Frilian: Starting by inheriting the title of the Southern Hero

Chapter 49 Despicable villain, despicable adult, despicable old man, despicable dead man

Thirty-three years after the Xin Dynasty, in the village of Nierkalen.

Lynn and Laoffen entered the village at dusk, and wisps of smoke were rising from the chimneys of several houses.

"Let's find a place to stay for the night," Lynn said.

"Um."

Laofen nodded. "Let's go then. Let's ask at the village chief's house if we can stay overnight."

Following the villagers' directions, the two arrived at the village chief's house.

The village chief was a hunchbacked old man. After hearing the purpose of their visit, his gaze lingered for a moment on the sword at Lynn's waist and Laofen's staff.

"Accommodation is no problem. You two are adventurers, right? There's something I'd like to ask you for help with, and in exchange, the accommodation will be waived."

Lynn raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

The village chief rubbed his hands together, a troubled expression on his face: "For the past three nights, monsters have been coming to ravage our vegetable gardens. We're all ordinary people in this village; we really don't know how to deal with them."

"What kind of monster?" Lynn asked.

"I don't know, nobody has seen it."

The village chief shook his head, "The next morning we found the vegetable garden had been turned upside down and was a complete mess."

"Take us over there and have a look," Lynn said.

The village chief nodded and led the two to the vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden was at the west end of the village, surrounded by a crooked wooden fence. Radishes and potatoes were planted in the garden, and at this moment it was indeed a mess, with many seedlings uprooted and fresh soil turned out on the outside.

"This is it."

The village chief pointed to those marks.

Lynn crouched down and looked inside. There were no obvious claw or hoof prints in the soil. "I didn't find any monster footprints."

"Could it be flying in the sky?"

Laofen looked up at the darkening sky. "Or perhaps some kind of ghost-like monster?"

"Possibly."

Lynn stood up. "We'll see tonight."

After the village chief left, Laofen found a clean rock and sat down.

As night fell, a cool breeze blew.

Moonlight shone through the clouds onto the vegetable garden. Lynn sat cross-legged behind a haystack beside the garden, arms crossed and eyes closed, resting.

Laofen lay beside him, her hands supporting her chin, her eyes glancing occasionally toward the vegetable patch.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the vegetable garden.

It's a little boy!

The two did not act immediately, since there was no evidence yet, so they just watched as the little boy pulled up seven or eight carrots.

"You're the monster the village chief was talking about, aren't you?"

Lynn emerged from behind the haystack.

Upon hearing the sound, the little boy turned his head sharply, dropping the carrots he was holding onto the ground.

Lynn walked up to him in a few steps, squatted down, and looked him in the eye. "Tell me," she said, "what's your name? Why did you steal the village's vegetables? And why did you cause such destruction?"

The little boy puffed out his chest, his face beaming with pride: "My name is Rein, and I'm a magician! Magicians need to replenish their magic power!"

Raofen tilted her head and asked earnestly, "Can these vegetables replenish magic power?"

"No, that's not it."

Ryan's momentum instantly deflated by half. "I was just bored."

Lynn was silent for three seconds, then suddenly turned to Laofen and said, "Laofen, he's definitely a demon in disguise! Make your move!"

"Lynn, don't be so angry."

Laofen stopped Lynn's impulsiveness, "We need to hand him over to his parents and discipline him properly."

"Alright."

Lynn shoved his sword back into its sheath, reached out and pressed down on Ryan's head, giving it a couple of hard rubs. "Come on, take us to see your parents. You're not getting away with this beating tonight."

Raine bit his lip, his eyes darting around: "Fine, I'll see you then."

Three people walked on the dirt road under the moonlight.

Ryan walked slowly, glancing back every now and then.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle."

Lynn urged them on from behind.

"arrive."

Renn stopped behind a dilapidated wooden house.

Where are your parents?

Lynn looked around but didn't see anyone.

Raine didn't speak, but simply turned his gaze to the empty space next to him.

Lynn followed his gaze and saw two small mounds of earth with two simple wooden signs in front of them, the characters of which were crooked and distorted.

My heart skipped a beat, and the lecturing words I had prepared got stuck in my throat.

"That's... your parents' graves?"

His voice softened.

"no."

Ryan shook his head. "It was my old dog."

Lynn's expression froze, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

"You brat."

Lynn was furious. "Lead the way! If you try anything funny again, I'll plant you in the ground and use you as a radish!"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing you guys. You have no sense of humor."

