C50: A Secret Mission

"H — How can I help you??"

Alan gazed at the beauty standing in front of him. By instinct, his smile turned to a smirk. "We —"

"We're here to find a quest for some souls! Are you the one who hands out missions in this village?" Luke interfered before Alan could say anything.

"I am..." She mumbled. She truly had a shy voice. Almost as if Winry's and Lucy's shy voices combined.

Alan narrowed her eyes at Luke, and gave him the 'You're dead!' look. Though Luke did not even bother to look at his face while he talked to the woman.

[Oof...] Liana chuckled from the inside.

"So, do you have any missions regarding anything? Anything would do! Literally... anything." Alan said, impatiently.

Her mouth still trembled when she talked. She was quite a shy woman.

"But we don't have any quests!!" She blurted out.

Upon hearing this, Alan got confused. If there were so many monsters lurking in the woods... Why weren't there any quests?

"But that can't possibly be true. I heard that there were so many monsters here. Aren't there any missions? Anything? I just want to collect some souls." Alan asked once more.

Suddenly, the girl gazed at the back of the library.

"I... I do have one secret mission I have been working on, with a little girl. But... I do not know if —"

"We'll absolutely do anything! Just give us a quest! Please... I need it badly," Alan begged, stepping a little closer to the girl.

"Mmm! Ok! I'll let her know that you guys would like to join our mission," she said, turning around. "Come with me."

When they finally finished talking, the sun was out. Most of the people in the library had left and only Alan, Luke, the librarian, and some other guy who had passed out on his desk were left.

Taking a lantern that was hung over a bookshelf, the librarian took them through the giant shelves.

It was truly too gloomy, but somehow, all the words written on the book covers were glowing. If they had the library open at night and it was this gloomy, there must've been a way to read, right?

"Damn... This is goddamn creepy," Luke said as he followed the librarian.

"You're right about that," Alan agreed, gazing at the enormous shelves surrounding him. Cobwebs, strange fireflies glowing in green, and what truly creeped out Alan was this one section of books which was known as, "A guide for Succubus Leveling."

"The immense torture with pleasure."

"The spell of eroticism."

"How to grow large in every aspect."

"A guide to Virgin Nightmares."

Alan's smiled bitterly upon seeing this. "This place has books about everything, huh?"

"Yes... These books are as ancient as the city! They are all my precious treasures!" The librarian muttered, merrily. This made Alan feel even more uneasy.

Finally, they came to a stop at the back of the library where all the shelves came to an end.

At the very end, there was a table in the corner. And around this table, there was a map of the village and the very woods around it, and also, a mountain of books.

And sitting behind the mountain of books was a very small girl, possibly around the age of 12 - 14, considering how short she was.

"Uhh... So? Where is our secret mission?" Alan asked from the librarian as if he hadn't noticed anything.

"Wha... That there is our mission. She's the one who has a wild mission inside the forest. Didn't I say I was doing a mission with a little girl?" The librarian pointed her finger at the little girl who was reading a book like she was meant for it.

"Uh? That's a —"

"Melo!? Who are those two boys??" the little girl asked, jumping down from the chair and walking towards Alan and Luke.

"Umm... You see miss S — Sylvie, they are looking for a quest... and I think they might be some help to us." The librarian answered, with trembling words.

Sylvie looked at the two faces in front of her. Gazing at Luke, she said, "Hmph! You smell like you're too impudent!"

"What!?" Luke's jaw dropped upon hearing this.

Then, her gaze went to Alan, who was staring back at the little girl. "Hmph! You're a pervert!"

"Wha — What the fuck was that about!?" Alan's reaction was the same as Luke's. Both of them started to dislike the girl from the very first impression, but Alan was too desperate for the 15 souls he had to collect, so he didn't make any commotion with her.

"Oh my God... I don't know why I'm doing this, but... What is this mission of yours about?" Alan asked the little girl, with an annoyed expression.

Turning to the librarian Melody, she said, "Go ahead, Melo! Explain it to these lowly ones!" The little girl looked away with a huff.

This got in both Alan's and Luke's nerves. Mostly because both of them were 'royalty.'

"Umm... The mission is to find Sylvie's missing talisman, which was currently stolen by a demon." She said.

'A demon?' Alan instantly started to wonder about this. 'What the hell does a demon want with a little girl's talisman?'

"Hmm... What may this talisman be? Is it somewhat valuable?"

"It was the thing that enhanced Sylvie's abilities, and as she says... It is a thing with an extraordinary value. So, it is important for her." Melody answered Alan.

"Huh. So, defeating this so-called demon would not be such hard work would it? I mean... He stole from a little girl." Alan cackled.

Upon hearing this, the little girl smirked, gazing at Alan's eyes. "Haha! You're amusing... Traveler. I might just have some real fun with you guys. But first, we need to have a plan to take down that... Legendary demon."

Alan's annoyed expression instantly turned to a dumbfounded expression.

"I'll start with telling you how I first met this bastard..."

(18 days ago... in the woods near Horne)

"Goddammit! Where are you, four-leaf clover." Sylvie searched through the endless clover leaves with the lantern in her hand, hoping to find the four-leaf clover for a new potion she needed to create.

However, it was not the only reason she had come there.

For some days, the villagers had been talking about a savage demon that had been lurking in the woods, attacking their stables and even eating their livestock.

It was past midnight when she came to the forest to search.

The nightmares had disappeared for the night and Sylvie was ready to search for that 4 leaf clover till dawn if she had to.

Suddenly, she sensed the presence of something incredibly powerful.

The first thought that flew over her head was that it was the demon itself.

'Hmm? The demon? From the mana I feel... I think it's a legend,' Sylvie stepped back, summoning the two knives into her hands. "No matter what you are, I can kill you... demon."