The Excited Official
The two teleported to a city in the southwestern part of the empire, then took a half-day carriage ride before arriving at the village where the commission was located.
As soon as Xi Ya got off the carriage, he saw a cross made of wooden beams standing at the village entrance.
The lower half was burned black, and a few dirty hemp ropes were scattered in the ashes below.
‘This is… a stake?’
He walked up to it, pinched his chin, and examined the cross.
Judging by its size, this stake was clearly meant for burning people.
A remote village, a stake, combined with a mysterious disappearance incident—if he hadn’t seen that the village was somewhat lively, he’d have thought he’d stumbled into a horror film.
Dailina noticed Xi Ya had stopped and followed him over.
“Xi Ya, this is…”
“A stake. Used to burn criminals to death. It’s crudely made, and half of it has burned away.”
Xi Ya crouched down and carefully studied the scorch marks.
“Judging by the marks, it’s been a while—at least a week or more.”
“A stake…”
Hearing that it was a stake, Dailina took a fearful step back.
She had witnessed an execution by burning before; the person being punished would die in agony amid the flames.
“Don’t be scared. A stake only executes those guilty of unforgivable crimes.”
Noticing her fear, Xi Ya turned back to reassure her.
In the Sorn Empire, heretics who worshipped the Demon God and traitors who colluded with the Demon Race were all burned at the stake.
The executions were carried out by the Imperial Church.
Unlike ordinary fires, the Church’s fire was the Sacred Flame infused with Holy Power—similar to the Crimson Flame Feili used—to completely purify those tainted by the Demon Race.
Generally, if a villager caught a Demon Corruption criminal, they should have a nearby town send someone to escort the criminal to town, where the local Church members would judge them.
If they used a stake without authorization and the Church found out, the Church would send people to cause trouble for the village.
Clearly, this village had used the stake on its own.
But considering the commission contents, there was another possibility: the stake hadn’t been used to burn a person, but rather livestock, as part of some sacrificial ritual.
Xi Ya shook his head.
He decided not to jump to conclusions.
For now, the most important thing was to understand the commission details from the village chief here.
“Let’s go find the village chief first and get the situation. Maybe this is related to our commission.”
He stood up and told Dailina to head into the village to look for the chief.
“Okay.”
Dailina nodded.
They followed the village path and arrived at the meeting hall in the center of the village.
Just as Xi Ya was about to enter, he heard arguing inside.
“Village Chief, I told you, I can’t handle your problem.”
A man’s voice came first, sounding impatient.
“But several people from our village went missing last night! You can’t just let them die!”
Another elderly voice pleaded desperately.
Outside the door, Xi Ya frowned at these words.
‘People missing?’
The commission said livestock had disappeared.
Why did the situation escalate as soon as he arrived—to people missing?
Missing people wasn’t as simple as missing livestock.
A livestock thief was just a thief, but a person-kidnapper could be anything from a wild beast to a demon, and maybe even some unknown evil god.
‘How come I feel like I’ve got some protagonist’s debuff aura? The moment it’s my turn, something goes wrong.’
‘Would it be too late to give up the commission and go back now?’
Xi Ya was having second thoughts, but he still peeked into the meeting hall.
Two people stood by the conference table.
One was an old man in plain cloth clothes—probably the village chief.
The other was dressed more formally, looking like an official stationed in the village by the town.
“It’s not that I’m letting them die. I’ve already reported this to the town,” the official said helplessly.
“You said the same thing last week! Before, it was the livestock going missing; now it’s people. If we wait any longer, our village will have nobody left!”
The chief was frantic.
“Then what do you want me to do? I’m not a swordsman or a mage. I’m just a lowly village stationed officer who runs errands! How can I help you?!”
The official was suppressing his anger.
Officers at his level had the hardest time—they had to deal with orders from above and soothe emotions below, running back and forth.
It was driving him crazy.
This chief had begged him countless times.
At first, he wanted to help the village as much as possible, but over time, the begging had worn him out.
He just wanted to get rid of this matter.
‘Can’t lose my temper… Can’t lose my temper…’
He let out a long sigh and tried to calm down as much as possible.
“The town posted the commission a long time ago. They even sent it to the academy in the royal capital. No one picked up your commission. What can I do?”
“But…”
The chief reached out to say more, but the official clearly had run out of patience and cut him off.
“Alright, alright. That’s how it is. I can’t help any further. I still have things to do. I’m leaving.”
The official stepped out of the meeting hall.
As he exited, he glanced at Xi Ya and Dailina standing by the door, assuming they were just some people waiting to see the chief, and prepared to leave.
But then he quickly caught on—the two were wearing what looked like the uniform of Thorn Academy.
He immediately stopped.
“Huh? You two are students from Thorn Academy?”
“Ah, yes.”
Xi Ya was startled by the official suddenly coming out.
“Did you two come here because you accepted the commission from this village?”
the official asked hurriedly.
If Thorn Academy students had come to this village, they must be here to solve the commission, right?
“Yes, we came to…”
As Xi Ya spoke, the village chief followed out from the meeting hall, trying to keep the official from leaving.
“Hey, please don’t go! I’m begging you to think of another way! I’m begging you…”
The chief spotted the two people by the door and his words stopped abruptly.
He froze, his gaze lingering on Xi Ya and Dailina for several seconds, then he whipped around to the official.
“Who are these two?”
“They’re students from Thorn Academy. They’re here to handle your commission.”
The official felt an immense weight lift off his shoulders.
He could finally get rid of this troublesome matter.
“Since someone’s taken the commission, you two talk it out yourselves.”
He finished quickly and walked away without looking back, like he’d thrown away a hot potato.
He didn’t even bother to check their identities or the commission letter.
Xi Ya watched the official disappear around the corner and thought, ‘That guy sure ran fast. I can tell he was really excited to get rid of this.’
After the official left, the chief’s gaze returned to them.
His lips trembled.
“You two… you two are here to help us?”
His voice choked up.
He grabbed Xi Ya’s right hand with both of his, as if clutching at a lifeline.
“Great… great… It’s been almost a month, and finally someone’s come to help us…”
“Chief, please, don’t be like this. Tell us slowly…”
Before Xi Ya could finish, the chief quickly stepped aside from the doorway and gestured inside with a trembling hand.
“Quick, quick, please come in. Sit down and tell me.”
Xi Ya looked at the chief’s expression, which seemed on the verge of tears, and felt helpless.
‘Oh no. Now I can’t run even if I want to.’