Legendary Ranger Chris

Several youths squatted on the ground, one of them still sporting a bruised and swollen face. A middle-aged man sat in a chair, dressed in leather clothing made from the hides of some unknown creature. Many small trinkets hung from his body. His face was covered in scars, yet he did not look ferocious.

The middle-aged man wore a smile as he repeatedly tossed a small pebble into the air and caught it, watching the group of pickpockets.

When Noah entered the pickpockets' den, this was the scene he saw. He glanced at the middle-aged man's attire and said, "If I'm not mistaken, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chris Mordo. I never expected you to come to Reastmia."

"You know me?" The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised. He scrutinized the child before him. With his discerning eye, he could tell Noah's true age, which made him even more astonished.

"You can call me Noah." Noah pulled over a chair and sat facing the middle-aged man. Then he said seriously, "I think I should take some time to tell my subordinates about your stories. Thackeray is a fine writer. The snow mountain escort section is my favorite."

"I like it too," the middle-aged man said with a smile, though his expression was somewhat strange.

Chris Mordo was a ranger renowned across the entire continent, an undying miracle. His legendary deeds had been written into books by his friend Thackeray. To most youths on the continent, he was the idol of their lives.

For example, he had slain a Sub-Dragon that terrorized a village; thwarted the conspiracy of the Arcane Research Society, an evil organization that used human corpses to research magic; and quelled the civil strife in the Kingdom of Torika. There were many more such deeds besides. They had forged the legend of the name Chris Mordo.

The trinkets hanging from him were mementos of his countless legends. One was the tooth of that savage Sub-Dragon. That necklace was the chairman's insignia of the Arcane Research Society. That ring represented the friendship of the Kingdom of Torika, and when necessary, it could even be used to mobilize a squad of Torikan soldiers.

The snow mountain escort Noah had mentioned was one of Chris's legendary experiences. At the time, he had escorted an earl's eldest son back to his homeland to inherit his title. Along the way, they underwent a series of adventures. Chris's face had been slashed in that incident, but in the end, he had still delivered the earl's eldest son safely to his destination. The scars covering his face were the medals of that adventure.

"Then may I ask what Mr. Chris has come to Rea for this time?" Noah asked with considerable interest. He truly wanted to know what was so special about Isabella, the wife of that sinner.

"I accepted a commission to find a woman. According to the clues, she came here over ten years ago and has never left since," Chris said gently.

"Then forgive my presumptuousness, but may I know the specific circumstances of this woman?" Noah asked with keen interest.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Noah, but I can only reveal some basic information. That woman is named Isabella. She is twenty-nine years old and a follower of the Divine Grace Church." As Chris spoke, he observed the expressions of Noah and the others, then smiled knowingly.

"You know where she is, don't you?" Chris said in a serious tone. "Tell me where she is, and I can pay you."

There was nothing wrong with Noah's expression, but the others his age truly could not conceal their emotions before an old hand.

"Isabella came to Rea over a decade ago. At that time, the great Negary had yet to manifest his divine presence, and there were only so many people in the village. As long as you asked anyone slightly older, you could learn of her whereabouts."

"Then why did we catch your attention?" Noah asked doubtfully. As an experienced legendary adventurer, Noah did not believe the other man had really let the pickpocket Las steal his money.

Clearly, Chris, who knew exactly what he was doing, had deliberately exposed his money to draw the pickpockets' attention, then followed them all the way to their den. He obviously needed the pickpockets' help with something, rather than merely looking for someone.

"You truly can't be underestimated." Chris tossed the pebble in his hand aside and said solemnly, "Naturally, I found out where Isabella is and learned that she has a daughter named Nara."

"But taking her away won't be easy. Someone is watching me, and a rash meeting would only expose the target." Chris narrowed his eyes. With scars covering his face, his expression could not be read. "So I want you to help me meet her in secret. There is somewhere that needs her."

"You trust us that much?" Noah shook his head.

"There ought to be a little trust between people." Chris took a money pouch from his clothes, then stood and headed outside. "This is the deposit. Please arrange a time as soon as possible. Don't make such a fuss that everyone knows."

Watching Chris's retreating back, Noah said nothing. Instead, he pondered Chris's words. Some of them were true, some false. He could not believe them all, but neither could he dismiss them all.

As for the man's purpose, that could only be called utter nonsense. A legendary ranger needed local snakes to help him quietly meet a woman? That so-called trust was even more baseless.

"Make the arrangements first. Treat it as ordinary business," Noah ordered.

At the same time, Wang Yuan drifted over to Isabella. Of course, she could not see Wang Yuan.

Taking the current situation between the two kingdoms into account, he gradually understood why Chris, this legendary ranger, had come looking for Isabella.

Isabella had originally belonged to the Tagule Family of the Interkami Kingdom. Like the Interkami royal family, they were considered a branch of the royal house and possessed the bloodline of the "Dragon Child." During the royal family's internal conflict years ago, Sers I, the current king of the Interkami Kingdom, killed most of his kinsmen who posed a threat. Even the branch Tagule Family was implicated.

As the eldest daughter of the Tagule Family, Isabella fled to the Kexi People settlement, which had still been a small village at the time, where she met the love of her life, Jacques.

Now, because of its internal strife and various other reasons, the Interkami Kingdom had grown increasingly weak. War with the Kingdom of Roas was clearly becoming unavoidable. Sers I's support was falling ever lower, and more and more nobles wanted him to abdicate. Yet Sers I had slaughtered too ruthlessly back then, leaving very few people capable of inheriting the throne.

If one insisted on counting, then as the eldest daughter of the Tagule Family, Isabella was indeed qualified to become queen of the Interkami Kingdom.

However, there were still unclear aspects to this. Isabella was indeed qualified, but she was not the only qualified candidate. No matter how ruthless Sers was, he could not possibly have exterminated the royal bloodline entirely. Doing so would only have driven himself into a dead end.

"It's normal for someone to come looking for Isabella at a time like this, but what's abnormal is that the person who came is Chris." Isabella's place in the line of succession was not particularly high. Chris's appearance was instead abnormal.

"There is information here that I don't understand." Wang Yuan watched the little girl push open the door and enter, beginning to calculate how he could use this to gain greater benefits.