What did you do with the dice?

Everyone rode four chocobos, one for Sunita, one for the two elves, one for Phoenix Rusalka, and one for Sunny Breeze.

Rusalka: (A place like this, wide open and deserted, is a prime location for a boss fight. The sky is gloomy, snow is falling, and a white figure is faintly visible on the horizon, swooping down towards you. Suddenly, an ice dragon descends from the sky, spewing a breath of frost at us! Everyone immediately disperses and enters combat mode. Please select your initial position.)

Sanita: (I choose to escape. You can fight on your own.)

Rusalka touched Phoenix's ear: (The heartless and cowardly Sanita chose to escape, while the loyal and brave Phoenix chose to be buried with me. Their bond is stronger than gold.)

Sanitita: (Your so-called unbreakable love means you're just daydreaming about Phoenix dying with you? I really feel so sorry for Phoenix. Does she know you're always looking forward to dying with her? No, brother, are you mentally okay?)

Rusalka: (Of course there's no problem. Every doctor in the mental hospital gave me a thumbs-up and praised me for my good spirit.)

While chatting on the PL channel, they hurried on their way. After walking a distance east of the city, they saw a forest area across from them. Rusalka thought about temporarily leaving the bird there to avoid hurting it while hunting.

Sanita and three other people were here to look after the Chocobos and practice magic. He and Phoenix went hunting in the woods in front.

So, before I even warmed up, I just turned over and got off the bird, and when my feet slammed into the snow, I heard a cry for help from the snow.

After a brief exchange, Rusalka dug out old John, who was frozen to death, from the snow pile. Thanks to the black foreman's last bit of conscience, he fed him some food, which allowed him to survive in the snow pile until now.

After drinking the holy healing magic, Old John finally regained his vitality. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was still lying in the snow, but he didn't feel cold at all, and it was even a little hot.

The two elves were drawing runes on the ground to gather fire elements in the same way as installing a Sani iron tower, but no matter how hard they tried, the results were always unsatisfactory. Fortunately, it was snowing heavily outside and the temperature was extremely low. The ice and water elements were very active, and even though there was snow all around, they couldn't start a fire.

Otherwise, it wouldn't just be a little hot around here, but there might be a fireworks event that Rusalka was looking forward to.

Old John murmured, "Have I arrived in the Kingdom of God?"

"That's right." Rusalka nodded. "Sa, come and count your sins."

Sanita: (Nerves are considered gods, right?)

Old John took a deep breath and slowly said to Rusalka, "God, if you want me to go to hell, please bless my wife and daughter. I hope that after I'm gone, they can find a good family willing to take care of them."

Rusalka: (Do you think this is awesome?)

Sanitta: (It shouldn't be, but I think you need to change your bad habit of teasing the natives, otherwise it will make it seem like you, as a lord, have serious ideological problems. Just look at your previous statement, pretending to be a god, which is also very disrespectful to the gods.)

Rusalka, the fun-loving man, shrugged. "Then you'll have to do it yourself. You're lucky you're not dead yet. I dug you out of the snow. I'm Rusalka, the Lord of Pearl Tears. If you want to go home, I can give you a ride."

Old John sat up immediately, carefully examined Rusalka and the surroundings, and said in a lost voice, "Are you the Lord?"

He didn't know what the Lord of Pearl Tears looked like, but when he thought about how this man had saved him, he didn't need to tease him with a crime as punishable by death, so he realized his impropriety and hurriedly stood up from the ground. He bowed his head and knelt before Rusalka, saying, "I'm so sorry just now. I was a little confused and didn't mean to offend you. Thank you so much for saving my life. I will always remember it and pray for you every day when I get home."

"There's no need to be so formalistic. Just stop making up rumors about me. For example, I heard from a traveling merchant that the rumor circulating over there is that I'm invulnerable because I eat raw gold coins every day. I think that's ridiculous. Wouldn't that make me a Pixiu?" Rusalka gave him some food. After watching him wolf it down, she had Qingfeng tie him to the Chocobo to prevent the bird from running too fast and shaking him off. "Remember to clarify the gold coin eating incident for me when you get back. Where do you live?"

"Okay, okay. Thank you, Lord, for your magnanimity. I live in the small town of Test."

