My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 12 Who exactly are you? You're not Rhodes.

Rhodes walked at the front, his steps steady and his pace neither too fast nor too slow, just enough for the three behind him to keep up. He would stop from time to time to check the direction and make sure he hadn't gone the wrong way.

Don Quixote followed behind, and although she was silenced, it didn't stop her from curiously looking around the whole way, completely unaware that she was in a dangerous forest.

Susanna stayed close to her companion, her face full of worry.

Milan strode at the back, her face growing increasingly impatient. If she hadn't been so lost, she would never have wanted to endure this long and tedious trek.

Just as Milan's patience was about to run out, a small village came into view.

The village is surrounded by relatively sparse trees, located in a river valley, and the buildings are also surrounded by small, cultivated farmlands.

The village is small, with only about a dozen or so households. It is surrounded by a simple wooden fence and looks ordinary and quiet.

Before they even got close to the village, a petite figure emerged from the nearby farmland, carrying a small bamboo basket filled with weeds and fruits and vegetables, probably on her way home.

She looked no more than thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a faded coarse cloth dress. When she saw Rod and the others suddenly appear, she was startled at first, but breathed a sigh of relief after realizing they were human.

"Hmm... So you're human. Who are you? I've never seen you before." She looked at the people in front of her with curiosity.

"We are travelers who have accidentally gotten lost in the forest," Susanna said softly as she stepped forward. "It's too dark now, and we can't keep going. Could we stay in the village for the night and leave first thing tomorrow morning?"

"Should... be okay?" the girl asked hesitantly.

Seeing Susanna's gentle and friendly attitude, she agreed without much thought.

"I can take you into the village first, but whether you can stay here, I'm afraid I'll have to talk to the village chief."

Before the girl led them to the village entrance, the people on the watchtower spotted them and immediately sounded the horn.

As they spoke, people who hadn't yet returned home quickly ran to the village entrance, carrying farm tools and glaring at them menacingly.

"Huh? Are they blowing horns to welcome us?" Don Quixote couldn't help but exclaim happily upon seeing this.

"Yes, they're such warm and kind villagers," Rod said, whether sarcastically or genuinely following her train of thought, "they even brought a gift."

Milan and Susanna were speechless upon hearing such bizarre words.

Even Alina, who was used to Rhodes's nonsensical way of thinking, couldn't help but complain: "Who would bring a hoe and a sickle when welcoming someone?!"

Before long, the "welcomers" swarmed out, holding sickles, hoes, and even pitchforks high in their hands, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded Rhodes and his companions.

The villagers' faces were tense, their eyes filled with vigilance and hostility as they stared intently at the four outsiders, as if guarding against some terrifying, man-eating monster.

"Outsiders, why have you come here?" A deep, resonant voice came from behind the crowd.

The wall of people immediately parted to make way, and an old man with gray hair and a wrinkled face walked out from the crowd, leaning on a well-worn wooden cane.

He was a little hunched over, but his eyes were very bright. He quickly glanced at the equipment on Rhodes and the others, and finally his eyes fell on the little girl in front of them. His face instantly darkened.

"What exactly is going on?" He stared at Rhodes and his group with hostility.

"Grandpa Village Chief, they are travelers who got lost in the forest. It's getting dark, and they'd like to ask for lodging for the night..."

"Really? Carol, you're quite kind," the old village chief said, whether in praise or sarcasm, "Do you know their names?"

"Huh?" Carol thought for a moment and realized that she really knew nothing about these people, so she was speechless.

Seeing her remain silent with her head down, the old village chief turned his attention to Rhodes and his group: "What are you planning to do now that you've lured a child?"

Faced with this aggressive scrutiny, Susanna and Don Quixote immediately panicked and tried to defend themselves.

"We didn't lure the child. We're really not bad people. We just wanted to find a place to rest because it was getting late..."

Seeing the distrustful look on their faces, Susanna felt like crying but didn't know how to explain herself to gain their trust.

"That's right!"

Don Quixote immediately took a large step forward, shielding Susanna behind him. "I am Don Quixote, the future legendary adventurer and the kingdom's future chief knight!"

