"Firstly, it's because the wounds on the bandits are very similar to those on the beasts you killed in the small town, and such wounds have never appeared on the continent before; secondly, it's because of Alice. Our mercenary group has already investigated where the Raven Bandit Group captured so many girls, and we naturally know Alice's background. With these two points, we can confirm that you killed those bandits disguised as soldiers," Linny analyzed.
I didn't expect it to be like this. It seems I left quite a few clues! I should be more careful in the future.
What I didn't know was that although they knew I eradicated the bandit group, they didn't know the true strength of the bandit group.
But since they saw through me, I had no reason to hide. Shaking my head, I said, "Alright! I admit your intelligence gathering is outstanding! But even if I wiped out the bandit group, that doesn't mean I have to join your mercenary group!"
"That's because you don't yet know our mercenary group's purpose. Unlike ordinary mercenary groups, the Alliance Mercenary Group wasn't established just to complete mercenary tasks."
Linny explained:
"Ever since the Church, the Elven Queen, and the Beast Emperor signed the peace agreement five hundred years ago, elves and orcs have been free to roam the continent without being hunted by humans like before. However, initially, many slave traders continued to capture and sell elves and orcs, so this agreement was essentially ineffective. At that time, the first Sword God of the continent, Bill, had always been friendly with elves and orcs. When he discovered this issue, he united some top experts among the elves and orcs to establish the Alliance Mercenary Group, aiming to protect the interests of elves and orcs on the continent. Over the past five hundred years, we have completed numerous missions to eliminate bandit groups and rescue abducted humans, elves, and orcs, which is quite similar to what you've been doing recently. That's why we think you would join our mercenary group."
Actually, I didn't dislike the Alliance Mercenary Group. Moreover, Chief Kalle had once asked me to take care of the elves if I had the chance, so I had long intended to join their group. It was best they brought it up first, so after a brief consideration, I said, "I can join. However, I won't stay with you unless there are extremely difficult tasks. Otherwise, don't call me. In exchange, I hope you can provide me with information when needed because I'm not familiar with many things in the human world."
"Ordinary information is fine, but if it involves internal affairs of the mercenary group or classified information about the elves and orcs, it cannot be disclosed! Moreover, your condition seems…" Linny said hesitantly.
I smiled and interrupted her, "At most, I just want to know some information about certain countries."
"I agree to your conditions on behalf of the Alliance Mercenary Group and welcome you to join!" Alpha, who had been silent, suddenly said, startling Linny who was about to speak. She looked at him in surprise and said, "But such conditions are entirely unreasonable!"
Alpha looked at me, then at the little feather on my shoulder, with an inquisitive look. Knowing he was asking if I could reveal the identity of my pet, I shrugged indifferently and nodded.
He then said to Linny, "Not to mention his strength, just the fact that his pet is a holy light beast deserves such special treatment."
Apparently, having a holy beast as a pet was unimaginable, so both Anthony and Linny were shocked and speechless as they looked at me. I awkwardly touched my nose and said, "I've always said I'm very lucky!"
Thus, the matter was settled. As the captain of the mercenary group's sword division, Anthony had the authority to recruit members directly, so the formalities were quickly completed.
During the process, I discovered that my mercenary rank had already reached C level, likely because I completed the small town defense task, thus upgrading my rank.
It seems that advancing in mercenary ranks isn't difficult! I thought to myself.
Since I had become a member of the mercenary group, I naturally didn't hold back and immediately requested a carriage from them, along with some information about the Os Empire. I informed them that I would leave the next day as I had to rush to Osdelle.
The night passed without incident. The next morning, I woke up early and exited the tent.
It was still early, the sky hadn't fully brightened, but many people were already in the camp. The elves were leisurely strolling in the morning forest, some even jumping onto tree branches and singing passionately toward the rising sun.
I walked toward Linny, who was taking a stroll, and greeted loudly, "Good morning! The elves wake up very early!"
Linny replied with a smile, "Good morning! You're up early too."
