"Symbols?"

  Sylph immediately looked at the markings on the door, her expression one of sheer astonishment.

  "These are ancient runes!" Sylph instinctively exclaimed at the top of her voice.

  Tia was equally surprised."Ancient runes? Sylph, are you saying the mysterious ancient language that vanished into the mists of history?"

  Sylph nodded."Yes, Tia. You're a princess of the kingdom—you must have heard of the Third Creation War, right?"

  "Yes, I remember. I once saw a historical tome about it in the kingdom's spire library. It stated that since that war, the use of ancient language came to an end. Ever since, civilizations like humans, elves, and dwarves have all used what is now called Mohi, which was apparently developed from the ancient language to better suit the modern environment."

  Tia, true to her title as a princess of the kingdom, demonstrated a broad knowledge of such matters.

  Sylph expressed her admiration,"You're absolutely right, but in fact, our elven race has preserved complete collections of ancient texts. Though I studied them, the ancient language is so obscure that even I can only understand a small part of it."

  At that, memories flooded back for Sylph, deepening her astonishment even further. She couldn't help but glance at Kenley's back—this human was becoming increasingly mysterious. Who was he?

  How could he know how to use such an ancient script? After all, since the First Creation War, the Golden line of humans was almost wiped out, and even the Silver line became extremely scarce, with only hero-level figures surviving. Only such beings would be familiar with ancient runes.

  Not to mention, in today's society, people generally use the more accessible Mohi language, having abandoned the archaic and obscure ancient tongue. Ancient language is no longer widely known; it has been gradually forgotten and replaced. Given Kenley's age, he certainly didn't appear to be someone who should know these ancient writings.

  The reason Sylph knew the ancient language was that, as an elf with a notably long lifespan, she had access to the ancient knowledge preserved in the Elven Forest—knowledge that the rest of the world lacked. Being a princess of the elven race, she had both the environment and the authority to study and understand these ancient texts. But what about Kenley? According to Tia, he was merely a peasant. A peasant? The deeper she thought about it, the more mysterious he seemed, and Sylph found herself becoming increasingly curious about him.

  Hearing Sylph's words, Tia's eyes lit up."Then, Sylph, how do you read the ancient script that Master just wrote? What exactly does it mean?"

  Sylph smiled confidently."Coincidentally, I know this one."

  Never mind; I'll investigate that mysterious fellow later, Sylph thought to herself.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Meanwhile, Kenley paid no mind to what Sylph was pondering. He rifled through his belongings and soon found Lytalia's boots. He then took out Kerr's boots to compare.

  They turned out to be the perfect size—so it seemed he wouldn't need to make another trip to Kerr's house. Next up was the final, and most troublesome, stop: the cellar of Parisha's house, which was guarded by a third-rank Black Mountain Spider stationed at the boots.

  ------

  "You're sure this is the place?" Sylph fanned her nose, nearly convinced she had walked into a garbage dump.

  "Of course. But this time, you two don't need to come in. I'll handle it alone," Kenley reminded them without looking back.

  "Why? We're a team. If we're going to complete this mission, how can we just let you take the risk alone?" Sylph immediately voiced her disagreement.

  To Sylph, this human warrior was far too mysterious, and his vast knowledge clearly hid many secrets. She had finally managed to sneak away from home, all for the purpose of exploring the human world. Now that she had such a perfect opportunity to observe and learn how human adventurers carried out their missions, how could she possibly let it slip away?

  "Sylph, have you forgotten who the leader is? Tia, make sure you keep an eye on her. If she follows me in, I'll hold you responsible," Kenley said, his tone more serious than before.

  This time was different.

  An adult Black Mountain Spider was a seventh-tier magical beast, and it belonged to the Black Mountain Nest. While the one at Parisha's house was only a juvenile, that didn't mean it could be underestimated—especially considering that both Kenley and Sylph were only at the first tier.

  This reckless elven princess had no sense of the real danger she was facing, but Kenley refused to be equally reckless. If anything went wrong, he couldn't guarantee he'd be able to protect both her and Tia while keeping himself safe.

  No matter what, he couldn't let Sylph have her way this time. The fact that she had managed to sneak out of her home already proved that she wasn't the kind to obediently wait for his return. She was brimming with curiosity about everything, but what she didn't realize was that such curiosity could very well get her killed.

  "Yes, Master! Tia will make sure to keep an eye on Sylph. Please focus on your task—I believe in you!" Tia smiled sweetly before promptly grabbing hold of Sylph's arm.

  "Tia! How can you side with him instead of me?"

  "Sorry, Sylph. He's my master."

  "I…"

  Kenley couldn't be bothered with the impulsive little elven princess. With a swift movement, he disappeared, leaving Sylph behind to glare resentfully in the direction he had vanished.

  She still hadn't figured out how a mere farmer like Kenley could possibly know the ancient language. And now, she was curious about how exactly he was planning to complete this mission, given that her understanding of human adventurers was still quite limited.

  Kenley slipped into the house in one breath. He was somewhat familiar with Parisha's home layout—after all, he had completed a mission here before.

  Unlike the other two dwarves, Parisha was someone who rarely left her house. She barely even stepped outside.

  What baffled Kenley the most was—what was Parisha thinking when she brought a Black Mountain Spider offspring into her home? Wasn't she afraid that one day, the creature might turn on her?

  Maybe she had some secret method to control the beast. A profession like an Insect Master could tame spiders, after all. But Kenley didn't recall dwarves having an Insect Master profession. Could it be a rare subclass?

  He draped the Cloak of Light over himself and carefully scanned the inner rooms with the Ring of Life. Two glowing points appeared in his detection, and through the wall, he could faintly hear voices.

  It was probably Parisha and her husband.

  Perfect. As long as they kept talking, he could sneak down into the cellar and grab the boots. He had already checked Parisha's shoe size on his way in—just as expected, it was a mistaken swap with Lytalia's boots.