CHAPTER 183: SHERFILIA'S WILD IMAGININGS

Seeing Lin Mo's gaze, the Guard Commander seemed to sense something and quickly spoke up: "Little brother, no matter what, this is an extremely valuable treasure, and I haven't reported it yet. Silverstream City doesn't even know this thing exists."

"This way... if you let me go, we can pretend we successfully completed the bandit extermination, and I'll give this to you as payment. How about that?"

It appeared he was still trying to cover up his crimes.

Lin Mo glanced at him indifferently.

This "Spirit Vein Mithril" was indeed an extremely valuable item, but as the saying goes, gentlemen love wealth but acquire it through proper means. He wasn't that despicable.

Moreover, Landon was also here - he couldn't just kill everyone to silence them.

Lin Mo couldn't bring himself to do such things, and it would be hard to explain, so it was better to honestly hand it over.

Besides, even if he kept it himself, without knowing its uses, it wouldn't mean much to him.

Having thought this through, Lin Mo didn't immediately respond but instead asked: "What about the ores you started transferring away yesterday... or even several days ago? You should know their locations, right?"

"This..."

The Guard Commander seemed hesitant to speak. It was clear he knew, but didn't want to reveal it easily, intending to use it as his final bargaining chip.

After all, he still couldn't figure out Lin Mo's intentions.

Lin Mo understood his thoughts, but this matter wasn't something he could handle arbitrarily - it was better to let Silverstream City deal with the headache.

With lightning speed, he appeared before the Guard Commander in an instant and knocked him out with a chop to the neck.

With the troublesome individuals all dealt with, this farce of guardians turning thieves was about to conclude.

Most of the guards from the mithril mine had been transferred to other mine entrances, where they engaged in fierce battles with the goblins attempting theft. Although there were some casualties, overall the situation was quite good.

After all, there really weren't any powerful goblins here - no Bronze Goblins, no Giant Goblins, at most just some Mutated Goblins.

Some other guards seemed to have been tricked by him with various excuses to search deeper areas of the mine, emerging completely confused.

With Sherfilia and Landon's assistance, Lin Mo handled the subsequent cleanup work simply.

After that, they rested until dawn, then brought the Guard Commander (who had been knocked out again by Lin Mo after waking up) and returned to Silverstream City by carriage.

...

"How did things go?"

In the evening, Lady Bessie put down her pen and stretched her stiff shoulders and neck.

The maid before her immediately walked behind her, massaging her shoulders while beginning to explain: "Just as you anticipated, the theft incident has hidden complexities..."

"So he discovered it very early?"

"He handled it beautifully, even before I could react."

Behira nodded, then smiled helplessly: "If he didn't have such strong talent but had this level of problem-solving ability, we could confidently entrust Silverstream City to him in the future. But given his growth rate, forget Silverstream City - even the Doria Kingdom is far too small to contain such genius."

The maid before her nodded deeply in agreement: "Miss Flora really encountered quite an extraordinary young man."

Thinking of Flora, Behira's expression turned somewhat awkward: "I wonder what that child thinks of him. If we had plans from the beginning, it would make Finnie and me seem rather scheming..."

The maid behind her remained silent, clearly not wanting to casually discuss such matters.

"Miss, about the matter between Miss Finnie and him, when do you plan to..."

Behira shook her head: "That's not urgent. I've already mentioned it to him previously - as long as he understands in his heart. They're both still young, so let young people's matters be handled by young people themselves."

"But about Sherfilia..."

Behira looked toward the sister who had grown up with her.

Although it was somewhat customary, including for herself, they weren't part of that family anymore, so perhaps they could let that child make her own choice.

"From my observations during this trip, Miss probably doesn't need to worry about this issue."

The maid smiled: "I rarely see that child showing such flustered, embarrassed expressions."

"That's perfect then..."

Behira breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Sherfilia and the Finnie sisters had always been very close, just like them.

"But to even attract a child like Sherfilia, this young man named Lin Mo really has extraordinary charm."

"When someone has no flaws in talent, strength, appearance, or personality, it's hard not to be likable."

Behira remained silent for a few seconds: "Was I too impulsive back then?"

"Do you regret it?"

Behira smiled and shook her head: "Even if I had to do it again, I would still make the same choice."

The maid beside her smiled: "And I would accompany you again."

When they returned, it was already quite late.

Lin Mo handed over the Guard Commander (who had been knocked out by him countless times) to the City Lord's Mansion, along with the body suspected to be the Bloodsea Gang leader. Then, without bothering to collect any rewards, he quickly brought Ellie back to rest.

Sherfilia came with them as usual and prepared dinner.

After eating dinner and lying in bed reading for a while, that feeling of fatigue gradually faded.

Actually, it was more psychological fatigue from the monotony of travel. Physically speaking, given Lin Mo's current constitution, such an undemanding mission was nothing.

So naturally, what followed was Ellie's "improvement" time.

Sherfilia stood at the bedroom door holding a fruit plate, hearing some sounds coming through the door crack, showing a somewhat helpless expression.

How strange...

Was he really that enthusiastic about such things?

The fruit plate wouldn't keep long, so to avoid waste, she simply took it back to her room to eat.

Sherfilia changed out of her maid uniform and lay on the soft bed, staring at the white ceiling, lost in thought for quite a while.

She understood Miss Finnie very well - perhaps even better than Finnie understood herself.

She knew Miss Finnie had already pretty much decided on certain matters, and after this period of observation, the Lady had also approved of Miss Finnie's choice.

So what about herself?

To be honest, after spending this time together, Lin Mo gave her an unexpectedly good impression.

Because she had been trained as both maid and bodyguard since childhood, aside from Miss Finnie, the Lady, and a few others, she actually had little interaction with outsiders.

