ã€ŠA Curious Worldã€‹


 Prologue

    There are many that ascend to immortality and above.

    Some even manage to overcome all others in their world, to forge their own everlasting legends. They fought through trials and tribulations, made many sacrifices and overcome countless foes.

    They may think they have reached the end of the world, becoming the one existence is control of everything, but they didn¡¯t.

    They¡¯re merely trapped inside their little bubble.

    Afterall, how could there be so many existences overlooking everything if there weren¡¯t countless confined worlds?

    It wouldn¡¯t be so easy to obtain true omnipotence.

    Afterall, Destiny has fed them all they¡¯ve needed. They may claim that it is due to their own credit, their own merit that they¡¯ve achieved their current state but Destiny was the one who had always guided them to the existence of a higher realm.

    They merely followed after the many that have ascended, those who left behind clues but what if, there was a higher plane of existence never discovered by anyone?

    No predecessor.

    No oracle who foresaw it.

    No telepathic vision.

    No soul guidance.

    No clues.

    A perfect concealment.

    I have been in this plane for eons. I have watched entire worlds being born and entire worlds being ruined. Some live blissfully in immortality, not knowing that their miniscule chance at poking the bubble fades with passing time.

    Some have another Unique One being born in their world, and this time around, they lose Destiny¡¯s guidance. I tire of this.

    This time, I shall make a new world, one with one small, tiny clue to reaching my realm. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    This shall not test your determination, your willpower or tenacity. There is no sixth sense given by Destiny. You shall have one miniscule clue, ever so small, about the existence of my plane.

    There is no way to ascertain the truth, no seer can ever hope to divine this. Now, show me if any of you have the stupidity to venture forth with no truth, no knowledge of what¡¯s ahead for the small chance to reach this plane of mine.

    I wish you all the best, as destiny is not coming.

    <End of Prologue>

    I¡¯m a very normal 25 year old neet. I didn¡¯t think that Isekai stories were actually true, but I just reincarnated.

    Maybe it¡¯s time for me to be thrown into a foreign world with magic and dragons, only torealise that I have the game-breaking ability to reset time to my last checkpoint after I die.

    Realising that I must use this ability to protect those I find dear to me even though I haven¡¯t actually been with them that long, I die again and again for them. Then, just when I''ve started getting the hang of this, a cute maid girl confesses to me.

    She seems like the perfect wife, but I live my life for only one albino cursed princess, so I reject her. Or not. My name¡¯s not like a car company brand afterall.

    I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in my own body though, it feels pretty foreign. If this is an Isekai story, now¡¯s about the time for my memories to come rushing in, no?

    ¡°AHHHHHHHH!!¡± I screamed within my head.

    Huh. Well, nothing happened. Was worth a shot?

    I get up from my bed. Now that I notice, isn¡¯t this very chinese styled? I wonder if I¡¯m in feudal China. I¡¯ll be a special reincarnator if I ended up going into the body of someone in the same normal world¡­ wonder how that¡¯ll work, someone from Taiwan being born in modern China would be stupid.

    We do have the internet, so I doubt being born in another country before would help anything in our world. I could volunteer myself as a test subject? I can almost see the headlines: ¡°Reincarnation finally proven?! Teenage boy reincarnates into another Country!¡±. I¡¯ll probably be swamped by religious zealots so I¡¯m going to pass though.

    Speculations aside, I can¡¯t seem to recall how I died in my previous life.

    It feels rather hazy. Actually, aside from the fact that I was 25 years old and didn¡¯t have a job, I basically remember nothing. I still have common knowledge, but I just don¡¯t know anything about my past self¡­

    Come to think of it, I¡¯ve been wandering around my spacious room for half the day here, is no one coming to explain anything to me?

    Well, I guess I¡¯ll just head out then.

 Chapter 1: A New Beginning

    I open the door to see a magnificent courtyard, filled with greenery and servants tending to them. One of the maids notice me. ¡°The young master has awoken! Quick, call the Madam!¡±, she yelled.

    The other maids notice me too and hustle away.

    I scratch the back of my head, sighing. I¡¯m in high society, huh¡­ Well, can¡¯t say I¡¯m unhappy about being in an affluent household, but there¡¯s always the chance I¡¯ll be dragged into troubles unwittingly. It¡¯s not like I can change it anyway, just going to lay low and avoid trouble. Yeap, sounds like a plan.

    As I make that silent declaration to myself, a beautiful lady comes running over holding the hems of her skirt. Her entourage struggles to follow her. ¡°My dear Qiu Xue, you finally woke up! Are you still hurting anywhere?¡± She says as she embraces me, rubbing her cheeks to mine.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    I blush. You can¡¯t blame me, alright? She looks in her early 20s, and if you haven¡¯t forgotten, I was 25 previously. I seem much younger now though. Regaining my composure, I ask in a lost tone, ¡°I can¡¯t seem to remember anything¡­¡±

    She suddenly freezes up. Her smile fades and her left eyebrow twitches.

    Did I say anything wrong? Shit. I even made sure not to address her as my mother in case I got the title wrong too.

    ¡°Ah, my poor child. Come, let mother tell you what¡¯s going on!¡± She says as she continues caressing me. Luckily it seems I didn¡¯t screw up.

    Filtering out the random details, I am Qiu Xue, a 14 year old child in the Lei Kingdom. My father, Duke Qiu, is an important Duke of the kingdom as he manages half of the military strength of the kingdom. He shares in that role with the Nangong family, and we maintain a cordial relationship with them. As a result of their military powers, our standings are only second to the royal family.

    My mother¡¯s name is Yue Xin. She was a commoner before she was married to my father against his family¡¯s wishes. Therefore, to placate his family, my father got engaged and eventually married his second wife, the daughter of a Marquis, Qin Ting. She has 3 children, while my mother only has me.

    Also, there¡¯s magic in this world.

    I still can¡¯t remember much about my previous life, but I¡¯m strangely excited by this.

 Chapter 2: The World We Live In

    This world is ruled by magic. Magic is the primary driving force behind everything in this world: Construction, Travel, Production of Food, Military Power. Simple firearms are used in combat, but they¡¯re almost worthless in a war involving Mages. A basic wizard spell could deal the same amount of damage. An Archmage could decimate a Kingdom or two single handedly.

    The people of this world go through an Awakening Ritual when they reach 13. This ritual determines their aptitudes towards the various forms of magic: Fire, Water, Wind and Earth. These are the primary elements of magic, however, there are secondary elements such as Lightning, which is made from the combination of Fire and Wind.

    I ask my mother about my aptitude:

    Fire: 32

    Water: 20

    Wind: 51

    Earth: 15

    A score of 70 is sufficient for one to be called a genius, 1 in 10,000 people. While the prodigy of our era, the Crown Prince, wields an amazing 81 points on the Fire Element. Truly a broken character. The average would be about 50 for common folk, and 60 for nobles. SO as you can see, I¡¯m absolutely terrible at magic. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    I should touch my body later to check if there¡¯s some cheat I unlocked from transmigrating over.

    After some hours pass, my mother finally leaves me alone to rest. I ask a servant to bring over some magic books from the library. Afterall, it¡¯ll be weird if a noble house didn¡¯t have a library, right? There¡¯s no language barrier, so I immerse myself in the reading.

    Magic in this world is performed through stimulating the mana particles in one¡¯s body before guiding it outwards, imagining the element you want to use. Once the image is clear in your mind, you chant the magic formula and guide the mana particles according to the formula before releasing it.

    There are ranks to mages, you start as an apprentice, climbing from Ranks 1 to 4 before finally becoming a Class 1 Mage. Only when you reach the level of a Class 1 Mage, are you formally recognised as a Mage. The highest level in known existence is Class 8, also known as a Grand Sorcerer.

    The highest Class within our kingdom is the king, who is a Class 4 Mage. A Class 4 Mage may be low when compared to the high existence of a Grand Sorcerer, however, there are no living Class 7 and Class 8 mages.

    A Class 4 mage is a rare existence in the world, the records show that in a past war, the King emerged during a crucial moment, casting the Rank 4 Great Spell Meteor, destroying more than half of the invading troops. This resulted in a quick loss of morale for the enemy Kingdom, and we swiftly took victory.

    I¡¯ve been told by mother that I would be on rest for the next few days, but would need to return to school next week. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m too hyped on the idea of a 25 year old man going to a school filled with 14 year olds kids. Shit, I hear the police sirens ringing already, ¡°I-I¡¯m innocenttttt!¡±

    That aside, I¡¯ll need to learn as much as I can during this period of absence, it wouldn¡¯t be good if any of the previous owner¡¯s friends figure out I¡¯m an imposter. I will need information, a lot more of it.

 Chapter 3: Preparation is Key

    It¡¯s night time already, I have a lot of things to get done tomorrow so I¡¯ll rest early.

    I wake up and my servants help prepare me for the morning. Luckily, there¡¯s no routine of a family breakfast here.

    I rustle about my room before finding a satchel with several pieces of gold. I grab that and prepare to head out. Since I¡¯m a young master of a Duke House, my ¡®small¡¯ entourage (A maid and 2 guards) are following me out.

    There¡¯s a shopping street nearby, which is also our destination for now. We arrive at the street, it¡¯s well furnished, with few street side stalls. Some shopkeepers are standing outside to anticipate customers, but there isn¡¯t much shouting. I suppose it¡¯s to be expected from a district filled with the wealthy.

    As I stroll along the street, I ask one of the guards what a piece of gold could get me. He glances at the maid before answering, ¡°Young master, nobles usually use silver for normal items, a piece of gold is enough to buy a good cottage.¡±, he replies respectfully. Feeling slightly surprised, I count the number of gold coins in the pouch - 5 Pieces.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    I can¡¯t be absolutely sure still, but since this can buy 5 good cottages, I¡¯ll assume they have the value of approximately US$500,000 for now. The kid has huge savings! Or maybe he just has a high allowance. Can¡¯t ask too many questions if I don''t want to appear suspicious. I can¡¯t count on the memory loss to shield me from everything.

    I read that increasing your mana also increases your mental capacity, so I¡¯m trying to find accessories which help in that, or better yet, high grade meditation manuals. Besides that, I¡¯ll need to gather more information on the state of the Kingdom. A noble can¡¯t be uninformed afterall.

    ¡°Are there any stores selling magic items or books here?¡± I ask the maid beside me. She seems to hold a higher position than the 2 guards; they appear somewhat deferential to her. ¡°Young master, there are several shops in the area if what you¡¯re looking for are just magic items. For magic books, those can only be found in the auction house.¡±, she answers courteously.

    I expected that magic books couldn¡¯t be easily bought, they¡¯re like the military arsenal of a country afterall, any influential Kingdom would safeguard them well. There¡¯s the option of the Academy library too, but with my low status as an apprentice there, I doubt I¡¯ll get anything good.

    My priority would still have to be the books so I¡¯ll leave aside the purchasing of items for now. I would have been informed if there was an auction going on by the maid, so there¡¯s not much of a chance there. My status isn¡¯t enough to coerce the auction house into selling currently.

    I guess that leaves me with only one option. I beckon the maid to come nearer to me. She bends down slightly to listen. ¡°How about the black market?¡±, I ask. She seems slightly surprised by this, furrowing her brows. I continue strolling. She thinks for a while, and appears to have come to a decision.

 Chapter 4: The Black Market

    ¡°Young master, the black market is on the other end of this shopping street. There are a few shops affiliated with our Duchy that would be safer than the rest. If you intend on going to the other shops, we would need more guards.¡±, she whispers to me.

    She¡¯s quite sharp for a servant. Inferring that I may attempt to ditch them if I didn¡¯t receive a positive answer, she makes a concession and establishes a limit. Or is this because the previous owner tended to do this?

    I heard that the previous owner of the body was introverted and preferred to be alone. Perhaps he sneaked out often. Wouldn¡¯t be too far-fetched. This trip may arouse some suspicion but the potential payoffs are worth that risk to me.

    I nod my head in agreement, ¡°Mm, we¡¯ll just visit those affiliated with the House for now then.¡±

    She proceeds to inform the guards of our destination. The guards tense up upon hearing where we¡¯re going, they relax after knowing that we¡¯re only visiting those with connections with the Duchy. It¡¯ll take us some time to get there on foot, so I hire a carriage for 2 silvers.

    We swiftly arrive. There¡¯s people of every kind in the area, most of them are cloaked.There are very few groups as conspicuous as ours, while I could have went disguised and alone, but weighing the dangers in each option, going normally may even be safer than going incognito. No one will thoughtlessly provoke a noble family without prior knowledge, and even fewer would be willing to provoke one of the two leaders of the military in the Kingdom. Appearing without concealment deters most small fries, which is really all I have to worry about.

    The guards start to get more cautious on arrival, I simply motion for the maid to lead the way. She leads us to a medium sized shop, the store isn¡¯t too fancily adorned, but I notice that the signboard is made with purple heart wood.

    As we enter, a plump little shopkeeper comes over to greet us, ¡°Ah, welcome to my humble shop, I¡¯m the owner, Yuan Zheng.¡± His shifty eyes noticed my entourage which followed behind me quickly. ¡°What brings young master to my shop?¡±, he asks.

    ¡°I need a meditation manual.¡±, I ask directly.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have that for sale, and I doubt any of the others have any. Even if they do, it¡¯ll be low grade at best.¡± He answers after a thought.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Am I that lucky?

    I whisper to the maid to standby outside with the guards. They comply readily.

    ¡°So what will it take for you to have it for sale then?¡± He made sure to say that it wasn¡¯t on sale, not that he didn¡¯t have it, while implying that the one he holds is middle grade at least. I doubt any young master¡¯s savings can afford such a prized item, he wants something with my status.

    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, you¡¯re the only son of the Duke¡¯s first wife, Qiu Xue, right? The rumours say you¡¯re untalented and airheaded, but rumours can be exaggerated¡­¡±

    ¡°Get to the point.¡±

    ¡°I merely want to request a cooperation, I will bet on the fact that you can become the successor of the family, and when that happens, I need a small favour from you. I¡¯ll offer this middle grade meditation technique scroll, it was found in an ancient ruin outside the city, no complications.¡±

    Scrolls are what mages use to inscribe spells and techniques on, unfortunately, they¡¯re all single-use items, so a meditation technique scroll like this, once read, disappears. If it is from a ruin as well, there¡¯s almost no chance it turns out to be the technique of an influential family, or worse, the royal family.

    ¡°What¡¯s the favour, I don¡¯t believe that you¡¯ll stake an item like this on just a chance.¡±

    ¡°You worry excessively, young master, but it is as you say. I also want to borrow one of your guards for a fews days, as for the favour, It can be rejected if you deem it unsuitable when the time comes.¡±

    I see, he wants to leverage on my current status as the eldest son. The favour is just the cherry on top, if I place one of my guards there, it¡¯s implying that I have an intimate relationship with the store, or worse yet, the Duke House has deeper relations with it. If he does anything unsavoury, it could lead to a lot of complications for the Duke House, and me. Even if I were to declare that I have nothing to do with the store, no one would believe me at the time.

    I do need the manual, but the risk here is high.

    ¡°I accept on the condition that the clerk behind you be transferred over to work for me permanently. I believe it¡¯s a fair deal nonetheless.¡± The clerk with a lack of presence shakes slightly from being called by me. I guess he¡¯s surprised from being noticed, I almost didn¡¯t notice him if I didn¡¯t focus on the surroundings.

    It¡¯s not much, but this way, if he¡¯s caught doing any underhanded dealings, I have his previous clerk to prove my lack of connection to the owner. I believe the Duke House has ways of making people tell the truth in the case it happens. Truthfully, I¡¯m still at risk for this, but that manual is something required if I were to continue living peacefully here.

    The owner has a glint in his eye for a moment, before breaking into a soft smile.

    ¡°I accept your conditions. Putting aside my previous statements, I do have faith in your succeeding of the Duke and I shall express some goodwill here. I¡¯ll gift young master 3 apprentice spell books, and a Class 1 Defensive Artifact. I believe that¡¯s enough to show my sincerity in the matter.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m honoured and will keep your well wishes close to heart.¡±, he¡¯s really being overly generous here, I doubt a normal store owner will give away a Defensive Artifact casually, even to a Duke¡¯s son. A Class 1 Defensive Artifact is as the name states, it¡¯s imbued with a Class 1 defensive magic, able to defend, absorb or deflect the attacks of a Class 1 Mage for some time. It¡¯s an item many small noble families don¡¯t even own.

    The Duke House should have some, but I don¡¯t have any in my possession as the eldest son. This is abnormal, It is one of the things I was hoping to find out from my entourage on this trip.

 Chapter 5: Its the typical slave buying chapter?

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move on to the next shop, I¡¯ll need the guards to carry these.¡±, I say as I pass the spellbooks to one of the guards.

    I agreed with the shopkeeper that I¡¯ll send the guard in 2 days, as I didn¡¯t want people to know I was in possession of the item. Better safe than sorry, I¡¯m still much too unclear on many things here.

    To keep up the pretense, I continue browsing around the subsequent shops to little avail. I bought 2 other apprentice spellbooks subsequently, but otherwise returned empty.

    ¡°I would like to take a look at a slave house, are there any affiliates of ours in the business?¡±, I ask the maid.

    ¡°Of course, young master, the Duke House owns the second biggest Slave House in the market. This way.¡±, She seems to be filled with pride when saying this.

    We reach a small mansion, with the signboard ¡°Rising Flame Slave House¡±. It¡¯s well decorated, much like what I¡¯d expect from the mansion of a small noble. A well dressed man comes out of the store, after the maid goes in to report our arrival. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°Welcome young master, the name¡¯s Xu Liang, I¡¯ve been told by Leticia here that you¡¯re here to observe our merchandise, please allow me to lead the way.¡±

    So her name¡¯s Leticia, she does indeed hold some power, if the owner of a large shop like this knows her by name. I glance at her while thinking so. Her expression is ever so stoic.

    ¡°Ah yes, excuse my abruptness, I would like to know if you have any young warrior around my age.¡± Here, they refer to anyone able to fight as a ¡®warrior¡¯, and besides the most powerful and popular title of the Mage, there are other combat jobs such as Knights, Archers, Assasins and Berserkers.

    I¡¯m intending to see if I can find any suitable slave to be my guard for the time being. I can¡¯t bring my family¡¯s guards with me to the academy, but I can certainly bring slaves, my own possessions in.

    ¡°We do have a few young warriors currently, they¡¯re over here.¡±

    He shows us to a large cell, where there¡¯s quite a few young slaves. Upon his introduction, there¡¯s a female elven mage (12), a male wolfkin berserker (16), two male human knights (15 and 16) and a male half-elf archer (13).

    I don¡¯t find it odd that the male-to-female ratio is skewed, younger females tend to be more sought after than their male counterparts afterall.

    ¡°What¡¯s the origins of those two knights?¡±, I ask the dealer.

    ¡°Young master, those are orphans of full-fledged knights born from the war with the Jue Empire. As you know, our Kingdom has been at odds with the Jue Empire for years, the recent expedition northwards were where these slaves came from. For you, they¡¯re 5 gold pieces each. ¡±

 Chapter 6: The start of things to come

    I¡¯ve gotten some good information. In the end, I still need more money. It takes all I have just to buy a slave. I don¡¯t even have 5 gold on me. I could use the money of my entourage to pay, but I¡¯m not that keen on the slaves here in either case. They lack much resolve and most of them look sufficiently nourished, which shows that we run a good establishment here. However, the younger slaves when put in such an environment start to think that life here isn¡¯t so bad, instead of seeking to go outside.

    That¡¯s why the slaves here haven¡¯t tried calling out or appealing to get sold, they¡¯re not sure about whether the new environment will be good, so it¡¯s better of them to stay where they are currently. Older slaves desire freedom more, as they¡¯ve experienced more of the world, and have likely been in the Slave House longer. Many of the younger kids have nowhere to go to even if they¡¯re freed. From the looks of it, these young slaves have just been brought in not too long ago.

    My ideal bodyguard would be one with the Assassin job. I will need the slave to be able to defend me primarily. I¡¯m confident that my identity is more than enough to deter any known enemies. It¡¯s the unknown ones that I¡¯m the most wary of. It takes an Assassin to know an Assassin is where I¡¯m going off here, they have a heightened sense of danger afterall.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    It¡¯s rare to find a young Assassin though, not everyone¡¯s the main character of the manga who has a yellow blob teacher asking everyone to kill him, and later discovers that his real talent is in assassination. Seriously, how does a high school student have those kind of reflexes, that¡¯s just a cheat. A cheat I say.

    Back to reality, I mention my intentions on buying a slave to the dealer and swiftly exit. There¡¯s no point in dawdling here.

    Tomorrow¡¯s my last day of absence before I return to school. I¡¯ll need to take that time to improve my mental strength and physical strength, even by just a bit. This body is already tired from the short walk we¡¯ve had. I don¡¯t expect much, but even then, getting tired from just walking is just bad stamina.

    When we returned, I instructed Leticia to find me in my room later at night.

    *Knock knock*

    ¡°Young Master, it¡¯s Leticia, may I enter?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    ¡°Young Master, I¡¯m here as requested, how may I be of assistance?¡±, She asks, seemingly less composed than usual.

    It¡¯s dark at night, and there¡¯s only a single lamp in my room for lighting. I didn¡¯t notice in the day, but she¡¯s quite attractive. She has sharp facial features and beautiful oval eyes, coupled with her looking barely 18 is intoxicating for my 14 year old body. The moonlight accentuates the curves of her chest in the maid outfit, making her appear more mesmerising with each look.

    I can¡¯t say for sure, but my previous self might have had a fetish for maid outfits. I feel unease at being aroused so easily. I try to compose myself slowly.

 Chapter 7: Something that has to be done

    ¡°Ah-ahem. I asked you here for a favour. However, before I ask, I need you to tell me honestly, who do you heed orders from?¡±

    She seems surprised and slightly flustered, ¡°Young master, of course I serve you. I¡¯ve been serving you since 4 years ago!¡±

    I knew this from enquiring from the other maids but I have to do this regardless.This is the biggest risk I¡¯ve decided to take since coming over to this world, and hopefully ever will.

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that you serve me, but it¡¯ll be weird if a servant as bright as you were to remain untouched by the other members of my family, that someone didn¡¯t approach you, offering incentives in return for observing and proving intel on me. I can¡¯t fathom that none of them have tried. ¡±

    She bites her lips, seemingly thinking to herself. I don¡¯t mind waiting for her answer, it¡¯s fine. She starts to compose herself, beginning: ¡°Young master, I was picked up as an orphan by your mother when I was just 7, and have been here ever since. Before I came here, I lived in poverty, having to watch my mother die of sickness and my father waste himself in drinking before ultimately ruining himself. I picked up scraps on the road just to survive, I had to beg, steal, cheat just to see tomorrow, I¡¯ve done many bad things, and have had many bad things done to me.¡±

    ¡®When I was given a chance to live a normal life by your mother, instead of living without knowing if tomorrow I¡¯ll still be alive, I decided to take it without hesitation. She said to me that the past can¡¯t be changed, but the future is yours to choose. This is the path I¡¯ve chosen, and for that huge grace your mother has bestowed me, I¡¯ll continue to live my life for her sake.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not moved. She seems quite genuine in her words. No averting of her eyes when telling her story, no weird shifts in her facial expressions, I am almost certain she¡¯s telling the truth. She even declared that her allegiance was to my mother, not me.

    If she had said that she had pledged her allegiance to to me, I would have ended the conversation right there. I simply see no reason for a young lady to decide to pledge her life to an immature child. There¡¯s no reason for her to be grateful to me, even by extension of my mother.

    I guess I¡¯ve decided.

    I slowly stand up from the chair I¡¯m seated in. I walk over to her and look at her directly for a moment.

    ¡°Young master?¡±

    ¡°I was recently injured, and since waking up, I haven¡¯t been able to remember much about my life before the incident. There were some gossip around the maidservants I¡¯ve heard, however, that Father had recently decided to decide on his successor not through seniority, but through power. I¡¯ve also heard that, 3 days after that announcement was when I had my mysterious incident.¡±

    I continued, despite her shocked expression, ¡°It¡¯s such a coincidence, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    She hesitated, saying,¡°Y-Yes, youn-¡±

    I cut her off, ¡°Now, think carefully before answering, if we¡¯re truly backed into a corner and if I have the way to turn it around, what would you do?¡±

    ¡°I would follow your every order.¡± She straightforwardly stated.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s protect our safe haven.¡±

    The night sets, as the first of many huge waves in the Kingdom rises.

 Chapter 8: Librarians Tome

    Now that I¡¯ve gotten well rested, I can finally use try the middle grade meditation manual I received. Even nobles in the academy only manage to have lower grade manuals, as middle grade manuals are often guarded very closely. There are still some that are more widespread as people try to teach it, but many are limited to the family that own it.

