A married man should at least try to be mature.

Stepping out of his house, Lynch followed the winding flagstone path to the Adventurer's Guild office at the village entrance.

To be precise, it was merely a liaison outpost set up by the town's Adventurer's Guild branch in Buena Village. It handled the posting of local quests, material collection, and information exchange.

At the same time, this two-story wooden building served as Buena Village's sole tavern.

...Or rather, to save on rent, the Adventurer's Guild had simply set up their office right inside the tavern.

His plan for today was to head into the mountains to gather herbs.

However, the mountains had been restless lately. Half a year ago, a world-shaking "Ultimate Battle" had triggered spatial turbulence that threw the mana tides into chaos. As a result, the monsters roaming the wilderness had become far more frequent and ferocious than before.

There were even rumors of never-before-seen mutated magical beasts appearing deep within the mountains.

Given this situation, although Lynch was confident in his ability to run away, he decided to play it safe. He planned to find a few combat-oriented individuals heading into the mountains and form a party to escort him to the gathering area.

Pushing open the tavern's creaky doors, he was greeted by the mingled scents of aged oak, fermented black bread, and cheap ale.

Being so early in the morning, the tavern was mostly empty. A few blackout drunks from the night before were slumped in the corners, and a familiar figure sat at the bar.

It was Old Barton, a dwarf who mined in the nearby abandoned pits.

"Yo, Mr. Lynch, morning!"

The red-bearded dwarf raised his massive wooden mug, offering a greeting thick with the stench of alcohol.

"Morning, Uncle Barton." Lynch took a seat a short distance away, where the air was slightly fresher. "Drinking this much bright and early? Watch out for gout."

"Hahaha, life is short, might as well enjoy it!" Old Barton wiped the foam from his beard and leaned in conspiratorially. "Did you hear? There was another incident at the mine last night!"

"What happened?"

"Two Phosphor-Fire Brown Bears! Those are Tier 3 magical beasts! They somehow broke into the workers' dormitory and went on a massacre. Six of my mates died! Guts spilled all over the ground, tsk, tsk, tsk... It was a bloodbath."

Old Barton shook his head, though a lingering sense of relief from having dodged a bullet was evident on his face. "And hey, guess what? I was out drinking with friends in town last night and didn't go back to the dorms! I always say drinking prolongs your life! See, it literally saved my neck!"

"I suppose it did..." Lynch smiled helplessly, but his heart sank.

Phosphor-Fire Brown Bears typically inhabited the deepest parts of the mountains and rarely attacked human settlements unprovoked. If even monsters of that caliber were spilling over into the outskirts, it meant the deep mountain ecosystem was truly in critical condition.

"Are you heading into the mountains, Mr. Lynch?" Old Barton seemed to have guessed his intentions. "You'd better lay low for a while. The monsters up there are riled up. Word is, someone even spotted a pack of Shadow Wolves prowling near the village."

"Thanks for the warning," Lynch nodded. "But winter is fast approaching. I need to hurry and gather enough herbs to ward off the cold and treat winter fevers, on top of preparing for the winter beast horde. The village's medical reserves are already running dangerously low."

"The beast horde... True..."

At the mention of the beast horde, Old Barton's expression grew solemn. Buena Village was in a remote area, and the annual winter beast horde was a harrowing ordeal where survival was never guaranteed.

Lynch ordered a glass of water and waited in his seat.

Hiring an escort would cost some coin, but compared to his life, it was a small price to pay. He would just write it off as an extra business expense for gathering herbs. He certainly wasn't going to risk a sudden, violent death just to save a few pennies.

Aunt Susan, one of the tavern's two waitresses, walked over with his glass of water. Having just relieved her coworker from the night shift, she looked quite energetic.

"Morning, Lynch. How is Felsy doing?" Aunt Susan asked with a warm smile, her tone laced with genuine concern.

Lynch smiled in response. "Thanks to your blessings, she is doing well. Although she still isn't quite ready to leave the house, her complexion is much better than before. She's definitely on the mend."

