild sheet from her pocket. As she read it, Marle's face turned deathly pale. She flipped the paper over and squinted to read the text more clearly.
"Huh... we were supposed to go to the village south of Golddale to complete the Dire Wolf mission, but we were sent here... because the quest we took was to hunt the Thunder Wolf that has been terrorizing this village for the past month. That means the creature showed up after I left here," Marle muttered.
"Is that right?" Dash asked.
"Yeah... it is. It looks like this village has been empty for the past month," Marle replied.
"No way. Like I said, there's still leftover food and drinks on the tables, and the food still looks fresh, even though it's partially eaten," Shel countered.
"So... where did all the people go? Oh... wait a minute, were the people who were running in the forest just now the villagers?" Lilin asked, just realizing the connection.
"Hmm... that's possible," Marle replied, thinking.
"Maybe those people were the last villagers who were still holding out, because if you look, there's still food, drinks, and gear left in the corners. It's likely this Guild room was used as an evacuation center—it makes sense since it's central and pretty spacious," Dash mused, looking around.
"That sounds right. They just left and were being chased by the Thunder Wolf," Shel said, turning to look at Dash.
"And then the Thunder Wolf just happened to run into us," Lilin added, looking at Dash.
"And Dash instantly beat the crap out of it," Marle added, looking at Dash.
"Which means our mission is done, right? All we have to do is file the report," Dash replied casually, smiling and shrugging his shoulders.
"Wow... we just finished a Rank S quest," Marle mumbled, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened.
"So now what do we do?" Shel asked.
"Now I'm going to find a bathroom. The smell of that wolf blood is gonna kill me," Dash said, stepping back behind the reception counter.
Shel, Marle, and Lilin just stood frozen, watching Dash disappear through the door. Then, Marle pulled out the large, black, zigzag lightning-shaped Thunder Wolf horn. After that, Marle turned to look at the door where Dash had vanished.
"Dash should not be Rank F, he should be Rank S," Marle stated.
"Yeah, I think so too," Shel added.
"And Shel and I should probably be Rank A, right... yesterday during practice, we three were evenly matched even without magic," Lilin said.
The three of them fell silent, standing perfectly still. Marle kept staring at the horn in her hand, her eyes blinking as if she thought it might disappear if she didn't keep looking. Then she pinched her cheek. "Ow, ow," she felt the pain in her cheek.
"What's wrong with you?" Shel asked Marle.
"I just can't believe we unconsciously completed a Rank S quest," Marle replied.
"Oh well, it happened, so no need to regret it," Lilin said casually, putting her hands behind her head and walking toward the door.
"Hey... where are you going, Lilin?" Shel asked.
"To shower, with Dash," Lilin answered casually.
"What! I'm coming too!" Shel replied, immediately rushing after Lilin, leaving Marle alone, still stunned, staring at the horn.
Suddenly, the Guild door opened. Marle turned, then saw a receptionist with a disheveled and dirty uniform walk in. She immediately spotted Marle standing inside, then looked at Marle's hand gripping the Thunder Wolf horn. The receptionist's smeared face went into instant shock. She ran straight up to Marle, who was still dazed, and grabbed her shoulders.
"You... you're Marle from Froshville, right? The Rank A hunter who always goes solo and is always alone? You defeated the Thunder Wolf that was terrorizing this village?" asked the receptionist, who was a cat beastkin.
"Um... if I remember correctly... you're Astrid?" Marle asked.
"Yes, that's right, we met a month ago... hey, that's the Thunder Wolf horn in your hand, right?" Astrid asked.
"Um... correct," Marle replied, looking at the horn in her hand.
"Thank the Gods... someone finally defeated it. I thought this village was truly finished. Thank you, Marle," Astrid said, immediately hugging Marle.
"Huh... but it wasn't me who defea—"
Suddenly, the Guild door opened again. This time, several hunters, villagers, and farmers walked in, and when they saw the horn in Marle's hand, they immediately cheered Marle and even picked her up, tossing her into the air. Meanwhile, Marle looked confused because she didn't have time to finish her explanation, and her hand continued to clutch the horn, which served as the evidence.
"Why is it turning out like this? Dash... Shel... Lilin... hurry back, help me, I wasn't the one who defeated it... huuh," she thought to herself, panicked from being thrown into the air by the relieved villagers now that the threat to their village was gone.