    Our family may be a Duke House, but as the King has to have reign over us, he has control over the manual for our family, as with the Nangong family. Having control over the manual for a family basically means that a family¡¯s future is in their control. Even if we were to rise up and overthrow the King, he would have enough time to destroy our family¡¯s manual, making sure that even if we were to reign over the kingdom for a period of time, eventually our descendents would have no future.

    Mental strength is the determining factor for how strong a mage is, and for most Jobs, their higher ranked skills depend on it as well. As such, the future of a Noble family often depends on the manual they possess. It is tradition for the manual to only be imparted at the coming of age ceremony when one reaches the age of 18.

    This manual I¡¯m holding now would be immensely valuable if it were a physical copy, and not a scroll. It could allow any family to instantly rise in power. Since a technique can¡¯t be taught verbally though, this is only useful for rogue mages usually.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    However, I need to gain strength quickly, if my speculations are right, my peaceful life will be ending soon.

    The title of the manual is ¡°Librarian¡¯s Tome¡±, it¡¯s obviously not one designed for combat but for support. I didn¡¯t have much expectations since the shopkeeper was willing to use it to gain a slight advantage in his business, so I¡¯m not disappointed. Not disappointed at all, I didn¡¯t want to gain a martial arts legacy or discover an old pill master to teach me his art and lead me down the road to greatness. Definitely didn¡¯t think of that.

    I hold the manual, flipping through the page, as each page is engraved into my mind as I flip it. By the end of it, I have the manual memorised, the special effect of this technique is to have improved concentration. Normally, middle grade cultivation techniques have special effects, which is why they¡¯re so much more sought after than low grade ones, some grant the ability to shoot small fireballs, some allow the user to harden a part of their body. To have an ability that functions like N**tropics claim to do¡­ is pretty sad.

    I execute the technique several times, with it improving my mental strength slightly with each set I do. I start to feel exhausted by the 20th set, so I¡¯ll take that as the limit for this body for now. Mana is used up each time it¡¯s executed afterall.

    I go on to do a set of workouts, trying to improve the body¡¯s fitness.

    After I¡¯m done, I take a shower and head over to find my mother. She¡¯s one of the two who know that I¡¯ve ¡®lost my memory¡¯ currently, I¡¯ll need to ask her about my situation in school.

 Chapter 9: The D*sn*yland Academy

    ¡°I¡¯ve terribly sorry young master, the Madam left the house in the morning and has yet to return.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s no problem, you may continue doing your tasks.¡±

    That¡¯s unfortunate, I wanted to have some prior knowledge before going in. There shouldn¡¯t be much trouble there though, I¡¯ve heard that the previous Qiu Xue was quite the introvert, he shouldn¡¯t have much friends.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll get to pass my days there quietly.¡±, I say in a cheerful mood.

    Thinking back, that¡¯s a flag, right? That¡¯s definitely a flag. Why did I think such a thing¡­

    I finish up my morning meditation before heading to the Academy. How do I get there? On Carriage of course! Be honest, everyone has wanted to have servants dress them in the morning and escorted up the carriage before heading to school at least once in their lives.

    I check on my body¡¯s state before heading into the Academy, I¡¯m a Rank 3 Mage Apprentice now, an upgrade to the Rank 2 I was when I got this body. I¡¯ve only managed to learn 2 apprentice spells yesterday, however, with the other 3 being left untouched. Apprentice spells are relatively easy to learn, since they have very simple formulas. It does take some time to be able to master them though.

    I know naught of what the previous owner used for apprentice spells, but I have no way to find out. Casting a spell is second nature once memorised, and even if Qiu Xue had lost his memories, he should recall them based on his mental awareness, or soul strength. I¡¯m not Qiu Xue though.

    I arrive at the Academy. The gates look familiar¡­ Oh wait¡­. It can¡¯t be¡­

    W-Wait, wait wait wait wait JUST A MINUTE!!!!This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    THAT¡¯S JUST D*SN*YLAND AIN¡¯T IT?

    I compose myself at the uncanny resemblance. It bears a similar appearance to the castle resort in my previous life, but there are small differences. It certainly doesn¡¯t help that there¡¯re a counter much like the ticketing counters I see at the resort.

    ¡°Young master, you look awfully pale, are you alright?¡±, Leticia asks me.

    ¡°Ahem, it¡¯s nothing, I just choked on my saliva.¡±, I answer calmly.

    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll be leaving you here then, have a good day.¡±, the black-haired maid answers as she does a curtsy.

    I nod and turn to go in.

    I show the academy pass and the guard lets me in.

    I head to the Class for year 2 students. The classroom seems like a lecture hall rather than a classroom, there¡¯s approximately 20-30 other students here. I was told that this was a standard apprentice class for nobles, most of the ranks may be varied but we¡¯re all apprentices here.

    I can¡¯t tell any of their Ranks, of course, as apprentices we have only a faint hint of mana on us, one that could be found in a normal human with high magical talent as well. Only when we decide to ready our mana to cast a spell can our Ranks be discerned.

    No one turns to look at me when I enter, class isn¡¯t due to start for another 30 minutes. Most of the students are busy talking amongst themselves. I choose a discreet seat in the upper right corner, giving me a good vantage point to observe the other nobles.

    I can¡¯t possibly know each of them well, so I¡¯ll focus on the more prominent ones. Those the conversations revolve around.

    First off, we have a blonde haired noble, she seems important enough, there¡¯re quite a few guys and a girl gathered around her. She seems like she¡¯s just watching monkeys prance around to get her attention, quite the superiority complex on this one here.

    We have an average looking brown-haired boy, who¡¯s helping a few of his male students with their studies it seems. He¡¯s smiling quite gently, the ones he''s helping seem grateful for the help too.

    There¡¯s a flashy looking noble with tons of females surrounding him. He¡¯s handsome, but not THAT handsome. I¡¯ll say he¡¯s a Prince of some kind¡­

    There¡¯s a normal looking girls¡¯ group as well, the trio seem rather close, there¡¯s no one particularly dominating the conversation. There''re the typical noble girls if there was a template.

    Oh, here¡¯s a classic, there¡¯s the Jock looking guy, he¡¯s buff and seems to be bragging about the magic artefact he has on his hand. The others are flattering him with fear written all over their faces.

    Ah shit, I met eyes with him. He stared at me for a moment, before returning to his conversation like nothing happened.

    Hmmm, doesn¡¯t help that I still don¡¯t know their noble houses or identities¡­.I can¡¯t just casually ask for their names too, who doesn¡¯t remember the more prominent members of the class at the very least, especially as a noble?

    Wait, there is a way¡­

 Chapter 10: The short haired girl

    There should be an attendance list of some form with the Teacher. If I¡¯m able to obtain that, It¡¯ll make recognising each of my classmates easier. I would like to understand the class dynamics well, since this is where I¡¯ll need to be for a good half of the day.

    I continue to observe the students chatting as well as the ones coming in.

    Suddenly, a short haired girl dressed neatly sits next to me. I turn around to glance at her before continuing to observe the class. She''s rather plain looking as well, with some freckles on her face.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±, She suddenly asks.

    Did I get exposed? How? I didn¡¯t even do anything here yet, is it something to do with my magic? I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be someone asking who the eldest son of the Qiu Duke was in class.

    ¡°I¡¯m Qiu Xue.¡±, I curtly replied.

    ¡°Really. The old Qiu Xue would never look around methodically like this. You¡¯re trying to observe for anything that may be helpful to you, I know those eyes, those aren¡¯t his eyes.¡±, She answers plainly, while surveying the class with her eyes. She hasn¡¯t looked at me since her initial question.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°I¡¯m Qiu Xue, believe it or not.¡± It¡¯s just the conjecture of a self-proclaimed genius, luckily. There¡¯s no meaning in trying to defend myself, if I did, It¡¯ll just make me seem more guilty.

    ¡°If you say so. I¡¯m sorry for accusing you then. Tell you what, you won¡¯t need this much but here¡¯s the Class Register, might help in what you need. I¡¯ve written down my name at the back if you need my help.¡±, She says as she passes a piece of paper to me.

    Having done this, she picks up her bag and moves to the opposite end of the class. I continue looking through the class for another 5 minutes, feigning disinterest in the document. 5 minutes pass, and I look at the Register.

    The Register conveniently has the name, picture and background of the student written on it. It¡¯s not confidential information since it¡¯s information everyone has access to. The boy I met eyes with was Qiu Long, a prodigy in magic, which is why he¡¯s in the year-2 class even though he¡¯s just 13 this year. He¡¯s also, my brother.

    My half-brother to be exact, the son of Father¡¯s 2nd wife. He¡¯s recorded in the register to be a Peak Rank 3 Apprentice, just a bit short of breaking into Rank 4. The teacher is keeping an eye on him, having highlighted his name.

    The remaining people are more of less what I¡¯ll expect, I would have had to care about much more people if my Family wasn¡¯t so powerful, but it is. There¡¯s only a few nobles I have to be careful with here.

    I finish looking through it quickly, having memorised most of it. She did say she wrote down her name at the back, wonder who she is? I turn around the paper to find the words ¡®1 Favour¡¯ written on it.

    I wouldn¡¯t be so self-absorbed to think that she meant that she owed me a favour. She definitely didn¡¯t buy that I was the real Qiu Xue, but she thinks there¡¯s benefit in the current me, which is why she decided to give out some alms to me, the poor lost beggar.

    Sigh, she¡¯s going to be a hard one to deal with.

 Chapter 11: Magic Structures

    That said, the flashy looking noble is indeed a Prince of the Kingdom. He¡¯s Prince Lei Zong, the second prince in line for the throne. His mother¡¯s the favoured concubine, so he¡¯s one of the the two frontrunners for the throne. The other is obviously the Crown Prince, son of the Queen.

    He¡¯s known for being arrogant and pompous, but he¡¯s still well-liked in noble circles partly due to his identity, and his talent in business. He¡¯s set up a chain of magic item shops catered towards nobles known as the Wind Pavillion, and the business is doing amazingly well. It was even commended by the reigning King himself. Certainly unexpected for the arrogant playboy type.

    As I was thinking about this, the teacher walks in. It¡¯s a blue haired lady in a ponytail. She¡¯s dressed neatly in her mage robes, which has the emblem of a Class 2 Mage.

    She motions for the class to be seated, tapping lightly on the podium.

    The nobles shuffle to their seats.

    It¡¯s nothing surprising, any Class 2 Mage is incredibly powerful and definitely holds an important identity. A Class 1 Mage might not be able to handle the various powers behind the nobles here, but a Class 2 Mage most certainly can. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s continue where we left off for class previously. I¡¯ll be going through the schematics behind the forming of the formula for apprentice spells, notably the spell ¡°Ice Lance¡±. After this, we¡¯ll be moving to the training ground for some practical training on the spells. Any questions?¡±

    ¡°No? Alright, I¡¯ll start class then. The basics in the forming of any magic formula involves the knowledge of the element that you¡¯re utilising, the shape you want it to form, as well as the force you intend for it to have. However, the shape doesn¡¯t just mean the external appearance of the spell, such as my Ice Lance, but also the interior of it. I modified my apprentice spell Ice Lance from the spell Ice Shard, and to do that, I had to envision not just the external spear shape, but also the interior. Olden Mages used to ignore that and simply solidify the spell by filling the whole object with mana, like a balloon being filled with water.¡±

    ¡°The consumption of such spells tended to be huge, with the old Ice Shard spell using up all the mana of a Rank 3 Apprentice. Now, by simply applying a helix structure within the same spell (Ice Shard), a Rank 3 Apprentice is able to unleash 5 or even 6 of the same spell. This is why we as mages engineer new structures and ways to implement them, to have the perfect cost-to-performance ratio.¡±

    ¡°As for the Force you intend a spell to have, this falls under the Concept of Force, proven by the long deceased Class 6 Mage, Enhart Longinus. This Concept explains that the more force you intend onto a spell, doesn¡¯t directly equate to the same force performed. There are many other factors, such as the durability of the spell structure, the length of the formula, the speed at which the spell is being performed¡­¡±

    I have studied the books provided to me by the maids, but having an actual teacher to explain it is another valuable perspective to look at. Hence, I try to stay focused to learn from her. She continues the class for another 2 hours in this fashion as I listen attentively.

    ¡°That¡¯ll be all for theory today. Please prepare to move to the training area, students.¡±, She says as she packs her belongings.

 Chapter 12: Provocation

    ¡°Just go ahead and test out your spells freely as usual, if there¡¯s anyone who¡¯s attempting to cast a Rank 4 spell, please inform me beforehand for safety.¡±

    The students form into their usual social groups and begin practising.

    I minded my own business by keeping to the corner of the field. I pretend to raise my hand like I was casting a spell. There must be some opportunity I can find here.

    I practice casting one of the spells I learnt, Wind Impact. It may sound like an offensive spell, but it just unleashes a powerful wind in close proximity. The impact is pretty powerful, but the area of effect is only about the range of my hands. This will be enough.

    I inconspicuously move back while pretending to cast spells.

    ¡°Urgh, watch it!¡±, Qiu Long grunts in dissatisfaction as I trip him while moving back.

    I simply scoff at him in response, staring at him, smiling.

    He gets more irritated by my actions, seemingly trying to control his anger.

    In response, I beckon to him using my finger, provoking him.

    ¡°Just because you¡¯re the eldest son, do you think you still have any power?¡±, he mocks.

    ¡°I just have enough to deal with you.¡±

    ¡°Hah, I¡¯m almost Rank 4, stop dreaming, Rank 2. Let me show you the difference in us.¡±, he says as he musters the Rank 3 spell, Fireball. He has no intentions of killing me, of course, he just wants to vent his anger.

    ¡°Ah, stop, n-no!¡±, I stumble back away, trying to get away from him.

    ¡°It¡¯s too late, I can¡¯t stop it anyway. Just stay in bed for a few days!¡±, he laughs as he launches the fireball.

    As soon as he fires the fireball, however, he has a face of shock. He sees the person who¡¯s now behind me when I moved out of the way. It¡¯s the boy who was teaching his classmates. His name¡¯s Xun Zhou, and his father¡¯s a Marquis. His family doesn¡¯t have rich Mage blood within, hence he¡¯s their only Mage-inclined child in this generation. He''s known for being extremely studious in the class.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Back to the situation, I easily move out of the way as the fireball propels itself towards Xun Zhou. He¡¯s still unknowing of his impending crisis. A metre before the fireball reaches him, I execute the prepared Wind Impact spell towards the ground. The Spell is invoked, launching a stream of Wind towards the direction my palms are facing. The Wind hits the ground and propels me straight at Xun Zhou.

    I use my feet as brakes once I near the ground, stabilising myself in front of Xun Zhou. My ankle bone breaks from the impact of this. I quickly position myself in front of him, bracing myself for impact by covering my head with my arms.

    ¡°Arghhh!¡±, the fireball hits me on my arms, flinging me away like a broken rag doll. Xun Zhou''s friends see that happening, as Xun Zhou was hit by me while I was being thrown away.

    Xun Zhou runs towards me, asking if I¡¯m ok and thanking me for shielding him. ¡°It¡¯s ok, it¡¯s my family¡¯s problem to begin with. We shouldn¡¯t drag in outsiders.¡±, I reply softly but firmly, appearing to be in great pain.

    ¡°What are you guys doing!?¡±, the teacher noticed the event happening just now but wasn¡¯t quick enough to react to it. There are so many students afterall.

    ¡°This ends now. Xun Zhou, bring Qiu Xue to the infirmary. Qiu Long, sit at the side and calm yourself down. I''ll leave this matter to the Duke. ¡±, She deftly said. As expected, she didn¡¯t punish anyone or try to find out who started it. It¡¯s an internal affair for nobles after all, it wouldn¡¯t be tactful for her to meddle in our family¡¯s matters. She¡¯s simply ¡®handling the matter¡¯. She may not even bother to inform the Duke.

    Xun Zhou lets me lean on him as he brings me to the infirmary. The nurse treats me quickly with a Class 1 Mage Spell, ¡°Healing¡±. My injuries quickly recover. The reason why such a spell is being used on me without question is of course due to my identity, if it was Xun Zhou in my shoes, he probably would have been given a smaller spell, or been requested to pay. I¡¯m part of a Duke House, so the school has no doubt that this treatment will be paid for, but a Marquis House is much less wealthy.

    They can afford the treatment, but it¡¯s simply a needlessly high expenditure for them, than just waiting for it to recover. Healing mages are much rarer due to the complexity involved in healing spells, it¡¯s also because people tend to pick the offensive mage path due to it being more practical and flashy. It takes years to learn a healing spell, and while it guarantees a job, there¡¯s not accomplishment in the path like defeating a Dragon.

    ¡°Thanks again for taking the hit for me. You may not know this, but you really helped me. If I had to take that hit, I would have had to stay bedded for the next few months. Regardless of your intention, I want to thank you for that.¡±, Xun Zhou says earnestly.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. You¡¯re a good person.¡±, I reply curtly.

    ¡°Hahahaha, so introverted as usual. If you don¡¯t mind, I hope we can be friends.¡±, he looks into my eyes and says.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be glad to.¡±, I answer.

    ¡°That¡¯s great, I¡¯ll introduce you to the rest of my good friends later, they¡¯re a bunch of rowdy people, but they are good people. Speaking of which, how did you reach me so fast? I saw you at the side before the impact.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s simple. I used the Wind Impact spell.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an offensive spell, right? Not a movement one.¡±, he asks with a questioning gaze.

    ¡°Yes, it is, I used it towards the ground to propel myself towards you. I minimised the structure to direct it to just the direction I was using it on in order to cast it faster.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how you did it! I would have never thought of using it that way!¡±

    I chat along with him, discussing the spell used earlier. We quickly become closer friends.

    I could have went for the Prince or the female noble, but they only had power because of their backgrounds. Not to mention they¡¯re more familiar with such tricks being played. I need assistance, but I don¡¯t need the help of another faction. There¡¯s no point in employing help you¡¯ll eventually need to pay back. What I need now, is a faction of my own. I don¡¯t need to have talent myself, if I can nurture an army of talented commoners. This is just the first step.

 Chapter 13: Seeing Leticia Again

    We spend the rest of the afternoon discussing about spell structures, he¡¯s really studious so he has a lot of the conventional theories memorised. I on the other hand hardly know any of the magic theories, but with basic knowledge from my previous world, I know the many mysteries yet to be fully explored by the Mages, like the concept of gravity.

    We both gain a lot from the exchange.

    As night approached, he promised he¡¯ll introduce me to his friends tomorrow. I agreed of course.

    It is tiring to act the part of a introverted person while trying to get close to someone, but there can¡¯t be too much of a discrepancy between the old me and the current me. I plan to slowly change my image within the class, and noble circles, but it¡¯s all going to still take time.

    I head towards the gate, as I bid Xun Zhou farewell.

    I spot my family¡¯s carriage in the distance.

    As I get on the carriage, Leticia enters with me.

    ¡°As you¡¯ve ordered, young master, I¡¯ve investigated into the nobles families in the Kingdom. It¡¯s all surface information, as for those that meet your criteria, there¡¯s only three.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s surprising, I would have been glad if just one was found, well done.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Thank you. The three that meet your criteria are the Bao family, the Beelze family and the Yun family. All of these families are well-known merchant families, having established themselves for at least a decade. The Bao and the Beelze family both have only one male descendant in the current generation. As for the Yun family, they are left with only one male descendant now, but their current young master had 2 older brothers before. It was said that during a caravan journey, they were robbed by bandits and subsequently killed, hence the youngest son is extremely valued by the current head.¡±

    It¡¯s surprising, since the culture here seems to involve rich families having multiple partners, which is why they tend to have large families. Even my father, who¡¯s not known to be a philanderer, has 4 Sons in total, including me.

    ¡°Figure out the places that the two young masters in the Bao and Beelze family frequent, as well as the timings. Ignore the Yun family.¡±

    ¡°Yes, young master.¡±

    It doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that something else was at play in the Yun family incident. However, it¡¯s not my business, and I don¡¯t intend to get involved in the mess.

    ¡°How about the other matter?¡±

    ¡°Yes, young master. I¡¯ve looked into all the shop houses in the common district, there are a total of 284 unoccupied shop houses, out of the existing 1000. The reasons vary from the old owner passing on, the business not being profitable and so on. The average price of such a shop house would be 50 Silvers in deposit and 10 Silvers a month.¡±

    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s around 5 gold, rent 50 of these for three months. Make sure that they are located in clusters of about 3 per cluster. Use the rest of the money to buy signboards for each of them. It doesn¡¯t have to be expensive material, but must come from a store that makes signs for nobility. As for the name, name it ¡®Supreme Pavillion¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Y-Young master, that name is abit¡­¡±

    ¡°Arrogant? It¡¯s fine, that¡¯s just the way I need it to be. Just do as I said.¡±

    ¡°Yes, young master.¡±

    As our conversation finishes, I peer out of the carriage, admiring the scenery with a smile. I didn¡¯t actually experience much pain from the incident, I cast another Wind Impact against the Fireball before it hit afterall. The small grazes were worth the outcome.

    This chance I took to provoke him, implied that there¡¯s certainly some conflict going on for the seat of the successor. I¡¯m not particularly happy that my conjecture was correct, my smile moves to a slight frown.

 Chapter 14: The Duke

    As I think of my future plans, I reach home fairly quickly. I¡¯m greeted upon getting off the carriage by my mother.

    ¡°Are you injured anywhere? Do you need Mom to call a healer over? Oh, my poor boy.¡±, she asks concernedly.

    ¡°Mother, it¡¯s only some scratches, I¡¯ve been healed in the infirmary at school already, don¡¯t worry.¡±, I answer quickly.

    I didn¡¯t think that mother would find out so quickly. I expected the Duke to find out quickly from his sources, but for my mother to notice this quickly, she must hold some degree of power in the Kingdom.

    I¡¯ve heard that the Duke has been silently encouraging competition among his children, but competition does differ from outright fighting. Hence, I¡¯m fairly interested in his stance on this.

    As expected, soon after I meet my mother, the Duke orders everyone in the family to gather in the main hall. I head there directly along with mother. For an instance, it seemed like she showed an annoyed expression, but she quickly reverted to her concerned face.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll all be fine. Mother is here.¡±, she whispers to me before we enter the hall.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    We enter the hall, to see the Duke¡¯s 2nd wife, or my 2nd mother, and her sons already seated by the side. The Duke has yet to arrive himself. As the steward notices that we are all gathered, he rushes off to inform the Duke.

    Amidst the tense atmosphere, mother and I get seated, ignoring the heated gazes on us.

    Soon after, a gallant looking middle-aged man steps into the hall. He has thick eyebrows and a stubble on him, and is dressed in his noble robes. His eyes aren¡¯t particularly big, but they exude an aura of sharpness.

    As the Duke steps into the hall, all of the family stand up in greeting to show our respect to him. I simply followed the rest in doing so. He walks with momentum towards the seat in the middle reserved for the Duke himself. He gets seated, motioning for us to be seated too.

    He lets out a rugged breath of air, beginning, ¡°I trust that you all know why I called all of you here. To make it clear, I don¡¯t disapprove of the fighting. In this day and age, strength is everything hence naturally this old seat of mine belongs to the one with the largest fist.¡±

    Mother and 2nd mother seem to already be aware of this stance of his, seemingly unmoved.

    He continued, ¡°However, what I am against, is anything that is detrimental to the family. This family is a prestigious one, and this reputation was fought for by your grandfather and me. I shall not stand to see anyone, and I mean anyone, destroy this name of ours while I remain alive. You can fight, you and scheme against each other, but know that none of this should be known by outsiders. I won¡¯t ask you all to be united in this, but there is little point to obtaining a destroyed kingdom. I shall state this only once, I am to hear no bad rumours about this family stemming from any of you, regardless of circumstance. Do I make myself clear?¡±, he proclaims as he stares right at us.

    ¡°Yes, Husband/Father.¡±, we affirm at the same time.

    How pragmatic. I guess I won¡¯t be able to get much advantages from him.

 Side Story: Qiu Xue

    I retreat back into my room after the conversation with the Duke, instructing the maids to prepare a bath for me.

    They quickly do so, and I enter shortly after they finish.

    I put my foot in to test the temperature. Feeling the lukewarm heat, I proceed to enter the large bathtub.

    ¡°Ahhhhh, this is heaven.¡±, I let my voice out unknowingly. I am enjoying this quite a lot, my previous life probably enjoyed hot baths a lot too. I slowly drift off to sleep, resting on my two arms against the corner of the bath.

