At the end of the West Vigil Forest, from south to north lies an undulating mountain range, known as the Red Rock Mountains because most of its mountains are made up of red rocks. At the southernmost end of the mountain range, there stands a perennial dormant volcano called Mt. Chiyan. The mountain is covered with a large amount of red sand and gravel, and there are no birds, beasts or vegetation. Blazing white gas often erupts from the crevices at the top of the mountain, and occasionally a little viscous lava gushes from the cracks in the ground. It is a barren mountain that is swallowed by heat waves all year round and almost no one cares about it.

To the east of the Red Rock Mountains is the largest forest in the southern part of the Adventurer Kingdom, the Night Watch Forest. To the west is the boundless Yellow Sand Sea, and it is also the largest desert in the Adventurer Kingdom and even the entire human continent - the Great Desert of the Flame Sea. At the same time, it is also the birthplace of the Sunset River, arguably the most important mountain range in the southern part of the Adventurer's Kingdom, a dividing line between yellow sand and oasis.

In the northern part of the mountain range, at the foot of the mountain, lies a town that is beginning to take shape, Sunset Town. It is famous for its abundance of precious ores and rare alchemical materials, and many profiteous traveling merchants come here from far away. And the residents here also rely on these unique natural resources to live a life of abundant food and clothing, living and working in peace and contentment.

In the afternoon, it was drizzling in Starlis, and only two or three scattered guests had come in from the previous service station, perhaps all of whom had come to take shelter from the rain. Eugarie lay lazily on a table by the window, bored as she watched the pedestrians trotting all the way down the street, shaking her head listlessly.

"Huh?" Yujali suddenly felt that there were groups of people with a lot of luggage constantly gathering in the streets and alleys, and they didn't seem to be local residents, "Strange, what do those people do?" ”

Hearing Eugari's question, Fiona walked over from the bar, looked out the window at the groups of passers-by wearing hats and dragging their luggage from time to time, and explained to Eugari, "These people are said to have fled from Sunset Town. Haven't you noticed a lot of them lately? ”

"Fleeing?" Yugari tilted her head and asked, "What?" What's going on there? ”

"It seems to be a plague. I heard that there was a terrible disease that was currently prevalent there, and many people fled so that they would not be infected. Of course, because of this, business there is not easy to do, so there are many people who go to other places to do business for the time being, and it is estimated that they will go back after this while. ”

"Huh? And what's going on? When did it happen? Isn't there anything the Guild Alliance can do? Eugari said in surprise.

"It started when you were busy with commissions. I asked the people around me about it. In that place, there is a plague every few years. So basically everybody is not surprised. And there have always been effective potions prepared, so it's not particularly serious. But I don't know why there are so many people this time. It seems that the Guild Alliance has a high-level commission related to this plague, but no one has been able to complete it for decades. That's pretty much it. Fiona said as if talking to herself, "I don't know too much about the details, this kind of commission should be explained in the introduction, if you are interested, you can find it." ”

Yugari shook her head as she looked out the window at the displaced pedestrians, and her mood couldn't help but be even lowered. "It's so pathetic...... Uprooted like this, they are basically helpless civilians......" Didn't the Guild Alliance provide any support? ”

"Hmm...... In fact, there have been several captains who have been out directing before. The Guild Alliance seems to have arranged a place for them to live. However, because the scale is so large this time, there are still many people who can't arrange it. Fiona explained.

"Are you there staring out there?" At this time, Miria happened to come down from the upper floor.

"Huh? Did you just come down for lunch? Yugari asked, rubbing her red eyes, as she turned her head.

"Not anymore!" Miria immediately retorted, "It's just boring, let's go down and go around." Miria walked over and saw Eugari's reddened eyes and asked, "What's wrong?" Is something wrong? ”

"No, nothing." Yugari hurriedly explained, "I heard Fiona say just now that there seems to be a very serious plague in Sunset Town, and many people have been forced to escape, which is really pitiful......"

