Rodic then walks towards her body, with his hand on ribs, feeling a sharp pain with every step he takes.

Approaching Yanma, he calmly observes her face. Closing his eyes, the adventurer says a small prayer to the gods as a sign of respect. Rodic hopes that wherever Yanma's soul is, it will be happy.

Rodic also notices that the gate is completely destroyed, shattered into pieces on the ground. He also notices various holes in the wall.

Walking towards the entrance, the blond-haired man feels an unusual presence behind him. It's not as if he felt a strange mana, but he felt something watching him from behind.

"Hey, buddy." Rodic turns around; he sees a girl with short white hair, it's just Zoe. She is carrying two unconscious children on her shoulders, obviously the Rods brothers. Her hands are holding them so that they don't fall to the ground.

The few knights around are stunned by the presence of the Supreme Mage, it's as if a celebrity were there. Like it or not, Zoe is a world-famous figure, recognized even by villagers in remote villages.

The girl greets Rodic with a smile and tilts her head slightly.

Rodic doesn't answer; he just watches Light and William, asking himself, "How are these brats alive? Wait, are they?"

Arching one of his eyebrows, Rodic reflects, but soon stops doubting and focuses on the Supreme Mage.

"I'm the gold badge adventurer, Rodic Redlar," he begins, introducing himself formally. "You must be the Supreme Mage, Zoe Ethy. Nice to meet you." Cordially, he bows his head.

"Well, there's no need to be so formal."

"So..." Rodic prepares an informality bomb. "I'm impressed to see that the two brats still have their heads on straight."

"...!" Zoe is taken aback by the expression used. "From the way you said it, it sounds like you knew they were here." She says.

"Indeed." Rodic confirms. "Are they alive?"

"Yes, they just need to rest. Their mana is depleted; whatever they've been through, they've gone way beyond their capabilities." She replies. Zoe seemed to find it hard to accept that those children had done such damage. Such a feat would be so impressive that it would become world news. William and Light would certainly receive several sponsorship offers from noble houses and academies.

However, Zoe thinks that it would be too early to put children in this political world, so she doesn't intend to think too much about it or spread the information. Inevitably, rumors will spread about two children who took part in the war in Legorio, but no knight can claim to have seen William and Light defeating Marco, which makes the information less impressive.

"What happened to Marco?" Rodic asks.

"Are you talking about that guy with the thick mustache?" Yes, that's him.

"..."

"Well, he's already dead. If you want, I can show you his head..." Zoe says with a frightening smile and a macabre voice, wanting to terrify the adventurer in some way, but he doesn't feel a shred of fear; in fact, he feels ashamed of himself.

"Did you kill him?" he asks.

"He was already finished when I arrived. All I did was give him a little push so that he would die." The Supreme Mage spoke normally again. "By the way... do you think those children defeated him?" She says it in a more serious tone, wiping the small smile off her face.

"..." Rodic looks at the children again, thinking of various combat scenarios. "Hm..." He closes his eyes and lets out a small sigh. "I'd say there's a good chance." Finally, he makes his guess.

Zoe raises both eyebrows in surprise. "I need to know more about this." She says to herself.

In the distance, a little beside Zoe, she notices the bodies of knights lying dead against the kingdom's wall. This catches the eye of Rodic, who wonders how she can see blindfolded.

"It amazes me how you can get a sense of space even with blindfolds on." He points out.

"It's not because I'm blindfolded that I'm blind." She replies.

"So it's of your own free will?"

"Let's say it has something to do with my training with Tyflos" Tyflos, a mage who is also well known among everyone. It's no surprise that the Supreme Mage has contact with all the world's elite magicians.

"Did you notice her body?" Rodic points at Yanma, who is standing a little distance behind the girl.

Zoe turns around and watches intently.

"I knew it when I got here. From the armor, it must be someone important. I just wouldn't be able to tell if it was a man or a woman without your help..." She says it, smirking.

"So you can tell who she is just by her armor, but you can't tell by her gender?" Rodic says in an unconvinced tone.

"There's no guarantee that it's a man with long hair; I have short hair myself!" Yeah, that makes sense...

"It's a valid argument..."