At the guild house, the adventurers were gossiping when the king and his elite knights stepped inside, and then everyone became silent in both fear and respect. They bowed down their heads as the king walked towards the counter.
"Miss Receptionist, may I ask you to call the guild master here?" King Garron asked.
"Right away, my king," Tina replied, rushing inside the guild master's office.
"Greetings, my king," the guild master said, bowing her head. "May I know what brought your presence to my humble guild house?"
"Please raise your head, Silvanna," King Garron said. "There's no need for formalities. I just want to request one thing."
"What is it, my king?" The guild master asked.
"I've already found the adventurer who killed the giant golem," King Garron said, and the adventurers started gossiping. "As a reward, he requested one thing."
"What is it, my king?" Silvanna asked.
"To eliminate the bounty for his head," King Garron replied.
"D-do you mean," Silvanna couldn't believe it. "Do you mean it was that ogre who killed the golem?"
"You're right. I've visited him personally, and he has proof of it, the golem's core," King Garron said. "As a reward, he asked me to remove the bounty for his head."
"But isn't that dangerous, my king?" Silvanna asked.
"How dare you question the king's decision!" Camille interrupted.
"It's okay, Camille, I already expected this to happen," King Garron replied. "As the king of this kingdom, I sincerely ask you, Guild Master Silvanna, to take down the quest of killing the ogre."
Silvanna couldn't believe it, but she had no choice since it was the king's order. "Tina, remove that quest about killing the ogre," she ordered.
Tina rushed towards the board. She took the quest and gave it to Silvanna. Everyone in the guild was watching.
"Now, my king, I hereby eliminate this quest in your order. The people are witnesses that I don't have any responsibility whatever the consequences of this action will be," Silvanna said, then she used fire magic to burn the quest.
"Thank you so much, Silvanna," King Garron said.
"No problem, my king," Silvanna replied.
On the other hand, after lunch, Shawn decided to go to the adventurer's guild. He wanted to check if the king really did what he promised.
"Let me go with you, Shawn," Elisse said.
"No, you can't," Shawn replied. "It's not certain yet that my bounty was removed. If not, it will only put you into danger, so I wanted you to stay here and watch our house."
"Okay. I won't go with you, but you have to promise me to come back," Elisse said.
"I promise," Shawn replied before going. He didn't transform to his temporary identity, as he wanted to know if his reputation had changed or not.
To his surprise, the people didn't gossip about him and instead did their own thing, treating him like an ordinary citizen of the kingdom. "Is this what they call freedom?" he asked.
Shawn continued to the adventurers guild. He brought those rare items, the Gremlin's scythe and the Big Bear's tusks and fangs, which he took from the hidden dungeon, as well as the golem's core. He wanted to exchange them for cash.
"Oh, Mr. Ogre!" Tina exclaimed. "I'm glad you came here."
"Why?" Shawn asked. "Did something happen?"
"As you can see, the bounty on your head is removed, even though many people are against it, but the king himself requested it. But still, I want you to be cautious because not everyone around is your friend," Tina said.
"I'm very much obliged," Shawn replied.
"Anyway, the king said that you were the one who killed the giant golem. Can you show me the proof?" Tina asked.
"Yeah, that's honestly the reason why I'm here," Shawn replied. He took something from the pocket of his pants and showed it to Tina. "This is the golem's core. I wanted to exchange them for cash. I also brought some rare items I got from a hidden dungeon."
The other adventurers were shocked when the ogre took out a rare gremlin's scythe from his magic pouch. They realized that he was exactly the one who killed the giant golem. However, it didn't go well when a man came.
"This is unbelievable. I saw it with my own eyes; the one who killed that golem wasn't this ogre, it was a human!" the man exclaimed, causing shock to the people. "How could an ogre who was hunted protect the land of humans?"
Shawn was enraged by the man's sudden interruption, so he walked towards him and asked in a very serious voice, "Do you really want to know the truth?"
The man trembled in fear, looking at the scary ogre with an unreadable expression on his face and reddish eyes. He thought he was going to die when Shawn raised his hand, but then he was surprised when he transformed.
"Do you believe me now?" Shawn asked. He was in his temporary identity. "This is the man who killed that golem, isn't he?"
"Y—yeah," the man finally admitted.
Everyone was relieved to find out the truth. They welcomed Shawn wholeheartedly, thanked him for saving them from the golem, and invited him to have a drink.
"I'm sorry, guys, but I still have something to do," Shawn said, walking back to Tina. "So, how much are those rare items?"
