My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 79 Could it be?

"There seems to be something in here."

Rhodes walked slowly to the pile of ashes, squatted down, drew the dagger from his waist, and used the tip of the blade to brush away the surface of the grayish-white embers.

"What did you find?" Milan asked instinctively as she stood up, leaning against the rock wall.

"this."

Rod pointed to the things he had dug out of the ashes, and Milan then saw that he had picked out several unbreakable skullcaps and a fist-sized dark red crystal.

"This one—" Milan thought for a moment, a faint purple light emanating from her fingertip as she probed it from a distance, "It should be its magic core."

"Oh?" Don Quixote leaned closer curiously. "Like the treasure those heroes find after slaying dragons?"

Milan's lips twitched upon hearing this. She had long been aware of this quirk of hers, but she didn't completely deny it: "Not entirely correct. If I had to say, it's more like a part of the dragon's body."

"Most magical creatures have organs in their bodies that are used to gather energy. If these organs are preserved and processed, they become the magical materials we commonly use."

Sensing the curious gazes of the two beside her, she paused and casually gave a few examples: "Low-level monsters, such as slimes with a gelatinous body, can be used as a base for magic potions after simple processing; vampire fangs are natural shadow conductors, and the petrification ability of a cyclops' single eye can sometimes have corresponding effects when embedded in weapons."

"And what about the dragon?" Don Quixote's eyes lit up even more. He leaned forward, forgetting even the soreness in his arms. "What usable materials are there from a dragon?"

"The heroes in the stories all wear dragon scale armor," she said wistfully. "I wish I could get that kind of equipment someday."

"As for dragons—" Milan glanced at her, "the whole thing can be used. Dragon scales can be used to forge armor, dragon tendons to make strings, dragon bones are the best material for staff cores, and dragon blood and dragon heart are the core materials for high-level alchemy—provided that you can encounter them and successfully defeat them."

"What about humans?" Rhodes suddenly asked.

Milan paused for a moment before slowly saying, "Most humans are born unable to sense magic, and the amount of magic in their bodies is very weak, far less than that of those demons."

"However—most of our magic power is concentrated in our brains and hearts. The thalamus and the heart are where our magic power is most concentrated," Milan hesitated for a moment before telling him. "As for other professions, I don't know."

"So theoretically speaking, humans can also be used as magical materials?" Rhodes pressed.

Upon hearing his words, Alina in the consciousness space tried to stop him, but it was too late.

This is a very sensitive question. Milan is a mage from the Arcane Academy, and it could easily arouse suspicion from the other party!

"Yes, but forces including the Arcane Academy strictly prohibit the research on mages, not even corpses, in order to prevent any horrific incidents," Milan warned him seriously. "Once discovered, our Arcane Academy will do everything in its power to hunt down these criminals."

"After all, those crazed necromancers really will hunt down their colleagues for research purposes."

"So, does what we're doing now count as illegally studying a mage's corpse?" Rhodes pointed to the ashes on the ground. "It kept claiming to be a mage."

"————Huh?" Milan was stunned. Looking at the pile of white ash on the ground that Rod had turned over and over, she instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

No wonder Hero asked so many questions; it turns out this was a trap waiting for her!

She wiped her face, then took a deep breath and said, "Clearly, it's a monster."

"Don't forget the villagers it captured in the cave," Milan said with a straight face, raising her chin to indicate the scattered remains of bones beside the stone platform. "Even if this two-headed ogre has a human head and knows some magic, it is still a thoroughly evil mage who practices dark magic, and it is already on the Arcane Society's wanted list."

"How can cleaning up monster remains be equated with studying mage corpses?"

"That's right, that's right!" Don Quixote quickly nodded in agreement, pointing to Lily on the ground, "It captures children like Lily for experimental purposes; it's an utterly wicked monster! How can it be compared to a sorceress like Lady Milan?"

The moment their gaze swept over her, Lily's heart tightened, her wolf fur stood on end, and she pressed her back tightly against the cold rock wall, not daring to even breathe loudly.

