You are all my wings!

The rally has ended.

In the end, Leon spent 32 gold coins on the Crying Doll Grass and 61 gold coins on the Kraken Core, for a total of 93 gold coins.

The remaining funds will be used to make the Minotaur's protective armor for tomorrow's craftsman. We need to prepare an additional 25 gold coins (a deposit of 25 gold coins has already been paid to the guild), as well as a budget of 15 gold coins for the maintenance of the magic sword.

Apart from some materials he still had, he only had 57 gold coins left from the money he earned this time.

Of course, if he were willing to sell the Enchanting Fairy, he would definitely have a lot more money in his pocket.

However, the Enchanting Fairy is extremely rare and highly sought after. Unless you're really short of money, there's no need to sell it.

Let's keep it for now. We can just use hypnotic powder to keep it asleep.

Monsters can basically survive indefinitely as long as they don't use magic.

Iris has returned as well. She spent 44 gold coins to buy two second-tier magic stones with no attributes.

One replaces the wand's original magic stone, and one is a spare.

This was a rare occasion for her to spend so lavishly.

Her explanation for this was:

"I've noticed that the probability of encountering powerful monsters has increased since I teamed up with you, Leon. This time in the dungeon, we encountered two powerful monsters, and one was a bewitching fairy that was comparable to a powerful monster. This shows that our ability to make money has improved, but so has our risk. So it's better to spend a little more, since we can earn it back later anyway."

This also reminded Lyon of something.

He felt that it wasn't that the probability of encountering powerful monsters increased after forming a team.

Rather, it was Iris's protagonist destiny that began to have an impact as she changed her original behavior pattern.

"Iris, now that you've replaced your magic stones and upgraded your equipment a little, I'll take you to meet your mother tonight."

"!!!"

Iris's eyes widened.

……

late at night.

The outer perimeter of the Prince's residence in the northern part of the capital.

Two figures darted quickly down the street at breakneck speed.

With an agility of 40 or higher, you can run like the wind.

"Iris, don't blame me if you break your habit of never staying out overnight again."

"Leon, thank you for your thoughtfulness. You don't need to make jokes to comfort me. I'm fine. It's just that the thought of seeing my mother soon makes me feel a little complicated."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that."

Lyon was afraid that Iris would become too emotional and lose her composure, so he chose to say something at this critical moment.

Hamra is in a bad situation now, and Iris will surely be furious if she sees him.

It could easily escalate into a major war.

Therefore, Lyon only planned to act quietly and take Hamra away safely.

The two stopped behind a tree on the outskirts of a prince's residence.

"This is the residence of Prince Abraham, the sixteenth brother of King Horshah IX. Your mother is imprisoned in the dungeon. Don't ask why she was imprisoned; I don't know the reason. Our mission now is to rescue her."

The reason this sixth-tier expert is imprisoned is most likely not because the enemy is strong, but because she herself has a problem. Her strength is reduced to a hundred percent, and she is currently in a coma and unable to wake up.

Prince Abraham is a seventh-tier legendary swordsman, renowned as the number one swordsman in the Kingdom of Horsha.

His most famous achievement was defeating two orc legends one-on-two eighty years ago, successfully preventing an impending border war with the orc kingdom.

But it's really hard to figure out his motives for imprisoning Hamra.

Leon could tell that Iris was very emotionally unstable, so he put one hand on her shoulder and said:

“I’ve investigated. Prince Abraham returned to his territory last week with a large number of men, so the internal security isn’t very tight right now. With my skills, it’s very easy for me to sneak in. Next, I need you to go to the west gate of the manor and cast the Light of Radiance spell several times in a row to attract the guards’ attention. Then, as soon as you see me move, immediately return to your own manor and wait for me to join you. Understand?”

"Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless at the crucial moment."

"very good."

The two quickly began to act.

Although it was the residence of a legendary prince, fortunately, none of the experts were there.

Otherwise, Bisji wouldn't have been able to successfully infiltrate and find Hamra.

Coincidentally, Leon had also ventured into Abraham's mansion several times during his previous life's gaming experiences, and was quite familiar with its layout.

Chapter 52 Hamra

2 points in the early hours.

Iris's mansion.

As a diplomat sent from the Holy Land of the Elves, she naturally received certain preferential treatment.

This mansion was a large house gifted by King Horshav IX. It has 12 bedrooms and 4 living rooms, with wide corridors, huge rooms, and exquisite furnishings.

The front yard is lush with greenery, and flowers and plants along the high wall encompass a vast space.

The high walls were also equipped with detection, interception, and defense magic, making them quite advanced.

At this moment, Iris, dressed in a magic robe and holding a magic wand, stood at the door, waiting nervously.

Thirty minutes had passed since she used the Light of Radiance spell at the west gate of Prince Abraham's mansion to attract the guards' attention.

She knew she didn't have any stealth or stealth skills and couldn't interfere with Leon.

Suppressing the urge to act together, she immediately returned to the meeting place after completing the task Leon had assigned her.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to Lyon."

"But he's never made a mistake, so he should be fine, right? Abraham himself isn't here, and all the experts have been taken away, so he should be safe, right?"

As she waited in vain for news, she grew increasingly anxious.

She even felt guilty at one point. She had only known Leon for less than three weeks. What would she do if something happened to him because of her?