Raine made a face before leading the two around the cabin to the right place.

In front of the other two graves.

Looking at the two graves, Lynn's anger was extinguished by a bucket of cold water, leaving him speechless for a moment.

"My parents are really here."

Ryan kicked a pebble on the ground. "I'm not lying to you this time."

Lynn was silent for a moment, then turned to the girl behind him: "Laopen, what do you think?"

"Let the village chief handle it."

Laofen said, "We were just hired, not hired to be babysitters."

Lynn nodded, grabbed Ryan by the back of his collar, and led him to the village chief's house like a little chick.

The village chief was speechless as he looked at the culprit who had destroyed the farmland. He finally decided to punish Rein by making him do a week of volunteer work in the village to make up for the loss.

……

After spending the night at the village chief's house, Lynn got up early, washed up quickly, and then took Laofen out of the village.

"Where to next?"

Laofen held her staff horizontally behind her and moved with light steps.

"Flo Village".

Lynn looked up to determine the sun's position. "We'll get there after we cross that mountain. It's not a long journey."

The two walked along the dirt road to the village entrance. Under an old locust tree that was as thick as three people could hug, a figure was swinging his arms wildly, accompanied by heavy breathing.

He was an old man.

His hair was gray, but neatly combed, and he wore a faded linen robe.

He was doing chest expansion exercises, and his movements were so precise that he didn't look like an elderly person.

Hearing footsteps, the old man paused, abruptly turned around, and his spirit stunned Lynn.

"Are you two the young men who caught the thief last night?"

The old man spoke with a smile, his face crinkled together, looking quite kind.

Lynn stopped and nodded politely: "And you are?"

Cromwell.

The old man pointed his thumb in the opposite direction at himself, "I heard the village chief mention you this morning, you live at the east end of the village."

Lynn nodded as a greeting and prepared to continue on his way.

"etc."

Cromwell stepped forward, blocking the road. "Judging from the direction you're going, are you heading to Flo Village?"

"Yes."

Lynn looked at the overly energetic old man. "What advice do you have?"

"I wouldn't call it giving advice."

Cromwell rubbed his hands together, a smile spreading across his face. "I just wanted some company. I also have some business to take care of in Flo Village."

"travel together?"

Lynn looked him up and down. "The road we're going to take is not easy. We'll have to cross mountains and not take the main road."

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Cromwell patted his chest. "Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm in great shape."

"OK."

Lynn agreed, "If it's just a stretch of road, I have no problem with it."

"That's great!"

Cromwell was overjoyed and turned to run to a low, crooked house next door. "Wait a moment, I'm going to get my staff."

After saying that, the old man turned around and ran to a room next door.

Watching the old man's agile figure, Lynn raised an eyebrow: "A magician, perhaps?"

Cromwell was released not long after.

He was carrying something in his hand.

Lynn's gaze fell on that thing, and his eyes twitched wildly.

It was a wooden spiked club! It was as thick as a thigh, and the top was studded with sharp iron nails, densely packed together, which looked terrifying.

Cromwell slung the menacing wooden club over his shoulder, a hearty laugh on his face. "Sorry to keep you waiting, let's go."

Lynn pointed blankly at the wooden stick, his throat dry: "This is your... staff?"

"yes."

Cromwell nudged the guy on his shoulder. "Is there a problem?"

Lynn's lips twitched.

This is the first time I've ever seen someone use a spiked club as a magic staff.

Are you sure you didn't take the wrong one?

Lynn couldn't help but ask again.

Cromwell then took the spiked club down, weighed it in his hand, and immediately showed a look of sudden realization.

"Oh dear, look at my memory."

He slapped his forehead. "I took the wrong one, I really took the wrong one. I'm getting senile."

Lynn breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it seems the old man is just old and has poor eyesight.

If someone actually uses this thing as a staff, then the magical world is truly doomed.

"Please go change quickly, we'll wait here for a while."

"Okay, coming right away."

Cromwell tossed the wooden mace against the wall and ran back into the house.

This time it took a little longer.

The sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets came from inside the room, mixed with the crisp clanging of metal.

Laofen chuckled: "This old man is quite interesting."

"That's not funny; it's sad to forget things."

Lynn looked at the half-closed door.

A moment later, Cromwell came out.

He was dragging an even bigger thing along.

Lynn's smile froze instantly.

It's still a spiked club, but this time it's made of metal.

It was thicker than the previous piece of wood.

"This time it's right."

The old man smiled broadly.