Chapter 470: Instructions and the Dragon-Slaying Commission

"Sigh, it's only because the kind-hearted Forest Warden Rod let you stay. All the girls in the forest are his people, so don't act rashly."

"Who cares whose people that green-skinned beastman is! She nearly pummeled my soul to pieces! If I don't settle the score with her, will I still have any face left! And that Rod — once I beat the beastman, I'll go find him!"

Having said that.

Rod sensed a wave of spiritual energy from within; the perception of the mushroom-person Scarlett instantly became blurred and scattered.

It was 【Spore Form】.

Before long, a large swath of pale-green spores scattered out from the cave entrance, and without even spotting Rod, headed straight for the distance.

And the rabbit-person Auna, who had chased out after her, wore a face full of vexation.

Then, upon seeing Rod at the cave entrance, she couldn't help but pause.

Then her wheat-toned, adorable little face instantly blossomed into a smile.

"Rod, you're back."

"Arrived just last night."

Rod answered with a smile as well.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries.

The two of them arrived at the magic wooden cabin inside the cave.

Auna poured him a cup of mushroom tea, organically cultivated right here.

An apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry, a few days ago the Magic Control Alliance had some urgent matter, I had no choice but to head back for a trip. I didn't expect Scarlett's soul to heal faster than imagined, and she actually slipped out, and even got into a fight with Amy."

"It's fine, a bit of squabbling is perfectly normal. The Magic Control Alliance's urgent matter? It wouldn't be that something's happened on the continent again, would it?"

Recently, major incidents have been occurring one after another.

Rod felt he was getting a bit on edge himself.

"Not this time. It's Lord Yulia — she dispatched a blood clone back from Purgatory and gave me some instructions."

Auna's expression was a touch unnatural.

She had also assumed the content of those instructions was something important, after all, Lord Yulia had specifically come back from Purgatory to say it.

But upon returning to the Magic Control Alliance, she found out that it was actually because my lord had taken a fancy to a new skincare product from the famous brand 'Dawn Magic Beauty', and had specifically come back to instruct her to rush-buy it.

Now, recalling it in front of Rod, she felt an inexplicable sense of shame.

Rod could also tell she was a bit embarrassed, and very considerately did not press further.

"Oh right, Rod, Lord Yulia asked me to give this thing to you."

The rabbit-person girl handed over a deep-red magic stone.

For me?

Rod immediately recalled the prompt in 【Yulia's Blood Detonation】, which he had only recently acquired — 'This skill will draw the attention of the Vampire King Yulia'.

It was only a matter of time before she came knocking.

Auna added: "Also, Lord Yulia said your star fate is being shielded by psychic abilities, so she has no way to contact you proactively. Please remove the psychic shield and then use this magic stone."

The psychic ability's shield.

That is the ability of the mind flayer Hart, which is also the reason Rod kept him around even knowing he was innately cruel.

Looking at it now, not bad.

It even works against the long-renowned top-tier combatant, Vampire King Yulia.

"Mm, I'll do it when I'm free. Speaking of which, this kind of psychic shield — can't a mage of the Jing Shen Xi Fa manage it?"

Auna shook her head.

A touch of helplessness on her face: "Generally speaking, a creature's spiritual consciousness is divided into two layers — one is the surface consciousness, the other is the deep consciousness. The vast majority of Jing Shen Xi Fa spells are used in a form that affects the surface consciousness.

The mind flayers' psychic abilities are a bit different. Before the super-volcano eruption, they lived in labyrinths cut off from the world, never having come into contact with spirituality. What they actually use is the psychic energy they themselves produce, so it's extremely difficult to imitate."

"I see."

Rod nodded.

Knowing how mages are.

It's just that the mind flayers haven't appeared on the continent for very long.

Once more live specimens are captured later, and more dissection research is done, one can almost certainly say corresponding spells will emerge.

The two chatted idly for a while.

A man and a woman alone together, Rod didn't feel right staying too long.

So he prepared to take his leave.

Auna held her teacup in both hands, huffing and blowing on the steaming mushroom tea.

After taking a small sip, she saw him out of the cave.

Just before he left, she suddenly called out to him:

"Almost forgot. I remember you, Rod, posted a dragon-slaying commission at the Magic Control Alliance, right? It seems there's been a response — remember to find time to go check it out."

Rod's eyes lit up.

Anyway, he had just returned from a business trip to Axehead Shoal, and for the moment couldn't find anything to do.

So Rod simply spent another sum on teleportation fees to head to the Magic Control Alliance.

Just as Auna had said, there was a reply on the dragon-slaying commission.

The other party claimed to be the Blizzard Mercenary Corps, and stated they needed to first send people to the site for reconnaissance, hoping Rod would leave an address or something.

Although he didn't quite understand why someone from the Magic Control Alliance's field team would call themselves a mercenary corps.

Still, Rod couldn't be bothered to care. He left his contact info and address in the dwarf's 【Rock Heart】 commission log, and withdrew directly.

He didn't expect the other party to actually be quite efficient.

The next morning early.

In the cannon room, having been tossed about all night, the ghoul Pan Ni actually rose first.

Drowsily, she pulled her master's finger from her mouth and found Rod's face amidst the messy bed.

Unable to hold back, she kissed him several times while murmuring that the ghoul sentinels had spotted visitors arriving in the forest.

No sooner had she finished speaking than, lips still puckered, she drifted back to sleep in her drowsy state.

It was not that the forest guard was lax; her ghouls had sensed the newcomers bore no ill intent.

Rod woke with a start, seeing Pan Ni's deathly pale yet stunning face right before him, biting him, and couldn't help but be slightly startled.

He also heard about the visitors from the forest.

With difficulty, he extricated himself from the bed where his jade body lay sprawled, dressed under Watching Yuna's service, and hurried over to welcome them.

Indeed, he saw three outsiders blocked outside by Pan Ni's ghouls.

Rod squinted closely and let out a small exclamation:

"Crocodile people?"

Among the three, one was a muscular, towering crocodile-headed figure wearing only a skirt-armor, revealing a body of imposing, hard scales brimming with dominance.

The other two were a man and a woman, both humans, and utterly unremarkable.

None of these three carried weapons, and behind them stood two tense Shi Ying town constables keeping watch.

Recently, due to the Coral Bay attack, Shi Ying town had chosen to temporarily halt the intake of outsiders, so every unfamiliar face was met with vigilance and surveillance.

Presumably, since these three claimed to be seeking Rod, the constables feared delaying and dared not refuse entry, yet had to accompany them.

Now seeing Rod actually arrive, they all finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You've worked hard; when you have time, invite David for a drink."

Rod smiled at the two familiar constables whose names he couldn't recall.

They laughed in agreement, turned, and headed back to Shi Ying town.

"Mr. Rod."

That crocodile man, apparently the leader of the trio, introduced himself as Jeroen.

He proactively shook Rod's hand and introduced his two subordinates one by one, his words and mannerisms displaying a refinement at odds with his appearance.

"I am the survey representative of the Blizzard Mercenary Company and also its commander. In fact, we are already familiar with most of the Twilight Hills' situation; this visit is primarily for a concrete on-site investigation."

"Understood; it is good to be thorough in one's work."

"Mr. Rod is a straightforward man, so I shall speak directly. The estimated cost for this commission is three million Jin Along."

(End of this chapter)