Early morning. Kanzir Town, Outer Ring District.

The figure of the Moon Sisters gradually faded from the sky, and the brilliance of Hubert, the Lord of Flames, was once again revealed to the world. The sun of the early morning of August, with a warm heat, embraces the earth of the night of separation. Outside the town, by the creek of the creaking and whirling of waterwheels at Old Buck's Mill, the scent of ripe spring wheat from a distant farm is accompanied by the scent of ripe spring wheat from a distant farm.

Outside the houses, the sounds on the streets gradually became noisy, the creaking of the axles, the laughter of children, the coughing of the elderly, the greetings of neighbors opening the gates, the quarrel between husband and wife, the gossip between sisters, the ridicule between brothers, the scolding between father and son, all the voices mixed together, enveloping the space of the entire outer ring area.

Faintly, the sweet aroma of the bread baked in the bakery, the aroma of the bacon hanging from the butcher's shop, and the aroma of the ale wine transported in the large wooden barrels on the cart gradually wafted from afar.

The sounds and smells blend together to show the arrival of a new day.

A new day, ordinary and calm, as before.

"Whew, whew, whew, whew. As always, Pannis woke up from nightmares.

The golden hair was of various lengths, greasy and shiny, and messy on the head. The workmanship was exquisite, the ornate and expensive clothes were torn and tattered, and the clean cloth was now covered with mud and stains, and it smelled unpleasant. The slender hands were also dirty and black, and the nails were covered with mud. The originally handsome face was covered with a layer of gray by the dust, and the sweat and tears brought by the nightmare drew marks on the dust, and the stubble of different lengths was piled up on the face in a mess, looking indescribably decadent.

Awakened from a nightmare, Pannis, who was asleep, sat up suddenly, and did not open his eyes, but gasped for breath, and the facial features on his face were twisted into a ball, hideous and terrifying. His right hand trembled violently, every finger twitched, not only his right hand, but his whole body trembled, as if even the warm sunlight and violent trembling could not dispel the coldness and despair in his body.

"That's my sin. As the gasp subsided, Pannis sighed deeply and slowly opened his eyes to the sun.

The moment his eyes opened, he saw a black-haired figure walking step by step from the original gate of the abandoned house, facing the morning sun.

The long black hair was casually draped over his shoulders, and the silver chain mail wrapped around his slender body, shining. The sun shone from behind, adding a touch of gold to the ends of her hair, and also enveloping her whole body in a dazzling halo, like a goddess descending from the mortal world.

"Are you finally here?" Pannis looked at the black-haired figure in a daze, slowly stretched out his trembling hand, and his voice carried a hint of remorse and relief: "Is this the day of the final verdict?"

"You're Pannis?" the voice of the man woke up Pannis, who was caught in his own world. Blinking vigorously, his blurred vision slowly became clear, and only then did he really see the female knight who was already approaching him.

"You're Pennis?" the knight repeated her question.

Hearing the knight's question, Pannis did not respond at all, and lay back on the hard ground, grabbing a ball of straw from his side and covering his body, as if he was about to fall asleep again.

"Hey, wait. The knight exclaimed, anxiously, "We have something to ask you." ”

Penisley ignored it, curled up in a ball, put straw over his body, and closed his eyes again.

"We have a job to hire you. The knight threw out her demand.

"Hire me?" asked Pannis, who didn't even open his eyes, in a low and hoarse voice, "What to do?"

"Weeping Cave, we lack explorers. ”

Pannis finally opened his eyes, and looked the female knight and the two girls behind her up and down for a while with a meaningful gaze, her expression was very complicated, and she seemed to want to say no several times, but finally nodded and said calmly: "Oh, the weeping cave." Twenty gold coins a day, at least ten days of employment, pay half of the deposit first, and leave if you don't accept it. ”

This time, the female knight looked at Pannis with a critical gaze: "Yes, but you must be conscientious and obey orders." ”

"Be conscientious and obey orders, of course. Pannis jumped straight from the ground, gave a thumbs up to the female knight, and put a big smile on her dirty face, showing yellow teeth: "I have always obeyed orders and done my duty, no problem." ”

"First I'm going to check your Adventurer badge. After scanning the badge with a gadget, which Pannisy had pulled out of nowhere, the knightess filled a small money bag with fifty gold coins and threw the money bag to Pannis: "The agreement is established. ”

"Now for the first command. The priestess stepped forward, frowned tightly, and looked very serious: "Clean yourself up as quickly as possible, and then come to the hoe and malt to find us, I can't stand your image anymore." ”

Pannisy bowed down with his chest and demeanor full of grace, of course, without considering the mud and smell of his body: "At your service, my lady." ”

"You can call me Catherine, and Lina and Vivien. Catherine turned and left the house: "We are waiting for you at the hoe and the malt." ”

"Your will, my direction. Pannis maintained a bowing posture, his mouth agreed, but the expression in his eyes changed rapidly, and finally froze in a dazed and confused manner.

