My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 48 This is accommodation equipment worthy of our High King of Dwarves!

Aside from Rod, probably no one would eat this stuff.

Looking at the pot of devil mushroom and salted meat soup, Lucius couldn't help but recall some unpleasant memories, and his face showed embarrassment.

In other words, Rod should have been at home before...

Where did he go now?

Some ominous thoughts swirled in his mind.

First, that kid is clever enough. He sensed the danger and didn't even bother to eat his soup. He just abandoned his soup and ran away. Now, we don't know where he's hiding in a safe place.

Secondly, he, along with the vegetation in the cemetery that had turned to ashes, became a handful of scorched earth.

third……

Thinking of this, Lucius's expression became much more serious.

Rhodes was controlled by that demon bastard and became its accomplice and henchman.

"No, he's just an ordinary person. Even if he's controlled, it won't make a difference..."

Even so, Lucius still prepared for the worst.

That bastard had been behaving himself these past few days, but today he went completely berserk and caused such a commotion that even Milan, that troublesome woman, was attracted here…

Although Rhodes harbors some interesting secrets, he is ultimately just an ordinary person...

If they really run into Aphrodite, their little bit of cleverness probably won't be enough.

"I thought he could be used as a pawn by Garen... what a pity."

Lucius sighed inwardly, then released the spoon from his hand and stopped looking at it.

He was just an insignificant nobody; his disappearance won't affect the plan much.

Just as Lucius was about to turn and leave, he suddenly heard an unpleasant voice behind him.

Milan was annoyed to see Lucius wander around the room as if no one else was there, and then leave without saying a word.

"What, has your Holy Light Church fallen so low as to want a bite of someone else's leftovers?" she said sarcastically.

Tsk, I almost forgot about this troublesome woman.

Lucius concealed the impatience in his eyes, turned around and smiled:

"Hehe... I was just worried that suspicious people might be hiding here, but since there's nothing here, I won't bother you any longer, Lord Milan."

"By the way, how's your investigation going? Any progress?" His eyes flickered slightly as he spoke.

The residual energy fluctuations in the cemetery had piqued her curiosity. If she were allowed to continue investigating here, she would eventually find her way back to Aphrodite.

Previously, he had taken a risky move by deliberately entrusting Milan with the pursuit, intending to take advantage of her rebellious nature and gamble that she would not care about the matter and thus overlook Aphrodite's secret.

But given the current situation, Milan, that troublesome woman, might interfere, so we need to find a way to divert her attention.

Thinking of this, Lucius smiled and feigned concern, saying, "Look at you, running through the Misty Forest and crawling through the sewers every day, and now you've gone to the trouble of coming to a place like the cemetery... It must be quite uncomfortable, right?"

"It's none of your business," Milan said with a sour face, as if she had just remembered something.

"Hey—how can you say it's unrelated?" Lucius said enthusiastically in a rather irritating tone. "We haven't even thanked you for helping with the chase in the sewers last time."

"If you need anything, feel free to tell me," Lucius said in a condescending tone. "The Holy Light Church has enough manpower to spare you the trouble of going to those filthy places in the sewers, which would be beneath your dignity."

"Hmph, after all this time, you haven't even caught a demon sorcerer, yet you still want to interfere in my affairs?" Milan narrowed her eyes upon hearing this and instantly retorted with a mocking smile.

"You don't want me to go to the sewers, huh? There's definitely something hiding there."

Thinking of this, Milan's lips curled slightly.

She initially thought Lucius and his bunch of idiots were just trying to distract themselves, but she never expected that she would actually stumble upon some clues in the sewers.

Not to mention that during her pursuit of that sorcerer, she sensed the aura of the [Ring of Nature].

The fact that the ranger Hiro appeared in the sewers earlier suggests he must have discovered something.

Milan unconsciously touched the crystal bottle containing stalactite fragments in her pocket.

In the end, I really should thank Hiro. If he hadn't found that goblin cave, I probably would have missed this clue and would have been wandering around in the Misty Forest for who knows how long.

"Unusually restless monsters, strange life energy, and the lost mage family of Misty City... as well as a strange ranger." Milan couldn't help but feel excited at the thought.

"Could it be that those old fogies weren't lying to me? Is there really some great treasure hidden in this rural place?"

