Chapter 351: Nightfall
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren wondered why Ophra, a grand marshal had to come here in person. But, he did not have the chance to ask her about it. After the marshal told them about the matter, she asked them regarding their mercenary group and the process of finding the Orb of the Holy Synod. It was not the first time that people asked about these things, so they managed to answer fluently. In the end, Becky asked the marshal about the four ascetics, "When will the four masters come back?"
Actually, Becky was not concerned about the four ascetics at all. She was just trying to let Ophra notice her existence.
Ophra shook her head and said, "The four masters need to rest in their rooms. They will have long prayers and meditation according to the canon. You will probably not see them until the next time you leave."
Hao Ren had something else on his mind. He had no interest in the so-called rewards. He looked up and asked, "That... Do we have to go to the capital to accept the rewards?"
Ophra was surprised and raised her eyebrows. She looked at Hao Ren for quite a long time, and then asked, "What do you mean?"
"We want to stay here and help," Hao Ren explained. "I've seen the situation here. Those rock monsters are a big threat and I'm good at dealing with them. I think it'd be more useful to stay here and fight than go to the capital to get rewards."
Hao Ren's explanation was dignified. Of course, he was not going to admit that the real reason he wanted to stay was to study the secrets of Dragonspine Ridge and the Blood Lake. Wealth and fame in The Plane of Dreams were meaningless to him. The only thing that could help him raise his wages was figuring out the legend behind the end of the world 10,000 years ago...
However, Ophra had no idea what Hao Ren was thinking. She was just surprised that this seemingly plain "mercenary" could say such a thing. She looked at Hao Ren firmly for a while, trying to get some false clues from Hao Ren's face. Then, she got up and the armor rattled, "We'll talk about this later. One or two more men who can fight won't change the situation now. The true end of the current mess depends on the knowledge of Bishop Gelton. Of course, you can still apply to stay here after you come back from the capital. We have a long-term vacancy here."
After Oprah finished talking, she left without hesitation. After the marshal left, Becky was relieved, and quickly rushed to Hao Ren and said, "Hello! What were you thinking just now? What if the Lord Ophra really agrees to cancel our reward?"
Hao Ren gave Becky a side glance and said, "I have an important task. And the reward here is useless to me."
Becky almost jumped and said, "But to me... Oh, it seems useless to me as well..."
Hao Ren then said, "... All right, let's put these things aside. Our time is limited. We have no time to come back here after we go to the capital. The next time we come back here will be around one month later. God knows how many accidents will happen in this place. I'm going to go to the mountains tonight, and you guys can help out…"
Hao Ren then discussed the evening action with them. After Ophra left the room, instead of going to the church, she rode on her steed and went straight to the Royal Knights' station. In front of the Knights' camp, an old man who looked just like a regular groom was waiting there. "I have met with them, including the four masters and a group of mercenaries who appeared out of nowhere," she said and put the reins in the hands of the old groom.
The old groom, who was leading the horse, kept silent while walking beside Ophra. Then, he asked, as if he were talking about the weather, "How's the situation? Is it true?"
They did not lower their voices at all, but no one could hear what the conversation was about within two meters from them. A peculiar mental disturbance pervaded around Ophra, causing all who tried to eavesdrop on the conversation to only hear a buzzing noise in their minds.
"I don't see the Orb, but it should be with one of the masters. They abide by the teachings. They will not give the Orb to me to verify the authenticity easily even if they are in front of the bishop. But the Orb was supposed to be real," said Ophra, looking back with a calm smile, "because the four masters are real, I can tell it from their vibe."
"So the Return of the Orb is true?" asked the old groom, following Ophra to the camp steadily, "It seems that this is not anyone's arrangement. What about the mercenaries?"
"They claim to be the mages from the northern Hognar Empire. They traveled around to increase their knowledge. The involvement in the Orb and the rescue of the four masters were purely coincidental. The whole story was watertight, only instinct made me feel that they were hiding something." Ophra slightly paused and asked, "Elson, how about your investigation?"
