Exactly as Ronan expected, the leader of the Black Skull Group was furious and on the verge of losing control.
"Bang!"
An ashtray flew hard at the leader kneeling on the floor. The fat man pointed at him and shouted,
"You trash! You useless idiots! Do I spend money on you every year for nothing? You couldn't even guard a warehouse? Who told you to drink? And you even wasted money on escorts? Disgusting! Beat them! Beat them to death!"
"Ah!! Boss, mercy! Mercy!"
Painful screams echoed through the hall.
The guards holding whips lashed the men on the floor until their skin split open and they cried out in pain.
The man they called Boss was enormously fat and dressed in expensive clothes. His huge stomach shook up and down as he shouted in rage.
Even then, he still was not satisfied. He snatched a whip from one of the guards and started beating them himself. He only stopped when he was too out of breath to continue.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his fat body trembled with anger.
"Trash! A bunch of trash!"
At that moment, a tall, sharp-faced middle-aged man in a butler's uniform bent down and whispered in his ear,
"Boss, what should we do next? Those two goods escaped. News about the Black Skull Group will probably reach the Guild and the Familias that handle Orario's security soon. Should we prepare?"
The moment he heard the words "Guild" and "Orario's security," the Boss shuddered. He glanced around the luxurious living room, fear flashing in his eyes.
"Damn that Guild! And those nosy Familias!" he cursed under his breath, not daring to raise his voice. "It's just buying and selling slaves! What does it have to do with them? Plenty of countries in this world do business like this, but only Orario makes such a fuss over it!"
"I really don't understand. Why would they forbid something this profitable?"
Still, he only dared to complain in private. As the leader of a shady merchant group, he had nowhere near the courage to go against the gods' Familias.
After venting his anger, he gritted his teeth and quickly gave the order,
"Pack everything. We're leaving Orario right now!"
The butler bowed.
"Yes, Boss. But... what about the cooperation meeting on the other side?"
The Boss's fat chin quivered as he glared at him.
"Meeting? Forget the meeting! Can they save us from the Guild and Ganesha Familia? They can't even deal with the Familias that handle security and justice in Orario. Save us? Do they have that kind of power? They don't! Pack everything and retreat. We'll contact them again after things calm down."
"Uh, yes."
The butler froze for a moment, then bowed and obeyed.
After giving those orders, the Boss walked to the window. Looking at the heavy rain outside, rain that seemed to swallow everything, his face became even uglier. The endless sound of it only made his mind more uneasy.
At the same time, in Ronan's small courtyard.
The owner of the house was currently taking a comfortable shower. If he knew that the head of the Black Skull Group was already preparing to run because of this incident, he probably would have laughed and given him a thumbs-up for being decisive.
Unfortunately, the other side was doomed to be disappointed. Ronan had no intention of reporting what had happened. After weighing everything, he already understood the consequences of doing that.
The priority was to keep the two elves safe and hidden until they could speak for themselves.
Once the news that two elf girls had been captured by slave traders reached the Guild, how could the other Familias in Orario not find out too?
And once the other Familias knew, how could those gods stay quiet?
By then, how would he still have any chance to keep them in his own Familia?
As the saying went, there were no real secrets in this world, especially not inside the Guild, where information was never completely sealed.
The Ganesha Familia, the Astraea Familia, Evilus, the commercial Familias, the gray-market Familias, the goddesses' circles, the Education District, and the other major groups were all old hands. Which one of them did not have informants inside the Guild? Without those people, how would they get information first?
Just look at the crowd standing around the Guild bulletin board all year long.
Besides the adventurers who genuinely needed the latest news, the rest were mostly information brokers working for various powers inside and outside the city.
Once the other Familias learned that he had taken in two excellent elf girls, those gods would probably come rushing over all at once.
To get elf girls into their Familia, some shameless gods would come begging without hesitation.
Some might even quietly kidnap them and give them Falna first to make it impossible to undo.
Things like that had happened before.
And once it was done, even if you argued, it would just turn into a long, useless dispute. What could you do after that? Start a War Game out of anger?
And that was not even counting the top Familias.
If Freya or Loki personally took an interest in them, refusing would become extremely difficult. If they wanted to take someone, and Ottar or Finn was standing there, could you really refuse?
So after weighing the pros and cons, Ronan chose not to report it. He knew very well what mattered more.
"Sigh... the Familia is still too weak. We don't have any say," Ronan muttered as he dried himself after turning off the shower.
He changed into clean, comfortable shorts and a T-shirt, boiled water, and made a pot of black tea. Then he sat on the hanging chair beneath the eaves, listening to the rain and letting his thoughts wander.
By the time he came back to himself, it was already past midnight.
When he returned to the living room, only the guest room light was still on.
He knew Jeanne was taking care of the two elf girls. As a man, it was not convenient for him to go in now, especially since neither of them had fully woken up yet.
