Chapter 97: Chapter 97

There was no surprise at all. With Flora's help, they rescued the villagers of Falling Leaves Village with great ease.

When the three of them led the young women out of the cave, the clearing outside was already a scene of utter devastation. Everywhere they looked were goblin corpses, the ground scorched black and pitted with craters.

Flora looked refreshed and invigorated. Seeing them emerge, she waved in their direction.

These past few days, having her magic tracking mark blocked by the magic crystal had been incredibly frustrating for her. Even though she had just incinerated Jim to ashes, and confirmed her student was murdered, she couldn't feel any happiness.

Only after venting her anger on these goblins and unleashing a torrent of spells did her mood finally improve somewhat.

"Let's go, I'll take you home."

She brushed aside the stray hairs at her temples, adjusted the pointed witch hat on her head, and spoke to the young women before her.

By the time they returned to Falling Leaves Village, it was already afternoon. Clearly, they couldn't reach Roland Town within the day, but even so, they still chose to set off immediately.

The village chief, tears streaming down his aged face, saw them off at the village entrance, repeatedly shaking Lin Mo and Alden's hands. Standing beside him was a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old, his granddaughter, and one of the young women they had just rescued.

The young girl looked at the adventurers before her with curious and reverent eyes, especially gazing at that tall, handsome older brother.

"No need to see us off further, Chief. We're leaving. Remember to arrange for people to scout the surrounding areas afterwards. If you notice anything wrong, immediately send someone to the town to seek help from the Association."

"Alright, I've noted it. Be careful on the road..."

The surrounding villagers also enthusiastically bid them farewell. Many young women raised their hands high, tears welling in their eyes. Clearly, the experiences from last night until today would become unforgettable memories in their lives.

As the carriage traveled down the road, gradually moving away from the village nestled on the plains, Lin Mo sat at the back, watching those shrinking figures in the distance.

He had been in this world for some time now. Previously, he had always been taking missions to subdue monsters or collect materials. A rescue mission was his first. Although they encountered many difficulties and surprises along the way, overall, it was a good experience.

His mind recalled the scene of fighting off the goblins together, the sincere, grateful faces of the villagers, and the tears the young women finally could no longer suppress after being saved.

These ordinary, simple folk were all living, breathing lives too.

They might be common, they might be poor, but they should never become a feast under the slaughtering blades of monsters, nor should they be mere tax coins in the eyes of nobles...

Interacting with those villagers, including everything that happened with Ellie along the way, made Lin Mo feel more integrated into this world.

Returning inside the carriage, Alden was sorting the loot. The spoils from defending the village earlier had already been taken back ahead of time by Solan and Carson. What they had now were the gains from the recent battle.

The foul stench clearly made Flora, who rarely dealt with such things normally, very uncomfortable. However, she didn't say anything, just silently moved outside the carriage to breathe some fresh air.

Apart from a large number of goblin ears, their loot also included the belongings of the adventurers who attacked them in the morning.

They brought along the weapons and armor of the earlier assassins, including the money on them, totaling about 50 gold coins - quite a substantial sum.

Besides these, they also found a blood-red token on the leader's body.

It was engraved with a wolf-like pattern, and in the middle of the token, there was the character for "five".

Ellie asked curiously.

Looking at the token before him, Lin Mo seemed to vaguely connect it to something.

"It's the Bloodsea Gang!"

Alden recognized the engraving on the token. "I've seen this mark before when I was in Lania City, carved on the plaque at their gang headquarters."

The Bloodsea Gang again?

Lin Mo recalled encountering an attack from the Bloodsea Gang during his second outing for adventure previously. He even had to chase them all the way to their camp and kill the entire Bloodsea Gang team.

However, this latest encounter wasn't because the previous incident was exposed, but was related to the student from Saint Antonius Academy, sent by the so-called "Lawrence" family, the lords of Roland Town... and even Lania City.

"It seems this Bloodsea Gang is likely connected to that Lawrence family."

"That's not surprising at all..."

Alden shook his head. "As early as ten years ago, when the Bloodsea Gang was just rising, people noticed clues about this connection."

"Furthermore, a gang that suddenly appears and grows into one of the three major gangs in Lania City within just two or three years is inherently unreasonable. But if the Lawrence family is pulling the strings behind the scenes, everything makes perfect sense."

Lin Mo pinpointed it accurately. "This Bloodsea Gang is probably a means for that Viscount Lawrence to handle matters he can't deal with personally."

"Then we'll eradicate them all!"

