I am a mage, with an infinite mana bar!

"We come from the northern highlands, where we were once slaves to the giants. Even if we escape, nothing can change..."

Lynn didn't know much about the history of the orcs, only that they had been roaming this continent for hundreds of years, and that cruelty and bloodlust were in their nature. Even with laws, they were difficult to be accepted by other races.

Gray continued, "I've been a three-star adventurer for many years, and to be honest, I've saved up quite a bit of money... But Axia's laws stipulate that only its citizens can purchase property locally."

Goodness… Lynn understands now. He's trying to clear his name through volunteer service because he's disliked as an orc and can't get a "green card" from the Kingdom of Assassin.

However, the Kingdom of Assassin is considered a relatively tolerant country. It is a multi-ethnic nation, also known as the "Mixed Kingdom".

"Indeed," Rumi flipped to the bottom of the file and saw Gray's profile. "You've been doing volunteer work for so many years? Aren't your points high enough?"

"That's basically enough, but I'm also planning to get married." Gray scratched his chin with his sharp-nailed fingers, his gaze somewhat evasive.

"Marriage..." Rumi had a complicated expression, but he softened and swallowed the harsh words.

"Wait a minute," Eli suddenly interjected, blinking her bright green eyes, "Mr. Grey, your lover wouldn't happen to be Ms. Becky, would she?"

Seeing Gray nod shyly, she immediately launched into a cheerful conversation: "The news of your confession to Ms. Becky caused quite a stir in Roan City back then. It even made it into the hottest newspaper, the 'Roan Daily.' Everyone talked about it for a long time. Ms. Becky is a wonderful person, and you two will definitely find happiness..."

The orc looked somewhat awkward. "Miss Eli, thank you..."

He changed the subject, seemingly not wanting to discuss his own relationship status further, "However, I probably won't be able to help you find that friend for the time being."

Lynn immediately voiced her doubts, "Have you really met Eli's friend?"

He couldn't understand why Gray would invite Eli to participate if this was a normal mission. Healing mages don't have many offensive methods.

"Of course," Gray's tone suddenly turned cold, clearly understanding Lynn's unspoken meaning, "she was a beautiful blonde lady; our team saw her deep in the Whispering Forest."

"Miss Eli requested that I take her there, but I'm worried about her lack of combat experience. This mission is a test, and my team will only accept the commission if she passes the test."

"So does that mean I've passed?" Eli wanted to hear a good result. If a three-star adventurer team was willing to help her, things would be much easier.

"No, Miss Eli, that's not important anymore. I won't be entering the Whispering Forest for the time being, and I advise you not to go there either. Recently, accidents have been happening in the forest."

Rumi, who had been pacing in the small room to quell his impatience, suddenly spoke sternly:

"This won't do. You've lost three mages. I'm demanding on your behalf, in the name of the Magic Association, that you participate in the search and rescue team to bring them back!"

As he spoke, he took out a map of the Whispering Forest from his pocket, unfolded it, and laid it out in front of Gray. "You should remember the location of the incident very well. Mark it down. Oh, and mark the location of Miss Eli's friend as well."

This guy is quite sensible; knowing the relationship between Eli and Barton, he deliberately tries to please them… Lynn thought to himself.

Gray's face turned extremely ugly when he heard him claim to be from the Magic Association.

After a long while, he murmured an "Mmm," took the pen from Rumi, and circled two locations on the map.

Lynn quietly observed that the mark he made at the location where the crystal monster had appeared on the outskirts of the forest was indeed correct.

Rumi took the map back and glanced at it. He then looked at Lynn and Eli to confirm, and after receiving an affirmative response, he immediately prepared to go to the vice president to discuss organizing a search and rescue team.

Before leaving, he said to the two of them, "You two have worked hard, go back and get some rest."

In other words, it's none of their business anymore.

Although they were also victims, they did not suffer any substantial losses...

"Sigh, I don't even have enough money for dinner!" Lynn said with a worried look on her face.

"Lynn...right?" Gray suddenly called out to him.

As Lynn turned around, a dark shadow flew towards him.

"What's this?" He touched the bag that had fallen into his arms, his expression immediately turning to surprise and delight. "Coins?"

"220 silver coins, this is your reward. I traded the eyes of those crystal monsters for them."

The process of redeeming rewards in the Adventurers' Guild is very simple; all that is needed is for one person who participated in the quest to bring proof of participation to receive the reward.

These pieces of evidence are usually easily identifiable, but relatively unimportant, parts of the monster's body.

For example, the Crystal Monster's glass-like eyes; it's worth mentioning that each Crystal Monster only has one eye.

Lynn opened the bag and was nearly blinded by the gleaming silver coins.

Not only silver coins, but also some dirty, unidentified objects were mixed in.

"You took down three pieces of crystalline armor and a magic-absorbing monster's magical tentacles. You're really lucky. Oh, the magic-absorbing monster wasn't completely dead, so I finished it off for you."

The probability of low-level monsters dropping magical materials after they die is very low. These few items alone are worth far more than 220 silver coins!

"But," Lynn asked with a clear conscience, "I should have only killed nine crystal monsters, right?"

Clearly, this also includes the number of kills by the other three mages.

"They're yours now, they're not coming back... I heard their screams when I was trapped by those rotten vines." Gray's face was grim.

"Then why didn't you tell the guild and Mr. Rumi about this?" Lynn asked.

The guild and the Magic Association were clearly unaware of this, otherwise they wouldn't have been preparing to search for the three people.

The tall, burly, ugly-faced warrior, exuding a wild aura, took a deep breath and said:

I dare not...

"If I told them that those young people died in front of me, they would not believe me and would think I had ulterior motives."

"This is the orcs' predicament; in the eyes of others, orcs are always seen as having ulterior motives."

"I originally planned to join the search and rescue team and do well... as a way to make amends..."

His eyes were dull. He had been doing volunteer work for many years, but whether in the Adventurers' Guild or in the town, he was always met with scrutinizing eyes and skeptical voices.

Only his teammates were willing to trust him.

Just as Eli had read in the newspaper, he had indeed confessed his feelings to a woman he had long admired, but her reaction was completely different from what he had seen in the newspaper.

Her eyes were filled with disgust as she looked at him like he was livestock. Even in bed, she would replace pleasure with insults, as if he were just an animal she kept.

"Lynn," Gray said slowly, "I beg you to testify for me. Because of your report, the Magic Association will definitely continue to suspect me. You may know that those arrogant guys have always looked down on us orcs because we are born without any magical talent... They might just find some excuse to expel me from this country!"

A hint of despair flashed in his eyes.

Eli was moved and looked at Lynn, "Why don't we help him?"

Lynn felt a pang of guilt. Had I really misunderstood? Was Gray innocent?

So this was a random monster attack...

He immediately felt incredibly lucky that he and Eli had survived the attack.

However, Lynn was powerless to do anything about it.

"Mr. Gray, we are just unfortunate victims caught up in the accident. We know nothing and cannot testify for you. Perhaps we can only hope that the Magic Association will conduct a fair investigation into all of this."

After saying this, Lynn sincerely thanked the orc warrior and then left with Eli.