Outside Dorey City, in a remote village, the villagers, dressed in coarse linen clothes, were working nervously.

Daylight was especially precious; almost every moment was spent taking care of crops or feeding livestock. No one had the luxury to stand idly by, staring around. The only exception were the four Hunters, clad in armor and carrying twin swords on their backs.

Ed carefully observed his surroundings. The difficult tasks from the Moon Eclipse Demon Hunter Association were all somewhat similar. The reason he had chosen this one was based on the information provided: there had been a series of monster-related killings in the area surrounding this village, with the victims' bodies mysteriously disappearing without a trace.

Moreover, the village's Hunters, while hunting in the forest during the day, had discovered a large number of strange footprints—suspected to be left by ghouls. The number was considerable, estimated to be more than thirty, based on the tracks.

Recalling the details from the bounty task, Ed knew that ghouls weren't particularly powerful. Ordinary Apprentice-level Hunters could handle them with ease. However, when the number of ghouls grew large, two or three Black Iron-tier Hunters would be needed to deal with them.

Behind Ed, Ford was keeping his head lowered, cautiously observing Ed out of the corner of his eye. He still felt a cold, chilling sensation around his neck, the same one he had felt when Ed had placed the sword against him earlier. That single strike had made him feel as though death itself was upon him.

He absolutely didn't want to experience that feeling again.

Ed briefly considered the situation and then quickly assigned tasks to Anthony, Ford, and Toronto.

The seemingly friendly Anthony was tasked with speaking to the Hunter who had discovered the footprints. Toronto was sent to the location where the bodies had disappeared to investigate and look for any overlooked clues. As for Ford, Ed casually assigned him a task—he was to wander through the forest and see if there were any other signs of monsters.

Upon hearing his assignment, Ford's face immediately clouded with frustration. He glared at Ed with a bitter expression. Although it was daytime, the dense forest blocked most of the sunlight, and the possibility of encountering monsters was relatively high in such conditions. Ford worried that if he came across those thirty or so ghouls, he would have a hard time handling them alone.

Ed, of course, noticed Ford's reluctance but didn't give any thought to his feelings.

In Ed's eyes, the task assignments were perfectly reasonable. Anthony, who was good at gathering information and had a gentle demeanor, was far better suited to questioning the villagers than Ford, with his arrogant attitude.

As for Toronto, his introverted nature made him particularly sensitive to external information, with sharp observation skills. Sending him to check for any overlooked clues seemed like the perfect choice.

Soon, Ford left in a huff, and Toronto headed toward the place where the villagers' bodies had been stored. Only Anthony remained, quietly observing Ed as he left, worried that Ed might suddenly vanish without a trace.

At that moment, an elderly man with a white beard appeared in the distance, walking briskly with the help of a cane. He was shouting loudly, "Hunter, you've finally arrived! Thank goodness, we're saved now!"

Ed noticed how labored the old man's steps were and instinctively took a few steps forward to meet him.

Before Ed could say anything, the old man tried to kneel, but Ed quickly reached out and grabbed the old man's arm, helping him up. "What are you doing? We're here for the bounty task, no need for kneeling."

The old man looked at Ed with a puzzled expression but then nodded and began to introduce himself.

It turned out that he was the village chief. A week ago, two young villagers had died in an accident, but before they could be buried, their bodies mysteriously disappeared. Since then, villagers working during the day had often gone missing, and their bodies couldn't be found.

In addition to the hunter who had discovered the footprints, there was also a little girl who had been playing in the fields. For reasons unknown, she had seen something that terrified her so much that she became mute and refused to eat or speak.

Ed furrowed his brows slightly. He wanted to see the little girl.

Without saying a word, the old village chief, using his cane for support, led Ed into the village.

Before long, Ed found himself in front of a small iron cage, where a small figure huddled in the corner, her eyes blank, occasionally trembling involuntarily.

The old village chief quickly explained, "Sir, please don't misunderstand. This little girl insisted on staying in here. Her parents tried to get her out, but she refuses to move, no matter what!"