"That's quite far. It seems we can't get there today. Why did you come here alone?" Rusalka calculated carefully. It would take at least a day to travel there at full speed, and it was already past noon. She had originally planned to camp in this heavy snow for a night and use her strong physical fitness to experience the romance of a snowy night.

If sending old John, who looks like a little old man but has a vicissitudes of life on his face, home has to be arranged by riding a bird all night, he will definitely be a little unhappy.

But if we leave him here, he will have to stay here for one night. The people here are all so good that they can sleep directly in the snow without any problem. But who is he? He will be cold soon after being buried.

What if there is some emergency? Wouldn’t it be a waste of time to save us?

Rusalka: "Then you wouldn't mind coming back to Silver City with me first? I'll find someone to take you back later. I remember there should be quite a few caravans going to Test."

"Okay, okay, I'll follow your orders, sir."

Since he is so cooperative, I will wait for Sanita to finish training and I to finish hunting, and then we will go back together.

With Phoenix's help, Rusalka and her quickly carried an unlucky brown bear out of the forest. Seeing that it was getting late, the group fed some food to Old John, who had been tied to the Chocobo since before the hunting because Rusalka had given the order in advance and forgot to remove it. He had never said a word, like an agent who was tortured but refused to betray the organization.

Since the victim had no objection, everyone pretended nothing happened and fed the Chocobo some carrots. They placed the brown bear's body on a flat board, tied ropes to the four corners of the board, and tied them to the four Chocobos. Then they rode on the Chocobos and prepared to drag the spoils home.

Today's hunting results: a brown bear that looks like a monster + a little old man from the town of Test.

Today's magic teaching results: Qingfeng successfully maintained the fire enchantment for 10 seconds, but at the cost of losing a long sword.

The runes of the two elves were drawn, but Shana's one went out after 5 minutes in the wind and snow.

Rusalka's evaluation: Warm baby.

However, Alijie's runes couldn't hold back, and five minutes later, a burst of beautiful snowflakes exploded. However, she was not discouraged by the failure. On the contrary, when she saw the snow pile being blown into the sky, the only adjective that could be read as "excited" was her eyes and expression.

Rusalka's review: Mine.

Sanitta was a strict teacher and taught them a lesson one by one. Finally, when the two elves refused to give in and started arguing with each other, everyone went back home.

Bored on the way, Rusalka asked Old John to tell her story, because he was also curious: How could anyone be so bored as to run outside in the snow? Isn't it nice to be at home with a wife and children?

Sunny Tower: (Is Phoenix really that good?)

Rusalka: (You said it smells good, but my second brother disagrees. He wants to take a break and enjoy the snow. I can’t do anything about that.)

As I listened, I felt something was not right.

Rusalka: (How come I haven't heard of this new street brawl version of Test Town? Is it because I've been away fighting for too long that the installation package hasn't been updated?)

Sanita: (No, no, no, I've never heard of that either. Tester's reports over the past few days have been normal. I've checked the accounts, and there's no problem with the financial and material inflows and outflows. Output and tax collection are also normal, and even slightly higher than before. The Doug Chamber of Commerce is nominally still managing the processing plant area, and their reports have always stated that nothing has happened.)

Rusalka was heartbroken. She had thought the Doug Chamber of Commerce and her side were on the same page, but she hadn't expected them to be so disloyal. (Tsk, the Doug Chamber of Commerce is actually hiding information from us!)

Sanita: (That's why I said that when you deal with these profit-oriented chambers of commerce, anyone who acts with sincerity is an idiot. A cooperative relationship is nothing more than an agreement to share benefits. You can't expect them to always consider you. If you don't care about yourself, you'll be punished by heaven and earth.)

Rusalka: (What should we do then?)

Sanita: (According to what Old John said, the Doug Chamber of Commerce knew about this but kept it secret, and most likely bribed Mayor Shapaelo and the tax collector, whom I transferred from Ropa Town. That's why they both claimed nothing happened. But at least they followed the rules I set for the processing area. They didn't go against them in secret. They also met the production and tax payments, which shows they understand the bottom line. It's like an old machine; if it breaks down, just fix it with a tap.)

Rusalka: (What if it’s not good?)

