"Sir, I mean no harm."
The protective gesture of the middle-aged man towards the young girl naturally engendered Ronald’s good feeling towards him.
Thus, when the other man shouted sternly,
Ronald stepped out of the woods, raising his hands to show he meant no harm.
The man leaning against the tree had stopped his healing spell. For original chapters go to Nove1Fire.net
He did not relax his vigilance just because Ronald had appeared; instead, he immediately stood up from in front of the tree and placed the young girl behind him, asking with a grave expression,
Ronald revealed a friendly smile:
"Ronald Adler, and this is my maid, Costate."
The man remained on guard.
After receiving Ronald’s answer, he looked the man and woman up and down, then said with a still-tense tone,
"Mr. Ronald, let me give you a piece of advice."
"The Yizi Forest now is not the same as before, not to mention hunting or adventuring... Even casters who have control over their spellcasting abilities might not fare well here."
"To ensure your safety, it would be best if you leave this area as soon as possible."
Under normal circumstances,
Ronald might have thought the man was threatening him.
But he was truly aware of the changes in the Yizi Forest and thus knew the middle-aged man’s words were well-intentioned.
"I am well aware of the situation in the Yizi Forest."
"Or rather—it’s precisely to deal with this matter that we’ve entered the forest at this time."
The middle-aged man showed an incredulous expression.
He quickly stepped back two steps while protecting the young girl, his tone filled with a sense of crisis,
"How could an individual handle a crisis of this scale? I don’t believe..."
Just as the middle-aged man was about to counter Ronald’s assertion, he was instead overawed by the scene before him and found himself at a loss for words.
The reason was simple—
Ronald had taken the most direct approach.
In the face of the evidently skeptical middle-aged man, he simply raised one hand, and three origin books were summoned into it. The powerful magic power swirling around in an instant forced the man to believe—how formidable the person standing before him was.
"Three... three origin books..."
The middle-aged man swallowed hard.
"The issues in the Yizi Forest have actually alarmed someone of your stature..."
"The gentleman has come here out of his own sense of responsibility." At this point, it was Costate who stepped forward. The maid looked calmly at the man in front of her and spoke in an even tone, "For hazardous and uncontrollable origin books or similar mystical byproducts, the Adler family has always had the duty to dispose of them."
"The Adler family..."
The middle-aged man looked puzzled, clearly unfamiliar with the name.
However, after seeing the three origin books in front of Ronald, he realized the disparity in their strengths and decisively lowered his guard.
Then he leaned back against the tree behind him.
Reactivating his healing spell to treat the wound on his shoulder, the man introduced himself:
"Lei Dun Agus, a caster of the Secret of Aogen, currently on a magical pilgrimage through the forest."
After stating his identity simply, Lei Dun tilted his head back:
"This little one is Helle; I’ve promised to take her home."
Seeing the man in front of him let down his guard.
Ronald Adler put away the original tome and walked over to the man, while also giving a subtle signal to the maid beside him:
"Costate, can you heal him?"
The maid immediately understood the command.
She promptly obeyed and approached Lei Dun Agus:
"Sir, I am proficient in healing spells. Would you like to try it?"
Facing Costate’s inquiry, Lei Dun Agus stopped his defenses and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
This smile did not originate from any doubts about the efficacy of the healing spells.
Rather, it was because Lei Dun Agus was well aware that, as spellcasters with three original tomes, if they wanted to do something to him, he had no chance of resisting.
Instead of stubbornly clinging to those conservative ideas,
it was better to simply cooperate with them to ensure his own and Helle’s safety.
Costate didn’t care about Lei Dun Agus’s attitude.
Seeing the man nod in agreement, she extended her right hand and promptly pressed it onto Lei Dun Agus’s wound.
Lei Dun Agus immediately drew in a breath of cold air.
The healing spell used by Costate was impressively effective, but unlike when she healed Ronald, she did not gently suppress the pain that came with the spell in her treatment of Lei Dun Agus.
Soon, the maid lifted her palm that had been used for healing.
The spellcaster leaning against the tree watched his wound, astonished at the exaggerated speed of recovery.
While Costate immediately shook her head slightly at Ronald.
Just in that brief moment,
Costate had fully read the memories of Lei Dun Agus, the spellcaster of the Secret of Aogen, while healing him.
The result was disappointing.
There was no useful information in his mind that could help them.
Ronald understood Costate’s action and then nodded gently toward the middle-aged man:
"Sir, if you intend to escort this young girl home safely, my advice is to first head south, where the forest has not yet been affected by this kind of mutation."
"Once we deal with the issue in the forest, you can completely take her home in a considerably safe environment."
Having given his simple suggestion,
Ronald, along with Costate, turned and walked away in the direction of their departure.
"Wait... Please wait!"
Only a few seconds after Ronald and Costate turned to leave, Lei Dun Agus suddenly spoke up, asking them to wait.
Looking at the two who stopped and turned back,
the spellcaster of the Secret of Aogen began to speak with an extremely ashamed tone:
"I have a presumptuous request!"
"But given my current physical condition, it’s actually very difficult to take Helle home alone... I can offer as much remuneration as possible! Please... please..."
Lei Dun Agus’s expression was very unpleasant.
Because he knew how unreasonable and absurd his request was.
To ask an original tome holder who was trying to avert a crisis to temporarily help escort a young girl home.
It was preposterous by any standard.
Ronald was going to refuse as well.
But before he could speak, Costate at his side preemptively mentioned something he hadn’t expected:
"Sir, this man has suffered a severe infection."
"Although I have treated him, his already frail body probably won’t last much longer."
"In at most two days, he will undoubtedly die."