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"Yo, Pannis. The pretty proprietress of hoe and malt saw Pannis, who pushed the door in, and greeted with a smile: "It's really hard for you, you haven't starved to death yet." ”

"I can't starve. The neat and neat Pannis smiled and shook the money bag in his hand: "The same as before." ”

"Three glasses of Curran spirits?" the proprietress skillfully filled the wooden glass with three pungent smells of spirits and placed them on the table in front of Pannis, "Finally have money to drink?"

"Of course. Would you like to have a drink with the proprietress of the boss?" Pannis laughed and raised his glass to the dry cough of the tall boss's unkind gaze, which was enough to drunk the spirits of the three strong men, and he drank it all in one gulp. After drinking a full glass of spirits, his eyes were more sober, without a trace of haze.

"It's good, you're a professional now. The sound of stampeding could be heard on the stairs next to the bar, and three members of Nelly's Adventure Party walked briskly down the second floor and sat on chairs at Pannis's table, observing the explorer's new appearance.

Entering the working state, Pannis looked no more than thirty years old, with neat short blonde hair, brand new clothes that fit well, sturdy fabrics, and close-fitting designs, which can make it easy for the wearer to move. The hands are fair-skinned, the fingers are slender and powerful, and the nails are cut short so that they do not hinder any hand work. The original messy stubble on his face has also been shaved clean, and his thin face is handsome, but unfortunately even with a smile, his eyes are still as decadent and depressed as ever.

"Three very powerful Employer Misses. Pannis bowed slightly and said hello: "Can you introduce the situation?"

"Of course. The female knight pointed to the three of them in turn and introduced: "We are Nelly's adventure group, I am the leader Catherine, this is the priest Lina and the alchemist Vivian, Vivian is the dismantler of the team, you will have many opportunities to cooperate in the next few days." ”

"Nelly's Adventures?" Pannis chuckled softly, "But there's no one named Nelly in there?" ”

"Interesting?" Catherine looked at Pannis very seriously: "I admire the heroine Nelly a hundred years ago, and I have vowed since I was a child to be a model among knights like the brave and fearless Nelly, we call Nelly Adventure Group, and it is also to remind me not to forget my oath at all times, and to follow Nelly's example in everything." I don't think it's funny to be a name, and I don't think laughing at other people's dreams is something that someone who is about to become a teammate should do. ...... as a professional"

"Eldest sister, wait and talk about preaching, let's get down to business first. Lina duly interrupted Catherine's tirade.

Catherine was awakened by the serious preaching mode, took out an agreement from her backpack, and pushed it in front of Pannis: "Sign the temporary team agreement first, and then we will discuss it in detail." ”

Seeing that Pannis hastily signed his name after reading the agreement, Catherine began to introduce the mission with satisfaction: "Forty-two days ago, I received a mission issued by an anonymous person through the Adventurer's Guild. The publisher believes that in a corner of the Weeping Cave, there is a human relic from hundreds of years ago, which should be a building such as the Alchemy Potion Research Laboratory, and the publisher needs a potion called Life Force Mixture in the research room. There are two levels of completion, finding the entrance to the research room, or retrieving the Life Force Mixture. Our goal is to complete the task perfectly and take the round dose. ”

"Once you've found the lab, how do you determine which agent is the target?" asked Pannis, in detail.

"You're good, much better than the deceiver we met the other day. Hearing Pannis's question, Catherine was even more satisfied: "But don't worry, the client has provided detailed illustrated books and identification methods. The Life Force Mixture has a very special appearance, the potion will take on two colors in the container, red and green, and the two colors are coiled in a spiral, which has a very special appearance. After finding it, Vivien will use the identification method provided by the client to do the final identification, and after confirmation, we will complete the task. ”

"You've been deceived?" said Pannis, curious.

"Don't care about the little things that don't matter. Catherine dissatisfiedly avoided Pannis's question: "Do you have any questions about the mission?"

"Yes, I've been to the second floor of the Weeping Cave a few times, but I haven't seen any labs. Of course, I didn't go all over the second floor of the cave. So, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to find the lab. If you don't find a lab in the end......"

"You don't have to worry about that. Catherine interrupted Pannis's words with a wave of her hand, "As long as you do your duty as a high-level explorer, even if you don't find a research room, your reward will not change." In addition, although the agreement is temporarily signed for 10 days, it is possible to extend the agreement at the previous price if the actual situation requires. The mission was five months, so we had plenty of time to look for it. ”

"Good, then I don't have a problem. Pannis, who was in a working state, was in good spirits: "But can I see the list of supplies you have prepared?"

"Of course. Catherine nodded, motioning for Lina beside her to pull out a few pieces of paper and place them in front of Pannis.