Chapter 011: Interest

The figure slowly emerging from the corner was as dazzling as a pearl under the moonlight. Tasia was clad only in a thin robe, with a faint magical shield shimmering around her. As the invisibility spell was lifted, the space inside the tent became slightly distorted.
Amidst this distortion, Tasia’s complexion was eerily pale; her lips, already lacking color, had turned slightly purple from the cold. Yet, this delicate appearance gave her a strange sense of purity, inspiring awe.
A flash of surprise crossed Du Fan’s eyes. Was this Tasia’s true strength? After using such an advanced spell as invisibility and then mental attacks, her magic level must be at least level six—or higher. It was a height he could only aspire to at present.
The remaining three members of the Snow Fox Mercenaries were utterly stunned. They wanted to flee but dared not move.
In this strange atmosphere, Tasia casually waved her hand. Several dark beams shot out from her fingertips and entered the heads of the three men, who then collapsed silently.
Without even glancing at them, Tasia turned to Du Fan and said, “Did you calculate precisely that I would always come to save you, no matter when?”
“How could that be?” Du Fan shook his head, still shaken. “Even I wouldn’t risk my life!”
Tasia nodded indifferently, lost in her thoughts. Seeing that she had no intention of chasing after them, Du Fan smiled and said, “Miss Tasia, aren’t you going to capture that Kasimir? After all, it seems he’s already guessed our identities. If he gets away, we’ll be in big trouble.”
Tasia frowned. “With Lord Alfred guarding the perimeter, do you think Kasimir has a chance to escape? Well, it seems the matter is resolved. We now know what those Snow Fox Mercenaries are up to. You take care of the rest; I’m going to rest.”
With that, Tasia slowly walked out of the tent. But just before leaving, she glanced back at Eileen on the ground, her expression somewhat peculiar.
Du Fan stared in the direction Tasia had gone, touched his nose, and chuckled self-mockingly, “The people from Divine Might Prison are truly extraordinary…”

Shaking his head gently, Du Fan picked up the two men on the ground, threw them out of the tent, and then found a blanket to wrap around Eileen before tossing her out as well. Looking at the mess in the tent, Du Fan shook his head, sighed, and slowly walked away. In the camp, several Temple Knights who had been “knocked out” by Eileen heard the commotion. Aside from those still on night duty, the rest came over. Ferre led the way and, seeing the three people on the ground, smiled and said, “Lord Du Fan, how did you let the most crucial one get away?” Du Fan smiled back and replied, “How could he escape? With Lord Alfred here, even if Cassimir is just a mercenary—or even if he really is a snow fox—he probably can’t get away!” Ferre nodded in agreement. Without Du Fan’s further orders, the rest quickly found ropes to tie up the three unconscious men. But when it came to tying up the mage Eileen, the young and impulsive Temple Knights, regardless of whether they had ever touched a woman before, inevitably became a bit rough in such a situation. Although Du Fan was there, they still couldn’t help but take advantage of her exposed areas. Du Fan smiled faintly and averted his gaze, pretending not to see. The Temple Knights knew better than to overdo it. After touching her a few times, one of them found a piece of animal skin to cover her up. But how big could that skin be? It left her completely exposed, drawing a lot of attention. Seeing this, Ferre also found it unacceptable and eventually ran into Du Fan’s tent to retrieve the magic robe, throwing it over Eileen. But as soon as it was thrown on her, a hissing sound came from the ice, and smoke rose from it. Du Fan let out an “Oh?” and bent down to pick up the robe, touching it for a while before being secretly surprised. It was unclear what material the robe was made of, but faint magical fluctuations could be sensed from within. Its simple design wasn’t unusual, but the blood-red magic stone on its chest revealed its true nature. It seemed the robe contained a fire-based magic array, which allowed Eileen to wear it and move around in the icy environment. As Du Fan touched the robe, under the strange gazes of the Temple Knights, the light magic energy in his hands flared up, quickly removing all foreign substances from the robe.

