Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

After getting away with the name issue, Wang Kai and Zhang Lan stopped fooling around. In particular, after hearing what Martha said, which contained elements of "advancing the main plot," Wang Kai eagerly went over and asked with a smile.

“Little sister Martha, although you and Sister Zhang Lan are also novice adventurers, ‘three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang.’ When the time comes, we’ll fight monsters and level up together, acquire awesome skills together, and conquer our own territory together. We won’t be invincible, but at least we’ll defeat the Demon King and earn the title of ‘Hero,’ right?”

Martha blinked at this: "Huh? Become a hero and defeat the Demon King? Wasn't the Demon King already defeated by the Four Heroes?"

"Yes, yes, defeat the Demon King... Ah, what!?"

Wang Kai's eyes widened. This was the first time he had ever heard of "the hero fighting the demon king" in this world. And as it turned out, was this kind of "final main quest" in the game really just something that could be explained by an NPC in a few words and that was it?

A profound sense of emptiness washed over me, like suddenly losing some important goal in my life, leaving me in a dazed state...

Zhang Lan walked over and slapped Wang Kai on the head, yelling, "You spent most of last night poring over a 'martial arts manual,' and now you know it was all for nothing. If you'd read a book about basic world facts, history, and culture like I do, you wouldn't have reacted like this... Look, Martha's staring at you like you're an idiot. You might as well just find a hole nearby, dig yourself up, and bury yourself there. I promise I'll come and burn incense for you every year on this day..."

Wang Kai was still not awake after being slapped, and Zhang Lan didn't want to pay attention to him anymore, so she said to Masha.

“Masha, we’ve been busy all day, and the cleanup work in Tara Village is almost over. Let’s take a break and have something to eat. We can discuss the future later.”

“Okay, but Kyle…”

"Never mind that 'game addict.' I didn't call him out earlier because I wanted him to gloat for a while. It's not a bad thing that you accidentally pointed it out. He'll catch up once he's recovered!"

"Okay, Kyle, let's go prepare dinner first."

……

Because the Adventurers' Guild's basement was dark, damp, and cold, the group found a few tents and set them up in the open space outside. Martha also cooked a few hot dishes, which relieved their hunger after burying the villagers. Except for Wang Kai, who was absent-minded, who ate a few bites and then fell silent.

While enjoying the after-dinner refreshments, Zhang Lan, seeing the situation, didn't know what to say. She could only try to start a conversation from another angle to ease the tension.

“Martha, Wang Kai and I are from a remote village, and we may not know much about the history of the hero and the demon king that you mentioned before. Could you tell us more about it?”

Martha was slightly suspicious, but she nodded anyway, holding a cup of hot tea in both hands, and said.

"In fact, on this 'Auckland Continent' where we are, there has been a Demon King and his army since ancient times. Over thousands of years, humans, elves, orcs, dwarves, goblins, and other races have suffered greatly, and countless towns have been destroyed by the Demon King's forces. In the past, the major races have united to fight against the Demon King's army, but the Demon King's army has always been stationed in the Arctic Abyss at the northernmost part of the Auckland Continent. Even if the allied forces went to fight, they would lose more than half of their troops before they even started fighting, due to the severe cold... So almost every time they returned empty-handed!"

"Oh, I know this one. Isn't it just the model of the 'Battle of Stalingrad'?"

Wang Kai, who was standing next to me, suddenly spoke up in a sarcastic tone. It seemed that he had accepted part of the reality. Although someone had already become a hero and defeated the Demon King to complete the "main storyline," there must be other "side quests." Listening to the story might reveal some clues, so he reluctantly perked up.

“Staling… what is that?” Martha tilted her head.

Zhang Lan waved her hand and said, "Sister Martha, don't mind him. Just treat him as a country bumpkin talking nonsense in the city. In the future, no matter what he suddenly says that you don't know, don't understand, or can't comprehend, don't delve too deeply into it. Just treat him like a little dog barking randomly... You can continue with the previous topic."

Martha nodded and continued.

