"Nina was kidnapped nearby?"

"Exactly, I don't know how it happened, but suddenly I couldn't control my body. A man and a woman just took Nina away."

"No one would believe that if you said it out loud!"

It hadn't been long since Ronald stepped out of the villa when he heard anxious voices up ahead.

He looked at the child he was cradling in his arms.

"..."

It seemed he could spare the time to look for her family now.

With a plan in mind, Ronald headed straight toward the source of the voices.

In front of a small market selling frozen pickles in a residential area, a group of two men and one woman were talking nervously.

Then, they spotted Ronald at the end of the street, along with the child he was holding.

"It's Nina!"

"Damn it, put her down now!"

Among the group of two men and one woman, one person cursed while the other two charged at Ronald.

They obviously thought Ronald was one of the church fellows who had kidnapped the child.

Their naked hostility was completely unmasked.

"Gentlemen, you've got it all wrong..."

Naturally, Ronald tried to explain.

But the two who rushed him weren't interested in listening; they aimed punches at his head as they approached.

"Ah..."

For an ordinary person, the other man's fighting skills were indeed quite decent.

But they didn't stand a chance against Ronald.

With a child still in his arms, Ronald dodged the first person's attack, then caught the second person's fist with one hand.

"You... aargh!"

The man whose fist was caught was stunned at first, then cried out in pain.

Ronald, who had caught his fist, moved swiftly behind him and used a simple joint lock to secure him.

Seeing one of their companions quickly restrained by Ronald, the remaining woman panicked.

"Dawn!"

However, it was the man restrained by Ronald who yelled to stop her:

"Clara, don't come any closer!"

"This man is dangerous!"

"..."

Upon hearing the warning, the woman immediately calmed down, and the standoff continued in front of the market.

Ronald surveyed his surroundings.

A few people on Entrode Street had their gaze drawn by the skirmish, but because it was over quickly, it didn't cause much commotion.

"Could the three of you listen to my explanation?"

"I just rescued this child from the civilian church back there, I'm not the one who took her away."

"..."

Ronald didn't expect to clear things up with just a few words.

However, upon hearing his statement, the man he restrained immediately shouted to his companions:

"Selyier, is this guy the one who took away Nina?"

The other man immediately responded:

"He wasn't among that man and woman!"

"Don't let your guard down, Dawn!"

Getting a response from his companion, the man locked by Ronald quietly asked:

"You're a wizard, aren't you?"

"Oh?" Ronald raised an eyebrow, "You can tell?"

Ronald was very confident in his own perceptive abilities.

If the parties involved had simply exchanged glances from afar, that would have been one thing, but now he was almost pressing his body against the other, locking him in place, and yet he hadn't detected any Magic Fluctuations emanating from the man in front of him.

An ordinary person completely devoid of any Spell capabilities.

Could this man have recognized his identity as a Caster from the brief scuffle just now?

Interesting.

At the same time, the confidence in the voice of the man Ronald had locked up began to grow:

"Sir, I think I understand that there has been a misunderstanding."

"When Selyier described his condition earlier, I guessed that it must have been a Wizard who had taken Nina away. There's no reason for a kidnapper to return to the vicinity of the crime scene."

"That you were able to rescue Nina from the hands of the Wizard, and even come here."

"It's fairly obvious what the truth of the matter is."

"..."

Hearing this string of analysis, Ronald let go of the man:

"Most of what you've guessed isn't wrong. The next time something like this happens, it's better to analyze the situation calmly before taking action."

Clearing up the misunderstanding, Ronald handed the child he was holding to the man.

In the past few minutes, he had already removed the Spell residue from the child's body. Watching as two men and a woman began to check the child's condition, Ronald was about to leave.

"Sir, please wait a moment!"

The man named Dawn called out to Ronald.

"We're truly sorry about the misunderstanding just now. If you don't mind, could we offer our apologies in some way?"

"..."

Ronald paused in his steps, tilting his head up to look at the sky.

Although a lot had just happened, there was still plenty of time left.

Rather than continuing to wander the streets of Waterfall City, chatting with these interesting folks seemed like a nice idea.

Ronald then nodded and said:

"Of course, that's no problem."

...

Walking along with the two men and a woman, Ronald suddenly learned the reality of the child's abduction.

The child, named Nina, was actually the daughter of the owner of the inn where Dawn and his companions were staying. Today, Selyier had planned to buy some dry food at the market and had coincidentally left the inn with Nina.

At the market, they encountered the two Casters Ronald had knocked down earlier, and Nina was naturally taken away right in front of them.

Stepping out of the inn with the innkeeper's daughter, and then the child was gone just like that.

Not to mention their moral duty, the three of them couldn't possibly shirk their responsibility, which is why they had been investigating at the market just now.

But sometimes things just happen to coincide.

Ronald, who had just left the villa, heard their arguments and directly brought Nina with him to this place.

The three's way of apologizing to Ronald was quite simple.

— Inviting him out to dine.

After sending Nina back to the inn, the four of them went to a nice lakeside restaurant in Waterfall City.

The restaurants in Entrode were also very special.

Here, the dining environment wasn't like Gride with a very obvious European style, but rather used long pine boards as seats where people could even lazily lie on them as if they were bed planks.

And in the center, surrounded by the four long boards.

Was a slightly elevated square table covered with brightly colored food, but the scent was comparatively faint.

At the edge of the restaurant, a tranquil lake reflected the winter sun.

Everything around was so leisurely and comfortable.

When Ronald took his seat, he noticed long cigarette holders leaning against the sides of the boards.

In the land of Entrode, these were amenities usually only enjoyed by the upper class. Ordinary people from Entrode, with their income, could never afford such places.

"Sir, please allow us to introduce ourselves."

As the four settled into their seats, the apparent leader of the trio, Dawn, began:

"I'm Dawn Lyle, a history professor at George University."

"This is Selyier Black, who is currently on a round-the-world trip."

"Clara Set, a global news reporter for 'New Horizon Weekly.'"

"We came to Entrode because there's a nearby ruin being prepared for development, so we came over to help out."

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