Near the convoy, while most of the knights were either receiving medical treatment or collecting mana crystals from the corpses of the fallen monsters, a separate group stood gathered beneath the shadows of a large tree. There, Commander Gareth, flanked by Leon, Kristoff, and several other senior knights, was conducting an interrogation of the cloaked individual who was responsible for the monster ambush.
The figure had been securely bound to the tree with thick ropes, her hood pulled back to reveal her face. To everyone's surprise, the perpetrator wasn't some grizzled mercenary or rugged criminal—they were met instead with the sight of a striking woman. Her long, jet-black hair spilled over her shoulders like a river of ink, and her piercing blue eyes gleamed with both defiance and mischief under the faint sunlight. Despite her situation, she exuded an almost arrogant confidence, as though the ropes binding her were nothing more than decoration.