"After repeated crushing defeats that taught the Allied forces countless lessons, perhaps seeing other peace-loving races suffering under the Demon King's army, about twenty years ago, the gods, amidst the expectations of the people, summoned four heroes. They were all powerful individuals who had mastered and were proficient in the four magical elements. After spending more than a decade, the four heroes finally destroyed the Demon King's army and the Demon King himself, bringing decades of peace to the continent of Auckland..."

"Huh!? A few heroes who inexplicably appeared here, and the process of defeating the Demon King was glossed over so easily? It was that simple and easy? And they call themselves the Four Great Heroes... Waaah!"

With a sarcastic remark and a scream, Zhang Lan finally removed her foot from Wang Kai's instep, and gestured for Masha to continue.

"Therefore, the four heroes—Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth—became heroes known to everyone on the continent of Auckland. To thank them for their selfless help, the largest empire on the continent—the 'Mos Empire'—established four autonomous regions in the four cardinal directions of the empire, with each hero governing one of them. Our village, Tara, belongs to the territory governed by the Fire Hero..."

Finally, the topic that Zhang Lan cared about was brought up. She thought for a few seconds and then asked.

"Martha, I'd like to ask, since the Four Heroes defeated the Demon King, are there any records of villages like 'Tara Village' being completely destroyed?"

Martha thought for a moment, shook her head, and replied firmly.

"No, although Tara Village has faced crises of being besieged by monsters before, they were all caused by low-level and unintelligent ordinary wild monsters. In such cases, the village's adventurers' guild would resist on its own or issue a commission, and the weak monsters would be quickly eliminated. As for those that could pose a great threat, the town of Merck above would send troops to assist in handling them."

"So, you think that the tragedy that destroyed Tara Village couldn't have been caused by monsters, nor by the Demon King's army from before, right?"

"Yes!"

Martha lowered her head.

"I think it might be a natural disaster because everything happened so suddenly. I was doing chores at my grandma's house when I vaguely heard villagers passing by saying that there were explosions coming from the forest not far away, but the explosions gradually faded away. Soon after, a series of violent explosions rang out in every corner of the village, and countless flames suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The terrified villagers could only scatter and flee. Soon, the house I was in was also on fire. Seeing this, my grandma could only pull me outside to escape for our lives, and then..."

The voices gradually faded, and Martha, recalling her grief, quickly fell silent, as did Zhang Lan…

Wang Kai hadn't noticed anything strange at first, but as the air grew heavy and an unprecedented tension appeared on Zhang Lan's face, he realized something was amiss, especially those first few sentences: "The sound of the explosion in the forest gradually faded into the distance..."

Soon, Wang Kai realized something and was about to speak when a small hand covered his mouth. Zhang Lan winked at him and shook her head, indicating that he shouldn't say a word...

"What's going on? The game's plot has finally reached a crucial point related to our two characters, but it's indicating we can't ask anything. Is it really that mysterious? Even if the fading explosion in the forest is related to 'Alice' and the other guy, the village disaster happened after that, right? By then, Kyle and Alice had already fallen off the cliff. No matter how much you suspect, the tragedy in Tara Village shouldn't have anything to do with them. But Zhang Lan looks so serious, could there really be some twist or hidden story...?"

Some ominous images flashed through Wang Kai's mind, and Zhang Lan, seeing this, did not delve deeper into the topic. As the "only survivor of Tara Village," Masha's eyewitness report was also very one-sided, and there were not many clues to be obtained.

"Martha, don't be too sad. What's done is done, and there's nothing we can do to change it. By the way, you said that in a few days, those 'Imperial soldiers' would come here?"

“Yes!” Martha wiped away a few tears from the corners of her eyes and looked up. “The villages and towns are too far apart. Imperial law stipulates that wherever there is an ‘Adventurers’ Guild,’ the transmission of adventurers’ and mission information must be carried out by Imperial soldiers. Therefore, there is a routine of ‘soldier patrols delivering intelligence’ twice a week. If soldiers discover any major accidents or changes in towns or villages, they can intervene immediately to investigate and collect relevant evidence…”

Surprisingly, this seemingly backward other world has a relatively complete legal system and emergency response capabilities, much like an upgraded version of the "communication methods" between towns in ancient China. Even though the timeliness is vastly different from a modern phone call, it is already considered ideal in this world.