Chapter 585: News of the Culprit and the Arrival of the Conscription Party

Rod didn't get to rest on Lady Kali's shoulder for very long.

The second time he tried to bury his face downward.

The elven young lady noticed his little trick and, with a cold face, kicked him away.

She gave a cold snort and left with quick steps.

Rod just smiled; he didn't mind.

Watching her swaying, pretty back, he gathered his thoughts.

He took out the dwarf's brass spirit-measuring orb.

—533 notches.

Before this he was at 583 notches, meaning a full 50 notches had been shaved off!

Once this number came out.

It made Rod grimace in discomfort.

He truly hadn't expected that just looking at the memories within the tree would bring on such a vicious debuff.

"A single glance lowered my physical stats by 50 notches — what kind of god-tier figure was that?"

The somewhat fortunate situation was.

Rod had been stuck at the peak of seventh-tier for a full two months.

With the help of the derivative skill from the Charm Body Fluid, 【Paradoxical Motivation】.

【Paradoxical Motivation: The desire living beings feel toward you transforms into the source of your power.】

Once he released his own limits and broke through to eighth-tier.

Based on Rod's basic source, it certainly wouldn't be as simple as just the initial stage of eighth-tier.

After returning to the ranger's cabin.

He immediately saw the tree spirit Vivian sitting ramrod-straight on the fur sofa.

While Tally stood beside her, tying her hair into two buns.

The tree spirit young lady had no particular reaction, blinking her big eyes that glowed with white light.

Only when Rod entered the door did she turn her head to look over.

"Good evening, Rod."

She was still wearing Rod's brown linen shirt, and since the weather had warmed recently, the long skirt on her lower half had been removed.

The whole person looked considerably cooler and lighter.

Tally was even more so.

She had casually tossed her hunting outfit on the floor, wearing only base-layer short shorts and a small tank top.

Large expanses of thigh and abdominal skin were exposed to the air.

Both girls had quite a bit of mud on them.

Presumably picked up while planting trees.

"Ya~~ Master is back~~ We're going to take a bath together~"

"Bath, Vivian, Tally, together."

Rod went over and kissed Vivian's forehead.

Inhaling the grassy, woody fragrance the girl gave off.

He couldn't help feeling a little dazed.

In the tree's ancient memories, it was mentioned that 'using the tree spirit's bloodline to suppress this place,' and also mentioned the cooperation between the half-deer people and the druids.

That would be Vivian, Miss Xiao Ke, and the half-wolf druid Olga.

Moreover, all three of them had been living in Windwall Forest before Rod became the ranger.

Previously, the Witherer Greta had also mentioned it.

Vivian's clan could control half of the forest because of the 【King's Contract】.

Presumably it was related to that as well.

And would the relic beneath Shi Ying town affect Vivian and Miss Xiao Ke?

This was what Rod was currently worried about.

"Me too want kisses."

Tally came over with little mincing steps, rubbing against him twice with seductive, silken eyes.

Rod ignored her and took Vivian's hand.

"Let's go take a bath."

"Master—"

A plaintive cry from the succubus rang out inside the cabin.

The three of them, one behind the other, walked into the bathroom that had been added onto the ranger's cabin.

The bathroom was as big as the cabin itself.

Not to mention the normal bathroom tools and equipment, there was also a hollowed-out hot spring on the side.

Although it wasn't a natural one, of course.

The hot water relied entirely on 【Water Creation Art】 and 【Heating Stone】.

And the three of them, so-called taking a bath.

Was actually just changing locations for, well, that.

In the white steam.

Sweat and hot spring water.

Various cleaning methods,

Rod sat on a small stool.

Vivian was in front, Tally behind.

Even without lifting a hand, every inch of his body was gently, if slightly clumsily, cleansed by the two girls.

Enjoy it.

Under the slippery soap foam, everyone's body looked far more delicate than usual.

The three played in the bathroom until the late night.

Tally hadn't seen her master so delighted in a long time, so she was naturally overjoyed.

She insisted they play until dawn.

She secretly drank a bottle of stimulant potion herself, trying to avoid failing midway.

She also brought out the 【Elemental Harmony Incense】, the 【Arcane Resonance】 scroll, and the 【Elemental Siphon】 rune stone obtained during the Olive Town expedition.

Thus, the effect of 【Arcane Resonance】 was present here.

Rod didn't need much operation.

He simply opened another letter that had been sent during the day.

It was the letter from our Axe Beach Lady, Miss Wen Na Puwell.

The main content, well,

mostly spoke of the difficulties in managing Axe Beach, the mistakes she had made, and what she had learned, and so on.

It also contained some very subtle longing and love words.

Perhaps even more than Rod imagined, though he couldn't tell either way.

Among it,

what was noteworthy was

she mentioned Ed Stevens.

The former captain of the Axe Beach militia, listed as the primary 【Source of Calamity】 by the prophecy of the Half-Deer.

【Old Ed killed five Hero Candidates in Waterdeep, and the Half-Deer were slaughtered, ten or more.

Of course,

among the Half-Deer killed here, only one was a 【Hero Giver】; the rest were ordinary Half-Deer.

This immediately enraged the adventurers of Waterdeep.

In an ambush organized by Hero Candidates, Old Ed was severely injured. If you had been there, he surely wouldn't have survived. Adventurers are all easily incited fools.

Afterwards, Old Ed came to Axe Beach to seek aid from his children, but was reported to the militia and immediately fled.

Truly pitiful.

His children reported him for the reward money.

Later, we learned his next destination from his children's mouths—the Dragon Lake Region.

That place is not far from the Twilight Hills.

Mr. Rod, the newspaper reporting your death last time really startled me, but I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, news of you repelling the Duke of Purgatory would arrive. As expected of you!

But please have less to do with Old Ed; there are many rascals among the Half-Deer Hero Candidates.

Speaking of the Dragon Lake Region,

it is far less scenic than the Sword Coast waters. From Neverwinter to the Gate of Bol, all are outstanding sightseeing cities. You left in such a hurry last time; why not come and visit again?

】

The Dragon Lake Region, huh?

Indeed, not far.

The trade route from Shi Ying Town, passing through Eagle Claw Canyon, aims to reach directly the cities of Silen and Teller's Town located in the Dragon Lake Region.

However, Rod had already made a promise to Edith, the representative of those Hero Candidates.

Presumably, those Hero Candidates will not come to the Twilight Hills again,

right?

Two days later.

A conscription team of about fifty people stepped into the post station of Shi Ying Town.

The knights wore rune-etched heavy armor; their cloaks embroidered with silver-threaded Eyes of the Storm fluttered loudly.

The warhorses beneath them exhaled hot, domineering breaths; their strong muscles and iron hooves struck the ground with cold arrogance.

Strong soldiers and vigorous horses.

Each wore full-face helmets, their features hidden.

But their arrogant temperament was obvious at a glance.

Can you believe it?

Just within this team, there were twelve Hero Candidates.

This was actually quite normal.

After all, Hero Candidates are divided into factions; Edith naturally could not control all Hero Candidates.

What most surprised the witch Dimia, the old gentleman Humbert, and others who welcomed the conscription team was

the appearance of an old acquaintance in this team.

—The Tooth Fairy, Rosalia.

(End of this chapter)