Pushing the cart that had been pulled out of the warehouse, Arrow closed the door of the guild with a leisurely look on his face, and walked towards the exit on the east side of the town.

As he passed by the market, he happened to see Coco and her undead soldiers looking at the stalls over there, and after saying hello, Arrow let the little girl continue to look at the stalls while he continued to walk forward.

Napa lay on Arrow's head as usual, and when the two of them were completely out of Pelican Town, the cat looked back at the town behind her, and then at the approaching Shining Forest, a little confused.

"Aren't you going to buy salt? What do you do with that little bottle of cooking salt? Or have you finally decided to let me clean up the slimes? ”

The carts gurgled on the dirt floor, and the sparkling forest not far away literally glowed in the sun.

He was still smiling, and it seemed that he wouldn't make any other expression than a smile: "No, besides, I didn't want to clean up these slimes today." Today we are going to set up a trap, and you are responsible for helping me to be vigilant around the following when I set the trap, to see if there is any danger around, and to remind me. ”

As he spoke, Eero had reached the edge of the Shining Forest. She struggled to carry the sack containing eight hunting traps on the cart and stepped into it one foot deep and one foot shallow.

"I don't really understand what you mean."

As soon as he entered the forest, Napa's neck lifted slightly, helping Arrow to be alert to his surroundings—

"Don't deal with King Slime, why are you here with these traps?"

Arrow held on to a tree and gasped slightly, to say that he was too careless, all the heavy things during this time were handed over to Brad, and he only needed to be a person who called the shots, and as a result, he seriously underestimated the weight of these traps, and he couldn't do it without taking two steps.

He looked up and saw that the sun was now shining through the leaves, shining the whole forest. It's noon now, so you still need to speed up and finish this, lest you really wait for the sun to set in the west, and it won't be fun for some monsters to run out of this forest.

"Do you remember the man named Cream?"

Napa didn't expect to suddenly mention the thief's name at this moment, and then said, "Yes, you said that he followed Merlin back." ”

Arrow nodded, gritted his teeth and continued walking, "I didn't talk to Brad, Parfay, and Coco about these things, but I always felt that he should come to our guild again." And next time, it's not a good thing for this guy to find us. ”

Napa didn't understand what Arrow meant for a moment, "Can you make it clearer?" ”

"Whew...... Let me tell you this. ”

Finally entering a slightly deeper place, Arrow estimated the distance, took out a trap from the sack, found a place with lush grass and installed it, and then covered it with the weeds, then took out the salt grain shaker in his pocket and sprinkled a little salt around the trap to make sure that the slime would not come and accidentally touch the trap. Soon, a trap that completely blends into the surroundings is complete.

After looking left and right to make sure that no one would be spotted by the reflection of the sunlight, Arrow pulled out his fanged dagger and carefully made a mark on the trunk of a nearby tree, before continuing to walk deeper.

"Cream, that guy, apparently forced to come to our guild. Unlike the first time, the first time he seemed very arrogant, then the first mission should really be an ordinary commission. ”

But the second time he was nervous, and the two city men he had commissioned the first time were also killed by Merlin, according to him. Judging from what Merlin said before leaving at the end, it should be some entanglement between Cream and Merlin, and Cream reluctantly has a very important deal with Merlin. After Merlin confirmed that gold was indeed produced in the mines, the deal between Cream and his was completed. ”

"After that, this guy followed Merlin away, probably just to receive Merlin's promise."

Napa shook her ears, looked at a tree three meters away, and said, "There's a slime there, it's small, you pay attention." ”

After Arrow cautiously avoided it, Napa continued to ask, "So, what does this have to do with the trap we're setting here now?" ”

Arrow smiled, found a narrow place, and installed the next trap again: "To be honest, I don't really trust Merlin. Even though he was a mage, I didn't really believe what he said. ”

Napa snorted, "You humans are so strange that you don't even believe in the mage's promises?" Are you weird or am I thinking too much? ”

Arrow didn't mind: "Coco is also a magician, this little girl has a lot of ghost ideas, do you believe everything she says?" ”

Napa: "Hmph. You continue. ”

Arrow looked around to make sure that King Slime's lair was a little further ahead, and installed a third trap again.

