Chapter 26

Everyone turned their heads towards the sound, and saw a girl of about seventeen or eighteen walking towards them from a nearby street. She wore a sun hat, a dress suitable for a noblewoman on an outing, and white gloves. Her brown, shoulder-length hair swayed as she walked, and from a distance, she indeed looked like a young noblewoman.

Unfortunately, the dress did not do a good job of outlining the girl's figure, or rather, the girl's figure was too "full" for the dress. Her body, bulging like a barrel, strained the fabric of the dress, making her look somewhat ridiculous. The fat under her chin jiggled with her movements, drawing even more attention.

The well-dressed man, meanwhile, was sweating profusely, jogging behind the girl and whispering something. The two attendants followed behind, their heads hanging low and their faces covered in red handprints.

"Which scoundrel dared to take my carriage?"

The girl walked up to the three people, puffed out her chest, and glared at them, panting. However, she clearly had no intention of waiting for an answer and instead looked directly at the driver.

"Don't drive! Don't take these guys away, do you hear me! That's my order!"

"How can you be so unreasonable!"

Liz couldn't hold back any longer.

"This is a carriage we rented, how can you..."

"Shut up, who do you think you are to talk to me like that!"

The girl shouted angrily, interrupting Liz. Then she placed her hands on her hips and pointed at the three people.

"You wait, fat pig, dead woman, sissy, if you dare to provoke our family, you'll be in trouble for eight generations, just wait and see..."

The girl's words were cut short as Rod suddenly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

"......!!!"

The girl's mouth opened wide, but no sound came out. Her eyes widened, and she clutched her neck with both hands, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Her face, which had been somewhat rosy, gradually turned pale.

On Rod's shoulder, the Soul Bird stared at her intently, its eyes emitting a faint magical glow.

"Miss! Miss, what's wrong! Miss!!"

The man beside her, seeing her state, rushed over in panic. But before he could get close, he seemed to hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground.

"......!!......!!"

The girl's body began to tremble, her limbs flailing wildly, her mouth opening wider and wider, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

"Mr. Rod?"

Liz looked at the girl, feeling uneasy. Although she didn't know what was happening, she could guess it had something to do with Rod.

In fact, Rod hadn't done much, nor could he do much. As a creature made of wind elements, the Soul Bird had some control over air currents. All Rod had done was to seal the air around her. It might be difficult to do this to adventurers, but for an ordinary person with no strength, it was no problem.

"......!!!"

Just as the girl was trembling and about to roll her eyes back, Rod pressed his right hand down. The Soul Bird also turned its gaze away.

"Phew!!"

The girl collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Her face was ashen, and she panted heavily, taking a long time to recover.

"Miss! Miss, are you okay!"

The well-dressed man rushed over, secretly relieved that he hadn't clashed with the young man earlier. If he had, he might not have known how he would die!

"Cough... cough... cough..."

Sitting on the ground, the girl took a long time to catch her breath. She lifted her head, raised a trembling hand, and pointed at Rod.

"You, what are you doing, Ben! Kill him! Kill him quickly! Hurry..."

Unfortunately, the girl's words were cut short again as the Soul Bird on Rod's shoulder looked at her once more. Her face turned pale again, and she rolled on the ground, unable to make a sound.

"Please, please spare her, sir! Miss Helen is young and ignorant, please don't take it to heart..."

"I prefer it quiet."

In response to the man's plea, Rod said only that, then turned and got into the carriage. Liz hesitated for a moment, glancing at the girl who was still panting on the ground, but eventually followed Rod. Mace, with a smug look, hummed a tune and climbed into the carriage.

"Mr. Rod, this isn't right."

Liz said, worried. She wasn't angry about the girl's rudeness; after all, she had been a mercenary for a long time and had seen all kinds of people. She had learned how to deal with them over the years.

"I heard they are from Deepstone City. Once you provoke these nobles, it can be very troublesome."

"You're mistaken, Miss Liz."

Mace snorted.

"Who is Mr. Rod? This third-rate noble family is nothing to him. By the way, Mr. Rod, that woman is so impolite, just ignore them."

"Let's wait a bit longer."