Sanita: (Your Excellency, Marquis Rusalka, what are our statuses? If the hammer doesn't work, just get a new one. Although the contract is for long-term cooperation with Doug Chamber of Commerce, Kate Chamber of Commerce can change its branch president, so why can't Doug Chamber of Commerce?)

Rusalka thought it was okay.

But the problem with the Doug Chamber of Commerce is that the branch president, Allot, is a very bad guy. If you go to him, he will probably come up with ten thousand excuses and lies. Rusalka doesn't want to play a guessing game with him.

So he said to his messenger, "Go to the town of Test and bring Mr. Crown to me!"

Chapter 176: Changes in Tester Town (2)

Three days later, the armed messenger, the old hunter who was brought from the town of Pearl Tears, returned to report that Clown seemed to be out and was not in the town of Test.

He was received by another regional manager of the processing plant named Adam, who enthusiastically invited him to stay for a few days and wanted him to bring some gifts to Rusalka, but the old hunter, who had a mission to complete, refused all his requests, saying that this was not within the scope of his official duties.

It's okay to send a few words or a message, but anything else is out of the question.

He is a man who knows how to adapt to the times. He knows that his achievements today are all due to the appreciation of Sunita Iron Tower and his own "wooden head" and "strong limbs", which are obviously a combination of useful people.

Therefore, if it is not within the scope of Rusalka and Sanitta's orders, even if it will offend people, he will act unyielding and stand in line very stubbornly.

At least from the current perspective, this guy's choice was correct, which allowed him to follow all the way from a small hunter in the Pearl Tears town to the current chief armed messenger.

"Do you think there's something wrong over there?" Rusalka asked.

The old hunter thought for a moment, then recounted his experiences along the way in great detail. "The town seemed lifeless. I didn't see many residents, but there were quite a few guards patrolling. Furthermore, even though I had already presented my badge and pass before entering, the guard at the gate insisted on reporting to his superiors. He kept me there for a long time, even sending a special team to accompany me and take me directly to the processing area."

The carriage even took a detour midway, saying the street ahead was being renovated. Although their manager later apologized and gave me some compensation for lost work, saying a gang of thugs in town were vandalizing due to unpaid taxes, and that they were being extra strict on inspections, I still feel like it was just an excuse.

Sanita's angle of inquiry was rather detailed and tricky: "What about the martial law situation in the town?"

The old hunter thought for a moment, then double-checked his memory before saying, "It's extremely strict. The town gate is usually closed, only opened for caravans. Soldiers even check the carriages' cargo and the identities of the accompanying passengers. There are quite a few carriages lined up at the gate. I took a quick look and saw they were only carrying some very common linen."

This made Sanita and Rusalka look at each other. It was normal to have such strict control in the processing plant area. After all, it was the transportation of weapons and equipment, so it would not work if it was not strict. However, Test Town was strictly speaking a densely populated residential area generated by the processing plant, similar to a residential area. It did not only do ore and weapons processing business. It was definitely unreasonable to have such strict inspections on the entry and exit of goods such as daily necessities.

Rusalka: (If Crown isn't here, who should we ask about this?)

Sanita: (You're kidding! You don't really believe that Clown is out? Whatever happened in this town, with such a big fuss, how could Clown, the guy we nominally put here to run the situation, not be here?)

After hearing what Sanita said, Rusalka came to her senses and realized that the other party was lying: (Indeed, then why did he lie to us and say he was not there? Was he looking for death?)

Sanita: (I don't think he's that brave. The only possibility is that he was ordered by Arlot to be a coward, or he was simply under house arrest. But I think it's the former. He's a fence-sitter. When we're not in front of him, he will definitely listen to his leader.)

Rusalka was already rubbing his hands in anticipation, eager to get going. His recent level-up, while minor, didn't stop him from itching to fight. (So what? Should we just go over there?)

Sanita: (Brother Xiao, I'm telling you that you need to change your bad habit of always thinking about yourself first. You're already a qualified lord, and you need to learn how to use people to help you lay the groundwork. Your mission is to become the hammer that opens the card with 524 points and put the final nail in the coffin.)

Rusalka: (I see. Let's just go over and give him a hammer.)

Sanita was too lazy to chat with him and said directly to the two studious elves who were still reading books beside them: "Sana, Alijie, if you have time, I have a task for you."