"Ah, that's a relief to hear. To be honest, when you suddenly brought home a girl from nowhere and insisted on marrying her, we were all terribly worried." Smacking her lips as if recalling the event, Aunt Susan continued, "There was something terribly unsettling about that girl. It even alarmed the priests in town."

Back then, the priest from the Church of the Three Luminaries stationed in town had made a special trip just to investigate Felsy's condition.

After all, in this world, someone naturally exuding a "fear aura" like hers was rarely good news. She could have been carrying a vicious curse, or perhaps she was a high-ranking demon skilled in disguise.

Obviously, most people thought it impossible for a high-ranking demon to be lurking in a middle-of-nowhere backwater like Buena Village. Throughout its entire history, the village had hardly ever experienced a noteworthy attack from even an elite monster.

The priest had waved his holy emblem at Felsy for ages, but it had yielded no reaction. Once he confirmed that Felsy was indeed human, the priest left grumbling, clearly feeling that the trip had been a complete waste of his time.

Only then did the anxious villagers finally let out a sigh of relief.

Of course, even before that, the villagers hadn't shown any outright hostility. After all, Lynch was the village's only apothecary. Whenever anyone suffered from a fever, headache, or injury, they had to come to him for help. When it came to reputation and good relations, Lynch had the village eating out of the palm of his hand.

Had it been the village's resident petty thief who brought home such a woman, the zealous villagers would have probably chased them out with pitchforks and torches long ago.

"Felsy just has a unique constitution. In reality, she's an incredibly gentle person," Lynch smoothly defended his wife.

Just then, the tavern doors were pushed open once again.

A petite figure walked inside.

It was a little girl who appeared to be barely ten years old. She had short, fiery red hair, but the most eye-catching features were the pair of drooping, furry animal ears on her head and the restless tail swishing back and forth behind her.

A Beastkin?

They were incredibly rare in this region.

"Excuse me, little miss, but who might you be?" Aunt Susan asked, stepping forward with professional courtesy despite her surprise.

Strangers appearing in the village always drew attention, let alone a Beastkin. The Norent Territory, where Buena Village was located, sat right on the border between the Central and Northern Continents, whereas the Beastkin's homeland was in the distant South.

The ears atop the girl's head twitched. She looked up, revealing an adorably energetic face. Her brown, slit-pupiled eyes were remarkably expressive. She flashed a massive smile, showing off two small, pointed fangs.

She offered a polite and proper bow to everyone present. "Hello, everyone! My name is Kuma! I'm the newly appointed courier, responsible for delivering letters and parcels to Buena Village and the four neighboring settlements. I look forward to working with you all!"

Her voice was crisp, loud, and absolutely brimming with vitality.

"Ah, I remember now!" Old Barton slapped his thigh. "The day before yesterday, I heard limping Old Jules say he was retiring to his hometown to look after his grandson, and that a new postman would be taking his place... But to think it's such a small child? Little girl, are you even weaned yet?"

"How rude!" Kuma puffed out her cheeks and said angrily, "Of course I'm of age! We beast-eared folk come of age at ten! I'm already twelve, I'm a mature adult!"

"Hiss..."

Old Barton and Aunt Susan exchanged a look of unanimous skepticism, staring at her as if they were looking at some rare animal.

The beast-eared folk were a demi-human race situated somewhere between humans and demons. In the Holy Central Empire, where humans held absolute dominance, their status was rather... delicate. While they weren't exactly hunted down as monsters, they were still frequently subjected to discrimination.

Lynch, however, had no such prejudice. He even thought those ears were somewhat cute.

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Kuma," Lynch spoke up. "Could you check if there are any letters for the Graywhite family while you're at it? Since you're already here, I can just take them back with me, saving you an extra trip."

After all, Felsy was rather shy, and she especially disliked strangers approaching their house. If he could intercept the mail here, he could spare Felsy the disturbance.

A married man should, after all, be considerate of his wife. It's all about the details.

"Graywhite?"

