Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

However, Roy is well-versed in "emotional intelligence," so such words are certainly not appropriate to be said in this friendly atmosphere.

Seeing that Roy seemed to be getting into a conversation with Brutus, Natasha quickly spoke up to bring the conversation back to the main topic:

"Gentlemen, now is not the time for chatting. We haven't officially decided on a policy yet. Should we recall them or keep it a secret? Mikhail, what's your opinion?"

Mikhail, who had been summoned, still wore that serious and somber expression. He seemed to have pondered this issue for a long time, and seeing that the final decision rested with him, he sighed softly and said:

“Natasha, the key point is no longer whether to recall or cover it up. Even if we recall, we risk being wiped out if the internal traitor isn’t eliminated immediately. Even if we cover it up, existing weaknesses in our defenses will be exploited if the traitor isn’t removed. The Ursus people aren’t stupid; we’re doomed no matter which option we choose.”

"But if you insist on getting an answer from me, I support keeping it a secret."

Mikhail solemnly said,

"Fight to the last moment! That's the most logical choice."

“But this is your home!” Natasha asked, her voice trembling, seemingly taken aback that Mikhail would support Brutus. “Don’t you want to protect your home, don’t you want to protect your family?”

“I think so,” Mikhail said resolutely, without any change in expression, “but I feel that this is what the Ursus want me to do. We must never do what the enemy wants us to do.”

..........

The argument ended abruptly with Natasha storming out.

As an observer, Roy eventually received an invitation from Brutus and an apology from Mikhail. Brutus hoped Roy could temporarily join his team; in Terra, the addition of a high-level fighter was equivalent to an army of thousands. Mikhail, on the other hand, apologized for showing Roy such a chaotic side of the Rangers. Roy found this apology strange; Mikhail's choice wasn't wrong, and he wasn't the cause of the internal conflict. His apology gave Roy the awkward feeling of being asked to reflect on the actions of someone else who had clearly made a mistake.

Roy returned to the camp the ranger had arranged for him with this question in mind, and to his surprise, several guests were already waiting there.

"Anna, Balot, what brings you here?"

The Kuranta and Elafia girls, whom I hadn't seen for a few days, had changed their outfits and looked much more energetic. Balot also seemed to be able to walk normally again, clearly having received help from the medical sorcerer.

Upon seeing Roy return, the two were delighted to greet him. After exchanging pleasantries, Anna was the first to remember today's mission:

"Ahem, Sir Heng!"

She smiled, and before Roy could correct her, she changed her words herself:

"Mr. Roy, the staff officer has invited you to dinner. Would you like to come along?"

Oh, right, Natasha did mention that she wanted to host a banquet to thank me.

However, as Brutus said, now is not a good time to hold a banquet.

Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang. Should Liu Bang go or not?

Volume 1: Chapter 140 Natasha's Background

Ranger's Base Camp, Natasha Camp.

The forest rangers guard the forests of Kazimierz, and the forests, in turn, protect them. Natasha's camp is built among towering trees, divided into treehouse platforms in the trees and training grounds below, connected by vine ladders powered by Originium. This wondrous structure reminded Roy of the tree-dwelling elves he had read in his previous life in fantasy novels.

To some extent, kemonomimi (animal-eared girls) can indeed be considered a fantasy genre, but the post-apocalyptic nature of Terra often overshadows their charm.

As Roy admired the sight of winged beasts flitting about on the rising vine ladder, he casually asked the two little ones beside him:

"Speaking of which, isn't Miss Natasha Mr. Brutus's adopted daughter? Why do they seem to have a rather strained relationship?"

Girls always love gossip. In the past, people would go to noisy pubs to find out information. But in modern times, people are much more vigilant. It's rare to find a useful piece of information from a drunkard in a pub. In contrast to increasingly strained interpersonal relationships, there is an ever-growing desire for gossip. As long as you ask a gossipy question, you'll always get a bunch of gossipers talking at once. The information obtained from this is sometimes so accurate that it's almost the truth.

Sure enough, as soon as Roy finished speaking, the more lively Balotelli immediately got gossipy and promptly chimed in:

"As expected of Mr. Roy, you noticed it so soon after arriving? Actually, this matter has a long story to tell."

Contrary to Mikhail's account, Natasha was not originally the daughter of a farmer on the border of Uka. She was born in Kavaleriaki, and her parents were once renowned entrepreneurs in the city of knights, running a family business with a history of over a century, and were members of the Old Kazimir Merchant Alliance. Her reason for ending up on the border between Kazimir and Ursus stemmed from a family tragedy—the bankruptcy of her parents' business.