He frowned again for a moment, then took out the perfume that Chenchen usually liked from his storage ring and sprayed a little on it. Once the faint jasmine scent spread, he tossed the magic robe to Feri and said, “Take this to Miss Tasia.”

Feri was slightly stunned but quickly understood Du Fan’s intention. Not daring to touch the magic robe directly, he used his Light Combat Qi to carry it into Tasia’s tent and returned after a while.

Du Fan looked at him and smiled, “Well? Did Miss Tasia say anything?”

Feri nodded. “Tasia said thank you for your kindness, Lord Du Fan.”

Du Fan nodded without saying much, only gesturing for Feri to sit down.

Feri sat down with a smile, his expression suggestive. He glanced around and saw that the other Temple Knights’ attention was drawn to the three people on the ground. Then he said in a low voice, “Lord Du Fan, your skills are really impressive!”

Du Fan was taken aback. “What skills?”

Feri patted Du Fan’s shoulder. “What other skills could it be? Of course, they’re the skills you used on Miss Tasia. Look at yourself—if you were interested in her, you should have said so earlier. If the rest of us brothers had known, we would definitely have helped you.”

Du Fan gave a bitter smile. “When did I say I was interested in Miss Tasia? She’s a famous ice-cold beauty in the imperial capital and also part of the Divine Might Prison. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare to pursue her! Besides, as a lowly person like me, there’s no way I could even think of pursuing her.”

Feri chuckled. “Lord Du Fan, stop hiding it. If you weren’t concerned about Miss Tasia, why would you ask me to deliver that magic robe to her? And before giving it to her, you even used Light Combat Qi to clean it and sprayed perfume on it. I can tell that although Tasia didn’t say anything, she’s actually very happy… Plus, you spent another night together today… Lord Du Fan, don’t tell me you weren’t tempted at all?”

Du Fan rubbed his nose, not knowing how to explain. The more he tried to explain, the more confusing it became. So he could only smile and say, “Enough, Feri. It’s fine to joke about this, but if Miss Tasia really heard it, neither of us would have an easy time from now on.”

Feri laughed heartily. Probably fearing Du Fan would feel embarrassed, he quickly shifted the topic.

It wasn’t until he heard this that Du Fan realized that most of the Knights of the Temple came from ordinary families in the empire. Though they were extremely skilled, they refrained from using their strength for personal gain due to their beliefs. Compared to the mixed crowd of believers, these Knights of the Temple were the true foundation of the Holy See’s dominance over the Roland Continent. One could imagine how brutal the battlefield would be if a team of Knights of the Temple, each with an average strength of level six or above, appeared there.

Feeling somewhat regretful for killing so many of them that day, Du Fan was also secretly relieved that he wasn’t facing a formation of dozens of Knights of the Temple on the battlefield. His thoughts swirled wildly in his mind—utterly complicated.

After chatting for a while longer, several Knights of the Temple guarding outside the camp gave an alarm. Du Fan and Feray exchanged a glance. Feray listened for a moment before saying, “It must be Lord Alfred and the others returning.”

Du Fan nodded. “It’s good they’re back!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a black mass descended from the sky and crashed into the center of the camp with a loud thud. Du Fan glanced over and saw that it was none other than Casimir, who had fled earlier. His body was covered in ice shards and wounds, and the blood flowing from them had frozen into thick ice layers due to the cold. Yet his chest was still rising slightly, indicating he wasn’t dead yet.

At that moment, Alfred’s tall figure rushed into the center of the camp, followed by dozens of Knights of the Temple and the shivering Nicholas. Alfred rubbed his hands together, took Nicholas to the campfire to warm up, then spat and kicked Casimir, who was lying on the ground. He cursed, “This bastard not only made us suffer in the cold all night but also dared to run away, hiding like a fox. If it weren’t for my sharp eyes, he might have really gotten away.”