---

The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 217: Soon

Having completed their respective quests, Fiera and Kamael returned to the Guild, where they received their rewards and sat down in nearby chairs to report on their quests, when four adventurers approached them.

“Rafi, An! Good work!”

“Thanks for your hard work, you two!”

“Yeah. Good job.”

“Good work!”

These were Rick and his group who had participated in the village’s bandit extermination alongside Fiera. Sonya, looking quite sprightly, greeted them warmly and glanced over at Kamael’s group.

“Rafi, who are the people with you?”

“These guys are my party members I’m traveling with.”

“Eh!? There are men too!”

“That’s surprising. I thought Rafi wouldn’t form a party with any men other than Eir.”

“Yeah. It’s because of El’s orders, so there’s no helping it.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Rafi, who loves El so much, wouldn’t want to go off adventuring with another guy.”

“Of course not.”

“Rafi, can I ask you something?”

While Fiera was chatting with Sonya, Shuvina, who had just been talking to them, called out.

“Who are these folks?”

“They’re acquaintances of mine and El. I met them while traveling before.”

“Hi-Hi! I’m Sonya! I’m 20 years old now! Nice to meet you~!”

“I’m Viche.”

Following Shuvina and Sonya, Kamael and Rick also introduced themselves and exchanged pleasantries, then gathered the nearby chairs to form a table for everyone.

“El and I got acquainted on our way to Minerva.”

“Ohh~! So you guys are going to Minerva too!”

“Yeah. We went there after parting with Sonya and the others.”

“Is that so! The fish dishes there were super delicious! We went there sometime after we parted from you guys!”

“Yeah. I want to eat it again.”

For a while, Fiera and Sonya started discussing their impressions of the meals they enjoyed, but feeling that the conversation was going nowhere, Rick cleared his throat and interjected.

“Ahem. Sonya, we didn’t come here to talk about food, did we?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Hmm? Did you have something in mind?”

“Not really, but we’re planning to leave this town tomorrow, so I wanted to say goodbye to Rafi.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah! We’re headed to the capital! We’ve been recommended for an incredible quest! But we still had some time, so we were visiting other towns!”

“What kind of quest were you recommended for?”

“Actually, there’s something called a Dungeon Practice in the latter half of the semester at Suzette Imperial Academy, where adventurers are supposed to take on some quests as escorts. We’ve been recommended to be the escorting adventurers.”

Upon hearing that the quest was from Suzette Imperial Academy, Fiera and the others exchanged surprised glances, while Rick and his group looked at them curiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm. It’s nothing.”

“Really~? You seemed to react as if something was up?”

“Ha-ha, don’t worry about it. More importantly, if you’re leaving tomorrow, won’t you be staying in the capital for a while? I believe the academy just entered its long break around this time.”

“Ah, yeah. So I’m thinking of chilling out while engaging in adventuring activities in the capital for a bit.”

“I see.”

It was quite the unexpected coincidence, but if they were coming to the Suzette Imperial Academy temporarily, naturally, there would be a higher chance of running into Lewis. Just imagining how they would react upon meeting the current Lewis brought a bit of joy to Fiera.

“Well then, we’re off. We just wanted to say goodbye to Rafi anyway.”

“Leaving already? How about joining us for a meal?”

“No, sorry, but I’ll have to pass this time. If El was here, we would have eaten together, but since it’s just Rafi, I can’t.”

“When we see each other next, I’ve promised to drink with El. It wouldn’t be fair to sneak off with just Rafi.”

“We’ve worked hard to reach the goal of having a meal with you two together like before. So, sorry about that.”

“I see. Then I guess there’s no helping it.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience. Well then, see you later.”

“Yeah. Thanks. See you later.”

“Yup! Next time we meet, let’s bring El too! Also, I’m looking forward to hearing good stories about you two!”

As Rick and his group began to leave, he suddenly stopped as if recalling something and turned back.

“Oh, right. Rahamu.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“There’s been a rumor about adventurers disappearing in a village called Yanbaru, not too far from here. I think you guys are strong, so you should be fine, but just be careful.”

“Haha. Thanks. Well, they’re strong, so it should be okay, but we’ll be cautious just in case.”

Hearing Kamael’s words, Rick and his group smiled reassuringly and finally left the Adventurers’ Guild to head back to the inn where they were staying.

“Did you hear that just now?”

“Yeah. Seems like adventurers are disappearing.”

“If it’s due to being attacked by monsters and they’re losing members, that’s one thing, but disappearing is strange.”

“Indeed. We should probably investigate this.”

“Yeah. An, what about the bandit man you were tracking that was mentioned in the report earlier?”

“No luck. He’s just been running away alone. He doesn’t seem to be of any more use, so can I take care of him?”

“Got it. No problem.”

“Understood.”

After Sonia gave instructions to the crows she had summoned, they dove down at high speed, pecking at the fleeing man one after another.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the man would then experience a slow demise, being eaten alive by the crows, enduring a time where he wished to die but couldn’t, until he ultimately perished unnoticed.

“Well then, since we’ve decided on our next destination, let’s head back for today.”

After that, Kamael and the others had a quick meal and returned to the inn they were renting to rest early, planning to head to the village of Yanbaru as instructed by Rick before dawn the following day.

“It looks terribly desolate, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. There are few people, and the vibe is just… lacking energy.”

“The stares are concerning too. It’s almost as if no one is noticing our presence; they don’t even try to look at us.”

When Kamael and the others arrived in the village of Yanbaru, they found it lacked the vitality of Alphis, with the few villagers walking around all wearing gloomy faces and not uttering a word.

Moreover, just as Sonia said, none of the villagers even looked at Kamael and his group, which was a strange feeling since they had always attracted attention wherever they went.

“This town is odd.”

“Looks like Rafi noticed it too.”

“Yeah. There aren’t any young men here.”

“Ah, now that you mention it…”

While Sonia’s group was concerned about the atmosphere of the village, it seemed Kamael and Fiera had focused their awareness on the village as a whole and realized that there wasn’t a single young man in sight.

“This may be a hit.”

According to Rick, adventurers were disappearing, but judging by the situation in this village, it seemed that not just adventurers, but young men were also missing.

“First, let’s go see the village chief. He might know something.”

“Got it.”

Considering the situation, the possibility of human trafficking seemed the most plausible, but since it wasn’t confirmed yet, Kamael and the others made their way to the village chief’s house while asking villagers for directions to find out more about the situation in the village.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

If you’re interested, please check out my concurrently serialized work, “The Former Hero Becomes a Demon King and Devotes the World!”

If you’re curious, I’d be happy if you take the time to read it!

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330663836544021

You can easily convey your support by clicking the heart. (Login required)

Support us

If you have an account, please log in

Learn about the reading experience available on Kakuyomu.

 

---