Don't move, it's a robbery!

It's so itchy.

Eve opened her eyes and tried to reach out and scratch her skin, but her hand was instantly grabbed by someone else.

"Eve! You're finally awake!"

"Um, March, I'm fine now. Cough cough, my voice sounds weird."

Eve coughed twice before realizing that she had been caught in the explosion because of her self-destruct spell and was almost killed. Although she vaguely remembered that someone had saved her and given her medicine, such a serious injury could not have been without some aftereffects.

"Ha, I must be covered in scars now, probably disfigured."

"Eve......."

"It's alright, March. I only chanted the incantation after I was fully prepared."

Eve managed a weak smile, then raised her hand to examine the skin on her arm. Sure enough, just as she had expected, her once snow-white skin had turned green.

Hmm? Green?

Eve sat up abruptly and quickly checked herself, finding that her skin had healed completely without a single scar, except that the color was slightly off.

"Why did I turn green?!"

"Even your voice has become so strange?!"

"Aaaaaaah! How did I grow chest hair?!"

The commotion coming from the bedroom alerted the others in the living room. Knight Nat and the other members of the council rushed in, and then stood there dumbfounded when they saw Eve looking so strange.

"The color has turned green again? Wasn't it purple before?"

"Speaking of which, it might turn into a different color later. Miss Eve, please don't get excited. You were just injured and need to rest."

"Yes, Eve, don't get agitated."

Eve snapped out of her panic and was about to ask who had treated her when she saw Leos and Little One, both with bruises and swelling on their faces.

"What happened to the injuries on your faces? Why haven't they healed yet?"

"That's normal. After all, it was an injury sustained this morning, so it won't heal that quickly."

"Morning? Wait! How long have I been unconscious?"

"It's only been a few hours."

Eve was taken aback at first, then looked at her body in surprise.

Can a person who is on the verge of death be brought back to normal in just a few hours? No, it doesn't really seem like a return to normal.

"Eve, please calm down, Lord Nat. Could you please allow me some time alone with my companions?"

"Of course, please do as you please. If you need anything, you can come to us anytime."

Seeing that everyone outside the team had left, Eve lay back down on the bed.

"Leos, what exactly happened?"

"Well, there's a lot going on, so let me tell you one thing at a time. The mission we took on involved the struggle between the old city lord and the council. The old city lord's third son, Ronaldo Kadir, seems to be secretly colluding with vampires. It's said that those vampires are hiding in the suburbs."

"Vampires? But weren't the people who attacked us guards? And we haven't found out anything yet!"

"Yes, after all, he is the son of the old city lord, so it is normal for him to be able to command guards. As for why Ronaldo sent people to attack us, it is because someone also attacked his stronghold, which led Ronaldo to mistakenly believe that we were behind it, so he directly used force."

"What? We'll do it now!"

"Don't worry, Ronaldo has already been arrested."

"Were people from Parliament involved?"

"No, it's the person who saved us."

Leos recounted what had happened to the little one, then explained that the little one had only told him about these things and hadn't told anyone else, so the council members were unaware that Ronaldo had been captured.

"I've discussed it with March and Garian. We should keep the matter of the Robin Hood a secret. After all, we don't know the council's attitude, and we can't let our savior get arrested."

"Um."

"By the way, Eve, we're in a bit of trouble right now. Garian and March both think we should leave Linde City and go back to where we used to be to take on missions, but Little and I think we should stay."

Upon hearing this, March immediately snorted in dissatisfaction, clearly unhappy that Leos had rejected her opinion.

"Here's what I'm thinking: Although we've had pretty good relations with many towns before, those places are quite stable. Usually, if bandits or wild beasts appear, the guards can handle it. Because the environment is stable, dangerous monsters rarely go there."

"So for us, there are hardly any lucrative jobs available over there."

"But Linde City is different. It's very close to Lars, and I've heard that the Kingdom of Lars is on the verge of collapse. Large swathes of its territory have been occupied by other countries. These are newly conquered territories, and there will definitely be a lot of conflicts and troubles. Whether it's deserters or monsters that appear because of the dead, they will affect the surrounding areas, and Linde City will certainly be affected as well."

"Our relationship with Parliament is quite good now, and they happen to be facing a shortage of troops. They definitely need our help, so they will not be stingy with money and wealth, including some treasures."

"Eve, don't you also want to find those ancient books lost in human kingdoms? I heard there's one here in Linde City. As long as we maintain good relations with the council, it shouldn't be a problem to just borrow it."

Leos's words were very persuasive, but Eve did not agree immediately. Instead, she turned to look at the little one.

"You think so too?"

"Uh-huh!"

"But what about the conflicts between nobles? With prior preparation, we can handle monsters and a small number of bandits, but we'll have a hard time dealing with fully armed armies and sneak attacks."

