Chapter 65 Rock of Lamen (1/2)
”There's nothing strange about their movements so far.” A black-cloaked man spoke as he carefully observed the tracks on the ground.
”Everything is going as planned,” another black-cloaked man replied, feeling somewhat wary, ”but, why do I feel that everything is going too well?”
The men were fully wrapped in a black cloth, and other than their eyes, everything else was concealed. Even their voices were suppressed. And whether they were male or female? No one could tell.
”According to our intel, this young man has an extremely cautious personality. Why isn't he alert now?”
”That's not surprising, I mean, after all, there's a beautiful woman beside him...” One of the black-cloaked men joked in a low voice.
The other three men chuckled. But they soon contained their laughter and began whispering again.
”We should do as instructed. Let's wait for them until they've within the depths of the forest, then we attack. Remember! We must do this cleanly.”
”What about that woman?”
”Capture her alive whenever possible. Whether we knock her out, drug her or whatever, as long we retrieve her alive. However, if we fail, we must silence her. A mage is a tough opponent to handle. All of you must be careful.”
The men nodded in acknowledgment. Of course, they knew how difficult it was to handle a mage. If they were determined to escape, almost no one could stop them.
”Eh?”
Suddenly, one of the men detected a slight movement nearby. He swiftly made a hand gesture to the rest and slowly unsheathed a dagger by his waist. Step by step, he trod lightly towards a cluster of bushes. The others behind him immediately crouched followed him with weapons drawn. Then, in a flash, the black-cloaked man nearest to the bush suddenly thrust his dagger forward.
Swoosh! The bush shook, and a frightened squirrel shot out, crashing into a nearby tree before frantically climbing up the trunk. For a moment, it turned back and stared nervously at these humans before disappearing into the canopy.
When the men realized that it was a false alarm, they merely glanced at each other, not speaking a word. Then, they jumped into the bushes, disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile, Marlene was in a gully, stamping her foot in anger.
”Argh!” Marlene gnarled as she held her clenched fists in the air. ”These guys are simply too rude! Just they wait...”
Rhode did not like to be tailed by someone. But since he allowed himself to be followed, naturally he needed to find a way to track them back. This is the so-called 'cycle'.
Thus, after reaching the Rock of Lament, Rhode did not attempt to look for treasure just yet; instead, he requested Marlene to devise a method to counter the black-cloaked men's reconnaissance. His primary goal was to figure out their intentions in detail. Secondly, he wanted Marlene to realize that things weren't as simple as it seemed.
At first, Marlene didn't put these people in her eyes. She was a pure blooded noble from an influential family. As such, for most of her life, she was only exposed to the 'brighter' side, and regarding the other side of the spectrum, she wasn't very knowledgeable. In her opinion, these black-cloaked men were no more than sneaky thieves. So, when Rhode suddenly asked her to check the bushes, she complained incessantly.
But after checking carefully, she found several shadows hiding in the bushes. Marlene's face immediately paled, but her pride prevented her from saying anything. While she was proud, she wasn't stupid.
As a mage, she knew that being attacked from behind was one of her weaknesses. In a full-fledged battle, she would've cast a shield over herself beforehand so that she wouldn't have to worry about stray arrows or backstabbing. Mages' weren't able to protect themselves 24/7 — that would be ridiculously overpowered.
If she was caught unprepared when walking past the bushes, the result would be disastrous. Thus, as soon she saw these black-cloaked men, she stopped disregarding them and took them seriously.
Rhode carefully watched her and nodded satisfyingly. Since the beginning, he had already noted the strength of their foes. Based on level alone, they were much higher than him because as they were at the advanced level. Fortunately, their surveillance route and secret techniques were precisely the same as what Rhode had remembered it to be, giving him more confidence to finish these guys off.
On the surface, both Marlene and Rhode appeared somewhat passive. However, in the shadows, a great deal of movement was taking place. No matter how weak or powerful those men were, Rhode needed to find them first before they could attack. Therefore, as the one choosing the location of the ambush, Rhode had the advantage.
And during the process of finding the men, Rhode discovered an something interesting.
”An adorable familiar, you have,” Rhode said, with a faint curve on his lips, uncertain whether he was praising Marlene or being sarcastic. And in the meantime, a squirrel scuttled onto her shoulders.
”Frankly, I thought a mage's familiar would be more unique.”
