Since it was Dan Feng and Roxy who had killed these mercenaries, it meant that Dan Feng and Roxy were on the same side as them.
However, the Duke of Basheran would not put on airs. He slowly dismounted, approached with a smile, and said to Dan Feng and Roxy: "I am the duke who governs Basheran Duchy. Thank you both, adventurers, for your aid to Rosenberg. May I know your names? The kingdom will surely reward you!"
"We are students from Ranoa Magic University. My name is Dan Feng." Dan Feng said expressionlessly. But he seemed to realize that speaking to a duke in such a manner was impolite, so after finishing, he forced a polite smile.
"I am Roxy Migurdia." Roxy followed Dan Feng's words.
Upon hearing that the two were students from Ranoa Magic University, the Duke of Basheran completely relaxed. After all, Ranoa Magic University belonged to one of the Three Great Magic Nations, so they could not possibly be enemies.
The Three Great Magic Nations were all-encompassing and extremely tolerant toward everyone. Since they focused on business and research, they handled social niceties very well—but they tended to turn a blind eye to military matters.
Even the current top-ranked nation, the Asura Kingdom, did not dare casually start a war. It was truly unimaginable that someone would hire mercenaries to occupy Rosenberg.
"We truly never expected anyone to disrupt the peace and attack Rosenberg. I suppose you two students came to retrieve your principal's magic tools, correct?" The Duke of Basheran looked at the pair and guessed.
This batch of magic tools had been retrieved by people he had sent from the Nelis Duchy. The principal of Ranoa Magic University had also placed the order with him. Now that the batch was in Rosenberg and two more students from Ranoa Magic University had suddenly appeared, the clever Duke of Basheran immediately deduced the purpose of their visit.
Dan Feng nodded, then pointed at Darius's confidant who was still pinned to the wall: "That man isn't dead yet. You should go check on him first."
Following the direction of Dan Feng's finger, the Duke of Basheran turned to look.
By the time Dan Feng spoke, members of the knight corps had already pulled Darius's confidant down and restrained him.
"I still have some matters to attend to. Dan Feng, Roxy—later, the kingdom will grant you your rewards." The Duke of Basheran said to the two, then turned and walked toward Darius's confidant.
He intended to personally interrogate this man thoroughly, hoping to quickly extract the identity of the mastermind.
Dan Feng recalled Cloud-Piercer and looked toward Roxy. "Let's go. We can leave Rosenberg today."
Roxy nodded and followed Dan Feng toward the warehouse where the magic tools were stored.
"Dan Feng, that duke just now spoke so politely. He didn't have the typical noble demeanor at all." Roxy recalled the time she had accompanied Bloody Kant to attend a banquet in the Asura Kingdom.
Those nobles, even just glimpsed through carriage windows, gave off an aura that kept people at a distance.
"Mm, yeah, that's true." Dan Feng agreed.
"After this, we'll even get a reward. I wonder what it'll be—maybe gold coins? Then we won't have to worry about money anymore, right?"
"Roxy, we aren't worrying about running out of funds right now either. I still have plenty of savings." Dan Feng said to Roxy with a serious expression.
"Because Dan Feng doesn't have many expenses. All my money goes toward buying study materials and staffs." Roxy mumbled.
"That's true."
Afterward, the two retrieved the principal's magic tools from Steven.
"A single scroll?" Dan Feng asked in confusion, then opened it.
The scroll was inscribed with a special magic circle.
"This is something your principal left here—a storage-type magic tool. All of your principal's magic tools are stored inside." Steven explained upon seeing Dan Feng's puzzlement.
Dan Feng nodded and carefully put the scroll away.
"Alright then, we'll take our leave." Dan Feng said calmly, then took Roxy and left.
"Finally got the principal's magic tools. It wasn't easy—retrieving something ended up involving all this trouble." Roxy shook her head with a sigh.
Thanks to the Duke of Basheran's orders for the knight corps to continue sweeping the city for remaining mercenaries, the civilians gradually returned to normal life. Though it had been perilous, there were fortunately no major casualties. For some children, however, this day would become a nightmare of their childhood.
...
"Why!" In the Void World, the Man-God, as usual, glanced at the future of his apostle—only to discover that Darius's future had diverged from what He had previously seen.
He found that this operation had ended in failure. His goal had not been achieved, and that batch of magic tools had returned to others' hands.
"Can my future sight actually be wrong?" For the first time, the Man-God doubted whether there was a problem with His ability—but He immediately dismissed the thought.
Future sight could never be wrong. The current situation could only point to two possibilities: first, the Dragon God had intervened, and He could not see the Dragon God's traces; second, some other factor had intruded into this event.
The Man-God gazed at Darius's future, His mosaic-covered face filled with bewilderment.
With this plan's failure, He could no longer wear down the Dragon God through sheer numbers. He would need to gather even more powerful apostles.
"But if this plan fails, then so be it. After all, I still have three trump cards." Unable to think of anything else, the Man-God concluded that the Dragon God must have interfered in this incident, so He decisively set the matter aside.
Although He could only command three apostles at a time, over the years He had deceived quite a number of them.
Thus, the Man-God once again summoned Darius's consciousness.
When Darius's consciousness first arrived in the pure white space, he was momentarily stunned. Then, upon seeing the Man-God, he spoke with utmost respect: "Man-God-sama! This plan has failed!"
"I know, I know. I did it on purpose." The Man-God said to Darius in a playful tone.
"How does it feel? Watching your loyal confidant who has always been by your side disappear? Isn't it rather flavorful? Or do you simply not care about his life or death at all?"
Darius was stunned by the Man-God's words. He now understood that the Man-God had toyed with him—that He had deliberately caused him to lose his confidant.
But once one became an apostle of the Man-God, there was no turning back. You would believe in Him—and you had no choice but to believe.
After all, perhaps the Man-God had some profound reason for doing this?
That was how Darius thought at this moment. The Man-God was the god of humanity. If not for Him, he would have died long ago. Now, his life belonged to the Man-God.
The Man-God was very satisfied with Darius's reaction. In truth, He had not toyed with Darius this time—He had simply been interfered with by the Dragon God.
But He would soon resume such operations. The next target was another apostle He had prepared as a trump card.