Chapter 78: Acting Courageously (Part 2)

“Wow, it seems pretty lively over here!” Upon reaching the outskirts of the battle area and seeing the chaotic situation ahead, Aida raised her voice with a hint of amusement.
A sudden voice immediately caught everyone’s attention. The fighters, seeing the two people appear out of nowhere, were filled with confusion.
Looking at those two individuals, one dressed in a prominent mage robe—clearly a second-tier mage, which meant he possessed at least the strength of a grand mage! The guy beside him must be a warrior, as the long sword on his back proved it.
“Who are you?” The leader of the bandits frowned. Clearly, these people weren’t reinforcements for their side; otherwise, they would have attacked already. So he asked skeptically.
“Aida, stop talking and get started! Time is precious!” Frowning at the group, Rod felt no goodwill toward them. Bandits? He hated such people the most. Moreover, all of them were dressed in black—just like the people who had caused him trouble before. Naturally, he assumed these bandits were no good.
As soon as he finished speaking, his long sword, Dark Dragon, was drawn, and he charged into the crowd. No one expected this dark-haired warrior to be so direct, attacking without a word.
Under Rod’s full-force attacks, several bandits were knocked down, causing cries of pain.
Watching the fighting ahead, Aida cursed inwardly. This damned guy never made things easy. She had thought this matter had little to do with her and had planned to just spend some money to let that Nils and Evan handle it. But now, everything was ruined—another battle was about to begin.
Taking a deep breath, she glared at Rod, who was fighting fiercely. With a huff, she reluctantly began chanting the complicated spells. Soon, a fire spell formed in her hand and was hurled into the crowd. With the mage’s addition, things improved significantly. Coupled with Rod’s generous use of his combat energy with Swords of Shadow and Autumn Wind, their combined attack power brought about a huge change in the stalemate. The balance of victory quickly shifted in favor of Nils and his group, who had been initially at a disadvantage.

“Damn it! Hmph, you guys are lucky today, brothers. Let’s retreat!” Seeing their once favorable situation ruined by those two damned guys appearing out of nowhere, the bandit leader cursed loudly before shouting.
The warrior seemed to be only at the Bronze Warrior level, but his strength was astonishing—comparable to that of a Silver Warrior. With the support of the mage, more and more of his comrades were falling. If they didn’t retreat, they’d suffer even more losses. He knew well when to back off.
At the lead bandit’s shout, the other scoundrels immediately wanted to flee. They rushed backward in a crowd, gathering together to help their injured comrades and retreat quickly.
Of course, everyone was glad to see them leave. Who would be so foolish as to chase after them? Thus, the battle naturally came to an end, leaving behind a chaotic battlefield.
“Thank you, both of you. I’m Evan. Without you, we would have been in big trouble!”
As everything settled down and those who could stand began to clean up the mess, a tall man with golden hair stepped forward and spoke gratefully to Rod.
Overall, the man was quite handsome, and his tone was sincere. Looking at him, Rod nodded inwardly—he seemed like a decent person.
“Go ahead, how much do you want? You must be mercenaries too. Let’s consider this job as hired by us!”
But just as Rod was about to speak, his words were cut off by another sudden remark.
Another young man stepped forward, around twenty years old, with dark yellow hair, blue eyes, and a hooked nose. Standing between the two, he spoke disdainfully, showing no sign of gratitude. In his eyes, Rod and Ada could even sense a hint of arrogance and contempt.
“Nils…” Clearly unprepared for his companion to say such things, Evan looked embarrassed. After glancing at Nils, he spoke unhappily.
“What, do you not want money?” Unaware of his mistake, Nils asked in confusion.
“Rod!” Ada gently pulled at Rod, who wanted to speak, then stepped forward and said to the two men, “Money? We don’t need it. We were just asked to do this by Lucia!”