”Unique?” Marlene raised her brows and glared at Rhode.
”You think that my familiar is as weird-looking as your summoned spirits? This little one is my baby! If it weren't for us traveling so far out, I definitely wouldn't have brought it here.”
The poor and innocent summoned spirits were suddenly being thrown into the fire...
Rhode sighed and shook his head. He stared at the squirrel sitting on Marlene's shoulder. It was using its small teeth to nibble on a nut.
From a female's point of view, cute is justice. Rhode clearly comprehended this 'fact' since he had led a guild before. Many female players in his guild didn't choose their pet based on their skills, talent, income or combat power. Rather, they close the ones who were beautiful, lovely, and charming. It appears as though no matter which world he resided in, women always had this side in them...
”Let's go.”
In the gully, overgrown bushes and shrubs spread onto the rocky walls. Whenever a gust of wind blew through, loose soil and dead leaves would fly all over the place.
”Can we really find a treasure here, Mr. Rhode?” Marlene complained, with one hand raised to her front, blocking the leaves from striking her face.
”How can this deserted place house a treasure?”
”'Deserted' is precisely the reason why a treasure can be found here, Ms. Marlene.”
Rhode walked into the shadows and observed his surroundings thoroughly.
”Do you know why this place is called the Rock of Lament?”
Marlene shook her head. She wasn't a native Deep Stone City citizen, how could she possibly know about this?
”Long ago, there was a bandit camp built nearby. At that time, Deep Stone City hasn't existed yet, and all the mines were monopolized by large merchant conglomerates. Not only did these merchants exploit the miners, but they also did not pay them wages or give them adequate provisions. In the end, the bandits killed the merchants and returned the money to the needy.”
Marlene's mouth twitched ever so slightly. As much as she hated ruthless nobles, she knew that it was the job for nobles to handle these situations. No matter what was the reason, for ordinary citizens to take up arms and fight for their own justice wasn't something that would make her feel happy.
With Rhode's acute perception, he obviously noticed Marlene's reaction, but he chose not to say anything. When he came to this world and interacted with the people, he found out that their culture and beliefs were vastly different from his. For example, just like now, if he told this story to the people of his world, most likely they would applaud and praise the people for their courage to fight against the strong. But it was different in this world.
While Marlene wasn't against this matter, she also did not think that it was something worthy of praise. Since she was a noble, her opinion differed from the common people. She had been raised to maintain a strong sense of noblesse oblige as well as to uphold their dignity. So, when hearing such a story, Marlene couldn't accept it completely.
For the citizens of a lower caste, they did not mind if the protagonist of the story was a thief or a bandit, as long as someone could solve their difficulties, they were a hero in their eyes.
Rhode did not intend to correct Marlene's ideology, and neither did he have the interest to change her point of view.
He began to recall the original description of the quest and continued, ”in time, the bandits became famous among the people, which made the wealthy merchants jealous. Eventually, they retaliated and rallied the soldiers to surround the bandit camp. Although the bandits were outnumbered, their spirits did not waver. They fought against the soldiers courageously and perished with dignity. Later that night, after the soldiers left, the people mourned for the death of their heroes and erected a tombstone. Thus, because of that, this place is called the Rock of Lament.”
”What a wonderful story... what happened to those guys after that?”
”I do not know.”
Rhode simply shook his head, the quest description only introduced the situation, and did not mention anything like, ”if you want to know what happened afterwards, read the next chapter.”
”It was a wonderful story.”
Marlene nodded her head, but she sounded a bit complicated.
”But, Mr. Rhode, according to what you've said, those guys, after all, are just bandits. They are a group of criminals, how could they leave any treasures?
”Well, Marlene, let me ask you a question. Why is the Senia family so strong? Is it only because of fame?”
”Of course not,” Marlene replied snappily.
She did not like how Rhode stated it so bluntly.
”We, the Senia family, are not the kind that only possesses a glorified past. Hmph, if only you knew, Lize is the real—”
Marlene suddenly covered her mouth. Then, she felt slightly guilty while looking at Rhode. After discovering that there was no change in Rhode's expression, she felt relieved. At the same time, she secretly shook her head,
Lize... it's better if you openly reveal your situation to Mr. Rhode. Otherwise, not only you will have to be careful, even I have to pay attention all the time. This feeling is quite troublesome.