Maisie had an ominous and stressful night, dominated by the debt she owed Alpkutay and the unwanted possibility arising from Asena's tactless remark. After a long time, just as she realized she was trapped in a vicious cycle from which she couldn't escape, the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon.
Finally, her spirits shattered and her eyes aching from lack of sleep, she lay down in bed. Then, thinking that a little sleep would do her good, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, it was almost noon.
She quickly got out of bed, hurriedly changed her clothes, and left her room. When she arrived at the inn's reception, all her teammates were waiting for her. After a brief greeting, they all left the inn together so as not to be late for their meeting with the prince.
When they arrived at Miss Agata's gun shop, the area in front of the shop was unusually crowded. To find out what was happening, Serdar went towards the crowd and returned after a while.
- Half an hour ago, two burly men came to town. They were very angry. They roughed up everyone they met on the road and smashed every stall they came across. Finally, they went into Miss Agata's shop...
- (Asena interrupted.) So, it seems the people here are waiting for those inside to cause a scene…
Before Asena could finish, there was a loud explosion inside the gun shop. The force of the explosion shattered the shop's door and display windows, and the burly men were thrown through the fire and smoke, hitting the wall of the opposite shop and falling to the ground.
The crowd waiting in front of the shop also took their share of the explosion, being thrown around and rolling to the ground. But two people in the crowd were not as lucky. Because they were caught in the explosion first and were severely injured.
Immediately afterward, Dwarf Bavor appeared from the fire and smoke seeping out of the shop, holding his short-handled axe. With angry strides, he walked across the broken glass to the middle of the road and extended his axe towards the burly men.
- We told you we wouldn't do business with you. What part of that didn't you understand, causing mahyem in our place?
- (He shouted in a rough voice.) YOU! YOU BETRAYED OUR AGREEMENT…
Some in the crowd pulled their wounded friend aside to give him first aid, while the rest discussed what kind of agreement could have existed between the gun shop and these two burly men. Not wanting the matter to spread, Dwarf Bavor denied the man's words.
- What nonsense are you talking about? What agreement are you talking about? What are you trying to do by making baseless accusations and putting us under suspicion? Did you think you could slander us when you didn't get what you wanted? Are you that kind of person?
- (The other burly man interjected.) My son died because of you. Aren't you the despicable ones who gave our prey that gun and caused his death? What is this if not betrayal?
- This is a gun shop. Anyone who pays gets the gun they want. What does this have to do with us?
- (The man became even more enraged by Dwarf Bavor's indifferent attitude.) YOU!... You vile reptile. You're constantly in denial, but you won't get away with it. Know this: I won't leave here without taking a life in return for my son's life.
- (Dwarf Bavor gripped the handle of his axe tightly with both hands.) Come on... Let's see who will take whose life.
The big man lunged at Dwarf Bavor, but Dwarf Bavor fended him off with his axe. The fight between the two men, one quite tall and the other quite short, was interesting, but this interest didn't last long. Because Miss Agata was coming out of the shop with a long, bright blue sword in her right hand.
She was in a terrible state and had claw marks on her left arm. It was clear from her appearance that she had been involved in a brawl. The place where the claw marks were was bleeding slightly, but Miss Agata didn't care. She was very angry. His angry gaze fell upon the other burly man who hadn't been involved in the fight. He drew his gleaming blue sword and lunged forward.
The man dodged to the side with a swift movement, bypassing Miss Agata. Then, with his long, claw-like nails, he tried to attack her from behind. But this time, Miss Agata wasn't careless. She suddenly spun around and swung her sharp sword.
The man stopped himself at the last moment, but two of the fingers on his outstretched hand had already been severed. As the severed fingers fell to the ground, the man took a few steps back. Where he had retreated, swords that had flown out of the shop window during the explosion lay on the floor.
As he bent down and picked up one of the swords on the ground, Miss Agata's attack began, but the man was too fast. With agile movements, he dodged the attack and, once he had created enough distance between himself and Miss Agata, he quickly wrapped his bleeding fingers with a piece of cloth torn from his shirt. Then he extended the sword in his hand towards Miss Agata.
- Are you going to cut me with my own sword? Come... Can you do it? We'll see.
