Chapter 243: Out of the City: Maddy’s First True Quest.

The man’s heart seemed to shatter visibly; his posture collapsed, the tiny spark of hope in his eyes flickering toward extinction.

But then, Maddy stepped forward. She placed a firm, steady hand on the man’s shoulder, her grip grounding him.

"Your daughter is a kind woman,"

Maddy said, her voice cutting through the gloom of the inn. The man looked up, startled.

"On my first day here, when I had nothing, she told me my stay was free because I was a new adventurer. Every morning since, she has been the first to welcome me, always slipping an extra portion of food onto my plate when she thought I wasn’t looking."

Maddy leaned down, her eyes burning with a fierce, maternal resolve beneath the shadow of her hood.

"She didn’t ask for a price then, and I’m not asking for a guarantee now. Whether that flower is a rumor or a reality, I am going into that forest. She saved me from the cold when I first arrived in this city—now, I am paying that debt. Your daughter will be saved."

Johnn watched Maddy, his mouth slightly agape. The cynical edge he had just shown evaporated, replaced by a look of profound respect. He straightened his back, his hand returning to his sword.

"Well," Johnn muttered, a small, determined smile returning to his face. "If my partner says she’s saving the girl, then I guess we’re making that rumor a reality. Alrighty! Let’s move, Partner!"

The next few hours were a whirlwind of preparation. Johnn, fueled by his new sense of purpose and the desire to impress his partner, became a walking treasury. He insisted on paying for everything, and Maddy, being functionally broke after her week of "philanthropy," was more than happy to let him.

The shopping trip was unlike anything the guild had ever seen from a Hero. Under Maddy’s direction, they didn’t just buy potions and whetstones; they practically bought a mobile home.

[Kitchen & Utility: A full set of iron cookware, silver utensils (for testing toxins), and high grade flint.]

[Comfort: A massive, reinforced waterproof tent, thick furs, and even a high quality enchanted mattress that could roll up into a compact bundle.]

[Survival: Antidotes, mana-restoring elixirs, and enough preserved rations to feed a small squad for a month.]

Johnn didn’t complain once. Every time Maddy pointed at a high quality item, he threw a bag of gold at the merchant with a grin.

"If we’re going into a forest that wants to eat us, we might as well sleep well before it tries!" he joked, hauling a massive crate onto his shoulder like it was a feather.

Interestingly, Maddy refused to touch her own equipment. She didn’t buy a sharper blade or better plate armor. She kept her tattered cloak and her "round shield," trusting her own monster essence far more than any steel a human blacksmith could forge.

By the time they reached the city gates, Johnn’s once overflowing coin pouch was pathetically light. He reached inside, fished out a few copper bits, and let out a nervous laugh.

"Uh... Partner?" he rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "I might have gone a little overboard on the luxury camping gear. I don’t actually have enough left to rent a carriage or even a pair of horses to get us to the forest border."

Maddy stared at him, then at the mountain of gear he was lugging. She sighed, reached into the small pouch of copper and silver she had earned from her F-rank grind, and pulled out the exact amount needed for a carriage rental.

"I’ll pay for the transport," she said flatly, tossing the coins to the stable master.

Johnn’s face lit up with a joy so pure it was almost blinding.

"You’re paying?! For us?! Oh, partner, you really do care about this partnership! Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back ten—no, a hundred times over once we get that A rank reward!"

Maddy ignored his cheering and climbed into the carriage. As the wheels began to turn, heading west toward the Active Forest, she felt the weight of Hoppy’s presence in her shadow. She wasn’t just going for a flower; she was going to find out if she could truly protect a life this time.

The carriage rattled along the western road, the city walls fading into the distance. Inside the cabin, Johnn sat across from Maddy, his expression uncharacteristically soft as he watched the scenery pass.

"You know, Maddy," he said, breaking the silence. "I was thinking about what you told the innkeeper. About his daughter giving you a free night because you were a new adventurer."

Maddy shifted, her hood obscuring her face.

"What about it?"

"There’s no such rule," Johnn said with a small, sad smile. "The Guild doesn’t subsidize rooms for rookies, and the Innkeepers’ Association certainly doesn’t give handouts. If she told you it was a ’new adventurer’ perk, she was lying to you. She just saw someone in need and decided to cover the cost herself."

Maddy went still. The girl hadn’t just been hospitable; she had been protective. She had seen a stranger in a tattered hood and treated her like a person worth helping. The weight of the debt felt heavier now, settling in Maddy’s chest alongside her maternal instincts. She didn’t just want to help that girl anymore; she had to.

"I see... then I definitely won’t let her die."

As the afternoon sun began to dip, the horizon changed. The rolling plains gave way to a towering, jagged wall of green that seemed to scrape the sky. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"There it is," Johnn whispered, his voice losing its playfulness.

Maddy leaned out of the carriage window, and her breath hitched. Even from a distance, the Active Forest was a physical pressure against her senses. Shellgrave Forest had been a place of rot and silence, but this was different. This was a cacophony of life.

The mana density was suffocating, swirling in thick, visible currents above the canopy like a localized aurora. She could feel the "breath" of the woods—a rhythmic, pulsing vibration that traveled through the earth and into the carriage wheels. Every branch seemed to be in subtle motion, even without a breeze, and the foliage was a deep, bruised purple-green that looked more like muscle than leaf.

It was thicker, vaster, and infinitely more predatory than anything she had ever encountered.

"Welcome to the largest and most dangerous forest in Promethia."