    ¡°Really, I wonder how long it¡¯ll take for this one to remember.¡±, ¡®I¡¯ mutter.

    It¡¯s a weird situation, to be reincarnated into someone else¡¯s body, but to not have the full memories of your previous life. It¡¯s almost like I¡¯m being constrained by some higher power at work. It seems the current ¡®me¡¯ is doing well however, I would not have done much different if I were in ¡®his¡¯ shoes.

    I didn¡¯t think that clicking on that link at the corner of data log would send me here. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    It was really just a small detail. A detail so small, that you could look at it for years and never notice it. I happened to receive a job which made me need to access the various archives of the Libraries of the world. I had looked through them before when I was younger, but I couldn¡¯t find what I was looking for in my memories. After looking into the logs of countless countries, countless institutions, I noticed a small pattern.

    I investigated the small pattern on a whim. I didn¡¯t know it would lead me here. If I knew, I never would have done it. Or maybe I would have.

    After all, it was a message ever so simple. So simple and idiotic, but¡­ I couldn¡¯t ignore it.

    There are some things that you¡¯ll never get back in life. Those remain everlasting regrets, a sore string tugging at your heart, a weakness you choose to not get over.

    I wonder what happened to my body back there. I guess I died? I wouldn¡¯t be here otherwise. How tragic, to die alone facing a monitor. They¡¯ll laugh at me from their graves for dying in this manner.

    I still harbour some hope in those words. If those words are false, I¡¯ll hunt down whoever made me come here.

    ¡°Urgh.¡±, I feel ¡®him¡¯ waking up. I guess it¡¯s time for me to go back to sleeping. I believe ¡®he¡¯ will find a way to restore our memories in due time. I patiently wait for this day.

    ¡°Ah, I feel refreshed.¡±, I fell asleep for a moment there, I wonder how long it was.

    Huh, there¡¯s some words lingering in my head.

    It¡¯s all in fragments though, ¡°D-Do you se.¡± and ¡°ek your answer?¡±

    ¡°Do you seek your answer?¡±, that¡¯s a weird question.

    As I say that a tear drips down from my right eye. I feel sort of emotional, thinking of a vague silhouette of a group of people. I can¡¯t make out their faces, but I somehow know they¡¯re all smiling.

 Chapter 15: The Gambling Industry

    The Duke¡¯s stance was one of the huge hurdles I needed to get over. If he was adamant about maintaining power, or had an ambition for a higher power, my plans would be drastically changed. I can¡¯t gain influence or power if the Duke doesn¡¯t wish for me to do so afterall.

    It¡¯s lucky he¡¯s just thinking of maintaining the family. He seems to bear an indifferent attitude to the possible transgressions that could happen with this ¡®competition¡¯. If anything, he¡¯s supporting it. He implied that as long as no outsider knew, we could even kill the other candidates. Truly apathetic.

    A few days pass peacefully. I¡¯ve been introduced to Xun Zhou¡¯s friends. Like him, they¡¯re mostly not scheming individuals. The group¡¯s not perfect though. There¡¯s a couple of eyesores I would like to get rid of, hence I¡¯m holding off on recruiting them for myself. I can¡¯t offer too much currently anyway.

    A week passes, and while heading home one day, Leticia reports to me that she has obtained thorough information on the Bao and Beelze family. It¡¯s finally time for me to get to work.

    I head out of the house with my usual entourage, wearing slightly more loose clothing than usual. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    I shuffle past the crowded alleyway, with my guards discreetly trying to push people aside. They¡¯re dressed in casual clothes like Leticia today, as instructed by me of course.

    Before long, I reach a dilapidated storefront, with the words, ¡°Good Merchant Store¡¯ scribbled on it. I walk in and spot the many people gambling. There¡¯s no ban on gambling in the Kingdom of course. However, the Kingdom takes a significant tax on gambling establishments, ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent of earnings depending on the size of the store.

    Smaller stores have the larger tax, due to the reigning establishments not wanting competitors to appear. It¡¯s simple, really. They want to have market dominance, and they bribe the officials to do it. As far as the government goes, this is almost an open secret. The gambling dens maintain their dominance and the government gets both the taxes from the establishments and even bribes and donations to ensure the continued thriving of their business. These establishments could almost be considered government run at this point.

    This is the reason why smaller dens, which want to avoid the tax, operate in small alleyways like this. There¡¯s some surface effort to ¡®hide¡¯ the place, and as long as they bribe some guards, no noble official will come to an alleyway of the commoner district anyway.

    However, the Bao family¡¯s darling son is a frequent customer here. The payout is much better here than in the noble¡¯s district, but I¡¯m not here to gamble. I hardly know the games they¡¯re all playing in any case.

    I look around the place, there¡¯s 2 guards near the entrance, and another shifty-eyed man seated down at a corner desk. The man¡¯s probably an assassin or barbarian, but if the establishment is doing well enough to welcome a merchant family¡¯s son, they¡¯re definitely rich enough to hire an assassin as a lookout.

 Chapter 16: Extortion

    Our Bao young master seems to be on a small winning streak. I need him to lose, but there¡¯s no need to take action, I¡¯ll leave it up to my dear friends. As expected, the owner of the establishment cues the dealer at a table, and slowly, our young master starts winning less.

    It¡¯s a dice game he¡¯s playing, so it¡¯s not hard to guess how it was manipulated.

    He starts getting frustrated after losing thrice, he starts betting less, as he looks at his funds dwindle quite a bit.

    I signal with my eyes at Leticia, as I move over, bumping into the Bao young master. This was right as he was about to place his bet. As expected, he loosens his hand slightly from the shock. This small loosening makes him drop all the chips he has on hand.

    Normally, there would be time for him to retract his bet from the betting corner. However, my dear friends wouldn¡¯t pass up a chance to make money. The dealer has a glint in his eye, instantly stopping the betting and rolling the dice.

    There¡¯s no suspense here, he loses.

    He turns around quickly in anger.

    ¡°You bumped into me, didn¡¯t you!¡±, he cries out in anger.

    ¡°I-I just wanted to watch closer, I didn¡¯t mean it!¡±, I express indignantly, seemingly horrified.

    Watching my pitiful appearance, he rides on his newfound confidence, expressing, ¡°I don¡¯t care, you better pay me back!¡±

    I take out a small satchel with a few silvers and coppers, passing it to him fearfully.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°I only have this much¡­¡±

    It¡¯s not enough to cover his huge loss of course. He betted almost 1 gold.

    ¡°I lost more than that! You better take me to your family to claim the rest, otherwise¡­¡±, seeing that I had silvers, he guessed I was at least of a decent family and was trying to take advantage of that. As he says this, he motions for his guard to show up.

    A burly looking man stands next to him, cracking his knuckles to show a threatening aura. By now everyone¡¯s watching the commotion.

    ¡°I-I can¡¯t say, mother would punish me¡­¡±, I mutter, loud enough for him to hear.

    ¡°You better tell me, this is your last chance, before I let him go loose on you.¡±, he says calmly. He stopped being as angry from the prospect of being able to cover his losses, maybe even more.

    I pretend of think seriously, frowning for a while. I grit my teeth, saying, ¡°I can¡¯t tell!¡±¡¯, putting on some weak bravado.

    He gets irritated at this, ¡°You asked for this.¡±, he motions his guard to move into action, as he throws a punch at me. I stand still to take the punch, as an apprentice mage I have a slightly more sturdy body than normal people, there¡¯s still some redness though.

    The guards simply ignore this, as fighting was quite common here. As long as no one tries to steal money or threaten the dealers, they ignore it. Now, they simply look amusedly.

    Thinking it was too soft, he continues, throwing 2 more harder punches, one grazing me, causing my left cheek to bleed.

    ¡°How about now? Will you talk?¡±, he continues to pursue as he motions for the guard to stop.

    ¡°Leticia.¡±, I call, as Leticia and my guards appear.

    My two young knights stand on both sides of me, before releasing their Knight¡¯s Aura together.

    Knight¡¯s Aura is only possessed by trained knights, and the higher one¡¯s level is, the more suppression it has on weaker parties. Both of my knight guards are Rank 3, in contrast to a normal noble¡¯s Rank 1 guard. We¡¯re a military family, hence it¡¯s not rare for us to have stronger manpower by taking in retired knights or their adolescent children.

    The originally idle guards in the den lose their amused faces, becoming pale with fright and frozen by the aura. The burly man freezes too, as some of the remaining commoners kneel from the aura.

    ¡°R-Rank 3 Knights!¡±, the Bao young master stutters.

    I smile in reply, coldly addressing, ¡°You have just assaulted high ranking nobility. That too in public.Aren¡¯t you good, oh young master of the Bao family.¡±

    His face is pale from despair, even though my knights have stopped releasing their auras, he still doesn¡¯t manage to say anything.

    I continue, raising my voice, shouting, ¡°GUARDS! DRAG THEM BOTH OUTSIDE!¡±

    ¡°Yes, young master.¡±, they reply swiftly, as they grab hold of the burly man and the Bao family¡¯s young master by their necks, restraining them with their Knight¡¯s Aura.

    As I walk out along with the guards, Leticia finds a plump man seated by the side, whispering coldly to him, ¡°Our young master doesn¡¯t want any of what happened to be spread. Otherwise¡­¡±

    I instructed earlier for her to find the owner, who must be somewhere within. It¡¯s not hard, since normal people would be kneeling from the Aura, but the owner must have some training at least.

    Now, let¡¯s take good care of our dear Bao young master, shall we?

 Chapter 17: Threats and Negotiations

    My 2 knights carry the young master and his guard down the alleyway, before we head into a more desolate alleyway, and I instruct them to put them down.

    They fling them both to the ground, with the burly man fainting from the impact. They have less concern for the guard afterall.

    ¡°Urk! Please, spare my life! I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll do anything!¡±, he cries, ignoring his pitiful appearance.

    If his parents saw him begging for his life so easily I wonder what they¡¯ll say. He doesn¡¯t seem to have caught on to the fact that it was premeditated, he¡¯s slow, this one.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a coincidence that I bumped into you and you dropped your chips, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m very sorry for that.¡±, I say contemptuously, looking down at him.

    ¡°Y-you set m-me up?!¡±, he screams.

    No shit sherlock.

    ¡°Of course not, you made the first move. Now, you¡¯ll have to pay the price, how much do you think your life is worth?¡±, I threaten him, motioning for a knight to step forward.

    ¡°My Father will pay anything for me! Please, just don¡¯t kill me!¡±,

    His straightforwardness in this is really the only good thing about him. His agreeing to anything makes this so much easier. I¡¯m glad I picked out this house to extort instead of just finding any random house.

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    ¡°Good. That makes things easier, I¡¯ll just have you bring me to your Father so we can talk about this ¡®business deal¡¯ of ours.¡±, I laugh for a bit, motioning the knights to prop him upright so he can lead the way.

    He seems to still have some reservations about bringing me to meet his father, but when I instruct the guards to break one of the burly man¡¯s legs, he quickly succumbs to the pressure.

    He leads the way fearfully towards a fancy looking building. It¡¯s coloured mostly in orange, which seems like an alloy of some kind. The big entrance has the name, ¡°Bao¡± written on the large signboard, adorned with rubies.

    ¡°Fancy.¡±, I let out unknowingly.

    The young master twitches at my remark. At least he¡¯s aware he brought a disaster into his family. He hasn¡¯t tried to run away because he¡¯s afraid of my nobility, 2 Rank 3 knights are just too rarely seen, much less as simple guards.

    ¡°Father, I need your help.¡±, he calls out politely as he reach the main hall.

    I take a seat without invitation, aggressively propping my leg up against my other thigh. My entourage stay standing to prevent anything untoward from happening to me.

    Soon after, an exasperated voice sounds out, ¡°What have you done this time?¡± as a slightly chubby middle aged man walks in. He doesn¡¯t seem too sloppy, having the bearings of a reputable merchant.

    As he sees me, he bows quickly in shock, ¡°To what do I owe honour of welcoming the young lord of the Duke?¡±

    Upon seeing this, the Bao young master¡¯s face turns even paler in fright.

    I¡¯m slightly surprised too. I was quite sure that most people didn¡¯t know of my existence, since the previous me was overtly low-key, and couldn¡¯t possibly have attracted any attention. I reevaluate this seemingly simple middle aged man silently in my head.

    ¡°There¡¯s something of course. Your son, assaulted me for bumping into him after I apologised, look at the bruises on my face! I demand compensation for this.¡±

    The man cast a glance at my guards, before replying, ¡°Of course we compensate if he truly did it, how could we not? But there¡¯s no way young lord could have gotten hurt with those 2 knights around, right?¡±, he says in an awkward fashion.

    ¡°But the matter of the fact is, I did. Your good son also wanted me to bring him to the Duke to settle the debt of bumping into him. You tell me, how should the matter be settled?¡±, I declare self-righteously. They¡¯s no need to talk too much reason with him, especially what our statuses differ so much.

    He looks at his son, who doesn¡¯t deny it, but looks away. He sighs in resignation.

    The offense of assaulting me is negligible when compared to the possible insult to a Duke that protects the Kingdom as one of it¡¯s reigning Generals. This is a crime that could result in the confiscation of all his property and jail time.

    He seems to have lost his vigor, uttering slowly, ¡°Just name what you want.¡±

 Chapter 18: Threats and Negotiations (Part 2)

    I look at his face of resignation, smiling.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you know your situation well. I want enough goods to fill 30 stores.¡±

    His pupils enlarge, shakily pointing his finger at me, he lets out, ¡°T-that¡¯s impossible! That¡¯ll put almost all my shops out of business!!¡±

    I know this of course. If the Bao family was financially capable enough to support this amount, they wouldn¡¯t just be a merchant house, they¡¯ll find some way to become nobility already.

    ¡°That¡¯s a problem then... ¡°, I pretend to frown in dissatisfaction.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a request I can do, you may as well take my old life.¡±, he mutters strongly.

    I was expecting him to negotiate, but he¡¯s putting on the strong stance from the get-go, huh¡­ I don¡¯t think the owner of a merchant group would be riled up so easily of course, he¡¯s merely doing it to leave himself more room for negotiation later by making me think he has nothing to lose.

    I¡¯ll play along in any case, It suits my wishes anyway.

    ¡°That¡¯s really a problem, Father told me to have it ready¡­¡±, I mutter to myself, looking away.

    This doesn¡¯t escape his keen ears of course, he starts deliberating a bit, since if it¡¯s the Duke¡¯s plan, there¡¯s little room for him to manuveur. It¡¯s like if an ant were to try to fight an elephant, the ant can poke all it wants, but as long as the elephant stomps down, that¡¯s the end of the ant.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Their positions are just too far apart. My father wouldn¡¯t find it hard to destroy him, either physically or financially. He has good relations with the finance minister afterall.

    As he hem and haws, suddenly, I seem to have been struck by a flash of inspiration, ¡°How about you loan the products to us?¡±

    ¡°Loan you say?¡±, he asks quizzically.

    ¡°Yes, loan, I can¡¯t say the reason, but I need to establish shops quickly. You can loan the products to us, and any portion of the product sold, we¡¯ll give you 50% of the sales price. This way, you won¡¯t be put in too much of a spot, and I¡¯ll be able to fufill my task.¡±, I say confidently

    He thinks to himself for a few seconds, before breaking out in laughter, ¡°Alright then, since you thought for this old man so much, I¡¯ll accept.¡±

    I am still extorting him, but he¡¯s still so happy to be extorted. The ¡®reason¡¯ i mentioned, he probably assumes to be the Duke, and since he can¡¯t go against him in any case, paying this amount is more than fair. If he were to gain a connection to our house, it¡¯ll be even better of course, which is why we have this situation where the extorted party thanks the extorter.

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s good that you are accepting, let¡¯s keep this a secret between these four walls though.¡±, as I say that, I look at the Bao young master.

    ¡°Of course, of course, I won¡¯t let the young master get punished for this, I¡¯ll keep him in the house for a while.¡±, he says casually, staring at his son for a moment before returning back to his smile.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking my leave then, Leticia here will handle the administrative work for the moving of goods.¡±, I wave my hands, casually walking away.

    ¡°Let me see you out, young lord.¡±, he says courteously.

    ¡°No need.¡±, I say without turning back.

    After Leticia talks to him for a while and leaves, his lips let out a ¡®tsk¡¯.

    ¡°Can¡¯t believe that there¡¯ll be a day where I, Bao Jia Jun get extorted, by a Duke nonetheless. Sigh, this must be karma.¡±

    He orders a servant in, instructing him to move the goods, adding that they should only move the goods for the storefront, and the remaining they would move slowly. He also asked the servant to break half of his carts after the first move.

    ¡°This should do it. At least with this connection ongoing for longer, I may be able to get some benefits elsewhere.¡±, he mutters to himself after dismissing the servant.

 Chapter 19: Threats and Negotiations (Part 3)

    As expected, the Bao family head quickly delivered the goods to my 30 shops. Aside from the withheld stored goods, of course. I didn¡¯t think he¡¯ll be nice enough to send it all over in any case. This is more than enough for my plans.

    Next I¡¯ll need shopkeepers, I was hoping I could use the maids in my house for that, but it seems like a tall order considering Father isn¡¯t fond of having too many maids in our house. In total our family barely has 50 maids, compared to a typical Duke house, which employs up to a thousand servants easily.

    I instruct Leticia to find a few maids she finds trustworthy, and teach them to be able to handle basic store service. That handles the part on training, but the raw manpower issue remains unsolved.

    I¡¯ll have to pay a visit to Yuan Zheng.

    I walk in through the storefront casually.

    ¡°Welc- If it isn¡¯t Qiu young master, to what do I owe this honour?¡±, Yuan Zheng smiles upon seeing me, greeting politely.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to get money from you.¡±, I say casually.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Yuan Zheng¡¯s eyebrow twitches, maintaining his smile, he asks, ¡°Are you selling something, young master?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m here to borrow money.¡±

    ¡°Young master, this is something you should visit a bank for, my humble shop can¡¯t possibly be able to lend a member of a Duke House money.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not borrowing it from your shop.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you here?¡±, he asks, exasperated..

    :¡±I¡¯m borrowing money from you.¡±

    ¡°W-wha-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple, really. I have a plan for something big, and if you intend to expand upon your shop, you can consider this an investment.¡±, I state frankly.

    ¡°Young master, you know very well I can¡¯t just give you the money on a gut feeling. May I know more about that plan of yours?¡±, he says with a sharp look in his eyes, he¡¯s ready to negotiate.

    Unfortunately, I¡¯m not here for a negotiation.

    ¡°I¡¯ve stated my plans, I intend to borrow 2,000 gold coins from you. If you agree, I stake on my name that you¡¯ll receive double that amount on half a year¡¯s time.¡±

    2,000 gold is the annual income of a large noble family. Even my Duke house doesn¡¯t have an income much higher than that. We do still have many precious materials mined, so we¡¯re much more well off than the average large noble family still.

    A normal merchant won¡¯t have so much spare cash. However, I trust that Yuan Zheng isn¡¯t as simple as he looks. How could an ordinary merchant be able to give away a precious middle grade meditation technique of unknown origin so easily? The unknown origin is key, if it¡¯s from a ruin unknown to most people, how could the person possessing it have an ordinary background?

    I¡¯ve checked and checked, and there¡¯s no record of my meditation technique anywhere. There¡¯s nothing close to it. While it¡¯s a mediocre effect, it still represents an unknown ruin.

    ¡°2- 2,000 gold?! I couldn¡¯t possibly possess that amount of money, you must be joking.¡±, he express shock and declines.

 Chapter 20: Threats and Negotiations (Part 4)

    ¡°But you do.¡±, I say confidently, staring right at him.

    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You do.¡±

    ¡°Young master, I could even show you my record books, I don¡¯t.¡±, he has a face of displeasure as he takes out his record books. I really d-¡±

    ¡°1 Favour, 1 favour when I become Duke. Unconditional.¡±, I declare.

    He stops his words upon hearing this. He ponders for a bit.

    His jovial face turning serious, he grabs a pouch from within his robes, throwing the bag on the counter. The bag has an inscription on it, it¡¯s a space pouch, one that compresses the space within it.

    ¡°There¡¯s 5,000 gold inside. There¡¯s no need to return the gold, I want you to sign a spirit contract.¡±, he says solemnly.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    A spirit contract is simply a contract made upon the presence of the various spirits. If a contract of this manner were to be broken, the person would lose all his attributes for the elements. He would be unable to use magic, regardless of mastery, as if he were to do so, the backlash would likely kill him.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Leticia hands me a knife, and I use that knife to cut a slit on my thumb, dripping my blood on the contract. Yuan Zheng does the same.

    The details of the contract were simple: ¡°If Qiu Xue were to become Duke, he would need to perform an unconditional favour for Yuan Zheng, aside from direct suicide.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure doing business.¡±

    I pass 2,000 coins to Leticia once we leave without saying anything. She nods and leaves.

    That¡¯s my personnel problem solved.

    I should be able to reap this harvest soon, but for now, I¡¯ll strength my own forces. It¡¯s time to rope in Xun Zhou and gang.

    On a perfectly ordinary day, I head to school as usual.

    Right after class, I tell Xun Zhou that I have something important to tell him.

    We meet up in a room by the stairway, it¡¯s usually unused, since it¡¯s a room filled with physical weapons within a Magic Academy.

    ¡°What¡¯s the important thing that you need to talk to me alone for?¡±, he asks quizzically.

    ¡°Have you thought about your future?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with this weird question? Or course I have, I¡¯ll become a mage that¡¯ll support my family in regaining it¡¯s past honour. Everyone knows this.¡±

    ¡°But is that what you really want?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s simply what your family wants, but deep down, you know that at the current rate of your progress with your talent, normal methods would never let you breakthrough to become a formal Mage. don¡¯t you?¡±

    He frowns.

    ¡°You¡¯ll never become a formal Mage.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve said too much, if you were anyone else, I would have punched you by now.¡±, he says, gritting his teeth.

    ¡°But it¡¯s the truth.¡±

    He lunges forward at this, grabbing my left shoulder. Flicking his wrist, he thrusts my shoulder towards the ground, making me fall down on the ground facing up with his mounted on top of me.

    ¡°Take that back. This is your last chance.¡±, He stares at me with anger.

    I fetch out the space bag from Yuan Zheng from my robes while pinned down.

    I raise it up, inviting him to take it.

    ¡°I¡¯m not in a good position now. Everyone knows that, I don''t have enough power. My other brothers have more support, their own forces, and me? I only have my title as the eldest son, nothing else. I need to have strength to fight for what I want. I need to have strength to become the next Duke."

    I pause.

    ¡°Be my General.¡±

 Chapter 21: Shocking Recruitment

    Xun Zhou looks at the bag incredulously.

    He squints his eyes, looking fiercely at me. ¡°I consider you a friend. I may be straight forward, but I¡¯m not stupid. You approached me just to recruit me, didn¡¯t you? That incident was created by you, wasn¡¯t it? All of this, just to recruit me.¡±

    I honestly didn¡¯t think that I would be exposed. It wasn¡¯t any fancy trick, but for some reason, I didn¡¯t think that anyone would find out.

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHA. I don¡¯t know why I would be the person you wanted to recruit, it could have been a stronger noble, who could provide you with so much more. What, is it because I¡¯m weak? So I¡¯ll be easier to control, and would be a vassal instead of an equal partner? You always looked at me with condescension?!¡±

    ¡°I-I di-¡±, I stammered, I didn¡¯t expect this to happen at all.

    ¡°Cat got your tongue? You can¡¯t be arrogant enough to think that no one would be able to tell, right? I was never going to mention it if you didn¡¯t. I thought it would be fine if we remained as friends, but you had to prove me wrong.¡± He has a face of self ridicule, slightly averting his gaze at me.

    I continue to be stunned. I was expecting this recruitment to go smoothly. I was offering what he needed the most currently. There¡¯s no reason for him not to accept. I even prepared a suitable platform for his to accept it. I could have recruited him before becoming friends, but I still did so so that he would be more accepting of the idea.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t think I would even consider it, huh¡­¡±, he mutters sadly to himself.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to-¡±

    ¡°Just stop.¡±

    ¡°This is getting hard to watch. This never happened, you may have pride in yourself, but you can¡¯t ignore someone else¡¯s.¡±

    He gets off me, turning around to walk away.

    With his back turned, he says coldly, ¡°Bye.¡±

    Why?

    Why did this happen? Wasn¡¯t it all supposed to go smoothly? Wasn¡¯t I transported over from another world? I have a right to an advantage over anyone here. I¡¯m special.

