Questioning

Noticing the item in the muscular woman's hand, Ryan gathered, 'That must be the Barrier Rune. It seems to be able to create a separate space within a certain range to allow mages to act freely and battle without any civilians in the background. It's ingenious.'

Seating himself next to Zoe, she confirmed his thoughts about the Barrier Rune. He then shamelessly asked Zoe to get her guard to hand it over to him. Melanie, after a brief moment of shooting him a disapproving look, finally complied.

As Ryan examined the small pebble-like item with a mysterious inscription, Zoe explained to Melanie the details of what had transpired. The muscular woman listened intently, and despite the visible relief on her face, still held reservations about Ryan.