Chapter 23: One Can Only Hope They Are Unharmed

Time traveled back to before Kalia gave Parker a sound thrashing.

After mentally deducing the ins and outs of the "Plague Demon City" incident, Roland completed the two tasks issued by the system. As the two tasks were settled, the system simultaneously distributed the rewards for both.

【Ding, congratulations to the host for uncovering the truth and the sequence of events regarding the catastrophe.】
【Ding, congratulations to the host for finding evidence of the Night-Mare Witch's involvement in orchestrating the catastrophe.】
【Rewards being distributed...】
【Congratulations to the host for obtaining: 4 Skill Points, 20,000 Experience Points.】
【Because the host achieved a special achievement during the mission: Witch’s Friendship, you have received one random Primordial Rune Stone.】

"Primordial Rune Stone?"

Upon seeing his rewards, Roland did not look at the Skill Points or Experience Points, his old friends. Although their quantities were indeed tempting—the four Skill Points could directly max out Roland’s Blink skill, and the 20,000 Experience Points might even propel him into the Third Ring realm—the new friend was clearly more attractive than the familiar ones. Humans are, after all, creatures that favor the new and tire of the old.

Unlike the Skill Points and Experience Points, which appeared directly in the system's assignable slots, Roland had yet to see where that Primordial Rune Stone was. This sharp-witted system didn't have anything like a "system inventory." Roland did have a small storage ring of his own for holding minor trinkets, but it wasn't in there either.

Just as the thought "search for the Primordial Rune Stone" crossed Roland's mind, a stone that looked as if it had been polished dropped into his hand. It felt incredibly smooth, perfectly rounded without a single jagged edge, much like a pebble washed clean by a river. However, this was only at the edges; the two sides of the round stone were flat, like a round biscuit. As Roland ran his hand over the surface, he felt a texture like wood. On one side, a simple symbol was carved:

"ᛇ"

"???"

Roland could not understand the meaning of the rune, but he was certain it was not any magic rune currently popular on the continent. He tried injecting a bit of mana into it, but there was no reaction. Or rather, the mana simply refused to merge into the stone.

However, even though he couldn't read it and didn't know its use for the time being, since it was a reward from the system, it couldn't possibly be useless—to say nothing of its name. Could an object labeled "Primordial" ever be ordinary? It was surely just that he hadn't figured out how to use it yet.

At this moment, Roland noticed that Kalia's battle seemed to be in a predicament. The shadow beasts that kept dissipating were the best example.

"System, add points... dump all Skill Points into Blink, and max out the Experience Points."

【Allocation complete.】
【Host: Roland】
【Rank: Third Ring Junior Mage (2213/20000)】
【Spell: Blink (Max Level)】

As the allocation finished, Roland felt his mana bar instantly refill. In the short time it took him to allocate the points, Odmeyer had appeared to confront Parker. Realizing the situation was beyond salvage, Parker simply flipped the table and unleashed nearly all the rats hiding in the sewers. Now, he wanted to run.

Roland frowned and activated Blink silently. This time, there was no mana fluctuation, no sign of any spell being cast. Roland simply vanished from where he stood; even Kalia and Odmeyer didn't notice any magical reaction behind them. Parker was even less likely to notice, as his line of sight was blocked by the tall Odmeyer, preventing him from seeing Roland, who had been sitting against the wall behind them the whole time.

...

"Enjoy yourselves, everyone. I hope you like my parting gift."

The moment Parker prepared to activate his teleportation device, a longsword slashed diagonally, severing his head. Immediately following were a Fireball spell and the piercing strikes of several shadow spears. In just a moment, the once elegant Mr. Parker had become a string of dried sausages.

"Drawing a frog on a tadpole's back—who are you trying to show off for!"

Roland sheathed his sword, stepped on Parker's head as it rolled to his feet, and crushed it into a puddle of mud with a heavy stomp. Only then did he smile at Kalia. "Nice coordination."

"Roland..."

Seeing Roland, who seemed to have recovered his spirit and even appeared stronger, the darkness that had filled Kalia's eyes instantly dissipated. The coordination just now had been an instinctive action; Kalia hadn't even realized she had pulled off a perfect combo until after she finished casting her spells. The "overclocked" mode she had activated seemed to have reverted to its initial state at this moment. The sharpness and coldness that had existed in her large amber eyes not long ago were gone, replaced by a clear and foolish—no, wait, a clear and innocent gaze.

Odmeyer breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Parker dealt with so easily. He wasn't as young as he used to be; he couldn't trade heavy blows with the remnants of the Demon King's army like he did back in the Northern Lands.

Moreover, the mess in the city was far from over.

"You two, as the commander of the City Defense Force, I am commissioning you to assist in clearing out the rat infestation. If possible, please help evacuate the citizens to safe zones."

"I will provide you with the rewards you deserve afterward."

Roland was just about to nod when Kalia pulled him back.

Kalia looked at Odmeyer and said, "Colonel, I don't think that will be necessary."

"Old... the teacher has already arrived."

As she spoke, Kalia pointed toward a corner of the sky, where a golden light flashed. Almost the moment Kalia made the gesture, that golden light blinked to the sky above Ryskan, and with another flicker, appeared between the three of them.

Facing the sudden visitor, the three people present bowed their heads in unison. Don't misunderstand; this was not out of respect for the visitor, nor was it a show of dominance. She was simply too short; the three had to look down to see her face clearly.

"Lia, you really are a handful."

"Where is the 'Secret Key'? Hand it over."

The petite, white-haired "girl" held out her hand to Kalia, her pointed ears marking her as an elf. Kalia began to scramble in a panic, hurriedly finding the Secret Key and handing it over with both hands.

"Teacher, listen to my explanation! I can really explain! If you don't believe me, ask him!"

Kalia pointed her hand toward Roland.

Roland put on a professional smile and bowed to the legendary mage. "A pleasure, Ms. Flam. I didn't expect to meet you in such a manner."

Flam looked up at Roland and muttered, "So tall... so troublesome..."

Roland: "..."

"Forget it. I don't need to think to know that this child, Lia, has caused you quite a bit of trouble."

"Let's deal with the problems in the city first. We can talk about everything else later."

The elven mage's tone betrayed no joy or sorrow, and her expression remained unreadable, save for a faint trace of helplessness. She didn't give Roland a chance to put in a good word for Kalia, turning instead to discuss a plan with Odmeyer on how to handle the mutations in the city.

I hope Kalia is all right.

Roland silently put his palms together and cast a sympathetic look toward Kalia, signaling his inability to help.