I should find some time to meet with Hiro.

Having planned their next move, Milan snapped out of her reverie, too lazy to look at Lucius's fake smile any longer, and turned to call out to her companions behind her:

"I'm leaving. I don't want to waste any more time here with unimportant guys..."

"Ah, but..." Susanna glanced at Don Quixote, who was still squatting on the ground, and quickly jogged to catch up.

"Wait a minute, Ms. Milan! As knights of justice, we cannot leave such an imperfect ending!"

As Don Quixote shouted this, he suddenly raised the "door" in his hand, which was taller than her.

If that thing can still be called a "door".

"?"

Milan then realized that she had somehow managed to piece together the broken pieces of wood on the ground into a single, seemingly intact plank.

However, the door panel she had forcefully destroyed was already completely ruined. No matter how hard she struggled, wood chips still fell sparsely to the ground.

Don Quixote managed to piece together the larger pieces and squeeze them into the hinge.

Looking at the rickety "new door," she patted the sawdust and dust off her hands with satisfaction.

"As expected of someone like me, to be able to do it so perfectly on your first try..."

But before she could finish speaking,

slam-la-

The wooden door, now reduced to pieces, lay silently on the ground, and Don Quixote could only manage a dry laugh in the face of such an awkward scene.

Milan's eyes twitched as he watched, and he pressed his temples, barely suppressing the urge to unleash a spell on his teammate.

Especially when she saw the mess in front of her, the reliable figure of the blue-gold-clad ranger unconsciously flashed through her mind.

When traveling and teaming up, be sure to find reliable teammates.

She had never missed Hero so much, truly.

……

……

In the deep darkness, a figure in cyan and gold moved through the dark alley, surrounded by light wind elements that silenced and carried away the sound of his footsteps.

Rhodes maintained his Wind Ranger stance, steadily carrying the unconscious girl on his shoulder.

"Um……"

Aphrodite let out a soft moan, her long eyelashes fluttering as she awoke from a state of confusion.

The slight jolt continued, but the sense of calm and security made her reluctant to wake up.

After a long while, Aphrodite opened her eyes. Her vision was no longer filled with the charred grass and trees of the cemetery before she fell unconscious, but with the ancient brick walls rushing past on both sides, and that broad, strong arm...

The burning sensation of holy light on the back of my right hand, which felt like it was burning my blood vessels, disappeared without me noticing.

It seems I've escaped their pursuit.

They actually guessed right...

Aphrodite blinked her crimson eyes, and before she could think about her next move, she heard Rod's voice.

"woke up?"

Hearing his calm tone, Aphrodite was startled, and her body instinctively tensed up.

"How did you know?" She suppressed her panic, feigning composure as she tilted her head and asked in a teasing yet somewhat weak tone, "Have you been secretly watching me all this time?"

"The breathing has changed," Rod said, his feet moving nimbly as he leaped over a pile of garbage. "The breathing rate is very different when a person is unconscious compared to when they are awake, and..."

He suddenly stopped walking as he said this.

"What's wrong?" Aphrodite couldn't help but grab his clothes tightly.

"We've arrived."

He looked up at the familiar signboard.

Fire and Steel Craftsman's Shop

"Put me down, I can walk now." Aphrodite patted Rod on the back.

Rod immediately unloaded the man.

Aphrodite raised her hand and pulled down her large black hood, hiding her entire face in shadow.

She strode up the stone steps and knocked on the heavy wooden door of the blacksmith's shop.

A dull knock echoed through the quiet street. Soon after, a string of extremely rude curses came from inside.

clattering—

Accompanied by heavy, dragging footsteps, the iron gate made a screeching sound as it was rudely yanked open from the inside.

Rhodes instinctively tried to look straight at her, but his gaze fell on nothing.

He lowered his head slightly and then saw that the shop owner who opened the door was staring at him with a displeased expression.

Seeing that the customer was much taller than him, he glared with his large, round eyes and said in a particularly rude tone, "That's it for the day. Come back tomorrow if you need anything!"

Before she finished speaking, Aphrodite raised her right hand, which was hidden in her sleeve, and handed the somewhat damaged wand directly to the boss.

"My wand is malfunctioning. Could you please take a look?"