Amidst a mix of emotions, she finally saw ahead a figure rushing forward like a shadow.

It was Lyon!

Iris breathed a sigh of relief, and her expression immediately brightened.

At that moment, she was unaware that she felt a sense of relief the instant she saw Leon, even before she saw her mother, Hamra.

The running figure gradually became clear.

Leon, carrying a slender figure with light blue hair and draped in a magic robe, leaped in front of Iris in a few bounds.

"Don't wait outside, go inside and hide. Although my actions are covert, we can't be careless until we're safe."

call out!!!!

Leon carried Hamra and rushed into the Iris mansion.

The operation went smoothly. With the attention of many guards diverted, he used Shadow Leap to sneak in and easily infiltrate the loosely guarded dungeon, bringing Hamra out without making a sound.

Iris followed and saw Hamra, who was being carried horizontally by Leon, her body limp and unconscious, at the door.

This pure-blooded elf's face was almost indistinguishable from that of a human woman in her early twenties; she was essentially a mature version of Iris.

Her cheekbones were slightly wider than Iris's youthful beauty, and there were faint tear stains at the corners of her eyes. Her eyes were slightly sunken, giving her a more mature and glamorous look, as well as a sense of fragmentation from her coma and the weariness of being trapped by something for a long time.

Her light blue short hair was loose and disheveled, her skin was like porcelain, and her figure was well-proportioned.

Even with her eyes closed, she still possesses an extraordinary and refined aura.

At first glance, there are no visible injuries, only marks from the shackles on the hands and feet.

But strangely, his aura was clearly not as strong as that of an ordinary person.

Generally speaking, the higher the level of a powerful individual, the deeper and longer their breathing will be due to the improvement in their attributes and the strength of their physique.

Hamra, however, was noticeably short and frequent, suggesting some serious internal damage.

Following Iris's instructions, Leon laid Hamra across the soft bed in an empty room.

"Iris, don't you have any servants to take care of your daily life?"

"I'm not used to being taken care of; I usually handle things on my own."

"Then what about taking care of your mother? Judging from her condition, even your Light Healing Magic might not be able to cure her."

Leon had never tried using his water healing magic.

Because Hamra's condition was clearly not an external injury, but a serious illness, or even most likely a curse.

Even a sixth-tier expert has become so weak; this cannot be explained by injuries or serious illness.

This also reminded Lyon of Hamra's impending fall from grace on Easter Sunday, two months later, and the two events were clearly causally related.

Perhaps she had been fighting against some kind of curse all along, until something was triggered on Easter, or she reached her limit and finally fell completely.

As for the strange Hamra that Iris saw earlier, it was probably because he was severely disturbed by the curse.

A basic water healing spell won't be enough to save this.

While light healing is powerful, its main purpose is to activate life potential and strengthen vitality.

A basic Light Healing spell is unlikely to be able to clear away this kind of curse that even a sixth-tier spell cannot suppress.

"You'll know once you try."

Iris waved her wand, magic gathered, and she began to chant.

A flash of white light landed on Hamra.

Her breathing became even more rapid, as if her respiratory organs had been punctured, and her face showed a struggling and painful expression, as if she was enduring some unspeakable pain, but she just couldn't wake up.

Leon quickly pulled Iris away:

"It seems to be a curse, and a type of curse that naturally responds to healing spells."

"So that means we can't use healing spells rashly? What do we do now?"

Seeing Hamra's pained expression, Iris felt both anxious and guilty.

"Judging from your mother's condition, she should be able to hold on for a while, but probably only two months at most. Iris, there are two options now."

Leon held up two fingers to attract Iris's attention:

"First, you need to learn the intermediate Light Healing and Light Purification spells as soon as possible. These two spells should work together. Second, find someone with skills related to removing curses to help you. For the former, you need to advance your rank as soon as possible, while for the latter, there is currently hope..."

"Brietta?"

After Lyon, Iris uttered the name that she subconsciously regarded as her nemesis.

Lyon nodded: "It seems you thought of that too."

Britta, a Holy Prayer, can invoke divine power and is perfectly capable of breaking this curse.

Iris took a deep breath and said slowly:

"I'll try to advance my rank as soon as possible and master the intermediate-level Light Healing and Purification spells. As for Britta, I'll take care of her..."

Leon grasped Iris's hand and said:

“Iris, don’t rush to find her, because we can’t be sure why Hamra was imprisoned by Prince Abraham. Since the cause of this incident is uncertain, it’s not good to rashly ask outsiders for help. If the person you ask is a potential enemy, it will only harm your mother.”

"That……"

"Let's find an opportunity to test Britta later. She just told me that there will be training in a week."

Lyon explained in detail the selection process for the paladins.

This is a good opportunity to bring Iris over to help. I'm currently lacking upgrade items for Shadow Walker and Elemental Mage. Moreover, it's proven that it's easy to increase favorability through dungeon adventures. I should press my advantage and max out Iris's favorability as soon as possible.

It's not certain whether Britta and Hamra are involved, as this is before the main storyline begins, and he doesn't have much information about it.

[Side Quest "Fallen Dark Elf" Completion +20%, Current Completion 35%]

The side quest progress has increased, but Iris's affection level has not increased at all.