Flora outside suddenly lifted the curtain and stepped in. "Once I find the evidence, I'll make sure the entire Lawrence family is completely destroyed!"

After saying this, smelling the foul stench of the goblin ears again, she made a sour face, pinched her nose, and went back outside for fresh air.

Teasing laughter naturally arose inside the carriage. The carriage traveled on without stopping even as the sun set in the west.

They were going to travel through the night to return to Roland Town sooner.

The early morning sunlight of the next day shone on the weary horses. Finally, the outline of Roland Town appeared before them.

No words were needed. Just having Flora sit at the front of the carriage was enough to deter any guards from coming forward to question or inspect them. The carriage entered the town very smoothly.

To avoid any mishaps, they didn't separate but went together to find Rick, Solan, and Carson, who had returned earlier, to inform them about the situation. A few hours later, all members of the Raging Bull Team, including their families, gathered at Alden's house.

Along the way, they also stopped by the Adventurers' Association to submit the mission.

With the village chief's written testimony, this rescue operation was successfully recorded as two E-rank missions. Lin Mo, for his outstanding contributions, was additionally credited with one D-rank mission.

Apart from the daily guaranteed base pay, the total number of goblins their team killed the night before last had already reached 469. Adding the several hundred more they eliminated while rescuing the captured young women, and excluding those vaporized by Flora's large-area magic to the point where even ears couldn't be found, they still had close to 200 left.

After learning the details of this mission, the Association doubled the rewards on top of the original rate. The price for one goblin ear reached an astonishing 10 silver coins!

Thus, the total number of goblin ears they had came to 763, with a total income of 76 gold, 30 silver.

Although it couldn't compare to the gains from their last outing, that time combined three missions and included a Earth Bear with a subjugation rank of at least 1.3.

With the Association's generous price increase, the rewards for this mission were quite good.

Additionally, there were three adult and five sub-adult mutated goblins. After the doubling, that was another 45 gold coins. However, since four of them were killed solely by Lin Mo, only about half was counted towards the team's earnings.

Finally, there was the Goblin Spellcaster, also killed solely by Lin Mo, for which the Association offered an extremely exaggerated price.

Just this one alone rewarded 40 gold!

By this point, the Raging Bull Team's total income amounted to 102 gold, 30 silver. Following the same 30% split as before, Lin Mo's share of the reward was 30 gold. The remaining small change, they couldn't be bothered to calculate precisely.

Adding the rewards for the mutated goblins and the Goblin Spellcaster, his total income was 30 + 19 + 40, reaching a staggering 89 gold coins!

Including his original savings, Lin Mo's savings had reached 157 gold, 64 silver, 13 copper. Even for a professional, this was a considerable fortune, enough to buy ten bottles of basic health potions or a full set of high-quality plate armor.

By the way, because his only... well, only two friends, Ellie and Lin Mo, were both leaving, when they went to bid farewell to Lena, the cat-girl receptionist at the Association, the little cat-girl joined their group without hesitation, wanting to go with them to Silverstream City.

Naturally, Ellie was overjoyed, and Lin Mo was very welcoming too. If he went to a new city and couldn't see the adorable little cat-girl at the Adventurers' Association, it would feel like something was missing.

Additionally, he also went to Edgar's forge to bid him farewell.

Edgar, being a merchant, naturally couldn't easily leave. So he could only stand on a chair and punch Lin Mo's chest: "Be careful in the new place. Don't disappoint my expectations. I'm still waiting for you to become famous and advertise for me... If you really can't make it, just come back. You earn less in a small place, but it's stable."

The young dwarf boss's words were somewhat contradictory. Lin Mo laughed and responded: "You keep forging well too. I'm waiting for you to open a branch over there."

He didn't tell Edgar the reason for his departure; it was better he didn't know. But there was no need to worry about Baron Rahl and the Lawrence family causing trouble for him. Unlike half-orcs, dwarves had their own kingdom and influence, were very united, and maintained good relations with many adventurers. Although he ran a shop in the town, in reality, Baron Rahl had no authority over him beyond collecting taxes and wouldn't dare to try anything easily.

Otherwise, it would become a diplomatic issue...

At this critical juncture where they had already stirred up trouble, even if you gave him and Lawrence ten times the courage, they absolutely wouldn't dare to touch Edgar.

After completing all this, it was nearly noon. The group had a meal at the tavern, rented several carriages, and prepared to leave this town.

They did notice someone surveilling them during this time, but with Flora present, they had no worry about them taking action.

If they really dared, then Flora would save herself the investigation process and have a direct excuse to storm their gates.

