Two Days Later;
Somewhere in the East Region of Azure Country;
Inside a large mansion;
A man wearing silver-plated armor lowered to his right knee and spoke.
"Lord, Moris Brothers have not returned yet. I am afraid he has been captured."
"So what? That guy is just a Rank One hunter." A man sitting on a large chair, holding the waist of two beautiful women, spoke with a disdainful look.
His face was slightly darker with a toned body.
"Should we send more of our men to complete his job?" The man wearing silver-plated armor asked.
"Lenard, how many times do I have to say this? If you fail at a certain place, just abandon it."
"Leaving behind clues will only cause more trouble for us. I am pretty sure those trashes have been killed."
"But if we send more people, they will start capturing those hunters. Although they won't reveal anything, information can be traced."
The man sitting on the chair spoke.
"Yes, Lord!"
He nodded and disappeared from his kneeling position.
On the other hand, the man in the chair laughed.
"Now, ladies! Why don't we go to my bed?"
...…..
Several Kilometers away from the Eternal Forest, there was a small tent. Inside the tent, Tyler was sleeping on the ground.
"It has been two days. When will Lord wake up?" Liam asked while sitting on a stone next to the tent.
"His condition has stabilized. Thankfully, Lord had given me some of those Soul Bills."
"His mental energy is recovering. His body suffered serious damage. Most of his cells were starting to absorb his life force to sustain his life."
"Thankfully, it was only temporary, and his cells have started to heal themselves. He should wake up by tomorrow."
Rose replied. Her eyes were red as if she had barely slept.
And, John's words proved them as he spoke.
"Rose, you should get some sleep. I am also Second Rank. I can guard him."
Rose didn't want to agree, but her situation was truly horrible. On top of the mental exhaustion she had, she still forced herself to stay awake.
It was through her sheer Willpower.
She couldn't understand why her Lord took such risks for two fruits.
They could've searched in a different place, and they would still have found those fruits.
So, why risk it all?
She couldn't blame him either. No matter what her Lord decided, she would never blame him.
But the thought of losing him terrified her. So much so that she hadn't slept for two days.
"Listen, Rose, if you don't sleep, Lord will get worried once he wakes up. He is already in serious condition. Do you still want to have him be worried?"
John, knowing the weakness of Rose, immediately shouted when she didn't listen.
His words did cause her to falter. She went to the tent and fell asleep next to him.
She wanted to hold him, but she was worried she would cause some problems with his injuries.
She had tried her best with Blood Healing, but some injuries still didn't heal so easily.
On the other hand, Jacob looked at John and asked.
"John, why did Lord take such a huge risk? I don't understand this. Why would he risk his life for two fruits?"
He clenched his fist, angry but not knowing what with him.
He couldn't blame his lord, but at the same time, he wanted to scold him for taking such risks.
So, he could only ask someone more experienced than him.
And, truthfully, John did understand Tyler, even more than Rose, who had spent a whole year with him.
At this moment, John looked at Jacob and the others.
"Do you know about kidnapping cases that have been happening in the city?"
Their eyes darkened when they heard that.
As the avid followers of Tyler, they respected his rules and ideology. Having a servant wasn't a bad thing.
As long as they were treated like workers.
But there was another form of servant in this world. They were called slaves.
Unlike with servants, slaves weren't given a proper form of work. They weren't given wages. They were only exploited for the benefits.
They were bought and sold like commodities.
For them, it was normal.
After all, slavery had existed as long as they could remember.
But Tyler wasn't like that. He was a true hater of slavery. So, he made the rules to make sure his citizens would never get involved in slavery.
Unfortunately, an incident of kidnapping happened one after another, and they hadn't found the culprit.
"What does that have to do with this?"
John replied.
"Lord has another powerful individual, and my daughter has become a Rank Hunter."
"He knows that once he leaves, the perpetrator of this kidnapping incident wouldn't miss this opportunity to do his business."
"And, so, he originally planned to keep me behind. To make sure he can capture those people working with the perpetrator."
At this moment, Martin's eyes widened as he said.
"Lord wants to find the kidnappers and destroy them."
John nodded.
"That's his plan. But at the same time, he also knows the problem that will come with his action."
At this moment, Liam spoke.
"Those traffickers are connected to hundreds if not thousands of nobles. If Lord does destroy them, those nobles will send armies of hunters against him."
He clenched his fist and continued.
"Lord knows his actions could lead to the destruction of the city. That's why he is taking such risks. So that he can grow stronger, strong enough to fight those people."
"And...we have been hiding behind him."
John shook his head and said.
"You don't have to blame yourself, Liam. Lord has always told me this. Not all people are born equal. That's why life is so interesting."
"He is born with greater talent than we. So, he will be bearing more pressure than we. That's his choice, and we need to respect it."
Jacob looked at John and asked.
"Do you truly believe that? Do you really want to do nothing?"
John was startled by his outburst, but he understood him. He looked away, without answering.
But these three people got the answer.
He wasn't. Nor were they.
Tyler gave them a new life. He gave their family protection.
They knew if Tyler abandoned the city, nobody could question him.
He helped them survive, and that was already something nobody would do for them.
But they knew Tyler wouldn't abandon.
And that's the problem.
Tyler had his likes and dislikes. But he was tied to the city. If he did something based on his likes and dislikes, his city might not be able to bear the consequences.
If he were alone, Tyler could simply move around the countries, hunting down every single human auction and trafficker.
But he wasn't.
Tyler was tied to his city, and this was a restriction. Either he stayed silent, trying to change himself to become accustomed to slavery.
Or, he risked the destruction of his city.
Tyler didn't want both options. So, he chose the third option.
Get stronger! Strong enough that his opinions would become law.
That was the strength he wanted to achieve.
As long as he was strong enough, he could protect his city from everything. And that's why he took such risks.
They knew it, but they couldn't do anything about it.
They could neither help him nor stop him.
All they could do was curse their own lack of strength.
"Doing nothing will not help. I am going to find a Monster to fight." Liam said as he stood up.
"Wait, are you trying to die?" Martin scolded him.
"Don't worry, I am not trying to die. I will only stay at the outskirts of the Eternal Forest."
Liam said. He meant it. Until the day he would die for his Lord, he wouldn't die.
But John couldn't let him be so careless.
He looked at Martin and Jacob.
"What are you sitting here for? Keep an eye on him!"
He didn't want to stop the passion of the young man. But he couldn't let Liam go alone.
"But what about?" Jacob looked at the tent and hesitated.
"I am a Second Rank Hunter. Do you think you can do a better job than I?" John rolled his eyes.
Then, he looked at Martin and said.
"And you too. With your Second Rank strength, they will be much safer. Our city only has seven hunters. I don't want to lose anyone."
Martin had no choice but to follow.
As they left, John looked at the tent and slowly raised his head towards the bright sky.
"Why Khalim? If you have the courage to do evil, why don't you have the courage to follow our Lord into a battle?"
"Aren't you just trying to prove our Lord right? Are humans innately evil?"
He shook his head and said.
"No, no, we just follow our desires. Unfortunately, your desire goes against my Lord's."