Resurrected Immortal 1028

Chapter 1028 – (Side Story)06. A Witch’s First Love (3)

The first thing that came into Illyana’s sight was the sight.

It was something I couldn’t understand at all.

Five or six men are kneeling in a row, and a white-silver-haired man is standing in front of them.

And the faces of the kneeling men were all covered in blood and swollen, so they looked like they had been beaten to a great extent.

‘… What on earth is this?’

It was natural for Illyana to have such thoughts.

“Hmm?”

While I was hesitating in confusion, the white-silver-haired man sensed someone’s presence and turned around.

It was natural for her to notice Illyana’s presence.
If she didn’t notice her breathing heavily as she reached this narrow alley with such desperate stamina that she had to drag her feet, she must be quite dull or stupid.
Illyana and her man’s gaze met.

“… !”

Illyana’s body trembled for a moment.
Because she felt the eyes of the silver-haired man looking at her.
His perspective was completely different from the professors and male students of the same age that he experienced while living in the magic tower.

Her eyes looked up and down her body, hiding her dark inner thoughts and pretending not to be so.
As she became more mature and closer to adulthood, the dirty and unpleasant gaze that was directed at her as she became a woman ceased.
The red eyes of the silver-haired man are not those that evaluate one’s appearance.

It’s as if the eyes of a searcher are digging into her inner self, looking for material to define and judge the woman in front of her called ‘Iliana’.

Aside from feeling bad, it’s more like a gaze that makes your whole body stand on edge and tense.

The silver-haired man had eyes to discern something about the newly appeared unidentified woman.

As Illyana received that gaze, her nervous expression was evident.
A short silence followed as they looked at each other.

It was the white-silver-haired man who spoke first, as if breaking the stillness that had lasted only a few seconds.

“Isn’t it dangerous for a young lady to come alone to such a dark alley?”

“… What are you talking about?”

Illyana reacted indifferently to the words of the silver-haired man who spoke with a grin.

She felt strange.
Unlike usual, I didn’t feel irritated.

The act of looking up and down her entire body was so disgusting that it made her shudder.
Instead of feeling annoyed, disgusted, or humiliated, one side of her chest felt sore and tickled.
The emotional turmoil that I have experienced for the first time in my life.

Illyana didn’t know how to define this.

“Ah.”

Soon, Illyana let out a small sigh, erasing the small emotional turmoil in her heart.
It was because of one of the group of men who was kneeling in front of the silver-haired man in front of him, his face covered in blood.

This is a man who he bumped into on the street and who stole his money bag as a pickpocket.

“My, my money! Where are you?”

Illyana couldn’t control the irritation and anger boiling in her chest at that moment and rushed at the pickpocket who was on her knees.
It seemed like she had squeezed out every last bit of her energy, perhaps because of her intense anger, which had exhausted her stamina upon coming here.
She passed by the silver-haired man and grabbed the pickpocket by the collar.

“What, what, what are you talking about… !”

The pickpocket who was grabbed by Iliana was very embarrassed and stuttered.
Still, her flirtatious behavior was enough to infuriate Illyana.

“My money! You took it!”

“Ah, no! Therefore! I don’t know what you’re talking about! You know me!? What kind of bullshit!?”

“Where are you looking!? Look me in the eye and tell me!”

The pickpocket, who was still playing tricks on her, did not look at Illyana and speak.
To be exact, I am looking at the silver-haired man behind Illyana.

Please don’t do this, showing on your face that you will be screwed if you get caught.

“Hmm. “Just a moment.”

“… “What?”

A white-silver-haired man noticed the pickpocket’s confusion and intervened between Illyana and the pickpocket.

Suddenly, Illyana calmed down and continued the conversation with the pickpocket by her side.

“Hey. “Friend.”

“… Yes?”

“Really, that woman’s money. “You didn’t steal it?”

“Oh, I didn’t steal it! “You took out all the money you had and gave it to me!”

“Don’t lie! “You stole it when you bumped into me a little while ago!”

“They say so?”

“Well, that’s really…”

“Friend.”

The silver-haired man put his arm around the pickpocket’s shoulder.

And then he grabbed the pickpocket’s shoulder.

“Ouch!”

The pickpocket struggled in tremendous pain, perhaps due to the strength of his grip on his shoulder.
His entire body trembles from the intense pain that feels as if his bones will be crushed, and his knees fall to the floor once again.

The silver-haired man said with a smile.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier that if I come out after searching, it’s one coin for each silver coin?”

“Ah, as I said earlier, it was one coin per coin…”

“The pickpocket talks back?”

“S-sorry!”

“…”

The victim had no choice but to watch from behind.

Illyana couldn’t understand this situation.

What on earth happened that made these five or six pickpockets so confused by this man?

He looks like an ordinary man on the outside, but they treat him as if they were some kind of fearsome beast.

‘No. A little… ‘Do you look good?’

I thought about that for a moment, but what use is appearance in this situation?

“Friend.”

“Yes, yes! “Say it!”

“If you tell me honestly now, I will look at it. Did you really steal it? “You didn’t steal it?”

“…”

Even Illyana could hear the pickpocket swallowing her saliva.
After a moment of silence, the pickpocket finally took out one of his pockets.

“Ah… !”