"Sunset?" Miria thought for a moment and said, "Is that city famous for ore and alchemy?" I've heard people from the association mention that there is a plague every few years, but there should be enough potions there, how can it be so serious? Are you going to investigate? ”

"Yes. I've heard that the Guild Alliance has also issued high-level commissions. If we want to go, let's go to the Guild Alliance to find out the details. ”

"Huh? High-level commissions......" Miria said weakly.

"Don't bother. Let's go, let's go check it out first. With that, Eucaria pulled Miria out of the service station, mounted her mount, and ran towards the Guild Alliance building.

Coming to the Guild Alliance, Yujiali and the others got a high-level commission about the plague in Sunset Town, found the relevant person in charge, and seriously inquired about the relevant clues.

"That's it." In charge of this commission is a young lady of the cat people, she shook her furry ears, and enthusiastically explained to Yujiali and them, "This commission itself is not complicated, and the reason or something has already been investigated, so you don't need to spend any more time investigating what meow." ”

"In that case, why is it still ......?"

"But meow." "The difficulty of the problem is that the cause of the plague is that every few years on the Red Rock Mountain in the south of the city, a corrupt dragon meow that has been eroded by darkness flies! ”

"Dragon?!" Eugari and Miria were shocked when they heard this.

"That's meow." The Cat-Folk Lady nodded, "It's because it emits a large amount of putrefaction there every few years, causing the surrounding environment to be rapidly eroded by powerful dark matter, causing a large-scale spread of plague. Infected organisms continue to lose large amounts of nutrients, accompanied by a small amount of bleeding, and are unable to take in nutrients by eating, leading to death. Non-living things are constantly desertified. We call this symptom the Death of the Rotten Dragon. To put it simply, it's called a plague meow. ”

"So, if you want to fulfill this commission and solve the plague problem at the root, you have to find a way to prevent that giant dragon from coming to Chiyan Mountain again, right?" Eugari asked.

"Meow, so to speak."

"It's basically a mission to defeat or kill the dragon." Miria complained.

"That's right."

"This ......" Yujiali said with a frown after listening to the explanation of the young lady of the cat people, "Then let's go back and discuss it first and see if there is any good way to talk about it." ”

"Please don't be too pushy." After that, the little sister of the cat people enthusiastically sent them out of the gate.

"How? Don't you want to just give up? On the way back, Miria asked.

"How so!" "You can't just watch so many people homeless." Let's go to Sunset Town to investigate first, and let's do a field trip to find out what to do. Doesn't it say that there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain? Besides, if you really can't do it, you can go and ask Sana-sama. In short, we can definitely do a good job with this high-level commission from Sunset Town! ”

"Uh...... Well, let's take a trip. ”

Early the next morning, Eucaria, Miria, and Blala, after breakfast, left Staris, and they went out of the west gate, along the avenue north of the Vigil Forest, and continued to see refugees rushing to Starlis from the direction of Sunset.

"No, this plague won't be of much use with my healing spells. If Sister Luqi is here, there may be some good way, but she has been out for the past few days, which is really worrying." Yugari thought anxiously as she checked the condition of the fleeing. Helplessly, she could only give them a simple treatment to alleviate the bleeding effect of the plague. But for the plague itself, she really couldn't do anything about it.

"The rain seems to be getting heavier." Miria looked at the gloomy sky and complained, "Let's find a place to shelter from the rain first." ”

"There's a castle ahead." Brala said, pointing to an exposed roof in the forest.

"Then we'll go there and hide from the rain." With that, Miria hurriedly turned her horse and ran towards the forest, followed by Eugari and Brala.

"It's not a castle at all." Miria stood in the doorway in front of the building and muttered, "It's just ...... Ruins? ”

"It's a manor, a manor!" At this time, Yugari and the others also came over.