As the folds of his clothes swayed, a glimmer of scarlet light flashed from deep within the hood, disappearing in an instant.

【Eye of Enchantment】

The blacksmith, who had originally intended to slam the door and kick the man out, suddenly froze, and upon seeing the magic wand, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Oh my goodness, it's you, my esteemed guest!"

The boss's earlier irritability vanished instantly. He hurriedly stepped aside, opened the door wide, and gestured for him to come in: "Please come in! Please come in!"

Rod looked at Aphrodite with some confusion, but the girl simply looked up at him and winked before stepping into the store first.

As soon as the two entered the house, the owner solemnly held the magic wand in both hands, as carefully as if it were a newborn baby.

As he examined the staff's worn, intricate runes and faded gems, he gasped in pain, unleashing a torrent of unfiltered curses:

"Which bastard actually used brute force to destroy such a perfect work of art?"

"..." Rod glanced at Aphrodite beside him with narrowed eyes and received an apologetic look from her.

Before the two could even exchange words, Rod heard the boss excitedly shouting again:

"Rest assured, esteemed guest! Leave it to me to restore, and I will make sure it shines again, never letting it be buried again!"

"Then I'll leave it to you, but..." Aphrodite thanked her first, then feigned hesitation and asked, "How long will it take to repair it?"

"Repairing weapons is a job that can't be rushed. Only by investing enough time and effort can we ensure that it won't leave any hidden dangers," the boss said with a serious expression.

"But we plan to leave as soon as our weapons are repaired..." Aphrodite hesitated, then suggested as a way of backing down, "How about we come back another time?"

"It's getting late, after all, so I don't want to cause you any trouble." Her tone was full of apology as she reached out as if to take back her staff.

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all!" The shopkeeper quickly pressed down on the staff, afraid she would snatch it away. "Where do you live? How about I deliver it to you once it's fixed?"

"Because we plan to leave directly," Aphrodite said apologetically, "we don't have a place to stay yet..."

"What a coincidence!"

Upon hearing this, the boss's eyes darted around, and he immediately clapped his hands in response:

"Since you have nowhere to stay, I happen to have a few clean rooms here to accommodate distinguished guests. Why don't you two go there and rest for a while?"

"After I have completely restored this treasure to its perfect state, you can leave after you have rested and recovered."

"Then I'll have to trouble you." Aphrodite tugged at Larrod's sleeve, gesturing for him to follow her.

"Why do I keep getting the feeling that she's deliberately trying to get the shop owner to let us stay overnight?" Alina's voice came from within the consciousness space.

"Really?" Rhodes replied casually, his attention completely elsewhere. "So that wand is that good?"

Alina felt somewhat helpless and then fell silent.

The urgency to repair the weapons made the boss's short, stocky legs move quickly. He led the two men through the steaming front workshop and into the backyard, where he opened the room used to entertain distinguished guests.

As the door opened, the interior furnishings came into view.

The room was spacious and clean with excellent natural light. The tables and chairs were made of high-quality heavy walnut wood, with shiny wrought iron trim around the edges. The surfaces were spotless, showing that it was well maintained.

The only drawback is that all the facilities are shrunk to a whole size compared to normal human dimensions; Rhodes even had to duck slightly when entering to avoid bumping his head.

The most eye-catching thing is the wooden bed placed against the wall.

The bed was extremely low off the ground, and its length and width were quite cramped for an adult human.

Rod roughly estimated that if he lay flat on the bed, his feet would probably dangle off the edge.

"How is it? This room is nice, isn't it?" The boss patted his broad chest, his loud voice full of pride and boasting.

"This is accommodation befitting our High King of Dwarves!"

"I only open these rooms to my most distinguished guests on ordinary days, to ensure your comfort!"

Rod opened his mouth, but before he could say anything to answer the boss, he was interrupted by Alina in his consciousness space.

"No dwarf jokes allowed," she said, as if she had anticipated it.

Rod immediately lost the will to speak.

The owner, unaware of Rod's thoughts, left behind two room keys and hurriedly departed.

He was in a hurry to go back and repair that precious magic wand.

Watching his heavy footsteps, a question arose in Rod's mind.

How do dwarves manage to be small in size but extremely dense?

Just like compressed biscuits...