The five of them simultaneously used defensive magic to block, but in front of the magic creatures, their magic was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—utterly useless.
“Captain! What do we do?! Aaaaah!”
A team member bitten by a magic creature let out continuous screams.
Just at this critical moment, a dart flew over from the distance, instantly blowing away the magic creature biting the team member. Its head burst apart.
Before the magic creatures could react, countless more darts shot from different directions, taking down all the magic creatures present.
The team member who had been bitten and scared half to death collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
“Captain… Captain, you’re actually this amazing.”
Meanwhile, Sote, who had also just recovered from the panic of the magic creature attack, looked completely bewildered.
“That wasn’t me. I already tried earlier—my magic has no effect on these magic creatures.”
“If it wasn’t you, then who? Don’t tell me some hidden expert just happened to descend from the sky to help us right when we were in danger?”
Just as everyone was puzzled, a woman with white hair, an average build, carrying a basket, dressed in very plain clothing, and wearing a white mask walked toward them.
Sote, being the captain, immediately became alert.
“Who are you? We’re the squad of Dinksway, the Human Race’s greatest magician. We’re not someone you can just pick a fight with.”
“You are…”
Looking at Sote’s current face, the woman froze for a moment, but didn’t show it.
“I’m the captain of this squad, and its strongest member. We’re handling official business. Please stay away, so you don’t get caught in the crossfire,” Sote said firmly.
A nearby junior member noticed the woman’s pocket was bulging, suspecting she had something good hidden inside.
With ill intentions, he immediately whispered this to Sote.
“Captain, look at that woman—doesn’t she have something in her pocket?”
He glanced around; there was only his squad and that woman here.
“There’s no one around anyway. Can’t we just…”
Sote understood what he meant, then spoke to the woman in a commanding tone.
“You. Give me what’s in your pocket. I need to inspect it.”
Hearing Sote’s completely unexpected attitude, the woman was a bit surprised, but she honestly showed the item, holding it in her hand.
“This is a weapon I use for self-defense—a type of dart. Just now I saw many magic creatures, so I used them to take care of all the magic creatures along the way. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
The woman was already getting a bit annoyed.
“Darts? Could they possibly be as useful as magic? We don’t want this kind of trash.”
Sote looked disdainful, but the woman saw it all.
She casually asked, “What are you all doing here?”
A team member answered directly, “We’re here to find the dragon, of course—”
“Mmph!”
Sote reacted swiftly, immediately covering the member’s mouth, and didn’t forget to knock him on the head.
“You idiot! How could we just tell a stranger about the mission the President entrusted to us?”
He coughed twice, cleared his throat, and shot the question back.
“What business is it of yours what we’re doing? We should be asking you—what are you doing here?”
“I came here just to visit home, but I got lost.”
“Lost? Where’s your home?”
Sote continued pressing, trying to probe her background.
“My home is in the Human City. I haven’t been back in a long time, and I miss it dearly.”
“Human City? A city dweller comes to this godforsaken place? Don’t joke around.”
“Believe it or not. Since fate hasn’t brought us together, I won’t disturb you any further.”
Although the woman was very angry, the guilt accumulated over so many years was still hard to erase.
After all these years, she had long since failed in her duties, and could never return to those carefree days.
The woman had just taken a step forward when Sote blocked her.
“Hold on. Don’t think about leaving. Since you’ve run into us, how can you leave without leaving something behind?”
“Then what do you want?”
“Then hand over that basket in your other hand.”
He gave the woman a once-over.
“We want money. But judging by your ragged appearance, you don’t look like someone with money. Hmm… then just give me the basket in your other hand.”
The basket was covered with a red cloth. From the outside, you couldn’t tell what was inside—mysterious.
With that, the woman unhurriedly pulled out ten gold coins from another pocket and precisely tossed them into Sote’s hand.
“This should be enough. I’ll be going now. Won’t disturb you.”
The woman didn’t want to fight over anything. These gold coins could be considered the debt she owed over these years. Worrying about it didn’t matter anymore.
Seeing the woman’s lavish move—tossing ten gold coins at once—greed immediately surged in Sote’s heart.
“Not enough.”
Sote rushed in front of the woman and blocked her again.
“Give me what’s in your hand!”
If there were gold coins in her pocket, then the basket must be full of gold coins too.
Sote even began fantasizing about the days after he struck it rich.
He never expected to pick up money while doing a mission. Kill two birds with one stone.
“No.”
The woman replied with just one cold word.
“What? You dare defy my orders? Give it here!”
Sote simply reached out to snatch it, but the woman dodged.
“What’s in here isn’t for you. I advise you not to make any rash moves.”
“What if I do?” Sote revealed a vicious glare.
The woman didn’t want to have too much conflict with them. She seized the opportunity to pull out a dart from her pocket and threw it, aiming at Sote’s eye.
Actually, this was just a feint. Just as the dart was about to touch his eye, it veered off to the sides by itself.
But this indeed scared Sote. He hastily backed away nine steps.
Seizing this moment, the woman chose to make a quick exit.
With a burst of speed, she dashed up to a nearby tree, leaping freely among the treetops of the forest.
This sight left Sote completely dumbfounded.
“Captain, is there any point in chasing her? That woman’s skills look extraordinary.”
“Forget it, forget it.” Sote waved his hand. “These gold coins are enough for us.”
Meanwhile, in the Human City.
Relying on vague memories from over a decade ago, the woman arrived here.
The gate was still the same gate as before, but the guards at the entrance had been replaced time and time again.
Entering through the gate, the familiar houses had almost all been renovated. Only the roads had grown older and more worn.
Since there was still some distance to the home in her memory, she flagged down a carriage on the roadside.
Looking closely, the driver was quite young—probably new.
“Hello, sir. I’d like to take a ride.”
“Alright, ma’am. My name is Gauss. I’m happy to serve you. Please get on.”
The woman took out the single gold coin she had secretly kept from her pocket, looked at it again and again in her hand, and then told him where she wanted to go.
“Are you sure you want to go to this place?”
“Yes.”
“But, this place…”
“I must go here. If you don’t know the way, I can tell you.”
“I do know it, but…”
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