With one hand on her hip and the other pressed against her chest, her eyes shone with an astonishing light: "I swear by the honor of knights, we would never do anything to harm any innocent civilians! Nor would we ever deceive a child."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding villagers began to murmur amongst themselves, especially Don Quixote, whose unusual actions attracted particular attention.

"Why waste so much breath on them? It's a run-down village with not even a decent road. What could they possibly have that we'd covet? Their reaction is so intense; they must be hiding something shady." Milan thought to herself with a dark expression.

Being accused like this for no reason, she was about to say something to retort, but when she thought about having to stay here overnight, she restrained herself and just snorted, looking like she didn't care to explain.

Just as the conversation reached a stalemate, the old village chief suddenly looked at Rhodes and asked, "And you?"

"A dignified adventurer, hiding behind a little girl?"

He sneered, seemingly mocking Rhodes, but actually cursing the other three as well.

Susanna and Don Quixote didn't react for a moment, and even Milan was stunned for a moment before realizing that the other party was referring to Carol's excuse for them.

Rhodes showed no anger or shame at his words.

"I apologize, but since we are outsiders, we were just being polite and worried that saying something might break the village rules, so we had this child introduce us."

Although he apologized, his tone was neither humble nor arrogant, showing no intention of backing down.

"Since you asked Carol who we are, let's all introduce ourselves. My name is Hiro, and I'm a ranger."

Rhodes's words were clearly a response to the question the old village chief had asked Carol.

At this point, he looked at the other three people.

Seeing that everyone else's gaze had followed Rhodes, Susanna nervously said, "I... my name is Susanna, and I'm a priest."

"I, Don Quixote, am currently a warrior, and in the future I will become the greatest adventurer and the kingdom's chief knight!" Don Quixote proclaimed.

"Milan is a mage," Milan said somewhat impatiently.

Rhodes nodded, then continued, "We've gotten lost. We only came to the village to find a place to spend the night and will leave early tomorrow morning. Please don't blame Carol for helping us."

He glanced at the girl who felt she had done something wrong but dared not speak, and simply took the blame upon himself.

"We begged her to bring us here. We didn't think too much about it at the time. We apologize for making you feel uneasy and for the trouble we caused you. We will do our best to make up for it."

As he said this, he glanced at Milan beside him.

With this wealthy and powerful woman around, there's no need to worry about compensation.

The old village chief's expression softened slightly upon hearing that they would be leaving the next morning, and the mention of payment eased the hostile gazes of some villagers.

"Outsiders are so troublesome," the old village chief said in a tone of annoyance. "Let me make this clear beforehand: our accommodations are not as good as those in big cities. Don't come here and start complaining."

Although his attitude was still not good, it was not as tense as before. His words were considered as agreeing to Rhodes and his group's request to stay overnight.

Upon hearing this, Susanna breathed a sigh of relief. She had almost cried when she was criticized earlier, worried that they might start fighting if they couldn't reach an agreement.

Thinking of this, she glanced gratefully at Rod, who was walking at the front.

This guy seemed like a cold and unsociable person, but I didn't expect him to clear up the misunderstanding in just a few words and even get the village chief to agree to let them stay overnight.

Don Quixote, standing nearby, scratched her head as she watched Rhodes. She had been prepared to argue with the villagers for three hundred rounds, but she found that Rhodes had resolved the problem in just a few words.

"As expected of a chivalrous knight, he is indeed a fellow worthy of being our companion," Don Quixote remarked.

Milan, who was holding a staff, glanced at Rod.

She was prepared to either throw money at the villagers if negotiations failed, or simply go straight back to the forest and use magic to seize the monsters' territory to spend the night.

I never expected this seemingly taciturn guy to be so reliable; the money was definitely well spent.

Compared to the three's slight change in opinion of Rhodes, Alina, who witnessed the whole thing, was even more shocked.

She had personally experienced Rhodes's suffocatingly low emotional intelligence. This guy, with his blockheaded nature, usually spoke in a way that would infuriate people to death. When did he become so good at negotiation?!

