The two went to bond with the people a bit more. They decided to wait in place, so they could be ’invited’ faster.

Althea created a little playground with her earth skills. It wasn’t complex; basically just a small field with varying elevations.

She even shifted the elevations by a few centimeters. It was like she was playing a touchless piano or something. The kids seemed to have forgotten the earlier unpleasantness, with a few rare giggles bubbling out of their stomachs.

Althea smiled. It was very good training for her earth skills.

Garan contributed by making small slides and monkey bars. To save energy, he only made the default temporary ones that would disappear after a while. This was what everyone expected anyway. Besides, even if it were temporary, these would definitely last a lot longer than others.

People’s eyebrows rose. In their eyes, elementalists were rare and powerful, proud individuals, but right now this one felt...normal.

It took about half an hour before their efforts paid off.

While there were scores, even a few hundred, elementalists in their town now, though some were hired and some were guests, each one of them was treated well.

Speaking of elementalists, they were more or less concentrated into one or two factions in this town.

There were apparently three major forces that operated in this town, with the smaller ones associated with one or two in some way or form.

First of the three factions was the Lord’s group, which was naturally the largest one. They held on to the access to the underground rivers, as well as the main ownership of the farms.

Another faction held on to the planting techniques and processing secrets of their specialty plants. Finally, there was the ’citizens faction’ comprised mostly of fighters, mercenaries, and the like who did not want to join the other two groups.

This group largely remained neutral and was perceived to have no power of its own. It functioned more to provide solidarity to protect themselves from being bullied.

On the surface, they weren’t really enemies and coexisted well. At most, they might be rival entities, particularly...when recruiting talents.

A curvaceous woman, along with a professional-looking old man, appeared in front of them, with two level 30 warriors flanking both sides.

The group was led by the beautiful curvaceus woman with tanned skin. She wore relatively revealing clothes. To the locals, her dress could be called highly fashionable.

"My name is Amala, the Lord’s only daughter," she said, proud, but voice soft as she looked at Garan. "We’d like to invite you to our home."

Garan disliked the way she looked at him and instinctively held his wife’s hand. He wanted to shoo the woman away, but if what she was saying was true, then her position was one where they could not be openly rude to her.

She gently patted her husband’s arm, making Amala narrow her eyes. Althea pretended not to notice the hostility. "My husband and I are just here for a mission," she said. "We don’t want trouble."

"You think I’m causing trouble?"

"I assumed...after all, you were being so hostile," Althea said. "If I am wrong, then I apologize."

"You—"

"If this is how the Lord invites guests, then I’d rather not risk it."

Amala’s sharp eyes landed on her and her beautiful face. Before she could say anything else, Garan stepped forward to block her sight.

Similarly, her servant also stepped forward. "Lady, they are guests."

At this, the arrogant woman had no choice but to suck it up and look away, even becoming the errand lady.

Being an elementalist was really useful.

...

The Lord’s Palace was similar to Jonathan’s, except for the aesthetic style fit the local temperatures and appearances.

They were invited to a meal, and this meal was set up in the gardens. For the local standard, the Lord’s garden had a decent variety.

Sitting on the table was the Lord Pello, two of his wives, and some of his children, including Amala.

"How did you find your stay here so far?" he asked, though mostly directed to Garan. Although Althea was also an elementalist, she was a woman. Not to mention, in their eyes, her element and her level weren’t as good as Garan’s.

Garan looked at him and then stared at his wife, as if waiting for her instructions.

Garan had long accepted his role as an obedient toolman.

"We found it interesting," she said, catching the look of annoyance in the Lord’s eyes. "My husband is a bit antisocial; please don’t mind him."

"But Milord..." she paused. "We think some of your guards have been embezzling funds! They are charging additional fees to people, even after they had already paid for the entrance fees!

"What?" the Lord asked, looking a bit confused.

However, how could they really not know the cause-and-effect? They pretty much monopolized the place.

"I will discipline them," the Lord said, but the couple knew it was perfunctory, confirming their bias that this Lord was not very good.

Of course, that was about it. Right now, it did not matter what kind of Lord he was, they were just here to make acquaintances. They needed to get to know them to minimize surprises down the road.

Their priority was the mission, so they naturally had to minimize the number of potential enemies they could face. For now, anyway.

Althea smiled at the Lord, making the Lord and the men mesmerized (to Garan’s chagrin). "I am looking forward to seeing the Lord’s sense of justice."

...

Dinner ended on a decent note, with the couple skillfully maneuvering the shady offers. Well, sort of.

A bit more and ice would appear.

However, these people didn’t know Garan was a dual elementalist, so Garan reigned it in.

These people had the gall to try to add mistresses and gigolos on their side! And right in front of their partners, too!

Whether it was intentional or not, it took the couple a lot of grit not to start attacking.

When dinner ended without any major issues, they were extremely proud of themselves. Tired, yes, but proud.

"Can you show us your elements?" the Lord asked. "I have heard a lot about it."

The two nodded and showed off their respective elements, earth for Althea and metal for Garan. While they did not do their best, they did enough to impress them.

"Interesting!"

"I didn’t know the element could be used that way!"

"Very good, very good!"

The Lord nodded. "I agree to let you join my guard team," he said with a smile. "I’ll promote Garan to captain!"

Some of the people in the table were surprised, others were not.

Althea and Garan looked at each other. Their main purpose had been achieved, and they heaved breaths of relief.

"Thank you for the offer milord, but we have a mission to finish, for now," they said. "We can discuss this after we complete them."

"You mean the Undead Mission?"

"In a sense, yes, but we were also sent on other personal missions from various friends when they found out we’re heading to the desert areas."

Dangling the promise of the potential joining would calm them down for a while. There were plenty of enemies already and she did not want to add on them.

The two stood up gracefully, saying polite goodbyes to the people by the table.

"We will see you again, Milord."