This kind of special relationship of interests meant that Death Hunters were unlike ordinary comrades-in-arms. They were more like partners hunting together.
But the tower-like man was the strongest among them, so he naturally became the leader of this small team.
"Why are we going to find that Lord, exactly?" one of the team members suddenly asked. He had been drafted in at the last minute and had no idea what the mission was.
"He hunted a Putrid Tree Spirit. Since the Fall of Death, this is the first time anyone has managed such a thing." A trace of awe colored the towering man's voice.
"A Tree Spirit?" The other hunters all stared wide-eyed in shock.
Most of the time, they only bullied ordinary Those Who Live in Death. If they ran into a monster like that, all they could do was go around it.
"There must be a Death Root inside a Tree Spirit. That thing is useless to the Tarnished, but the Priest needs it."
The tall, imposing man continued in a grave tone.
"The forces in Limgrave may be reshuffled, but the Death Hunters still have to preserve our freedom to operate in this region."
Several of the hunters nodded. The Priest intended to cooperate with the Lord of the Tarnished.
Death affected the entire Lands Between and the Golden Order. Surely that Lord, famed for his mercy, would understand what they were doing.
Just then, a cold female voice rang out.
"A few prey escaped toward Summonwater Village. Those brainless idiots actually know how to run now!"
Her words were full of obvious frustration. Without pausing for even a moment, she urgently asked,
"They can't have gone far. Should we chase them?"
The towering man frowned slightly, casually glanced at that ignorant companion, then replied at an unhurried pace,
"Summonwater Village? A few of Those Who Live in Death won't stir up much trouble. We can deal with them later when we have time."
Heroes were rare, after all. Even when facing Tibia Mariners, he had little confidence.
These ancient beings were all powerful. If they were not, they could not have remained entrenched here for so long without anyone ever successfully hunting them down.
It was not that no one wanted to deal with them, nor that the Beast Priest's rewards were not generous enough. It was simply that they lacked the ability.
...
Since the Tibia Mariners did not seem to appear every day, Nolan and his group decided to stay in Summonwater Village for a few days.
Melina strolled through the door in the middle of the inn's top floor. In only three short days, the room had already become a complete mess.
The floor was covered with crumpled paper, shattered glassware, and all kinds of leftover materials.
Sellen knelt amid the clutter, proudly lifting one arm of the humanoid figure lying on the ground as she turned to Nolan and asked,
"My apprentice, what do you think of your teacher's body?"
"Mm, it's extremely good. You could practically call it lifelike. It even feels exactly the same as before."
Nolan slowly poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, then jerked his chin toward the First Sellen Puppet Prototype on the floor as he replied,
"It's unbelievably precise. If it weren't for the lack of spirit, I'd think it was really you, Teacher."
Sellen nodded in satisfaction and gently set the puppet arm back down.
She lowered her head and stared at that face, a face so familiar it could not have been more so. It was her own.
Sellen reached over, picked up a sheet of paper from the table, and began carefully making notes.
She had noticed something strange.
That foolish apprentice of hers never said things like this part was better or that part needed improvement.
The only thing he ever cared about was whether the work looked like his teacher, or rather, whether it was his teacher.
That peculiar focus made Sellen both curious and pleased. "Why are you so focused on me?"
"Isn't that obvious? Because the one I like is you, Teacher." Nolan looked completely at ease, as if he had said nothing more than the most ordinary thing in the world.
Sellen froze for a moment. Then a faint blush rose on her face, and that exhilarating feeling in her heart grew even stronger.
The corners of her lips lifted slightly. She had to admit that she was growing more and more fond of this apprentice's bluntness and honesty.
At the same time, though, Sellen could not help but think to herself.
Maybe she had indulged this apprentice too much in everyday life. His nerve had only grown bigger and bigger, to the point that he no longer seemed to care in the slightest about her dignity as his teacher.
Things he used to keep buried deep in his heart, he could now say with a straight face. Not only that, even his behavior had become more and more shamelessly clingy.
Sometimes this brat really was troublesome, pestering her all day and leaving her with no chance to settle down and do research.
And yet, strangely enough, although he often annoyed her to no end, deep down she did not truly dislike him.
That contradictory feeling was simply too strange, too hard to pin down.
Of course, that was not a bad thing. The stranger the phenomenon, the more worthy it was of study.
Sellen's gaze on Nolan grew hotter and hotter.
Keen as ever, Nolan immediately seemed to sense that strange look in Sellen's eyes, and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
"Teacher, what are you trying to do?"
Sellen smiled mysteriously and said slowly,
"I just thought of a brand-new topic, and I need your help to complete it."
"Listen carefully. You are not allowed to refuse. This is your teacher's order. Now come here at once."
A new topic!?
That ominous feeling grew stronger and stronger, making Nolan's heart pound.
Even filled with unease and apprehension, he still forced himself to walk toward the witch.
The corners of Sellen's lips lifted slightly as she looked at Nolan with a firmness he had never seen before and said softly,
"Nolan, I love you."
She cupped Nolan's face in her hands. In those eyes was a tender affection he had never once seen from this woman.
"Now, say that you love me."
The words echoed in Nolan's ears.
His eyes widened slightly as he stared in shock at the dignified, elegant woman before him, unable to quite process what he had just heard.
And was Sellen herself any different?
She had never imagined that one day she would be able to express the burning feelings deep in her heart to a man so directly and boldly.
Yet when the words truly left her lips, not only did she feel no shame or embarrassment whatsoever, she instead felt an overwhelming sense of relief and exhilaration.
"Mm... mm!!" Nolan blanked out for a moment, then quickly came back to himself.
There was nothing hard about saying those words. But being ordered to say them gave it a strangely unusual feeling.
Suppressing that odd sensation in his heart, and not noticing Melina behind him pursing her lips as she prepared to open her mouth, he was just about to fulfill his teacher's request.
Then suddenly, a sharp rebuke brutally cut off the sweet words that were about to leave his lips.
"You shameless female Sorcerer, what nonsense are you spouting!?"