The two elves pricked up their ears, raised their heads, and showed a somewhat wary expression towards Sanita. They had been with Sanita for a long time, and through what they saw and heard, they gradually began to realize that their teacher was a mean-spirited person who often deceived people and elves. "What mission?"

"Cooperate with Phoenix to find an ordinary merchant. If you find one, bring him back alive." Sanitieta said, "Our previous operation in the neighboring Marquis's city failed. This time, I'll test you again. Let Phoenix lead you and learn more."

Although the two elves knew that Sunny Tower was a scam, when they were really being PUAed, they were completely unaware of it and even wanted to show off.

Shana patted her small chest and said, "We are just rangers. It's just a simple task to capture an ordinary human..."

Rusalka said quietly, "You two should be careful before you speak. Phoenix is ​​an ace Filin assassin. Who is better, you two or her?"

Rusalka seemed the kind of person who seemed very casual when he wasn't fighting, so the two elves didn't care at all about what he said. However, when they saw the look in Rusalka's arms from Phoenix, they fell silent and nodded like frightened chicks, indicating that they would follow Phoenix's arrangements.

People are good, cats are fierce.

"Phoenix, find Clown and bring him back. Also, take this rune stone and give it to Mayor Shapairo over there. Once you've made sure the area is safe, have him input magic power to activate it. You should know him, right?"

Phoenix nodded, then asked a more direct question: "Can you kill people?"

Rusalka doesn't care. He is the type who will pretend nothing happened as long as I don't see it. His moral bottom line is as flexible as a mountain dog.

What's wrong with a cat killing a few people? If it doesn't kill people, is it still a cat?

But the decision was definitely made by Sanita. He pondered for a moment and said, "After all, this is our territory. Doug Chamber of Commerce and we still have a cooperative relationship. If possible, we should try to avoid conflict."

Rusalka analyzed her brother's words and translated them for her, "What I mean is, if things really don't work out and they strike first, then you can't just stand there and get beaten, right? I've got you covered anyway, and I don't mind redoing the Tester Mine and the newly built town dungeon. In other words, as long as no one dies, you can do whatever you want. Even if someone dies, don't panic. Archmage Sanita has a plan."

Sanitta looked speechless as he watched his good brother show off and then throw the blame on him.

With Rusalka's words, Phoenix felt relieved. She turned around, hugged his head and kissed him, then stood up and turned into black mist, intending to drill into the wall. She set off as soon as she said she would.

Rusalka hurriedly called out to Phoenix, pointing to the two elves still on standby: "Wait! Phoenix, don't forget to bring these two with you."

Phoenix ran out of the black fog, knowing that she couldn't go into the shadow plane to continue her journey this time, so she looked at the two of them with an expression as if they were a burden, hooked her finger at them, tapped her toes quickly, and walked out of the gate as quickly as if she was flying close to the ground.

The two elves looked angry but unable to speak out. After checking the weapons and equipment they carried with them, they followed Phoenix and set off.

Apprentices are like this. At first, Alice thought it was an equal exchange, but after a month of experiencing the sweetness of learning authentic magical knowledge, she immediately agreed to work for Sanita for free. Who said that rangers only obey the Queen's orders? Isn't this already succumbing to humans?

If she learns the Fireball Technique and is then sent back to deal with her own people, those who previously insisted that they would not deal with their companions will probably pretend to have lost their memory. In fact, they want to test their newly learned fire magic on their former compatriots, crush those of their own race who once looked down on them, and demonstrate the superiority of their personal learning results.

Before I learned fire magic, I worked timidly for the captain in the ranger team. After I learned fire magic, I went back to the team and continued to work timidly for the captain. Didn't I learn fire magic in vain?

Isn't this a great plot of "an evil human wizard uses the power of magic to make the elves evil and betray their hometown and former comrades"?

----

Clown was indeed living in a luxurious dormitory built in the processing plant area. The decoration style of the entire dormitory was very luxurious, just like the city lord's mansion. There was a small garden outside the dormitory planted with summer plants. There were special servants and maids who were responsible for the daily life of the upper-level residents in the dormitory. Food and other things were delivered regularly. The most important thing was that this place was very close to the working area of ​​the processing plant and could be reached in a few minutes on foot.

Even so, there are several carriages and special coachmen available at the door.

