Chapter 514: Hide-And-Seek Queen "One, two, three, four," Alex said. "Five, six, seven..." As the teenage boy counted with his eyes closed, forehead pressed against the arm resting on a tree, several children ran away and looked for places to hide. Playing hide-and-seek with Fran and the children had already become part of his after-mission routine. Alex might not want to admit it, but being caught pickpocketing Ron’s money pouch was the best thing that happened to him. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 Not only had he stopped being a petty thief, but he was now earning properly as an adventurer. Many kids in the orphanage also idolized him and wished to become adventurers like him when they grew up. With the Dawnseekers sponsoring the orphanage, this outcome was an inevitable result. "Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!" Alex shouted. "Ready or not, here I come!" The teenage boy scanned the surroundings and easily found one of the kids hiding behind a tree not far from him. The rules of this hide-and-seek game were simple. Firstly, those who were found would join the seeker in searching out the other children. Secondly, they could hide anywhere as long as they didn’t leave the vicinity of the orphanage. Alex was very good at this game because he had been a thief. But there was one creature that even he had never been able to catch since he had started playing this game with the children. "Did you find her?" Alex asked one of the girls who was helping him search for the other hiding children. "No," the girl replied. "This is Fran we are talking about. She will definitely pick a very obvious but also not-so-obvious hiding place." "Yes, and this is what makes her tricky." Alex nodded. The fairy didn’t hide in places that were impossible to reach, like the roof of the orphanage or on the top of trees. That would have been no fun at all and quite unfair as well. Instead, she always hid in places that could easily be overlooked, which annoyed Alex very much whenever he asked her to come out because he couldn’t find her. There was a time when Fran had hidden inside the flower vase in the dining room, munching on cookies while waiting to be found. However, after 69 losses against her, Alex was starting to understand how she thought. ’This time, I will find you and will rub victory in your face,’ Alex vowed as he hawkishly prowled the orphanage to look for Fran and the other children. Half an hour later, he managed to catch all of them except for the very elusive fairy. The children were also very determined to find Fran since she was the self-proclaimed Hide-and-Seek Queen of the orphanage. Also, she promised to give the kids candy if they succeeded in finding her. How could any child say no to candy? However, despite their resolve, Alex and the kids still hadn’t found Fran after an hour of looking around. "Lunch is ready!" the Headmistress of the orphanage called out to the children. "We have fried chicken, so come while it’s still warm!" It was at that moment that the missing fairy finally showed herself. "Fried Chicken!" Fran exclaimed as she left her hiding place. "Come, everyone! We have fried chicken!" """Yay!""" Alex blinked once, then twice, when he saw where Fran had flown out from. She had been hiding inside one of the shirts drying in the sun. And the funny thing was that Alex had walked around that place six times earlier, checking if Fran had hidden herself behind the laundry. However, he hadn’t thought that she would be hiding inside it, so he hadn’t bothered to check. "Urgh..." Alex face-palmed, which earned him a giggle from Medina. "It looks like Fran won again." Medina patted Alex’s head. "Don’t feel down. You’ll find her one of these days. Now, let’s get some fried chicken." Ron, Carlo, and Medina had bought a lot of chicken at the market before heading to the orphanage. Fried chicken was easily one of the children’s favorites, so the adventurers had made sure to buy enough for everyone. "Are you really a fairy?" Alex watched as Fran happily ate the fried chicken on her plate. "Of course," Fran answered after chewing the food in her mouth. "Then where does all that food go inside your body?" Alex asked. Fran had already eaten two fried chickens, yet she looked the same as usual. "Don’t you know?" Fran grinned mischievously. "Girls have a different stomach for desserts!" "But a fried chicken is not a dessert." "Anything is a dessert if you’re brave enough." "... That doesn’t make any sense." Alex scratched his head before deciding to stop asking a question that he knew wouldn’t be answered. "Nyahahaha!" Fran laughed. "With this, the score is 70-0. Pupupu! Alex the Monkey lost again!" "Alex the Monkey!" a five-year-old boy shouted. "Alex the Monkey!" a girl joined the teasing. ""Alex the Monkey!"" ""Alex the Monkey!"" ""Alex the Monkey!"" Some of the children joined the chant and Fran clapped her hands to spur the others into participating as well. "Okay, kids, please behave," Medina intervened because Alex’s face was already as red as a tomato. "We have more fried chicken, so eat as much as you want." ""Yay!"" With the focus of the children diverted back to their food, Alex glared hatefully at Fran before leaving the dining room with a huff. Fran wouldn’t miss this opportunity to rub salt into his wounds, so she followed him and kept on teasing him from behind. Medina shook her head helplessly at this scene while Ron and Carlo only smiled wryly. Several days later, a messenger pigeon arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild, prompting one of its receptionists to look for Ron and the other members of Dawnseekers. "What’s wrong, Layla?" Ron asked the pretty lady who usually handled matters regarding their Adventurer’s Party. "Ron, it’s bad," Layla said. "The Hero Party has gone missing, and the Main Branch wants you to mobilize and find them." "They what?" Ron’s expression became solemn. After all, Sean’s party was a very important symbol of their kingdom in their fight against the Demon Lord and his army. The news of their disappearance, if leaked, could create waves of panic among the people of the kingdom. For this reason, information about their disappearance had been sealed by the higher-ups. "Where were they last seen?" Ron asked. "The Shadow Forest," Layla answered. "The other branches are also sending the Class A and Class S Adventurer Parties to join the search. Since you guys and the Hero Party are very close to each other, we decided that you should be the one to take on this mission." "I understand," Ron replied. "We will need to make our preparations, but I promise to leave tomorrow morning. Please tell that to the Guild Master." "Thank you, Ron." Layla tiptoed and kissed his cheek. "Please be safe and come back to me, okay?" "Of course I will." Ron hugged the young lady, who was also his secret lover. "Wait for me, Layla." "Un!" Layla pressed her head on Ron’s chest, holding onto him tightly. She was worried about him because this mission was very dangerous. The Shadow Forest bordered the Demon Realm and was one of the most dangerous areas on the battlefield. Ron knew that this might be their most dangerous mission as of yet, so he made sure to tell his party members to prepare and arm themselves to the teeth.