As I logged in early in the morning, Yongyong greeted me, but… his face looked half-worn away!?

“What happened!?”
“Kkyuu…”
“What do you mean by that!?”

He said he’d overexerted himself for my sake, and as he ate the mana stone I gave him, his thin face made my heart ache a little…

After Yongyong finished his meal, I hugged him tightly. Now that Ernia was gone, it was my chance to escape.

According to Yongyong, the mark had been erased, so there shouldn’t be any more tracking, right?

I took out a *Teleport Scroll* from my inventory, and the moment I used it, I found myself in front of the guild’s headquarters in the bustling city of Talisa, surrounded by a bright light.

Opening the door and stepping inside, the guild members stared at me with surprised eyes.

Then, my stalker—no, Sasha—grabbed my shoulders, checking me over as she looked at me with worried eyes.

“Where have you been all this time!? I was so worried when I couldn’t reach you!”
“Ahaha… Sorry. I was kidnapped by Ernia, but I managed to escape.”
“Ernia…? Who’s that?”

At that moment, Lea, who was holding a cup, dropped it.

“Ernia… the Dragon King…”

\*\*\*

Sensing a presence, I entered the room, but Yuna was nowhere to be found. Only the neatly made bed remained.

“She escaped.”
“That’s unfortunate. I wanted to say goodbye…”
“You’ll have a chance next time. She’d like Yuna, too, I’m sure.”
“Really? I look forward to it.”

My little one smiled, mischief sparkling in her eyes.

Who did she inherit that mischievous streak from, I wonder…

“Treat her well.”
“Don’t worry, Mom.”

Her bright smile only made me worry more.

Well, if it’s Yuna, she’ll handle it.

\*\*\*

“Achoo!”
“Kkyuu!?”
“No, no, I’m fine.”

As I patted Yongyong’s head to reassure him, saying I was okay, I realized he was more worried than I was.

With his face half-gone, he hadn’t told me what happened, so I was still in the dark.

As I hugged him, I felt like I’d forgotten something important. And then, just as I left the village, I saw Ran’s face and it hit me.

“My savior…”
“Ah…”

I left Ran back in the lair. And she managed to escape, too…?

Apologizing, I handed her a mana stone, which she accepted, saying it was okay.

Ran returned to her village with a parting message to call her tribe anytime I needed help.

Waving goodbye, I started toward the hunting grounds with Yongyong when a voice called out to me.

“Child.”
“Huh? Me?”

Turning around, I saw an elderly woman who hadn’t been there a moment ago, sitting on a mat in the middle of the plain.

“Would you like a fortune reading? Just 10,000 gold.”
“Goodbye.”

As I tried to walk away, I heard her voice again.

“Oh, dear, sorry, husband. Looks like we’ll be going hungry tonight.”

Turning back, I walked up to her.

She squinted at me, scrutinizing my face.

“You’ve been going through a tough time lately, haven’t you?”
“How did you know!?”

The old woman extended her hand toward me.

I handed over 10,000 gold and patted Yongyong’s head as he sighed. Then I listened to what she had to say.

“Your parents have been putting you through a lot lately, haven’t they?”
“They passed away, actually.”
“…”

Startled, she pulled a crystal ball from her robe and started fiddling with it.

“I mean, do you have any siblings?”
“I have an older sister.”
“R-right. Has your sister been giving you a hard time lately!?”
“She, uh… left with our parents on that journey.”

The old woman looked away, her face blank with shock.

I told her she didn’t need to refund the money and was about to leave when she grabbed my arm.

“I didn’t want to use this, but… sorry, husband.”

She pulled out something else from her robe—tarot cards?

“Draw one.”

I chose a card from the spread she laid out. It was a knight on horseback.

“Oh! Such a fortunate card! You are under the number of *Tongcheonji-su*, the fate of heaven’s favor…”

“It’s the Death Knight card, though?”

The old woman took out her glasses and stared at the tarot card, where a skeleton in armor rode a horse.

“What I meant was… someone who’s died has recently returned to life, hasn’t he?”

Yongyong nodded in agreement at that moment.

“Yongyong says that’s correct.”
“Yongyong…? Anyway! Since you pulled such a good card, I’ll give you a special gift.”

She continued to pull things from her robe, as if she had a pocket dimension in there.

Finally, she handed me a glowing orb.

「??? Treasure Map」
It looked like an orb but was actually a map.

“Go to the marked location. The map will guide you.”

It’s supposed to guide me? But isn’t it just a map? I decided not to say that aloud.

I thanked her and was about to examine the orb closely when a strong gust of wind made me blink, and when I opened my eyes, the old woman was gone.

Was she… a ghost?

“Maybe we should get an exorcism when we return?”
“Kkyu?”

As Yongyong asked what an exorcism was, I patted his head, and when I used the orb, it disappeared in a bright light, and I heard a voice whisper.

[Starting route guidance.]

“W-what!?”
“Kkyuu!?”

Yongyong seemed just as surprised to hear it.

[Turn right in 1 kilometer.]

“How far do we have to go?”

[Calculating estimated arrival time.]

[Estimated walking time: 14 days.]

“Are you kidding!?”

Exasperated, I thought it over and reluctantly whistled with two fingers.

“Pheeeeep!”

Yongyong looked at me curiously.

After a while, I heard something approaching from a distance.

It was none other than… the bear taxi!

“Grrraaawr!”
“You’re charging me extra!? Unbelievable!”

Riding on the bear’s back, we followed the map’s—no, the navigation’s—instructions. After several days, we finally arrived.

It was a coastal fishing village. What kind of treasure could be hidden here!?

[You have reached your destination. Navigation terminated.]

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

How was I supposed to find treasure without the navigation!?

After paying the bear for the ride and sending it on its way, I entered the village.

Something felt off.

It wasn’t an ordinary village. It had the unsettling feel of a criminal hideout.

While looking around, I noticed some shady figures approaching me, ropes in hand.

“Young lady. What brings you to our village?”
“Sightseeing!”
“Sightseeing? In a place like this?”
“Yes!”

My confidence seemed to throw them off, and they exchanged glances.

One of the men holding a rope turned around and muttered.

“We may be bad guys, but we’re not about to mess with a kid, are we?”
“What are you saying? This isn’t our first day at this!”
“I agree. Going after a child is just…”

Except for the man who was speaking up, they all started to disperse. The remaining man met my eyes and sighed, telling me to leave the village.

“This place isn’t the peaceful village you might think it is. You’d better leave before something bad happens.”
“What kind of place is this?”
“If I tell you that, I’m dead.”

After the man who warned me disappeared, I was left alone and decided to look around.

Moving like a shadow, darting between cover like an assassin!

“Kkyuu.”
“You can see me!? No way!”

In the end, I gave up. As I continued looking around, things seemed suspicious—no, blatantly suspicious.

I arrived at a spot with several large wagons gathered, and I heard strange noises coming from within.

It sounded like metal scraping… or maybe someone screaming—I couldn’t tell.

Taking advantage of a moment when the guards stepped away, I snuck into a wagon and peeked inside.

“This… crosses a line.”
“Kkyuu.”

Inside, various creatures, including young monsters and beastfolk, were caged like slaves.

Their wrists and ankles shackled in chains.

Hoping this was an exception, I checked the other wagons, but all of them were the same.

I wanted to free them, but it was beyond my power alone.

Suddenly, I thought of the Enho tribe.

They did say I could call them whenever I needed help, right?

As I pondered how to ask for assistance, an idea came to me.

“Help!!!”

[Skill: Help Me! Summoning activated.]