He had been lying in the dormitory for a few days. Although he was not a participant or the first witness in the recent fight in Test Town, he happened to be out to take a timber order at the time.

It was only after I came back that I discovered that the doorstep of my house was full of scavengers (people who were responsible for cleaning up corpses on the battlefield), and the whole street was in tatters, and the gate was being renovated, so I went to find someone who knew the situation to ask.

Although there is a gag order here, Crown's identity is very special. Although he is not the actual person in charge of the Doug Chamber of Commerce, his status in this branch is extremely high. The closer people are to the Pearl Tear Territory, the more they know that there is a direct connection between him and Rusalka.

The people below didn't understand the situation either. They just thought that Clown was usually elusive and didn't even get involved in such a big thing. He was definitely the biggest boss here.

Although the gag order had been issued to everyone by the several plant managers, they realized that Crown was the boss behind the Doug Chamber of Commerce (from their perspective), and even the mayor treated him with respect, allowing him to enter and exit the city with just a scan of his face. So why should they keep the boss quiet? So they told him the news word for word.

After hearing this, Clown was stunned. He was not responsible for coordinating the armament work here before, and handed it all over to other people sent by the Chamber of Commerce. On the one hand, he realized that he was not good at regulating and managing the armed forces, and felt that it was better to have less trouble than more. If he could be a hands-off boss, he would never get involved in the war. On weekdays, he would just ask about the progress, look at the account books, listen to the reports, and symbolically go through the motions. By the way, when he was bored, he would take a few small orders and go out for a run. He could also pick up girls on the way. His life was quite leisurely.

When he learned the truth, his head nearly exploded. So, the boss was being blamed for his subordinates' misdeeds? The blame had been pushed up the chain of command, currently to Adam, the regional head of armed forces, and Sodexo, the head of trade. Neither accepted the blame, instead saying they needed to consider the matter carefully and await instructions from higher-ups.

The higher-ups? Even if Crown had his head caught in the door on his way out, he could still realize that this person seemed to be referring to him. He was indeed the nominal head of the Doug Chamber of Commerce. This was essentially throwing the blame on him. They hadn't even informed him in advance and had already started handling the matter, intending to execute him first without consulting him later.

He certainly had no experience in dealing with such unexpected disasters. He had no choice but to immediately send someone to ask for help from Arlot, who was on a business trip to the headquarters of the Esterlen Chamber of Commerce in the east.

Arlot was worthy of being the branch president. After learning about the general course of events, he told him to give a direct order to seal off the town, arrest the criminals, forge evidence, and not go out for a period of time. He should say he was not at home when anyone came, and delay the time at least until the beginning of spring. He should control all the intelligence and the relevant personnel who knew about the incident. He would consider it a victory when the storm passed or his own chamber of commerce was completely cleared of any involvement.

Okay, it's not Crown's turn to think about how to handle the next two things, but he has experience in hiding. He comes from a merchant family and can endure hardships by sleeping in the open air. It's nothing more than a trivial matter like locking himself in a room. If necessary, as long as his daily necessities are guaranteed, he can lie in bed for a month.

However, a few days later, a report nearly made his heart stop: the envoy of Lord Pearl Tears came to his house and asked him to visit Silver City by name.

He had heard about Rusalka's expedition and her recent return. It was not a coincidence. If the other party had returned earlier, or if Arlot had not gone to the headquarters, or if he had not gone out to take a small order, such a bad thing would not have happened.

It can only be said that the bad luck from all parties came together to form a small flame. In addition, various forces had been entrenched in the town of Test before, and Crown did not step forward to intervene, resulting in too many landmines buried underneath, and the result was an explosion due to a small matter of tax increase.

He actually planned to visit in the early spring of next year on the grounds that it took him some time to collect gifts. This would also explain why he didn't visit right away.

But this time it was different. He needed to take the initiative to visit the other party, which was different from the other party taking the initiative to come to him.

Rusalka came here only once after moving to Silver City and never cared about it again. But a few days after returning, she suddenly sent a messenger here to look for him. Maybe she knew something?

Damn it, this subordinate is really incompetent and dishonest. If Rusalka gets to know this information right away, how will I explain myself? Could it be that he is to blame for attracting the people from the Maosi Chamber of Commerce and destroying the previously good monopoly ecological environment here, leading to this situation?