“I sincerely apologize. Peter returned this morning but failed to inform me that the plan had been canceled. It was my oversight.”

“Is that so?”

Xenon’s brief response fell coldly on Jackson’s back.

“Please forgive me. I should have checked more carefully…”

Jackson’s voice trembled slightly. It was an unforgivable mistake. Not only had the plan gone awry, but someone nearly got hurt because of it. And not just anyone—the woman his master had his eye on. Rudis.

Before joining the guild, Jackson’s father had warned him about Xenon. Despite his appearance, he was a legendary mercenary with an immortal life—a monster, essentially. Never upset him, his father had cautioned. Jackson hadn’t believed it then. But now he could. While Jackson himself had grown from a child to middle age, the man before him looked exactly the same as when they first met.

‘He actually looks even more vibrant than before, almost younger… Huh?’

As Jackson carefully studied Xenon’s expression, his head tilted slightly.

Though Xenon was clearly angry, the anger didn’t seem directed at him. Jackson, who had been part of the guild since he was old enough to understand, had exceptional intuition. He stood up abruptly and approached Xenon.

“…Is this a good thing?”

“Yeah.”

Xenon’s voice was strangely choked with emotion.

Jackson was bewildered. Just moments ago, he had been prepared for terrible punishment, but now Xenon’s face was subtly flushed. The corners of his mouth were even twitching, almost looking pleased?

Jackson recalled Xenon’s bizarre behaviors. He had seemed completely uninterested in women his entire life, then suddenly gathered guild members and announced his intention to pursue Rudis. Jackson had thought him crazy then, but what followed seemed even crazier.

Ordering reports on Rudis’s every move. Spreading rumors about festival props being stolen. Suddenly abandoning the guild headquarters and ordering Jackson to be tied up. All these actions, using talented individuals as some kind of love operation team.

And for this festival, he seemed to have completely lost his mind. He had suddenly ordered Ralph’s capture and the theft of his mask, which made no sense until Xenon wore that mask and danced on a stage he normally wouldn’t even glance at.

And the craziest thing of all…

“Are you sure it’s alright to give away your dagger like that?”

When Xenon had participated in the carnival he operated, Jackson nearly fell over in shock. Xenon could stick even a blade of grass into a dart board made from the world’s strongest wood.

‘I never imagined he would actually hit the target.’

Normally, Xenon avoided displaying his skills. Jackson had doubts even while handing over the prize, wondering if Xenon had reached such heights that he couldn’t miss even if he wanted to. When Xenon gave the prize to Rudis, Jackson truly realized that his master had gone mad with love.

“It’s fine. I don’t need it anymore.”

“But that’s—!”

Jackson momentarily flared up at Xenon’s nonchalant answer. That was no ordinary object. It was a relic and treasure that the master had used since long ago, before earning the title of legendary mercenary. It had seemed crazy enough to offer such a precious item as a carnival prize, but to simply hand it over to impress a woman! He must have gone completely insane from living too long.

“What? Do you have a problem with my decision?”

“No, sir.”

He might be a crazy old immortal, but that didn’t make him any less frightening.

‘Should have given it to me instead.’

Just as Jackson was grumbling internally with his tail between his legs…

“By the way, your investigation was inadequate. I’m sure I ordered you to find out everything about Rudis…”

Suddenly, the air turned chillingly cold, sending shivers down his spine.

“If there were any shortcomings…”

“Find out why Rudis gets sleepy at 2 AM. Immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

‘Anyone would be sleepy at 2 AM. I get sleepy too…’

Swallowing his thoughts, Jackson tried to escape quickly, but was stopped by the voice from those deep crimson eyes.

“Also check if it’s related to the northern tower.”

* * *

‘I’ve lost my mind. Completely lost it!’

As soon as she got home, Rudis buried herself under her blanket. Her face burned hot again just thinking about it.

Worried he might misunderstand, she had explained at length that “she couldn’t help getting sleepy at 2 AM,” to which Xenon had nodded understandingly.

“So that’s why you never came to the after-parties. It would be nice if Rudis could stay out all night with us…”

Rudis’s heart had dropped at those words. He was just talking about hanging out at the tavern! Her mind had twisted his meaning into something completely inappropriate. She had fled home immediately.

‘I must be going crazy.’

