Lisea always felt like he had been set up, just two days ago when he went to the Adventurers’ Guild to receive his certificate, the receptionist lady had enthusiastically recommended all kinds of jobs to him, so how did she become so cold in just two days.

“Sorry Lisea, due to regulations from higher authorities, I cannot assign you any tasks until you complete your identity documentation. Lady Rong’an, please don’t look at me like that, this is a directive from above.”

The receptionist at the Adventurers’ Guild maintained her signature smile, dealing with the two in an extremely official tone, yet where no one noticed, cold sweat had already begun forming on the back of her neck.

There was no way she could tell them that yesterday she had received a share of money, that some malicious noble was deliberately targeting them, spending heavily to ensure they couldn’t receive any tasks and would eventually have their adventurer licenses revoked.

Obviously, this explanation wouldn’t convince Lisea, he frowned and stepped forward, urgently asking.

“Sister Anna, I’ve already submitted all the required documents, what else needs to be supplemented?”

“Little brother Lisea, could you complete the identity information of your parents?”

“What the hell, why are you insulting me like that!”

Hearing this, both of them couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of their mouths, after all everyone in town knew Lisea was an orphan, Xidis never spoke about his parents either, where was Lisea supposed to find their identity information!

‘Damn it! Can’t even curse in public! My fists are itching!’

Lisea was so angry he was momentarily speechless, turning to look at Rong’an, the maid gently patted the back of his head to comfort him, yet she was still helpless in the face of the situation.

After all, she had already realized that her young master had been set up by someone mysterious, otherwise the Adventurers’ Guild wouldn’t make things so difficult for him.

‘Troublesome…’

As Lisea’s loyal maid and sworn older sister, and also the only True Gold-ranked adventurer in the town, Rong’an believed she had a duty to help him resolve the current crisis, but she would need to rely on some adventurer connections, so she spoke to persuade him.

“Young Master, the Adventurers’ Guild must have their own considerations for doing this, let’s not make things difficult for Sister Anna, let’s head home first and think of a plan.”

“But Sister An... if this drags on too long, my adventurer license might get revoked.”

“Mm... actually, becoming an adventurer isn’t that urgent, anyway Lady Xidis gives you twenty gold coins as allowance every month, that’s already comparable to a noble young master’s expenses.”

To calm him down quickly and prevent him from causing trouble at the guild, Rong’an helplessly came up with a reason to brush it off.

But Lisea didn’t seem to get the hint and firmly refuted her.

“Sister Rong’an! That’s exactly the problem, I can’t keep eating and drinking for free at Lady Xidis’ place forever, you already have your own job, even if Lady Xidis never says it, she must want me to become independent!”

“Is... that so?”

Rong’an recalled Xidis’ usual behavior of practically stuffing money into his pockets and felt highly doubtful of his conclusion.

Lisea’s gaze was especially resolute now, because aside from dreams and conviction, there was another reason he hadn’t told Rong’an—he also wanted Lady Xidis to rely on him someday!

Just imagining being praised by Lady Xidis while she patted his head made the flame of motivation in his heart burn fiercely.

If Lady Xidis wore cat ears while praising him, that flame would burn even brighter!

Although it was presumptuous, Lisea simply couldn’t resist that adorable image.

“Young Master? Young Master!”

Rong’an shook him vigorously, pulling him back to reality, only then did the boy realize that now was not the time to fantasize, solving the job issue was the top priority...

Just as they were at a loss, the doors of the Adventurers’ Guild suddenly opened, and a series of tight, oppressive footsteps came from behind, Rong’an and Lisea turned to look and saw a group of young people entering the guild, wearing black church robes on their upper bodies and tight mithril plate armor below.

The blonde female knight at the front unfolded a document bearing the seal of the Holy Spirit Church and loudly announced.

“People of the Holy Spirit, we are members of the Nine Blades Knight Order under direct authority of the Church, under a cardinal decree, we issue a commission to the Adventurers’ Guild! We are recruiting adventurers with beginner-level or higher qualifications to attend interviews at the nearest church!”

Everyone present, including Lisea, was startled, after all working for the Church was an extremely lucrative opportunity, for Lisea it was even more so, he could directly report to the church without needing to deal with the Adventurers’ Guild’s attitude.

However, the additional requirement given by the female knight made many people back off, while many adventurers were capable magic users, those who had systematically received education at a magic academy and possessed a beginner qualification were not many, after all it required a huge expense, most mages in the guild were unlicensed amateurs.

Thus, most people chose silence and sighed.

But Lisea and Rong’an were different! Xidis had always been willing to spend money on these two, their theoretical qualifications were far beyond beginner level, they could even apply to be instructors.

So without any hesitation, Lisea pulled Rong’an toward the church knights.

* * *

At the marketplace of Silver Star Town, the once bustling crowd now seemed pushed aside by an invisible force field, retreating to both sides of the street, not daring to speak loudly, only whispering among themselves.

In the center of the street, two men walked side by side, one was middle-aged, nearly two meters tall with a striking rune-covered arm.