"You're not Rhodes, who are you?" she couldn't help but ask in her consciousness. "This isn't like you."

"I am Rhodes," Rhodes replied earnestly.

"Then how did you say those things?" Alina couldn't help but ask. "Not to mention the three of them, even I can't imagine how to defend myself in that situation..."

"Why do you think I'm making excuses?" Rod asked, puzzled. "I was just answering his question truthfully."

Alina thought about it and realized that his answer did indeed seem to answer the village chief's questions.

"Then why did you say those things he accused you of? And why did you apologize?"

Even in her consciousness space, Alina could feel the wary, scrutinizing gazes of those people. Naturally, she was somewhat displeased with the old village chief's attempt to frame her.

"Because what he said is indeed true. Carol is a child and does not have independent civil capacity. She does not have the ability to distinguish whether we are good or bad people, and we do have the potential to deceive her."

"Huh?" Alina was stunned when she heard the unfamiliar word, and her brain didn't process it for a long time. "No, no, no, but the key point is that we didn't trick her."

Upon hearing this, Rod thought for a moment and said, "From her perspective, being blamed and ostracized by the villagers for choosing to help us is an undeserved misfortune."

"Moreover, our situation wasn't so dire that we couldn't survive without entering the village, yet we chose to plead for help from a child."

Ultimately, this shouldn't be considered a child's fault, and it's only natural that the other party blames us.

"Okay, fine..." Alina said dryly, "Even if what you say makes sense, what's with your usual behavior?"

"What do you mean?" Rod asked, puzzled.

"Why are you so different from how you were just now, so unlike your usual lovable self..." Alina stammered, unsure how to express herself, "I've noticed you often say those strange things..."

"I believe that a ranger, as a hunter in the wilderness, should possess some of the qualities of a local strongman, and be able to communicate with various groups in a social context," Rhodes earnestly conveyed his philosophy to Alina.

Alina: "?"

Where did this setting come from?

"My usual identity is that of a corpse collector. I'm probably not good with words and have an eccentric way of thinking. It's normal that most people, except for a small group, think I'm unlucky and don't like me," Rhodes added.

"..." Alina fell silent.

So this chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) person thinks they're playing a role-playing game?

Add the settings you want directly; you don't need anyone else's approval, as long as they think it's reasonable.

Amidst the absurdity, Alina found herself unconsciously developing a sense of awe towards his behavior.

If this guy can always perfectly play the role he imagines, it's terrifying in a way.

"There's one more thing," Rod said casually, "I don't think there's anything wrong with how I talk, and my friends think I'm fine too."

Alina opened her mouth, but didn't want to argue with him anymore.

This kind of person who has a problem but doesn't realize it is beyond saving.

The conversation between the two did not last long. Led by the old village chief, Rhodes and his group arrived at a small wooden house.

The wooden house was located at the end of the village. It was old and dilapidated. A small section of the dry thatch on the sloping roof had collapsed, revealing the blackened and moldy beams inside. It looked like no one had lived there for some time.

Compared to Don Quixote's curious observation, Susanna and Milan felt particularly uncomfortable, as the overwhelming smell of dust and mildew made them sneeze incessantly.

In the center of the main room stood a cracked wooden table, and in the corner stood an abandoned earthen stove. Fine spider webs hung from the beams to the ground.

The fragile hardboard bed in the bedroom was covered with a layer of dry straw. Although it was covered in dust, at least the house could still keep out the wind and rain, so that everyone wouldn't have to sleep outdoors in the elements.

"This will do for you. It's an empty house with three rooms, no one lives here," the old village chief said, glancing at them.

"Thank you for your help," Rod said politely. "If you need anything from us, please feel free to ask us for assistance."

"Hmph, that's easy for you to say... That's what some adventurers said when they came to our place before, but they ended up becoming bandits..."

The old village chief, leaning on his cane, was the first to enter the house. The tip of the cane left a deep mark on the muddy ground, as if venting his dissatisfaction.

"They dare not fight the monsters, yet they dare to persecute us ordinary people..."

"Oh?" Don Quixote's eyes lit up upon hearing this.