As a Reincarnated NPC, I Want to Live a Peaceful Life - Chapter 19

“Alright, everything goes according to plan.”

After discussing and outlining the plan with Alec and the others, I grabbed a few fruits as backup rations. There’s no telling if we might end displaced and struggling—better to be cautious in all things.

I entrusted the money pouch to Alec. I believed that with his life experience, he would manage our funds wisely. As for the magic stone, as Lyell instructed, I’ll keep it on me for now, just in case.

I asked Alec for the key to the alchemy workshop, in case we face danger later and have nowhere to go.

The orc legion at the south gate should be dealt with by noon. Before the guards return to their posts, Alec and the others should leave as soon as possible—and it’d be best if I left before then too. Who knows, the guards might suspect monster infiltration and launch a city-wide search. If that happens, we’ll all be in deep trouble.

The transfer station isn’t far from here, just a few minutes on foot. But what if we run into those street thugs on the way? With the city’s defenses lax, they’re capable of anything. Those players’ stats are no worse than the average guard’s; usually, it’s only the numbers game that keeps them in check.

I trust in Alec and Huihui’s ability to protect themselves, but what if the frail Elfe is snatched up in the chaos—

No, no. I really should escort them myself. That way, I can also make my way out of the city afterward. Two birds with one stone—pretty clever of me.

I unconsciously started waving my arms around, completely unaware that the other three were staring at me in surprise.

“Miss Jūrin seems… happy.”

“…Probably pleased with her own cleverness.”

“Hoho, young people ought to have that kind of spirit.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing, nothing. Let’s just get going.”

……

The streets were almost empty. Seems like everyone had heard about the monster attack and hidden themselves indoors, too afraid to come out. The alleys and side paths, however, were crowded with thugs and bandits—just as expected.

“Hmm, taking the main road was definitely the right call.”

I’d never heard of a “transfer station” before—it was only recently, from overhearing conversations, that I picked up the term and looked it up using the system hint.

A transfer station is a specific site equipped with a teleportation magic circle. The circle itself is the core component. While highly effective—capable of reaching almost anywhere (provided you know the destination clearly)—it’s notoriously cumbersome to use.

Each use requires a significant amount of time to inscribe the runic array with special mana. If even a single stroke is drawn incorrectly, the teleportation can fail, or worse, send you to the middle of nowhere… Coupled with the fact that it’s basically single-use, teleportation circles are hardly practical for widespread use.

That’s why players tend to prefer teleportation scrolls. But well, that’s another story.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought I could faintly hear the sound of chains from the alleys, along with occasional cut-off screams—

Probably just thugs fighting among themselves. Not my business.

With no pedestrians on the road, the Central Avenue was no longer as bustling as it was yesterday. This also meant fewer eyes on us, though of course, we couldn’t rule out the possibility of thugs watching us from the shadows. At the very least, the chance of being exposed in public was greatly reduced.

So quiet. Very quiet. I love environments like this. If I can hear a pin drop clearly, who could possibly sneak up on me?

Flipping through a magic book, learning a few spells for personal use—wouldn’t that be pure bliss?

I walked at the back of the group so I could keep an eye on both the front and the rear. However, I still had no way to predict attacks from assassins or killers using shadow movement. That was a real headache. I’d have to look into countermeasures later.

The journey went smoothly, and Alec’s group and I arrived at the transfer station. Just a counter and an entrance made up the entire “transfer station.” Oh, and there was also a very large sign at the door, with the words “Transfer Station” written in dazzlingly bright characters.

Seriously, how many people are you trying to attract? I get that teleportation needs some level of accessibility, but isn’t this a bit excessive?

I twitched my corners of the mouth shook my head, and ushered Elfe, Alec, and the others to the counter.

The person who greeted us was dressed rather plainly, wearing a hood—I couldn’t make out their face, but that was fine. After all, everyone has the right to choose their own style… The badge on their chest confirmed they were a legitimate staff member.