Miss Agata lunged forward and began attacking the man again. But this time the man was calmer and defended himself more comfortably with his sword. Finally, finding an opening, he swung his sword and managed to cut Miss Agata's cheek.
While those around watched the fight in fear and anxiety, Maisie, seeing Miss Agata's cheek bleeding, drew her sword and advanced to help Miss Agata, but Polat immediately stepped in front of her and stopped her.
- My Lady! Don't. This is a safe zone. No matter what happens here, we cannot attack anyone. Otherwise, we will be immediately eliminated from the game. Please calm down. Let's let the townspeople settle this issue amongst themselves.
Maisie had no choice but to obey Polat, who was experienced in the game. She reluctantly sheathed her sword and anxiously watched the fight. Meanwhile, Alpkutay, Sencer, and Arat were approaching the weapons shop.
The fight continues on fiercely, and neither could gain the upper hand over the other. But when a variable emerged shortly after, the burly man whose son had been killed shouted in anger.
- You wretched, lowlife! You said you knew nothing! But me I smell my son! My son is definitely here, and you're hiding him from me!
- (Bavor spoke mockingly, trying to further provoke the burly man and take advantage of his carelessness.) So what if he's here? He's dead and gone. He's completely ours now. Hahaha…
When the man became even more enraged, he raised his head to the sky and howled strangely. As he howled, his skull began to transform into a wolf's head. His long gray hair instantly turned red, and as the muscles in his body expanded and grew, his clothes began to tear.
Although the other burly man shouted, "STOP, DON'T DO IT!", the transformation was already complete. He had a black head resembling a wolf's and deep red eyes. Short, dark red fur covered most of his body. His fingers had transformed into elongated claws. His feet were strangely bent and elongated.
Maisie couldn't understand why the transforming werewolf before her resembled a human so much, unlike the werewolve she had seen in the forest. "Is this another species?" she wondered, when suddenly, she felt the transforming man's gaze upon her.
The transforming man's senses abruptly heightened, and his sense of smell became incredibly developed. As the scents in the air filled his nostrils, he knew his son's exact location. He didn't even consider fighting the dwarf Bavor; he suddenly lunged forward and ran towards Maisie and her team behind the crowd.
When he got close enough, he leaped over Maisie and her team and attacked Arat, who was coming toward the gun shop. Just as he lunged to bite Arat's neck, a sword stroke severed his head from his body. The werewolf's body fell where it stood, while his head rolled toward the side of the road.
While Alpkutay and his men were stunned, the tall man with shoulder-length blond hair and an unusually well-developed physique calmly turned around and walked towards Miss Agata and Dwarf Bavor, as if he hadn't been the one to kill the wolf.
- I just wanted to watch an entertaining show, but attacking the guests is an unforgivable crime.
The crowd around them immediately bowed in greeting. As the man passed through the crowd and reached the scene, Miss Agata and Dwarf Bavor also bowed respectfully in greeting.
- The Guardian, please forgive our rudeness. But if this gray man hadn't attacked me, none of this would have happened.
- (He turned to the burly man.) Is that right? (When the man didn't answer, he added.) If you don't want your end to be like your friend's, leave my town immediately.
The burly man couldn't handle the guardian. Even if the ten strongest members of his tribe came, they still couldn't handle him. He reluctantly accepted the situation and left, but as he left, his angry glances were constantly on Miss Agata. The burly man had moved a little away from the scene when The Guardian's voice was heard.
- Six months… You and your tribe are forbidden from entering the town for six months… You'd better keep that in mind.
The burly man turned to The Guard and nodded as if to say, "I understand." Then he turned again and quickly walked away.
Once things calmed down, The Guard disappeared as silently as he had arrived. Those who remained worked together to clean up the scattered glass shards and rubble in the street. Once there was no more rubble, the crowd dispersed and went about their business.
As Miss Agata looked sadly at her ruined shop, the Dwarf Bavor entered and shortly afterwards returned with a broom and began sweeping the street. Maisie, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, approached Miss Agata to at least offer her condolences.
- Sister, I'm so sorry about what happened. Is there anything I can do to help? Just tell me, I'll do whatever I can.
