Chapter 335: Wooden Thorn

Selina, on the other hand, was far more practical.

She drew up a long list, filled with the names and quantities of spellcasting materials.

Most of them were materials needed for the magic rings; the rest Rod couldn't make heads or tails of — probably experimental materials Selina was personally interested in.

Rod was a decent man.

He couldn't bring himself to squeeze his employees. So long as Miss Zombie could guarantee the magic ring output, he was fully in favour of her having a few hobbies or pastimes of her own.

He rubbed the pale-green, stick-shaped wooden box in his hands.

This was a separated branch of the Emerald Tree.

It was in very healthy condition and didn't need any special ritual — just stick it in soil with normal fertility, water it daily, and it would take root.

He had originally planned to propagate it inside the Cat Fairies' 【Cat Fairy Paradise】, since that place was essentially his territory now.

But then again.

The Emerald Tree was in excellent shape right now — just two days without attention and it had already shot up another stretch.

There was no harm in waiting a little while before considering 【Cat Fairy Paradise】.

He planned to hand it over to the Dog-People girl Sharon.

The plague-ridden country Faye she was headed to had a truly terrible reputation.

Although Sharon hadn't said so outright, Rod could roughly guess what Amel's memories held about that place.

The Dog-People girl must be after something there, and she certainly wouldn't be staying short.

He might as well plant the Emerald Tree branch there — if anything came up, Rod could always go lend a hand.

No time like the present.

Rod immediately used the Chain of Far Speech to contact Sharon and explain the reason.

Unfortunately, Sharon was also a stubborn sort.

She refused to say goodbye to anyone at the last moment, only telling him to leave the box in the mailbox at Henry Farm — she'd pick it up when she left at night.

Rod had never liked forcing the girls.

He let her be.

Sharon's departure was quiet and unnoticed. Her close friend Dimia had likely expected it long ago; after a brief chat with Rod the next day, she seemed to throw herself back into her work in Shi Ying Town — perhaps to mask the sadness of parting.

Especially the protective duties around the Claw Valley Highlands.

For the five days after that, every morning when Rod and Tally bit down, they could hear the distant rumbling of bombardment.

Today was no different.

Rod patted Tally's head, signalling that what was about to be launched wasn't only the witch's Blaze spell.

Under his guidance, the succubus had switched to a fresh, cute bangs-and-bun hairstyle, while still keeping her bewitching true demon form in appearance.

Quite the contrast.

Thanks also to the decent intensity of the witch-constitutioned spellcasting, the beast-plague patients had realised this place was no pushover — the number and frequency of incursions over recent days had dropped sharply.

In this trip to rescue the mushroom-person Scarlett.

There were still unsolved riddles.

In the Mycelium Clan's home, the group could see beast-plague patients actively attacking — most likely to seize the Flesh-Woven Golden Crown for their own purposes.

But even after a second Golden Crown appeared, they still hadn't figured out who the troublemaker was.

But then again.

Beast-plague stripped away all intelligence as it progressed; even if left alone, that person would sooner or later devolve into a chaotic, mindless beast.

"Mm!"

The succubus let out a gurgling sound.

Hoo—

Rod felt refreshed; the laziness of just waking up vanished without a trace.

After cleaning up, he pushed Tally away — she was still trying to cling on.

Pulled up his pants.

He strolled unhurriedly to the dining table to taste today's breakfast.

— Smoked fruitwood salmon slices, honey oat biscuits, and an elf's Dawn Dew porridge.

A little more lavish than before.

The spider-elf Watching Yuna had specially bought them in town and delivered them early.

"Smoked salmon slices, Dawn Dew porridge — looks like the sort of thing elves eat, how gross. Since when does Shi Ying Town have an elvish cuisine?"

Tally giggled as she hugged Rod from behind while he sat in the chair, delivering a head-pillow wave.

Succubi are naturally ill-disposed toward elves.

Hatred extended to their kin — not even their food was spared.

"A new restaurant just opened on New Rank Street, run by an elvish head chef."

Rod tore off a small piece of the smoked salmon, just about to put it in his mouth, when Tally behind him popped the whole thing into her mouth — fish and finger together.

Then her soft, supple lips sucked hard, leaving a glowing white streak of liquid on his finger.

"Didn't you say it was gross?"

"If it has Master's taste, it's not gross~~"

He couldn't be bothered with her.

He tore off another piece and put it in his mouth.

Mm.

The flesh was tender and fresh, the smoky fragrance filling the air.

This restaurant's popularity is not without reason.

More and more people are settling in Shi Ying Town — all manner of races and professions — and almost every day a new shop opens on New Rank Street.

This frontier town is brimming with a different kind of vitality.

Rod thought it was quite nice.

But the pressure on the Town Hall's security squad had grown considerably.

The day before yesterday, when he passed through town, his old acquaintance Sheriff David was dealing with a brawl.

The cause was two out-of-town johns who couldn't agree on the price and the number of girls at a brothel.

The incident caused quite a stir.

The tooth-fairy Rosaria had long wanted to clean up the brothel problem in town.

Brothels were not just brothels — the trafficking and oppression that grew behind them were in fact far more serious.

With Shi Ying Town now crowded and chaotic, she simply took the chance to crack down on a good number of the well-known brothels, and along the way throw the security squad's weight around.

These past few nights, the moment the orderly clatter of the security squad's armor appeared in some dark, damp back street—

—it would often cause a great commotion.

After finishing breakfast.

Rod, as always, made his rounds through the forest.

Finding nothing amiss, he began his training and practice once more.

As for the past few days' content—

—to put it simply—

—it was mainly to coordinate with the newly acquired 【Guardian Domain】 domain skill 【Overlapping Guard】, learning some simple defensive spells.

The basic spell shield goes without saying.

【Spirit Armor】, 【Resist Energy】, 【Crystal Spirit Light】, 【Acree Protection Membrane】, 【Green Jade Energy Shield】, 【Demon-Repelling Veil】, 【Stoneskin】, and so on.

The main idea was just a light taste — as long as it could be cast, that was enough; absolutely no wasting time digging deep.

Today's study, 【Green Jade Energy Shield】, is a fairly versatile defensive spell — besides direct damage, it can also block curses, sonic attacks, and mental spells to a certain degree.

Though not by much.

There was no difficulty; the casting material required one green jade, which was a bit pricey, but it was no big deal.

In about twenty minutes he had learned it.

"Speaking of curses — let's give it a try."

Rod pulled out the spoils from last time from his spell pouch — a spiral-shaped wooden spike.

【Curse Spike】.

【Traits: Irremovable, Curse, Soul Shackles】

There were very few trait words — only two.

But the 'Irremovable' effect was outrageous — once it stabbed in, it could not be pulled out until the victim's death.

The other trait word was easier to understand.

The curse on the spike could continuously release a chill, eroding vitality and stripping the victim of their senses.

(End of chapter)