"Thrandic..." Fra repeated, as if he had heard the name before.

"I'll get to the bottom of the truth. As for these few days—you are not allowed to go anywhere." Fra turned slightly and raised his hand. "Alright, cover your face. Given your appearance, it's understandable to keep it hidden..."

After haphazardly wrapping a scarf around himself again, Ogre made another request, "But I... really have something to ask."

Fra was silent for a moment before uttering a single word, "Speak."

"Do you know about mutation..." Ogre began with a bombshell.

Under Fra's slightly unusual gaze, Ogre started to ramble, "My teacher, Yard... I suspect he's already fallen into mutation..."

"Do you know what you're saying?" Fra asked, staring intently at Ogre.

He was well aware of the reasons for Yard's demotion and transfer.

But he couldn't believe that a Paladin of Discipline would willingly mutate himself.

"I know what I'm saying... At the highest bell tower in the borderlands city, you might find the answers you seek," Ogre speculated, as Yard had told him to return in a month.

In truth, it was largely giving himself a choice.

To go or not to go was a decision he could make in a moment.

If it weren't for that encounter with Thrandic after his abnormal transformation, Ogre might have already decided to go.

He thought Yard had no reason to be so roundabout in harming him.

"That place is under the jurisdiction of the Church of Truth."

Fra was now certain—the pretty young girl before him was indeed from the borderlands city.

And her relationship with Yard was definitely not shallow.

Otherwise, she wouldn't possibly know about such matters.

"Please, you have to believe me." Ogre placed his hands on his chest.

"Hearing is deceiving, seeing is believing; after dealing with the matters in Rock Town, I will personally verify it. As for now..." Fra suddenly extended his finger and jabbed it towards Ogre's forehead.

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Even though Fra's movements were swift, they were still within Ogre's super-vision range.

So, in this situation, Ogre still had a chance to react—this was also the qualification of his body, honed to the extreme!

When faced with such an attack, Ogre's instinctive first reaction was to counterattack, and his second was to dodge...

These two reactions were undoubtedly optimal in usual circumstances.

But neither was the best choice at the moment.

The truly optimal solution was—to show weakness!

Having prepared in advance, Ogre forcibly restrained his instinctive reaction and pretended to be scared, closing his eyes.

"Open your eyes..." Fra's voice came.

When Ogre opened his eyes again, Fra had already hidden his hands, as if he hadn't just launched an attack.

"What did you do to me?" Ogre's beautiful eyes widened slightly, and he quickly took small steps to the riverbank.

Looking at the reflection in the water, he saw a pure white flame inexplicably burning at the center of the 'girl's' forehead.

"This is to prevent you from running away, and also to protect you."

After explaining, Fra turned around.

And during the conversation, the flame grew smaller and smaller, eventually transforming into a golden pattern imprinted on Ogre's forehead.

"Just stay with Macal for now. I'll come find you later. Also—don't let me catch you seducing him again." With that, Fra completely disappeared from Ogre's sight, leaving the place.

Under normal circumstances, Fra would have probed Ogre further, but he was very busy now, with many other matters to attend to.

So after a simple test of Ogre's abilities, Fra had no intention of staying.

In his view, a girl who could be chased by goblins posed no threat.

Except... she was a bit too pretty.

'Has he left?'

Watching the man in the white robe disappear around the corner, Ogre smiled.

'The goal is achieved...' Touching the gradually fading mark on his forehead, Ogre knew he had accomplished his purpose for coming here.

Next, it was time to find an opportunity to return to the city.

With the protection of this Dawn restriction, it should be safe.

Ogre had some understanding of the restriction Fra left behind.

As Fra himself said—it was both a means of locating and protecting him.

It could be used to detect the position of the subject.

And when the subject sensed danger and faced an overwhelming threat, the hidden power within the restriction would erupt.

At that moment, the restriction would self-destruct, releasing the power left by the caster to protect the subject; the caster could also sense the general information at that time.

"Just wait a couple more days... it's not the right time yet." Ogre muttered to himself, extending his hand.

A black diamond-shaped mark slowly appeared on Ogre's palm—that was Ogre's contract with the Night Crow (shadow demons).

There was actually another thing that surprised Ogre during this meeting.

That was the presence of the Night Crow (shadow demons).

It hadn't been discovered by Fra.

Ogre had been prepared to sacrifice this creature to gain trust, but nothing happened.

It was a waste of the excuses he had prepared.

'Is it because light and shadow don't inherently conflict? No, that's not it. Maybe it's simply because the soul crystal is pure soul power... and it's also something that can be directly made into a mental power potion.' Ogre speculated in his heart.

When he voluntarily let Fra check him, there was another thought in his mind.

He mainly wanted to see if the Night Crow had done anything to him.

So far, the creature seemed to be behaving, and it seemed it could be used.

In a couple of days, with the additional perspective of the Night Crow, he should be able to accomplish more.

He wouldn't have to run out every time.

"Well, let's talk about future matters later. For now, I should go see how Macal's theater troupe is performing."

After pulling the scarf to cover his face, Ogre left the riverside.

He thought, since the main character had returned, he should be liberated as well.

As for the strange happenings in Rock Town...

Ogre couldn't be bothered with matters so far away.

Professional matters should be left to professionals. After all, there are so many things in the world, how could Ogre possibly manage them all? He hadn't even sorted out his own mess.

Whoever has the responsibility should handle the matters.

As for who has the greater responsibility...

Whoever has more power has the greater responsibility.

'Just watch the show, watch the show.'

Having figured these things out, Ogre's mood immediately turned cheerful.

Perhaps without the burden of responsibility and desire, everything would become much easier...

It's just a pity that so far, Ogre hadn't seen anyone truly escape these two things—including himself.