    But why then? Why did this¡­ have to happen¡­

    I didn¡¯t realise at this point, that all along I¡¯ve been an entitled little kid. I was in a precarious spot, but I still felt everything was under control. I made plans, but they didn¡¯t come with contingencies. I had blind faith in their succeeding.

    I was wrong.

    I headed home that day, his words revolving about my mind. My eyes were empty, and devoid of any emotion.

    I kept thinking back to what happened. To what will happen.

    Did I make a wrong guess on his character? Was that it?

    No, his character didn¡¯t matter, I could have went wrong even if he accepted.

    In fact, it may even be better that he rejected me now instead of betraying me in the future.

    A relationship can¡¯t stand on an unstable foundation afterall.

    I didn¡¯t think far enough. I just wanted to gain power. I realised. Everything I had done was aimless.

    There wasn¡¯t the future in sight. I wasn¡¯t protecting myself either.

    I just wanted to gain more power.

    I expected to be able to do so. I had blind faith in my advantage.

    I skipped out on meditation and training, I kept myself immersed in my thoughts for the night.

 Chapter 22: The Mercenary Guild

    I froze in my room, and sat unmoving for an hour.

    I kept thinking about what happened, about what I could have done differently. The endless possibilities flashed through my mind. I was struck by a stroke of lightning all of a sudden, realising that if I simplified it, I was basically trying to recruit a friend that I¡¯ve known for a week.

    I didn¡¯t have a enviable brotherly relationship with him, we weren¡¯t sworn brothers that have gone through thick and thin. Most importantly, I¡¯m not special here.

    I may have the thought process of someone from another world, a world filled with scientific discoveries not known here, but my knowledge of them is rudimentary at best. I may be smarter than the average person here, but there must be greater minds than my own.

    I¡­ was wrong.

    I was wrong.

    I was wrong!

    I reaffirmed to myself this. This was my mistake, and I shall follow through with it.

    I will not continue to beat myself up over this, nor will I ignore that this happened. Now¡¯s the time to think for the future.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    I want to secure a strong position for myself in this world. One that doesn¡¯t threaten my wellbeing, one that allows me to move freely. I think through all the knowledge I¡¯ve gained in this world so far, and there¡¯s only one that fits in with this criteria the most.

    A mercenary group leader.

    I need to hold strength that¡¯s capable of threatening the Kingdom, yet also exist peacefully within it. I need to hold connections with the royalty, helping them, while maintaining the independence of the group. All of these need to be in place, if I were to safely traverse this world unfettered, and protected.

    I need power, and connections for this to happen.

    I acknowledge my failure in recruitment. Xun Zhou¡¯s words echo in my ears. I could continue to pursue him for recruitment. Endlessly. Until he agrees.

    But I won¡¯t, that¡¯ll be insulting to me. He¡¯s right, he has his own pride, and I should uphold mine.

    I shall find new companions, not people who will obey my commands, but people who can oppose mine.

    They need to correct me when I¡¯m wrong, I can¡¯t be infallible.

    There¡¯s no need to centre the group around me, the group can simply be built on mutual interests.

    We just need to be united in adversity, united by the sole fact that we desire protection but we are unwilling to lower our heads for it.

    I shall make this a reality, regardless of what it takes.

    ¡°If there¡¯s no place for me, I¡¯ll make it myself.¡±, I pledge to myself.

    I start making plans, contingencies, backups. This can¡¯t go wrong, I¡¯m not special, but I can be. I just need to be more prepared than anyone here is.

    What if I fail my venture? I need to be able to take advantage of what¡¯s left. What if I lose the right to succeeding the Duke? What if the Kingdom goes to war? I start to think of all the various possibilities, preparing for them just a little each. Just a little, just enough to give me a head start against anyone else.

    I work through the night, unaware of the time going by.

    This was the moment, that the Mercenary Guild truly came to fruition. Is what one of my close friends would say in the future. It would become a place where each member felt proud to be a part of, a place which was closely watched by foreign parties exceeding the Kingdom itself, a power renowned and known by all. But that¡¯s only in the distant future, and there was much that happened before that.

 Chapter 23: Its a Bar!

    ¡°Young master, it¡¯s morning. Are you already awake?¡±, the voice of Leticia reaches my ears as she knocks and asks politely.

    ¡°A-ah, yes, I am awake.¡±, I answer rather feebly.

    ¡°I shall enter then.¡±, she replies in her usual tone.

    As she enters in an unhurried manner, her stoic expression cracks a little from the sight she sees.

    ¡°Young master, wha-¡±, she gasps.

    There I was, with my hair in a mess, papers and books scattered all over the floor. My heavy eye bags seem to pale in comparison to the rest of the image. I looked like a scavenger from the slums. Leticia recounted in the future that it was one of the only times she changed her expression so much.

    ¡°Morning, Leticia.¡±, I answer casually, unbothered by the mess.

    ¡°You¡¯ve come at the right time, I need to revise some of the instructions I gave you previously. I also need more tasks to be accomplished. Is the manpower you have on hand sufficient to handle more tasks? I can provide more manpower.¡±, I rattle off quickly.

    Leticia remains unmoved.

    ¡°Leticia?¡±, I ask again.

    She breaks out from the frozen stupor, quickly resuming her normal expression.

    ¡°Ahem. Understood, young master. The manpower on hand can handle more tasks, I¡¯ll request for manpower if needed after hearing of the additional tasks.¡±, she says formally.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Than-¡±, I proceed to thank her, I want to show more appreciation to my reliable assistant here honestly, so I make sure to thank her as much as possible. However, she cuts me off.

    ¡°However, young master, your current appearance is quite unsightly. We should get you cleaned up before the Duke or the Madame notices.¡±, she says sharply.

    Upon her words, I look down at myself, then the mirror nearby. Realising my disastrous appearance, I quickly instruct the maids to help me get tidied up.

    Leticia reports that she has hired 60 shopkeepers already, by offering a salary almost double of the market rate. I nod satisfactorily.

    ¡°We can get started then.¡±, I say to Leticia as I pass a bag of 500 gold coins to her.

    That said, I spend the rest of the day checking on the conditions of each of the shops I have temporarily rented and preparing failsafes for certain scenarios.

    The day passes quickly, and news has been spread long ago that a chain store known as ¡®Supreme Pavillion¡¯ is due to open.

    The store doors open for the first time at the start of the day, as customers swarm in.

    Customers weren¡¯t clearing out the shop, however, most customers were merely buying 1 item each.

    Why? That¡¯s because it was advertised that the first item would be 50% off it¡¯s original value today.

    Many people came for the promotion, as it was basically a money losing promotion. However, while most customers only bought an item or two, there were still many who ended up buying more items than they needed. It¡¯s simple afterall, you wouldn¡¯t want to leave a store with just 1 item after you¡¯ve had to queue for multiple hours, right? It is because of this reason that we still managed to barely stay out of loss. Of course, If you consider that our cost of goods is nothing, we definitely profited well.

    Business is going smoothly, and after a few days pass, I¡¯ve made close to a thousand gold.

    That¡¯s hardly the real goal here, though.

    I set off casually today, accompanied by just 1 guard. I quickly reach my destination, as a sultry lady glances at me before welcoming me endearingly.

    She leads me up to the 2nd floor of the huge ¡®restaurant¡¯, which appears to be much more dignified than the first floor. She wants to direct me to a large table, but I refuse her kind intentions, motioning at the table near the stairway, with a man with thick eyebrows seated. The man is accompanied by two ladies, and seems to be having fun.

    I walk over, asking ¡°If it isn¡¯t Beelze young master, may I sit with you?¡±

    ¡°He then notices me, answering with a face of flattery, ¡°Of course, my kindred spirit!¡±

    That¡¯s right, this is a brothel. For those of you below 18, this is a Bar. In the past few days I have been frequenting the place, and gotten acquainted with the Beelze young master rather well. He even complains to me about his father¡¯s restrictions on him a lot.

    I chat with him as per normal, before he comes to the topic of his father not being proud of him as usual. I pretend to ponder for a bit, before letting out a sigh.

    ¡°I may be able to help with that.¡±

 Chapter 24: An Offer Difficult to Refuse

    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around, Qiu young master.¡±, he replies perfunctorily.

    I smile, ¡°We haven¡¯t been friends for long, but I consider us to be kindred spirits.¡±

    I pause, looking up and glancing at a courtesan flirtatiously.

    He smiles, as he eyes the lady as well. It¡¯s the famed cover lady for this establishment, Lady Yue. It¡¯s been told that there was once a young scholar who spent all his assets just to have dinner with her. He came out of the affair with a face giddy with happiness, saying, ¡°I regret nothing.¡±

    She¡¯s known for only selling her skills and nothing else. Our young master Beelze here has been trying to change that with his family¡¯s assets for quite a while however.

    After we smile at each other, my face turns serious as I stare into his eyes.

    He gets my meaning, saying, ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone, I swear on my family name.¡±

    ¡°I trust you, but¡­¡±

    He beckons his servant away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point. Our family needs capital for something urgently, so we¡¯re looking to sell our recently opened shop chain.¡±

    With a face of shock, he asks, ¡°This¡­ you mean Supreme Pavillion?¡±

    I nod.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to discuss carefully with father on this¡­ is it just the shops?¡±, he says as he hints.

    I let out a sigh, answering, ¡°Everything.¡±

    ¡°Everyt-¡±, he gasps, quickly covering his own mouth.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°You should understand the value of this. We are selling everything, including the information on the sources of our goods.¡±

    It¡¯s been widely known that our shop sells certain items at 20 percent below the market price. Anyone with a brain could guess that we were getting them for much lower, since a profit needed to be made. While many owners are trying to find out our sources so they could attempt to poach them etcetera, none have obtained any information regarding the matter.

    Of course they haven¡¯t, it¡¯s all done discreetly by the Bao family previously anyway. If he doesn¡¯t want to lose all his face in front of other merchants, he would do his best to hide this.

    He tries to make a serious face, but seems unaccustomed to it, whispering to me, ¡°Do you have authority to decide this?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say the reason, but father has entrusted to me the task. I can show preference to your family, but I must show results for this!¡±, I whisper with a face of determination.

    He ponders slightly, before having a face of understanding.

    ¡°I understand. Since you¡¯ve said this much, I must show some action here. I¡¯ll talk to my father tonight, please visit my residence tomorrow.¡±

    I nod seriously.

    He suddenly reaches out to hold my hands, ¡°Thank you for this chance. I can never repay this opportunity.¡±

    I simply pat his hands with my left hand in solemness.

    After we drink and chat some more, I quickly leave the place.

    That went well, I like dealing with self proclaimed intellectuals. Just give them a bit to guess, and they¡¯ll think they¡¯ve got it all figured out. He probably thinks that this task was given to me from the Duke so he has a reason to promote me as the successor. Too bad this is simply not the case.

    His father might suspect something, but people are always blinded by greed afterall. This should have at least an 80 percent chance of succeeding.

    I skipped school today, it¡¯s easier to find the Beelze young master during those hours anyway. I haven¡¯t talked to Xun Zhou since that incident. If this were a story with me as the main character, if I ignored him, he¡¯ll eventually disappear from the story.

    Too bad that isn¡¯t the case. I don¡¯t want to leave any loose ends. I intend to declare my intentions properly to him. I¡¯ll apologise for the incident.

    I don¡¯t intend to recruit him or his friends now. A practical person would most likely keep to his original investment and try again, but my pride won¡¯t allow for that. It¡¯s too bad that I chose to associate with his group, so it¡¯ll be hard for me to join any other influential social group.

    I¡¯m not out of options though. Once I obtain my funds, I¡¯ll have a good chip to gain some foothold in the class.

    As I finish thinking to myself, I ask Leticia, ¡°Did you find out more about ¡®her¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes, young master. As you¡¯ve ordered, I¡¯ve asked around about the female classmate who talked to you.¡±

    ¡°Her name¡¯s Ming Que, and she¡¯s the only daughter of an old minister under the chamber of finance. Her mother passed away when she was 3, leaving her to live alone with her father. Her father holds some clout in the finance ministry, but is known for being neutral.

    ¡°She entered the magic academy at the same time as you, but not much has been heard about her since she¡¯s relatively inconspicuous and tends to not stand out. Her magic talent is seemingly average, as she remains an early 3rd rank apprentice since the last exam.¡±

    ¡°Hmm... Does she have any friends?¡±

    ¡°She seems to get along well with everyone in the class, greeting them at times. However, she doesn''t associate much with any of them."

    ¡°Interesting.¡±, I smile to myself.

 Chapter 25: Hiring an Assassin?

    ¡°Morning, Leticia.¡±, I say as I leave the room fresh, completely unlike my previous slovenly appearance.

    I leave for the school early, thinking about my training as of late.

    It¡¯s been going well, I¡¯m steadily progressing to becoming a Rank 4 Apprentice. It usually takes a year to advance between ranks, and by the looks of it I¡¯ll be Rank 4 in around 9 months thanks to my medium grade technique. It would be faster, but it¡¯s still hindered by my natural talent afterall.

    I haven¡¯t had the time to learn any new spells since my last confrontation, my power is miniscule no matter how much I train it to anyway, so I¡¯m more lax in that area. I have learnt an amusing spell though. In any case, I don¡¯t expect to suddenly be able to defeat the emperor in a year like the protagonist of some xianxia novel.

    As my thoughts drift off, I reach the academy.

    It¡¯s early in the morning, 3 hours before class starts.

    I walk over to the classroom door, only to find Ming Que seated in the corner already.

    I think for a moment, before decide to loiter outside the classroom. The classroom is similar to a classic lecture hall, having 4 entrances, I simply walk through the fire exit stairway to the top entrance that¡¯s not frequently used.

    I station myself at the door, simply peeking at her once in a while.

    An hour passes, with her writing some notes, before glancing up ever so often.

    2 hours pass, more students come in, and she greets them with a light wave and smile.

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    Another half and hour passes with her doing the same, finally, I enter the classroom from the top entrance. My light entrance is not noticed by anybody. I move slowly but make a quick beeline for my destination.

    Before long, I arrive and naturally take a seat next to Ming Que.

    She fidgets for a moment, before looking to my direction, surprised.

    Her big eyes blink at me in confusion for a while, before she lightly laughs, expressing, ¡°So quick to make new friends? I would have thought you¡¯ll be sticking to Xun Zhou for longer.¡±

    Betraying her expectant look, I answer casually, ¡°If I said I was here to pursue you after love at first sight¡­ would you believe me?¡±

    She has a face of shock, before blushing for a brief moment.

    ¡°You can still joke, huh¡­¡± she awkwardly tries to smooth it over.

    ¡°Of course, Princess, I can¡¯t be too hung up over what¡¯s over.¡±

    ¡°What Princess? Isn¡¯t that guess too far-fetched?¡±, she answers snappily.

    ¡°Was worth a shot.¡± I shrug.

    ¡°You can try digging up some dirt, but I doubt you¡¯ll find me out.¡±, she says confidently.

    ¡°I won¡¯t. I¡¯m in love with you, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Enough with that.¡±, she waves her hand in slight annoyance.

    I take a moment to change to a more serious look, before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know what your intentions are here, while my goals are all laid bare before you, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    She ignores me, tacitly agreeing.

    ¡°I won¡¯t try to guess who you are anymore, but I want a favour.¡±

    Her eyebrow twitches.

    ¡°I know that¡¯s hardly enough to warrant a favour, but I¡¯m willing to offer money. 5000 gold. I just need 2 people dead at a certain time.¡±

    She seems tempted by the money.

    ¡°They¡¯re not nobles, I just don¡¯t want any traces to be left behind.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think murder¡¯s very appropriate.¡±, she answers with a bland tone.

    ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t something someone like you would dabble in. I¡¯ll send over the names with the gold in a week, you can decide whether to take the request or not. If you don¡¯t, just take the gold as a token of sincerity.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±, she lightly nods.

    I smile at this.

    I still have no idea who she is exactly, but for her to have such a convenient identity made up, she must be related to someone of relative clout in the Finance Ministry. I can¡¯t pinpoint who, since there¡¯s so many who fit in that criteria. The majority group are princesses of the kingdom, but I couldn¡¯t tell anything from just now. She didn¡¯t slip up at all.

    She should have at least 1 Class 1 Mage with her though, it¡¯ll be simple for her to order an assassination even for a noble, much less a civilian. It¡¯ll be much cleaner and harder to find out than if I did it myself.

    Not to mention I don¡¯t fancy myself having any talent for being an assassin.

 Chapter 26: Stressful Person to Talk To

    It¡¯s not like I put all my faith in her, It¡¯ll just be better for me if she did it for me. If the deed wasn¡¯t done after I send the money, I¡¯ll simply hire someone else to do it. The money spent for this can¡¯t be considered a lot either.

    It¡¯s a chance to build connections with a formidable entity. I have my guesses on who she could be, and most of her suspected identities would make it only beneficial for me to get closer to her.

    I was expecting her to decline, but since she accepted, that must mean I can be of use to her.

    After the conversation I stay silent for the rest of the class, listening to the teacher at times. I end up drifting off in my own world after a while, thinking about my plans later.

    Suddenly, without shifting her gaze from the teacher, she whispers softly, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not listening to the teacher.¡±

    Slightly shocked, I answer without looking away from the teacher as well, ¡°I¡¯m surprised you noticed.¡±

    ¡°I guessed.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t think of what to reply to that, so I kept silent.

    After an awkward minute, she speaks up again.

    ¡°Who are you really?¡±

    ¡°Me? I¡¯m Qiu Xue of course.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie.¡±

    ¡°What do you want me to say? I¡¯ve been Qiu Xue since I was born.¡±

    ¡°The old Qiu Xue would never act like you currently.¡±

    ¡°I just realised my predicament after hitting my head.¡±

    ¡°Oh really.¡±

    ¡°People mature at different times, this was just mine.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to say to that.¡±

    ¡°I may be doing things that the previous me wouldn¡¯t do, but that¡¯s just circumstances at play.¡±

    I pause before continuing, ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice but to do these things.¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t be here speaking to you right now.¡±

    She shrugs, not denying my words.

    ¡°If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?¡±, I sigh helplessly.

    She remains silent.

    When class ended, as she packed up her books, she said lightly, ¡°I¡¯ll believe you. Even if you weren¡¯t the old Qiu Xue, it¡¯s not my business anyway.¡±

    As she turned around to leave, I heaved a sigh of relief.

    Suddenly, she turned back, ¡°If you were different though, I like the current Qiu Xue more.¡±

    She laughs lightly, as she leaves the classroom, leaving me with an awkward expression.

    ¡°Haiz. It¡¯s so hard dealing with her. I still can¡¯t read her at all.¡±, I  think to myself, shrugging it off.

    I head for my carriage as usual, instructing it to head for the Beelze family mansion.

    As I arrive, I notice a huge mansion, generously decorated with precious jewels. If you compared this estate to my house, it¡¯ll make it seem like our family was being frugal.

    I¡¯m shocked by the luxuriousness of the place, and as I stood outside, the Beelze young master steps out, welcoming, ¡°Ah, my dear friend, you finally came. Don¡¯t stand on ceremony with us, just come in!¡±

    He leads me along the grand pathway, filled with a line of maids bowing at my arrival.

    Honestly this is rather breathtaking. Just from appearances alone, my Duke house definitely can¡¯t compare to this sight.

    He brings me in into the main hall, inviting me to take a seat near the top, usually reserved for esteemed guests.

    Soon after, a burly man with a sharp nose like that of the Beelze young master walks in.

    He looks at me and laughs in approval, ¡°Truly a dragon amongst men! The Duke has a good successor!¡±

    Of course he¡¯ll flatter me, he probably thinks I have father¡¯s support in the succession, so it¡¯s almost certain I will become the next Duke.

    Even without that, the general public looks rather highly at me succeeding the Duke, since the sons of the second wife usually don¡¯t have a right to the title. If not for the second wife having sons highly talented in magic, they wouldn¡¯t have any chance.

    ¡°You flatter me, you flatter me! I still need to count on noble families such as yourself for support.¡±, I laugh heartily, implying that his family was a noble one, or at least could become one soon.

    ¡°You think too highly of us, young lord, we little ones are the ones that need your support!¡±

    ¡°How could that be? I have much to learn from the older generation¡­¡±

    After another round of pleasantries and flattery, his eyes turn serious, saying seriously, ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard from my son that you¡¯re looking to sell Supreme Pavillion?¡±

    I put on a solemn face as well, ¡°Yes. That is completely true. This matter is of grave importance to me.¡±

    I emphasise on myself, not the family, further confirming his suspicions that this is to help my peaceful succession.

    ¡°We¡¯ll of course cooperate with you as much as we can, what is the sum you¡¯re looking for, young lord?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much, just 100,000 gold.¡±

    His face cracks, ¡°100,000?! Young lord, you must be joking, one of these shops not matter how successful can only make about 500 gold a year!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not unreasonable. Annually, all the shops can make about 15,000 gold. You can easily make that amount back in 7-8 years.¡±, I retort casually.

    ¡°That¡¯s too much, you may not know this, but normally we merchants price their business at 3-4 times their annual income, since a business can''t be guaranteed stable earnings for that long! No one would price it at 7-8 times!¡±, he tries to reason, visibly agitated..

    ¡°Of course, I know that this is a lot of money if we¡¯re considering just the value of the shops alone. But there¡¯s more value in them than just their income, isn¡¯t there?¡±, I grin evilly.

 Chapter 27: Ideals

    Upon hearing my words, his face turns unsightly.

    I continue, ignoring his expression, ¡°I¡¯m no merchant, but I¡¯ve done some research into the market. It seems that most of the famed merchant families have stopped expanding once they reach a certain extent?¡±

    The Beelze family head leans forward at this, frowning at the brows.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know, but what if there was some agreement between the families to not allow for a market leader? What if someone wanted to break that agreement without having to suffer the repercussions and retaliation from the other families?¡±

    He holds the armrests on his side, almost as if he wanted to pounce on me.

    ¡°That person would have to instantly obtain a large amount of shops, instantly setting himself as the market leader, wouldn¡¯t he? After that, simply setting the price of certain goods higher and certain goods lower could influence the market greatly and gain him great profits¡­ ignoring the repercussions easily.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be an interesting thought?¡±, I lift up my chin in confidence, with a smug smile.

    He stares angrily at me, seemingly wanting to swallow me whole.

    I remain smiling, fishing out a jade pendant with the ¡®Qiu¡¯ family name on it. I lift it up slightly so he notices it. It¡¯s an ordinary jade pendant, but my meaning is clear here: ¡°You can offend whoever you want, but can you afford to offend the Qiu Duke House?¡±

    Upon seeing this, his eyeballs enlarge more, almost as if wanting to take action.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    He clenches hard on his armrest.

    However, he ends up relaxing all his muscles after this, slumping back at his chair in defeat.

    Letting out a sigh, he starts, ¡°You¡­ win, young lord. 100,000 gold it is¡­¡±

    ¡°BUT, no news of this must get out about what you just said for this deal to happen. This is my bottomline.¡±, he states firmly.

    ¡°Of course. I swear by my family name.¡±, I agree quickly.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do the transfer now then. I expect you¡¯ve brought the title deeds for the shops along?¡±

    I nod.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make it simple, the title deeds for the gold. Withdraw your servants immediately tonight after the deal, I want the account books as well.¡±

    ¡°No problem. That¡¯s a deal.¡±

    We exchange goods, and finalise the specifics.

    An hour later, I walk out of the luxurious mansion with a heavy bag of gold.

    Walking by the luxurious pavillion, I think to myself, ¡°I guess now I can build one too. I¡¯m not going to though, Ha ha.¡±

    It feels better when you can afford something and choose not to buy it versus not being able to afford it. People always want what they can¡¯t have.

    With this amount, I still have 95,000 gold after I pay Ming Que. It''s a large amount of money, but it''s all going into raising my forces in this Kingdom. It''ll just be a drop in a bucket.

    While my recruitment failed, it made me realise that having just a private force isn¡¯t enough. You are still liable to get betrayed, no matter how many people you recruit. You won''t be allowed to possess enough strength to rival the Kingdom''s forces, you can get crushed as easily as you rose with a single imperial edict.

    Since that¡¯s the case, I might as well settle for quantity over quality. I don¡¯t need to have men pledging their allegiance to me. Their pledges means nothing in the face of true danger. I just need a force that is motivated by the benefits of belonging to an organisation.

    Different people have differing goals.

    They inevitably pursue different things in life.

    There¡¯s no need to tie people together forcefully.

    However, if these solitary people seek to have their own sense of security... to have protection while remaining different... then...

    I will provide them exactly that.

    All I desire is to be one of those solitary people.

    I will not build a private army.

    I will build a new force that can contend with the Kingdom itself.

    An threatening but untouchable existance.

    This shall be my foundation in this foreign world.

