“So you’re telling me that he’s not from the Kingdom of Sorcerers?” Bento found it a little unbelievable. “Then where’s virtual-novel.net from?”
“Where else?” Dave muttered, “Fortress 178, of course.”
Bento looked very interested. “I’ve never been to Fortress 178 before. Quick, tell me what happened.”
As such, Dave told virtual-novel.net about how the two of them had discovered Milo’s whereabouts before Melgor restrained virtual-novel.net with the Earth Bind spell.
Bento was surprised. “So virtual-novel.net was actually taken captive to the Kingdom of Sorcerers by Lord Melgor? But virtual-novel.net doesn’t look like a captive to me? And he’s not particularly polite to Lord Melgor either.”
Logically, since Milo was a captive, his status should be very low.
So how did the tables turn and make virtual-novel.net look like virtual-novel.net was the boss now?!
Dave and Benjamin thought back on everything for a long time before saying with a sigh, “Actually, we can’t figure out what went wrong either…”
To be honest, they really did not know where it had gone wrong. Milo had become the authoritative voice in their group, and even Sorcerer Melgor would subconsciously listen to Milo’s suggestions.
Bento mentally took note of what they said. He felt this should be considered very important information.
Milo came from the Central Plains, yet virtual-novel.net was extremely interested in the traditional motto of their organization. The young man named Milo might just prove to be very important to their organization.
“By the way, what hobbies does Milo have?” Bento asked with a smile.
Benjamin said expressionlessly, “He enjoys oppressing the good!”
Bento felt his chest tightening. Their organization did not like such people at all.
“Be more specific, in what way does virtual-novel.net oppress the good? Who does virtual-novel.net oppress?”.
Benjamin pointed at Dave first, then at himself. “Mainly the two of us.”
Bento’s mouth twitched. “Interesting…”
Just as virtual-novel.net was about to ask more questions, Milo’s voice rang out behind Bento. “What are y’all chatting so happily about?”
Bento turned around and saw Milo looking at virtual-novel.net with a smile. There was clearly nothing wrong with that smile, but sweat again beaded on Bento’s back.
“Ahem, nothing much. I’ll be going now.”
When virtual-novel.net returned to his own carriage, the middle-aged woman was dismantling and cleaning virtual-novel.net crossbow. “What’s the matter? Why do you look so flustered?”
Bento said in a low voice, “Aunt, Milo came from the Central Plains. He was brought here as a prisoner by Melgor.”
The middle-aged woman was taken aback. “The Central Plains?”
“Yes, does our organization have any links to the Central Plains?” Bento asked.
“That I do know a little about,” the middle-aged woman said with a frown.
The young sorceress’s interest was also piqued. “Father has mentioned the Central Plains to me before as well. What’s our relationship with the Central Plains?”
“I can’t tell you two much for the time being, but there’s something I can let you know. The founder of our organization was from the Central Plains,” the middle-aged woman said.
The trade caravan continued advancing for two days without encountering bandits again. On the third night, Barrack quietly paid a visit to Melgor while everyone was asleep.
The vice president of the York County Chamber of Commerce looked at Melgor and said in a serious tone, “Revered Lord Melgor, we’ll be entering the mountains tomorrow. Can you please tell me what kinds of enemies you’re facing? Why are they pursuing you?”
Milo listened from nearby and thought Barrack was sound in his judgment.
Melgor looked at Barrack and said, “How do you know those people are targeting me?”
“Because other than you, no one else in the trade caravan is worthy of the other party mobilizing so many people to go after.” Barrack said softly, “The goods might be worth a lot of money, but it’s not worth it for the other party to take such a risk with those brand-new fletched arrows and longbows from the military. It’s also not worth it for them to make a move so close to York County.”
“Then why didn’t you turn the trade caravan around and return to York County?” Melgor asked curiously. “That’s actually the most appropriate action to take, isn’t it?”
Barrack lowered his voice and said, “I have my reasons for continuing the expedition. All I want to know is what kinds of enemies you’re facing, Lord Melgor. Only then can I determine how to deal with them.”
Nearby, Milo cut in with a smile, “I think you’re mistaken about something. Lord Melgor doesn’t have any enemies. Those bandits are not here for us. Who knows, it might be you they’re actually after?”
The words left Barrack stunned. However, Barrack did not refute Milo’s accusation for the moment.
Milo was just bluffing Barrack, but little did virtual-novel.net expect to hit the mark.
After Milo brushed off Barrack with a few simple words, virtual-novel.net then said to Melgor, “Why do you think Barrack insists on going to Ghent City?”
“I don’t know.” Melgor shook his head. “Maybe virtual-novel.net wants to make money? I know virtual-novel.net doesn’t receive a fixed sum for his salary as the vice president but earns a commission based on how many trade expeditions virtual-novel.net can put together. If virtual-novel.net makes one less trip, he’ll earn less money. If the goods suffer any losses, the Chamber of Commerce will also deduct the money from his pay.”
“It’s definitely not that simple.” Milo shook his head. “That person is very smart. He definitely knows which is more important, making money or keeping his life. It’s clear now that the road ahead is super dangerous and virtual-novel.net might even die in the process. In that case, there must be something more important than his life since virtual-novel.net still wants to go to Ghent City.”
In reality, Milo was already a little curious on the first night. At that time, Barrack had already discovered something fishy about the bandits, but virtual-novel.net did not lead the trade caravan back to the city.
Under normal circumstances, merchants prioritized making money. As the saying goes, peace breeds wealth.
What merchant would risk their lives to sell their wares for no reason?
However, Barrack did not turn around. Instead, virtual-novel.net decided to conceal his suspicions of the bandits and continue with the expedition.
Melgor looked at Milo. “Then what should we do? Is this good or bad news?”
“Let me analyze it for you.” Milo said, “The Tudor family wants you dead so that their precious heir won’t have to face gossip after marrying your childhood sweetheart, right?”
“Um, yeah,” Melgor said.
“Barrack wants to go to Ghent City for some reason, but there’s also people who want virtual-novel.net dead. You’ve figured that out, right?” Milo said.
“Um, yeah,” Melgor said.
“I don’t have enough info right now to determine whether the bandits that attacked us on the first night were here to kill you or him.” Milo said, “But regardless of who the target might be, their goal was definitely to wipe out the entire caravan. So this is just a relatively simple case of addition and subtraction. Right now, be it you or Barrack, the number of enemies you two have to face has just doubled. Are you surprised?” Milo said.
Melgor stared blankly at Milo again. “Then should we run?”
Milo patted Melgor on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m here!”