"They appeared out of nowhere. They first appeared in the southern grassland of Lamberg town. No one knew about the group of people until then. And I've checked the border crossings record and found no history of them. They just vanished out of thin air. My people tried everything but still found no clues. I also found some mercenaries who had contact with the group. The mercenaries mentioned that their way of fighting was so bizarre that they aren't mages at all, not even any known combat occupations, but more akin to instinct and talent. Maybe it's some kind of esoteric warrior we don't know."
Ophra looked at the ground and asked, "...they come and go like shadows? You can't even find a clue when they suddenly disappear? Did your wolf nose degenerate or can they really jump out of the world?"
"You are the same as before, the joke never funny," the old groom's expression remained unchanged, "Is there a problem with those mercenaries?"
"They are fine. At least my hunting instincts are sure that they are harmless, innocent, and even not greedy at all. This last point is the most surprising point to me. Their leader tried to reject the rewards, and there was no hypocrisy in his emotions. I even felt that man was as pure as a saint. He didn't even have a tiny bit of attention on fame and fortune, but..." Ophra suddenly stopped talking and looked up and said, "Their dubious origins are the biggest problem."
"Then keep investigating," the old groom nodded and said, "although I don't see what a bunch of mercenaries are worth noticing... your instincts are always accurate."
"My intuition..." Ophra was talking to herself while looking up to the sky. "I hope my intuition can help me solve the trouble here. I have a bad feeling. The sacred ground is shrouded in gloom, and some of the uncoordinated ones are hidden around us. Our Bishop Gelton, the only one who can control the situation, is an old priest who is pious but lack of resilience. "
Undercurrent was surging under the ancient and mysterious sacred grounds. Most people are ignorant of this. They were just constantly fighting off the attacks of monsters and getting numb in battle. As the night falling, the Dragonspine Ridge ended a restless day, followed by an equally restless night.
Under the cover of night and the Power of Shadows, Hao Ren and the rest of them left the Leyton town at the foot of the hill and came to a high ground not far from the town.
"Although I want to stay here to investigate the situation here, but after I think about it, it is necessary to go to the capital," Hao Ren saw that everybody was here, simply sit cross-legged on the ground and said, "It is said that there is a big library in the capital, which contains the various files accumulated since the founding of Holletta. The cathedral and the palace also have secret archives that have been handed down from the previous civilisation. These are all necessary to investigate. We will spend a lot of energy in this world, and it is necessary to integrate into the upper-class society, so this is a good opportunity. Let's look into the rock monsters' movements tonight, mainly to figure out how much the Dragonspine Ridge has changed since we left here two months ago. Also, the Blood Lake—Vivian and Lily, you two move fast, so you two go to the Blood Lake again. I still care about the tunnel. Last time we only discovered one direction, this time you two go to see where the other direction of the tunnel leads."
Lily looked a little excited. Apparently, this 'midnight undercover operation' made her felt very powerful. After hearing Hao Ren's instructions, she immediately nodded and jumped to the big rock beside her and howled, "Awwwwwwooooo—Woof!"
The howling echoed in the mountain. Vivian immediately rushed to Lily but did not get to cover her mouth…
"It's okay," Hao Ren shook his head and said, "It's normal to have wolves on the mountain."
Vivian stared at him and said, "But it's not normal to end the howling with woof!"
Hao Ren waved his hand and looked at Y'zaks and said, "You and Becky a team. You have a strong combat capability, and Becky has a lot of local experience. You two go to the main peak on the north side. It is said to be one of the peaks where the number of the rock monsters have surged. See if there's any change in the number of monsters, especially when the monsters are splitting from rocks but not attacking the town, why are they trying to do? I think that the rock monsters this kind of mindless creatures won't have the ability to make an attack plan such a clever action, but they did plan a sneak attack and pierced the line of defense half a month ago."
"Lastly, Nangong Wuyue and I go to the 'overpass' together," Hao Ren tossed the data terminal on his hand and said, "a mountain will not change its shape for no reasons, there must be some secret behind, the people here don't have energy detectors, haha, I have."