"Cream knows too much, and in fact, I think our guild knows too much. From the information I have, the news that the abandoned mine is capable of reproducing gold ore does not spread widely. Therefore, the more people know that it is a gold mine, the lower the probability that those noble and high-ranking officials in Hanhai City can monopolize the gold mine. If the entire Blue Bay Empire knows that there is a gold mine here, then the right to develop the gold mine will fall into the hands of the royal family, as long as His Majesty the Emperor orders the monopoly, then those nobles and collaterals will not want to taste the sweetness of this gold mine again. ”

The cat's ears were erected again, and the color in its eyes changed from lazy to vigilant: "You mean ...... There's a good chance that Merlin killed that little thief? And the possibility of killing you? …… No, if he wanted to kill you, he could have done so when you had completed your mission. ”

Arrow dropped the fourth trap and smiled bitterly, "Hehe, he really wanted to do it at that time." If it weren't for me giving the name of my alma mater. Well, I have to say that the name of the old Tengshu Academy is more or less useful, and it seems that even if he does have the support of a high-ranking official behind him, it should be impossible for that high-ranking official to kill the students of the old Tengshu Academy casually. After all, the scope of this offense is too wide. ”

Napa nodded, but after a moment's pause, it suddenly said, "Wait a minute, since you're starting to set traps now, it means that you already anticipate that Merlin might bring someone again in the future." And at that time, it means that this mage will directly conflict with our guild! That's why you set the trap in advance, because this is the place you envisioned the showdown! ”

"But why didn't Merlin come to us at that time without fear of the name of the Old Tengshu Academy? Because you know that by that time, Merlin must have thoroughly checked the list of students of the Old Tengshu Academy. And you, Ariel Garcia, aren't on the academy's graduation list at all! ”

Arrow, who was about to place the fifth trap, suddenly shuddered.

This abrupt pause makes him seem to merge with the entire forest for a moment, becoming an "object" that does not think, move, or react.

Because of his stalemate, a slime slowly moved in his direction, but Napa didn't react. It just looked at the girl under its feet, wondering how the human wanted to answer its question.

“………… Oops, did you make a mistake? Our Vice President. ”

Just as the slime was about to touch Arrow's finger, he quickly took out the salt flask and sprinkled it, and the slime retreated, crawling in the other direction.

"Of course, my name is not on the school's graduation list. Did you forget? My name is Iroh Garcia now, not Ariel Garcia. ”

Set up the fifth trap and find the location of the sixth trap.

But Napa doesn't end with that simple question: "That's right, the name Airo Garcia is a pseudonym. But if I'm the mage named Merlin, I can't find the name Arrow, but I can find your Ariel's name based on the surname Garcia. ”

"Arrow, Ariel, the two names are slightly similar to each other, and they are of the same age, and they belong to the same surname. If you think normally, then Merlin should be able to think about the relationship between you and Ariel. Even if he can't think of you dressing as a man, he should guess that you and Ariel are brother and sister, sister and brother. In this way, he probably still won't do anything to the families of the students of the old Tengshu Academy. ”

At this point, Arrow was completely silent, he just carried the sack, lowered his head, found the sixth position to set the trap, and continued to walk forward without saying a word.

"But you're still laying traps, so that means, with your consideration, that Merlin won't even find the name 'Ariel Garcia' in the graduation booklet. In other words, you said that you graduated from the old Tengshu Academy...... How much real ingredient is in it? You say you graduated from the Department of Economics, how much credibility do you have? ”

Silent, Arrow silently set up the seventh trap.

As soon as you look up, you can see the King Slime lair through the intertwined branches and leaves of the trees.

It's daylight, but even so, you can still see tiny slimes swaying around the lair, acting like guards to prevent any invaders.