 Chapter 28: Plans and Magic

    It¡¯s something I¡¯ve always thought of, even in my previous life. It seems I was a rather lonely person back then as well. Just like now. There¡¯s no one to share my troubles or woes with.

    I hope that someday I¡¯ll be blessed with companions I can trust.

    For now, I¡¯ll continue to work hard to ensure that I live to see that day.

    If I¡¯m to build a guild to gather wandering adventurers, there are certain criteria I need to fufill:

    One, is power. It¡¯s simple, I can¡¯t make anyone believe that the organisation can protect them if it can¡¯t even protect itself. The organisation needs a powerful leader, even if that person isn¡¯t¡¯ me. I don¡¯t believe I have enough talent for that, so getting a high leveled mage to support this endeavour would be for that best.

    I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s a recluse mage in the northern mountains, and he¡¯s rumoured to be Rank 5. The rumours have been there since years ago, so he is suspected to be dead, but we can¡¯t know for sure. Someone like him with no affiliation would be my ideal supporter.

    Secondly, influence. I need to have political support. If this organisation is not supported by the nobles at the start, it could easily be crushed by the whim of any Noble. I need to have some form of backing in that area, preferably from the side of the Royal family.

    The prestige of the Duke house is great, but it¡¯s ultimately not my own.

    Lastly, money. Gold is the foundation of everything here. If I want to achieve the previous two requirements, having gold is essential. Having financial resources can allow me to negotiate for the support of a strong individual, and also bribe for political support.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    On that note, my 100,000 gold is a paltry sum.

    I can¡¯t leave the Kingdom¡¯s city walls currently, since I¡¯m far from being strong enough.

    Unfortunately, I¡¯ll have to shelve my plans for the organisation¡¯s development since I can¡¯t venture out in search of the recluse mage. Until I¡¯m able to find a willing and strong individual to back this organisation, I can¡¯t proceed any further.

    Thinking about this, I sigh to myself.

    ¡°Young master, we¡¯ve reached the house.¡±, Leticia says as she gently nudges me.

    ¡°A-Ah, have I been thinking for a while?¡±, I ask.

    ¡°Yes, young master. You¡¯ve been in a daze for quite some time.¡±, she answers nonchalently.

    ¡°Hey, Leticia, what do you think about what I¡¯ve done recently?¡±, I ask seriously.

    She seems troubled for a moment, before starting to answer.

    ¡°Actually, never mind. Ignore that.¡±, I cut her off.

    I want to be told that I¡¯m doing the right things and heading down the right path. However, I don¡¯t want to be told that I¡¯m wrong. I don¡¯t want to be told that everything I¡¯ve worked for was meaningless. I feel alone, but I have to stay alone, keeping certain things locked deep within me.

    Since I can¡¯t get started on the organisation, I was thinking I¡¯ll create a new apprentice mage spell. It¡¯s not an impossible task, but one normally not attempted by apprentices since it requires thorough theory knowledge for magic.

    I won¡¯t reach the rank of a formal mage soon, so I¡¯ll just spend that time engineering a magic unique to myself.

    I¡¯ve had the idea since I came into touch with magic actually. I have weak magical capabilities, but if I were to think of a way to make magic function like that of a gun, compressing the mana into a small point before launching it, I could gain huge combat power.

    The difficulty in this is that it goes against the usual way of executing magic. The principle for creating magic is that you imagine a structure, and you use your mana to fill that structure before executing the spell. However, If I want the mana to be denser, I would need to skip that step of creating a structure, going first into compressing the mana, before creating a structure for it.

    It¡¯s a complicated process. I was thinking that I could execute a spell first to help in the compression, before forming the structure. Something like usuing Wind Impact from all sides to pressurise raw mana into the size I desire, before locking it into a bullet structure, and firing it.

    That was my plan¡­. But after 4 hours of testing, I¡¯ve only found mother failure more and more attractive. Is it because she keeps shining on me? I compress the mana slightly using the Wind Impact spell, but the spell ends up letting loose the mana after a few seconds.

 Chapter 29: Thoughts

    After countless failed attempts, I start to think if there¡¯s something fundamentally flawed about the idea. The mana just dissipates under the pressure instead of gathering together more tightly.

    It¡¯s like how air disperses under pressure. The mana particles just dissipate into the surroundings in reaction to the spell.

    Soon after, I feel that my body was running out of mana, feeling rather light-headed.

    I start reading some of the reports that Leticia prepared for me.

    I¡¯m trying to look for someone of political background to support me. In return, he or she will gain my support in his endeavours, of course.

    Currently I don¡¯t have much to offer except for my newfound wealth. I can¡¯t expect someone to see ¡°the potential¡± in me and bet on that afterall. My so-called potential lies solely on the fact that I¡¯m perceived as the frontrunner to the throne of the Duke.

    My easiest option would be one of the princes or princesses. In terms of princess, however, the only princess able to lend help to me would be Princess Sera. Unlike the other princesses who hold little political sway, her foreign mother hails from a distant Kingdom and the marriage between her and the king is more diplomatic than anything.

    As such, her actions have the weight of a competing kingdom with them. She holds nearly as much power as the Prime Minister of the country. Besides the King, no one can speak to her without honourifics.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    As for the other princes, there is obviously Lei Zong, the second prince from my class. He appears too arrogant for my liking though. Then there¡¯s the Crown Prince, who¡¯s adept at literature and archery. He¡¯s also a genius magician. Currently there¡¯s little doubt that he¡¯s almost set for the throne unless¡­ an accident happens.

    I¡¯m not a fan of those ¡®perfect¡¯ types though. They tend to exude an aura of superiority and disregard others. Maybe I¡¯m being influenced negatively by my previous self, but I strongly protest against working with him.

    Then there¡¯s the third prince. He¡¯s inconspicuous,  and rather quiet compared to his shining brothers. He¡¯s known for his few acts of kindness, giving out food in the slums and building orphanages. He distances himself from the race for the throne as much as possible. He¡¯s known as the ¡°Peace-loving Prince¡±.

    These are the candidates with the highest chance of succession, there are other princes but frankly, they don¡¯t stand out enough.

    I have time, so I¡¯ll try to meet up with them before deciding who to work with. There¡¯s a youth ball coming up, and the princes will definitely be there to gain support for themselves. Even the third prince would be there since there¡¯s a charity auction organised by him.

    It¡¯s my best chance at getting to know them better.

    Thinking about this, I begin to think about plans to use subsequently.

    As I do so, suddenly a knock comes up from behind the door.

    ¡°Qiu Xue, are you in?¡±, a high-pitched voice rings out.

    My mother has a more mellow voice, so it could only be ¡®her¡¯.

    I tense up for a bit, before relaxing myself.

    My eyes glint for a moment before dimming.

    I cough lightly, before calling out, ¡°P-Please, come in.¡±

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll stop for today, nothing seems to work¡­¡±, I mutter to myself.

    As expected a well adorned woman with heavy makeup saunters in. She¡¯s accompanied by 2 maidservants, who open the door for her as she remains poised.

    One of them pulls out a chair near my table, wipes it before inviting her to seat on it. Throughout this process, she doesn¡¯t stop or flinch for a second, seemingly accustomed to it.

    This elegant woman glances at me for a while.

    I tense up, feeling uneasy, not knowing what to say as silence echoes.

    But before long, she lets out warmly, ¡°How are you doing, dear boy?¡±

 Chapter 30: A Capricious Visit

    ¡°I-I¡¯m doing well, 2nd Mother.¡±, I answer hesitantly.

    That¡¯s right, this is the 2nd Wife of the Duke, Lady Liu. Since her sons are competing with my for succession, we stand on opposite ends hence I¡¯m quite shocked by her abrupt visit. She¡¯s also the prime suspect for the ¡®injury¡¯ that happened before I reincarnated.

    I haven¡¯t had time to ask about my previous self¡¯s interaction with her and I¡¯m regretting it now. I saw her as more of a ¡®last boss¡¯ character that wouldn¡¯t bother me until I interacted with her sons more. There was really no particular reason for her to come talk to me.

    I haven¡¯t seen Mother for a while, but I made up my mind that right after this meeting I would ask more about this ¡®2nd Mother¡¯ of mine.

    She replies warmly, ¡°I see. I¡¯ve been told that you¡¯re doing well too. You seem to be skilled in business I hear?¡±

    This question of hers sends shivers to my spine.

    She¡¯s being vague about this, but this means that she knows what I¡¯ve been doing with the Supreme Pavillion?! How could she know? How could she know?

    Did she just find out? No, It can¡¯t be, my recent trips were just to the brothels and the Beelze Family. Then it must have been during the case of the Bao young master¡¯s extortion? All the way back then?

    I compose myself.

    This means that she¡¯s known of what I was doing since that incident in the gambling den and she chose to not stop me or take any actions. How much does she know? I should assume the worst that I¡¯ve been followed ever since.

    This means that she knows of my contact with the Bao and Beelze family. However, my discussions with them should have been kept confidential. She should only know that I¡¯ve obtained the Bao family¡¯s help through extortion for a new business. As for the Beelze family, the likely chance would be that she thinks that I¡¯m trying to do the same.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so flustered, boy.¡± she says in the same tone, breaking the silence caused by me thinking.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    I know the answer, but I¡¯ll ask anyway, ¡°How long have you known?¡±

    I said it with a slight feeling of apprehension.

    ¡°For a while.¡±, She says lightly, smiling.

    I pretend to grit my teeth, saying straightforwardly, ¡°What do you want from me?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much, but someone of your age shouldn¡¯t be doing business, it¡¯s too risky. I think you should stop doing it now.¡±, She says firmly.

    ¡°I have been doing well, 2nd mother. I think I¡¯ll try to continue.¡±, I reply.

    She must have some chip in hand to attempt to coerce me. I can¡¯t think of anything that could threaten me though.

    ¡°Say, boy. Have you seen your mother lately?¡±, she changes the subject.

    Wait, I haven¡¯t seen my mother for quite a while. She¡¯s stopped visiting me as much and I¡¯ve been told she remains in her room as much as possible. Has she been kidnapped? No, if the Madame of the family disappeared completely there¡¯ll be a big disturbance.

    Then, she chooses to stay in of her own accord? That can only mean that she¡¯s being threatened¡­ or poisoned.

    ¡°What happened to mother?¡±, I ask anxiously.

    ¡°Nothing much my boy, for now that is.¡±, she replies plainly.

    ¡°How long have you been planning this?¡±, I ask apprehensively.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that. You just need to know if your business continues to operate, you mother may not last long.¡±, she says sharply, glaring at me as she stands up from her seat as she prepares to leave.

    She¡¯s been planning this for a while, and my recent actions have warrant her attention enough to threaten me. Moreover threaten me with the truth. Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just kill mother and avoid this entirely?

    Ah, I get it now.

    As she turns around, I stand up, slamming a fist on the table with a bam. ¡°Wait.¡±

    She reacts, turning around to look at me.

    ¡°Mother¡¯s lived a long life.¡±, I say determinedly to her.

    She stares at me in shock for a moment, before answering, ¡°You can¡¯t fool me with just that, boy.¡±

    I smirk, ¡°If I end up threatened by this, both mother and I would die. However, if I continue as I¡¯m doing now¡­¡±

    I pause for her to connect the dots.

    She twitches after thinking.

    ¡°...I¡¯m almost guaranteed to be the successor. If anything, as long as I stay protected, even if Mother dies she might even help me earn more favour with Father. Against one who holds strong influence outside, against a prodigy, who¡¯s more suitable as the Duke?¡±, I say piercingly.

    She clenches her fist.

    ¡°But there¡¯s room for discussion, isn¡¯t there?¡± I say directly.

    She frowns her eyebrows more in dissatisfaction.

    She beckons to her maids outside, to prepare her departure, before replying icily, ¡°You win. She¡¯ll be given the antidote, but I want to see the business gone permanently.¡±

    She says as she throws down a porcelain bottle.

    I catch it, opening it to see half a pill.

    The meaning was simple, I would get the other half once my businesses close.

    Even if she reneges on her promise, I could simply present this to father as evidence. Of course, in that case, I would probably not gain the other half for mother.

    I stare at the bottle absentmindedly as she leaves.

    Once she left, i let out a breath.

    ¡°Huuu¡­that was stressful.¡±, I smile.

 Chapter 31: Letting Go

    ¡°Huuu¡­that was stressful.¡±, I smile.

    I slump down on my chair, relaxing for a moment.

    However, I just recalled that mother was poisoned, and hurried to check on her.

    I knock on the door, ¡°Mother, may I enter?¡±

    ¡°Come in.¡±, I hear a raspy voice.

    I push open the door, to see her face looking pale but sitting upright in her bed.

    She beckons over with a slight smile.

    I approach closer quickly.

    She says softly, ¡°How have you been, Qiu Xue?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been fine, mother.¡±, I reply instinctually.

    I can¡¯t bring myself to express emotion and care for her, I¡¯m not her son. I would like to think that I¡¯m good at acting, but I¡¯m not. The only reason why I¡¯ve been able to maintain this facade for so long was that I¡¯ve relied on my lost memories and the fact that the previous owner was an introvert.

    In that way, my stoic behaviour isn¡¯t too huge a change from the introverted Qiu Xue. As for the missing parts, I supplemented with the useful ¡®lost memories¡¯ excuse. As such, unknowingly I was glad that she didn¡¯t visit me, since she is the one that could come closest to exposing me.

    ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t look too well.¡±, I say concernedly.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°I¡¯m doing great, I just haven¡¯t slept well.¡±, she answers.

    ¡°I-Is that so¡­¡±, I mutter at her obvious lie.

    She suddenly laughs.

    ¡°Son, you wouldn¡¯t come to visit me if someone didn¡¯t visit you. Let me guess, that old witch did?¡±, she says cuttingly

    It¡¯s not weird for her to call the 2nd wife an old witch, mother is younger than her in any case. However, it is rather surprising for the gentle mother to speak such crude words. I wonder if it¡¯s because she thinks she doesn¡¯t have long to live.

    In response to my silence, she continues, ¡°She probably threatened you to give up whatever you¡¯re doing I presume. You¡¯ve been acting weird ever since that head injury of yours anyway.¡±, she says lightly before letting out a soft sigh.

    ¡°I¡¯m not feeling well recently as you¡¯ve guessed. Seeing that you¡¯ve come, she¡¯s almost definitely the culprit¡­¡±

    She looks up with a hint of melancholy.

    Then, she shifts her gaze at me. Simply staring at me for 5 minutes in silence.

    The rims of her eyes turn slightly watery.

    ¡°Q-Qi-¡±, she seemingly wants to say something, but seems to stop herself.

    She lifts her left arm to caress my right cheek lovingly.

    As she continues to do so, before long she bites her lips, breathing in some air.

    ¡°Qiu Xue, you¡¯ve become more mature lately. It was such a big change I almost thought that you were being possessed. However, that doesn¡¯t matter now. I¡¯m not going to be here to¡­ protect you for¡­ much longer¡­¡±

    She says slowly, regretfully saying each word.

    She then firms up, looking more resolute.

    ¡°To become the first wife of a Duke isn¡¯t simple¡­ not just anyone can do it.¡±, she says, hinting to me.

    I want to respond, but she starts just as I open my mouth.

    ¡°My background...  Our background isn¡¯t that ordinary.¡±

    ¡°We have ties to a foreign power. Do you know of Wind Manor?¡±, she says with a hint of pride.

    I nod.

    Wind Manor can¡¯t be said to be well known, but it¡¯s not considered unknown as well. Wind Manor¡¯s famous for being located on the largest mountain near the kingdom, with just the Feng family residing within.

    The manor is said to be exceedingly strong, with an army of over 200 Rogues (Thieves and Assassins.¡±. They remain neutral to the affairs of the world, however, they do lend their help for a hefty price to some Kingdoms during wartime. As such, every Kingdom wants to maintain a cordial relationship with them, as offending them could mean certain defeat in the next war.

    This small army of over 200 Rogues may be small, but definitely an effective elite strike squad in war. They can easily penetrate the frontlines to destroy enemy equipment and assassinate commanders. Wind Manor remains the holy ground for Rogues with their vast collection of skill books for the class, as such they have stood proud for centuries.

    Having a connection to this ''holy ground'' could solve my problem of having guards against assassination, but I doubt it''s this simple. If we really had their support, mother wouldn''t have been poisoned and my previous self most certainly would not have died.

 Chapter 32: A Wretched Person

    Seemingly pleased at my reaction, she continues, ¡°I come from Wind Manor.¡±

    She says, as if speaking to herself.

    ¡°I was sent here to establish a position of power within this Kingdom. We had a new leader, one who advocated for the Manor to plant its seeds in each Kingdom, instead of remaining detached from the world.¡±

    ¡°My orders were simply to achieve a rank of Marquis in this Kingdom; I could have easily achieved that by becoming a private guard for a noble of high standing and accruing some achievements for myself.¡±

    She lets out a sigh at this point.

    ¡°I chose the Duke¡¯s manor, as it would be easier to prove my worth on the battlefield. Eventually,  I did get hired as the personal guard of the previous Duke. I even managed to save him from an Assassin once when he was in a dire situation, one that forced me to bring out my true abilities, earning great merit.¡±

    ¡°However, it also came with subsequent troubles. Your father was merely the youngest son at that time, but he was keen eyed. He noticed instantly during that event that I was from Wind Manor, and approached me, threatening to expose me if I didn¡¯t aid him in becoming Duke.¡±

    ¡°Eventually, even after he became Duke, I was still being threatened by him though¡­¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    She laughs mockingly at herself.

    ¡°He promised his full cooperation only if I became his wife, and Wind Manor and the Duke house would be joined by marriage. If not, he would expose this to the King, potentially jeopardising all our ¡®seeds¡¯ in other Kingdoms as well, causing their deaths.¡±

    ¡°I threatened him with his life, but he said he didn¡¯t mind mutual destruction. I still remember those crazed eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who has neverending ambition. Someone who would never stop until he had absolute power. Those were the eyes of a madman.¡±

    Shuddering slightly, yet expressing hate, mother continued, ¡°I promised my cooperation. At this point, I had to¡­ for my comrades¡­ for the Manor...¡±

    She sighed remorsefully again, laughing after.

    ¡°And now¡­ after all this, I¡¯m going to die thanks to him as well¡­ this is truly laughable¡­¡±

    She laughs mockingly at herself.

    I keep quiet throughout all of her words. Her story is tragic, but I can¡¯t bring myself to cry for her. I¡¯m not related to her. If anything, I feel only remorse. Remorse for lying to such a pitiful woman, one who has gone through so much, who only found some solace in her role as a mother, yet her only son turned out to be replaced by a stranger.

    I feel remorse at the fact that while I think this way, the thought of revealing everything to her never came up. Just excuses. ¡®She would be more heartbroken if she knew.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s better to die blissfully while living in a dream.¡¯

    I¡¯m a wretched person. Truly. I still haven¡¯t told her about the partial antidote too. Deep within, I wanted to have her die, using the fact that the 2nd wife poisoned her to my leverage, eliminating her sons¡¯ chances, at the same time securing my succession.

    Even now, I¡¯m not thinking of sparing her because of her past. I¡¯m only thinking of sparing her because it may gain me a foothold within Wind Manor, and more importantly, if the Duke is truly as she says¡­ the successor spot has little meaning¡­

    My goals were centred around me obtaining the position of Duke as leverage. If father truly has such ambition and scheming in him, the position is certainly something I should avoid like the plague. He wouldn¡¯t give up his position even if Hell freezes over.

    ¡°Qiu Xue? Qiu Xue?¡±, she calls repeatedly concernedly.

    Only then do I break out from my stupor.

    ¡°I¡¯m j-just so shocked¡­¡±, I say, stuttering.

 Chapter 33: An Upheaval of Emotions

    She smiles warmly in response, fixing her gaze on me.

    Before long, her eyes turn sharp, saying seriously, ¡°Qiu Xue, I¡¯m telling you this because you need to be aware of your mother¡¯s background. When I perish, you can seek them for refuge¡­¡±

    She sighs as she says this, her eyes well up with water.

    She fixes her gaze on me again soon after.

    ¡°You are a proud descendant of Wind Manor. Never forget that.¡±, she says sternly, grasping my shoulders.

    Having a complicated expression, she hesitates before continuing, ¡°You must leave the Duke¡¯s manor upon my death at all costs, it will not be safe for you. I¡­ will finish this twisted tale with my own hands¡­¡±

    Saying this, it was as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders having told me this.

    She looked at me like a little kid awaiting judgement, nervously waiting for my response.

    ¡°I¡­ understand, mother¡­¡±, I say sincerely, grasping her hands tightly.

    It¡¯ll be hard for any child to accept that their mother wanted to kill their father. It¡¯s also hard for any child to accept that they were born out of a tragedy for their mother. Maybe it¡¯s a blessing in disguise that Qiu Xue did not live to see this day, or he might have had a mental breakdown.

    I¡¯m not Qiu Xue, but knowing that my mother had set her resolve to kill the Duke, I wonder about my future plans yet again. I would not be able to rely on the influence of the Duke house if she does it. On the other hand, being with the Duke house has only brought me danger and difficulty, with the cons outweighing the pros.

    If I let her do as she wants, causing the death of both my parents, I have reason to excuse myself from the stage peacefully, and perhaps seek out Wind Manor. It would not come with any benefits, but likewise does not come with negatives.

    However, if I were to want to save her¡­ the possibilities are rather huge. She could decide to steel her resolve in any case and kill the Duke anyway or simply let the status quo go on. We could even escape the Kingdom in search of the Manor. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    After contemplating for a while, I eventually decide to hold off the decision, since I couldn¡¯t decide on the course of action. There has to be preparations still undone for mother, so I don¡¯t expect the assassination to be this soon. Deep down, I wouldn¡¯t mind if she went through with it, deciding for me.

    I retreat back into my room after this, continuing to do continued research on compressing magic. However, after multiple failed attempts, I realised my heart just wasn¡¯t there. I was still contemplating on which way to go.

    If I wanted to continue my plan of building an external organisation within the Kingdom, the Duke house¡¯s name would assist greatly in the process. In that case, maybe I should try to find a way in which i can stay within the house after mother¡¯s death. It seems easy enough.

    However, the reason why I¡¯m having difficulty deciding isn¡¯t that I have compassion and can¡¯ watch someone die. If anything, I¡¯m too detached from this world to care. I¡¯m having trouble deciding because for the first time since coming here, I don¡¯t know where I see myself in the future.

    I can¡¯t plan ahead if I don¡¯t know where I want to be.

    Do I want to build a place for myself?

    Yes, I definitely wanted to build a safe haven for myself and like-minded people.

    But why did I want that? I wanted that because my life since coming here was fraught with danger.

    If my life was all peaches and roses, I would have simply shrugged everything off and casually enjoyed my fun life as a noble.

    But since coming in, I¡¯ve had many threats to my well being, which led to this thought. I haven¡¯t had any chance to take a breather for so long.

    I just want to have fun.

    I just want to leisurely enjoy this new world.

    I just want to become an adventurer, fighting only low-leveled creatures¡­ like slimes, or goblins¡­ OK, maybe not goblins, what kind of adventurer only kills goblins, that just sounds so weird. Slimes are easy to kill, but goblins have territories and basic intelligence, I can¡¯t see how anyone would have enough hatred for them to keep slaying them.

    ¡°Haha.¡±

    ¡°Haha HAHA!¡±

    ¡°HAHA HAHA!!!¡±

    I laugh to myself, feeling refreshed as I do so.

    ¡°Ahh, I haven¡¯t laughed in a long time it seems.¡±, I stretch my tired hands, smiling faintly.

    I finally had a realisation.

    I died once.

    This shouldn¡¯t be about me struggling to survive in an unknown world. I should just enjoy myself.

    I don¡¯t want to only have a safe haven to call home after decades.

    I want to enjoy my second life, making snide comments at other Isekai series.

    If this ¡®Duke¡¯s first son¡¯ position is the one that¡¯s getting me marked by enemies, that the answer couldn¡¯t be more simple.

    In the first place, I don¡¯t need to live as Qiu Xue. I¡¯m me and he is himself. I¡¯m not Qiu Xue, I can just abandon all of this; the identity, the power, the reputation, the danger.

    I¡¯ll throw aside everything to secure my peaceful life.

    Ah, I suddenly had an epiphany.

    That¡¯s the reason why I had a tugging feeling in my heart when I heard her speech.

    I was envious, just envious that she had steeled her resolve, even knowing it may lead to a quicker death, while I was still wandering aimlessly.

    I feel my footsteps getting lighter, this world seems more vibrant now.

 Chapter 34: Safety is Important

    I¡¯ll hand over the antidote to mother before I leave.