"What? Do you know? ”

"Yes. I've been here before when I've been doing assessment tasks, so I've mentioned it to you before. Gou Fugui Manor, this is it. ”

"That's right." Miria hurriedly looked around, "So there should be goblins around here, right?" ”

"Almost. But......" Yugari looked around, but didn't find the goblins, "it seems that they have also taken shelter from the rain." ”

Yugari and the others sat down against the stone wall of the doorway. From time to time, a few lightning bolts struck the cloudy sky, and the cold rain continued to drip from the stone eaves, and it did not weaken at all, and in a short time it merged into a curtain of water. The nearby woods were washed by the rain and swished, and a large amount of muddy water gradually accumulated in the distant depression.

"It looks like it's going to be a long time coming." Miria looked at the sky and muttered to herself.

"There's no way around that, we'll just wait here for the rain to stop before leaving." As she spoke, Eugari took out a few blankets and handed them to everyone to shelter from the wind and cold on a rainy day.

"I don't know what's going on over there in Quelstan." Miria said with a little worry.

"Huh? Didn't you say that the situation of the war has gradually improved? Any news on that? ”

"Nope." Miria lowered her head and whispered, "It's because there hasn't been any news that I'm worried." ”

"Maybe everyone is busy rebuilding their homes and can't bother to tell you." Yugari hurriedly comforted, "If Miria is worried, let's go and take a look together after we're done dealing with it." I'd love to visit Miria's hometown. ”

"Well...... "Miria thought for a moment, "I was going to invite you to be a guest when it was more peaceful and prosperous." As there are wars like this, people are struggling to make ends meet, and various forces are fighting each other, I don't want you to see this there. I hope to show you a picture of the people living and working in peace and contentment, and the country is prosperous and strong. ”

"The last time I read in a magazine, the current country of Shizuno seems to have a good evaluation, and it has been rated as the happiest country in recent decades."

"Is that so?" "If only the last few decades were to say that's true. However, I feel that the peace of the Land of Tranquility is only a temporary illusion. Many potential crises have not been eliminated, but have only been temporarily covered up, and they may erupt at any time. In that case, the people there will inevitably fall into misery again. ”

"Why?"

"It's simple. First of all, the country of tranquility itself is limited, and its economy is completely supported by its unique natural resources, and the current peace is nothing more than an unstable state in which various forces compromise with each other. As long as any kind of power changes and upsets this balance, the country of tranquility will inevitably become the target of public criticism. Being in such an important place with abundant strategic resources and borders on many countries, if it does not have strong enough strength, it is bound to be divided by various foreign forces that are eyeing each other. ”

"However, I read the book that many of the policies implemented in the country of Tranquility are very good, and both nobles and commoners are very supportive. It seems that Her Royal Highness Princess Ariana is also very popular. ”

"It's just an internal affair, an internal affair!" Miria said seriously, "It is undeniable that many of the policies implemented by Princess Ariana are indeed good, and there are many things to learn. If Quelstein can learn anything from it in the future, I think it will be of great help. But that's not enough for a country. With such a small and unarmed country still in such an extremely important geographical location and unique natural resources, how can the jackals, tigers and leopards around it not be concerned? Once the war breaks out, what can it do to defend its homeland? Of course, I say so, but I don't know how to solve it. I can only say it casually as a bystander. With that, Miria shrugged her shoulders and said that she was helpless.

"Is Her Royal Highness the Princess in power now? I don't see much of the king of the land of Silence in books, right? ”

"No, it's an agency at most, and it's only for internal affairs. The king seems to have been seriously ill due to an accident many years ago, so he has been bedridden in recent years, and he has no time to take care of the government. Two princes...... One only cares about business, ostensibly in charge of business and trade, but in fact it is his own business; The other is keen on hunting on horseback, so the affairs of the house are basically handled by Princess Eliana. ”

"That's also remarkable, I heard that she doesn't seem to be a few years older than us?"

"Well, it doesn't seem like there's a seventeenth birthday party this year, not much older than us."