"That's not a problem! Leos and I have discussed it; we can recruit new members!"

"Those who become mercenaries on a whim are of little use in actual combat, and those who are already very strong wouldn't come to a place like this alone, huh? Wait a minute!"

Eve suddenly became alert. The little one had previously supported leaving this place, but now he had suddenly changed his mind and seemed very confident, which was obviously because of what happened today.

"You're not planning to recruit that bandit into your team, are you?!"

"Mmm-hmm!"

"What the hell?! I disagree! That guy's a criminal! Do you know how many people he's killed? The wanted posters on him are enough to cook a whole pot of rice!"

"That's exactly why! You see, the reason he came to Linde City is definitely because he has too many wanted posters on him and had to flee, but we happen to have a way to solve this problem!"

"You mean you want to use my magic to change his appearance?"

"Yes! I'm sure he won't refuse this offer!"

"I'll say it again, I disagree. I will never associate with a criminal! You can give up on that idea!"

........

Although the door was closed and they couldn't hear what was being said inside, the noisy atmosphere still made the people outside look helpless.

"It's really not easy to find a reliable mercenary group. I'm hoping they can take on more escort missions for caravans in the future."

"There's no point in thinking about these things now, is there? Speaking of which, how did the negotiations with the city-state of Balbo go last time?"

"It went smoothly at first, and they were willing to reopen the trade routes. But after hearing that we had not yet completely brought down the Kadir family, they began to hesitate again, probably because they were worried that we would not be able to gain a foothold in Linde City."

"Then let's use this incident to completely bring down the Kadir family, or at least drive them out of Linde City! These bastards should have given up their positions long ago, but they're still stubbornly refusing to leave."

"That brat Ronaldo, he's not even qualified to inherit the title, yet he's so concerned about revitalizing the family. I bet he has designs on his father and brothers. How about we just kill him and say he was an assassin sent by his brother?"

"That guy has a lot of trusted men around him, so he's not that easy to assassinate. What if he ends up using something against us? By the way, Sir Nat, can you use today's events to force Hamiti to hand over his position as captain of the guard? If we can completely control the guard, we won't need to be afraid of him."

"Knight Nat?"

When asked by other members of parliament, Nate shook his head.

"No, I don't have any evidence either."

"Damn it, I heard that the Cadir family mansion caught fire today. I hope Ronaldo was burned to death in the fire."

Just as the members of parliament were lamenting their loss, a guard suddenly burst into the room.

"Something's happened! The Kadir family has released word that young master Ronaldo has gone missing?"

"What? Missing? I think he ran away to avoid punishment?"

"But we have no evidence..."

"What evidence do you need! His escape is the evidence. Now, immediately, take men to search the Cadir family mansion! Anyway, Ronaldo isn't here, let's see who dares to stop our people!"

"Yes! Great idea! Quick, send someone over! No! Sir Nat, you go yourself!"

Nat nodded and set off with a few trusted confidants. The group rode their horses, covered in dust, towards the Kadir family's mansion.

On the way, Nat grabbed the guard who had just brought the news and questioned him with a serious expression.

"What's going on? Weren't we supposed to keep the news under wraps? Which idiot leaked this information?"

"Sir, there are several servants in the mansion who are spies sent by the councilors. They are the ones who leaked the information."

"Where is he? Was he killed?"

"No, sir, it was too chaotic at the time. After we discovered that Lord Ronaldo was missing, no one knew what to do, and as a result, they escaped without us noticing."

Nat clenched his fists in anger, then lashed his mount's rump hard with the riding crop.

First, they infiltrated and attacked a suburban villa, taking away the sacred artifact and a list of the cult's members. Then, they deliberately left false clues, causing them to waste their main manpower searching the no-man's-land and ambushing the Pure Wind Bell mercenary group. Then, taking advantage of the lax defenses, they kidnapped Ronaldo in broad daylight.

Who exactly is the person who made the move?

Nat recalled the scene he had witnessed in front of the dungeon. He had just learned of Ronaldo's disappearance and was leading his men to the scene when they heard an explosion coming from the dungeon.

He originally intended to silence them, but the enemy's firearms were too powerful, so he didn't dare to act rashly.

Just as he was at a loss, March in the dungeon recognized him, but she mistakenly thought that Nate had come to rescue someone, so Nate took advantage of this and chose to deceive her.

Among the people who came out of the dungeon that day, one of them didn't seem to be from the Pure Wind Bell Mercenary Group, and the sense of threat emanating from that guy was far greater than that of the others.

Is he a master of mercenary knowledge?

I feel like I've seen that face somewhere before.

Nat frowned as he tried to recall, but he just couldn't remember.

Forget it, let's prepare for the worst and move the plans forward.