Start by logging into the Old Man's Ring at Hogwarts

Burning a thorn from a golden tree shouldn't be a problem, right?

It would be best to burn the Golden Tree along with it, since he wasn't planning on repairing any magic rings anyway.

He's already stolen all the runes. If he then kills the Beast of Elden, the Supreme Will's plans in the border region will be completely overturned.

Leaving those aside for now, Zicomo, having finished his corrections, left the guest room and went to the living room.

He found Laya there, along with two other unfamiliar faces.

That's not quite right, because he had seen one of them a few times in the round table hall, but he hadn't gone up to talk to him.

He ignored the two of them and walked up to Laya first, wanting to greet her.

When Laya saw Zicomo approaching, she spoke first with a hint of joy in her voice.

"Lord Zicomo, it's been a long time. As the recruiter, I am overjoyed to meet you at the Volcano Residence. Please accompany Lady Tanis on the path of heroes."

Zicomo nodded in response, without saying anything more.

This child is very naive and probably doesn't know that the heroes Tanis speaks of are meant to be fed to snakes.

Zicomo greeted the other two men and learned their names: Bernal, who was leaning on a big stick, and Diaros, who was leaning against the wall and looking cool.

He then went to the lobby.

Tanis saw Zicomo and said:

“Faded One, you should have read the letters in the room.”

"I didn't see it," Zicomo answered honestly.

He chatted with Lani in the room for a while and then came out without even looking at his surroundings.

This place is all dark red; Zicomo simply can't appreciate it.

Tanis was speechless, momentarily at a loss for words.

“Okay, so what exactly are the letters in the room?” Zicomo took over the conversation.

"That was a commission issued to you by the Volcano Official Residence, with the aim of hunting down your former compatriots."

"Wait a minute, who are these so-called compatriots you're referring to?"

Zicomo was curious: where did his compatriots come from?

"Aren't those who submit to the two fingers and fade away your fellow citizens?"

Tanis was very curious about what was going on with this new Herrscher.

Talking to him is so tiring!

"Oh, I understand."

Zicomo nodded, understanding what she meant.

It's not that he didn't realize it; it's just that he usually travels alone in border areas.

Or perhaps, with Lani and Melina by his side, he was playing at a higher level.

He hadn't really paid much attention to those ordinary faded ones.

The border area is sparsely populated, and he has never encountered any wild fading creatures in the wild.

So naturally, he didn't realize who Tanis was talking about.

He thought he could learn magic after joining the Volcano Mansion, but he didn't expect there would be missions to complete.

"Of course, if you still have even the slightest hesitation, that's fine too. Just leave this residence. We are going to raise our swords against the Golden Tree; we don't need weaklings to join us. Each and every one of us..."

Tanis stopped halfway through her sentence.

Zicomo, too lazy to pay any more attention to the nagging masked woman, turned around and went back to his room to read the letter.

Tanis was exhausted; she regretted hiring such an oddball.

Let him go feed her husband sooner rather than later.

Zicomo returned to his room and found the letter of commission; the target to be hunted was located north of the dilapidated house of the Xi Zhanzhe.

The place was in Nymgfu, and Zikomo gave the ambiguous address a look of utter contempt.

Who knows how far north it is? Can't you just give me a map?

He walked out of the volcano mansion from the other side, cursing and swearing.

As he walked down the corridor, he spotted a familiar figure crouching by the wall.

"Hey! Isn't this Patch? You've gotten so bloated in just a few days!"

Zicomo said through gritted teeth.

That bastard tricked him twice in the Mengliu Cave.

One time, when he arrived at the Mengliu Cave, he saw a treasure chest in front of him. He took it, opened it, and found only a set of cloth clothes.

Just when he was feeling disappointed, this guy jumped out from behind him and stabbed him.

The knife went straight to his kidneys. Luckily, it was just a clone of Zicomo, otherwise it might have left him with some psychological trauma.

An enraged Zicomo fought with him.

Halfway through the fight, he suddenly knelt down and begged for mercy, which Zicomo found quite amusing.

This was the first time he had ever seen an enemy begging for mercy at the border; it was truly a unique sight in the border region.

So he decided to let Patch go.

As a result, this guy turned around and lured Zicomo to touch another treasure chest.

Although he ignored Patch's advice and went to touch it on his own.

But putting aside the facts, even if he himself was 99% wrong, doesn't Patch bear 1% responsibility?

This is the box that Patch brought up himself.

Otherwise, Zikomo wouldn't have noticed at all, nor would he have been teleported to the mist forest east of Nymgford.

Moreover, he was unable to use teleportation directly during that period until he found a nearby blessing point to clear his abnormal status, after which he returned to normal.

When they returned to the cave, Patch had already disappeared.

That's why he was so excited when he saw Patch again.

"...Oh, it's you. You've become a member of the Volcano Mansion too? That's quite a surprise, it startled me. Laya's taste is so-so, hoohoo!!"

Before he could finish speaking, Zicomo yanked him up from the ground.

He grabbed Patch's collar and said in a completely flat tone, "You've tricked me twice, and you're talking about your mother like nothing happened?"

“Hey! Calm down! We’re comrades now!” Patch raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm.

“Who would want to be friends with a bastard like you? Let me tell you, if you don’t give me an explanation today, I’ll kill you right here!” Zicomo stared into Patch’s eyes and said viciously.

“Oh! Dude, you can’t do this. I told you not to touch that box,” Patch said innocently.

"Then, can you tell me why you put that box there?"

"Um, well... hehe, don't worry about the details!"

Patch was speechless for a moment, unsure of what excuse to use to get by.

"Hey your mother!"

Zicomo, too lazy to argue with Patch anymore, pulled out Luther's sapphire staff and smacked Patch on the forehead.

That blow knocked him unconscious.

Seeing Patch collapse to the ground, Zicomo didn't know if he had really fainted or was faking it.

But he didn't care, because he decided to deliver another blow.

This time, Zicomo struck him on the back of the head. With a dull thud, Patch twitched and went silent.

Sure enough, he was faking fainting just now.

Zicomo stripped Patch bare, but of course, he wasn't exactly a devil.

He returned the cloth shirt and cloth pants that he had found in the cave earlier to Patch.

That thing is what he uses to trick people.

Having dealt with all of this, Zicomo left the volcano residence.

His opinion of this place was getting lower and lower.

They even take in a bastard like Patch, who's no good either. This Volcano Mansion isn't a good organization either.

He decided to finish the commission quickly, collect all the rewards, and then run away.

After leaving the Volcano Mansion, he teleported to a Blessing Point near the Altar Plateau and began to sort through his recent gains.

This Patch is a master of deception and has quite a few odds and ends on him.

Most of them are materials and props, such as various kinds of arrows and throwing knives.

Zicomo even saw three golden bird claws.

This item increases the runes gained from defeating enemies for one minute after use.