Kuma tilted her head in thought, pulled out a stack of letters from her massive mailbag, and began sorting through them with a professional air.

"Hmm, please wait a moment, sir, let me check... This one is for the village chief... This one is for the blacksmith... Nope, there are no letters for the Graywhite family."

"Alright, thank you."

Despite saying there were none, Kuma didn't immediately put the letters away. Her gaze swept over Lynch, and her brown, slit-like pupils suddenly contracted slightly, as if she had discovered something unbelievable.

She leaned forward, getting close to Lynch, her petite nose twitching as she sniffed at him endlessly.

"What's wrong?" Lynch felt a bit uncomfortable being sniffed like that.

"Sir... you have a familiar scent on you..."

Kuma muttered to herself, a trace of confusion flashing through her eyes, which quickly turned into wariness, and then into a look of sheer disbelief.

The scent was extremely faint, masked by the smell of herbs, but to an elite of the beast-eared folk with a supernatural sense of smell, that scent was unforgettable.

It was the aura of the Abyss.

It was the scent of that Lord!

"Hahaha, little girl, what is the meaning of this?" Seeing this, Old Barton let out a booming laugh. "Hitting on him? Learning to flirt with men at such a young age? Let me tell you in advance, this Mr. Lynch Graywhite is already a married man! His wife is incredibly beautiful. Even though she's a bit sickly, her looks are famous for miles around. He definitely wouldn't be interested in an underdeveloped little brat like you."

"Awoo??"

Kuma let out a dissatisfied cry, baring her little fangs at Old Barton while emitting a low growl from her throat.

Her innocent (or so it seemed) appearance amused Aunt Susan as well, who immediately let her guard down and casually rubbed the girl's furry head.

"Oh my, this texture..." Aunt Susan marveled. "It's really nice... It would definitely make a very warm scarf... Oh no, what am I thinking? Holy Light above, forgive my sins..."

...

A few minutes later, Kuma left the tavern carrying her mailbag.

As soon as she was out of everyone's sight, the innocent and bright smile on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of gloom and coldness.

"What rude and insolent humans... How dare they casually touch this great one's head without permission..."

Kuma muttered under her breath, a glint of red flashing in her eyes. "If it weren't for the Lady Witch's strict orders to keep an 'absolute low profile', you ants would have been torn to pieces long ago... It would only take a genius like me seven minutes to slaughter this whole village..."

Complaining all the while, she nimbly weaved through the village roads, patiently delivering a few letters to at least fulfill her disguised duties as a postman.

Eventually, she arrived at the southeast corner of the village.

There stood a house hidden amidst dense vegetation, situated in a remote and exceptionally quiet location.

Kuma stopped in her tracks, looking at the tightly shut wooden door and the faint magical fluctuations in the air.

She stood on her tiptoes, clumsily reading the human text on the nameplate:

"The Residence of Lynch Graywhite and Felsy Graywhite..."

Upon reading that name, Kuma trembled all over.

"It really is here... Felsy..."

"To think that Her Excellency would hide in a place like this... And the technique used for this barrier..."

Kuma took a deep breath, calming her agitated emotions.

She looked left and right to ensure no one was around, then pinched her throat and let out a few bizarre, highly penetrating notes. It was a secret signal frequency understood only by the higher-ups of the Scorched Earth Guard.

Buzz—

The invisible repulsive force that had originally enveloped the mansion instantly dissipated, receding like the tide.

Kuma pushed the door open and entered, her eyes immediately falling upon the figure standing under the tree in the courtyard.

At that moment, Kuma, the Thirteenth Seat of the Scorched Earth Guard, codenamed Mad Beast, felt her eyes instantly well up with tears.

She stepped forward quickly, dropped to one knee in a standard demonic salute of allegiance, and spoke with a voice that was trembling yet sonorous and forceful:

"Greetings, Lady Witch!"

"Senior Agent of the Scorched Earth Guard's Covert Ops Special Division Six, Charisma Kukuye Barannikova, reporting for duty!"