Ed nodded. He guessed that the little girl had indeed been frightened by some terrifying scene, causing her to fall into a state of self-protection, which explained her current condition.

The old village chief sighed helplessly and slowly said, "Sir, with all due respect, she can no longer speak. If you're hoping to get anything useful out of her, it's impossible. Sigh... she might stay this way forever."

Ed listened to the old village chief's words and glanced around. He didn't see the little girl's parents, so he asked, "The little girl is like this—where are her parents?"

The old village chief answered, "They're working in the fields. There's nothing they can do. The crops haven't been growing well this year, and with the limited daylight hours, if they don't work, they might go hungry if the harvest is bad."

Ed gave the old village chief a glance. He remembered that the bounty for this task was fifty gold coins. For ordinary villagers, that amount wasn't small, especially if the whole village contributed.

In the world of Hunters, gold coins were incredibly valuable to ordinary people, but for Hunters or sorcerers, upgrading equipment or making any improvements could cost amounts ordinary people couldn't even imagine.

It was like the items Ed had asked Thomas to purchase—they had cost nine thousand gold coins, enough to ensure the entire village's people could live comfortably without worrying about food or clothing.

Looking at the little girl in the iron cage, Ed thought for a moment, then removed the twin swords from his back. He slowly crouched down, carefully entering the cage, and sat there quietly, waiting.

The old village chief's eyes almost popped out of his head. It was the first time he had ever seen a noble Hunter enter a cage. He couldn't understand why, but could only quickly say, "Hunter, sir, you...?"

Ed gave the old village chief a glance, signaling for him to be quiet and not speak.

Time passed slowly for about ten minutes. The little girl, who had been curled up in the corner, seemed to sense the presence of a companion. She slowly raised her head and looked at Ed.

Seeing that the little girl had reacted, Ed slowly moved toward her, still saying nothing.

Finally, the little girl couldn't hold it in anymore. She first looked around as if checking for any potential threats. Once she seemed satisfied, she whispered, "Did you see him too?"

Him?

Ed held back the urge to ask more questions, nodded slightly, and whispered back, "Yes, I saw him too. He's in..."

Ed intentionally lowered his voice even more. The little girl picked up on his cue and responded, "In the warehouse?"

"Yes, in the warehouse. Did you see what I saw?" Ed continued to guide the conversation.

The little girl hesitated for a moment. Just as she was about to speak again, a woman's voice suddenly rang out, "Alice! My daughter, how are you? Are you feeling better?"

The little girl named Alice instinctively looked up in the direction of the voice. Her body trembled violently, then she lowered her head again, reverting to her previous state.

Ed sighed helplessly. He was just about to ask for some useful information, but unexpectedly, the girl's mother had appeared and interrupted everything.

"Village chief, village chief, how is my daughter? I see she's doing a bit better. Is the person beside her a Hunter?" A thin woman hurried over.

Ed crawled out of the cage, brushing off the dust from his clothes. His gaze shifted to the direction where Alice had been looking earlier.

There, a few villagers were carrying farming tools, walking slowly toward him. They had probably heard that a Hunter had arrived and were returning to see what was happening.

Recalling the fearful look Alice had given these villagers, Ed observed them closely, taking note of their features and expressions.

The woman who had come running approached the iron cage quickly, anxiously gazing at Alice inside. However, Alice had returned to her frightened state, not saying a word and not looking up. She had completely shut herself off from the world.

At that moment, Toronto and Anthony returned. Ed decided to exchange information with them first; perhaps there would be new discoveries.

His instinct told him that things in this village were far from simple. Whatever had scared Alice was among these villagers. Was it someone, something, or perhaps a monster?

As Ed walked toward Toronto and Anthony, he continued to observe the villagers from earlier.

The three of them found a more secluded corner. Toronto glanced at Anthony, signaling him to speak first.

Anthony's expression was serious as he spoke, "Ed, the situation is a bit strange. The Hunter who had seen the footprints earlier returned the next day, but all the tracks had disappeared!"

The footprints were gone?

Ghouls were not particularly intelligent creatures. How could they have erased their tracks?

This was strange—too strange.

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