And not in a subtle way. Otherwise, how could she have misunderstood like that?

Though she lay in bed, sleep wouldn’t come. Her face was burning and her heart pounding so much that falling asleep seemed impossible. At times like this, she was actually grateful for the forced sleep system.

With still some time left before 2 AM.

She needed to cool her head with something else. Rudis turned her attention to the box neatly placed on the table. The prize Xenon had won with his dart throw.

‘I might as well look at this.’

As she carefully opened the box, a familiar system window appeared.

[Quest Complete!

Quest Name: ‘Beginning of Spring’ Guide

Quest Description: Provide Xenon, who is experiencing the Beginning of Spring for the first time, with various experiences.

Reward: Legendary Mercenary 𒀀𒀂’s Dagger.]

‘Just as I thought, even the gift from Xenon was part of a quest. But still! It’s an item I’ve never seen before!’

This would fill another slot in her guidebook. And with “Legendary” in its name, it was definitely something good.

The Legendary Mercenary So-and-so’s Dagger! There were broken characters, but she decided not to worry about that. The problem was that there were similar broken characters among her incomplete quests…

[Quest Name: 𒀀𒁶𒂊𒆠𒁹

Quest Description: 𒀹𒁺𒅗𒂔𒂟𒂷𒃼𒄀𒃒𒉌𒋧𒅠𒉿𒂄𒋝𒃼𒊕

𒀀𒀡𒁺𒁹𒀸 0/1, 𒀇𒂄𒅖𒁔𒀟 1/1, 𒀐𒂕𒃻𒂄𒂔 1/1, 𒀙𒀴𒁹𒆪𒁹 1/1

Reward: 𒀀𒁍𒂵 Po̸̸̽̉wẻ̵̏r 𒀻]

What could this possibly be?

Rudis examined the system window that had remained like homework in a corner of her mind for a long time. Even after eight years, she still couldn’t understand it.

Rudis stared at the broken characters on the screen for a long while. At first, she had thought it was just a minor bug or system error. But that couldn’t be right. The game’s rules were simple and repetitive, but they had their own order and reason. This alone was different.

There must be meaning to it. Otherwise, why would it remain like this?

But no matter how much she thought about it, she could only conclude that she couldn’t solve this quest with her current abilities.

With a deep sigh, Rudis closed the system window and buried herself deep under the blanket.

At that moment, a familiar message appeared in her vision.

[Forced sleep activated.]

As the message filled her field of vision, her eyelids slowly closed.

Numerous questions swirled in her mind, but Rudis soon drifted into peaceful sleep.

* * *

Having “Legendary” in the name really makes a difference!

Rudis smiled with satisfaction as she focused on hunting monsters. She had put her old dagger in storage and equipped the new legendary dagger, which had a completely different feel. Though the dagger’s description was broken, its lethality was unmatched. Monsters fell with a single strike if she attacked first, eliminating the need for potions.

Roaming through the forest hunting monsters, Rudis found herself completely absorbed in the thrill of the hunt. However, as time passed, monsters began to disappear. Despite searching the entire forest with keen eyes, she came up empty. She even visited the cave in the western forest, but it was tightly sealed.

What’s going on? Is it all over?

Finally, after earning a new title, Rudis realized the truth.

[Title – Slayer of All Spring Monsters]

To think the number of monsters was fixed for each season.

Rudis’s eyes sparkled at this new discovery. She returned to the village with excited steps.

‘Maybe I’ll try some village quests for a change?’

As soon as she entered the village, the residents greeted her not with enthusiasm but with slightly disappointed looks. Her affinity must have dropped while she was focused on hunting.

“Hello, Johnny.”

“What do you mean, ‘hello’?”

At Johnny’s sulky response, Rudis tilted her head and asked:

“What’s wrong? Do you have a problem?”

“Mom says she wants vegetable stew. But where am I supposed to get vegetables? I don’t even have money!”

“I’ll bring some for you!”

Quests like this weren’t difficult. They were among the easiest quests, quickly solved with items or money stored in her warehouse.

‘Alright, today is quest-completion day!’

Rudis enthusiastically went around finding villagers and accepting accumulated quests one by one.

“Rudis! Where on earth have you been?!”

Just then, someone called Rudis’s name from a distance and came running toward her.