Ronald’s footsteps slowed, hesitant.
The first thing that came to mind was their current location in the Yizi Forest.
If Costate was not mistaken,
then this Caster named Reit would die in two days.
By that time, leaving the little girl beside him all alone... with her capacity to act at such a young age, getting out of the vast Yizi Forest would be nothing short of a Tales of the Arabian Nights.
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Even if this little girl could leave the forest at the last moment,
still, it was unlikely that she would be able to reach the human settlements alive. The outskirts of the forest would probably remain a no-man’s land with no one in sight.
Thinking of these things,
Ronald furrowed his brows and sighed, then turned to the middle-aged Caster opposite him and asked,
"Mr. Reit, can you tell me where this little girl’s home is?"
Hearing the change in Ronald’s tone,
emotion visibly surged in Reit’s eyes.
However, he did not answer Ronald’s question directly but gently patted the shoulder of the little girl behind him, pushing her to the front,
"Helle, tell the gentleman where your home is."
The little girl looked hesitant.
"Helle’s home, my home is in..." She stuttered, barely starting her sentence before she abruptly burst into tears, then turned and clung to Reit’s legs, "Reit, I want you to take me home! Please don’t die, okay?"
The middle-aged Caster looked startled.
He quickly bit his lip, knelt on the ground, and then extended his arms to hold the little girl tightly in his embrace.
At this moment, Reit could not make a promise.
He just looked at Ronald with a gaze that was both sad and determined, the meaning of which went without saying.
Counting his age from before the crossing,
Ronald was actually not so young anymore.
One could say he was at the age where eating sweets could cheer him up, but witnessing a tragedy would deeply distress him.
This kind of scene... if he hadn’t seen it, it might have been better.
But now that it was unfolding right before him, Ronald indeed felt as if he could no longer move forward.
However, this indescribable atmosphere of sorrow and anger did not seem to affect everyone.
While everyone else struggled to cultivate their emotions, Costate, who was by Ronald’s side, suddenly spoke up,
"Sir, aren’t we leaving yet?"
The maid asked in a tone that was calm and composed,
as if the scene unfolding before her didn’t matter at all.
But Costate quickly noticed Ronald’s expression and felt that her comment might have been inappropriate, so she immediately clarified to Ronald,
"Sir, this is a consideration of the real situation."
"If we cannot resolve the problems in the forest soon—then in places we cannot see, untold numbers of similar tragedies could occur."
Being interrupted by Costate, Ronald’s tangled emotions actually eased somewhat.
He was aware that what the maid said was the current reality.
If the original problem was not resolved...
Forget one Caster and a little girl. With the ongoing spread of the original force, it was difficult to estimate how many lives would be lost in the future, and tragedies were probably already brewing.
Human activity was not abundant in the Yizi Forest,
but it surely existed.
It was at this moment.
Ronald suddenly remembered something.
He had met Nicole in Greenwich, and she too was a member of the Secret of Aogen.
During his exchange with that young female investigator, she had explained to Ronald about the Secret of Aogen and their spell system.
On careful consideration, wasn’t the current situation somewhat less than hopeless?
Recalling the information he had received, Ronald immediately spoke up:
"Mr. Reit, based on my understanding of the Secret of Aogen, your sect should have established quite a few camps within the Yizi Forest, and some among you have mastered a unique spell that uses plants to replace human organs."
"If you, Reit, can find your comrades in one of these camps, as long as you receive the corresponding healing and rest, taking this young lady home afterward shouldn’t be a problem, should it?"
Upon hearing Ronald’s suggestion, Reit’s face showed a wry smile:
"Mr. Ronald, the Secret of Aogen indeed has its foundations in the forest."
"But this sudden change is a severe blow for us. As early as two months ago, all the casters from various camps were called back to the sanctuary for concentrated defense."
Having answered Ronald’s question,
Reit’s mood seemed to change as well.
He let go of Helle and stood up, taking the hand of the young girl before speaking to Ronald in a bitter and helpless tone:
"Mr. Ronald, my earlier request was truly impolite."
"Saving Yizi is of the utmost importance to anyone, as for us... I will do my best."
He offered a simple apology to Ronald.
Reit’s gaze then shifted back to the little girl beside him:
"Helle, I promise you once more—"
"Reit, a caster of the Secret of Aogen, will definitely take you back home safely."
The young girl nodded vigorously:
"Uh-huh, I believe you."
The look exchanged between the two of them spoke of an indescribable trust that had been established.
They then bid farewell to Ronald.
With faltering but determined steps, they moved deeper into the Yizi Forest.
Ronald watched them depart.
However, hardly a hundred meters had they walked when he suddenly realized a problem that he hadn’t considered before—the direction these two were heading!
Taking someone home...
Were they continuing deeper into the Yizi Forest?
Moreover, their path coincidentally overlapped with his own planned exploration!
Ronald turned to Costate beside him with a look of surprise.
The maid responded to his gaze with her own quiet understanding, even nodding slightly as if to say, "That’s right, sir, you’re not mistaken."
Ronald then fell silent for a few seconds.
In the end, he had to accept the strange and coincidental reality and then chased after the two figures ahead.
The not-too-distant walk was quickly covered.
Catching up with the departing pair, Ronald straightforwardly asked:
"Mr. Reit, our paths seem to align remarkably well."
"Before we proceed together, I have a question that I hope can be answered."
Reit, picking up on Ronald’s implication from his words,
Mixed surprise with confusion in his expression, then promptly nodded in response:
"If the intention is to take this little one home, then why are you heading deeper into the forest?"
Faced with this question,
Before Reit could answer, the young girl beside him took the initiative to explain:
"Because Helle’s home is in the forest."