Chapter 25: The Harried Sheriff
Chapter 25: The Harried Sheriff
"Good! Take the bodies away and clean up the traces in the room," Hamilton nodded.
"Human skin mask?"
"Warrant?"
"Scarface?"
Upon hearing this series of keywords, Rayn was initially puzzled, but then he was startled, clearly a bit apprehensive. He hadn't expected these two to be the wanted bandits on the warrant. He had been fortunate to defeat them, as they could have easily turned the tables on him if they had been more cautious. Scarface had been deceived by Rayn's frail appearance and acting skills, while Blackbeard had been distracted by his lust for Anna.
If either of them had been more alert, Rayn might have been at a disadvantage. But why did the name Scarface sound so familiar?
Oh, right! That guy was worth a whole five imperial gold coins!
Rayn's eyes lit up as he remembered the bounty for Scarface on the wanted poster.
After finishing breakfast, Rayn rushed to the town's administrative office as if running for his life. Passing by the guards at the entrance, a sentry escorted Rayn to Hamilton's office.
"Knock, knock, knock!" The sentry knocked on the door.
"Enter!" A deep, resonant voice responded.
"The bounty? Come to the town hall tomorrow," Hamilton said, smiling enigmatically at Rayn, before turning to leave.
Rayn nodded, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He began to look around the room.
Old Rayn glanced at Anna, who was eating with her head down, her face flushed with embarrassment. He smiled and said, "Alright, you've got yourself a lucky break, you rascal!"
As the town's sheriff, Hamilton's status was second only to the governor.
However, with his parents' admonitions, Rayn could only listen obediently for now. He would find an opportunity later to reveal the truth to his parents.
Perhaps it was Rayn's presence that allowed the girl to sleep soundly in the latter half of the night, her long eyelashes still fluttering on her flushed face.
Rayn gently picked up the slightly limp girl and returned to his own home next door.
After all, two people had just died here.
"Rayn, you better treat Anna well!" his mother said with a mischievous smile.
"Also, just yesterday, my guards reported that they spotted the Finny Fiends near our water source, Gleam Lake, northwest of town. Those disgusting creatures pollute the water severely! But I don't have enough manpower to drive them away."
At this moment, Old Rayn interjected, his expression turning slightly serious. "You need to learn to take responsibility, Rayn. Anna is a good girl; you can't let her down."
Rayn's heart filled with joy.
This caused Anna's face to turn red with embarrassment, her head almost dropping to the table.
"Mother, it's not what you think!" Rayn sighed, touching his forehead.
"It's because Anna is afraid," Rayn explained helplessly.
Rayn always felt that the other person's gaze held some hidden meaning. He suspected that claiming the bounty tomorrow might not be as easy as it seemed.
Whoa! Such a significant increase in militia profession experience points?
This was enough.
It seemed that dangerous real-life combat was the best way to gain experience.
"I'm severely short-staffed lately! In fact, the entire Master County is facing a challenging security situation. Just the other day, three miners went missing in the Elim Mine southwest of Flashgold Town. Rumors say an unknown creature appeared in the gold mine, and only bloodstains were found at the scene."
"
【Your skill, Basic Swordsmanship, has improved. Experience gained: +34】
Before Rayn could finish examining the room, Hamilton put down the parchment ledger in his hands and glanced at him with a smile. "Rayn, your growth rate has exceeded my expectations."
Looking at Anna, curled up with an apparent lack of security even in her sleeping posture, Rayn felt no desire for this pitiful yet resilient and optimistic fragile girl.
Damn! That's it!
Rayn stared at the Militia panel, his eyes fixed on the experience bar that was more than halfway to Militia Lv. 3 (348/500).
Anna didn't speak; she merely nodded instinctively.
Speaking of women, Miss Clara, with her long, slender legs and curvaceous figure, was far more tempting to Rayn.
In that case, he could also receive a generous bonus.
This was a clean and bright office, approximately 40 to 50 square meters in size. In the central area were several soft deer hide chairs and a coffee table, surrounded by bookshelves.
Hamilton looked up and, without any pretense of politeness, said to Rayn, "Take a seat, Rayn. I'm reviewing a ledger. Just a moment, please!"
"Isn't that so? Then let me ask you, were you and someone else resting in the same room yesterday?" She seemed to consider that Anna was right beside her, so she couldn't be more direct.
"Little Anna, please don't mention what happened last night to my parents or Mint, okay?" Rayn crouched down and spoke softly to Anna, who still had a look of terror in her eyes.
Suddenly, Rayn remembered that the system had given him a notification, but he hadn't had a chance to check it yet.
Although the incident was resolved, and he felt exhausted, Rayn couldn't fall asleep. The scenes of the killing, the grimaces of the dying men, kept replaying in his mind like a slideshow.
Troubled, he thought for a moment. It seemed the best option was to let Anna stay at his house for now.
Despite having a girl sharing the same room, there was no hint of romance or intimacy in the atmosphere.
Rayn looked at Anna, who was still shivering, and it was clear that this place was not suitable for her to stay any longer.
He opened it and saw: 【You have experienced a battle. Militia Experience gained: +121】
What a misunderstanding!
Along the wall of the office was a redwood desk, where Hamilton was currently seated, with a large stack of parchment ledgers piled on top, presumably containing various documents and records.
The night watchmen quickly removed the bodies from the room and the doorway, and they cleaned up the bloodstains, but the room still carried a strong, lingering smell of blood.
As the guard opened the door, Rayn entered the room and saw Hamilton, dressed in noble hunting attire, sitting behind a redwood desk, flipping through some documents.
"Father, Anna's house had a stranger knock on their door yesterday. With the recent child disappearances in mind, I brought Anna over. For now, let's have Anna stay with us for a while." Rayn explained the situation, mixing truth and fiction.
The next morning, to the astonishment of his parents, Rayn went downstairs with Anna to have breakfast, while Mint looked delighted.
"Are you interested in joining the night watch squad to help me? Do you see these ledgers? They're all unfinished cases left by that idiot Kuzma!"
Hamilton pointed to the stack of parchment ledgers on the redwood desk, his voice tinged with anger.
"Kuzma?" Rayn had heard the name before; the pseudo-second-generation rich kids had mentioned him during their idle chatter. He was the previous sheriff of Shiny Gold Town, and it seemed he had left a pile of unresolved issues for the new sheriff, Hamilton, to deal with.
(End of Chapter)
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