The entrance to Carne Village.
It was still surrounded by the same wooden fence that offered little in the way of defense, completely unchanged from his last visit.
Nolan's reappearance caused a stir among the villagers, especially the matter of him helping the eldest daughter of the Emmet family carry weeds.
For the women of the village, who had so few interesting things happening, it was a piece of gossip of immense importance.
On the pathway.
Three figures walked towards the deeper parts of the village.
"I'll have to trouble you again this time, Village Chief," Nolan said politely to the Village Chief beside him.
"No need to be so polite, sir."
"The room has already been cleaned. It's still the same one you stayed in last time."
The dark-skinned Village Chief quickly spoke. While he was surprised by Nolan's return, he showed no impatience; in fact, there was a hint of respect in his tone.
The room had already been cleaned?
Hearing this from the Village Chief, Nolan's steps paused almost imperceptibly, then he continued forward.
At the same time, the corner of his eye glanced at a middle-aged man walking beside the Village Chief.
The man had a bow on his back, his right hand swung normally with his steps, but his left hand, which was facing away from Nolan, remained pressed against his waist.
Nolan could clearly sense that the man was a bit nervous, occasionally looking at the Lesser Evil Spirit Dog that followed him.
Does he know the Evil Spirit Dog?
If he remembered correctly, the only villager in Carne Village with a profession was named Luckymon. Judging by the bow on his back, this middle-aged man must be him.
Several thoughts flashed through Nolan's mind, and his tone shifted as he asked the Village Chief with some curiosity, "Have any other people visited the village recently?"
The Village Chief obviously couldn't have known that he would return to Carne Village. Since he didn't know but still cleaned the room, it must be because other people had visited the village.
"Yes."
The Village Chief nodded, "Several adventurer teams have come recently. They all stayed in the village for one night, then left in a hurry."
"Do you know what they came for?"
Nolan's eyes flickered; he already had some guesses.
"Adventurers are all important figures; they're not people we can question. And we don't know anything," the Village Chief said with a hearty laugh, his wrinkles creasing as he waved his hand.
Nolan looked at the Village Chief in surprise upon hearing this.
A very clever answer.
This might also be the way for commoners to survive.
Although there was no useful information, it wasn't hard to deduce.
For a frontier village like Carne, which rarely saw outsiders, the sudden appearance of several adventurer teams was most likely related to his actions in the forest during this period.
It was still the same room as last time.
Nolan entered the room and saw that it had been thoroughly cleaned; even the cobwebs on the ceiling beams were gone.
"Woof woof."
The Lesser Evil Spirit was quite lively, observing its surroundings.
"When there are outsiders, don't bark indiscriminately from now on," Nolan said calmly to the Lesser Evil Spirit Dog.
"Woof."
The Lesser Evil Spirit Dog's lively movements paused, it shrunk its neck, and its ears drooped.
The intelligence of most monsters isn't too low, and this Lesser Evil Spirit Dog's intelligence was even higher than Nolan had expected after their interactions during this time.
As long as the words weren't too complex, this Evil Spirit Dog could understand them completely.
Nolan reached out and grabbed something from the air, taking out a goblin corpse and throwing it to the Lesser Evil Spirit Dog.
"Tonight's dinner."
On the other side.
After taking Nolan to the room, the Village Chief and Luckymon walked back along the uneven dirt road of the village.
"Has something happened in the forest recently?" The Village Chief's hearty smile had vanished, replaced by a look of worry.
After a while, he noticed there was no response.
"What's wrong today? You're so quiet," the Village Chief asked, looking confusedly at Luckymon beside him.
"It's an Evil Spirit Dog!"
Luckymon's voice trembled slightly.
"What?" The Village Chief looked bewildered, not immediately understanding what Luckymon was saying.
"That monster following him is an Evil Spirit Dog," Luckymon looked up at the Village Chief, his expression somewhat pale.
"It's a monster even more terrifying than an Ogre, reaching a terrifying value of 45 in adventurer difficulty ratings."
"That one is clearly a cub, and cunning monsters like Evil Spirit Dogs will definitely stay by their cubs."
Luckymon took a deep breath and spoke seriously.
"Difficulty?" The Village Chief was still a bit dazed.
The so-called "difficulty" is a value used by the Adventurer's Guild to assess the strength of monsters. For example, an adult male has a difficulty value of three.
As the village hunter, Luckymon usually picked herbs and hunted ordinary wild beasts in the outer reaches of the Great Tob Forest.
He also needed to transport the village's surplus wheat and other crops to "E-Rantel" for sale, to exchange for and purchase basic supplies.
Therefore, he knew more about adventurer knowledge than the other villagers.
"Village Chief, he's not an adventurer either."
Luckymon lowered his voice, his gaze subtly glancing in the direction of the house Nolan was staying in.
"No matter what rank of adventurer, they will carry a metal plate on a prominent part of their body, made according to their rank."
His pure black hair, a clear characteristic of an outsider, and the Evil Spirit Dog cub accompanying him, made Luckymon inevitably nervous.
No matter how he looked at it, he felt he was a dangerous person.
Tap, tap~
A light footsteps sound rang out.
Luckymon, who was about to speak again, closed his mouth and looked up, along with the Village Chief, in the direction of the sound.
He saw.
Enri was carrying a wooden tray and walking towards them.
The Village Chief saw this and a kind smile appeared on his face: "Where are you going, little Enri?"
"Village Chief, Uncle Luckymon."
Enri saw the two people in front and quickly spoke, then her cheeks flushed with shyness:
"Mother asked me to bring some food to that adventurer adult, as thanks for helping with the weeds."
Luckymon glanced at the tray in Enri's hand: a steaming bowl of bean soup, clearly containing diced meat, and a plate of clean nuts.
"When did that Emmet fellow become so generous?" Luckymon whistled, half-jokingly.
"Alright, Enri, you go ahead."
The Village Chief gently waved his hand.
Enri respectfully nodded to the two and hurried away.
"Village Chief..." Luckymon saw Enri leave and then spoke again.
This time, the Village Chief waved his hand, interrupting Luckymon, and said softly, "Relax a little, Luckymon. This is his second time in our village."
Luckymon was silent, pondering for a moment: "Should we go to 'E-Rantel'? I have a feeling something we don't know about has happened in the forest."
This time, the Village Chief didn't speak. Instead, he turned sideways, looking in the direction where Enri had disappeared, and continued walking forward in silence.