When Rod walked into the room, he saw Christie sitting in front of an easel, carefully depicting a beautiful landscape.

After a while, the girl's skills seemed to have improved again, at least to Rod's eyes, Christie's landscapes were almost as good as the photographs............ Maybe it's even more beautiful than the photos. He didn't say anything immediately, but stood quietly in the doorway, staring at the girl in front of him.

Now Christie has changed a lot from when Rod first met her, at that time she was weak and haggard, according to Marlene and Lijie, Christie at that time was even skinny and skinny, which made people feel distressed when they saw it.

Now because of adequate nutrition and diet, Christie's body is much better than before, at least like an ordinary girl of this age should have, but I don't know if Lu Dao is because of congenital weakness, the girl's physical development is not very good, look at Annie, and Christie are only about a year old, but her figure is so good that even Marlene and Lijie are a little red-eyed............... Of course, there is always a gap between people.

These days, Rod is always very busy, frankly speaking, he can not spend much time with Christie, but this girl is really obedient, she did not show any dissatisfaction with this, but obediently rested in her room, and on weekdays has leisure is to draw and read, but, for Rod, this is inevitably a bit monotonous.

Christie was indeed very serious when she painted, and she didn't notice Rod's presence at all, and Rod didn't bother her, just quietly watched the girl, until a moment later, Christie put down the paintbrush in her hand, and Rod stood up and coughed slightly.

Hearing the voice, Christie turned her head curiously. Looking in the direction of Rod, after seeing Rod's figure, a happy smile immediately appeared on the girl's face.

“………… Rhodes ............"

Christie jumped out of her chair and ran towards Rod, then threw herself into Rod's arms with an excited smile. And Rod stretched out his hands and hugged the girl's soft body, revealing a gentle smile.

"I'm back. Christie, how are you lately? ”

“……… Well, it's all good......"

Hearing Rod's inquiry, Christie hurriedly looked up from Rod's arms and nodded at him.

"That's good........."

Hearing Christie's answer, Rod couldn't help but smile. Then he reached out and stroked Christie's long hair tenderly.

"I've been busy all this time and haven't come to see you..............."

Speaking of this, Rod couldn't help but hesitate.

"Christie, tomorrow I'm leaving here and returning to the Land of Atonement, as you should know, it will become the territory of our Mercenary Guild."

“……… Hmmm..............."

Hear here. A hint of disappointment flashed in Christie's eyes, but she nodded obediently. Seeing her expression, Rod was a little hesitant, but after the end, he still spoke.

"But......... If you want to go, I can take you along. But Christie, you have to know that the conditions there are very difficult, and they are not as prosperous as Deep Rock City. There wasn't anyone around. If you don't want to go, then I won't force you there. ”

“……… Ah............h

Hear this. A glimmer of light suddenly flashed in Christie's originally dim eyes, and she opened her mouth to answer, but she suddenly hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. …,

“……… But......... Christie goes to the ......... Will it give Rhodes......... Everyone......... Trouble......? ”

"You don't have to worry about that."

Hearing Christie's answer, Rod smiled and shook his head.

"I can assure you that you won't be a problem for anyone."

It was only at this time that a smile reappeared on Christie's face, and then, she just raised her head like that, looked at Rod, and then nodded happily.

“……… Well......... I want to go, I want to be with Rhodes......... And Anne......... Sister Marlene......... Let's ............... together"

"No problem, if you're willing to go, of course we're welcome."

Saying this, Rod let go of Christie, and then looked up and down the girl in front of him with a smile.

"So, Christie, go change your clothes, we'll go to dinner later, and remember to pack your things?"

“…… Hmmm......"

After hearing Rod's words, Christie nodded very happily, and then the girl quickly turned around and began to pack up the drawing boards and papers in her room. Rod looked at the girl in front of him quietly, and after a while, he shook his head with a wry smile helplessly, and then turned around and walked out of Christie's room.