It feared that its half-human, half-wolf appearance would also be classified as "monster material," and that it would suffer the same fate as the two-headed ogre, disappearing without a trace.

Fortunately, their attention didn't linger on it for long; they were quickly drawn to Don Quixote's next words.

"Although Lady Milan usually likes to silence me with silencing spells, and she's lazy and hasn't studied any of her offensive spells except for fireball, and she even uses various life spells to be lazy in her daily life—" she muttered, counting on her fingers, "but in my heart she's still a good mage."

"Shut up!" Milan angrily pointed his staff, and Don Quixote was immediately speechless.

"Back to what you have in your hand," Milan quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic, her gaze returning to the dark red crystal in Rhodes' hand, "The energy inside is enormous, but it's also extremely chaotic."

"However, after taking it back and purifying the energy inside, it should be able to serve as a decent spellcasting material or a main material for weapons."

"Do you want it?" Rod asked.

He currently lacks the ability to handle this item; selling it directly to Milan for money would be much easier.

The other party is wealthy and has good character; they definitely won't cheat him.

"I don't lack it—" Milan paused for a moment before saying this, "but it might be related to the guild's commission this time. Its existence may be closely related to our investigation into the source of the monster disturbance, so I need to take it for research, which can also be considered as giving the guild an explanation."

"If you need it, consider it your spoils as extra reward for this mission," she said sincerely to Rhodes. "If you're not in a hurry, you can wait until I've finished studying it and removed the impurities before giving it to you."

"Alright," Rhode handed it the magic core, then casually picked up the skullcaps. "What about this?"

Milan reached out and took a piece, rubbing its rough, porous, hard texture with her fingertips. After weighing it a couple of times, she quickly lost interest, handed it back, and shook her head: "I don't feel anything special about it. Apart from being hard, it doesn't seem to have any other characteristics. I don't see any research value in it."

"But you could keep it as a trophy, though," Milan said.

Rod nodded, carefully collected the skull fragments, then separated the ashes from the ground, sealed them tightly in bottles, and put them away together.

Whether it's useful or not, it's nice to take it back as a souvenir.

The group stood beside the ashes, calmly counting their spoils and discussing the uses of the remains. To Lily, this behavior was as ordinary as picking through the goods at a market.

The two-headed ogre that turned it into this grotesque creature is dead; it should be happy.

But for some reason, a sense of fear enveloped its entire body, making it feel anxious and uneasy.

It's as if the other party is its own kind —

Fortunately, the group's attention was not on it. After studying the two-headed ogre's ashes, Rhodes and the others began searching for its lair.

The two-headed ogre's original alchemical artifacts were all damaged in the battle; some were completely shattered, while others were smashed and deformed. Bottles and jars were scattered all over the ground, and various potions mixed with the burnt smell of their owners' remains. There were very few intact items.

"These things don't seem like something it could make on its own."

Rhodes kicked a bronze crucible at his feet. The seams were polished neatly and smoothly. Considering the other party's appalling sewing skills, it was definitely not something a clumsy ogre could have produced.

Milan nodded, her brow furrowing slightly. "The style is similar to common alchemical tools. It was probably looted from a passing caravan, or found on some adventurer?"

Upon hearing this, Rhodes looked at the wreckage on the ground and stroked his chin.

Even if it was stolen, the alchemy tools here are far too complete!

Could it be that the two-headed ogre was lucky and managed to snatch a set?

After thinking for a long time without coming up with anything, Rod shook his head and quickly gave up on torturing his brain.

The cave wasn't very big to begin with, and they had searched every nook and cranny they could, but after searching the whole place, they found nothing else of value.

Besides Rhodes, he did find a small cloth money bag in the ruins, but it only contained scattered copper coins and silver coins full of impurities.

"So poor—" Rhodes weighed the bag of loose change in his hand, quite disappointed, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Even after killing so many people, it still has no money?"

"You can't judge monsters with human standards," Alina couldn't help but complain in her consciousness space. "What do monsters need money for? To buy things?"

Rhodes thought about it and agreed.

