You are all my wings...

The rally has ended.

In the end, Leon spent 32 gold coins on the Crying Doll Grass and 61 gold coins on the Kraken Core, for a total of 93 gold coins.

The remaining funds will be used to make Minotaur's protective armor for tomorrow's magician, requiring an additional 25 gold coins (a deposit of 25 has already been paid to the guild), and a budget of 15 gold coins for magic sword maintenance.

Apart from some materials he still had, he only had 57 gold coins left from the money he earned this time.

Of course, if he were willing to sell the Enchanting Fairy, he would definitely have a lot more money in his pocket.

However, the Enchanting Fairy is extremely rare and highly sought after. Unless you're truly in dire need of money, there's no need to sell it.

Let's keep it for now. We can just use hypnotic powder to keep it asleep.

Monsters can basically survive indefinitely as long as they don't use magic.

Iris has returned as well. She spent 44 gold coins to buy two second-tier magic stones with no attributes.

One replaces the original magic stone on the wand, and the other is a spare.

She actually splurged for once, which is quite rare for her.

Her explanation for this was:

“I’ve noticed that the chances of encountering powerful monsters have increased since I teamed up with you, Leon. We encountered two powerful monsters in this dungeon, and one was a bewitching fairy that was comparable to a powerful monster. This shows that our ability to make money has improved, but so has our risk. So it’s better to spend more, since we can make it back later anyway.”

This also reminded Lyon.

He felt that it wasn't that the chances of encountering powerful monsters increased after forming a team.

Rather, it was Iris's fate as the protagonist that began to have an impact as she changed her original behavior pattern.

“Iris, now that you’ve exchanged the magic stone and upgraded your equipment a little, I’ll take you to meet your mother tonight.”

"!!!"

Iris's eyes widened.

……

late at night.

The outer perimeter of the Prince's residence in the northern part of the capital.

Two figures darted quickly down the street at breakneck speed.

With an agility of 40 or higher, you can run like the wind.

"Elise, don't blame me for breaking your habit of never staying out overnight again."

"Leon, thank you for your kindness. You don't need to make jokes to comfort me. I'm fine. It's just that the thought of seeing my mother soon is making me feel a little complicated."

"I feel relieved to hear that."

Lyon was afraid that Iris would become too emotional and lose her composure, so he chose to say something at this critical moment.

Hamra is in a bad situation now, and Iris will surely be furious when she sees this.

It could easily escalate into a major war.

Therefore, Lyon only planned to act quietly and take Hamra away safely.

The two stopped behind a tree outside a prince's residence.

"This is the residence of Prince Abraham, the sixteenth brother of Horshah IX. Your mother is imprisoned in the dungeon. Don't ask why she was imprisoned; I don't know the reason. Our mission now is to rescue her."

The reason this sixth-level expert is imprisoned is most likely not because the enemy is strong, but because she herself has a problem. Her strength is reduced to less than one-hundredth, and she is currently in a coma and unable to wake up.

Prince Abraham is a seventh-tier legend and a super-skilled swordsman hailed as the greatest swordsman in the Kingdom of Horshah.

His most famous achievement was defeating two orc legends one against two eighty years ago, successfully preventing an impending border war with the orc kingdom.

But it's really hard to figure out his motives for imprisoning Hamra.

Leon could tell that Iris was very agitated, so he placed a hand on her shoulder and said:

“I’ve investigated. Prince Abraham returned to his territory last week with a large number of men. The internal security isn’t very tight right now, and it’s very easy for me to sneak in with my skills. Next, I need you to go to the west gate of the manor and cast the Light of Radiance spell several times in succession to attract the guards’ attention as much as possible. Then, as soon as you see me move, immediately return to your own manor and wait for me to join you. Understand?”

"Don't worry, I won't do anything rash in a critical moment."

"very good."

The two quickly took action.

Although it is the residence of a legendary prince, fortunately, none of the experts are here.

Otherwise, Bisji wouldn't have been able to successfully infiltrate and find Hamra.

Coincidentally, in his previous life, Leon had also ventured into Abraham's mansion several times while playing games, so he knew the place inside very well.

Chapter 52 Hamra

2 a.m.

Iris's mansion.

As a diplomat sent from the Elven Holy Land, she naturally received certain preferential treatment.

This mansion was a large house gifted by King Horcha IX. It has 12 rooms and 4 living rooms, with wide corridors, huge rooms, and exquisite furnishings.

The front yard is lush with greenery, and the flowers and plants along the high wall encompass a very large space.

The high walls are also equipped with detection, interception, and defense magic, making them extremely sophisticated.

At this moment, Iris, dressed in a magic robe and holding a magic wand, stood at the door, waiting anxiously.

Thirty minutes had passed since she used the Light of Radiance spell at the west gate of Prince Abraham's mansion to attract the guards' attention.

She knew she didn't have stealth or stealth skills and couldn't bother Leon.

Suppressing the urge to act together, she immediately returned to the meeting place after completing the task Leon assigned her.

"I hope Lyon isn't in any trouble."

"But he's never made a mistake, so he should be fine, right? Abraham himself isn't here, and all the experts have been taken away, so he should be safe, right?"

As she waited in vain for a long time without receiving any news, she grew increasingly anxious.