This gradually formed her character of not particularly liking to communicate with people.

But when interacting with Lin Mo, it was unexpectedly comfortable...

He wasn't overly talkative or prone to useless chatter, but he would often notice her feelings even when Miss Finnie hadn't remembered.

Although he sometimes said annoying things, this feeling like joking between friends was something Sherfilia actually didn't dislike, much less mind.

Especially after learning certain things, the feeling became even more subtle.

Sherfilia curled up on the bed, and for some reason, her mind began imagining Ellie and Lin Mo piled together.

So weird...

In the past, she would never think about such strange things.

Tomorrow, I'll go see Mother.

Before she knew it, the sun was high in the sky.

Lin Mo opened his eyes and with some difficulty moved the arms and legs pressed on him away, feeling inexplicably melancholic.

It wasn't that it was bad, but after acquiring this skill, he was always helping others improve their strength, giving him the feeling of having his yang energy harvested to supplement yin energy.

Ellie had been "fattened" quite well by him - she could probably fight against level 3 Professionals now. But what about him?

When would he get to "improve" using such a fast and comfortable method?

After getting up and washing up, Lin Mo pushed open the door and went downstairs to the living room.

As expected at this hour, Sherfilia had long gone to the City Lord's Mansion, leaving behind breakfast that was no longer warm.

Fortunately, probably considering they woke up late, Sherfilia likely made it just before leaving. Though not warm, it wasn't completely cold either.

After eating simply, Ellie came downstairs rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"What does Lin Mo plan to do today?"

This question stumped Lin Mo.

Today was obviously a rest day, but what about tomorrow?

Continue going out on missions?

But the situation around Silverstream City was already quite unstable...

This could be seen from the changes among Silverstream City's residents.

Clearly, compared to a few days ago, the atmosphere in the city had become more tense.

Although, thanks to Lady Bessie's excellent management, there hadn't been any riots, the entire city clearly had a feeling of widespread anxiety, like a storm brewing.

This was of course due to the spread of some rumors, but these rumors weren't alarmist - rather, they were gradually spread under Lady Bessie's direction.

With major enemies approaching, while preventing citywide panic was important, they couldn't be too relaxed either. At the very least, they needed to give the populace some sense of tension so they wouldn't run around everywhere.

As for leaving Silverstream City...

Aside from a few wealthy merchants, almost no one would do this.

Not everyone had the ability to traverse vast forests or wilderness to migrate to another city.

If it hadn't been for Flora leading them back then, even Lin Mo and Alden's team might not have dared.

Let alone ordinary civilians.

For them, staying obediently in the city was the safest option.

Fortunately, Lady Bessie had very high prestige, so she could also gain the people's trust, making them believe she would handle all dangers.

So overall, Silverstream City's situation remained relatively stable.

Thinking about these matters, Lin Mo left the manor and headed toward the City Lord's Mansion.

Ellie stayed home, continuing to practice her skills.

The little wolf-girl's improvement speed had been very rapid recently - not just attribute growth, but even her skill practice speed seemed to have improved to some extent.

This was actually quite normal - having a good foundation was extremely important.

After basic physical attributes improved, with Qi and Blood more abundant, things that were originally difficult suddenly became simpler, and skill practice speed naturally increased accordingly.

So with equal talent, higher-level Professionals clearly practiced lower-quality skills much faster.

But this only applied to lower-quality skills. For something like Epic Level, even if the kingdom's Archmage Elvith came, he'd still be scratching his head.

Arriving at the City Lord's Mansion, as usual, he greeted the guards at the entrance and chatted briefly.

The guard who just married a second wife a few days ago already had her pregnant.

Had to admit, this brother really had good physical condition...

Actually, Lin Mo had considered this issue too, but since both he and Ellie were still young and still working as adventurers, this really wasn't the right time to think about reproduction.

Fortunately, this was a magical world, so contraception wasn't that troublesome - alchemists had developed corresponding alchemical reagents centuries ago.

One dose cost only 2 gold coins, effective for one month, completely natural with almost no side effects.

For ordinary people, 2 gold coins was quite expensive, but for Lin Mo and Ellie, it was nothing.

He came to the City Lord's Mansion today to collect his reward.

Although Lady Bessie hadn't specified the reward when accepting the mission, Lin Mo believed this City Lord definitely wouldn't be stingy.

After asking a passing maid where the City Lord was, unsurprisingly, she was working in her study.

Lin Mo went to the City Lord's study and gently knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Lady Bessie's voice came from inside. Lin Mo pushed the door open and discovered the maid who was most likely Sherfilia's mother was also there.

She nodded to Lin Mo - her personality wasn't as taciturn as her daughter's.

Her figure was also completely different, even to the point of being two extremes.

Finnie wasn't the voluptuous type either, but at least she was average and still developing.

But Sherfilia was really...

Forget it, small has its advantages too - it's quite cute.

Lin Mo had no prejudice about this.

He was simply lustful - regardless of big, medium, or small, he'd take them all.

Lin Mo glanced at the focused City Lord Behira, who hadn't even looked up, so he didn't speak, first nodding to the maid as greeting.

Then he noticed this maid was examining him with great interest, that look in her eyes...

Hmm, somewhat like a mother looking at her child.

Finally, Behira put down her pen and looked at Lin Mo, a satisfied smile on her lips: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"No problem."

Lin Mo shook his head: "Lady Behira, how are things outside the city now?"

Especially after learning certain things, the feeling became even more subtle.

Behira pursed her lips: "About that, there is indeed something to discuss with you... but no hurry first. We haven't given you your reward for helping eliminate the mithril mine thieves yet."

Behira said, seeming to fall into thought: "What do you think about that Spirit Vein Mithril?"