The other was slightly shorter, a handsome young man with charming red hair, dressed in church knight attire, his appearance was refined and heroic, yet the way he was stuffing red dates into his mouth ruined that elegance.

“Not bad, Count Kavier, a border town like Silver Star Town can actually reach this scale, it truly opened my eyes.”

“You flatter me, for a place like ours to catch Duke Filin’s attention is an honor.”

Henry Kavier, Count of the southern Lofas territory, one of the most prestigious military nobles in the south, yet now he bowed and scraped like a servant before the young man.

The reason was simple, this young man was the Grand Duke of the Central Continent, one of the leaders of the Nine Blades Knight Order under the Church, a peak Legend-tier powerhouse, Filin Falorent.

Kavier had originally been sleeping in his residence that morning, planning to buy baskets of fruit candy to present to Lady Xidis, but upon waking he learned that the Church’s knights had arrived, and that they were here to capture demons.

‘What a joke, Silver Star Town had always had excellent public security, any dangerous monsters within a hundred li would be crushed by Lady Xidis, how could there possibly be demons!’

This was clearly just another method for the Church to extort nobles!

So he wisely prepared several bags of gold coins to bribe these wolves, but upon learning that a commander had personally led the team, he realized the situation was not simple.

“Grand Duke Filin, look how prosperous and peaceful this town is, how could there be demons, I’ve always had zero tolerance for heresy.”

Filin glanced sideways at the middle-aged noble, smiled casually and patted his shoulder.

“Hey! I think so too, on the way here I didn’t encounter any monsters except goblins, the local security is quite good, there probably aren’t any demons, in my judgment, it’s most likely that the priest has gone mad.”

Filin also found the situation strange, their true purpose for coming to the south was to make money to fund the Church’s upcoming activities, normally such matters could be handled by ordinary knights, there was no need for a commander.

But the Church priest seemed to have gone mad, insisting that there was a great demon in Silver Star Town, crying and begging for Filin to come personally.

Now it seemed the man was probably truly insane.

To settle the matter, Filin reluctantly proposed a solution to Kavier and tried to change the topic.

“It’s not a big deal, just give me three hundred gold coins later, then hand over someone who preferably has no parents, no family, a bad reputation and a criminal record to take the blame... sigh, just thinking about having to pretend to investigate for a few days is tiring... anyway, Count Kavier, why is your town’s security so good? Any management secrets?”

Hearing this, Kavier fell silent, unsure how to respond.

He couldn’t possibly say that a former member of the Hero’s party lived in the town.

After the turmoil in the royal capital back then, Xidis had come to this border town carrying baby Lisea.

After arriving, Xidis asked him to help forge identity documents, find a good residence, provide two baskets of fruit candy every month and keep everything about her and the baby strictly confidential.

In return... she killed the black dragon that occupied the southern forest on the very same day and even gifted Kavier a suit of armor made from its scales.

At that point, what else was there to say, from then on Silver Star Town was basically his dear mother!

Thus, this once dangerous southern town that constantly faced threats from magical beasts became the most prosperous and safest region in the south within just twenty years...

Of course, to keep his promise, he couldn’t reveal anything about Xidis to Filin and could only speak vaguely.

“Perhaps it’s due to the protection of the Nine Holy Spirits, after all I once followed the Hero to fight the Wind God, maybe this is their special favor toward me.”

“Is that so...”

No one believed such nonsense, but the sharp-minded Filin immediately sensed that he had something he couldn’t say, so he didn’t bother pressing further.

“It’s good for things to be prosperous and peaceful, ah... it’s getting late, I still have to listen to Flora nag later, do you have two baskets of fruit snacks here? Let’s take them to the church and eat.”

“Ah no... these are for...”

Before the count could finish speaking, a beautiful girl in a black dress suddenly appeared from the street corner, eyeing the two baskets of fruit snacks with ill intent and smiling mischievously.

“Oh my, Kavier, today’s fruit snacks look pretty good.”

“Right, right, they look delicious, perfect for afternoon tea.”

Filin and the suddenly appearing Xidis both rubbed their hands eagerly, in terms of freeloading snacks, these two strangers had reached unprecedented agreement.

Xidis even directly grabbed a piece of fruit candy and popped it into her mouth, then covered her cheek and showed an expression of pure bliss.

“Mm, so tasty!”

“As long as you’re happy, these fruit candies were all prepared for the two of you, let’s go eat at the church together!”

“Sir?”

Xidis looked suspiciously at Filin, while the Grand Duke bowed deeply to her and introduced himself respectfully.

“Hello! Beautiful lady! I am Filin Falorent, commander of the Second Knight Order of the Nine Blades, here to eliminate demons and protect the citizens, may I ask your name?”

“Xidis Byronvis, an ordinary writer.”

‘So they’re members of the knight order here to hunt demons, what a joke, how could there be demons in my territory… Wait, that’s not right! I’m a demon!

Xidis’ smile gradually stiffened, and now only one thought remained in her mind.

‘I don’t want to eat these fruit candies anymore, can I leave?’