Illyana sighed when she looked at her pocket.
She was the bag of money that had been stolen.
Illyana tried to reach out her hand to retrieve her own purse, but she stopped and looked at the silver-haired man.
She had a suspicion that he might ask her to do something in return for helping him.
Inside the Magic Tower, she often did favors for herself and then used them to demand something in return.
I remembered many childish incidents, mainly from male students who offered me help I didn’t want and showed condescension by offering me a meal or wanting to spend time with me.

Is it because I noticed Illyana’s gaze mixed with suspicion and wariness?
The silver-haired man burst out laughing and gestured.

“Take it.”

“… “Really?”

“Yes.”

The silver-haired man didn’t really seem to have any intention of asking anything of himself.

Illyana snatched her money bag away from her pickpocket and distanced herself from the silver-haired man.

“Please enter carefully.”

As if you were seeing off a close friend, wave her hand to say hello.
Illyana left the silver-haired man’s words behind and left her dark alley.

“Whoa…”

It wasn’t until I came out onto the crowded street that I breathed a sigh of relief.

I can’t believe that I, who originally dislike crowded and noisy places, felt relieved only after coming here.

It was absurd.

As she walked down the street holding it tightly in her hands instead of hanging it on her waist for fear of losing it again, she belatedly realized one thing.

“Oh, now that I think about it…”

She did not hear the name of the silver-footed man who helped her.
All she wanted to do was get out of that place quickly.

“… “Why am I like this?”

Since she was helped, she should return the favor.
Was she a person who had that way of thinking?
I don’t know.

At least Illyana hasn’t lived that way until now.

This may be the first time since her own teacher, Arden, that she treats herself with pure favor without expecting anything in return.
So what is the right thing for her to do about that man?
This also could not be answered.

Illyana’s only feelings about her inability to answer were agitation and confusion.

“… Let’s think about it later.”

Illyana was too tired right now to continue worrying.

“… Let’s go back.”

Not wanting to do anything, let alone go to her adventurer’s guild, Illyana postponed her plans until tomorrow.
When she first met the silver-haired man who offered her an unpaid favor, she said, ‘I wish we could meet again.’ Without even realizing it, she thought.

◆ ◆ ◆

“… “What?”

The next afternoon.

It was well after lunch when Illyana left the Magic Tower and visited the Adventurer’s Guild. She heard shocking news from the receptionist.

“It is as I said. Currently, the hiring cost of adventurers has increased.”

She originally planned to hire veteran adventurers above the Silver rank to produce results to submit to the external evaluation.
She thought that the budget she received from Aden would be enough.

The cost of hiring adventurers, which was initially assumed, has increased nearly four to five times.

“Starting yesterday, the magicians at the Magic Tower suddenly started hiring adventurers.”

The reason for the surge in demand was that not only Illyana but also students from other magic towers hired veteran adventurers to fill in the credits they lacked.

Naturally, all upper-level adventurers who can achieve high performance and performance are hired.

The current situation was that they were hiring even adventurers of the silver level or the same level who had just been promoted by crying and eating mustard.

It was natural that the supply of adventurers’ manpower could not keep up with the rapidly increased demand.

In other words, the ransom of adventurers residing in the Magic Tower has increased noticeably.

“…”

Illyana couldn’t say anything.

The variable that was not taken into account was Illyana’s big mistake.

I can’t believe that postponing a visit to the adventurer’s guild for a day due to excessive physical and mental fatigue due to pickpocketing had such a big butterfly effect.

Illyana was a genius only in the field of magic, but her vision was hopelessly narrow in other fields.
Illyana sighed a little and couldn’t do anything else.
Within her budget, she had no choice but to hire the best adventurers.
But I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

The adventurer party hired by Illyana based on her receptionist’s recommendation was a party that had just been evaluated for promotion to the silver rank.
The members of the adventurer party, who had just shed the rank of beginners, were young adventurers consisting of Illiana and men of her age.

“… “You’re going to the snowy plains of the north?”

A man who appeared to be the leader of the adventurer party reacted with shock upon hearing the details of the request presented by Illyana.

Other party members also had similar reactions.

“I’ve never explored there before…”

It was a natural reaction.

The snowy plains of the north were terrain that most adventurers were reluctant to explore.

Basically, it is cold, and it is not easy to even procure food.

Moreover, at night, when you need to get enough rest, the temperature drops even further, making it difficult to get that rest properly.

“So, wouldn’t the pay be strong?”

“Hmm…”

The leader of the adventurer party was worried.

It’s definitely excessive compared to the down payment you usually receive, four or five times more.

Where can they go and touch this amount of money?

Moreover, it is said that half of the request fee is paid as an advance fee, so for this amount, it is not difficult to replace it with more expensive equipment.

The reason the other adventurers also reacted with trepidation but did not immediately show their intention to refuse was because this was also an opportunity.

Exploration of the northern snowfield was clearly a difficult quest, so it could be a good bonus point for the silver tier evaluation that is currently in progress.

“Oh, if you’re a little worried, may I introduce you to a ‘guide’?”

“Guide?”

The leader of the adventurer party showed interest in the receptionist’s suggestion at the right time.

“Yes. He is quite knowledgeable about the northern part of the country, so he will definitely be of help.”

With a confident tone, the guild receptionist smiled and said.