Hearing a familiar voice, Miss Agata's sorrowful gaze instantly turned to anger. "Here had comes the one responsible for all this. Wouldn't it have been better if you had just died and I hadn't had to go through all this? And now you come here saying you want to help. I don't need your help. I just need you to die."
Barely able to suppress the voice inside her, Miss Agata turned to Maisie. She couldn't mistreat guests in a public place, especially since The Guard might still be around. She quickly calmed her anger and spoke gently to avoid further conflict.
- Thank you for your thoughtful offer. I don't need help right now. Yes, things are a bit messy, but Bavor and I can quickly clean up. Our shop will be back up and running in a day or two.
- Good, I'm glad for you. But if you still need help, my team and I are staying at the Durinn Inn. Just send us word. We will definitely come to your aid.
Hearing the name Durinn Inn sent a shiver down Miss Agata's spine. Then, a thought crossed her mind, causing her eyes to tremble. Because, any mention of the task she had given Maisie at the Durinn Inn would cause her to vanish from this world without a trace.
Without thinking, she made a decision instantly and took the first step to cancel the task she had given Maisie.
- Now that I remember, I gave you a quest, didn't I?
- Yes, sister. We're still working on it. The quest is a bit challenging for us, but don't worry, we'll definitely succeed.
- I wasn't asking out of curiosity. As you can see, my shop is ruined. With my shop in this state, I can't fulfill my promise to you. I don't have the means to cover the quest rewards. Therefore, I'm canceling the quest. Don't bother going there and wasting your time.
- What do you mean wasting your time, sister? This is our job. We promised you. But if you want to cancel the quest because you can't cover the reward, don't worry, in this case, we expect nothing from you in return for the task. If you need the materials, we will definitely bring them to you.
Anyone else would have accepted the quest cancellation immediately. But this girl... While trying to understand why Miss Agata Maisie was acting this way, he realized she needed more specific details to get out of the assignment.
- The inside is in a terrible state. Even if we get the materials now, we don't have a furnace to process them. Both our forge and our delicate leatherworking loom are damaged. Repairs will take a very long time. They're already very expensive. We might not even be able to get them repaired again. Therefore, keeping materials we cannot use in stock is nothing but a burden.
I mean, even if you complete the quest and bring me the materials, I can neither use them nor stock them. It will be nothing but a complete waste of time. You understand me, right?
- Yes, sister, I understand. Okay, let's cancel the quest as you wish, but we had already completed half of it.
- (Miss Agata already knew this. She had understood that Maisie had a red wolf corpse with her the moment the werewolf attacked them. But after what had just happened, she couldn't take the corpse and put it in her shop.) As I said, I don't need the materials anymore. You can sell what you've collected in Jiria Town in the east. The weapon shop there is much bigger than ours. They will pay a very reasonable price for your materials.
- Jiria… (Polat approached Maisie and whispered softly in her ear, "My Lady, Jiria is the name of the third safe zone.") Okay, let's do as you say.
Alpkutay, who had overheard the conversation, was secretly delighted. As long as he had the red wolf's corpse, he had the opportunity to be with Maisie until the third safe town. A long journey with the woman he loved, new adventures to come, immediately appeared before his eyes. His heart was pounding with indescribable joy and excitement. Yet, he didn't show his joy and managed to appear calm.
- Now go and leave us alone. You see we have a lot of work to do. Don't obstruct us any further.
As Maisie and her team walked away from the shop, Miss Agata approached the Dwarf Bavor.
- Bavor, stop. You've swept enough. Now, I'm going to give you an urgent task to get rid of a problem. You absolutely must handle this.
- I'm listening… Tell me.
- Talk to our friend at the trading center, and before evening (She turned his head and looked towards Maisie and her team), give them an urgent quest. I want them out of town by tomorrow at the latest. Let's get rid of these useless bugs, otherwise they'll just wander around aimlessly, chattering and getting us into trouble.
- Okay… (Dwarf Bavor added, leaning his broom against the shop wall.) Consider it settled.
As Dwarf Bavor left for his urgent task, Miss Agata sighed deeply and went inside to clean up her wrecked shop...