My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 92 How did he end up here?

Although what Hero said sounds reasonable at first glance, a little thought reveals its flaws.

Milan had been to the sewers of Misty City before, and although there seemed to be quite a few monsters there, she hadn't encountered any particularly powerful ones.

My memory of that place is filled with hordes of rat-men and all sorts of disgusting maggots.

But upon reflecting on his two previous experiences traveling together, Milan began to waver in his judgment.

While others gained nothing, those who followed the wandering knight Hiro were able to uncover unexpected information several times.

"I don't know much about the sewers; I've only gone down to investigate once," Milan frankly stated her considerations, looking at the vice president and vouching for Rod's request. "But Hiro rarely makes meaningless speculations. Let's collect all the blueprints and send them over to try our luck; there's no harm in trying."

"This—" The vice president looked somewhat embarrassed, rubbed his hands together, and explained, "We do have a general map of the city ready, which we can give to you all."

"The sewers are a real problem. Misty City has been expanded and repaired by several rulers over the past century, with repeated excavation and filling."

Due to the rerouting, many old branches have long been abandoned and blocked off, and the existing maps are incomplete. We probably don't even have a sufficiently accurate and complete sewer map.

Ultimately, the sewers are home to all sorts of strange and wonderful things, and even the Adventurers' Guild has not been able to fully grasp the situation inside.

"We don't need to be precise down to every single branch. Just gather all the relevant blueprints that the guild currently has and send them over." Milan interrupted Rod before he could say anything more. "By piecing together and comparing the blueprints, we can always figure out the general outline."

"Alright then," the vice president hesitated for a moment, then looked at Rod and said tactfully, "but please, Brother Hero, keep it safe and don't spread it around."

"This is a topographical map of the entire city. If it falls into the hands of those with ill intentions, it could bring disaster to Misty City."

"Don't worry, most people wouldn't understand this anyway." Milan waved his hand, and Rod nodded slightly.

Once the deal was settled, Rhodes reached for the pouch at his waist and dumped out a bunch of things onto the table. Most of them were goblin ears, some wolf claws, and some miscellaneous monster materials he had collected while hunting monsters along the way. The quantity wasn't much, but at least he could exchange them for some bounty.

Unfortunately, the two-headed ogre was burned to ashes by them; otherwise, the two-headed monster could have been sold for a lot of money.

When the vice president saw the pile of low-value monster materials, he was slightly taken aback. He thought to himself, "This is a small matter like exchanging bounties. The receptionist on the first floor could handle it. Why bring it to me?"

In an instant, a thought crossed his mind, and a new speculation arose in his mind: Could it be that Hiro was using the pretext of exchanging materials to hint that he wanted to ask for the reward for this exploration mission?

He secretly pondered that the commission to trace the source of the monster's disturbance belonged to Milan, and the ranger in front of him was just an assistant hired by Milan. The deposit for the previous commission had already been paid.

But given Milan's protective and trusting attitude just now, settling only this small amount of monster bounty would be too stingy. Wouldn't that offend Milan and offend the Arcane Academy?

After a moment's thought, the vice president called over the servant outside the door. He first calculated the basic bounty based on the amount of monster materials, and then took out an extra bag of silver coins and pushed it in front of Rhodes as compensation for his hard work in exploring Thornwood Village and the mine.

"Please accept this extra subsidy; it's a small token of the guild's appreciation for the results of your investigation," the vice president said with a smile. He then politely inquired, "Any other needs? Weapons, supplies, or temporary provisions are all welcome."

Rhodes glanced down at the money on the table, quickly counted it, and then put it away. He shook his head and prepared to leave: "I don't need anything else. I'll be leaving now that we've finished talking."

As the group got up to leave the private room, Milan looked at Rod walking ahead and casually asked, "By the way, where should I look for you later? Leave me your address."

Upon hearing this, Rod paused, his steps faltering slightly.

He had originally planned to go straight home, but then he suddenly remembered that the cemetery cottage where he usually lived had been mostly destroyed and leveled during his previous conflict with Aphrodite.

Although the house is fine, with the Holy Light Church's investigation and Lucius's commission, the corpse collector Rhodes is probably still missing and it's not convenient for him to show his face.

