Aredhel clapped his hands and smiled warmly, the expression softening his usually calm demeanor. He looked like a gentle father simply going along with the antics of his hyperactive child, not the leader of a group on the run.On the other hand, Caster stood with a more serious expression. He was worried. The last thing he wanted was to be labeled a criminal. Freeing slaves was risky business, and if caught, he knew he'd likely share their fate. “If they find out I helped free slaves, I could end up in chains, too,” he thought grimly. Fighting the people from the caravan also didn’t appeal to him; that would make things worse, leading to a similar fate.“I think you should wait outside the village,” Caster finally suggested, his voice calm but firm. He pointed toward the map they had been looking at earlier. “There’s a forest area around it. How about you lay low there while I scope out the situation?”Aredhel raised an eyebrow at the idea but didn't object immediately. Caster coul

Two men clad in old clothes were pushing through the night. The view was minimalist, but they could not constrain their urges any further—they had to pee. Both of them had to relieve themselves after consuming dilute alcohol most of the time in the day.One of the men sighed heavily and began to pace the floor While I hugged Anthony pooh! “Man, I really need to go.”“Better still we are out here instead of dancing at the party.”“Yeah, I know! Those idiots are having all the fun while we’re stuck out here,” the other man answered and dropped his trousers behind the tree. “But hey, we got it and this gets us big traffic this time, so I guess it’s okay.”Buddies of the two were still dancing further a way and carrying on loud laughing and jubilating. They had hit it big by taking over a caravan filled with riches. Although they had suffered a minor setback, they managed to take out a certain mage, and after that, the defenses of their prey had crumbled.“Remember that mage?” the fi

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to get through to these idiots. He would need to check on the two men himself. If something happened to them and Boss Lex found out that they were slacking, they could face serious punishment.“I have to see what’s going on,” he muttered to himself, feeling a mix of anger and worry. He grabbed a crude lantern from the side that ran on oil. It was a cheap alternative to a magical lamp, and he frowned at it. Most people around here preferred magical technology.“This stupid lantern is all I’ve got,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “I should have just bought a real lamp.” He had no night vision skills, and even with this item, it would be hard to see anything outside. He grabbed his coat and was about to go out, but the moment he touched the door handle, disaster struck.**‘BAM!’** The door exploded into many wooden chunks the instant he tried to open it. He was completely unprepared. His hand took the brunt of the force, and he felt a sharp pain sh

A sharp blade was pointed straight at his face from the side as an assailant emerged from the shadows.“Tch…” the bandit grunted, instinctively moving his head back.It was a dark-skinned moon elf with silver hair glinting in the faint light. He didn’t just back away; he lunged forward, his blade flashing with each thrust aimed at the large bandit.“Come on! Is that all you’ve got?” The bandit taunted, gritting his teeth as he deflected the strikes with his large ax. Dropping Oksana, he turned already red-eyed and with a fierce expression looked around.“Why the hell are you here?” He was not completely clothed: the trousers were not properly pulled on, and the bulky two handed ax was hold firmly in his left hand. When he got out of the house, what he saw was sheer lawlessness.“The Y years Ye have spent are lost! Look at this mess!”; the man’s temper was only becoming worse. The buildings are on fire, and some of my men are groaning in pain. This can’t be happening!”He looked ar

While finishing up with his food, Caster thought back to the previous night and how it went. “What a crazy night,” he murmured to himself, recalling the tension. “We pulled it off. Gosh, I can’t believe it.”A fast action plan had been made before they began heading into the occupied village. Caster knew he needed to use the veiling scroll shadow-spell with him. “This will help us sneak in,” he told Nedu, who nodded, ready to follow.“Yeah, it’s perfect for hiding in the shadows,” Nedu replied, glancing around cautiously. The spell granted them invisibility in dark places, making them practically invisible to the bandits.“It’s painful to use so many resources,” Caster said, frowning as he looked at the scrolls. “But we have to do it. We can’t afford to fail.”Nedu agreed. “We’re risking a lot, but it’s worth it to save the villagers.”Caster used up most of his magic rune scrolls and detonation ones. Both he and his elven helper planted those magic runes in front of the village house