Chapter 289: Two Groups of Robbers

"You old witch, that’s a load of crap—" The moment the Beastman Priest spoke, the centaurs erupted. "We saw you beastmen charging into those villages!"

"My Lord, surely you know what beastmen are like! They’re trying to defend the indefensible!" The furious Zandia struggled to raise her upper body, crying out in protest to Ron.

"Enough!" Ron, his mind in turmoil from the sudden news, was in no mood to listen to their debate. "Klade, take some men and keep them under guard. The rest of you, with me! We need to hurry back!"

"Jilannis, can you use high-level Arcane Magic to teleport us directly to the trade post?"

"Since I’ve never been to your trade post, I can’t pinpoint the location," Jilannis began to explain. But seeing the look on Ron’s face, she quickly added, "But don’t worry. It’ll still be much faster than walking."

Jilannis’s method was simple: she would just need to send out her scouting Magic Pet again to determine the trade post’s coordinates. Then, she could teleport up to eight willing creatures to a designated location on the same plane.

For an ordinary Caster, the chance of successfully teleporting to a location they had only seen once was little better than teleporting to one they had only heard described. With Jilannis, however, the probability of a successful teleport was far greater.

By early the next morning, with a powerful surge of energy, a yawning Jilannis appeared not far from the trade post, along with Ron’s team and their two prisoners, the Beastman Priest and Zandia. The six members of Ron’s team had all teleported before, and the Beastman Priest remained surprisingly composed. Only the young centaur leader began to vomit her guts out the moment her feet touched the ground.

Although centaurs, like goblins, originated in the Fairy Wilderness, that was ancient history. For Zandia, born and raised in the Gobi, the most powerful magic she had ever heard of was likely a Beastman Priest’s Curse. An Arcane Magic spell that could teleport so many people at once was utterly unheard of, to say nothing of experiencing it firsthand.

"I was going to say we were a little off target," Silvia said, stepping away from the vomiting centaur in disgust. "But now, it seems perfect."

"Forget that! Let’s hurry back and see!"

Jilannis used Arcane Magic to levitate the centaur while Ron and the others raced toward the trade post. The moment they entered the courtyard, a five-to-six-meter-long black shadow lunged at the group, its razor-sharp teeth nearly tearing a chunk of flesh from Ron.

Ron hastily threw up a shield, knocking the attacker back. It was only when the creature was thrown to the ground by the recoil that he got a clear look at his assailant.

"Dammit, Aiksuuri, what’s gotten into you!" Aive yelped, quickly pulling Ron behind her and frowning at the young Black Dragon that had inexplicably attacked them.

"You’re... Huh?!" The one that had just tried to bite Ron was none other than Aiksuuri. The young dragon scrambled back to his feet, intending to attack again, but leaped in surprise after getting a clear look at their faces. "It’s you! You’re finally back!"

"What are you doing here?" Ron peered into the trade post. It was eerily quiet. "Where is everyone? Rurik? Lavinia?"

"Teacher and the old Mage took Lavinia and Buni away. They’re in New Green Swamp Town; they’ll be safe there," Aiksuuri said quickly. "The other residents were taken there too."

"Your trade post and the nearby villages have been attacked by several groups of bandits recently. Andre’s militia and I are patrolling the area now to prevent them from circling back to attack again. Andre and his men just left on patrol. Should I call them back?"

"No, just let them continue their duties," Ron said with a wave of his hand. "What about the others? You only mentioned Lavinia and Buni. Was anyone hurt?"

"I... I don’t know." Aiksuuri hesitated before finally shaking his head.

"You don’t know?! What do you mean, you don’t know!" Delaford shot to his feet. "Spit it out! The suspense is killing me!"

"It means I don’t know!" the young Black Dragon roared, stamping his feet. "Rurik and that crippled consultant were taken! Annie went to get help from us and they caught her on the way!"

"Luckily, that consultant used some kind of magic to turn the ground into a living thing, which trapped the bandits long enough for Annie to escape and come warn us!"

Aiksuuri paced anxiously on the ground. "Teacher and the old Mage already went looking for them. They told me and Andre’s militia to guard this place and wait for you to come back... but it’s been almost a week now, and there’s still no word from them!"

’No word...’ Ron’s headache worsened. ’The Gold Dragon and Mazarino are no weaklings, and they have plenty of tricks up their sleeves. For them to be gone this long, even if they aren’t in mortal danger, they’ve definitely run into serious trouble.’

"Aiksuuri, what do you know about the bandits who attacked?"

"I didn’t see the bandits myself," the young dragon said, pausing for a moment. "But according to Annie, they weren’t all from the same group."

"The first group, the ones who abducted Rurik, was made up of about a dozen centaurs." The moment Aiksuuri finished speaking, all eyes snapped to Zandia on the ground.

"My Lord, it really wasn’t me!" The centaur looked distraught enough to cry, but no tears came. In the face of an accusation from a True Dragon, even a young Colorful Dragon, her words felt feeble and weak. "I can swear to any god you wish, I have never ordered my people to do such a thing!"

A bitter feeling welled up in her, and this time, Zandia’s tears finally came.

’Life in the Gobi was already hard enough. We were ostracized in Fromm, attacked by beastmen, and then hunted in the Delusional Land... and now we’re being called mounted bandits? What is happening?!’

"Little girl, spare us the crocodile tears. You can drop the act," the Beastman Priest said with a hoarse laugh. "My Lord, surely you believe us now? People may call the Split Tooth Tribe savage, but even we have our principles..."

The Black Dragon stared for a long moment at this prisoner who had suddenly grown so talkative, then snorted. "As for the ones who took the crippled consultant and Annie, and who also injured Lavinia and Buni—that was a dozen or so beastmen!"

"Annie also said that just a few days before the attack, they had even hosted a group of migrating beastmen. Their leader was a Beastman Priest... one who looked just like an old crone!"