The carriages departed from the town, moving further away. Lin Mo turned his head and took one last distant look at Roland Town's walls. The gate in his vision continuously shrank with distance, gradually becoming a line.

Next up was a new life, new adventures...

Flora sat upright in the most luxurious carriage, lifted the curtain, and gently raised her hand.

The next moment, consecutive explosions suddenly erupted in the forest. One after another, the corpses of black-clothed men fell from the treetops.

To be honest, Flora didn't dislike such petty maneuvers. After all, every similar move by Lawrence delivered another batch of lackeys for her to enjoy herself with.

With the numerous adventurers of the Raging Bull Team in the caravan, the journey was naturally smooth and unobstructed.

Evening arrived quickly.

Compared to nights during previous adventures, the feeling of setting up camp with a large group of about twenty people was different. It was noticeably livelier and lacked the tense atmosphere.

Of course, it might also be because there was now an extremely reliable anchor stone in the team.

After the long, tiring journey, once the tents were pitched and traps set, everyone gathered in small groups around the campfires, chatting while eating.

Most of the adventurers were with their families, except for Solan, who occasionally wandered over to Alden's side, exchanging meaningful glances with Alden's daughter, Bella.

Ellie and Lena sat together, whispering about who knows what.

Lin Mo sat alone by the campfire he had just built, appearing somewhat lonely.

But that was just fine, as he had something he wanted to do.

Lin Mo spread butter and cheese on bread, sandwiched sizzling, oil-dripping jerky in between, and then, holding this simple sandwich, walked towards that somewhat luxurious tent.

Flora was currently sitting alone in front of a campfire, lost in thought.

The powerful mage commanded respect, but it also made the adventurers and common folk afraid to casually strike up a conversation with her. Thus, since leaving the academy, Flora hadn't really talked to anyone much.

This solitude didn't sit well with her fiery temperament. And the food was another issue...

As the kingdom's official magic academy, Saint Antonius Academy's meals were naturally quite lavish. As an elite-level mage, Flora never lacked the money to enjoy fine food. But during travels, even if she bought the best rations, they obviously couldn't compare to carefully prepared meals.

Especially now; Roland Town simply couldn't offer the exquisite bread available in the royal capital. Even though the white bread in her hands was a rare delicacy for ordinary townsfolk, for Flora, accustomed to gourmet feasts, it was merely a tool to fill her stomach.

"Miss Flora, would you like to try this?"

Lin Mo walked up to her and offered her the "sandwich" in his hand.

Flora looked at him somewhat surprised, her gaze then shifting to the not-very-aesthetically-pleasing food.

Although it didn't look great, it did emit a rather appealing aroma. So she accepted the sandwich, looked at the grease dripping onto the grass, hesitated for a moment, pursed her lips, and finally took a small bite.

A sweet flavor melted in her mouth. The slightly charred jerky carried a unique taste.

Overall, it still had that cheap flavor, different from the "premium" feel of royal capital food, but it was quite interesting, seemingly even tastier than the food they had at the town's tavern earlier.

Flora raised her eyebrows in slight surprise, no longer concerned about the grease, and started eating in big bites.

Lin Mo smiled slightly. Sure enough, even a noble mage accustomed to lavish meals couldn't resist the appeal of street food.

Through this simply made sandwich, he had successfully gotten closer to quite a few people. Lin Mo liked to call it "sandwich diplomacy."

"Tastes pretty good. Did you make this?"

Flora finished the food in her hand and wiped her hands with a silk handkerchief.

"It's a method from my hometown. While not particularly amazing, its advantage is the simplicity of preparation. You can easily have it even during adventures."

Lin Mo said this while very naturally sitting down beside her.

"Does Miss Flora come from the royal capital?"

Flora nodded. "But not from the kind of noble family you might imagine. I was just an orphan wandering the streets of the royal capital... I was just lucky for a time and ended up on the path of magic."

Although she didn't elaborate, Lin Mo could roughly imagine the reason for her hatred towards those arrogant, domineering nobles.

A young girl alone on the streets, begging for food, had likely suffered plenty of beatings and abuse from various seemingly respectable nobles.

"There are good people among the nobles too, like Lady Raphael who took me in once."

Flora seemed to open up, initiating conversation herself. "Back then, I was at my wit's end, barely surviving on the charity of some kind restaurant owners. It was Lady Raphael who took me home, gave me food, bought me clothes, and allowed me into her library to read those precious books..."

"And where is she now..."

"Lady Raphael has passed away."

Flora's voice was full of sorrow. "She was also a mentor at Saint Antonian Magic Academy. She unfortunately sacrificed her life during an operation against monsters outside."

