38: Quite wealthy

Ronan's eyes were filled with shock. Team 408, wasn't that... "Captain!" Evil Axe's face was full of urgency; he clearly knew that this was the designation for Ash Leaf's team.

The two looked at each other, their gazes no longer holding the previous refusal.

In Ronan's view, Evil Axe and Red Hammer were practically one step away from making their relationship official; there was no way he wouldn't go to the rescue.

As for himself, Ash Leaf had also stepped in to help him several times back in the old castle.

They had gone through thick and thin together, so to speak; there was no reason not to save her.

Both Ronan and Evil Axe saw determination in each other's eyes and nodded solemnly.

"Is there any detailed intelligence?" Ronan looked at Harris.

"Which two members of Team 408 are missing?"

Harris was somewhat surprised; just a moment ago, he thought he had seen refusal in their eyes.

He hadn't expected them to change their minds so quickly.

"I'm not entirely sure, but the survivor, a large orc, is currently in a coma..."

Seeing the faces of the two men before him suddenly darken, he immediately added,

"Current intelligence suggests that creatures suspected to be Polluters have taken the missing personnel to some sort of gathering place."

"We have already found several possible entrances and are currently gathering personnel..."

"We'll take this mission."

Ronan looked at Harris. "However, take us to see the comatose orc first. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Of course not." Harris put on his helmet. "No time to lose, let's head out immediately."

...On the carriage, Drill Mouse looked at his two teammates, who were somber and silent, and finally chose to ask Evil Axe.

"Boss, was the big guy's team really attacked?"

To speed up the journey, Harris provided them with the fastest carriage in the manor and drove it himself.

It wasn't that Ronan's team was particularly prestigious, but rather that his presence was required to visit the survivor.

Evil Axe furrowed his brows, nodded thoughtfully, and then suggested to Ronan,

"Captain, time is tight. How about we skip visiting the orc and head straight to the destination?"

"Don't be in such a rush, Evil Axe," Ronan comforted him.

"Personnel are still being gathered. Even if we arrive first, we'll have to wait for the others to assemble."

Ronan actually knew that a mission with so many unknown factors certainly wouldn't involve as many people as the one at the manor square earlier.

But he still wanted to see Savage Stone; perhaps he could discover something else using the Divinity.

"Everyone, this is the place."

Harris stepped off the carriage and led the three of them into a villa.

The furniture in the villa's hall had been temporarily cleared out, leaving an open space.

Complex lines on the floor formed a quarantine zone, in the center of which was a bed where the large orc lay in a coma.

"This is a necessary measure to prevent potential pollution. I hope you all will be careful."

Harris gave a reminder and then stood quietly on guard outside the quarantine zone.

"Is he polluted?" Drill Mouse asked, his eyes filled with fear.

"After inspection and testing by professionals, no," Harris replied calmly.

"Then why..." Drill Mouse pointed to the runic lines on the floor that looked like a magic circle, his meaning self-evident.

"This is a necessary measure," Harris repeated.

"You two stay outside."

Ronan spoke to Evil Axe and Drill Mouse, then walked alone to Savage Stone's bedside.

The comatose Savage Stone had his brows tightly knit, with several hideous wounds on his body only having received simple bandaging.

It seemed the professionals hired by the Count were not responsible for treating him.

Ronan opened his panel and scanned Savage Stone several times.

Realizing that the "Analysis" function hadn't been triggered, he sighed helplessly.

It seemed this trait currently only reacted to certain magical items and was ineffective against everything else; it was truly a bit of a white elephant.

He rummaged through his storage pouch and pulled out a tube of pale green potion.

"Captain." x2

Evil Axe and Drill Mouse cried out in surprise when they saw Ronan take out the beginner healing potion, which was the mission's down payment.

beginner healing potions were expensive and mostly used in moments of crisis.

Using it on someone like the orc, who was already out of life-threatening danger, was truly a bit wasteful.

Especially Drill Mouse; knowing Savage Stone as he did, if the orc knew a beginner healing potion was being used at a time like this, he would surely jump up and curse them for being spendthrifts.

Ronan shook his head; he understood what his teammates meant.

However, some of Savage Stone's wounds had already begun to fester, and infection would follow... Left unattended, if the wounds worsened, his life would be in danger.

Without hesitation, he unscrewed the beginner healing potion and slowly poured the pale green liquid onto the orc's hideous wounds.

"Get some good sleep," Ronan said softly, unable to help sighing in his heart.

He hadn't been transmigrated for long; his heart still wasn't hardened enough... After a while, the wounds began to emit a faint glow and started to heal slowly.

Although Savage Stone didn't wake up because of it, at least his injuries were effectively treated, preventing them from worsening and taking his life.

"Your Excellency truly lives up to being a noble of the Duchy, possessing such enviable and noble character."

Harris sighed with emotion.

In his view, only a young noble master would possess such extravagant compassion.

And the youth before him was clearly such a person.

Ronan looked at him in confusion, knowing the man had misunderstood. He didn't bother to explain and chuckled.

"I'm just quite well-off, that's all."

..."Captain, since you're so rich, why do you still make us take those small missions that only earn a bit of money?"

Drill Mouse asked in confusion on the carriage.

"Who told you I was rich?" Ronan glanced at him sideways.

"I heard it myself; you said you were quite well-off," Drill Mouse chuckled.

"Drill Mouse..." Ronan put his arm around the other's shoulder and said earnestly,

"If we encountered danger during a mission and only I, your captain, could save you, but I was injured—would you use your beginner healing potion on me?"

"Of course I would," Drill Mouse answered decisively.

"And what about Evil Axe? Do you think he'd do the same as you?" Ronan asked again.

"He definitely would, Captain. Our loyalty is as clear as the sun and the moon," Drill Mouse declared solemnly.

"Then there you have it. I now have two usable beginner healing potions; isn't that being quite well-off?"

Ronan spread his hands; his logic was impeccable.

"Huh?" Hearing this, Drill Mouse couldn't quite wrap his head around it for a moment.

Wait, bro, the 'wealth' you're talking about is us... The carriage sped along the road.

After a long time, it finally came to a stop at an abandoned village in Area 82.

"Everyone, we have reached our destination," Harris called out before jumping down from the driver's seat.

As the three stepped off the carriage, they saw various other carriages parked around them.

"So many people dared to take the mission?" Ronan immediately felt doubtful.

Glancing over, he saw a group of people standing ahead, clearly divided into distinct groups.

The largest group among them wore uniform black armor and appeared to be Mercenaries from some mercenary group.

There were also several other teams gathered together, wearing various types of clothing.

At first glance, they lacked the ruggedness of Adventurers and instead possessed an indescribable scholarly air.

Ronan guessed that these people likely belonged to teams from the Arcane Arts Society.

Because among them, he saw a youth of similar age and height to himself, wearing a magic robe almost identical to his own.