In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

Although he was employed, something was unusual about him.

After all, betrayal and treachery are basically standard practice in the Gilded Brigade.

The fact that Atia's mercenary group was able to gain Candice's trust and entrust such an important position to them shows that the relationship between Atia's mercenary group and Aru Village is extraordinary. It may not be as good as the Blazing Beast Hunter, but it should be about the same.

"Rod."

Rhodes smiled and, following desert custom, greeted him while also presenting his gift.

This is what Dixia taught him.

Giving gifts does not necessarily mean bribery or ingratiation.

It's simply about expressing goodwill to the other party.

The gift doesn't need to be anything expensive.

Rhodes prepared only a small jar of black tea, which is common throughout the entire Sumeru region.

The tea leaves are very rough and taste extremely bitter.

At the same time, the price is also very cheap.

But this is enough.

The Atia mercenary group consisted of fifty-three people. After receiving Rhodes' gift of black tea, the previously unfamiliar group immediately became like the best of friends. Everyone came up to Rhodes to exchange names, and some even greeted him with cheek kisses, a custom common among tribal people.

have to say.

The desert rules that Desia taught Rhodes are still very useful.

He only spent a mere hundred or eighty Mora, and despite it being their first meeting, everyone in the Atia mercenary group greeted him with smiles.

Compared to the rainforest, where interpersonal relationships are crucial.

The desert is a place where human relationships and social skills are even more important.

After all, tripping you up in the rainforest area might not kill you, but if someone in the desert area tries to sabotage you, it could really be fatal.

"Aru Village is indeed a pure land, but that doesn't mean that everyone here is a good person."

This is the advice that Dixia left behind before she left.

Rod took the advice very seriously.

The job of guarding is not a fixed post that you can stay in.

Including Rhodes, there are now fifty-four guards on the north drawbridge.

Apart from the two people in charge of meals.

The remaining 52 people work in three shifts, with each shift lasting a fixed eight hours and changing shifts every three days.

During breaks, you can go home or stay in the dormitory on this side of the suspension bridge.

There were no restrictions on meals.

If you want to eat, two meals a day are provided free of charge. The food expenses are covered by Aru Village, and there is plenty of meat at every meal.

This is why so many people are eager to take this position.

Salary is secondary; the fact that they can afford two meat meals a day is enough to make people fight tooth and nail for it.

Unfortunately.

The job of guarding is dangerous and requires strong capabilities; it's not something you can just do whenever you want.

Rhodes originally thought that even if he gave a gift, as a stranger who suddenly came to the Atia Mercenary Group, he would definitely still be ostracized or challenged to a duel to establish his authority.

He had made preparations in advance to avoid accidentally hurting someone and creating enmity, which would be troublesome.

But perhaps the can of black tea had an effect, because no one ever mentioned it.

Rhodes integrated smoothly into the Attia Mercenary Group. When they had free time, they would eat and drink together, and occasionally spar. It was a real spar, the kind where you just point at the target and stop, not the kind of unreasonable sparring that's meant to establish authority.

Rhodes, who possesses the Eye of God and can turn a stuffy dormitory into a cool air-conditioned room, quickly became a hot commodity in the Atia Mercenary Group.

It's not that I'm slacking off and updating slowly, it's just that my dad was using my computer to play cards, so he gave it back to me (⊙o⊙)…

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 10 Genes Engraved in Our Bones

Just like Candice said.

The job of guarding is indeed very boring when there is no danger.

Mercenaries usually like to get together to gamble or wrestle in these situations.

These are the only hobbies of the mercenaries in the Gilded Brigade.

Even mercenaries like the Blazing Beast Hunter, who are under the discipline of Desia, are prone to drinking and gambling, let alone other mercenaries with poor discipline.

The only place where the Attia Mercenary Group can be described as disciplined is...

They probably don't drink alcohol during their shifts.

This must have been a rule established when the Attia Mercenary Group and Candice signed the contract.

After all, guarding the suspension bridge is a very important job.

Candice could tolerate them bringing their mercenary bad habits, but she would never allow them to bring danger to Aru Village because of their alcoholism.

Because of this rule, the mercenaries don't even dare to party all night during their rest time like before, lest they miss any work that might come up unexpectedly.

Speaking of this unexpected job...

It refers to the monsters and wild beasts that will mix in and attack the village when a sandstorm strikes.

Wild animals are fine.

Even without human intervention, as long as the defense measures are in place, they won't be able to break into the village.

The problem lies with those ferocious monsters.

This is the most important aspect of defense.

The monsters in the desert are not limited to low-level monsters such as ordinary Hilichurls and slimes, but also include monsters with a strong aura of calamity, such as Beast Hounds and even Sacred Beasts.

These monsters may not be very powerful, but the aura of calamity emanating from them is something that ordinary people without the Eye of God cannot withstand.

Before Rhodes arrived, the Atia Mercenary Group, or rather, the entire village of Aru, had been defending the suspension bridge, a dangerous spot. They would first seal off the bridge and then use ranged means such as bows and javelins to repel the attacking monsters until Candice came to their rescue.

The lack of God's Eye is such a helpless situation.

In the vast village of Aru, only Candice is a true villager with the Eye of God. The other holders of the Eye of God are just passing merchants and adventurers, and they would never come to help Aru unless they are in dire need.

So when the sandstorm hit, there was nothing they could do but wait for Candice to come to their rescue.

“Miss Candice is very generous to have sent you here.”

Attiyah was still laughing heartily while they were eating.

Rhodes is the second holder of the Eye of God to settle in Aru Village.

According to Atia's words, Rhodes would be very popular wherever he was stationed at the suspension bridge.

After these few days of getting along.

Rhodes also realized this.

The previous worries were unnecessary.

In fact, he didn't even need to give gifts, and Atia and the others would never secretly make things difficult for him.

The more people who possess the Eye of God, the safer they will be when facing monsters.

Moreover, Rhodes was manipulating ice elemental power, an elemental power with extremely strong control.

Even if Rhodes doesn't personally go to the front lines to fight the monsters to the death, as long as he can use his ice elemental power to seal the suspension bridge and slow down the monsters' attack, that will be enough.

After lunch.

Unlike the other mercenaries who gathered together, Rhode went to an open space to continue practicing the swordsmanship that Desia had taught him.

Rod's life is very regular now.

Whenever he has free time, he's either practicing swordsmanship or honing his control over elemental forces.

He also sparred with the mercenaries of the Attia Mercenary Group a few times.

As a result, apart from the captain Attiyah, no one else was his match.

This was only because Rhodes' current skills were not yet proficient enough, and he was worried that he might hurt someone if he didn't control his strength. Therefore, he did not use his full strength.

This also gave him a more intuitive understanding of his current strength.

simply put.

If Rhodes were to encounter the Tanit kidnappers who abducted him again, he could easily defeat them using only his physical skills.

As for the cultivation of elemental power.

Rhodes discovered something a long time ago.

The ice elemental power he uses has a natural healing effect.

That was the first thing I noticed.

It's because when he obtained the Eye of God, he immediately recovered from being on the verge of death to being full of energy.

He originally thought that all holders of the Eye of God were like this when they first obtained it.

Until Dixia told him that was not the case.

In fact.

Most people don't make a big fuss when they obtain the Eye of God, and some don't even realize they've obtained it for several days.

This was the first time Dixia had ever heard of someone like Rhodes making such a grand display and exhibiting extraordinary phenomena.

This anomaly made Rhodes realize that something was amiss.

To test my suspicions.

He once deliberately cut his finger with a knife and then directly activated his elemental power to cover it, just like when he obtained the Eye of God.