She even felt guilty, thinking that she had only known Leon for less than three weeks and what she would do if something happened to him because of her.

Amidst her complex emotions, she finally saw a figure rushing forward like a shadow.

It was Lyon!

Iris breathed a sigh of relief, and her expression immediately brightened.

At that moment, she was unaware that she felt relieved the instant she saw Leon, even before she saw her mother, Hamra.

The running figure gradually became clear.

Leon, carrying a slender figure with light blue hair and draped in a magic robe, leaped to Iris's side in a few bounds.

"Don't wait outside, go inside and hide. Although my actions are covert, we can't be careless until we're safe."

call out!!!!

Leon carried Hamra and rushed into the Elizabeth mansion.

The operation went smoothly. With the attention of many guards drawn, he used Shadow Leap to sneak in and easily slipped into the loosely guarded dungeon, bringing Hamra out without making a sound.

Iris followed and saw Hamra, who was being carried horizontally by Leon, lying unconscious with a limp body.

This pureblood elf's face is almost indistinguishable from that of a human woman in her early twenties; she can essentially be described as a mature version of Iris.

Her cheekbones were slightly wider than Iris's youthful beauty, and there were faint tear stains at the corners of her eyes. Her slightly sunken eye circles added a touch of maturity and beauty to her overall appearance, as well as a sense of fragility from her coma and the weariness of being trapped by something for a long time.

Her short, light blue hair was loose and disheveled, her skin was like porcelain, and her figure was well-proportioned.

Even with her eyes closed, she still possesses an extraordinary and refined air.

At first glance, there are no visible injuries, only marks from shackles on the hands and feet.

But strangely, his aura was clearly not as strong as that of an ordinary person.

Generally speaking, the higher the level of a powerful individual, the deeper and longer their breathing will be due to the improvement of their attributes and the strength of their physique.

Hamra, on the other hand, was noticeably short and frequent, suggesting some serious internal injury.

Following Iris's instructions, Leon laid Hamra across the soft bed in an empty room.

"Elise, don't you have any servants to take care of your daily needs?"

“I’m not used to being taken care of; I usually handle everything myself.”

"Then what about taking care of your mother? Judging from the way she looks, even your Light Healing Technique might not be able to cure her."

Lyon never tried using his water healing techniques.

Because Hamra's condition was clearly not an external injury, but a serious illness, or even more likely a curse.

Even a sixth-level expert has become so weak; this cannot be explained by injuries or serious illness.

This also reminded Lyon of Hamra's impending fall on Easter two months later, and the two are clearly causally related.

Perhaps she had been fighting against some kind of curse all along, until something was triggered on Easter, or she reached her limit and completely fell into depravity.

As for the strange Hamra that Iris saw earlier, it was probably in a state of severe interference from a curse.

Basic water healing techniques won't be enough to save this.

While light therapy is powerful, its key is to activate life's potential and strengthen vitality.

Basic light healing techniques are unlikely to be able to remove this kind of curse that even sixth-level healers cannot suppress.

"You'll know once you try it."

Elizabeth waved her wand, magic gathered, and she began to chant.

A flash of white light landed on Hamra.

Her breathing suddenly became even more rapid, as if her respiratory organs had been punctured, and her face showed a struggling and painful expression, as if she was enduring some unspeakable pain, but she just couldn't wake up.

Leon quickly pulled Iris away:

"It seems to be a curse, and a type of curse that naturally responds to healing techniques."

"So that means we can't cast a healing spell rashly? What should we do now?"

Seeing Hamra's pained expression, Iris felt both anxious and guilty.

“Judging from your mother’s condition, she should be able to hold on for a while, but I estimate it will only last two months at most. Iris, we have two options now.”

Leon held up two fingers to attract Iris's attention:

"First, you need to learn the intermediate Light Healing and Light Purification spells as soon as possible. These two spells should work when used together. Second, you need to find someone with skills related to removing curses to help you. For the former, you need to level up as soon as possible, while for the latter, there is currently hope..."

“Belle Rita?”

After Leon, Iris uttered the name of the man she subconsciously considered her nemesis.

Lyon nodded: "It seems you've thought of that too."

The Brenita, a Holy Prayer, can invoke divine power to break this curse.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and slowly said:

"I'll try to advance as quickly as possible and master the intermediate Light Healing and Purification spells. As for Brierita, I'll handle that..."

Lyon grasped Iris's hand and said:

“Elise, don’t rush to find her, because we can’t be sure why Hamra was imprisoned by Prince Abraham. The cause of this incident is uncertain, so it’s not good to rashly ask outsiders for help. If the person you ask is a potential enemy, it will only harm your mother.”

"That……"

"Let's find an opportunity to test Brierita later. She just told me that there will be training in a week."

Lyon explained in detail the selection of the paladins.

This is a good opportunity to bring Iris over to help. I'm currently lacking upgrade items for Shadowwalker and Elemental Mage, and it's proven that it's easy to increase favorability through dungeon adventures. I should press my advantage and max out Iris's favorability as soon as possible.

It's currently unclear whether there's any connection between Burelita and Hamra, as this is before the main storyline begins, and he doesn't have much information about it.

[Side Quest "The Fallen Dark Elf" Completion +20%, Current Completion 35%]

The side quest progress has increased, but Iris's affection level has not increased at all.