"100 gold coins for the golem's core, 50 for the gremlin's scythe, and 30 for the tusks. All inl, that's 180, but I'll give you 200 gold coins for saving us from trouble," Tina said.
"But that's too much," Shawn replied.
"No. It's not enough to thank you, Shawn. You've saved a lot of people's lives by defeating the golem, or else the whole capital will go to destruction. The king himself wanted to reward you, so just accept it," Tina said.
"Thank you," Shawn said with a wide smile on his face. "I've never earned this much before. Well then, I have to go now, my wife, I mean, Elisse, is waiting for me."
Tina smiled. "Please come back, Shawn. You're always welcome here."
Shawn smiled back. He felt like on cloud nine, feeling like he was already in heaven, turning around as he walked and accidentally bumping into someone. It was Silvanna, the guild master.
"I'm sorry," Shawn said, extending his hand, helping the woman stand up.
The guild master was shocked when she looked up. She bumped into the ogre that many people fear but is supported by the king for some reason she couldn't understand.
"No, it's not a big deal," Silvanna replied. She stood up on her own. "I'm the one not looking in my direction."
"You seemed to be lost in thought. Did something happen?" Shawn asked, sounding like an inquisitive intruder.
"Um, yeah, I'm thinking about my sister. I heard that the dungeon was closed, and she must have gotten out of there already. Her task to protect the Drygsil tree was over, but I haven't seen her anywhere," Silvanna said. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I tell you so much?"
"No, it's fine. It seems like you're looking for Mieya, aren't you?" Shawn asked.
"How did you know her?" Silvanna asked, confused.
"Well, I was the one who cleared that dungeon, setting her free," Shawn replied.
"Do you have proof?" Silvanna asked.
"Yeah, I've just sold the rare items from that dungeon to your guild. Also, I can show you the dungeon's core; I still have it with me," Shawn said.
"No, there's no need for that," Silvanna replied. "I believe in you, but my problem is how to find Mieya. What did she say to you before she left?"
"She said she'd go back home," Shawn said.
"To the elven kingdom?" Silvanna asked, confused, touching her chin. "But I've been there already, and she wasn't there. I'm so worried about her. Someone must have kidnapped her, perhaps those slave traders."
"Slave trader? I've heard it before. Is that an organization that kidnaps people and sells them as slaves?"
"Yeah, but it's not only humans; even us, the elves, are being kidnapped by those slave traders. That's exactly the reason why I trained to become a warrior, so that I can protect myself and the people I love," Silvanna said.
"But Mieya is also strong. She could use ice magic; I've seen it when she fought with me—she couldn't be taken easily by those elf traders," Shawn replied.
"You're right, my sister is strong. It must be someone strong who kidnapped her," Silvanna said, a worried expression appearing on her face.
"Someone strong?" Shawn asked, confused.
"Yeah, probably from the demon world," Silvanna said. "I've heard from the adventurers that demons are coming out recently."
Shawn wanted to ask for more; he wanted to help save Mieya as she had saved him before, but Tina called Silvanna, and she rushed inside the guild house. "She's sure a busy woman," he said.
Shawn decided to investigate Mieya's disappearance himself. He wanted to know if it really had something to do with demons or maybe someone strong who conspired with the slave traders' organization.
"That's good news, Shawn!" Elisse exclaimed. She was about to hug Shawn when he extended his hand to her face, stopping her.
"Yeah, I can finally go around freely." Shawn let out a heavy sigh as he sat down on the sofa.
"But why are you sad? Aren't you happy that the bounty for your head is gone?" Elisse asked, confused. "Nobody's going to hunt you again. That means you can live peacefully."
"I just have another problem," Shawn said.
"What is it? Is there something I can help with?" Elisse asked.
"You've done enough already, Elisse. I don't want to bother you with this," Shawn said.
"But that seems so heavy for you. I've already told you, I wanted to serve you, so allow me to help, Shawn. Nothing will be gone from you if you share your problem; it'll instead decrease it," Elisse said.
"It's about a missing elf," Shawn replied. "The guild master has been looking for her, and I wanted to help."
"Isn't that problem not yours?" Elisse asked. "Why do you have to help her? You're burdening yourself thinking about other people's problems."
"No, this elf is my friend, so I wanted to help," Shawn said. "I already told you, you don't have to help me."
"Don't worry, Shawn, I know someone who can help us," Elisse replied. "Leave this to me."