56: Chapter 56: The Scarlet Letter 56: Chapter 56: The Scarlet Letter Four or five grey wilderness wolves were gathering by the roadside, seemingly tearing at something.

Noticing the approach of the Elf, the wolves immediately turned their heads, their dark yellow, bloodthirsty eyes staring at him with a chilling gaze, their bodies lowered, and their throats emitting a series of threatening growls.

The Last Dragon Descendant frowned, his innate keen Elven vision allowed him to clearly see what the wolves were tearing at, exactly.

It was unmistakably a mutilated corpse!

He slowly stepped back and took off the longbow from his back.

It was a reward from the guard training task of the caravan, with attributes that even in the eyes of the Last Dragon Descendant seemed quite remarkable.

[Guard Longbow], a blue-quality magic bow with a wind attribute, standard issue weapon of the Olivendi Caravan guards.

It could imbue the shot arrows with wind attribute magic, increasing the speed and power of the arrows.

Comes with three uses of Gale Arrow and one use of Penetrating Arrow Skill daily.

At the same time, the wilderness wolves released their prey and scattered in all directions like grey arrows, attempting to surround the Elf.

Three white-feathered arrows appeared between the Elf’s fingers, with layers of nimble wind element wrapping around the shaft, then as the bow drew to full moon, three pale blue Wind Arrows shot towards the pack of wolves in an instant.

Simultaneously, the wild grass beneath the feet of the wolves began to grow wildly, tough plants quickly entwined around the legs of several wolves, with even poisonous barbs growing on them, making their fierce struggle futile.

Second Rank Nature Magic—Plant Manipulation!

The grey wilderness wolves, with a Challenge Level of only fifteen, were no match for the Last Dragon Descendant, despite numbering five.

In the end, the five grey wilderness wolves breathed their last breath unwillingly, contributing four [Incomplete Wolf Skins] and one [Complete Wolf Skin] to him.

After exterminating the pack of wolves, the Last Dragon Descendant looked towards the mutilated dead body.

Judging from the clothing, the deceased seemed to be a female civilian of the Empire, but on her body were not only the bite marks of the wolves but also penetrating wounds from swords.

“Is this some kind of emergent task?

Or is it simply an unlucky encounter with bandits?”

Maintaining the good habits of a player, the Last Dragon Descendant began to search the body without any psychological pressure.

Because after all, this is a game, the system offers players two ways to obtain loot.

The first, much like an ordinary 3D game, is to call out the panel next to the deceased and choose the option to obtain loot.

The player’s character will then automatically use Mage’s Hand to retrieve items carried by the deceased.

How much loot can be found depends on the item’s concealment level, as well as the player’s attributes and searching skills.

The second method involves true mode, which is independent of character attributes, and how much can be found relies solely on the player’s own ability.

The advantage of this method is that early on, it is possible to ignore the search skill attribute.

However, the downside is that players probably won’t be able to find items with high concealment directly.

No matter which method is chosen, after the search is over, the player’s search skills will improve a little.

Moments later, the Last Dragon Descendant found 6 silver coins, 32 copper coins, a Black Iron Necklace, and a pile of letters soaked in dark red bloodstains from the body.

“Whew—these days, not even robbers fancy silver coins, can the pace of inflation not be stopped by magic?”

The Elf whistled in surprise, and then opened the letter with some curiosity.

‘Dear Aisha,’

‘How is everything at home?

Are the children growing up healthy?

‘I apologize for not fulfilling my duties as both a husband and a father.’

‘This time, the Mercenary Group has taken on a big contract.

The White Rose Army needs to secretly transport a batch of supplies from Wind Valley City to Manerqin Castle.

The journey back and forth will take at least six months.’

‘Despite the higher risks involved in this mission compared to previous ones, the reward for this mission equals to what I have earned in the past three years.’

‘With this money, you no longer have to toil all day, and our eldest son now has the tuition to enter the Professional College.

We are going to embrace a bright future.’

‘Thank you, Your Majesty of Gloria, for your kindness; even though we are but commoners, we also have the right to send our descendants to the academy.’

‘Do not worry, my love, take good care of the children, and wait for my return!’

‘Yours, Wood’

After reading the letter, a notification popped up on the panel:

[System Prompt: Random encounter quest ‘Deceased’ triggered.]

[Task Introduction: You have discovered an unfortunate soul who has perished at the jaws of a wolf pack.

However, the wounds from blades on their body clearly indicate there is more to their story.]

[Task Requirement: Read all the letters: 1/4]

[Task Reward: None]

“A trigger-style plot quest?”

The Last Dragon Descendant perked up; the introduction and requirements of the task clearly implied that this was the beginning of some side story quest.

His interest in the task stemmed from the mention of the ‘White Rose Army’ in the letter.

In the background story, the White Rose Army is nominally under the direct control of the Gloria Empire’s Royal Family and is one of the defense armies stationed at the Empire’s border.

A portion of the tax revenue submitted to the Royal Family by the Four Provinces each year goes directly to the army to serve as military expenses.

Unlike the previous caravan guards, the White Rose Army is a true elite force, with an average Challenge Level up to 60.

If he could make connections with them, he could soar in a short time.

While daydreaming about bright prospects, the Last Dragon Descendant opened the second letter.

‘I am sorry, Aisha’

‘I cannot forego this task.

If I proposed it, the captain would definitely demote me to a reserve member.’

‘You said you have a bad premonition, I admit that this mission is much more dangerous than before, but it is still within our capacity to bear.’

‘I have also heard the rumors on the road, but we are more than a hundred strong, and the captain is a powerful warrior at the peak of Sixth Rank.

Even if we face bandits and so-called dark wizards, we are well able to protect ourselves.’

‘Even if those damned nobles are to be blamed, at least their Gold Coins are innocent.’

‘Be obedient and wait for me at home, I will definitely return safely.’

‘Yours, Wood’

“Uh-oh, flag-raising much?”

The Last Dragon Descendant instinctively made a quip, his hands not stopping as he opened the third letter.

The order of letters was easy to determine, as each envelope had a sending time on it; just read from the older to the newer ones.

‘My dear Aisha’

‘We have arrived at Gray Eagle City, and there’s less than three days’ journey left to Manerqin Castle.’

‘You said the bad feeling in your heart is getting stronger?

Don’t worry, now that we’ve gotten this far, I can’t stop just before the finish line.’

‘Alright, no matter what, a hefty reward is soon to be in hand.

I’ll just spend a little more money, send a letter home every fifteen days to tell you my whereabouts, is that okay?’

‘Yours, Wood’