Normally, a family business that has existed for more than a hundred years may decline because it cannot keep up with the times, but it is difficult to fall into the predicament of bankruptcy overnight. Everyone thinks so, just as no one ever thought that Caprini, a foreigner, could win three consecutive championships in the Kingdom of Knights by relying on martial arts rather than magic.

Knightly competitions are the backbone of Kazimierz's economy, and any Kazimierz who wants to make a name for themselves in this age of entertainment is destined to ditch this huge pie. Natasha's parents were no exception; they had a keen eye for investment. In the year the Black Knight emerged, they resolutely followed the other shareholders and bet on the Merchants' Association's representative that year—a powerful knight who didn't deserve a place in history.

That year's failure was widespread; no one expected this "flawed product of Letania" to win the crown. Natasha's parents lost a lot of money as a result, but fortunately, most of the business association lost money, so nothing changed too much.

Four years later, a special tournament was about to begin. Natasha's parents had a keen eye for investment. Facing the Black Knight, who was about to become a member of the council, they, along with a large group of small shareholders, invested in a powerful but still unworthy second-place finisher in order to gain final prestige.

Four years passed in the blink of an eye. Natasha's parents were burdened with enormous debts, and the company was on the verge of collapse. One after another, their enemies, whom they had cheated, came knocking on their door, writing large posters in red paint on the company walls, almost completely repainting the entire wall. The start of the Special Major gave them one last chance to gamble.

Faced with the highly favored defending champion Black Knight and another formidable but unnamed knight, Natasha's parents weighed their options carefully and finally chose the odds.

Having watched two Majors already, they knew that the new challenger was no match for the Black Knight, but they had no other choice. The debt they carried, which they could never repay, left them with only the hope of a miracle from the odds, but the Chapter Three portrait hanging in the Hall of Champions wouldn't lie.

Most people's all-or-nothing gambles only lead to total loss. The company collapses that day, the people run away that night, the wind on the border is cold, and the stars in the sky are like the eyes of creditors, desirable but unattainable. That's fine too.

They still thought so until Ursus shells landed in front of the small village where they were hiding.

"What happened next was exactly as Chief of Staff Mikhail had predicted. The small-scale invasion by the Ursus destroyed a village, and by the time the nearby Knights of Conquest arrived, the enemy had already fled. In the ruins, Brutus found a crying little girl. She was locked in the basement of a secret room behind a bookshelf in a study. The entrance was firmly blocked by the couple with their bodies, and the key was nowhere to be found. Chief of Staff Brutus went through a great deal of trouble to open the secret room and rescue her. He then adopted her as his daughter."

Barlot paused here, finally offering her assessment: "Although the commander's parents were indeed unreliable, they ultimately protected their child with their lives. That's probably why the commander cherishes her family so much. In her eyes, nothing is more important than her family."

Roy pondered for a moment, nodded slightly, and continued to ask, "So you mean that her bad relationship with Brutus is due to differences in their ideologies?"

"Ah, not really. Actually, their relationship wasn't very good even before that. It's because after Commander Natasha grew up, she revealed her true identity to Commander Brutus. Commander Brutus was a knight of conquest and preferred... the Supervisory Council? So his attitude towards Natasha wasn't very good."

Did he suddenly become cold towards his adopted daughter because of her past identity?

Roy didn't think Brutus was such a petty person. Was he doubting the character of the child he had raised, or was he doubting himself?

However, I did learn a lot of useful information on this trip, so it was not a wasted trip.

After silently thanking Barrot, Roy casually said:

"I never expected Miss Barlot to be so fond of gossip, even knowing such secrets about her superior's background."

Balot blushed slightly, seemingly realizing she had said a bit too much, sounding like a gossipy rich lady, and quickly explained:

"No, I didn't say that. The team leader told us herself. She's a cheerful person and never minds telling her past to every forest ranger who joins the team. She also said: 'Only when more people hear these stories will our struggle be more meaningful.'"

Roy stopped walking, and Balot, who was talking, bumped into his shoulder without stopping. Luckily, Kuranta didn't have horns, otherwise she would have had to go back and change her clothes.

Barlot and Anna looked up at Roy with some confusion, only to see him looking surprised:

"Did Natasha tell you all this herself?"

Before Balot and Anna could react and answer, a familiar voice rang out not far ahead. Anbenal, a member of the guard, stood at the door of a treehouse and called out solemnly:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Commander Natasha has been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in."

P.S.: Met up with a group of authors in Guangxi!

Volume 1: Chapter 141 The Secret

"Cheers, everyone, to our heroes!"

Natasha raised her glass and loudly proposed to Roy.