Flora shook her head. "Lady Raphael burned with everything she had on the path she believed in. That's not a bad thing."

"I think Lady Raphael would feel comforted if she saw you now."

Flora's clear laughter echoed in the air. "You're quite the smooth talker, little one. Alright, out with it, what do you want from me?"

Lin Mo somewhat awkwardly scratched his head. He'd been seen through.

Since that was the case, he stopped pretending and took out that scroll from his chest.

"Actually, it's about this..."

It was the keepsake of Flora's student. Flora hadn't chosen to take it back.

"Please teach me magic!"

Lin Mo looked into her eyes, his gaze burning with intensity.

Since arriving in this world, from the day he obtained this scroll, he had constantly wanted to learn magic, to become the incredibly powerful mage of legend.

Especially after personally witnessing Flora's terrifying power, his desire for magic had grown even stronger.

And now, before him was a perfect opportunity. Miss Flora was a powerful mage and also a mentor at the magic academy!

As long as she was willing to teach him...

Flora seemed somewhat taken aback, giving him a very surprised look.

After a moment, she slowly spoke: "I think you should know this yourself – you are a warrior prodigy."

"In just over half a month, going from an ordinary person with nothing to self-learning skills and advancing all the way to a professional – such progress speed, even I am far inferior."

"Everyone has their own area of expertise. For example, I excel at magic. If you ask me to practice swordsmanship, my movements would be as clumsy as a young child's... Since you have a natural advantage in the warrior field, I don't think it's necessary to waste your talent by trying other paths."

"Greed is not a good thing."

What Flora said wasn't actually wrong. When God opens a door for you, He inevitably closes a window. No one can be perfect and excel effortlessly in every field.

Those who try to practice dual professions often end up losing everything. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noᴠelfire.net

"I know, someone once told me something similar."

Lin Mo nodded. "But..."

The next moment, his figure suddenly vanished before her eyes, causing Flora's pupils to contract.

The shocked expression lasted only a second before returning to calm. "An assassin skill? And it should be an exceptional-grade skill."

Flora's eyes now held strong curiosity.

Lin Mo reappeared. "This is also a skill I comprehended myself. Besides the warrior profession, I am simultaneously an assassin professional."

He didn't mention being a knight as well; that would be too outrageous. Two professions should be enough.

Flora was clearly intrigued. "It seems I underestimated you. Your talent is higher than I imagined!"

If she was a once-in-a-century genius for the kingdom, then the potential Lin Mo had currently displayed could be said to be once-in-a-millennium without exaggeration.

"However, unfortunately, you are not a student of the academy. So, according to academy rules, I cannot teach you magic."

Lin Mo's expression froze momentarily, then he smiled wryly with disappointment.

"Alright then, I apologize for disturbing you..."

"So you immediately discard someone once they have no use for you?"

Flora rolled her eyes and grabbed him. "You certainly have the potential to be a scumbag."

"Did Miss Flora want to chat about something else?"

Lin Mo had no choice but to sit back down and adjust his mood.

"No, we'll continue the previous topic."

Flora said something that made Lin Mo excited again. "I only said I can't teach you magic, but I didn't say I can't teach you how to use magical power..."

Lin Mo excitedly grabbed her hands. For him, the biggest hurdle to entering magic was having no magical power and being unable to perceive it.

As long as he could learn to perceive and use magical power, he had two ready-made spell scrolls in his possession, so naturally, he could learn magic!

"Calm your mind, close your eyes."

Flora immediately began teaching. She was also eager to see if this youth could truly achieve something in the field of magic as well.

Hearing this, Lin Mo took a deep breath and closed his eyes as she instructed.

The next moment, he felt Flora place her hand on top of his head.

A warm current flowed from her palm into his body.

From the top of his head, to his chest, waist, abdomen, all the way to his limbs and throughout his entire being...

That flowing sensation reminded Lin Mo of the Qi and Blood he had mastered before.

There were some similarities in description, but in essence, the two were completely different.

The power of Qi and Blood originated from the body, so after his physique became stronger, it was easy to utilize.

But magical power was different... Currently, the magical power inside him came from Flora; it was the magical power Flora stored within her body. But the root of all magical power came from the world, from nature!

Lin Mo "saw" the flow of magical power, seemingly glimpsing a trace of the essence of magic through this.

Nurturing magical power required extracting chaotic elemental forces from nature and assimilating them for personal use. And the release of magic involved mobilizing the accumulated magical power within the body, resonating with the required elements, and transforming it back into the corresponding elemental forces...