In other words, he currently has nowhere to stay.

Seeing that Rod remained silent for a while, Milan asked softly again, "What's wrong? Is it inconvenient for you to say?"

Rod lowered his eyes, his tone muffled: "I'm planning to move recently, but I haven't decided where to stay yet."

Milan was taken aback by his words, but she didn't press him for the reason for changing accommodations. She immediately suggested, "That's perfect. I'll talk to the guild and ask them to allocate that room to you. From now on, we'll be neighbors."

"I need to spend some time researching and purifying that ogre's magic core. If I need to find you along the way, we can meet anytime."

As soon as he finished speaking, Alina in the consciousness space hurriedly reminded Rhodes, "Don't agree to her! The secret of our ability to merge must not be exposed to others for long."

"With a mage like Milan living too close to you, over time she'll easily detect the mixed elven and human scents on you. It'll be too risky for me to reveal myself or for you to act alone!"

Rhodes also considered Alina's concerns and immediately declined, saying, "No need to trouble you."

Milan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded in understanding.

Everyone has their own habits and secrets, and she doesn't need to interfere with the other person just for the sake of convenience.

Thinking of this, Milan didn't feel disappointed or discouraged. She casually picked up a pen, wrote down an address, and handed it to him: "This is where I live. I'll probably be staying there for a while. If you need anything, just come here to find me."

"Hmm? Then if we want to see the wandering knight, does that mean we can only wait until the wandering knight comes to see Lady Milan?"

""

Don Quixote, who was standing nearby, leaned in and asked with a troubled expression.

Upon hearing this, Susanna pondered for a moment: "Speaking of which, wasn't our last meeting with Lord Hiro at the Fire and Steelsmith shop recommended by the guild? Perhaps Lord Hiro stays in that area, or even frequents that shop?"

Rhodes thought for a moment, then nodded.

He happened to be staying in a room provided by the blacksmith's shop with Aphrodite that day, so in a sense, Susanna wasn't wrong.

"We happen to need to repair our armor and greatsword these next few days, so why don't we go to that shop?" Don Quixote chuckled. "Who knows, we might even bump into the chivalrous knight."

Rod nodded slightly in agreement.

Outside the guild, the sun was setting, casting a warm red glow on the houses on both sides of the street. Most of the bustling vendors from the daytime had disappeared, and the evening breeze carried a faint scent of cooking smoke.

Milan, Susanna, and Don Quixote, along with Lily, were heading back to their lodgings to settle in.

Before parting, Lily clutched Rod's cloak tightly, her gray wolf ears drooping, her eyes filled with reluctance, her sharp little claws clinging to his clothes, unwilling to let go.

"I said why don't you just stay at my place?" Milan couldn't help but tease, seeing this scene. "Look, even Lily can't bear to part with you."

"Could it be that Ms. Milan is too lazy to take care of the child and wants to leave Lily to Lord Hiro to manage?" Susanna said quietly from the side.

"How could that be? Am I that kind of person?" Milan exclaimed in surprise.

Susanna remained silent, only turning her head to look at Don Quixote, and then back at her.

"Tsk, okay, I admit I'm a bit out of my depth with kids," Milan clicked her tongue in annoyance, then added, "But Lily isn't as boisterous as her, so taking care of her probably won't be too much trouble."

Rod glanced at her with narrowed eyes, then squatted down and gently pried open Lily's small hand that was gripping him.

"You need to cooperate with them. You can go home once you've recovered," Rod whispered.

"Does this really have to be removed?"

Lily touched her wolf face; the furry texture was different from the smooth skin of a human, and the pent-up power within made her feel exceptionally strong.

"Well, theoretically speaking, it's not necessarily true—" Rhodes paused, stroking his chin, before correcting himself under Alina's guidance, "Some people might be afraid of this part of you, and therefore won't dare to talk to you or play with you—in short, they'll be isolated?"

He tried his best to relay Alina's meaning in language that a child of that age could understand.

""

But what does that have to do with me?

Isn't it enough if you're willing?

"Don't worry, you're safe with them," Rod said, looking at her still silent and uneasy. "I'll come to see you when I have time."

"Um.

Lily pursed her lips, hesitated for a long time, and then slowly retreated to Susanna and the others, looking back at him every few steps.