Without a word, they knocked on the counter and then reach out. Seems pretty professional—not wasting words, straight to business. So transfer stations are actually popular?

I stepped aside to let Elfe and the others present their permits.

After collecting the permits, the person coldly asked, “Why only three?”

“Oh, no—I’m not transferring. I’m just here to see them off.”

Upon hearing my reply, they lowered their head and gestured for us to enter.

Inside, apart from the counter, it was pitch black… They lit a magic lamp, and the light improved a bit.

Was it my imagination again? I thought I caught a strange scent in the air—something I couldn’t quite place. It was too faint to be blood, but it didn’t smell like building materials either.

They asked us to wait a moment, then went deeper into the room… and dragged out a rug with a magic circle drawn on it. So you can draw teleportation circles on anything? That actually makes them portable—They clapped their hands, signaling the three to step onto the rug.

So Alec, Elfe, and Huihui stood firmly on the rug—Alec didn’t say much, but his soul was trembling; Elfe also looked at me reluctantly, waving goodbye helplessly; Huihui gave me a thumbs-up and smiled meaninglessly.

“We’ll meet again in [Kroof].”

“Teleportation, activate.” The staff member muttered the incantation and activated the circle… As a bright light emanated from the center, I faintly saw the circle rise from the bottom up, then rapidly descend…

In an instant, the three of them vanished—and so did the magic circle.

My heart suddenly felt empty, as if something was missing. I felt terribly uncomfortable, with a sinking feeling in my stomach and a surge of bitterness in my chest.

This feeling was the same as when I parted with Narth… What will become of me? Of her?

Once they reach [Kroof], Lady Cleroll will surely help them. After all, three months ago, she helped me, a complete stranger. Her kindness, her goodness… I truly admire her. Thinking about it now, I haven’t returned for three days. If only I hadn’t boarded that carriage back then—

Everything was fine. Perfectly fine. Until I saw the name clearly written on that rug: [Felterro]. My entire body went cold. I stared blankly at the spot where they had stood just seconds ago. Those four large characters felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head.

What’s going on? An operational error? But staff don’t usually make mistakes—In that instant, I felt something hit my head, followed by a shower of granules. I reached for my neck and looked.

Wood chips.

I turned around to face the culprit who had tried to knock me out. He looked utterly despicable—probably surprised I hadn’t collapsed on the spot.

“What’s wrong? Brave enough to send my friends to some unknown city, but too scared to face a little girl?”

“Tch, you little brat! Don’t get ahead of yourself!” I didn’t know what his goal was, but judging by the fact that he hadn’t used any offensive spells and had instead grabbed a wooden stool, he probably just wanted to knock me out and take me away.

Just then, I heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps behind me. I glanced back—there was another person there. Peering past him through the crack in the wooden door, I saw a hand stained with blood…

So the staff member who was supposed to greet us had already been killed. These two unknown NPC thugs had taken their place. Their target was probably me—or anyone from our group.

(Thanks to [Spring Tree] for providing the phrase.)

Were they after our money? Planning to kidnap us for ransom? Honestly, if I were just an ordinary girl, that hit earlier would’ve sent me to the heavens.

Or were they just hired muscle? Well, it doesn’t matter much to me. All I need to consider is how to take them down.

“Boss, this little girl, she…”

“I see. She’s tough. Hard to imagine such a frail body could withstand a blow like that. But if we both go at her, she won’t be able to handle it.”

I stood between the two of them, not doing much else. I simply raised my hands gently, let them glow with a faint light, and then suddenly clenched my fists—

A flower bloomed instantly in the room—blood-red and utterly disgusting. If the “materials” had been more considerate, perhaps this flower wouldn’t have bloomed.

I turned to the other one, the one who had swung the wooden stool at me. He was trembling at his companion’s sudden departure. Did he ever stop to think if I might be trembling too?

