Diary of Guarding Monster Girls-Chapter 418 - 276 Alive, that’s enough (5.3K, first update)

Chapter 418: 276 Alive, that’s enough (5.3K, first update)

"Finally, I’m back, cough cough..."

As the dusk spread across the sky like molten lead, Steven, riding a poor horse bought at a high price from a caravan, finally saw the outline of the ancestral residence of the Burns Clan after a jarring month-long journey home.

The family crest on the iron gate was so rusted it no longer showed its former glory, leaving only a few twisted iron bars stubbornly upholding the dignity of the Burns.

"Tsk, damned dignity."

When he arrived at the manor, no one came to greet him, nor did anyone notice him.

Nowadays, the Burns Clan no longer had the capacity to hire guards to watch the gates—after all, there was nothing worth stealing anymore.

Steven dismounted, reached to push the gate, and found that his fingers were still embedded with moss from the Misty Mountains.

He paused, then raised his hand to his collar, touched the token given by that lord, and finally felt at ease.

"Thanks to that lord, I was able to return here by a stroke of luck."

He pushed open the gate and led the horse into the manor. The statue of the adventurer ancestor was wrapped in vines, leaving only half a face, and the moonlight happened to fall on the stone-carved single eye, which seemed to gaze at him in a trance.

But Steven wouldn’t be frightened by the sight.

The ancestor was dead, completely and utterly dead. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

If he were still alive, even if transformed into a legendary undead by some means, the family wouldn’t have fallen into such a ghost-like state.

He walked through a corridor lined with crops on both sides—these humble things originally wouldn’t appear here.

Those crops were annually offered by tenant farmers affiliated with their family; they just needed to collect them.

But now... ha ha.

People must find ways to survive.

What about being noble?

Nobles also need to eat.

Prosperous noble families have their ways of living, they fancy themselves noble, call themselves of noble blood, and willfully dominate others.

And the fallen noble families have their own philosophies.

Living earnestly, then stubbornly holding their heads high, declaring they haven’t fallen to the level of others.

As for whether this is of any use, only the heavens know.

After tying the poor horse to the long-abandoned stable, he returned to the main entrance of the manor.

Cre-eak—

He gently pushed open the door, and Steven finally saw a glimmer of light; the dim candlelight offered him a bit of warmth.

"I’m back."

Steven muttered to the empty, dilapidated entrance hall, the echo startling the cobwebs among the beams.

The faded brown tapestry swayed in the draft, the figure of an ancestor holding a blade was split into three parts.

He still remembered that decades ago, when he was a child, although it wasn’t luxurious, it wasn’t as destitute as it is now.

Until the few absurd decisions by his father later led to the family’s fall, selling off most of their belongings, leaving only the ancestral residence... and the noble name of the Burns.

"Adventurer family... ha ha."

Steven looked down at the ground, his desolate shadow cast on the cracked floor, like a snake stripped of its bones.

Desolation.

Though he didn’t feel it on the road, focused solely on returning home, not sensing the fatigue.

But the moment he stepped across the doorstep, the previously accumulated fatigue surged into his body and mind like a tide.

Tired.

But he finally returned to his harbor... yet he still couldn’t rest.

Steven had important matters unfinished!

Among the tasks remaining, the most important was to take his daughter away.

Steven believed that although their father-daughter relationship wasn’t good, with years of being apart, lacking affection.

As long as he explains to her what he has seen and experienced, she will certainly agree to go with him to that dreamlike Pure Land.

Because that is the place he has always pursued, where his daughter can live safely, without evading others’ eyes, the true Pure Land!

"Young... young master?"

The abrupt elder’s voice almost caused Steven to knock over a bronze candelabrum beside him.

"Who’s there!?"

Cre-eak, cre-eak...

Accompanied by the groans of the floorboards, a bark-like mottled old face emerged from the shadows of the spiral staircase.

Undead!!?

Steven was clearly startled, just about to draw his sword when he realized the "monster" in front of him was somewhat familiar.

Not undead, but a living person.

And an old acquaintance.

The old butler Laren’s hunchback was even more stooped than before, holding a lamp.

After recognizing Steven’s face, the old butler clearly showed an expression of joy, quickening his pace and saying, "Young master, it really is you! You finally came back, I thought you..."

What outcome awaits an "adventurer" who hasn’t returned for a long time?

This isn’t hard to deduce, nothing more than a few possibilities.

Either trapped somewhere, or dead in an unnoticed corner...

And whether it’s former or latter, there’s no substantial difference.

Dead adventurers are worthless.

"It’s you, I’m back, don’t scare me."

Steven sighed and said irritably, "If I didn’t run into trouble on the road, yet got scared to death by you, my adventures as an adventurer would be too embarrassing."

The old man also laughed, shaking his head saying, "Ha ha, the young master is joking, the blood of the Burns has never known cowards, nor have there been cowards among adventurers."

And as he shook his head, the old man’s peripheral vision suddenly landed on Steven’s arm.

"This, this is!?"

The old butler widened his eyes, seeing the various wounds on Steven’s body, paused for a moment, then shook his head.