So he only exchanged a quick word with Jeanne before returning to his own room and falling asleep to the sound of rain.
The next morning, Ronan woke up on time as usual.
He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, quietly listening to the rain, which still had not stopped. The sound of it gave him a strange sense of peace.
After lying there a while, he finally pushed himself up and climbed out of bed.
"Crack, crack!"
He stretched, and several of his joints gave sharp little pops.
Standing in front of the mirror, he checked his condition and could not help smiling.
"Handsome. Too handsome."
"My stats have gone up, and even my body looks better. This is the confidence that comes with getting stronger."
After admiring himself in the mirror for a moment, Ronan walked over to the window. He pushed it open, leaned against the sill, and took a deep breath.
Fresh, damp air mixed with the smell of wet earth rushed toward him. It felt wonderfully refreshing.
"I love rainy days."
He narrowed his eyes and quietly enjoyed the sight of the rain.
"Knock, knock."
A soft knock on the door interrupted Ronan's peaceful morning.
Besides the two guests who were still resting, only he and Jeanne were in the house. It was obvious who had come.
Reluctantly, he stepped away from the window and opened the door.
Just like him, Jeanne had changed into comfortable clothes for the house.
"Good morning, Ronan. Can I come in?"
"Good morning, Jeanne."
Ronan smiled and stepped aside.
"We only spent one night apart, and now you're already acting this polite? That's too distant."
Jeanne's face reddened slightly. She could hear the teasing in his voice.
She shot him a look, stepped inside, and sat naturally on the edge of his bed.
Ronan pulled a chair over from the desk and sat opposite her. The moment he sat down, Jeanne spoke.
"Those two girls are awake."
"Awake?!"
Ronan blinked in surprise.
That was definitely good news.
With how hungry, exhausted, and stressed they had been last night, they should have needed at least a full day and night of sleep to recover. He had not expected them to bounce back so quickly.
So the rumors were true.
Some elves were given strict combat training in their villages before being allowed to travel, all for self-protection.
Because of that, even without a Falna, some elves could still fight quite well. They were not especially rare.
For example, there was Hedin Selland, the White Fairy's Magic Wand, and Hogni Ragnar, the Black Fairy's Demon Sword, of the Freya Familia.
Or Gale from the Astraea Familia.
Or Alicia Forestlight, known as Pristine Garden, from the Loki Familia.
"They've got stamina and recovery like that even without being adventurers. They were already much stronger than I was when I started," Ronan said with a smile.
He asked about their condition, and Jeanne briefly explained everything.
"Then let's go welcome our new family members," Ronan said as he stood up.
Jeanne smiled faintly.
"Are you really that sure they'll join our Familia?"
"Of course," Ronan answered confidently.
The two of them slipped on the cute animal slippers Jeanne had bought and walked through the living room to the guest room door.
The two elf girls had been placed there after Jeanne carried them back the previous night.
Ronan knocked politely. Jeanne looked at him, then softly announced,
"We're coming in."
"Please come in."
They opened the door and stepped inside.
The moment Ronan saw them, his heart skipped a beat.
The weakness of just having woken up made the two elf girls seem even more fragile. Their exhausted state made the effect more striking.
He looked first at the silver-haired girl, who was still sleeping, then at the blonde elf girl sitting up against the headboard.
"Hello. I'm Ronan. Jeanne and I belong to the same Familia."
He pointed toward the wooden chair by the bed, which Jeanne had probably been using while taking care of them through the night.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
It was worth mentioning that since bringing them back the previous night, Jeanne had carefully taken care of them, including washing them and changing their clothes.
Hearing Ronan's introduction, the blonde girl, whose face was still pale, forced out a faint smile and nodded.
"Hello. My name is Lorie Suval. Thank you for saving our lives."
"It was nothing."
Ronan waved it off and then looked curiously at the silver-haired elf.
"And she is?"
"She is Aura Morierel. As you can see, we are elves. She and I met during our travels, and we came to Orario together."
Ronan and Jeanne exchanged a quick look. That confirmed it. They really were newcomers.
"Can you tell us what happened before you met us?" Ronan asked gently. "Of course, if it's too painful, you don't have to."
Last night?
The moment she thought back to it, all the color drained from Lorie's pale face.
Her hands clutched the blanket so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her shoulders trembled with fear. What had happened was a nightmare for an elf like her.
Seeing her shake like that, Ronan instinctively wanted to reach out and comfort her, but his hand stopped halfway.
He remembered the habits of elves.
Everyone knew elves were stubborn and full of traditions. One of the most famous was how strongly they disliked being touched by others without permission.
Male elves were usually easier to deal with. Ronan's friend Luvis was a good example.
Elf women were often much more particular about cleanliness and personal space.
Of course, Ronan was not the kind of person who would get upset over something like that. Even if he did not fully understand those deeply rooted traditions of the elves, he respected them.