He pondered silently, and this silence was seen by Napa as a reason to quibble.

But after a long time, the guild leader finally exhaled and shook his head helplessly: "Sure enough, if a person tells a lie, he will use countless lies to make it happen. But a lie is just a lie after all, and there will always be a certain one in the future that will show its own feet. ”

Napa didn't expect this girl to really admit it? Looked a little surprised: "You...... Admit it? ”

"Napa, I'm not one who wants to take advantage of the old Tengshu Academy. You don't disbelieve in my academic qualifications, but you always doubt where I came from. ”

"I know you're probably not going to pay any less attention to the Mermaid Song than I do. You must have had your own reasons for trying to get me to establish the Adventurer's Guild in the first place. And this reason must also be very important. If I were to believe that a person of completely unknown origin and full of lies could fulfill a promise that was very important to me, I would be very drummed in my heart and think that this person could not be trusted. ”

Napa slowly lifted her upper body, her tail standing up behind her, and her entire fur began to emit a faint golden glow. This light caused the slimes who were unconsciously slowly approaching to retreat and leave Arrow's forward path.

"It's good that you understand, human. In the past, when you were far from being born, I also believed in you humans very much. But...... The results of trust are not very good. It can be said that it was because of that trust in you humans that I sealed myself in the basement of that collapsing bar until you arrived. ”

"As you said on the first day we met, trust is mutual. And trust must be exchanged for value. Ariel, what do you want me to say? The longer I've met you, the more I've felt that you have certain talents, but the longer I've known you, the more I've felt that some of you are really full of secret secrets. ”

Laying out the seventh trap, Arrow looked around again to see where the last trap could be placed. After a few moments, she finally settled on the spot, and walked under a branch of two trees. At the same time, while taking out the last trap, he also said what was in his heart-

"Napa, you don't believe that I graduated from Old Tengshu Academy...... I understand. Judging from the various analyses you have just made, what you said is not wrong, and the analysis is very correct. It is true that my name could not be on the list of graduating students, and if I had to lie, I could have said that I had dropped out, dropped out, or even ran away when I was about to graduate. ”

Coming to the two staggered trees, Arrow compared the distance between the two sides, nodded, and took out the last trap, trying to break it—

"But I don't want to lie to you anymore. If you doubt where I came from, that I didn't tell you the truth, that I didn't trust me very much, then I understand. If you want me to come up with evidence right now to prove that I am indeed from Lao Tengshu, I can't prove it. ”

He tried a little, but the trap was still the same as before, a hard mess, and he couldn't pull it open at all.

"Hey——! Woo...... Damn, I just can't break it. Excuse me, Napa, can I trouble you a little more? ”

Napa slowed down, but eventually flew down, pressed the machine with her tail, and opened the trap.

"It's just that I still hope you can believe me."

After setting up the trap, Airo touched the beads of sweat on his forehead, and said to Napa with a sincere face-

"I did graduate from the Old Tengshu Academy. This is indeed where I came from. At this juncture, I still hope you can trust me. If you still find my sincerity questionable, and feel that I am of little use to you, or that I am too dangerous......"

Arrow reached out and made an erasing motion around his neck—

"You're a monster, so kill me. Anyway, if I didn't have this guild, I wouldn't be much better off than this result if I didn't earn a thousand gold coins in three years. ”

The golden light on the cat's body was still flickering slowly, and when the magic power alternated, it seemed to have some traction on the creatures in the nest over there.

After a long time, this cat monster slowly put away the light on his body, and said with a hint of abandonment and trace-

"I have one last question."

Arrow picked up the sack on his back, and the expression on his face returned to lightheartedness: "Well, you say? ”

"According to your logic, there is a good chance that Merlin will come against our guild, and there is a good chance that you humans will face the worst situation. So, you're setting traps here. So ......"

After a slight pause, Napa floated up to Arrow, who was about to return, and leaned close to him, staring into his eyes—

"Have you ever killed someone? Or to put it another way, are you really going to kill someone? ”