    However, there¡¯s a high chance that she would proceed with her plan anyway. She had the eyes of someone that was already firm on her decision.

    Now that I¡¯ve made up my mind, I swiftly move to action.

    I ask Leticia to help, in preparing rations for a number of days.

    As she does this, I quickly pack my few important belongings.

    I don¡¯t have anyone close enough to address before my departure, but Ming Que is someone I have unresolved relations with¡­ seeing that I had requested her to get rid of someone for me.

    Now that I¡¯m leaving, that is redundant. I was intending on ridding the world of the Beelze family head and his son, seeing as I had essentially sold them empty shophouses.

    The Bao family had only agreed to provide Supreme Pavillion with the initial stock. Once that stock was finished, we would have had to procure the products with other means. The value in the Pavillion lied in the assumed fact that we had an unknown source capable of providing at least 30 shops worth of stock, at a cheap rate at that.

    However, he could not possibly have known that the shop was essentially just a storefront. Why would anyone sell products for below their cost prices? The Bao family would most certainly stop supplying after this, and there is no ¡®cheap¡¯ source at all. Once the Beelze family head takes over, he would soon realise that fact. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    He would then be cornered by the other merchant families in the market, possibly even driven out of business. In desperation, he could direct his retaliation towards me, the source of his calamity. As such, I planned for Ming Que to help he get rid of him and his son, essentially eliminating that potential threat.

    With her identity, that matter would be simple. If she didn¡¯t do it, I could incite other small nobles to do the job for me. It¡¯s hard to have no enemies when you¡¯re a rich family rising to prominence, and possibly nobility. A simple incitement would be plenty to spur these families into action.

    This would have left obvious traces however, which is why I approached Ming Que first.

    Currently, I plan to leave the Kingdom for another.

    Of course, just going missing would be impossible.

    I would have to feign my own death, very reasonably at that.

    If my father truly only has his ambitions in the sky like my mother said, he wouldn¡¯t continue to investigate even if he found the matter of my death suspicious. He would be more focused with his ambitions.

    Venturing out into another country has its risks, however, as a noble, there are countless things I can do to ensure my safety. Most importantly, there would be less danger in that than my current scenario. You could call me a coward for fleeing in the situation, but there¡¯s nothing that¡¯s tying me to this place.

    I¡¯m actually a well off individual now too, so I could even retire comfortably to the countryside of another country if i so choose.

    An isekai adventure is something that many dream of, I am one of those many people. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t want to be gifted a magical ability and a beautiful heroine to roam the worlds with?

    I don¡¯t have any motivation to get stronger, but I do have curiosity that drives me. I want to know everything about this world, I want to explore every nook and cranny of this amazing world.

    This world that¡¯s filled with troupes from my former world. This world filled with elegant knights, wonderful beast-eared girls and older sister like maids. This world filled with magic and unlimited possibilities.

    ¡°Ahhh.¡±, I smile to myself.

    ¡°I wish Leticia would come with me¡­¡±, I sigh to myself at the nearly impossible thought.

    She¡¯s cute enough to join any idol group, either something 48 or that Produce show with a number one more than a hundred. It would be interesting seeing her fight it out to become an idol¡­ hell, I¡¯ll support that myself!

    Random thoughts aside, she understands me well, having executed my orders to perfection. I would be lying if I were to say I didn¡¯t want her to come with me. As a attendant of course, I don¡¯t think she has a shota-complex.

 Chapter 35: Other Kingdoms

    There¡¯s somewhere that I always wanted to go in the Kingdom though.

    It¡¯s always troubled me how the Kingdom was able to fend off neighbouring Kingdoms.

    Don¡¯t get me wrong, we have an excellent Army with 400,000 strong men enlisted.

    We even boast of an elite attack force of 10, 000 Knights.

    There¡¯s also the existence of the reigning King, the Class 4 Mage, King Lei. Such a deterrence would most certainly be enough to deter any single Kingdom.

    The keyword here being ¡®single¡¯.

    We have 3 neighbouring Kingdoms, the Huo Kingdom, the Shui Kingdom and the Di Kingdom.

    It would be understandable if we were in a state of stalemate, being on equal footing. However, that is not the case, we boast of a higher military strength than the other 3.

    We may hold the perceived advantage, but this in contrast brings forth more bad than good. The other 3 countries, knowing of our superior military strength and ambitions in growing our military force, have banded together in an open coalition.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    As such, in times of war we would be fighting against 3 countries instead of just 1.

    That war has not happened since the coalition was declared, and you might think that that means that all parties are fine with maintaining the status quo.

    Our Kingdom is the open aggressor here, inciting them to war, provoking them. The Lei Kingdom openly advocates dominion through conquering, and if not for the coalition, would most certainly have trampled down the 3 Kingdoms.

    We openly conscript for talents, even poaching talents from smaller countries to serve in our Army. These are done with no discretion whatsoever, so even an idiot could tell that we are merely biding our time before engaging in war, but they do nothing.

    They simply sit still and watch as we get stronger, and one day strong enough to overcome all of them. That just doesn¡¯t seem realistic, so that has always been a question lingering on my mind.

    It would all fall into place if, we held something that could threaten them if we were forced into a corner, something that deters them so badly that they would risk a ticking time bomb represented by our Kingdom.

    That something must be something that can¡¯t be easily utilised, otherwise the present King would have used it to dominate wars.

    It could very well be a unique piece of equipment that could affect a battle between high class mages.

    There¡¯s not that many places for the item to be hidden in.

    The prime locations that I suspect are: The King¡¯s study, the King¡¯s library and The Palace main hall. I would love to be able to ascertain the location of such an item before I leave. More importantly, it¡¯s important information that could fetch me a good sum of money even if I didn¡¯t seek it.

    Any of the 3 Kingdoms would welcome me with open arms if I went over with this information. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to get it, but If I want to maintain autonomy yet have power within their Kingdom, this information is the best way to get it, gaining the favour of them as well.

    I¡¯m aiming for the famously abundant Shui Kingdom, since there are huge deposits of water within. It¡¯s King is similarly a Class 4 mage, however, he seems younger that the ours. Our King is rumoured to be nearing Class 5 soon, unlike the sick and old ancestors of their clans.

    The item only has a few places it could exist in, since it cannot leak any aura which could make it detected. The King''s personal space is the most suspicious, but I can''t get access to it. I have no choice but to visit the rest of the locations to know for sure.

 Chapter 36: Observance

    The most approachable location would be the hall of the palace. While it may be hard to get to, it¡¯s easier to access it than the King¡¯s library. Many Officials attend sessions there afterall.

    Thinking about it for a moment, I realise that I don¡¯t actually have to go to the place myself. Simply finding out from the blueprints of the hall could help me ascertain if the item is there. If I manage to obtain the blueprints, it¡¯s also another bargaining chip I can use in the Shui Country.

    I set off quickly to find the related personnel. The key to this would definitely be the architect for the project.

    There¡¯s the chance that the construction was done centuries ago, and the blueprints were lost from generation to generation. However, that¡¯s highly unlikely that the Architect¡¯s family would have let go of such an important document which holds immense value to the right people.

    Disguising myself, I cover myself up with some mud on my face, displaying a rather rugged look, before wearing a worn out mage robe. This attire is fairly common, since many people desire to hide their identities.

    I stroll along a dark alleyway, to reach a dilipitated shop in the corner. I find a discreet corner and lean myself down against it, like a homeless person simply wasting his life away.

    Occasionally, I glance up to to observe the ¡®shop¡¯.

    A rugged looking man with a huge scar on his right arm walks in with a grim look. He grips a small sack of coins, presumably gold coins, before entering the shop. After a long wait, he then leaves the shop with the same expression, just without the bag.

    Soon after, a young boy about the age of 12 briskly walks in. He only takes a few minutes before leaving the shop quickly, as if hiding something important.

    A number of people of all backgrounds enter and leave in different manners.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Soon after, I witness a stern looking man walk in. He¡¯s covered up in a worn robe like mine, but as he walked, his wrist revealed a thin bracelet with a small ruby sparkling under the sunlight adorned on it. His face is covered in mud, and you wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you found him lying on the streets somewhere.

    The ruby on the bracelet is cheap too, nothing that would fetch a huge price. Truly a perfect disguise, however, he left a huge flaw.

    The man enters the shop unhurriedly, before leaving the shop in a grave manner.

    I quickly turn to follow him.

    As he makes his departure, he makes many weird detours, turning at every possible turn.

    I begin to think he may have noticed something fishy, but before long, I watch the man enter a noble¡¯s mansion, flashing a medallion over to the guards. The guards look about left and right before letting the man in.

    I heave a sigh of relief, before proceeding back to the shop.

    I walk in unhurriedly into the shop, before enquiring to the attendant, ¡°How much for general news within the Kingdom?¡±

    The attendant glances at me in disregard, stating, ¡°10 Silver for one piece of new, 90 silver for 10.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have 10 then.¡±

    ¡°Alright, please wait a moment.¡±

    Before long, she comes out with a few small scrolls. She beckons to me, gesturing for payment. I pay the 90 silver. She continues, rolling out some of them and reading them, before saying, ¡®The Kingdom¡¯s price of bear fur has been on the rise due to the over hunting of them, the Xin Family¡¯s branch family has raised their banner in revolt after years of suffering oppression, the Kingdom¡¯s Duke Qiu¡¯s Son is rumoured to be secretly talented, the wife of Marquis Lin has fallen gravely ill¡­¡±

    Before long, she finishes the 10.

    I nod, expressing some satisfaction.

    As she turns to want to show me the door, I ask, ¡°How about if I wanted news on the layout of the Kingdom¡¯s Palace main hall?¡±

    She has a look of surprise, showing me a slight glare, before reverting to her cold look, expressing, ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±

    A plump man walks quickly down the stairs, led by the attendant from before.

    He pants for a bit, before grasping his hands together, ¡°Esteemed guest, please follow me to the inner room for further discussions.¡±

    I frown slightly, before accepting his offer.

    I didn¡¯t think that they would attach this much importance to this small piece of information. However, it seems like some people have similar conjectures to mine, if such importance was attached on the insignificant blueprints of the main hall.

    Don¡¯t get me wrong, the main hall of a palace is important and occupied by many important people. However, precisely because it is being used by this many people, there¡¯s a lower value since everyone knows the overall layout.

    The only reason why this would be considered expensive would be that someone speculated that the war deterrent item was located there as well, and needed the intricate layout for more information. Who would even need the layout otherwise?

 Chapter 37: Melancholy

    He leads me along a stairway, to reach a quaint little room.

    It¡¯s not huge, roughly 4 metres by 4 metres.

    It¡¯s simple, with just a few chairs and a wooden table.

    There¡¯s only a door at the entrance, and the room seems soundproof.

    Upon his beckoning, I take a seat unhurriedly.

    I keep silent upon taking a seat, waiting for him to continue.

    ¡°Esteemed customer, before we begin, please rest assured that this room is fully soundproof and covered in layers of magic barriers set by a Class 2 Mage. ¡°

    I nod.

    ¡°In regards to the information you requested, the detailed blueprint of the hall would cost you 1000 Gold.¡±

    A thousand gold may seem like a lot of money, but if it truly had important information determined, it would cost far more. Of course, if it was simply intricately guardly, say with the protective barrier of a Class 5 Mage, it would warrant the price.

    I pause for a moment, before replying, ¡°What if I wanted to know the number of people who have purchased this information from you to date?¡±

    If it were the name or details of the visit, they most certainly wouldn¡¯t be able to give it out. Just the number would be probable. However, it would be a loophole. If someone were to request the number regularly, they would then be able to pinpoint the visits of a period.

    ¡°Of course, that would simply cost 100 gold.¡±, he replies unhesitantly.

    I grab a small bag of coins, placing it on the table nudging it towards him.

    He holds the bag up for a while, before placing it in his coat.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°There have been a total of 63 people who have purchased this information to date. As a freebie, there have been 105 people who have enquired on this information.¡±

    That¡¯s quite the number, there¡¯s little hope here then.

    I proceed to ask about the other locations.

    I didn¡¯t gain a direct lead on the location, but based on the people interested¡­ the item most certainly exists.

    I ended up spending close to 5,000 gold just for this.

    This trip was not without merits however...

    I was interested in this line he said at the end: ¡°Only 2 of those 63 customers came back to visit.¡±

    This is becoming more complicated.

    Maybe even too complicated to get myself into right before I leave.

    <3 Days Later>

    ¡°Alright, that should be everything.¡±, I say to myself, as I pack the last item for my small haversack.

    I had received the medicine from the 2nd Wife, and sent Mother the medicine.

    I left a short letter for her:

    Dear Mother,

    Here is the antidote for your sickness.

    I will be gone by the time you manage to read this.

    I¡¯ve decided to venture out on my own¡­ these happenings are too much for me to handle now. I promise if I gain enough power one day, I¡¯ll take revenge for you. I wish you would do the same as I have, escaping this hell.

    The past remains the past, but the future is ours to grasp.

    With love,

    Qiu Xue

    I don¡¯t feel intimate enough with her to try to dissuade her, this is the limit I¡¯m willing to do.

    ...as an outsider¡­

    I informed none of the guards¡­ even Leticia¡­

    It¡¯s early morning.

    I told the Duke House guards I was heading for school early.

    They let me out without any problem.

    It¡¯s funny how all this seemed normal to me so fast, I¡¯ve really gotten used to the surroundings.

    I feel a sense of melancholy, leaving this place where I first started everything.

    I¡¯ve accomplished so little, and gave up on so much.

    I don¡¯t hope that I¡¯m right, I know that this decision is right for the me currently.

    I¡¯ll pursue the things I want to pursue, not bound by the circumstances of someone else.

    Wearing my dipilidated robes, I stride strongly toward the Kingdom gates.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need to verify your identity before you leave.¡±, a guard stops me, saying sternly.

    I flash a Qiu Medallion I stole from a guard of mine.

    ¡°My apologies, sir. I didn¡¯t know you were someone of the Duke.¡±, the guard says hurriedly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±, I say shrugging.

    I walk out of the city gates, breathing in a breath of fresh air.

    I walk for about a hundred metres down the fixed pathway and stop.

    Before long, a merchant carriage arrives.

    A short man peeks out of the driver¡¯s seat with a smile, ¡°As agreed upon, esteemed customer.¡±

    I smile, passing him a few silvers, flashing the Duke¡¯s medallion by ¡®accident¡¯.

    He pauses for a moment, but continues to smile as he receives payment.

    ¡°Let me introduce you to the ones guarding us for this trip, sir.¡±, he gestures inside the carriage.

 Chapter 38: Diversity is Important!

    ¡°Let me introduce you to the ones guarding us for this trip, sir.¡±, he gestures inside the carriage.

    The short merchant pushes the curtain of the carriage open, revealing the people inside.

    It¡¯s quite a scene, pretty diverse.

    Expected more racism from an alternate world with many races of differing bodily constitutions.

    Don¡¯t even get me started on the religion here¡­

    All in all, this is something my former world would be glad to see.

    Ramblings aside, we have an Elf, Dwarf, Human and a Ogre.

    The female Elf refused to give her name, asking us to call her Wind. She¡¯s an rogue, which falls on the more uncommon of elf classes, other than the typical archery. How cold.

    The Dwarf¡¯s female as well, named Sylvia. She¡¯s not as cold as the Elf. She¡¯s pretty hyper, if anything. She greets me excitedly, shaking my hands with both of her small hands. She¡¯s a berserker despite her small size.

    My fellow human is a guy, named Zhe Yun. Would have liked him to be more special but he looks like the textbook definition of an adventurer. He has a short sword by his side, and politely greets me.

    Last but not least, the Ogre. Or half-ogre to be precise, they are born from a human mother and ogre father, pretty complicated beginnings there, brings a whole new meaning to ¡®childhood ruined¡¯. He¡¯s male as well, and shakes my hand silently, without any changes in his expression. I have the strange feeling that he dislikes me¡­

    That¡¯s all for introductions.

    The party¡¯s pretty even in gender as well, excluding me of course.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    As a paying customer, I sit in the merchant¡¯s carriage, instead of the caravan for the guards.

    I would get my own carriage, but a party of this size, couldn¡¯t possibly have more carriages. It would just be hard to guard.

    The merchant¡¯s name is Tong Guan, and he provides tea for me as we chat along the way.

    He¡¯s outgoing and rather light hearted. He¡¯s a reputable person; while being a small merchant. It¡¯s said he¡¯s cheated often because of his stupidity. He is paid back by those he helped, which is why he¡¯s still in business.

    That¡¯s why I employed him, since I wouldn¡¯t like to be thrown out into the woods to die after getting my belongings stolen from me. Going in this way lowers the chances of someone finding out my destinations more too.

    Hiring guards for myself would simply be too conspicuous.

    We laugh in merry conversation for a while, while he explains that the Ogre is actually the strongest one there, as he paid the most for him. It seems the Ogre has a rather bloodthirsty reputation, having went after the murderer after his employer was killed once.

    He hunted down the man, killing a total of 19 people from that man¡¯s organisation before stopping. Since then, he¡¯s been known as the ¡®Bloodthirsty Guard¡¯. His employer dying in his hands is quite a blow to his reputation. Tong Guan says that if not for a personal friend vouching for him, he never would have employed him.

    He¡¯s a risk afterall.

    We soon reach nightfall, and the few servants begin setting up the camp.

    There¡¯s 5 tents set up, 2 individual tents for Tong Guan and I, 2 tents for the 4 mercenaries, and 1 of the servants.

    I understand they have to be divided by gender, but I pity Zhe Yun for having to sleep with the Ogre.

    I pray silently for his safe return and his butthole quietly.

    I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t go on this trip as a guard instead, that would have made it much harder for me.

    A Rank 3 Mage is plenty to be hired as a mage, but with my low mana capacity and talents, I might as well be an ordinary person with 3 spell scrolls on me.

    It¡¯ll take us approximately 8 Days to reach the Shui Kingdom, and it¡¯s unsafe to run the carriages at night, hence we¡¯ll need to stop over for camp nightly.

    We¡¯ll be going through a forest soon, but it¡¯s known to be quite safe.

    There¡¯s no typical storyline of: ¡°Hey, we¡¯ll be going through that route with a Dragon in it, I sure hope nothing happens!¡±

    It¡¯s a F**KING Dragon, why would you think nothing would happen?!

    But yes, we are on a safe route to the Shui Kingdom, with even 4 guards for the caravans to ensure our safety further.

    We couldn¡¯t be much safer aside from being escorted by the Kingdom itself.

    The servants set up a fire, while preparing an amazing smelling soup.

    My eyes flash a glint as I smell a rich aroma.

    I¡¯m handed a plentiful bowl of soup as a servant ladles it in.

    I take a whiff of the smell again.

    ¡°Ahhhh,..¡±, It¡¯s truly great to have hot soup in the cold night of the forest.

    The soup warms my cold hands, as I continue to smell that aroma in front of me.

    ¡°I should have escaped sooner.¡±, I smile wryly.

 Chapter 39: Police Sirens Near

    As I continue to indulge myself in my newly found source of joy (the soup), I think back to some of the things that happened back in the Kingdom¡­

    ¡°Are you ok, mister?¡±, a sweet sounding voice drifts over, breaking me out of my thoughts.

    ¡°Ah!¡±, I exclaim in surprise.

    I look up, to find the person who called me, but I couldn¡¯t see anyone in front of me.

    Looking around for a bit, I frown and decide I may have heard wrongly.

    ¡°Hey! Hey! I¡¯m down here!¡±, that voice rings again just as I was about to continue sipping at my soup.

    I look down in response, only to see a small petite girl with short hair pouting with her face slightly flushed.

    ¡°Ahhh... I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t notice you¡­¡±, I notice my mistake, apologising.

    ¡°No problem, it¡¯s just that you seemed to be frowning to yourself a lot just now.¡±, she replies in a cheerful tone.

    I was thinking of the past events that happened in the Kingdom, the rejection of my recruitment, the mystery behind my previous self¡¯s death, my mother¡¯s circumstances and the fact that I left all of it behind to come here.

    It naturally brought a nasty expression to my face, which still showed even now.

    I try to correct it, smiling wryly.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I thought back to some bad memories¡­ thanks for your concern¡­¡±, I let out weakly.

    ¡°Your name was, Xue Qiu, right?¡±, she asks, her big eyes blinking.

    I can¡¯t possibly use my real name, so I figured I¡¯ll just use a half hearted pseudonym. I doubt I have much pursuers, if any. Even if I let out my real name, it¡¯ll be fine, it just might bring more trouble than good.

    ¡°Yes, I remember your name was Sylvia?¡±, I answer.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    ¡°Ohhh! You have great memory, Mister Xue.¡±, She laughs heartily.

    ¡°It¡¯s a cute name that suits you, naturally I¡¯ll remember it!¡±, I say, puffing my chest slightly in pride.

    I must say, conversing with someone with the vestige of a child does lighten my mood tremendously. How soothing.

    Please don¡¯t arrest me. Prison may just be a room, but I would not like to be in that room.

    She blushes to the tip of her ears.

    ¡°T-thank you¡­¡±, she mutters softly.

    ¡°It¡¯s the truth, no need for thanks.¡±, I laugh at her response.

    ¡°By the way, weren¡¯t you with the other mercenaries?¡±, I ask suddenly, realising that the mercenary camp was a short distance away from mine. She wouldn¡¯t have been able to even notice me if she hadn¡¯t come close.

    ¡°Ah!¡±, she seems to have recalled something and exclaims.

    ¡°It was just too gloomy there¡­¡±, she complains.

    She then explained that the camp for the bodyguards was simply too gloomy. While her female camp was close to the male bodyguards¡¯, she says that it was still a quiet bonfire.

    Her tentmate, the elf archer, was distant as usual, and wouldn¡¯t say more than 5 words even with her pestering. As for the male guards, the Ogre just death stared her when she tried to talk and she was scared off easily. The male adventurer went off the moment they set up camp to drink with the male servants, so he wasn¡¯t there as well.

    ¡°Ah.¡±, I let out, having a look of understanding.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re here, let¡¯s talk for a while then.¡±, I smile at her warmly.

    ¡°T-Thank you!¡±, she stutters out gratitude.

    We then sit by my small fire, talking about our respective home countries. She talked about her Dwarven Village she lived in when she was younger, how there she had fun with the dwarves she met while shopping, the nice older sister that lived nearby, the friendly neighbours that would wake her up daily¡­

    I talked about the Kingdom¡¯s culture, nobility and the way of life there. It¡¯s quite different from their village after all. She was very interested, so I just kept on going.

    ¡°It¡¯s getting rather dark, how about we both stop here and continue tomorrow night?¡±, I suggest, noticing how late it was.

    ¡°Mmm, tomorrow then! It¡¯s a promise!¡±, she nods cutely, and flutters off back to her own tent.

    I let out a soft sigh once she left.

    ¡°It¡¯s a new beginning afterall¡­ I have to stop thinking about the Kingdom.¡±, I mutter to myself as I settle back into my tent.

    Morning quickly arrives, and I wake up, as the servants pack the tents and we get ready to set off again.

    It takes quite long for them to pack, I notice, since there¡¯s only 4 Male servants.

    Today we¡¯ll be heading into the Northern forest of the Kingdom, and the guards heighten their vigilance slightly upon entering.

    As I look at them, Sylvia notices my gaze and waves at me cheerily, losing her slightly serious demeanour. I simply wave back.

    It can¡¯t be helped that they¡¯re not completely serious, this is a map that¡¯s been mapped out by countless merchants and travellers afterall. As long as you follow the designated route, there¡¯s almost no chance you¡¯ll encounter something troublesome.

    There are certain wild animals inside, on the road, but they¡¯re simple beasts that even the servants would be able to handle them just by outnumbering them and beating them with a small weapon.

    That¡¯s why this merchant¡¯s rather careful, for bringing this level of entourage with him despite the safe trip. I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s been doing it for his past few trips, after he was robbed of his goods once by a passing bandit.

    It suited my purposes, since I didn¡¯t want to have any disturbances on this trip. My fighting power isn¡¯t high after all, so I approached him to request to join his caravan. It didn¡¯t take much cajoling, it was clear I was a noble since I approached him with only a scarf covering my face when I first saw him.

    He let down his guard further when he heard of the high sum I was offering for a simple trip, and joyfully acceded to my request.

 Chapter 40: The Wolves Attack

    The designated route isn¡¯t a paved road, it¡¯s just a frequently used route by travellers.

    As such, the many travellers eventually levelled the ground with their carriages and footprints, allowing us to face little obstruction in driving the caravan through.

    It¡¯s not much different from the route yesterday, except for the fact that we were surrounded by trees in every direction. The air¡¯s humid too, making for a slightly unpleasant morning journey.

