Becoming a god starts with enhancing fire arrows.

"What?!"

Avira's face immediately flushed red.

A blush spread from her delicate, fair face all the way to the tips of her distinctive elfin ears.

She kept replaying in her mind the plots of some illustrated storybooks that she had once seen circulating among human nobles.

One of the stories involves a female tenant who couldn't pay her rent and was then asked by her landlord to pay off the debt with other items.

Exactly the same situation as now...

Avira felt her cheeks burning hot.

She lowered her head silently, her voice barely a whisper: "What do you intend to use to pay off the debt?"

This turn of events left Rhodes completely bewildered.

Is this...right?

Where did that haughty and arrogant elf princess go?

So, is the story about to unfold in the next part?

Rhodes took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

He said calmly, "I need to know every detail of how you came to this place and how you were captured by Rot Tongue Hagra."

"Pay off the debt with intelligence?!" Avira's voice suddenly became agitated, but she realized that she had lost her composure as an elven princess, and after a moment she said, "Oh, alright then."

"Cough cough."

She cleared her throat, calmed her thoughts, and then sat down gracefully on the sofa.

He looked around and then looked up at Rhodes:

"Don't you have black tea?"

"Bring me a cup of Moonlight Black Tea."

"I think you look like Moonlight Black Tea." Rhodes crossed his arms, adopting an attitude of "don't waste my breath on me."

Moonlight Black Tea and Parsun Black Tea are black teas brewed from tea leaves cultivated with immense magical power.

Because the process of cultivating magical power is extremely complicated, these two types of black tea are themselves symbols of status and prestige.

Even at home, these two types of black tea are prized treats reserved for entertaining important guests.

"Heh." Avira wasn't angry; instead, she rolled her eyes with a hint of disdain.

"That's just how the human race is, so I won't hold this rudeness against you."

She sat upright on the front third of the sofa and slowly began to speak:

"A year ago, after I left the territory of the Elven race, I came to the town of Phil with the help of a high mage's teleportation magic."

"Phil is indeed a poor town, but fortunately I found a fairly luxurious house in the Sunrise District that is worthy of my status and bought it."

"And there are even drow appearing in the Sunrise District. Drow creatures should stay underground. Why do you think they're going to the surface towns for no reason?"

Rhodes tapped the table with his fingers, making a soft "thump thump thump" sound.

Get to the point.

With an expression of "Princess Aura doesn't care about you," she continued her story:

"Just a few months ago, I became enemies with Cassandra, the leader of the town's underground organization, 'Black Hand'."

"She brought a bunch of people, tied me up, and handed me over to the witch as a test subject. She also had my house sealed off."

"Fortunately, the witch always treated me as her bodyguard."

Rhodes interrupted, "You revealed your identity as an elven princess to the leader of 'Black Hand'?"

"How is that possible?" Avira looked at Rhodes with the kind of pity one would give someone mentally challenged:

"I've only ever told you about my identity as the Elf Princess. Do I look like the kind of person who can't keep a secret?"

"Yes, it is." Rhodes nodded.

Avira suddenly felt a lump in her throat, and it took her a while to calm down.

"Kassandra, the leader of 'Black Hand,' is a drow. They were originally elves, but were driven out of their territory and became a variant of elves. Naturally, they don't have a good impression of me."

Rhodes listened intently, then nodded and continued, "So, the Corrupted Tongue Hagra has been imprisoning you in that suit of armor, keeping you as its guard?"

"No." Avira shook her head: "Rotten Tongue Hagra has been giving me the mask it made itself, and the armor was delivered by 'Black Hand' a few days ago."

"It was delivered two days ago?" Rhodes asked again to confirm.

Wasn't that when Harvey and I were preparing to deal with Rot Tongue?

Is it a coincidence?

His brows were furrowed.

My instinct was that something was wrong.

"Yes, it was two days ago." Avira nodded.

"I was quite impressed at the time; the armor's craftsmanship clearly indicated it was made by Iron Hammer, a member of the 'Black Hand'."

"He's probably the only craftsman in Phil who has this level of skill."

Hammer.

Rhodes remembered the nickname.

"Does this guy with the hammer also live in the Sunrise District?"

"Yes, that's right," Avira affirmed. "Iron Hammer is a dwarf."

"Dwarves have always had a high talent for forging."

"He once built a huge set of alchemy equipment for the alchemist Nathan and was named the first craftsman of Phil by the mayor."

"Later, he was noticed by the leader of the 'Black Hand' organization, who hired him to work for the organization at a high price."

Rhodes chewed over this information.

The investigation into the petrification disease stalled at the point of contact with the patient's family, and visiting the patient's family members also yielded little progress.

It seems the only way to continue the investigation is to start with the underground organization known as "Black Hand".

This hammer is not only a member of "Black Hand" and related to the Puppet Armor, but most importantly, he is also connected to the alchemist Nathan and the shapeshifting mayor.

This seems like a great starting point.

The only problem is that he lives in the sunrise zone, which is off-limits to humans.

Rhodes looked at Avira: "Haven't eaten yet? Are you hungry?"

Avira was a little taken aback by the sudden shift in the conversation and subconsciously pursed her lips: "A little."

Rhodes took a silver coin out of his bag and handed it over: "There's a Griffin Tavern to the east of the inn. Go get a pack of dinner for three."

Avira's eyebrows shot up: "You, a mere human, dare to order me around to buy you food?"

"I see that you lack the respect that elves should have."

Rhodes took back the silver coin: "Then you'll have to figure out your own dinner."

Avella got up angrily and walked towards the door.

Suddenly I remembered that my house in the Sunrise District was locked up, and all my money was in the safe inside.

I have nothing now.

And they were indeed starving; the food they ate during their time being enslaved by the witch was an insult to the elves.

She licked her lips, then snatched the silver coin from Rhodes' hand with a huff: "Fine, I'll buy it!"

"The rest is my errand fee."

......

Harvey's room next door.

The four of them were talking in the living room.

Harvey boasted, "Oh, my dear friend. In my opinion, the hammer is indeed a lead worth pursuing."

"Although you have a disguise ring that allows you to enter the Sunrise Zone, your human identity is still something that can't be seen in the light of day, so investigations will be very difficult."

"Or do you still want to kill the psychic?"

"No, not at all." Rhodes shook his head.

Do I look like someone who would start a fight at the drop of a hat?

"After all, that's the sunrise zone, governed by law. Psychic communication is really not a good idea."

"Let's sneak in and scout things out first, then we'll see what happens."

Paris shrewdly grasped the crux of the problem: "Am I not going with you?"

Rhodes shook his head: "Being human is too conspicuous in the Sunrise Zone. If there's danger, it will be difficult for me to take care of you."

"You stay in the hotel and read and meditate. I'll be back in a few days."

"Oh." Paril said, sounding a little aggrieved.

Like a pitiful abandoned kitten.