A tribe of gnolls controlled by evil mages...... Oh, come to think of it, it's mostly the sorcerer Raldak.

A neutral and evil human mage, who has the advanced class of "trickster" because of his mastery of both magical knowledge and thief skills, probably took control of a gnolll leader in the southwest mountains of Sword Castle through magic two or three months ago, thus further controlling the monster tribe under the command of the gnolll leader.

Raldak's strength level belongs to the type that is more than the upper than the bottom, although it has a part-time trickster advanced profession, but the total level of the character is only about level 23, bullying and bullying small monsters and ordinary people is okay, and if a conflict breaks out with the thorn squad, it will not pose an effective threat to the current young people at all.

Having guessed in his mind about the potential enemies of his journey, and considering that the merchants trapped in the village of Meral could use their carriages to go to the Northlands together, Urs decided at once that he had not spared the evil sorcerer and the gnolls bandits, and soon made a promise to help the village, surrounded by the eager cries of the villagers, and took action that night.

Of course, if it was just to rush to the Northland as soon as possible, he could have escorted the merchants directly out of the village with Thea, Bellelis, and Dorothy, but doing so would be tantamount to denying the villagers' requests for help and leaving them to fend for themselves in the village threatened by the jackal bandits.

If players choose to help the villagers resolve the crisis first, then they must take down the magician Raldak as the primary goal, and then decide whether or not to escort the merchants to the Northlands.

If the player chooses to escort the merchants out of the village alone, the merchants will make a lot of money when they arrive in the Northland because they happen to meet a good buyer, and reward the player with a random magic item they have stumbled upon, but the village of Merar will soon be transformed into a new monster camp by the invasion of the gnolls, thus opening the next stage of the hidden story.

Urs remembers that in his previous life, he had completed this task with a few wild team players who had read the strategy log on the forums beforehand.

They had a disagreement over the choice of route, with several passers-by on the jungle side insisting on escorting the merchant away in order to open the hidden plot and get the random magic item rewards mentioned in the guide, but he decided to stay and take out the evil trickster and the gnolls bandits anyway.

The wild players who chose to escort the merchant away eventually got a +2 enchantment level magic necklace from the merchant, but they were unable to open the hidden plot after the destruction of Meral Village - they were surprised to learn a few days later that the Gnoll Cave dungeon near Merar Village had been forcibly "matchless" by the young man during the quest chain process they triggered.

Typical "chaotic and good-natured mess" - recalling the past at that time, Urs has to admit that his previous life relied on the game mechanic of resurrection after death, which was really much more reckless than his own in this life.

But then again, the Gnoll Cave near Meral Village was no longer a challenge for him in this life, and he soon set out from Merar Village with Thea, Bellinglis, and Dorothy, and based on the information provided by the villagers and the memories of his past life, he headed towards the cave camp where the Gnoll robbers were—

One is a little further from the village, and you need to go deeper into the mountains to the west.

……

The full moon of autumn hangs high in the night sky, casting a pale silver glow over the soil of the forest through the gaps between the treetops and the foliage.

Dorothy lightly grasped the wooden staff in her hand and followed Urs, Thea, and Belelis who were walking in front of her through the mountains and forests at a constant speed, her long red hair swaying slightly in the peaceful moonlight, and she didn't say a word along the way, like a silent doll doll just acting with everyone, lacking interaction and communication.

Her personality is already a bit introverted, and after being abandoned by Dambert, she began to become autistic, and if it weren't for the Grey Court Sage Yu Stina's success in untying her spell casting knot and arranging for Able to travel with the team, she might have fallen into the abyss of self-abandonment.

Miss Warlock sometimes felt that the Mechanic Mage was a very tender subject to confide in, though she understood that the latter was not actually emotional, and guessed that the reason for the latter's willingness to listen to her own grievances might just be to obtain academic material from her pessimistic and fragile confession in order to complete the mage's research project she mentioned......

In her memory, she seemed to remember that Abel's main academic research topic as an orthodox mage was called "The Emotional Evolution of Intelligent Beings...... Probably this name, because the black cat pet named Soros mentioned to himself that its owner of the trap was very interested in the spells of the Confusion Control system, and his greatest wish was to gain the same affection as a human......

