Chapter 22

Although Rodi was a shut-in before he was transported, he had also met countless people while wandering the continent alone.

In front of him, Miss Sally was young, clearly not yet an adult. However, those few movements and words made Rodi realize that she was definitely not a naive and simple girl. One could even say that her demeanor and speech were those of a standard noble—a smart, greedy, and unwilling-to-lose politician.

To think that, including Soderlor, encountering two such intelligent people in a row was indeed giving Rodi a headache.

He didn't like the feeling of not having things under his control, but unfortunately, the world wasn't filled with only him being smart. Facing Sally's question, Rodi quickly repeated what he had said to Soderlor and waited for her reaction.

In his mind, "orc raid" was something only a monster like Soderlor would calmly accept; others would definitely not be so composed. However, to his surprise, he found that Sally also showed no extra signs of surprise after hearing his words.

Rodi began to doubt if he had misunderstood something—could it be that everyone in the world already knew about this, and he was still treating it as news?

However, Sally's next words made him realize that something seemed to have changed unpredictably—

"Captain Rodi, I am very grateful for your information. Actually, before coming here, I had already made preparations to leave."

Rodi frowned and raised his head, his gaze meeting the daughter of the duke for a moment. Sally's smile remained, with no hint of joking. Her eyes concealed a touch of pride and confidence—Rodi had seen many commanders with such expressions, but among them were not a few powerful lords or great nobles.

It was the expression of someone who had everything under control.

Rodi found that everything was off from what he had expected, but since he encountered no resistance from Sally, he had nothing else to say. Turning his head away from the pale-faced butler Hall, Rodi bowed, silently indicating that he had no more to say.

"Thank you for the information, Captain Rodi. However, I'm afraid I must leave now."

Miss Sally nodded politely, then gave a few orders to the old soldier Gerson, gracefully mounting her horse. She smiled at Rodi, who had raised his head, and turned to leave under the escort of the guards.

The daughter of the duke's smile was very sincere—had it been anyone else, they might have been completely captivated by this smile, or at least felt a great sense of honor and pride. The disparity in status would always evoke beautiful associations like those in the chivalric poems, but at this moment, Rodi showed no signs of happiness. He watched Sally turn her horse and ride away with her soldiers, deeply frowning.

No, something was very wrong.

Turning his head, he saw Soderlor working with his subordinates and the scouts Rodi had brought to assist the villagers in evacuating. The butler Hall, who had confirmed the news, couldn't stop them either, as he couldn't afford to take responsibility if anything happened. He had no choice but to grit his teeth and have the servants help move the estate's property.

Everything seemed fine, and according to the current progress, the villagers could leave the village by midnight. By the time the orcs arrived at dawn, they would only see an empty Finks village.

Thinking about this, Rodi suddenly felt a strange sense of failure, as his plan seemed completely unnecessary—Sally had apparently already made the decision to avoid the situation. If the orcs raided Finks village tonight, they wouldn't encounter the daughter of the duke...

The clues that had just aligned seemed to end here, as the orcs would never succeed in an ambush when Sally had already planned for it. A sense of dejection gradually rose within him. Rodi realized that his concerns had been completely misplaced. The daughter of the duke wasn't the kind of idiotic heroine in a movie who would only scream when in danger, and he had foolishly come to say a bunch of nonsense, even offending Finks' butler and the still unaware Lieutenant Soding.

In the end, it was all for nothing, and he was in a difficult position on both sides!

"Concern leads to confusion, still too inexperienced."

Rodi sighed, helplessly evaluating his rash actions—neither undervaluing nor overestimating himself, but remembering what he did wrong and what he did right. This was a habit he had carried over from games. Adjusting the horn bow and quiver on his back, he saw torches lighting the path, with scouts helping the villagers carry things... The butler Hall was angrily speaking to Lieutenant Soderlor, occasionally pointing in his direction...

Rodi seemed somewhat dejected, and even the task bar's prompt "Rescue Finks Village Residents (Completed)" did little to improve his mood. He took a step to walk toward another cottage.

But after just a few steps, his pace gradually slowed, and his brows furrowed.

Turning to look, Sally had already left with a few of his soldiers, their torches lighting the way in the night, heading in the direction of the nearest military aid point, Conseton Fort. This seemed to be the right choice—avoiding the orc attack and seeking protection from the fort within the territory.

But Rodi suddenly realized... he had been thinking about the wrong point.

Why would the orcs want to kill Sally?

To put it bluntly, Rodi didn't believe the orcs understood Sally's status in the Karren Kingdom. What use was killing a duke's child who wasn't even an heir? If Rodi were the orc commander and had access to intelligence, he would definitely choose to raid and kill Francis, not Sally, as her death would have little strategic value for the overall war.

Who wanted Sally dead?

The answer was clear—Rodi's mind suddenly became clear: the one who planned this wasn't necessarily the orcs, but rather the future power-grabbing Francis!

Before being transported, Rodi had witnessed or heard of countless despicable assassination attempts. Some were due to conflicts between grand guilds, some were between players, and some were between NPCs. Behind every successful assassination were countless surprises—the closest person, the most trusted person, the most inconspicuous person, the most harmless person—anyone could become the assassin who delivered the dagger to the heart.

Sally's death in history was attributed to the orc raid, but history was often a foggy mystery, and only those who experienced it could truly understand what happened. As a special existence re-experiencing history, Rodi almost immediately thought of what might happen next.

He suddenly shouted to Soderlor in the distance, "Lieutenant Soderlor! Where is the best place to relocate these villagers?"

Soderlor, who had stopped a short distance away, pointed in a direction completely different from Sally's group and said, "To Broy Town."

Indeed, that was the best place for refugees, with ample food resources, a river, and over two hundred guards. But what happened in history? Finks village was raided by orcs, and Soderlor survived, but Sally went to the fort, didn't she?

Thinking about it, the key to the problem was here.

"Rodi, what's next?"

Carter, seeing everything on track, ran over to ask about the next steps. However, seeing Rodi frowning in distress, he was a bit at a loss.

"Assist Soderlor in relocating the villagers, and rest in Broy Town once we arrive." Rodi took a deep breath, seemingly making a decision, and added, "Miss Sally asked me to follow their group to Conseton Fort. If I don't appear in Broy Town tomorrow, then you and Ruge should lead the team back to Nolan Village."

Although he didn't understand why Sally would "name" Rodi to follow, Carter no longer doubted any of his words and treated everything as an order. He turned to inform Ruge and the others but didn't notice that Rodi had almost immediately disappeared from the villagers' sight.

Many torches lit up the night in Finks Village as the villagers began to leave the village they had lived in for a long time. With the assistance of Soderlor, Ruge, and others, the evacuation was somewhat chaotic but efficient.

Carrying hastily packed bags, the villagers walked away with some complaints. The butler was calculating Lord Kirk's losses, and Soderlor was working to improve the order of the group. Occasionally, someone would turn back to look at the direction where Miss Sally had disappeared, marveling at her beauty and grace, and then continue on their way, completely unaware of a ghostly figure that had also vanished into the night.