CHAPTER 695: CHAPTER 690: REST ROOM

"..."

Having received this information from Orland, Ronald’s expression fell into deep thought.

He pondered for a few seconds under the watchful eyes of the Banica leader.

Finally, he spoke earnestly,

"Mr. Orland, this information is very important to me."

"If possible... could you provide a quiet place? I intend to verify a few things."

"..."

Ronald did not speak in absolute terms.

Upon hearing this, Orland’s face darkened slightly, then he slowly clapped his hands.

Clap, clap—

Two claps later, someone quickly entered from outside the office.

"Mr. Orland?"

In the blink of an eye, Orland’s expression returned to normal, and he instructed in the gentle tone he had used initially:

"Yann, take these few to a quiet resting room."

"They are important guests of Banica, make sure to treat them well."

"..."

"Yes."

As the leader of Banica, Orland tried to maintain his composure.

Or rather—

He believed the fact that Ronald and his two companions were making a deal with him at the Banica camp was enough to yield a clear outcome.

Thus, led by other casters of Banica, Ronald and his company left for a separate house not far away.

It was indeed as Orland had said.

The house, being isolated from the surrounding buildings, brought about a quiet environment.

At the same time, most parts of the camp’s center were visible from here.

—This kind of house arrest.

—Is it a rather subtle method?

After the caster who had brought them here left, Ronald couldn’t help but ponder this question in his mind.

However, looking at it purely from a transactional perspective,

this choice to ensure their own interests weren’t harmed was somewhat understandable.

Meanwhile, Costate scanned the room.

Upon confirming something, the maid immediately turned to Ronald and spoke,

"Sir, you’ve made a decision, haven’t you?"

"..."

Costate’s demeanor was clearly unafraid of their conversation being eavesdropped.

Ronald naturally trusted the maid’s judgment.

He then spoke,

"Yes, I have many doubts about this camp, and Mr. Orland’s words just now have made me more certain there are issues."

These doubts were nearly unavoidable.

Firstly, it was the attitude with which the other party described the information—while the recounting of "Mother Dryad’s" information appeared very valuable on the surface, upon careful reflection, issues in Orland’s delivery became evident.

He had used many adjectives like ’unsure,’ ’possibly,’ ’probably,’ ’roughly,’—the details of the information weren’t all that certain.

—Ronald was all too familiar with this.

When he first came to this world, he had repeatedly used selective words to handle investigators’ "lie detectors." Now, Orland’s defensive attitude during the transaction was itself a dangerous sign.

Then there was the floating powder in the forest.

Ponton, who had led the trio into the camp previously, claimed this substance was not harmful to health, yet the camp itself had set up a barrier to isolate the mist, and Orland even remarked it was a remnant from a past battle.

Ronald had personally analyzed this substance’s effects.

The multiple contradictions in the descriptions also made it impossible for him to continue trusting the people of Banica.

Of course, Ronald wouldn’t hide anything from his own people; he clearly and concisely shared his findings with Helle and Costate, who listened intently in their own ways.

As they discussed for quite some time,

and had even decided to conduct a thorough investigation of the camp,

their ’resting room’ door was knocked on from outside.

Clang, clang, clang—

"Mr. Ronald, how did the verification go?"

"..."

Ronald’s expression remained unchanged.

He walked to the door and opened it, his expression still fairly gentle.

Facing these ordinary Casters from Banica, Ronald had no intention of communicating with an overly stern demeanor.

"The information I’ve ..."

Boom—

Just as Ronald began to speak, a sudden shake appeared under their feet.

Immediately following, a strong Magic Fluctuation erupted from the eastern part of the camp.

Accompanied by a loud explosion.

...

At this moment, it was already night.

From a distance, Ronald could see orange-red Firelight violently exploding at the edge of the camp, then rapidly spreading with explosive force.

—Something exploded.

—And it triggered an even more intense chain reaction.

Ronald instantly realized this in his mind and his heart tightened.

The fog enveloping the forest—how exaggerated the scale!

Plus, the forest itself was already filled with a large amount of combustible material...

It was hard to predict how dangerous an attack resulting from an explosion in such a place could be.

Ronald was quickly analyzing the situation in his mind.

In reality, the explosion had barely lasted two seconds before the Spell barrier protecting the Banica camp was directly destroyed by the flames and impact.

Immediately after, the second layer of defensive spells prepared by the Banica Casters lit up.

Then it was instantly destroyed.

The last emergency defense immediately appeared.

Then it was instantly destroyed.

With unstoppable speed and force, a roaring sound began to sweep over everything.

"Ah..."

At this moment, the Caster in front of Ronald uttered a dazed sound.

He couldn’t comprehend the scene before him, nor did he know what to do.

According to the leader, they had made thorough preparations around the camp, and even in the event of an incident, the defensive spells would keep the danger out.

So, when an explosion that could tear through defenses in an instant occurred,

As an ordinary Caster, he was naturally bewildered.

Or rather,

For most Casters at the Banica camp, this scene meant destruction and despair.

"Tsk—"

Facing such a turn of events, Ronald pursed his lips.

With his powerful perception, he could even see clearly every attack that the explosion brutally shattered through the protective spells. And from the momentum as the explosion swept across the ground camp, he could also clearly gauge the power of the explosion.

—Unless they were hiding in a basement or somewhere similar.

—Otherwise, the instant the explosion struck, it was the same moment death descended.

The explosion was still spreading.

It even began to trigger multiple secondary explosions.

And in the third second after the explosion appeared,

Just as Ronald and the others were about to face the rapidly approaching explosion,

Costate’s calm and steady voice quickly rose from behind Ronald:

"Sir, would you like me to set up protection?"

"..."

Ronald watched ahead towards the explosion, not turning back,

Then he shook his head with the same composure,

"No need, I’ve got this."