"Hey, Dorothy."

"Huh?!" Dorothy was startled, and suddenly felt her cheek be pouted by something furry, and suddenly took a step away from the side like a frightened rabbit, and then turned her head and said in a daze, "Xi, Xia?" ”

"What are you thinking?"

Thea noticed her situation at some point, so she slowed down and quietly approached her, revealing her mischievous side in the relatively relaxed atmosphere of the team at the moment, and the two white wolf ears on the top of her head that showed silver hair shook gently twice as if they had succeeded in a prank.

The wolf-eared girl put her hands behind her back, and the priest's body under the white robe bent slightly and tilted her head towards her, her amber eyes looking at her with a lovely smile of natural intimacy.

Dorothy looked at her in a daze, and after two seconds, it seemed that she finally couldn't stand such an intimate conversation from the wolf-eared girl, so she hesitated for a while and then replied slowly: "I'm thinking...... Our other companions who remained in the city of Palomites...... My former companion from the Red Scorpion Adventure Troupe...... And, my father. ”

"Dambert?" Thea immediately remembered the red-haired man who had been active in Twilight.

"Hmmm......"

Miss Warlock, who had the same fiery red hair and navy blue eyes as the red-haired man, nodded slightly, for some reason, obviously wanting to lead the conversation to the situation on the side of Koto, Raven, Stonefist, and Abel, but as soon as the words came out, the image of Dambert involuntarily appeared in her mind.

She had become aware of this reflexive phenomenon during her travels, and it seemed that whenever she thought of the new companions of the Thorn Troopers, she would soon uncontrollably recall the Red Scorpion Adventure Group she had been in, and then further think of her father, who had a profound impact on her life.

Although I don't want to admit it, this is probably the so-called inner shadow...... Right?

She shook her head, she really didn't want to admit that her father seemed to have really become a shadow in her heart, after all, the man named Dambert Kerchases was her father no matter how he said it, and he undeniably gave him a happy childhood when he was a child more than ten years ago, so after hesitating for a while, he explained to Xia as if trying to convince himself:

"My father committed an unpardonable crime in Twilight...... But in my childhood memories, he was by no means such an evil and bad person, and he was gentle to me, kind and generous to everyone in the Red Scorpion Adventure Group......"

As she spoke, Miss Warlock's lips paused, trying to mentally organize the somewhat chaotic language, and then continued, "Perhaps...... What is the reason why my father became what we know today? For example, he didn't want to be in the league with the cultists, but the cultists controlled him with some kind of magic? Or simply impersonate him with a shapeshifter? What do you think, Thea? ”

As the words fell, she looked at the wolf-eared girl expectantly, as if she didn't want to ask the other party's thoughts, but hoped to get an answer from the other party's mouth that could comfort her.

Thea met her gaze, blinked her eyes in a daze, and suddenly guessed her heart, and then couldn't help but look at her at close range with a little embarrassment, so that the smile on her face didn't last long before it turned into a slightly embarrassing smirk.

But after a few seconds of giggling, he still made up his mind to tell her, "...... I'm sorry, Dorothy. ”

"Huh?"

"I think that Dambert's crimes deserve justice, but no matter what he did, he is him, and you are you." The wolf-eared girl put away her smile, and in the blink of an eye, she stood up and became serious, her two eyes like amber revealed the sincerity of admonition, "You are an independent person, not the property of your father or anyone else. An old priest of the Northland Church taught me before that the wicked are an abomination, but the children of the wicked should not be implicated in sin, and that the good should guide them to chase the light out of the darkness if they can. ”

"Say... Yes, too. ”

Hearing Thea's answer, Dorothy immediately lowered her gaze in some disappointment, secretly thinking that the extravagant hope in her heart was really just self-deception, and then raised her eyes again with a melancholy look and asked:

"That'...... Do you think I'm really innocent, Thea? I am Dambert's daughter, the daughter of a villain who was raised by his own hands, and many of the ideas in my life were instilled in me by him. Even if he abandoned me, I still can't forget his lessons and his presence, and when I think back to the past in Twilight, I still feel as if there were countless pairs of dead eyes staring at me, saying, look, this is Dambert's daughter, the daughter of the villain, why is she still alive......"