I smiled and said, "Yesterday, the elves still looked so lethargic, but today they're already so spirited."
Linny looked at me curiously and said, "Don't you know? They were merely deprived of their magic. Once their magic recovers, they can naturally move freely."
"Oh, I didn't know. In fact, I can say I know nothing about magic."
Of course, I wasn't really ignorant of magic. It's just that in human form, I couldn't mobilize my magical power, which made my sense of magic very poor.
However, when I used the energy from the dragon crystal, I was a light and wood mage on par with the Magic God, except I hadn't learned wood magic yet.
Thinking of my wood attribute, I suddenly remembered that the elves excelled in wood magic, so I quickly asked, "Can you teach me wood magic?"
Linny looked at me curiously and said, "Wood magic is different from other types of magic. It requires the caster to have a high affinity for natural elements, meaning the caster must have a wood attribute. This attribute is basically non-existent among humans, so even if I wanted to teach, I couldn't. Why do you want to learn wood magic?"
I smiled and said, "In fact, I have both light and wood attributes, so I want to learn wood magic. However, for some reason, I have always been unable to learn magic, not even the simplest level-one spells, so I want to try wood magic."
"Hehe, you're already such a powerful swordsman, why bother learning magic!"
Linny said with a smile:
"There has always been a saying about the extreme barrier between magic and martial arts on the continent. The stronger the swordsman, the harder it is to learn magic, and vice versa. So dual cultivation of magic and martial arts has always been just a legend."
"Although over thousands of years, people have continuously tried to break the magic-martial barrier, they have all failed in the end. According to legend, the magic-martial barrier is a restriction set by the Creator for all races, with only the favored gods, demons, and the powerful dragons being exempt."
"Even though there is a profession of magic swordsman on the continent, the strongest magic swordsman has only reached the level of a great swordsman. Although stronger than a pure great swordsman or a pure great mage, they are still inferior to holy-level experts. So, given your current level of combat aura, learning magic is simply impossible."
I dared not tell her I was a dragon and came from another world, where the magic-martial barrier didn't apply to me. Since I couldn't learn other magic now, there was no rush to learn wood magic. It could wait until I visited the elven forest later.
Thinking of this, I merely smiled slightly and said no more. Honestly, the elves were all handsome men and beautiful women. Watching so many beautiful elven women wandering around was truly a delightful sight.
Soon, Philiya and Alice also came out of the tent. After a night's rest, Philiya looked radiant, clearly pleased with my decision yesterday. Little Alice's eyes had become lively and spirited, though the pain from her few days of captivity had not entirely disappeared, she seemed much better.
I flashed to little Alice's side and picked her up. Although we had only just found her yesterday, I had already grown very fond of Alice.
Just then, little Feather popped out of my arms. Sensing my feelings, Feather was not as distant from Alice as it was with others, playfully jumping onto her shoulder and chirping non-stop, seemingly complaining that I hadn't given it any roasted meat after using it yesterday.
Little Alice did not resist my embrace and was actually very happy.
However, when little Feather appeared, her attention immediately shifted to it, happily playing with it. Feather called out to me proudly, clearly pleased that its charm surpassed mine.
Holding little Alice, I said to Philiya, "Are you ready? We're leaving." Philiya nodded vigorously.
Turning to Linny, I said, "Thank you for the information. I'll be going now. Please bid farewell to the others for me. We'll probably meet next in Osdelle."
Linny said in surprise, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? At least stay for breakfast."
I smiled wryly and said, "No way! Someone is eagerly waiting for me to reward them. If I don't leave now, there might be trouble later."
Little Feather was excitedly hopping on Alice's shoulder, clearly eager for delicious roasted meat. I didn't want to barbecue in front of so many elves, so I had to leave early.
Placing Alice in the carriage, I was about to help Philiya in, but she had already seated herself in the driver's seat, determined to stay with me and not get into the carriage.
I smiled and didn't insist, jumping onto the carriage to sit beside her.
The faint fragrance constantly wafted over, and I was deeply entranced for a moment before firmly shouting, "Let's go!"