After all, most of the people arrested were ordinary people, mostly villagers, who were dirt poor, so it was normal for them to be penniless.

However, if the other party's alchemy tools were obtained by plundering caravans—then they shouldn't be short of money, right?

Or is it that this two-headed ogre truly sees money as dirt and doesn't want those shiny coins at all?

"There shouldn't be much left here. Let's rest for a bit and then head back." Seeing Rod standing there silently, Milan was so tired that she couldn't help but sit down and begin meditating to regulate her breathing.

They're still in a monster's cave, and who knows if they'll encounter any more monsters when they go back? It's best to recover their magic power as much as possible.

Seeing that they would be staying there for a while, Rod thought for a moment and decided to search again to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

Besides their value as currency, gold, silver, and copper can also be used as magical materials in this world.

Even if that two-headed ogre doesn't like money, as a mage, it still needs this as a basic magical material, right?

Rod casually stuffed the money pouch into his pocket and continued rummaging through the trash he had already searched several times.

Seeing how intently he was rummaging through the rubble, Don Quixote perked up. He slung his greatsword over his shoulder, then squatted down to dig through the loose stones. His mute spell, now off, began to mutter under his breath: "Does the wandering knight also think there's something hidden here? We think so too, there's definitely something strange about this place!"

"Keep your voice down." Rod first made a shushing gesture, then pointed to Milan, who was meditating with her eyes closed.

Don Quixote quickly covered his mouth, then heard him ask, "For example?"

"Hmm... magical artifacts, enigmatic spirits and monsters of dubious nature?" She scratched her head uncertainly. "Maybe there's a hidden map too? Oh right, that's what they write in heroic tales—evil monsters' lairs often have secret chambers!"

"A locked room?"

Upon hearing this, Rod turned to look at her and was instantly enlightened.

Yes, why not search along the wall again?

With Rhodes leading the way, Don Quixote also became bolder.

Because of their height difference, the two were able to climb up and down the wall, exploring every detail.

Feeling the soft, glowing moss beneath the rough rock face, the two moved forward in perfect harmony.

Until a pile of corpses blocked their way, those that the two-headed ogre had carelessly tossed aside in a corner and had not yet been cleaned up.

"Should we go around it?" Don Quixote looked up at the pile of corpses, then looked up at Rhodes.

Rod initially wanted to nod, but then he realized that this rock wall was different.

"Wait, look here," he said, placing a hand on Don Quixote's shoulder and pointing to the rock wall behind the corpse. "Don't you notice that there's significantly less moss here than elsewhere?"

The glowing moss in this area is noticeably sparser than the surrounding area, with scattered, shimmering green spots, and faint, crooked traces visible beneath, unlike what one would expect from a natural rock face.

"Could it be?"

The two exchanged a glance and then quietly moved the bones.

Although they tried to walk as quietly as possible, the sound of such large movements was still exceptionally clear in the cave.

"Don Quixote, what are you up to now! Can't you just be quiet for a second?"

Milan suddenly opened his eyes, his brows furrowed, and he raised his staff, ready to cast another silencing spell on Don Quixote.

But when his gaze swept over and he saw the man standing next to Don Quixote, the curse that was on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down.

Why is Hiro joining in this nonsense?

"Tsk," she said impatiently, getting up and walking over. "What are you up to now? You think you can find gold in an ogre's lair?"

“We feel there might be something wrong with this rock face,” Rod said first, stepping aside to show Milan the unusual rock face. “Look at the moss here—”

Milan scoffed, but not wanting to refuse, she casually waved her staff: "It's no big deal, why go to all this trouble? Just clear away the moss and see—"

He stopped before he could finish speaking.

The purple light of the cleansing magic fell on the rock wall, but the moss remained motionless.

"Huh?" She paused for a moment, then casually waved her hand at the ordinary rock wall next to her, and the moss instantly peeled off, revealing the rough stone surface.

"—This is really strange." She dropped her nonchalant attitude, took two steps forward, and examined the situation closely. "My spell isn't working?"