My Guardian System: The Trader

Chapter 61 - Foreboding Feeling

After an hour of travel, he finally arrived at Seaside City. While walking along the streets, he heard some people talking about the appearance of the dungeon yesterday.

Jem tried to listen to their conversation as he passed by.

"Really?"

"Yes! A member of the Red Wing guild said that when they arrived at the site, the dungeon was already gone. It seemed a mysterious person cleared it before them." Said the man on the street to the other person with him.

"A mysterious person!?"

"Yes."

"Not a group!?"

"Not.."

"Eh? Are you sure about that?"

"Of course. Do you think a member of the Red Wing guild would lie about it?"

"....."

Based on their conversation, it looked like they were talking about him.

He decided to stop listening to them and continued walking along the street.

Jem quickens his steps.

When he passed by the market area, he noticed many people. Perhaps they already heard that the dungeon already disappeared, and now they are coming back.

Jem thought, 'Good thing that people are now coming back to this place.' He was hoping that the train station was operating now.

Although not all, several business establishments are now open as well, including small and big shops, cafes, and etcetera.

Jem, who was hurriedly walking towards the direction of the station, was unaware that right at this moment, a girl with pink hair was looking at him with wide eyes through the glass window. 

She could not believe it. That person, who was walking outside, looked a little identical to him, to that person that she knew.

"H-Hansen…?"

She whispered his name. 

Creak! 

"Wait! Wendy, what's the matter?!" Desty asked. She was confused as to why Wendy suddenly stood up from her seat. It caused a slight creaking noise.

Currently, they are having their lunch in a cafe. They came here because they heard about the dungeon. They heard that a low-grade dungeon appeared in this area. It was their chance to hunt low-ranking monsters and gain Ascendance points along with valuable materials.

However, after coming to this place, they learned that the dungeon was already cleared.

They wondered if it was one of the guilds from the association who did it. However, they learned that a mysterious boy was the one who did it. 

They were in the middle of talking about the mysterious boy when suddenly Wendy stood up from her seat.

Without responding to Desty, Wendy ran outside.

"Eh? What's up with her?" The person in front of Desty asked in wonder.

"I don't know. Wait, Miss Fate, I will go after here."

Desty and Wendy joined Fate Margaret's club. The three of them were the backbone of the White Rose club, in which the leader was Fate Margaret.

"Sure."

When Desty was about to come out of the cafe, she saw Wendy already coming back with a somewhat despondent face.

"Hey, what's up, Wendy? Is there a problem? Why did you suddenly run?"

"D-Desty!? Uh, ahem!" Wendy was a little startled. But she regained her composure instantly. "It's n-nothing, ahaha. I thought I saw someone I know, but it seemed like I was wrong."

Wendy remembered that time when she overheard Desty. Everyone believed Jem Hansen left the Academy. But in truth, Desty and his party suffered an accident and cost two lives. One of them was Jem Hansen's.

Right. That person couldn't be him. Jem already died in the Desolate Region.

After hearing her reply, Desty stared at her for a couple of seconds before she opened her mouth again. "Geez. Let's go back. Miss Fate was waiting for us."

Wendy could not tell her that she saw someone a little identical to Jem Hansen. Desty was trying to forget about him. She was recovering from that incident. That's why Wendy could not ask her directly about that incident.

"Ahaha. Yeah, let's go."

When Jem arrived at the train station, he noticed that it resumed its operation. When he glanced around, he realized that so many people wished to ride the train. Probably, most of them were the passengers who got stranded at the appearance of the dungeon yesterday.

Luckily, he was able to ride it. He remembered when he first rode it. He was with someone at that time. But now, he was traveling alone. Now that he thought about it. It was more convenient to travel alone. There were no disturbing feelings compared to that time.

After a couple of hours of travel, Jem finally arrived at the station of Hillside City. The first time he came here, he had no time for sightseeing because they were in a hurry at that time.

Now that he had a look around him, although the Hillside City wasn't as big as the Seaside City, it was also a lively city, huh. Though, not comparable to Seaside City.

He used his limited conversation skill to ask the people around him where he could rent a carriage.

Jem arrived at the terminal, where he asked for a ride towards the Hillside Plateau.

It took him a couple of minutes to arrive at his destination. He gave 25 red coins to the coachman.

Jem walked several steps before arriving in front of their farm. He was excited to see his grandfather. Beyond it, he could see the shade of their simple wooden house. However, even from afar, he could see that it was so rundown.

He also noticed something on the farm. The grains that were currently in there. They were the spring cereals from last spring!

He remembered he went to the Ex Soul Academy in the first month of Autumn.

They usually harvested spring cereals in the first week of the second month of autumn. Then started planting winter cereals in the early week of winter.

Jem felt a foreboding feeling about it. After all, his grandfather was already old.

He quickened his steps towards their house.

"Hey, lad! Oh, wait. Is that you, Jem?" Before he could distance himself, he heard a call.

Jem stopped for a moment and looked to his side, he saw a familiar figure, but it wasn't his grandfather.

He turned around and greeted him. "Mr. Barn, good day."

It was Mr. Barn. He was a neighbor and a close friend of his grandfather.

"Oh, ho ho! It's truly you, Jem. I almost could not recognize you, you know. Lad, you looked very different from before. Is it true you went to the military academy?"

"Yes, Mr. Barn."

"Oh, how lucky. That's good."

"By the way, Mr. Barn. Is my grandpa in the house?"

"Right. I am about to ask you the same question. But it turns out like you don't have any idea as well, huh."

"Wait, do you mean he wasn't there?"

"Well, it has been several months now that I haven't seen him. I thought he came after you."

Although it didn't appear on his face, Mr. Barn's reply bothered him.