Ambush on the Road

Less than a hundred meters away, they found their target.

Between the towering trees, on a faintly visible path amid overgrown shrubs, a small, green-skinned gnome was leaning back against a tree.

She looked to be in terrible condition. Purple-black spots had surfaced on her skin, and the veins on her face bulged out, truly horrifying to behold.

More importantly, her legs had been pierced through by dark-purple thorns one after another, and pus-tinged blood seeped from the wounds in a half-congealed state.

An adventurer's outfit... Lynn first used "Mana Wave" to probe her and found no malice.

After exchanging looks with his teammates, he also confirmed there were no other traps nearby.

The group then dropped their concealment at a slightly farther distance and, pretending they had merely passed by by chance, came before the green-skinned gnome.

Her breath was already extremely weak. Hearing movement, she lifted her head listlessly. Only after she made out the group's clothing and gear did a faint light kindle in her eyes.

"Help... help me. My teammates... they were all..." Her voice came in broken fragments, and as she spoke, she was choked into coughing.

"Please don't get worked up. I'll stabilize your injuries first!" Elaine made as if to step forward and heal her, but Lynn stopped her.

He exchanged a glance with Liam the halfling, who immediately understood and went forward to inspect her.

"Miss, would it be convenient for us to see your adventurer badge?" he asked as kindly as he could.

The green-skinned gnome froze at his words, and her expression immediately turned somewhat ugly. She understood that these people were suspecting her, but she could also understand their caution.

She struggled to reach toward her waist, but the muscles in her arm spasmed. Seeing this, Liam carefully helped her take out the badge.

There was a layer of special magical mark on the adventurer badge. Even non-spellcasters could easily distinguish it, and this kind of magical mark would only appear when the owner was nearby.

This was also the work of the White Tower Society, used to confirm identity and prevent adventurer badges from being stolen and misused.

"No problem." After checking it, Liam nodded to Lynn.

Only then did Lynn lower the hand blocking Elaine.

The half-elf girl quickly walked up to the green-skinned gnome. After examining her injuries, she first took a bottle of green potion from her staff.

"This is an antidote potion. Please drink it." Elaine brought the mouth of the bottle to the other girl's lips and helped her drink it little by little.

Lynn was somewhat surprised by Elaine's thoroughness. Magic such as detoxification and purification could only be learned at the second circle at the earliest. It seemed that to guard against situations like this, she had made plenty of preparations in advance.

After all, low-rank adventurers like them were not likely to spend a large sum buying potions that might not even be used.

The antidote potion had a remarkable effect. First, the potion Elaine had bought was of decent quality; second, the poison afflicting the gnome was not especially troublesome.

After that, she cast a first-circle [Restoration], and very quickly stabilized the other girl's injuries.

"Heavens," the green-skinned gnome said, staring at her mostly recovered body, so astonished she could hardly close her mouth. "Healing magic—are you a healing mage?"

She looked at Elaine as though she had discovered a panda-turned-Orc, thanking her nonstop.

"My name is Tana. I'm a forest gnome, and my class is rogue."

After her emotions settled, she began explaining what had happened to her to the group.

"There were four people in our party. We originally came to the outskirts of Whispering Forest to hunt Goblins, but last night, we were suddenly attacked.

"There was only one person on the other side, but he was extremely powerful. He could command Demonic Beasts, and even controlled my three teammates. We had almost no strength to resist..."

Tana's face went bluish. "I was lucky enough to escape. Afterward, I discovered he wanted to take my teammates away, so I kept my distance and followed him. I never expected he would have set a trap in advance..."

Thinking of something, Lynn pressed, "Were there any spellcasters among your teammates?"

Seeing Tana shake her head, he fell into thought. Judging by the previous situation, the Corruption Cult had been targeting spellcasters. Could it be that this time, it was not someone from the Corruption Cult?

Lynn was a little hesitant. He was not someone without a sense of justice. If possible, he also wanted to rescue Tana's teammates, but that did not align with the purpose of their trip. If they recklessly stuck their hands in, it was very likely to put their party at a disadvantage.

"But..." Tana suddenly frowned and said, "That guy had his face covered, but his words and actions were a little strange. He was mad and raving, and his attitude toward one of my female teammates was very intense."

Lynn's heart stirred, and he gestured for her to continue.

"At first, he seemed to mistake that teammate of mine for someone else. He acted extremely wary of her, even... afraid! And then..."

"That teammate of yours—did she have any distinctive features?"

Without thinking, Tana answered, "She was a rather good-looking blond woman."

At these words, the others all seemed to understand something.

In other words, the mysterious person who had attacked Tana's party in the middle of the night had seen Charlotte Fenrir?

And in all likelihood, there had been a conflict between them.

After discussing it with his teammates, Lynn quickly made a decision.

"Tana, we'll continue deeper into Whispering Forest and track that attacker. If possible... we'll rescue your teammates. But you can't come with us. While it's still early, return to town as quickly as you can."

Tana was only an apprentice rogue. If she followed them, not only would she be unable to provide enough help, she would instead distract them into protecting her.

Lynn knew rogues had many methods of concealment. In her current condition, it would not be difficult for her to return safely to Colin Town before dark.

Tana clearly understood this as well. The depths of Whispering Forest were not somewhere a one-star adventurer like her could go.

Looking at this party that had suddenly appeared, however, they seemed to be quite strong. A rare healing mage, and also...

She glanced at Elaine, then looked deeply at Lynn, only feeling that this young mage was exceptionally calm and composed, completely unlike the immaturity of his appearance.

And as a member of the gnome race, which was most famously skilled at crafting magical items, she could tell how special the staff in Lynn's hand was. That Aquamarine Gem alone could buy several days' worth of rooms in Colin Town!

Tana nodded, thanked Lynn and the others again, then picked up the luggage that had fallen nearby, turned, and hurried toward the edge of the forest.

"We should hurry and keep moving," Lynn said to everyone.

According to Liam, they would reach a safe area on the outskirts of Whispering Forest, close to its depths, before nightfall, set up camp and rest, then officially enter the depths of the forest early the next morning.

Along the way, they discovered that the tracks left by the mysterious person who had abducted Tana's teammates also led into the depths, and were in the same direction as the place where the Orc warrior Gray had previously seen Charlotte Fenrir.

That was a good thing. It meant they did not need to take another detour to search for clues.

As they traveled, Lynn gradually figured something out.

According to Elaine, Charlotte Fenrir was a druid.

And as far as he knew, unlike the other Mage Towers, where mages made up the majority of their members, quite a few of the spellcasters in the Green Tower were druids.

This was also consistent with their creed of "worshiping nature and harmony."

And the Corruption Cult had been called "traitors of the Green Tower" by old Barton.

In other words, the reason Charlotte Fenrir had lost contact was most likely connected to the Corruption Cult?