God-Hunter Mage

First Mission

District A7, Deborah City. As soon as Kieran arrived in this district, he felt the atmosphere of the city change drastically. Deborah City that was crowd, cleanliness and discipline, did not match with this district. There were various shabby houses. On the surroundings, many people with torn clothes and unkempt bodies were walking on the sidewalk. Although not as bad as the environmental conditions where he lived in Amantha, the atmosphere in this district was not harmonizing with the image of Deborah City.

"It seems that what Hansen said is true, this place is not as perfect as it looks." Kieran muttered.

Kieran and Mio who had gotten off the Taxi, then walked towards the address of the mission sender. He was a bit confused while looking for it, so he decided to ask for help from a boy that he met.

“Hey boy, do you know where Silvana Demethor's house is?” asked Kieran.

The boy received money that worth of 5 DBR. Subsequently, he nodded towards Kieran and said in a low voice, “Please follow me.”

Kieran and Mio followed the boy and soon, he came to a house that was quite nice, a stark contrast to the houses besides it, which looked a bit shabby. Kieran felt it was normal since the mission sender was generous enough to give such a large mission reward, so she definitely wasn't short on money.

Mio pressed the bell, which then made a loud sound.

"Excuse me! We from the Adventurer's Guild will take the mission that you sent!" Kieran shouted.

Not long after that, the sound of footsteps were heard, the door of the house opened revealing a woman in her 20s who had purple hair.

“You guys are from the Adventurer's Guild? Then please come in, "said the woman as she opened the fence of her house. Kieran and Mio walked into the courtyard of the house. Not only there, this woman named Silvana Demethor also invited the two of them to enter the house.

"Please wait in the living room," Silvana said, then she left for a while.

Kieran and Mio sat on the long sofa, while observing Silvana's living room. From the objects displayed in the living room, Kieran could see that Silvana was also from Hecrotus, like himself, Silvana moved from Hecrotus and then settled in Deborah City.

A moment later, Silvana brought three glasses of juice and some snacks. She put two glasses of juice in front of Kieran and Mio. After that, she sat in front of the two of them, drank some juice and then put it back.

“So, my name is Silvana Demethor, regarding the mission I sent, I think you already know about it right? The mission will start tonight, so prepare yourselves well,” said Silvana seriously.

While Kieran was listening to Silvana seriously, Mio drank up the juice provided by Silvana, she also intended to take some snacks.

"Ow!"

Kieran slapped Mio's hand, who was about to take the snack.

"Sit well, you fox!" he whispered in an angry tone.

Kieran sighed, and then he seriously asked, “May we know what really happened until you need us to guard your house at night?”

"Actually, there's been plenty of missing people lately, I'm worried about my safety."

"Missing person? Shouldn't Deborah City's guard quickly investigate it?" Mio asked.

“It depends on who is missing. In this case, the one who missing is an unidentified resident,” Silvana replied.

"Isn't that the same? With or without identity, should they still be under the authority of the city guard, right?” this time it was Kieran who asked.

Silvana raised her eyebrows, She looked at the two people in front of her in surprise. She then asked carefully, “Are you guys newly come to this city?”

Kieran and Mio looked at each other. Kieran wondered, “How do you know?”

Silvana sighed and answered, “Because it is common knowledge for people who have lived in this city for a long time. In short, people with identity are legal subjects, it mean they have an obligation to pay some taxes and in return, they will also be protected by law. While people without identity are not legal subjects, it mean whatever happens to them is not the responsibility of the city government.”

Kieran nodded in understanding, it seems Deborah City wasn't perfect. He remembered that Hansen immediately suggested making an ID card and even financed him and Mio in making it. Kieran again thanked Hansen for what he did.

"That's good enough, most cities in the world probably won't care about residents at all, unless the ones affected are family or relatives of nobles and powerful people," admitted Mio.

Kieran suddenly thought of something, "Wait a minute, is it possible that Deborah City could gather and approve the religion of the dark faction gods is because-"

Silvana nodded then cut off Kieran's words, "As long as they don't hurt the residents with identities, they won't be punished for anything done to the residents without identities."

Such a rule probably wouldn't have caused much of a problem if the dark faction mages had the same traits as Kieran, but Kieran himself was sure most of dark faction mages would do whatever they wanted to the unidentified residents.

“Then, shouldn't those unidentified residents leave this city? I mean, without legal protection at all, it's possible that the lives of people without identity will be in danger,” Mio said.

Silvana refuted Mio's words, “No, they couldn't leave for various reasons. For example, first, there are many unidentified residents who are in debt. The debt was initially only a small part, but when it is not paid on time, the high interest will continue to make the debt grow. Moreover, the cost of living here is rather expensive, one small accident in life is enough to ensnare a person into a cycle of debt.

Second, people are used to living here, various conveniences of life may be poison for people who do not have sufficient financial capacity. It may seem trivial, but it makes numerous people feel dependent and can't leave here. They are not used to living in another city.

Third, living out there is the same, the danger is the same, many nobles and royal officials are corrupt, causing starvation, rising food prices, huge number of taxes, gangs that carry out human trafficking, and moneylenders. For most people, living in this city or outside, the danger is the same.”

Kieran nodded, he agreed to Silvana's word. Greysia Luminous was also the cousin of the mayor of Amantha, Redruff Luminous, but Greysia was still free to join Snakehead and commit some crimes without being caught. Maybe for most people, the dangers here and outside were the same.

"Thank you for the explanation, we have to say goodbye first. We'll get ourselves ready and come back here tonight."