"That's amazing...... "Yujiali sighed with some admiration.

"What about you? What are your plans for the future? Do you plan to stay at a service station for the rest of your life? ”

"Have you been working at a service station all your life?" Yugari smiled and said with satisfaction, "Actually, it's pretty good to think about it...... In other words, this is the most realistic dream. Through his own efforts, he has become an excellent priest, has a group of like-minded friends, a happy family, and lives a carefree life, what other luxury can he have? ”

"Oh? In that case, aren't you already a good priest now? Whether it's the previous battle with Cathorne, or the performance in the Graveyard of Broken Dreams, it's all different, and even Heather praises you. ”

"What, how can it be so good......," Yugari muttered embarrassedly, "and, many times, it can only be done with the support of Lord Sheehan, whether it is spells or equipment, it is basically these things to get through, if you don't have these......"

"There's no such thing, you see, whether it's giving advice, or commanding on the spot, and the fraternity that a priest should have, these are not given by others."

"I'll be embarrassed if Miria says that." Eugari blushed and whispered.

"Really? Also, what did you say was the most realistic? Do you have any other dreams? ”

"Well...... "Yugari replied embarrassedly, "of course I want to live in a world away from the smoke and flames of war." It is better to have a world of freedom, equality, harmony and civilization, a world in which all people can live and work in peace and contentment. Ha ha...... Isn't it too much of a pipe dream. "I've lived in a remote village since I was a child, because it's so remote, almost no one passes by, no one visits, and everyone has to work hard to achieve everything." The jungle around the village is full of demons and monsters that often attack us, so it is not easy for everyone to survive. At that time, I thought how beautiful it would be if one day no one in the world lived in such a difficult environment. Of course, I also know that such an unrealistic dream is a fool's dream for a little girl like me who doesn't understand anything. That's why it's not a realistic dream......"

"That being said...... Miria muttered as she looked at the sky in the distance, "no one can say what the future holds......

"What about Brala?" Looking at the side in a daze, Blala, Yugari asked with interest, "What are your dreams?" ”

"Find out the cause of the destruction of the tribe and pass on the civilization of the Claris." Brala replied coldly.

"The fall of the Claris has always been an unsolved mystery." "She came from the far western continent to escape the calamities of her tribe and to find out the cause of them. But......" Miria said quipfully, squinting at Blala, "if you want to pass on the civilization of the tribe...... You've got to get married. ”

When Blala heard this, her cheeks immediately flushed, and she hurriedly buried her head in her curled knees.

"Alright, let's recharge some energy first." As she spoke, Yugari took out the cooking utensils and some colorful ingredients, and began to cook.

"Huh? Did you study cooking in your parajob? Miria was a little surprised.

"yes." Yugari replied triumphantly, "I'll cook a lot of delicious magical food." ”

"No wonder you went to help on the way to Night City before, I see." Miria pouted.

"That's not it. Those are ordinary dishes, my cooking skills, not skills. Yugari said with a little pride.

"What's the matter...... Miria said unconvinced, "if I had chosen to cook as well......"

"So what did Miria choose? Ancillary occupations. ”

"Of course it's crystals, didn't they often be useful when I was fighting before?"

"Well, I thought it was your extra skill. Isn't it? ”

"Not really. It's a support class. ”

"It doesn't seem like a very common profession."

"Because it's expensive. It takes a lot of gold to make a crystal. Blala complained.

"I don't need you to explain!"

"So, I haven't seen you show off any extra skills, have you?"

"Forget it." Miria said with some embarrassment, "Most of them are boring skills that can't be shown, so there's nothing to say." ”

"Isn't it...... And what about Brala? What kind of support profession did you choose? ”

"She's ......"

As he was saying this, suddenly, there was a loud bang in the sky, and a bolt of lightning fell directly into the forest, and the towering ancient tree that was hit immediately ignited a raging fire.