Soon, the sun will set. Elise held her bruised face. It should have made her suffer. However, Lauren had cast magic that made her feel no pain for a while.

Elise had asked the men to beat her. However, they flatly refused. Lauren had tried, but her fists were too weak to cause any damage.

So, Elise switched to using her sword hilt to destroy her face. It was effective enough to make some obvious bruises. And after that, Lauren suddenly asked why Elise didn’t just use make-up. The sorcerer had a complete set of make-up for various situations.

Elise could only freeze after hearing that. Lauren apologized and admitted she had forgotten, while another said they hadn’t thought about it at all.

At the very least, the wound would heal faster when she returned to God’s place.

“I was only suggesting that on a whim, Elise. I didn’t expect you to really do it.” Raymund explained. “But, I applaud your dedication.”

Elise had no other motive than to change Renee’s way of thinking. It might sound strange, but Elise felt that she already had a bond with Renee, even though the two of them had only met a few days ago._.

“Are you all right, Miss?” The receptionist at the inn gasped when she saw Elise.

“I’m fine, madam.” Elise acted with a grimace in pain but seemed a bit exaggerated.

The receptionist came out of her desk. “Let me treat it, okay?”

“Thank you very much.” Elise shook her head hard. “But my friend has done that, and now I want to rest.”

Elise hurried up the stairs so the lady receptionist wouldn’t get suspicious.

“You’ve only been in this city for a few days, right?” The receptionist asked. “You have to be more careful. The thugs in this place don’t care if you’re a girl or a kid. They will beat you up if you have a problem with them.”

“All right, madam.” Elise nodded and continued on her way.

Once in front of her bedroom door, Elise froze. Strange. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably. Was she afraid that Renee would realize this lie?

After taking an unusually long breath, Elise knocked and opened the door. “It’s me, Renee.”

Renee, still lying down facing the other way, just waved again. Elise closed the door from the inside and sat on the other bed, looking at the crumpled sandwich wrapper. Elise was grateful that Renee had finally eaten.

Elise didn’t know what to do. Straight away saying that she was beaten might sound weird.

“Ouch…” So, Elise hissed and held her face again, trying to use a more reassuring expression of pain.

“I acknowledge your acting, Elise,” Raymund muttered.

Finally, Renee lifted her body and looked back. How shocked the mage was when he saw Elise’s face.

“Are you okay!?” Renee hurriedly got off the bed to check Elise’s face. “Who did this?”

“They said they were Charles Boucher’s men. I know some of them. They came along when they were about to attack you in front of Hugo’s.” Elise answered in a nervous tone, but luckily Renee didn’t notice. “Ah, don’t worry, I’ve been treated by a sorcerer named Lauren.”

Renee’s teeth gritted. “Charles…. Even though I had deliberately stayed away from him and his group…. I don’t want the shop owners or my friends here to be victims…. However, this has gone too far…. Ah, sorry, you got hurt like this because of me.”

“He said that he will continue to attack those closest to you if you don’t come to them.” Elise continued her lie.

Renee’s expression became even more serious. She turned around and picked up her magic bag from the floor, about to get something out of it.

“W-what are you going to do?” This time Elise wasn’t completely faking it. Yes, Lauren and Alain will be on guard. They are top-class adventurers and will help if something wrong happens. However, Elise is still worried because Renee will come to the headquarters of dangerous thugs.

“If they want me, I’ll give it to them.” Renee took out some clothes.

***

“Adventurers usually don’t want to take care of the thugs in a city.” Alain shook his head. It was night, and he observed a large warehouse from a distance. From inside the warehouse, orange flames could be seen. “That’s because the papers after that are very troublesome. So, the adventurers prefer to kill the bandits far outside the city.”

Lauren, holding her tall magic staff, smiled. “Remember, this is still a mission. We will still be rewarded, even though it was Renee who did the task.”

“But, our reward will be cut by the police. They are very corrupt. And this is actually their job. But, they were scared of the thugs, but they said there were more things to take care of.” Alain just kept nagging. “That’s why the sheet for this quest is so shabby and dusty. Nobody wants to take it away in the first place.”

“It’s not that the police don’t want to take care of them.” Pierre, who was also there, joined in. “But, they don’t want to send their best members here. They do not want to deal with thugs who are considered amateurs. What was unexpected was that Charles turned out to be very good at fighting. All the policemen sent to them were seriously injured. And Charles left a message to them not to do anything or something worse would happen.”

“And that’s why the government put forward this quest?” Alain replied with a sarcastic laugh. “I don’t like arrogant people like that. I’ll beat him.”

When Alain returned his attention to the thugs’ headquarters, Lauren gave a thumbs up to Pierre, who immediately did the same. Pierre had just given Alain a reason to fight with all his heart.

“But, don’t forget that today’s main character is Renee.” Lauren gave a warning. “Let’s not interfere before things get too serious.”

Alain snorted.

Meanwhile, Elise could only remain silent because she was too anxious.