Rhodes stood alone at the street corner, watching the group get into the carriage and gradually disappear from sight. He silently breathed a sigh of relief, then walked towards the Fire and Steelsmith's shop.

Don Quixote and Susanna's words reminded him that when he parted ways with Aphrodite, he had said that if he wanted to find her, he should wait for her around the Fire and Steelworks.

He had nowhere to stay for the time being, so he decided to go there and ask when the cemetery would be restored so he could go home sooner.

Of course, Rhodes wanted to take advantage of the meeting to see if he could further improve the support capabilities provided by the other party.

After all, he hasn't triggered [Silver Light Sharp Words] yet.

The setting sun cast several shadows of varying lengths on his figure. Rhodes adjusted the cloth bag containing silver coins at his waist, turned around, and slowly walked towards the block where the Fire and Steelsmith's shop was located.

As the setting sun cast its last rays on the bluestone pavement, Rod strolled slowly through the streets and alleys where the stalls were gradually closing up. A heavy thought weighed on his mind, making his steps exceptionally slow.

After all, he still had a task to complete.

It was Lucius's request to find the missing corpse collector, Rhodes.

The person has been "found," but the problem now is how this adventurer, Hiro, can find himself and then smoothly deliver himself to the other party.

At that time, he only thought about agreeing first and then figuring out a way after everything calmed down, so as not to make the other party worry all day long and run around looking for his whereabouts.

But when it came to actually facing Lucius, he found himself in a dilemma, unable to come up with any suitable words.

Hero and Rhodes are the same person; it is impossible for the two identities to appear before Lucius at the same time.

If he were to be straightforward, he would have to reveal the secret of his ability to merge with Alina and change his appearance; but if he deliberately concealed it, it would only make Lucius more and more anxious in the long run, causing him to ask people to search everywhere and creating unnecessary trouble.

Along the way, he repeatedly rehearsed his story in his mind, sometimes thinking of lying that he had met the missing Rod outside, and that Rod was just away on a long trip to avoid trouble.

Then he considered making up a story, saying that Rod had encountered a misfortune and had left for another place, and would not return to the city for a while, but that didn't seem to make sense either.

However, every explanation was full of flaws upon closer examination, and he always felt that if Lucius asked a few more questions, he would be exposed immediately.

The fact that we didn't run into Lucius in the guild earlier actually gave him some breathing room, so he didn't have to rush into a confrontation.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, planning to find Aphrodite first, deal with the cemetery restoration and the improvement of support capabilities, and then calmly ponder a comprehensive explanation before going to Lucius to bring up the matter.

Amidst my chaotic thoughts, the sounds of forging from the blacksmith shops along the street gradually became clearer, and the air was filled with the smells of iron filings, charcoal, and machine oil. The wooden signboard of the fire and steel shop was already in sight.

Da da—

When they were still a few dozen steps away from the blacksmith's shop, Rod suddenly stopped and instinctively hid in the corner of the wall where old wooden barrels were piled up, his eyes fixed on the familiar figure in the distance.

It's Lucius! What's he doing here?!

The knights who should have been on duty at the Holy Light Church were not wearing their standard silver-white holy armor today, but rather loose and simple casual clothes, with their hair casually tied back.

He still had that carefree and nonchalant attitude.

With his hands in his pockets, he paced back and forth around the blacksmith's shop, glancing at the passersby every now and then, muttering something under his breath. He seemed more like an idle playboy than a knight of the Papacy.

Confirming that the other party was not looking in his direction, Rhodes lowered his body, using the wooden barrel to completely conceal his figure, and felt a headache coming on.

He was already worried about how to deal with the missing person request and didn't plan to meet Lucius so soon. For now, he could only hide and wait for the other party to leave before taking action.

"What's your friend doing here?" Alina in the consciousness space couldn't help but feel nervous.

"I don't know." Rod remained silent.

—Did he find out?

This question appeared in both of their minds simultaneously.

However, what Elina was nervous about was that the exposure of her and Rhodes' secret of their fusion would attract the pursuit of a powerful force like the Holy Light Church.

As for Rod, he was more worried about how to face his friends who cared about him after his lies were exposed.