Anna, Balot, and everyone else except Anbenal, who was on guard duty, all raised their glasses and cheered for Roy.

"Is there anything you'd like to say, Mr. Roy?"

She took the lead and drank the wine in her glass in one gulp, then looked at Roy, who remained silent, and asked as if she had a premonition.

Roy stared at her for a long while before shaking his head helplessly. "No, it's nothing. Let's not bring up things that would ruin the atmosphere at this time. Miss Natasha, can we talk privately later? I have some questions for you."

Natasha did not refuse. She nodded, poured herself a glass of wine, raised the glass to Roy, and clinked glasses with him, which was her way of agreeing to the matter.

She didn't want Roy to bring up the issue now. The Rangers were exhausted from the mole and the raid, and everyone was on edge. Roy's arrival and the rescue of Anna and Barrot were the only good news they'd received in a while, and Natasha hoped to use this opportunity to let everyone relax.

The two exchanged a knowing glance, and were then pulled away by Balot and Anna respectively to attend the banquet, which lasted until the two moons were high in the sky.

When all the team members left, Natasha's face was flushed; she was clearly a little drunk, but still relatively sober. What surprised him was Roy, who, despite having drunk just as much as her, seemed perfectly fine, without a blush or a heartbeat, and didn't even burp once, let alone get drunk.

She sat down, leaning on the chair, and looked at Roy sitting directly across the long table. She smiled and teased, "I didn't realize you were such a good drinker, Knight Heng. Doesn't a champion like you attend social events?"

Roy curled his lip upon hearing this: "If you've been following the Majors in recent years, you should know my situation. My principle is to not accept any sponsorships, not join any knighthoods, and not have any contact with any capital. Besides, even if I wanted to take on sponsorships, someone would have to be willing to approach me."

Let's not even talk about the Supervisory Council. The Grand Knight Commander has a grand vision, but it's not so grand that she would appoint someone who ordered others to demolish her house the night before as a knight's representative. Didn't you see that she didn't even attend the award ceremony and had someone else take her place?

There were quite a few shameless people in the Business Federation who, even after realizing Roy's true identity, still wanted to collaborate with him. Some had even proposed a whole publicity plan to Roy: "By day, a celebrated knight champion; by night, a vigilante in the darkness," including making movies, comics, games, and merchandise based on this theme, establishing a super IP for the assassin knight. Roy was so frightened that he immediately refused, solemnly suggesting they choose a fictional character and avoid deserted alleyways. Otherwise, Batman might be reincarnated in Terra.

Waving his hand dismissively, Roy, adopting a "a hero doesn't dwell on past glories" attitude, steered the conversation back on track:

“Miss Natasha, I’ve heard some rumors about you on the way here. Do you have any leads?”

Natasha, as if she had expected this, asked, "Are you talking about my background?"

Unexpectedly, Roy shook his head decisively and pointed out the crux of the matter:

"No, your background isn't important."

A person's past can be altered. Take Roy, for example. As a Blue-Gold Grand Master of the Unarmored Alliance, he has a hundred ways to fabricate an impeccable past for himself. How much more so for someone like Natasha, who can become one of the Forest Ranger's strategists? They're professionals in intelligence warfare; how many punctuation marks on their so-called pasts can be trusted?

Upon hearing Balot say that this information came from Natasha herself, Roy had already reached a crucial conclusion—besides the versions of Natasha's past as the daughter of a border farmer and the daughter of a bankrupt merchant, there must be a third and fourth version. Roy didn't want to hear another new story here. For people like them, judging a person's present based on their past was inherently unreasonable.

What Roy really cares about is something that is happening right now.

"The rumors I'm talking about are the reason you had a falling out with Brutus."

If there's one piece of gossip from Balot that's most reliable, it's this sentence: "Ah, not really, their relationship wasn't very good before this."

Their relationship did not begin to deteriorate after this ideological disagreement occurred, but rather before that.

This is something everyone has witnessed, not something Natasha could fabricate. Therefore, the causes and consequences of their deteriorating relationship are very intriguing. The upper echelons of the forest rangers, who should have been working together, were already embroiled in discord, to the point that it had reached the lower-ranking rangers' knowledge. And under these circumstances, the third staff officer, who should have acted as mediator and arbitrator, remained uninvolved, allowing things to develop in this way, directly impacting the current mole incident. All of this defies common sense.

Roy's intuition told him that if he figured out the reason for the argument, he could follow the clues and find the mole.

But then Natasha's remarks caught Roy completely off guard.

"I see, so that's what you were suspecting."

A wry smile appeared on her face. After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke: