Chapter 32: Emerald Domain

After reading Daphne's letter, Rod couldn't help but sigh.

She was a rare noble Young Lady without any airs.

Though her words were not straightforward, her actions were plain for all to see; the people of Shi Ying Town all liked her.

She absolutely should not have ended up in such a state.

As Rod folded Daphne's letter, he discovered a slightly smaller sheet of paper inside the envelope.

"Hmm? A letter from Sister Isabella Daphne?"

【Respected Mr. Rod, the Forest Warden:

I hope you are well.

I sincerely thank you for your contributions to the Windwall Forest and for your righteous act of saving Daphne Argyle.

I apologize for writing after such a long time. As mentioned in my previous letter, my sister's condition is not optimistic. The Yige Sect not only cast a spell of mental control but also placed a dangerous mental construct inside her head, leaving the mages of Gale City helpless.

According to our investigation, to completely resolve this hidden danger, one must use the stamen of a plant named 'Heart of the Divine'.

It is rumored that you are on good terms with the Tree Spirit Young Lady of the Windwall Forest. Please trouble yourself to inquire about the relevant details; the Argyle family will never be stingy with the reward.

I very much look forward to your reply.

Additionally, given your talents, I believe you will soon accumulate spiritual energy to the peak of the Fifth Tier. At that time, the Argyle family will recommend you to enter the 'Emerald Domain' of Emerald City for advancement.

— Isabella Argyle

】

Heart of the Divine.

A very unfamiliar name. How could an item named after a Divine be ordinary?

"Tomorrow I'll ask Vivian; the elves are also a knowledgeable race. Perhaps Falshad will know."

As for the 'Emerald Domain'.

It was mentioned before that the Sixth Tier to the Seventh Tier is a watershed.

The manifestation of spiritual energy will change.

And before that, the Sixth Tier, being the tier closest to the Seventh, also requires considerable preparation.

Utilizing the power of the 'Domain' here to adapt to the changes in spiritual energy early on is one of the best ways to advance from the Fifth to the Sixth.

Of course, this is not a mandatory step for advancing to the Seventh Tier.

Many people undergo no preparation at all and still successfully reach Legend.

It is just much more difficult and takes more time.

Rod intended to accept this favor; he would have no psychological burden, with everything aimed primarily at increasing his strength.

These past few days, he had been getting up early, quickly feeding Tally, and then immediately finding Little Little Bangde to patrol the forest and train together.

Miss Xiao Ke expressed great dissatisfaction.

But she couldn't stop the child from liking to play with such an unreliable human.

To prevent the human from revealing his true nature, she had no choice but to follow along every day.

"Sorry, Rod, I don't want to..."

Little Little Bangde slowly put the bowstring back, his face full of disappointment.

On the grass in the distance, a gray rabbit hopped about, completely unaware that an arrow had once been aimed at it.

"It's fine."

Rod patted the head of the little horse-girl.

He remained optimistic about this.

Being unable to strike a harmless rabbit means nothing.

Humans always unleash their survival instincts only under lethal threats; Little Little Bangde, possessing centaur blood, is still young and will surely be able to strike later.

The current state is more like a psychological preset, a mental preparation.

"Let's rest for a while and continue later, shall we? Little Little Bangde."

The half-deer Miss Xiao Ke held no objection to this.

She always believed that on this continent dominated by humans, one must possess certain self-defense capabilities.

In fact, that gray rabbit was the one she had caught.

"Can you stop catching rabbits?" Rod said helplessly.

Intelligent races are, after all, visual creatures.

A cute rabbit versus a hideous, ugly toad; obviously, killing the latter carries less psychological burden.

"What's wrong? Is a rabbit not okay!"

"At least it could be something hideous like a toad, a lizard, or a snake. When I'm not hungry, I can't bear to strike a rabbit."

"What use are toads, lizards, and snakes? I can crush them with one foot. The problem is the appearance, understand, human!"

"?"

Miss Xiao Ke shook her head, crossed her arms, and wore a lecturing expression as if to say, "You don't understand."

"Are there not many on the continent who are gilded on the outside but rot on the inside? Little Little Bangde is young and kind; he will surely fall for their tricks! We can only desensitize him in advance in the forest."

Rod admitted that she was also right.

This would at least cultivate the habit of not being misled by appearances.

Tally, sitting on her horse, drifted over quietly; most of the time, she sat rather than stood.

Of course, except when eating.

"The half-deer refers to you; haven't you noticed?"

"What?"

"When she said 'gilded outside, rotten within,' she glanced at you."

Rod looked again, and sure enough, Miss Xiao Ke was always watching him on guard, sneaking peeks.

"."

A moment later.

Little Little Bangde ate a whole big pack of dried rations.

Then she climbed up a tree and looked into the distance.

Whether it was 【Hawk Eye】 or 【Arrow Mastery】, both belonged to the category of innate Spirit Arts, so there was a chance for growth.

Rod needed the horse girl to train as much as possible.

"Ah, Rod! There's people fighting over there!"

Little Little Bangde, up in the tree, suddenly pointed into the distance and said loudly.

"In the forest?" Rod immediately tensed up.

"No, on the edge outside the forest, a lot of stone buildings."

The edge of Shi Ying Town?

"Wow, their skin is rotting, they look like corpses, so gross." Little Little Bangde added.

"Sounds like ghouls." Tally said.

Ghouls attacked Shi Ying Town?

Is it the Ruins Brotherhood?

Rod thought it was possible; after all, the people who controlled ghouls were indeed connected to the fringe folk.

"Little Little Bangde, can you hit them?"

"Of course."

Good news — it seemed Little Little Bangde's timidity was limited to facing cute creatures.

With corpse-like things she had absolutely no problem.

Bad news — Miss Xiao Ke was right, Little Little Bangde really might be fooled by appearances.

Thrum—

The sudden sound of a bowstring going from taut to slack rang out across the sky.

A spirited gust of wind swept through the dense branches and leaves.

A streak of blue Spirit light shot off into the distance.

A moment later, Little Little Bangde let out a cry of surprise.

She had hit the target, and soon the ghouls were smoothly driven back by the armored humans.

Rod was very glad to hear this and rewarded her with a big chunk of jerky.

This little episode did not affect the little horse girl's forest patrol training.

Very soon.

After a day of training, dusk fell.

Miss Xiao Ke took the reluctant Little Little Bangde back to their lodging.

On the way back, Tally, as always, licked and bit, using every trick she had to seduce.

Rod figured it out — her dinner time was about due.

Just as he was thinking of simply feeding her on horseback.

A figure in the distance ahead dashed his thoughts.

Green-and-white clothes clung tight to the newcomer's skin, not an ounce of extra flesh, a textbook perfect nine-head-tall proportion figure.

Smooth golden hair was tied at the back of her head, the strands that escaped each hung a wisp behind her long pointed ears, as clean and crisp as her face.

If only her expression weren't so sour.

The newcomer — an elf, Lady Kali.

(End of chapter)