I have to say that at the beginning, Rod was very hesitant about whether to take Christie to the fortress. Because he knew very well that in a year's time, there was a good chance that a terrible war would be there. But Rod didn't feel comfortable leaving Christie here alone, especially after hearing Shanna's report——— Rod wouldn't be so naïve to think that those guys from the south also had some business to discuss with him. There must be no good thing for this group of guys to come here, and now all of Rod's elite strength has been sent to the Land of Atonement, and he has no time to spare people to specifically guard Christie, but in this way, the probability of her accident is also high, not to mention that many people know that Christie and Rod have a good relationship, Rod loves his "sister" very much, just that face that is exactly the same as Rode, is enough to make Christie the target of many hostile forces.

Rod didn't want Christie to go to the fortress to suffer, but he didn't worry about leaving Christie here alone, and in the end he decided to let Christie choose by himself, if the girl wanted to stay, then it was a big deal to change his own person, anyway, there was a summoning gate, although it was a little troublesome to enter and exit the fortress, it was not a big deal. And if Christie is willing to go to the fortress with herself......... Then Rod needs to work on his own.

But that's fine.

Thinking of this, Rhodes shook his head with a wry smile, and then he walked down the stairs to the corridor located on the basement level.

The basement was empty at the moment, and there was not half a figure in sight, only a few strange sounds echoing through the corridors. Rhodes didn't pay any attention to the sounds, he walked straight to a heavy, closed door, and then reached out and knocked on the door.

The garbled voices soon stopped, and then a timid voice pierced through.

"Ah, please, please, please wait a minute, I'll open the door right away!"

With this panicked sound, there was another "clanging" sound from inside the door, and after a few moments, everything returned to silence, and only then did the originally closed door "creak" open, and then, Labis appeared in front of Rod.

"Ah, great, sir?"

Seeing Rod, Labis was obviously startled, she hurriedly took a few steps back, and subconsciously patted the dust on her body, and then looked at him timidly. …,

"You, you're back..............."

"I'm back, and the matter over there at the fortress has been dealt with, so I'll come back and take a look."

Speaking of this, Rhodes curiously glanced behind Labis, and through the gap behind the girl, he could see that it was almost as if it had been attacked by an air raid.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, I, I'm just doing some alchemy research on the Berchems clan, and I think I've vaguely found some way to improve the magic weapons you mentioned earlier, but I still need to continue experimenting..............."

"Okay, we'll talk about that later."

Rod interrupted Labiss with a wave of his hand. He was a man of knowledge, although Labis usually seemed to be submissive, unassertive, and timid. But when it comes to her profession, it can come as soon as she opens her mouth, and she can't stop without talking for half an hour or an hour, and Rhodes doesn't have the time or mood to listen to her say these things now, so he simply interrupts Labis's words.

"The fortress over there is already done, I want you to pack it up and bring everything you need, and then I'll take you to the fortress side......... Don't worry, I've got a dedicated alchemy workshop for you, and I think you'll love that place. ”

"Atelier?"

Hearing this, Labis's eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded vigorously to Rod.

"Okay, my lord, no problem, I'll go prepare and sort it out now........."

"Don't forget to come over for dinner later."

"Of course, my lord, I won't forget!"

With that, Labis immediately closed the door, and soon, Rod heard the sound of "ping-pong" coming from inside.

That's a ...............

Listening to the sound coming from inside the door, Rod shook his head and turned to leave.

And just as he walked up the stairs to the hall, he saw Shanna suddenly panting and running over. When she saw Rod, her eyes lit up, and then she immediately ran to Rod's side.

"Great, my lord, you came just in time, someone wants to see you."

"See me? Right now? ”

Hearing Shanna's words, Rod frowned.

"Who is it?"

"He calls himself Mace, the ............... of the Silver Scales Chamber of Commerce"

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Rod raised his eyebrows.

"I've got it, please let him in."