Rod glanced out the window at the sky.

"We'll leave when the time comes. Whether they come or not is their business, not mine. But since I agreed, I won't go back on my word."

Mace couldn't say anything more and turned away, muttering, "I hope they never come." It seemed he had a lot of resentment.

A few minutes later, the carriage door opened again, and the fat girl appeared. Her face was pale, and she glanced nervously at Rod, who was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed. To be honest, she really didn't want to get in, especially after her attendant Ben told her that the young man was strong enough to kill them all. She wanted to run away from this demon as far as possible...

But thinking of her father, who would return in three days, she had no choice but to submit. There were no extra carriages in this small village, and it would take two days to get to Deepstone City. If she missed this carriage, her secret trip would be discovered. If her father found out, she would definitely be scolded, and might even face worse consequences. After much consideration, her father's authority overcame her fear, and she had to get into the carriage.

The poor girl, who had been pampered all her life, had never experienced such a situation. She wanted to speak but felt it would be embarrassing. If she didn't speak, sitting in the carriage would also be embarrassing. But she opened her mouth several times and couldn't utter a word, looking pitiful.

Mace, seeing the girl's miserable expression, secretly laughed. Merchants and nobles were not on the same level, though they often cooperated, they secretly looked down on each other. Nobles thought merchants were only interested in money, while merchants thought nobles were pretentious. Seeing such a foolish woman, Mace really wanted to mock her, especially if he could make her jump out of the carriage, which would be even more amusing.

"Hello, my name is Liz Noelle. May I ask your name, miss?"

Liz, seeing the awkward atmosphere in the carriage, had to start a conversation. She had done this many times before, and compared to dealing with lecherous young nobles, a fat girl was much more bearable.

"My, my name is Helen Keller."

Helen's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. She glanced nervously at Rod, afraid he would use his "evil magic" on her again. Helen had never experienced such a thing before; she thought she was going to die, and it happened twice...

"Keller? Keller of the Nalander Mines?"

Liz was taken aback, as if recalling something.

"The Keller family that controls the Nalander Mines?"

"Yes, yes, do you know us?"

Helen immediately perked up, but when she saw Rod, she instinctively lowered her voice.

"Yes, our mercenary group's base is in Deepstone City, and we've heard of the Keller family. I heard you started with mining and became one of the most prominent mining families in Deepstone City in just a few decades."

"Of course, Dad is amazing."

A woman's face can change like the weather. When talking about her father, Helen chatted non-stop with Liz, completely forgetting her earlier nervousness. Although she still glanced at Rod from time to time, she was much more relaxed than when she first got in the carriage.

Rod and Mace, of course, were not interested in the girls' conversation, but they exchanged surprised glances. They were surprised that Liz could actually get along with Helen!

Chatting might seem simple, but it's actually a skill. You need to have topics, spark interest, and make the other person feel comfortable. It's not easy, and Rod had seen many beautiful women who, when they spoke, revealed their lack of conversation skills. Even if they looked good, their words often ruined the impression. Sometimes, the topics just didn't match, and the conversation would stall.

Of course, there were also eloquent mercenaries who could talk to nobles, but even if they were interesting, nobles often maintained a superior attitude, as the topics were often far from their lives. It's like ordinary employees discussing celebrity gossip with company directors; the employees might be very interested, but the directors might find out the celebrity is in bed with their boss. Conversely, the directors might be interested in product discounts, but they wouldn't care much, as they could afford to buy them anyway.

The gap between classes was significant. What was interesting to mercenaries might not be to nobles.

But now, seeing Liz discussing the daily life of noblewomen with Helen, it was quite intriguing. Liz was a mercenary and, by all accounts, shouldn't be involved in the social circles of noblewomen, such as balls and tea parties. But now, seeing her happily discussing "rose tea" with Helen...

Rod frowned. Could Liz's background be more complicated than he thought?

But thinking about it, angels on the Dragon Soul Continent were mostly from the upper class, and half-angels weren't far behind.

But if her background was high, why would she become a mercenary? That didn't make sense.

Thinking about this, Rod suddenly felt a strong desire to uncover the truth about Liz.