Miss Warlock stood in place, her voice becoming aggrieved and choked up little by little, knowing that she had obviously overcome the frenzied spell casting with the help of the Gray Court Sage, and gradually regained her previous self-confidence under the kindness of Abel and everyone, but she still couldn't cross the high hurdle in her heart.

There was a moist feeling from the corner of her eyes, she took a cold breath, realized that she seemed to be out of shape, and hurriedly raised her left hand to wipe away her tears, but the next second later, she felt that her cheek was grabbed by another pair of small hands.

It was the hand of the wolf-eared girl, one left and one right, and suddenly a faint warmth came to Miss Warlock's face.

"Thea?" Dorothy was slightly surprised, and her eyes widened at her approaching face.

"Even if you really have the filth of Dambert's indoctrination in your heart, Dorothy, man is born with many flaws, and therefore he will continue to grow, to overcome his immature past, and to improve himself towards a better future." The tip of Thea's nose stopped in the air about the length of her index finger and confronted her, "As your friend, I can conclude that your nature is not evil, and suggest that the most important thing you need to do now is to stop carrying the burden of the past on your shoulders...... And then! ”

"Huh——?!"

"Smile more, Dorothy. Your smile is beautiful, really. ”

The silver-haired and white-robed wolf-eared girl smiled again, squinted mischievously and tilted her head, and took advantage of Miss Warlock's slight inattention to move her fingers, coldly pinching the corners of the latter's mouth and gently pulling them apart to the sides.

She's not a professional thief, and she's not very skilled at her skills, so the smile on Miss Warlock's face is more like a grimace to be honest.

Dorothy's head suddenly froze, and her half-raised left hand froze in the air forgetting to do something, thinking slowly......

Wait, wait!

What is she doing here? Why is she pinching my face?

Even if Thea is a girl like herself, what kind of trouble is she going to make when she suddenly puts this hand in her face?! For no reason, it feels weird, doesn't it? Also, why do I need someone to reach out and help make fun of my own face...... Yes?

Huh?

What's that...... Me, feel like I've calmed down a bit?

"Thea, Dorothy, did you find anything?" Dorothy looked at Thea dumbfoundedly for a while, and suddenly heard the young man's voice coming from not far ahead.

"Nothing, Urs." Thea turned her head in response, taking her hand off Dorothy's face, and then continued to look at her with a friendly smile and encouragement, "Let's go, Dorothy, don't let Urs and Bellingeris throw us away. ”

As the words fell, the silver-haired and white-robed wolf ear girl turned forward in her sight, and quickened her pace a little to catch up with the young man who had already walked a little farther, and the little girl who was sneaking in the bushes further ahead and was responsible for exploring the way.

Dorothy was stupidly stunned, watching Xia finally come back to her senses after taking two steps away, half of her eyes looked at her left hand raised in the air, and touched the corner of her mouth with that hand, where Xia had pinched just now......

Then this time, I pinched it lightly with my own hands, pulled it apart a little, and pulled out half of the incomplete smile......

Oh no!

Are you stupid Dorothy? Why do you want to pull the corners of your mouth with your own hands?

She had a thrill in her mind, and suddenly returned to consciousness from the state of confusion, quickly shook her head, patted her face again, and then hurriedly quickened her pace to keep up with the three companions walking in front, and after a flash, she almost forgot what she had just done and committed pessimism.

Urs half-turned to the side and waited for the two girls to follow, not knowing and not planning to ask what the two of them had just talked about behind the team, and then continued to lead the team along the path in the woods that Bellingis had explored in front of him...... I walked like this for a while, about before the second half of the night came, and finally I watched the little girl turn around from the grass in front of her vision and tell herself with a gesture—

The gnolls cave near the village of Meral seemed to have arrived.

It's just ahead...... ()

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