After accepting Randolph's proposal, Lux spent his days practicing blacksmithing, as well as going to the Figaro Gardens to help the Ants retrieve the bodies of insects slain by the Mosquitoes.
The Half-Elf's blacksmithing apprenticeship wasn't going smoothly. Until now, he still hadn't managed to forge anything decent. All of his attempts ended up in failure, but Randolph said it was all normal.
Seven days later, Lux returned to Leaf Village carrying some monster parts that he had obtained through the partnership he had with the Ants.
All in all, he earned sixteen new Beast Cores, bringing his total number to eighteen.
Just as soon as he arrived at the Plaza, he noticed a crowd of Dwarves, making him curious about what was happening.
Since he was taller than them, he effortlessly saw through the crowd and noticed a wounded Dwarf who was begging and clinging to Aron, the Guard Captain of Leaf Village, to help save her comrades.
At first, Lux didn't recognize her, but after hearing her constant pleading, her voice finally registered in his head.
"Helen?!" Lux shouted. "Please, let me through! That is my friend!"
The Dwarves made a path for him and the Half-Elf hurried over to the Dwarf girl who had turned her head to look in his direction.
"Big Brother!" Helen cried out. "Please! Help us! Colette and the others had been captured by the bandits!"
The little Dwarf tried to stand in order to run to Lux's direction, but she was seriously injured, so she was only able to take a few steps before her legs lost their strength, causing her to fall down on the ground.
However, just before Helen could completely fall, a pair of strong hands grabbed her and supported her body.
"Big Brother! Wuwuwu!" Helen cried out with snot and tears streaming on her face. "Save Colette and the others. Please! I beg you!"
Lux hurriedly took out a healing potion and poured it over Helen's body.
The little Dwarf ignored her injuries because the only thing on her mind was to go and seek help from Leaf Village in order to save her companions.
"Calm down," Lux said as he poured another health potion on the wounds on her body. "Tell me everything right from the start."
Helen gradually regained her clarity of mind as her injuries started to recover. She immediately told Lux about what had happened to the members of the Golden Slayer Party.
According to Helen, after their group left Lindow Village, the caravan traveled to the next village called Millwood Village.
Everything was going smoothly, but they were suddenly ambushed by dozens of Kobolds while they were camping to rest for the night. The bandit group was led by a Kobold Chieftain with Draconic Blood.
The leader's strength was the reason why the bandits managed to overwhelm the defenders. The Chieftain's strength was on par with an Alpha Beast's. The Kobolds heavily injured the defenders and killed a few of them.
Colette and her party mates were mostly injured, but their lives weren't in danger. Since Helen had been given a special teleport scroll by her family, she immediately used it to return to Leaf Village to ask for help.
After hearing the details of the incident, Aron frowned because this was not within the scope of his duties. First and foremost, he was the Guard Captain of Leaf Village. His duty was to ensure the Village's safety, not travel several miles to aid the Foreigners completing their rescue mission.
Suddenly, several Dwarves appeared and surrounded Lux and Helen.
"Was Master Robin also taken by those bandits?" a middle-aged Dwarf with blonde hair asked.
Helen nodded her head. "Robin was knocked unconscious by the Kobolds, but he wasn't killed by them. I used the teleport scroll when I was about to be captured by the Kobolds, so I don't know what happened after that."
The middle-aged Dwarf's expression became grim as he continued pressing Helen for more details.
"You were attacked between Lindow Village and Millwood Village, right?" the middle-aged Dwarf asked.
"Yes," Helen answered. "Please! Help save them! I beg of you!"
The middle-aged Dwarf nodded his head. "Don't worry. We will save Master Robin without fail."
The Dwarf then turned to one of his comrades and whispered something in his ear.
The middle-aged Dwarf's subordinate nodded his head and ran towards the North where the Goat Riders were stationed.
After getting all the details from Helen, the Dwarf and his subordinates left the scene, leaving Lux and the crying Helen behind.
"Big Brother! Please help us!" Helen sobbed in Lux's chest as the Half-Elf held her tight.
"I will," Lux replied. "I need some time to prepare. For the time being, come with me and rest at Grandma Annie's place. We will leave at sunset to rescue Colette and the others."
Helen nodded. Even though the healing potion had allowed her body to heal, her mental and emotional injury from what she had just experienced made her exhausted. For this reason, she completely lost all of the strength in her body and Lux had to carry her all the way to Grandma Annie's shop.
Fifteen minutes later, Lux laid the sleeping girl on the bed and sighed.
"I'm sure that Aron will not send any help for the little ones," Grandma Annie said as she sat on a chair. "This is outside of his duties. I'm sorry Lux, but don't expect any help from the Village."
"I understand, Grandma Annie," Lux answered. "Please, look after Helen for me. I will go and speak with Master Randolph for the time being."
"Okay." Grandma Annie nodded. "Leave her to me."
"Thank you."
"This is just a small matter, but are you really going to go and save those kids? A Draconian Kobold Chieftain is no easy opponent. Besides, he would definitely have strong lackeys that are all Rank 1 and Rank 2 Monsters."
Lux already knew about this, but he didn't care. Colette, Matty, Andy, Axel, and Helen, were his friends. He would be damned if he left them under the mercy of the kobold group.
Seeing his determined gaze, Grandma Annie only shook her head because she already knew the answer to her question.
Actually, she had already expected this to happen, but still felt sad because, in her eyes, Lux was merely going to throw his life away if he faced the bandit group alone.