Chapter 8

“So rich?”

In Ali’s spell satchel.

There was a dedicated pouch for coins.

Luo De counted them carefully: exactly 102 Jin Along, 75 silver Along.

Besides that, a pile of spiritual items.

As for his four underlings,

they were absolute paupers—combined, they didn’t have 100 copper Along.

“You’re a damn rich boss.”

Vivian clearly had no interest in these mundane things.

She stood quietly to the side, silently watching the still-burning trees.

“To prevent the fire from spreading further, there was no choice,” Luo De comforted.

“I understand. Fire, trees—enemies.”

Luo De suddenly thought of something and asked Tally, who was still organizing the loot:

“Can you learn spiritual arts?”

“Obviously.”

Tally rolled her eyes dramatically: “Don’t think only humans can learn—most intelligent races can, they just choose not to.”

Indeed.

As the only race on the continent without native spiritual arts, humans had almost come to treat their ability to learn as something uniquely theirs.

In reality, many adventurer races were quite eager to learn new spiritual arts.

After all, they were life-saving skills.

Luo De picked up Ali’s staff.

It was a staff perfectly suited to a halfling’s style.

About the length of a human forearm, made entirely of lightweight spirit wood, its end curved into a semicircle.

“Vivian, perhaps you could try learning a water-element spiritual art.”

Vivian paused, then took the staff Luo De offered.

“Is this an order?”

“No,” Luo De chuckled, “just a small suggestion from a friend who also loves trees.”

Vivian’s face remained expressionless, then she nodded.

【Vivian’s obedience toward you +2, current obedience: 75】

On the other side,

Tally had finished organizing the halfling’s belongings and introduced each item to Luo De.

A chilled magic box containing six brain nuts.

Various magical potions with different effects.

A magic shortsword capable of releasing air blades.

A vial of Flame Spirit Oil.

A short staff, currently held by Vivian.

A spell notebook.

A sealed letter.

Two one-use spell rings.

Various miscellaneous wilderness supplies.

Undeniably, a very generous haul.

Luo De was extremely satisfied.

He picked up the spell notebook and flipped through a few pages.

He quickly realized it contained Ali’s current understanding of spells.

It recorded his own learning process.

Luo De could follow the steps exactly—it was effectively a spellbook.

As he flipped further,

a laminated photograph fell into his hand.

“Huh?”

It was a family portrait of four people.

Luo De easily recognized the figure in the “son” position as the dead halfling.

Beside him stood a lovely, pretty female halfling.

Probably his sister or older sister.

“Cute~”

Tally leaned over to look: “What? You wanna try halflings?”

Halflings perfectly matched a term Luo De had heard in his past life on Earth—“legal lolis.”

“Is that all you think about?”

Luo De tapped her head with the notebook.

“Come on~ I’m a succubus now, so of course my mind is full of that stuff~”

Luo De ignored her.

The magic shortsword that released air blades.

It was a decent item, though the halfling’s detached air blades were weak.

But when Luo De held it himself, he realized:

Weak? That was entirely the halfling’s problem!

The air blades it released consumed the user’s stamina.

Halflings relied on magic, so their stamina was naturally low.

But for Luo De, it was different.

With the 【Second Heart】 enhancement, he could even satisfy a succubus!

As for the two one-use spell rings:

One was a sixth-rank spell, Shadow Assault, designed to pierce the heart.

The other was also sixth-rank, an ice-element spell, Ice Prison.

A rare control-type spell.

On the inner side of both rings was a small flower.

It was called a Heavenly Court Flower.

Good—these one-use spell rings were a specialty of the Heavenly Court Flower Kingdom.

After relations with the Aiselon Kingdom soured, the export of these rings to that country was completely banned.

These two items were priceless.

“Heavenly Court Flower Kingdom again, and now the Igo clan—what’s even left of this country?”

Luo De was speechless.

He turned to open the sealed letter.

Before he even began reading,

Vivian walked over.

“Body—want it?” she pointed at the halfling’s corpse.

“You want it?” Luo De was puzzled.

Did tree spirits collect corpses? Or was she still venting anger?

That seemed unlikely.

Vivian nodded.

“Body, chop up, plant, fertilizer.”

“Uh.”

Isolated, amoral tree spirits were terrifying.

He turned to Tally.

“How do succubi handle corpses?”

“Corpses? Female ones, we discard. Male ones—if under two days, our bodily fluids can make them stiff again and keep draining their essence.”

“.”

“What’s that look for? Wanna try?”

Tally grinned: “Look, there’s a paralysis potion—drink it, pretend to be dead, and I’ll handle everything.”

Luo De ignored her again.

He continued reading the sealed letter.

Skimming ten lines at a glance.

Luo De’s brow slowly furrowed.

To the Vanguard of the New World, Ali:

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all humanity!

Through our tireless efforts, the great Igoh Clan has finally awakened from eternal slumber and successfully passed the resolution to leave the Far West and aid the continental races!

Under the leadership of the great Igoh Clan, we shall awaken true free will, forge a new world, and embrace eternal life!

Thus, I have received a divine intuition: the borderland of the Kingdom of Aetheron—the Windwall Forest—shall be a stumbling block to the great Igoh Clan’s advance.

I hereby command the Vanguard of the New World, Ali, to test the burning of the Windwall Forest; if unable to complete this, attempt to replace the Forest Warden there.

After completing the mission, proceed to the secret labyrinth of Twin Fingers Mountain.

There, present this letter to claim a generous reward.

While your mission proceeds smoothly, assist Father Owen in guiding the Count’s daughter, ‘Daphne Argyle,’ into the faith.

Signed: Bishop Hugo

Of course.

Again, it’s the Igoh Clan behind this.

Replace the Forest Warden. So I’m one of their targets too.

The Windwall Forest’s main purpose is to block sandstorms—what does that have to do with the Igoh Clan?

Luo De was deeply relieved he had acted first.

If Ali had fully revealed his strength and launched two Shadow Assaults, even two hearts wouldn't save him.

Back to Daphne.

Her disappearance must be tied to this so-called “guiding into the faith.”

Luo De looked up toward the distance.

Twin Fingers Mountain. Not far from Shi Ying Town.

“I’m not trying to be a hero—I just can’t rest easy while you’re here.”

(End of Chapter)