“Lucia, oh my god? She’s actually here? Where? Take me there quickly!” At that moment, the expressions of the two people on the other side changed drastically as they spoke eagerly and anxiously.
“Hmph, aren’t you very capable? Go find her by yourself. And don’t try to insult us with that money, damn bastard! Money isn’t everything! Stop using your filthy money to insult us!” Rod snapped coldly, unable to hold back any longer after a cold snort.
“Hehe, I’m sorry. My friend was a bit rude just now. I hope you can forgive them. I guess you must be members of the Swift Wind Mercenaries, right? Officer Lawrence has already reported everything about you. Thank goodness you’re safe!
Is Lucia here now? We came here hoping to find her. I didn’t expect to find her here actually. If it’s convenient, could you take us to see her?”
Evan pulled at Neil’s sleeve, who had a completely changed expression, glared at him, and then stepped forward with a polite smile.
“It seems you know what happened. Good. You two, come with me!”
Aida gently pulled at Rod, who also looked annoyed, and then led the two of them into the forest.
“Damn it, you guys haven’t been hiding in the Magical Beast Forest all this time, have you? You even made your way to Blackstone City through it? No wonder none of the people we sent back had any news. Luckily, I and Neil came here out of boredom today!”
Led by Aida, the group entered the Magical Beast Forest. Seeing this scene, Evan sighed in awe.
“Hmph, I wonder if Lucia is okay. Those damned assassins! If I ever find their tracks!” Neil also complained unhappily as he followed the others.
Soon, led by the two of them, the group arrived at their original hiding place. Upon seeing them arrive, there was a series of swishing sounds from the forest, and four people stepped out— weren’t they Bit, Cherie, and the others? Beside them were Lucia and her maids.
“Praise the great Light God! Miss Lucia, I’m so glad you’re safe! Evan and I were extremely worried these past few days! Are you really okay?”
Seeing Lucia, Evan and Neil immediately showed excited smiles and rushed forward. Neil asked anxiously as he stepped beside her.
“Evan, how did you guys come here?” Lucia glanced at Neil but ignored him, turning to Evan with a puzzled look.

“General Lawrence returned to the capital a few days ago. We’re all aware of what happened to you, but despite sending countless people out to search, there’s been no sign of you. You have no idea how worried this has made me. That’s why I brought this kid Evan along today to check things out. I suspected you might have come to Blackstone City along the edge of the Magical Beast Forest, so I thought I’d give it a try. Praise the great Light God—my guess was right! I ran into you here! It seems we’re fated to meet!” With a joyful expression on his face, Nils kept talking nonstop, putting on a gentlemanly act in front of Lucia, his graceful demeanor making Rod roll his eyes in secret.

“Nils has already said enough. It’s good that we’ve found you now. Everything’s fine—we were extremely worried these past few days,” Evan said helplessly with a wry smile.

“Come, let’s go back now. Hehe, I’m sure the Duke will be very happy to see you back!” Nils said excitedly, eagerly looking at them.

“It’s getting late. Why leave now? I’ve discussed it with the members of the Swift Wind Mercenaries. We’ll spend the night here and set off tomorrow morning, arriving in the capital by nightfall,” Lucia said calmly after a moment of thought. It was obvious to anyone that Lucia wasn’t particularly interested in Nils—her attitude was indifferent, in stark contrast to Evan’s.

“Alright then. Nils, we’ll stay here for the night and set off tomorrow. Just send someone back to report first!”

After thinking for a moment, Evan quickly understood the situation. He glanced at the members of the Swift Wind Mercenaries, nodded in gratitude, and spoke to Nils.

Seeing the two of them, Nils sighed helplessly and muttered to himself, seemingly complaining about something. Dissatisfied, he walked outside.

That night, under Nils’s arrangement, Rod and the others were excluded and forced to keep watch with his men, while the rest of them spent a miserable night in the Magical Beast Forest amidst complaints.

Watching Nils’s overbearing behavior, Rod curled his lips in disdain. He never expected he’d save such an ungrateful wretch. If he had known, he would have stayed out of it. Now, seeing his condescending attitude, he felt angry. He regretted not letting those bandits just rob the guy—that would have been satisfying.