Chapter 289 - Road to the Deceased
When Rhode arrived at the ‘crime scene’, everything had ended.
A scorched circle was clearly seen on the flat ground. Sparks danced on the yellow, withered grasses as black smoke billowed. Nearby five to six fully-armored men who resembled guards laid on their stomachs and stared at the ‘main culprit’, who was just a few steps away from them.
“Let me hear such unreasonable words again and I guarantee that all of you won’t live to see tomorrow!”
Marlene glared at the frightened men. Rhode sensed a thick murderous intent exuding from her, so thick that it almost formed a surging, massive flame ball. It was almost miraculous occurence for Marlene to be this furious.
“What happened?”
Rhode walked up to the speechless Lize and asked softly. Lize hurriedly grabbed onto his arm and stuttered.
This group of guards had arrived not long after Rhode’s group began setting up camp. Similar to Rhode, the men had also stopped by this area and wanted to set up camp. However, the guards were violent perhaps after witnessing how timid and weak Lize and Lapis appeared to be, which was why they threatened them aggressively. Lapis was timid by nature, while Lize stood firmly to express her wrath. In Lize’s perspective, this place was huge enough for two teams. Besides, they were the ones who arrived first, so why must they make way for the guards?
Although Lize was reasonable, the world didn’t work this way, as fists overpowered reasons. The guards who failed to defeat Lize in an argument raged. Judging Lize in her Cleric robe, they thought that she was an easy target, which was why they threatened them both. Lize quickly got Lapis to report to Rhode while she continued to confront them.
Up until this moment, everything was within Rhode’s expectations.
The guards calmed down instantly. This usually annoying voice had become angelic in this situation. They let out long sighs of relief simultaneously. It wasn’t up to them to decide what was coming, and they could only leave it to fate.
The guards relaxed at this thought.
Rhode lifted his head and saw a few chariots filled with goods stopped by the main road. A fat figure ran over, which appeared kind of comical.
But for some unknown reasons, Rhode and Lize were stunned after hearing the voice as though it was somewhat familiar…
Soon enough, the owner of the voice appeared before them.
It was a fat merchant who wore a broad robe. His round, bubbly face was filled with oil and sweat. From the looks of it, he lacked exercise as such a short sprint left him panting for air.
“Why don’t you people speak? Mute? Huh? What happened? Who are they?”
The fat merchant turned around and looked at Lapis, who was terrified. He puckered his brows dubiously and turned to Marlene, who was fiddling with her staff innocently. He sulked instantly as he guessed what exactly happened…Damn it. This bunch of idiots messed with a Mage? I knew these idiots weren’t reliable at all. After this transaction, I will definitely fire them!
The fat merchant swore inwardly and took in deep breaths before turning to Rhode and Lize. As a merchant, it was important for him to discern what others were thinking based on their body language. The reason he didn’t immediately turn his attention to Rhode was because he wanted to figure out what exactly happened. Now it seemed to be a troublesome matter as he was clear of the guards’ etiquettes and he had even considered firing these idiots before. But now, he had been dragged into such problems again. These idiots even dare to mess with a Mage? This bunch of damn… bastards! The fat merchant whined, but it wasn’t nice to delay the time anymore. In the end, he gritted his teeth and faced Rhode, praying that the man would be a reasonable person.
After taking a clear look at both of them, the fat merchant was taken aback. Then, he raised his right arm and gazed with wide-opened eyes.
“I-I-Isn’t… Isn’t this… Mr. Rhode?!”
“Long time no see, Mr. Matt.”
Rhode nodded expressionlessly. Then, he glanced at the chariot filled with goods by the roadside.
“It seems like you’ve been doing well.”