    Of course, I was sitting comfortably in the merchant carriage while the servants slogged out in the Sun.

    The mercenaries were in their caravan too, they just took turns being the lookout. The shift¡¯s about every 2 hrs, it seems.

    As I observe the peacefulness of mother nature, suddenly I hear the sound of leaves rustling loudly.

    I¡¯m jolted out of my thoughts by the noise, turning to face the direction it came from.

    ¡°Rawrrr!!¡±, a wolf roars threateningly.

    It seems we came across a wolf pack.

    It¡¯s quite unlucky since we¡¯ve haven¡¯t journeyed for long, but nothing special.

    They¡¯re like the P*dgeys and R*attatas in a certain game; they appear occasionally when you¡¯re in tall grass, but even your level 5 starter can destroy them.

    I lean forward in anticipation of the abilities of our guards, however.

    The lookout currently, the Ogre man, notices the disturbance quickly.

    ¡°Enemies!¡±, he shouts into the caravan, before quickly leaping out it in a connected motion.

    He springs high into the air, exhibiting great control over his bodily muscles.

    With a loud thud, he lands right in the middle of a group of wolves, exhibiting a domineering aura.

    He tightens his grip on his battleaxe, ignoring the other wolves to stare right at the eyes of the wolf pack leader.

    The wolf leader stares at him unflinchingly, as if judging his strength.

    It looks around the Ogre for a bit, confirming that there was no other enemy nearby.

    Making his decision, the wolf leader roars, prompting the pack to rush into action. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°AWOOO!!!¡±, the pack roars in unison, mouths wide, preparing to rip everything in sight into shreds.

    ¡°Hmph.¡±, the man scoffs at their inability to sense danger and escape.

    Running directly forward, he charges towards the pack as if in suicide.

    He¡¯s surrounded by 5 wolves including the leader quickly, seemingly in a bad situation.

    However, he simply grips his battleaxe with his other hand, holding the axe with both hands.

    Breathing in a large breath of air, he raises the axe up slowly¡­ before quickly slamming it down!

    This move of his also activated his skill, Additional Impact, a common skill possessed by Knights and Berserkers. In response to huge attacks which cause reverberations in the air, the skill doubles the reverberations and changes them into a sharper force.

    *WHAMMMMM!!*

    A loud sound explodes in the air, sending all the 6 wolves near the Ogre flying.

    The other mercenaries have already gotten out of the caravan into action at this point, guarding the carriage closely, in case a single wolf breaks through and damages the goods.

    The elf archer, Wind, stay firmly there to guard the goods, preparing her bow.

    The textbook adventurer, Zhe Yun, guards in front of Wind with a short sword at the ready.

    Our loli dwarf, prepares to rush towards the Ogre, in the direction of the wolves. She wields a large hammer with both hands, an act unbefitting her small stature.

    She¡¯s a berserker afterall, she wouldn¡¯t be very useful in the act of guarding goods. She¡¯s more likely to damage the goods themselves if she were to fight near them.

    The elf archer standing in the back row is expected as well, while the versatile adventurer can guard both the archer and the goods from close combat.

    She lets out a soft warcry, launching her hammer into the air by throwing it.

    The heavy hammer flies up into the sky, before plummeting down towards the centre of a cluster of wolves. The wolves notice this obvious attack, instinctively moving aside to avoid it, the hammer then slams into the ground with loud boom, causing the ground to crack beneath it.

    The handle of the hammer has a blue aura emitting out of it, which suddenly expands into a silhouette. It¡¯s a silhouette of Sylvia, and it quickly formed, before Sylvia vanished from her original spot, appearing beside the hammer, holding it.

    It¡¯s the iconic skill for the Berserker class, ¡°Battlefield Arrival¡±.

    It¡¯s an amazing skill that allows the user to teleport to any destination thrown. However, the downside is that it can¡¯t be used when the user is under any attack. As such, it¡¯s only used to make a preemptive strike on the enemy, or¡­ well, to make a dramatic appearance.

    Swinging her large hammer around, she swiftly eliminates the wolves surrounding her.

    When I find the time to look back at the Ogre, he had already finished off the 5 wolves surrounding him, only being left with the wolf leader, who seems to have suffered grave injuries from the exchange.

    Meanwhile, the few scratches the Ogre sustained were discreetly being healed by his axe. It seems that the axe absorbs the blood of its enemies, and grants the user some form of recovery in exchange.

    The wolf leader recognises that he¡¯s in a bad situation, starting to look around for an opportunity to escape. Eventually, he roars, giving the command for retreat.

    He himself, however, doesn¡¯t take the opportunity to escape, with the Ogre right in front of him.

    The wolf leader runs to the side instead, now facing both Sylvia and the Ogre.

    ¡°AWOOOOO!!!¡±, It howled loudly, seemingly uttering its last words.

    With a determined gaze, he rushed forward towards the two, executing an weird skill which seemed to make his fur a bright glowing red.

    Sylvia and the Ogre, seeing this, tense up suddenly, preparing for impact.

    The Ogre takes the lead, taking a step forward to swing his battleaxe in a forward motion.

    The axe and the wolf¡¯s head seem to be about to collide, when suddenly¡­

    The wolf leader ducks down, avoiding the blow.

    Brandishing his sharp canine teeth, preparing to bite off a chunk of the Ogre¡¯s flesh.

    *Swoosh*

    At this moment, a green arrow flies over, hitting the wolf right in the middle of his head.

    His deathly charge is interrupted, as he falls helplessly towards the ground.

    *Slump*

    The battered wolf leader body drops down upon the cold forest floor.

    He laid helplessly on the ground, before struggling with difficulty, just to raise his head to look behind him.

    Seeing that his pack had already ran some distance away, he seems to have raised the corner of his mouth slightly, before his black eyes faded out... as he lost all signs of life.

    The Ogre looks coldly upon this scene, while Sylvia is stunned for a brief moment. She then breaks out of it, and starts to gather some leaves, wanting to give him a simple burial.

 Chapter 41: Magic Again?

    As Sylvia gathers the leaves expressionlessly, the rest of us were still looking at the fleeing sight of the fleeing wolves with a slight feeling of tripedition.

    Only when we saw that all the wolves were out of sight did we react.

    My shoulders slump down slightly, as I let out a soft sigh of relief.

    I leave my carriage to help Sylvia bury the valiant wolf pack leader.

    The servants break out of their stupor too, starting to gather some leaves and branches as well, to cover the rest of the wolves.

    It¡¯s not a rare sight to get attacked by wolves, it¡¯s almost considered a confirmed occurrence. However, we have just entered the forest not too long ago, so we should not be near the territory of any wolf pack, or animal for that matter. As such, we weren¡¯t completely prepared for the attack.

    The attacks would usually happen when we¡¯re nearing the other end of the forest, when we¡¯re deeper in. Since that¡¯s when we near the territory of other animals.

    ¡°We really have bad luck.¡±, I mutter to myself as I pick up a branch.

    Coming across a wandering pack so early on, is really just bad luck.

    While I do agree the wolf leader is deserving of a proper burial, we¡¯re doing it out of necessity.

    This road is one that¡¯s travelled by many other travellers, as such, to help the subsequent groups, there is an unspoken rule that you are supposed to bury the corpses near the road. This helps eliminate the chances of wild animals running over to populate the main road, attracted by the corpses.

    Otherwise, this road would be plagued with wild animals.

    As we finish up the cleaning of the aftermath, I notice that besides Sylvia and Zhe Yun, the other 2 mercenaries retreated into their caravan the moment the battle finished, unconcerned with the cleaning up.

    It¡¯s true that usually the servants are left to handle these, since the mercenaries are in charge of the fighting, but it does accentuate their aloofness.

    That night, the merchant was saying that we probably came across a migrating pack of wolves. While this is bad luck, since we have displayed our strength early on, we have a lower chance of being attacked by other wild animals.

    This was good news, since it would be tiring if the mercenaries had to fight everyday. Their stamina might not hold up.

    We brush off this unlucky incident and continue journeying on.

    I look up at the night sky, thinking about the next days in this forest. It¡¯s expected that we¡¯ll be spending 2 weeks here, so hopefully we¡¯re luckier in subsequent days...

    2 Days pass without anything out of the ordinary.

    There were no further attacks, as the merchant speculated.

    I spend the days relaxing in conversation with the merchant, or doing some simple meditation. When night falls and we set up camp, Sylvia and I then find a nice corner to chat merrily until it gets too dark outside.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    It¡¯s peaceful, hopefully it continues this way...

    ¡°Was that a flag?¡±, I think to myself, raising my chin up with my hand thoughtfully, as I sit peacefully in the comfort of the merchant¡¯s carriage. The merchant sat outside whistling, wanting to get a breath of fresh air since we¡¯ve been stuck inside for a good half of the day.

    Before long, we stop for a short break. I say to the group I¡¯m taking a short walk, and would be back soon.The break¡¯s usually an hour anyway.

    I find a clearing near our stopsite, looking around to check my surroundings for wild animals.

    Seeing none, I relax.

    Taking this opportunity, I wanted to experiment with my magic again.

    Not that it¡¯s anything to hide, I just feel unsettled seeing someone stare as me as I cast some mediocre apprentice spells. It¡¯s like the feeling you get when someone stares at you eating. It¡¯s not that it¡¯s something embarrassing, but if someone stares at you while you eat, it just feels weird.

    I¡¯ve been having some minor breakthroughs lately, possibly because I¡¯ve been practicing it in a much more relaxed manner. I feel like I have more control over my mana, being able to use it more fluidly.

    As for my mana capacity¡­ let¡¯s not talk about that.

    Since I have more control over my mana now, I have an interesting idea for the compressing of mana I wanted to do earlier.

    The most visible improvement was that I am now able to form clearer ¡®structures¡¯ using mana.

    I breathe in calmly, letting a small amount of my mana run loosely out of my body for a while.

    Then I start manipulating that mana outside like clay.

    I mould two pieces of a solid-looking material, before leaving them aside to form more of them.

    Eventually, I end up with 10 curved pieces of thick ¡®mana plates¡¯.

    I then formed a ball of mana like I tried before. Releasing mana until the ball reached the size of a basketball, I then used the mana plates to push upon the sides of the ball, containing the ball in each direction.

    The mana pieces push against the ball aggressively, as the ball tries to ¡®escape¡¯ from the confinement from the spaces in between the pieces.

    ¡°Shit.¡±

    At this rate, the ball will leak out completely in less than 10 seconds.

    Thinking quickly, I push upon the mana pieces with my utmost strength, pushing forcefully against the ball while ignoring the leak.

    Sweat drops form on my forehead as I concentrate to push the plates in.

    *Fsshhh*

    The ball compresses into the size of a baseball, as it lets out a glaring shine.

    I made the mana pieces adhere to each other, forming a structure like the Arc R*actor of Ir*n Man.

    I look at the glowing compressed mana with a look of pride.

    Wanting to try it out, I prepare to let the metal pieces break off.

    However, before I manage to do so... the mana particles start vibrating violently!

    As if wanting to shatter the binds holding it, it continues to vibrate, seemingly shaking the air.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, but I don¡¯t have a good feeling about this¡­¡±, I think, frowning.

    Quickly throwing the ball in a direction away from the stopsite, I run towards the stopsite, crouching behind a large tree.

    Bracing myself for impact, I cast a simple apprentice ¡®Barrier¡¯ spell.

    5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1!

    But nothing happened.

    I shelved apart the barrier, trying to notice the ball¡¯s condition.

    The mana pieces constraining it are still under my control, so I can still sense them.

    The ball of mana is vibrating heavily, but hasn¡¯t erupted yet.

    Curious at this development, I decide to test it anyway, letting 2 pieces on it fly out.

    Almost instantly, the concentrated mana surges out with a ¡®Zwip¡¯ sound, before surging in that direction like a beam of light.

    The light pierces the trucks of 2 trees before stopping at the third.

    *Ssss*

    The truck of the third tree sizzles as the light is finally extinguished.

    I look at it in surprise.

    I was intending for it to function more like a bullet, but there¡¯s a clear lag between the time the beam is launched and the beam making impact.

    It¡¯s more like a canon than a gun.

    Imagine if you shot a gun, and the bullet took a few seconds of  delay to arrive at the target, instead of hitting it in a smooth motion.

    The damage is very lethal however, topping every apprentice spell I know.

    I don¡¯t know any formal Mage spells, so I can¡¯t compare them.

    I laugh at my partial success, deciding to name the spell, ¡®Hidden Beam¡¯.

    It¡¯s quite literal, the beam¡¯s hidden in a spherical structure, before it¡¯s unleashed.

    I sigh on the way back, however.

    This is because I notice that more than half of my mana was consumed with this experiment.

    Even factoring in the wastage since it¡¯s my first try, more likely I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it more than twice¡­ and using it the second time might cause me to faint directly.

    I had thought about having beams of light flash out, vanquishing my foes in dominance... but I guess that¡¯s too far off for me¡­

    I return to the campsite quickly, secretly glad no one noticed the small disturbance I caused.

 Chapter 42: A Choice to be Made

    Another day passes by uneventfully, as we reach the 5th Day since we¡¯ve entered the forest.

    We fend off some wild boars, but otherwise, there¡¯s nothing else to note.

    Taking up camp for a break as per usual, I begin to feel slightly sick of the soup that we¡¯ve been having daily.

    It¡¯s good hearty soup, but once you have it everyday¡­ it does get pretty dull.

    I can¡¯t blame the servants, since soup is one of the easier things to cook in the wilderness.

    That is of course, unless we hunt for wild animals ourselves.

    There¡¯s just no point in going through such unnecessary trouble just to get meat.

    Once we resume our journey, however, we arrive at a bloodied road.

    There¡¯s blood everywhere, and many badly mutilated corpses lying around.

    The corpses were all ripped into pieces by a sharp object, like the teeth of a beast, causing them to be utterly unrecognisable.

    Upon closer inspections, we realise that the corpses were that of some animals, some of them even bore resemblance to the wolves we fought previously.

    It seems like the area was ravaged thoroughly, with the only fortunate thing being that there were no human corpses lying around.

    It was ¡®just¡¯ an unlucky pack of animals.

    However, we soon spot a less disfigured corpse.

    That¡¯s when we all gasp.

    It was surprisingly a Class 1 Magical beast corpse.

    This is a beast that could only be defeated easily by a Class 1 or higher mage equivalent.

    This is something that our current mercenary team would be able to face only 3 of at maximum before being utterly crushed in all likelihood.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    A Class 1 Magical beast possesses simple intelligence, and a unique magic ability to them.

    The magic ability often had to do with their innate skills, and complemented them.

    This made them much harder to subdue than the average wild animal.

    It¡¯s like if a rabbit were to be given a boost in its jumping capabilities, being able to kick out shockwaves as its attacks. This is merely an example, but reaching the realm of a Class 1 magic beast does make it a powerful creature within the forest.

    Such a powerful creature was lying down coldly on the ground as a corpse.

    Hypothetically, if this beast came in a pack, and those other strewn corpses were of its allies¡­

    ...what kind of monstrosity did they run into?!

    I shudder to think of it.

    It seems like the merchant and the mercenaries have the same idea as me, judging by their ashen faces.

    We reach a moment of silence, before the merchant sighs, before speaking up.

    ¡°I think we should make a detour to be safe.¡±, he says, slightly worried.

    It¡¯s a reasonable choice, the chances of us running near danger by continuing on the ¡®safe¡¯ road seem much higher at this point.

    Not to mention, the blood trails off along the main road, which means they may have headed in that direction as well.

    I¡¯m simply a client, so I¡¯ll abstain here. I don¡¯t wish to display my ignorance in front of the veterans of this road afterall.

    The adventurer, Zhe Yun, speaks up for once, ¡°I agree, there¡¯s a high likelihood that this was done by a pack of magical beasts. If it is so, we stand no chance against it if we head down this path. Even if we encounter them through a detour, at least we have more ways of escape than just one path.¡±

    The merchant nods approvingly at this. He does make an excellent point.

    In either case it would be better for us to take a detour for a while before returning to the main road.

    We shouldn¡¯t risk running into a horde of magical beasts.

    Unknowingly, I nod slightly at this while thinking.

    The merchant takes this as my approval.

    He turns to look at Sylvia, who shakes her head calmly, ¡°I¡¯m not good at navigation, so I won¡¯t express my opinion here. I¡¯ll go with whatever you decide.¡±

    He then looks at the one who¡¯s displayed the most domineering strength so far, the Ogre man.

    He pauses for a moment, seemingly in thought, leaving us all in suspense.

    Before long, he starts, ¡°There a low chance that the beast horde would continue along the man-made road, rather than return to the forest surroundings. I think we should continue on the road as planned.¡±

    As he finishes speaking, he flashes a sharp look at the merchant.

    ¡°I-In that case, we¡¯ll¡­¡±, the merchant seems ready to accept the Ogre man¡¯s words, noting his battle prowess.

    However, at this point, Wind, the elf archer speaks up, ¡°I have experience with many forest creatures, being an elf. The recognisable magical beast is a beast that has similarities to the Titan Wolf, a Class 2 Magical Beast¡­¡±

    ¡°While it may not be one, a class 2 magical beast may have been the leader of the pack. I don¡¯t think that we should t-take that risk.¡±, she stutters a bit to the end, clearly not used to speaking so many words.

    She clearly highlighted the fact that the enemy could be something that has the capability to eliminate a Class 2 magical beast. In that case, we wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against it, and taking a detour would be our best choice.

    The merchant quickly swallows the words he was going to say.

    ¡°Since a denizen of the forest has spoken up, we¡¯ll naturally follow.¡±, he says, pinning the decision behind Wind, as if afraid of offending the Ogre man.

    The Ogre man, noticing the merchant¡¯s gaze, replies curtly, ¡°...so be it.¡±

    Before he turns to walk back into the caravan.

    The merchant, heaving a sigh of relief, heads back to his carriage, instructing the servants on their next actions.

    The servants prepare quickly, redirecting the carriages.

    We are now going slightly off the road, heading a distance of approximately 3 days to the left before turning back to join the main road again.

    The mercenaries get on the caravan, as the Ogre man takes the lookout position in front of their caravan.

 Chapter 43: A Tiring Battle

    Taking a detour off the main road, we naturally encountered more dangers.

    Just a few hours after we stopping travelling on the main road, we encountered a pack of wolves again.

    Our Ogre friend took the lead again, driving off the wolves with his large moves.

    His skillset was extremely geared towards group fights.

    He has displayed his omnidirectional move, ¡®Quake¡¯, on several occasions already.

    Stomping on the ground with his right foot, he creates a reverberation in his surrounding ground with just the strength of his foot. This causes the wolves near him to shake, struggling to maintain their foothold.

    It¡¯s a move that can be learnt by both Knights and Berserkers, but requires a high level of strength to achieve. As such, it¡¯s typically only learnt by Berserkers, since they focus more on strength.

    He¡¯s a Knight, rather than a berserker, which shows that he must possess extraordinary strength, above the average Knight.

    At this point, he launches his Axe skill, ¡®Whirlwind Slash¡¯, allowing his Axe to freely cut off the heads of those shaken wolves.

    The wolves quickly retreat after this.

    However, soon after, we run into a pack of wild dogs.

    We relax slightly, since dogs have lesser combat strength than wolves.

    As the dogs near us, however, we realise that this would be a harder fight than before, and the mercenaries tense up.

    A dog, with a small jewel etched upon his head is noticed from behind the pack.

    It¡¯s a Class 1 magical beast.

    While we may be able to handle 3 Class 1 magical beasts, that is on the presumption that all 4 of the mercenaries work together well, and are not disturbed by ordinary animals.

    In a crowd situation, we would need someone else to tank the remaining horde, while the remaining 3 focus on the beasts.

    In this way, we would be able to handle 2 magical beasts without suffering casualties.

    Without cooperation, from what I¡¯ve seen, probably only the Ogre man is able to defeat a Class 1 magical beast in a 1-to-1 fight.

    The mercenaries take up their positions, as the Ogre prepares to handle the magical beast.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    The adventurer also steps forward, instead of his usual guard role, to control the horde in front instead.

    Sylvia then takes the previous position of the Ogre man, controlling the horde as well.

    She slams against the wolves with her large hammer, pushing them back quickly.

    Unleashing the skill, ¡®Swift Strike¡¯, she makes up for the heavy nature of her hammer, being able to strike more often. This is a skill that can be learnt by all classes, which simply allows her attacks to land quicker.

    However, the toll of the previous battle quickly caught up, as she starts to strike less. She starts panting harshly, clearly not used to extended battle. However, the small girl grits her teeth, showing determination as she pushed back the horde.

    She starts using skills less often due to her fatigue.

    Eventually, a dog breaks past her defense line, aiming straight at the long-ranged archer, Wind.

    Wind arches up her eyebrows, shifting her gaze between the incoming dog and her attack targets.

    However, she doesn''t turn her bow to face the incoming dog.

    As the dog nears her¡­

    *CLANG*

    A sound of metal is heard, as Zhe Yun shows off his skill, ¡®Wind slash¡¯, to intercept the wolf.

    He quickly dispatches the dog, before shouting at Sylvia to pull back.

    Sylvia looks at him for a moment before nodding hesitantly.

    She retreats to Zhe Yun¡¯s position, as Zhe Yun rushes forward.

    He utilises a combination of many simple skills, like ¡®Wind Slash¡¯ and ¡®Stone Wall¡¯, to fend off the wolves.

    He¡¯s clearly more specialised in defense.

    They continue this fight, as the horde grows smaller.

    At this time, Wind fires an arrow using ¡®Phantom Arrow¡¯.

    The Dog king strikes the arrow down, however, the shadow of the arrow emerges, striking the beast in his right eye.

    The beast roars in pain.

    The Ogre man, taking advantage of this, unleashes his ¡®Additional Impact¡¯ right at the Dog king.

    Caught off guard, the Dog King is helplessly cut into two halves by the fierce Ogre man.

    The Ogre man then returns to Zhe Yun¡¯s location, intending to help him clear the rest away.

    The dogs are only left with less than 10 of them at this point, as compared to their huge numbers before.

    However, they chose not to retreat, even knowing that the Ogre man was about to join in the assault.

    With the addition of the Ogre man, before long the last remaining dog lets out of soft whimper as it dies.

    Since it¡¯s not the main road, we ignore the corpses and quickly journey, everyone had the intention of returning to the much safer main road quickly.

    As we set up camp at night, we decide to not light a fire, not wanting to attract beasts.

    We settle for some simple bread.

    As I pull apart the tough bread with my teeth, the exhausted Sylvia joins me for dinner as usual.

    We simply chat casually, talking about lighter topics like the horrible bread and if the merchant has a wife at his age. There¡¯s no point discussing about our current circumstances afterall.

    If not for the merchant¡¯s preparedness in hiring, this journey would likely have been much harder.

    However, with such a lineup, we aren¡¯t in a dangerous situation at all.

    Even if we were to venture deeper into the forest, away from the main road, we would likely be safe.

    We¡¯re able to handle everything within the forest. The forest only has Class 1 magical beasts normally, so even the possible Class 2 magical beast we saw earlier is an anomaly that may not even exist.

    What if we get surrounded by many magical beasts, you ask?

    Well, that simply can¡¯t happen, as two magical beasts have never been able to live under 1 roof in a pack.

    If 2 magical beasts were to appear in the same pack, the newly evolved one would simply gather a part of the pack to leave the group.

    The only exception is if a Class 2 magical beast were to exist, in which case it could command a few Class 1s, depending on how many it could subdue with its strength, taking over their packs.

    In that case, we would simply escape. Preserving just our lives wouldn''t be that hard.

    As for the goods¡­ they¡¯ll be a pity in that case, but it can¡¯t be helped.

    We chatted in high spirits as usual, and soon the night grew dark.

    As I bid her farewell, I notice my mood was much better. I got along well with this bright little girl¡­

    You could even call her the first real friend I¡¯ve made in this world.

    I sigh softly before turning in, knowing that after this trip we¡¯ll probably never meet again.

 Chapter 44: Crisis

    The night sets, as I sleep peacefully.

    <3 Hours Later>

    A loud screeching sound echoes in my ears.

    *EEEEEEEEE*

    It sounds rather like the sound of an alarm from my previous life.

    I¡¯m rudely awoken from my beauty sleep.

    I ruffle my hair in slight annoyance.

    I do have high hopes for my dashing appearance once I reach the ripe age of 18, so I do want to take good care of this growing body...

    Feeling disgruntled, I push myself to sit up reluctantly.

    However, soon after, I shake my head, slapping my face lightly with my palms.

    ¡°That ringing sound¡­ There¡¯s a book that wrote that alarm medallions caused a sound like that...¡±, I mutter to myself.