Releasing [Force Manipulation], he weakly collapsed to the ground. I stepped on his leg and demanded fiercely, “Who sent you?” The reasoning was simple: I didn’t need to ask his name because he was going to die anyway. Whatever. Just get the mastermind’s name out of him…

His eyes darted around frantically, like a clown forced to perform on a tightrope. I increased the pressure under my foot to make him understand his situation—

“I—I can’t say… Otherwise, I’ll die… a horrible, horrible death! Please! Just kill me now!” Instead, he clung to my leg, begging for a quick death. His eyes weren’t lying; he genuinely wanted to die.

But I wasn’t done questioning him yet. He couldn’t die so soon. I pulled my leg free from his grasp and used [Force Manipulation] to pin him to the ground. His legs struggled against the restraints, like a fish trapped on a cutting board.

Isn’t it ironic? The guy who was desperate not to die now begging me to kill him—

I stepped on the side of his calf, hoping the pain would make him talk. But he just kept begging me to kill him…

“Hey! What’s going on in there? Why does it smell so strongly of blood?” A guard’s voice came from outside the door. I jolted and looked up, accidentally making eye contact with the guard player.

Strange, the guards shouldn’t be back on patrol yet… Did the battle end early?

“Hey! What are you doing? Let him go, now!” The guard reacted quickly, immediately shouting at me to release my grip. He then entered the room, drew the sword from his waist, and confronted me.

I quickly put distance between myself and the thug, then clenched my hand into a fist again.

A second bloom—a splendid blood flower blossomed here, staining the guard’s armor. The guard was clearly shocked. He looked at the scattered internal organs on the floor, feeling a wave of nausea.

I felt nothing at the bloody scene. As I said before, my courage is… unusual. Even if someone were brutally murdered right in front of me, I’d probably feel anger, not fear.

Blood spread across the floor. I stepped into the pool-like expanse of blood and slowly approached the guard… Since there were no other witnesses, I’d just silence him… NPCs can’t resurrect, so I didn’t need to worry about those two snitching.

As for players, after death, they forget the detailed memories of their previous life.

He clearly realized this, slowly backing toward the counter window, probably wanting to call for backup. But during combat, players can’t log out. There’s no time to escape and buy time—so when facing a powerful enemy, his only outcome…

Is death.

I once told Alec that if possible, I didn’t want to kill. But if someone threatened my interests, I wouldn’t mind killing an insignificant person… I don’t kill without reason, unless it’s necessary.

However, the guard frantically rummaged through his pocket and soon pulled out a cone-shaped object—

I slightly parted my lips, my pupils dilating. By the time I realized what it was, it was too late.

With a “Bang! Biuuuu” sound, a firework trailed by red smoke shot into the sky through the open counter window and exploded.

I knew exactly what it was. In this era before signal flares became widespread, guards undoubtedly needed some means of communication. So… simple fireworks, available everywhere, became the substitute for signal flares.

Different colors indicated different threat levels. That red one just now was a medium-threat signal… I gritted my teeth in frustration, angry that I hadn’t acted decisively.

Now, everyone knows there’s a major threat here.

Guess what my expression looked like?

╯□╰ 😳 ╯□╰

…..

Attack: ??
Speed: ??
Magic: ???
Strength: ??
Growth: ∞
Precision: A
Mental Strength: A+
Airheaded: D+ / Intelligence: A++

——————

Skill Changes:
[Force Manipulation] LV.3 ▶▶ LV.5
[Soul Perception] LV.2 ▶▶ LV.3

——————

Companions:
Elf Ranger—Elfe Ester—Left Party—[Soul Erosion: Contract]
Elf Alchemist—Ann Alec—Left Party—[Mental Erosion: Loss]
Red Mage—Huihui (Huihui’s younger sister)—Left Party—[Magic: Flow Restriction]

——————

Objective:
Find Ann Alec, Elfe Ester, and Huihui, who were teleported to [Felterro].