    An alarm medallion as a simple device imbued with a basic spell, ¡®Alarm¡¯. It¡¯s a spell that any apprentice can learn. It simply produces a form of ringing sound that only humans can hear.

    It¡¯s commonly used on trips in the forest, since you don¡¯t want to attract wild animals and beasts.

    Noticing the possible severity of the situation, I quickly get dressed and shuffle out of my tent with urgency.

    I leave the tent, only to see Zhe Yun and the merchant discussing something, with the servants by the side with pale expressions.

    As I stare trying to make sense of the situation, Sylvia, Wind and the Ogre man also lift the flaps of their tents with dazed expressions.

    I walked over towards where the merchant was, the caravan, wondering if some goods were damaged by wild animals.

    However, as I near, I notice the conversation.

    ¡°T-This¡­¡±, the merchant mutters with a distressed expression.

    The adventurer shakes his head mildly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s the case, Mr Tong¡­¡±

    He pauses, noticing the rest of us approaching.

    As we approach, Sylvia asks what¡¯s going on.

    The merchant makes a difficult expression in reaction to her simple question.

    He then gestures to us to follow him.

    We reach his tent, and lying on the ground within was a male servant.

    Another servant uncovered the sheet placed over him.

    The male servant lying on the ground wasn¡¯t breathing, and his hand clasped an alarm medallion tightly.

    His head was badly dislocated towards the right, as he lay motionless.

    I can more or less guess the rest, understanding the reason for the merchant¡¯s difficult expression.

    All of us keep silent upon witnessing this as well.

    I have some slight recollection of the man, he was the lookout for tonight.

    Usually the lookout was just in charge of looking after the goods in case of stray animals.

    However, a wild animal or beast most certainly could not have twisted the man¡¯s neck.

    After the moment of silence, everyone starts making sidewards glances around.

    It¡¯s clear that everyone has reached the same conclusion I did.

    Here in this secluded forest, one mercenary turning traitor could very well result in the deaths of everyone.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Everyone¡¯s unguarded at night.

    One.

    That¡¯s all you need.

    As for the person¡¯s motive, if I had to speculate a guess¡­ it should be the unknown goods that we¡¯re carrying.

    I doubt any of the mercenaries know of what¡¯s inside as well.

    I frown, looking at the merchant.

    The goods he¡¯s carrying can¡¯t be simple.

    The prepatrator didn¡¯t kill a mercenary.

    He opted to kill a servant instead, possibly in an attempt to steal the goods under everyone¡¯s noses.

    However, the operation failed when the servant activated the medallion, not dying immediately from the attack.

    I ask the merchant to check his goods.

    His eyes reveal a light sparkle, as he shows some anxiety, rushing back towards the goods of the caravan.

    After inspecting the items for a while, he lets out a look of relief.

    It seems I was right, the perpetrator must have fled on hearing the sound.

    However, I would personally have liked the perpetrator to have escaped successfully.

    If he or she did, they would most likely escape, or simply leave the group secretly once we return to the main road.

    Since the person is still here¡­ that mean they have not given up on the goods.

    Now that it¡¯s come to this, there¡¯s no point in staying a bystander.

    If I don¡¯t say anything and we all simply go to rest, we could all very well die to the next beast horde with an atmosphere like this one.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s quite clear that one of us has turned traitor.¡±, I say, voicing out the thoughts of everyone here.

    Everyone looks at me with different gazes, but no one speaks up.

    ¡°A normal person like me or the merchant wouldn¡¯t have the strength to twist the head of a grown man so easily, so it should be one of you mercenaries¡­¡±

    I look around upon saying this, checking if anyone disagreed.

    ¡°If anyone has any inkling on who it might be, please speak up.¡±

    No one responds, as expected. Sylvia shakes her head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll get anywhere with this. I trust that whoever did this did not want to kill us all, but wanted to steal the goods you¡¯re carrying, Mr Tong.¡±, Zhe Yun steps forward to speak.

    He implied heavily that the goods should be revealed at this time.

    ¡°T-The goo-¡±, the merchant struggles to speak.

    I cut him off, saying, ¡°At this point, it¡¯s not wise to reveal the goods. What if this attracts the desire of more of us?¡±

    I pause, continuing, ¡°I just want to get through this forest safely.¡±

    At this point, a servant whispers something to Tong Guan.

    He displays a shocked expression.

    He then speaks up, ¡°I won¡¯t ask more about the identity of this person, but I hope whoever you are, you¡¯ll refrain from killing anyone else, even if you get what you want.¡±

    ¡°From now on, I want 2 mercenaries to be the lookouts for each night. That way, at least if one of you is the traitor, the other one will be awake to restrain you.¡±

    He then thinks for a bit more, saying, ¡°I promise that if we reach the city without any further incidents, I will not pursue this matter any further.¡±

    I look at the merchant with renewed admiration.

    At this point, he¡¯s giving the perpetrator a chance at retreat. Otherwise, upon returning to the city, if he decided to initiate an investigation, the person would be pursued endlessly by law enforcement.

    I nod in approval.

    The rest express their approval for taking up the positions of lookout.

    One by one, they retreat back into their tents.

    The merchant decided that the lookouts for the rest of the night were to be Zhe Yun and Wind.

    As I intend to retreat to my tent to digest the rest of this heavy matter¡­

    ¡°Mister Xue, hold on. Do you mind accompanying me for a bit?¡±

    I nod in slight surprise, but follow him to his tent regardless.

    We sit down carefully, as a servant covers the tent flap securely before leaving.

    I look at him calmly, ¡°I assume you figured something out?¡±

    He says slowly, ¡°Yes.¡±

    I wait for him to continue.

    ¡°I was informed by a servant slightly-trained in medicine that the dead servant has a broken ribcage, and suffered from internal bleeding¡­¡±

    ¡°W-What?¡±, I lose some control, exclaiming.

    ¡°So that means¡­¡±, I begin.

    ¡°Yes.¡±, he nods firmly.

    I regain my composure, asking carefully, ¡°... and you¡¯re telling me this because?¡±

    He laughs lightly, ¡°You¡¯re at least related to nobility, so I must keep you informed for sure!¡±

    ¡°You jest, Mr Tong.¡±, I smile wryly.

    He thinks I at least have some live-saving weapon, if not, I could be an apprentice mage.

    As for why he doesn¡¯t suspect me, it is because of my small physique.

    I look so frail sometimes the wind could blow me away, this body simply isn¡¯t fit for combat.

    I understand his position, so I continue, ¡°I¡¯m an apprentice mage, but don¡¯t expect too much from me, I¡¯m not good in combat.¡±

    He seems to have anticipated this, ¡°That¡¯s fine, at this point, any help would be appreciated.¡±

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve shown some sincerity, it¡¯s time for you to show some too?¡±, I ignore his grim statement, glancing towards the closed tent opening.

    He frowns for a moment, before relaxing, ¡°I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to tell you. We¡¯re carrying a batch of high-grade healing potions.¡±

    I express my shock again.

    A high-grade healing potion could even heal a man on the brink of death, with dislocated limbs, back to the prime of his health in less than a minute.

    It¡¯s simply something that¡¯s close to priceless to adventurers and mercenaries.

    The Lei Kingdom likely doesn¡¯t possess more than a few batches in its treasury.

    And this merchant is carrying a whole batch of them on him.

    ¡°I see.¡±, I say simply, expressing understanding over the situation.

    He lets out a sigh, knowing that he¡¯s implicated me.

    At this point, I continue, ¡°What else is inside? Is it possible at all the person is targeting something else?¡±

    I¡¯m not doubting the authenticity of his words, or the potions¡¯ value, but something of such importance must have had its information concealed well.

    He shakes his head, ¡°There¡¯s not much else of value, just some typical trade items, like broken magic items and slave collars. No one would rob a caravan over just those.¡±

    I nod, broken magic items usually only have 1 or 2 uses left in them, and are popular with poorer adventurers, same with slave collars¡­ mercenaries like to enslave beastmen they meet, and sell them to slave merchants.

    ¡°Judging by the tall stature of the servant, it could only be him. We have to hit him before he hits us.¡±, he says.

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    He¡¯s right, the only one that could have dealt such a blow would be Sylvia or the Ogre man. With the height of the man and his twisted neck, Sylvia couldn¡¯t possibly have twisted his neck.

    With the Ogre man¡¯s terrifying prowess, if we faced him head on, even if we won we¡¯ll face severe losses.

    It wouldn¡¯t be convenient for the leader of the caravan to go gather the rest, since his actions would be easily noticed.

    The servants are viewed as his extension as well, unlike me, who talks to Sylvia regularly.

    I would thus be perfectly justified to talk to Sylvia.

    She could then pass the message to Wind in their tent, and Zhe Yun when they are on lookout together.

    ¡°But, I have a request, I would like to hold a potion just in case.¡±

    He ponders for a moment, before agreeing reluctantly, saying that he''ll pass me the potion on his carriage tomorrow.

    And so I leave his tent to return to my own, resting for the night.

 Chapter 45: Food Obsession

    I usually wake up to the aroma of hot soup, or smoked rations, so it feels odd lately that we have to subsist on these dry and stale breads.

    I can¡¯t help but frown as I pull the bread apart with my teeth, chewing the ¡®food¡¯.

    If only we met another group and exchanged some more dry rations with them earlier¡­

    Of course, what happened last night was on my mind. We are in a precarious situation in any case.

    However, stopping to think about it again¡­ are we really?

    Sure there¡¯s a death.

    But it seems that the intentions of the perpetrator were simply to rob the potions, and not our lives along with it. Even if I choose to not take any action, we¡¯ll still be safe.

    Guan Tong just wouldn¡¯t be very happy about the trip.

    Thinking this, I feel more positive about our situation.

    The evidence does line up for the Ogre man to the perpetrator; he wanted to steal the valuable potions, hence he made a plan to kill the servant and steal the goods.

    However, what he failed to anticipate was the servant surviving the initial twist of his neck to activate the medallion. As a result, he had to strike him in the chest, ending his life to make sure he wasn¡¯t exposed and run away hurriedly back to his tent.

    That does make sense.

    But the pieces just connect too well. If the Ogre man did do it, he should have known that the chest strike would have exposed his actions for sure. There is the chance that he did it in a hurry, and didn¡¯t notice, but he seemed fairly composed last night.

    I¡¯ll be more confident in the possibility that someone else is trying to frame the Ogre man for the deed.

    It could be Silvia, but there¡¯s quite a low chance she would opt to go for a twist to the neck with her stature. She would have had to jump just to do it afterall.

    It seems too apparent that the Ogre man is our only suspect.

    Zhe Yun and Wind might not be able to deal such a strike, but I can¡¯t rule out the use of magical items.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    They seem more suspicious to me than the Ogre man, but there¡¯s not much chance of figuring out who¡¯s the one with what we have currently.

    I don¡¯t have to anyway.

    And thus, I begin to make my preparations.

    ¡°...right after finishing my scrumptious breakfast of course.¡±, I mutter sarcastically.

    We set off earlier than usual, since no one wanted to be in this part of the forest any longer than we had to.

    Facing another pack of wolves, this time the mercenaries battle whilst spread out in a smaller range than usual.

    Shaking my head, I think to myself, ¡°It can¡¯t be helped that they¡¯re more wary of each other now¡­¡±

    They have to guard against a possible ambush afterall.

    Injuring or killing 2 of the other mercenaries could very well mean that the perpetrator would have control over this caravan.

    And what better place to do it than in the midst of battle.

    They avoid going out of their way to kill the wolves, and only kill a few, scaring them off soon enough.

    However, Sylvia shows some fatigue at this point, sweating quite a bit.

    Noticing this, the merchant quickly orders the servants to take her to our carriage for treatment, before signalling me with his eyes with urgency.

    I nod in response, as he leaves the carriage to sit outside, giving space for us.

    Sylvia now sits in the carriage with me as the caravan continues on, trying to move forward as fast as possible.

    After passing her a towel and a recovery pill from the servant, she begins to relax for a bit.

    ¡°Huff¡­ ah, finally some rest, even Berserkers don¡¯t have unlimited stamina¡­¡±, she says in relief.

    I laugh at her leisurely words, replying seriously, ¡°Yes, milady, here¡¯s your towel. I await your command.¡±

    Imitating a butler¡¯s bow with the upper half of my body.

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!¡±, she laughs uncontrollably.

    After a while, she tries to hold back the laughter, using her finger to wipe off the tear in her eye.

    I didn¡¯t expect such a huge response, I smile wryly.

    She points at me, saying, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you said that with a straight face¡­¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I should get going back to the mercenaries caravan, it¡¯s almost my turn to be the lookout.¡±, she says, preparing to exit.

    ¡°Hold on, I have something serious to discuss¡­¡±, I call out.

    She raises her eyebrows.

    ¡°...about last night.¡±

    Her eyes turn more serious, as she returns to sit back down.

    ¡°I have talked with the merchant, and one of his servants noticed that there was a chest blow which caused internal bleeding on him.¡± I say slowly and softly.

    Her eyes widen in shock, but she says nothing.

    ¡°With your *ahem* stature, there¡¯s a low chance of you doing it, so it¡¯s almost certainly him.¡±, I continue.

    Her eyebrows crease, seemingly unsatisfied at my comment on her stature.

    ¡°So? What do you want me to do?¡±, she asks snappily.

    ¡°I need you to inform Zhe Yun and Wind of this as well, while you are on lookout duty. We¡¯ll act 2 nights later, and we¡¯ll do it at night. We have to at least subdue him and if we can¡¯t do that¡­¡±

    She puts on a more serious face, nodding, ¡°I got it. I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    She then leaves the carriage, jumping off it, to reach the neighbouring caravan.

    I guess that¡¯s the merchant¡¯s request fulfilled.

    ¡°Silvia and Zhe Yun have duty tonight, so she¡¯ll inform him then¡­ and Wind is in the same tent as her, so there¡¯s no trouble there. I guess it¡¯ll have to be tonight.¡±, I mutter to myself.

    The merchant comes back in at this point, flashing me a questioning look.

    I simply nod in affirmation, raising two fingers up at him.

    He nods, seeming more relieved.

    ¡°Now that that¡¯s done, don¡¯t you think you should at least tell me what you know about the mercenaries you hired? At this point, I have some right to know, don¡¯t I?¡±, I say lightly.

    ¡°Of course, of course.¡±, he agrees cheerfully, happy that he''ll be rid of the danger soon.

 Chapter 46: Theres always Risks in any plan

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not too much of a story¡­¡±, Guan Tong begins recounting.

    ¡°I can¡¯t reveal any information on who I¡¯m carrying the potions for, but it¡¯s not something you should need to know. However, I was aware that this trip might bring more dangers due to the cargo¡¯s importance.¡±

    I nod in response.

    ¡°I was most afraid of possible bandits, since it¡¯s not uncommon to see caravans robbed. I thus wanted to assemble more skilled adventurers, while not appearing too inconspicuous. It would have backfired if I hired some famous adventurer, since everyone would know I was carrying something of importance. What i didn¡¯t expect was the situation we see now¡­¡±, he smiles wryly as he comes to this.

    ¡°I was informed of an Ogre man that returned from the famed danger zone, lightning mountain all alone. The area is plagued with Class 1 magical beasts, and the overlord of the area is the terrifying Emperor Eagle, a Class 5. Anyone that could even survive on the outskirts of that area must have some capability.¡±

    ¡°Hence, he was my first hire despite some weird rumours about him. Wind was a stable pick, since she was an up and coming newbie mercenary, having secured many recommendations on her skills despite her cold appearance. Some male mercenaries even like that part of her and *ahem*, bring her along because they want to get ignored by her¡­¡±, he looks at me with a weird expression.

    I hope he didn¡¯t really hire her just for that¡­

    ¡°Zhe Yun is my nephew, and his father vouched for his dependability in battle personally. I really couldn¡¯t refuse the only request my brother ever made of me when he put it that way. As for Sylvia, I met her in an inn while she was looking for a party to join, and at first I figured that I¡¯ll bring her along so Wind wasn¡¯t the only female mercenary. However, she impressed me with her Hammer skills, so I hired her on the spot.¡±

    Well, from this recounting, it stands to reason why he¡¯ll suspect Ogre man the most regardless. I know it¡¯s to prevent any information leak, but this hiring is really too random¡­

    ¡°May I know what your brother does?¡±, I ask.

    ¡°Ha? Oh, my brother¡¯s a tailor, he¡¯s doing pretty good running his own shop.¡±, he seems surprised at my question but answers quickly nonetheless.

    If I were to eliminate the Ogre man from the list of suspects, honestly, all three of their backgrounds don¡¯t bring much assurance to me. Zhe Yun¡¯s comparatively better, but that¡¯s only if Guan Tong¡¯s brother is on good relations with him, for all I know he could be envious of his brother¡¯s wealth and wants to rob it.

    Sylvia¡¯s background is troubling as well, since they met on a ¡®chance¡¯ encounter¡­

    As for Wind, she¡¯s still a newbie, so her reputation could just be for the purpose of this trip¡­This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    There¡¯s really not much choice left to me, my original plan would be the most apt.

    However, the risk is betting that the Ogre man really isn¡¯t of threat.

    I clench my fist slightly, in preparation for tonight.

    I noticed that Ogre man always goes out for a short walk to eat his dinner alone, every night.

    Right as the servants prepare to distribute the bread for dinner, I grab a bread quickly, and let them know that I¡¯m heading to relieve myself, pointing in a direction.

    One of them nods.

    It¡¯s a common practice to inform them, since if you were to go missing while relieving yourself or taking a stroll at night, they would at least notice that you were missing for far too long for just relieving yourself. It¡¯s better than if they were to notice a whole night later.

    I walk quickly towards the direction, keeping my bread in within my clothes.

    After reaching a distance away, I stop.

    I then simply sit on a nearby rock and wait.

    A few minutes pass, as a large figure appears from the direction of the camp.

    ¡°You can¡¯t have called me out here to eat together?¡±, he says plainly, with no humour in his tone.

    It¡¯s the Ogre man.

    ¡°It¡¯s really weird to keep addressing you at ¡®Ogre man¡¯, you know¡­¡±, I shrug my shoulders, saying.

    ¡°I guess you have some guts, to call me out here alone¡­¡±, he speaks slowly, stepping forward as if preparing to get into a battle stance, exuding a threatening aura.

    ¡°I have my means.¡±, I reply simply, placing my right hand near my small satchel.

    He takes another step forward.

    I maintain my indifference.

    He stares at me, before relaxing.

    ¡°Ruk. Now speak.¡±, he says sternly.

    ¡°Alright, so... Ruk, I assume you still remember the servant¡¯s death from the night before?¡±, I relax my posture, putting my right hand away.

    He nods in affirmation.

    ¡°Yes, he died due to having his neck twisted, but also has severe internal bleeding in the chest.¡±, I say lightly, but observe his reaction to this seriously.

    He frowns his brows upon hearing this.

    He seems to want to say something, but I continue.

    ¡°I assume you can somewhat guess the rest. You. You¡¯re the biggest suspect.¡±, I say, pointing at him in a reprimanding tone.

    He seems angered, and takes half a step forward.

    However, he stops moving after that.

    Straightening his creased brows, he says in a slight mocking manner, ¡°And you¡¯re revealing this to me because?¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s that I believe you¡¯re innocent.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit.¡±, he replies derisively.

    I get rid of my flippant manner, looking more serious, I say in a heavier tone, ¡°You¡¯re the biggest suspect, and it¡¯s for that reason, that you¡¯re the least suspicious.¡±

    He seems to be thinking about my words, while still staring at me, unflinching.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be a problem for me if you¡¯re subdued, and the actual perpetrator starts having thoughts of silencing everyone now that he or she has the capability to.¡± I say frankly.

    ¡°I¡¯m offering you a path of survival. If you faced everyone now, I doubt you¡¯ll survive, even if you managed to take out one of the other mercenaries. I have a way out for you.¡±, I continue to persuade.

    He seems hesitant.

    At this point, I take out the potion, showing it off to him before quickly keeping it.

    His eyes widen slightly, before dilating.

    ¡°Alright.¡±, He says.

    I talk to him about his role, as he listens.

    Before long, he leaves the place in a heavy manner.

    As I continue to look at his back, his figure keeps turning smaller until I can¡¯t see it.

    Seeing this, I finally stop staring, and move my left arm forward from behind my back.

    Doing so, I turn to the other direction of the camp, and launch the ¡®Hidden Beam¡¯ I held in my left hand previously.

    The beam shoots through a few trees before dissipating as usual, as I heave a sigh of relief.

    I take another look at the camp, before starting to walk back.

 Chapter 47: Zhe Yuns Resolution

    ¡°Could I get another piece of bread?¡±, I ask politely to a servant.

    ¡°Of course, sir.¡±, the male servant replies politely.

    I then find a discreet corner as usual and start eating my bread there.

    ¡°From his reactions, I can tell he¡¯s genuinely surprised about the chest injury¡­ could it be that he¡¯s really unrelated? Or is he just feigning it... ¡°, I mutter softly to myself.

    He seems to have little regard towards his wellbeing if so though. He didn¡¯t seem too concerned when I revealed that he was the biggest suspect and might be attacked by the whole group.

    It could be confidence in his abilities, but he merely raised his eyebrows on hearing it.

    Normally people would at least tense up, on hearing that they¡¯ll be going through a life-or-death battle.

    I would have thought he would be related somehow, even if he wasn¡¯t the principal offender. The twist of the neck and the chest injury could have been done by different people after all.

    I look to the side of the camp, and see Sylvia talking to Wind.

    She¡¯s likely informing her of the plan. Wind seems to take it lightly, but tightens her grip on her bow.

    I turn my gaze to Zhe Yun, who¡¯s mingling with the servants as usual. The conversation seems less cheerful than usual, with the servants replying occasionally, unlike the merriness usually.

    It can¡¯t be helped, one of them died. Furthermore, someone else still has to guard the caravan tonight with the mercenaries.Zhe Yun seems to be comforting one of them now, probably the person who will be on lookout.

    Zhe Yun can only be informed tonight, when they are on night lookout together.

    I continue to sit on a rock and eat slowly.

    Before long, Wind turns to head back into her tent, and Sylvia flashes me a thumbs up, smiling.

    I smile at her cute action, before waving it off and returning to my tent.

    I try to get some sleep before the night turns dark, I wouldn¡¯t want to be in deep sleep if there¡¯s another attempt.

    However, the day soon approaches without anything out of the ordinary happening.

    I yawn as I wake up, slightly more tired since I tried to sleep as lightly as possible.

    I pick up my breakfast as usual, looking around to find Sylvia after that.

    After looking around for a bit, I realised she may not be up yet.

    She could be getting some quick sleep in after her lookout.

    I shrug and find a seat to sit by myself.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    I then see an exhausted Sylvia come out from her tent, with Zhe Yun lifting the flap for her.

    Slightly curious, I blink my eyes in their direction.

    I continue wondering, at this point, Sylvia¡¯s eyes meet mine, and she smiles brightly at me.

    She seems to drag Zhe Yun who¡¯s making a difficult face along, as she pulls him in my direction.

    As he reaches, I greet him, ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Xue Qiu, I believe this is our 2nd time speaking, haha.¡±

    He laughs lightly at this, extending his right hand to reach my outstretched one.

    ¡°Well, you haven¡¯t come to join me and the servants!¡±, he jokes.

    Sylvia and Zhe Yun find spots to sit on, as we start eating our breakfast.

    Before long, Zhe Yun speaks out, ¡°E-Erm¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I heard about the plan¡­¡±

    ¡°And¡­¡±

    ¡°I have a small request to make.¡±, he says resolutely.

    ¡°Do say.¡±

    ¡°I-I would like to be on the frontlines when we fight against the Ogre man.¡±

    I pause to ponder this for a brief moment.

    ¡°May I know why?¡±

    He seems hesitant at replying me.

    ¡°I need to know, the person who¡¯s on the frontline is important, even if we target him while he¡¯s asleep.¡±, I say firmly, looking at him seriously.

    ¡°I want to have more experience fighting against someone as strong as him¡­¡±, he replies weakly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s all, right?¡±, he adverts my gaze as I say this.

    He seems to be in conflict with himself.

    After some time, he loosens his shoulders and sighs.

    ¡°It¡¯s a petty story, but¡­ I hope you can understand.¡±

    I say nothing in response, simply nodding.

    ¡°I once had a party which I regularly went on escort missions with¡­ It was a balanced party. Besides me, we had a knight, an apprentice mage and even an apprentice healer.¡±

    I express a look of surprise, ¡°A healer?¡±, I try to confirm.

    ¡°An apprentice healer.¡±, he says, stressing on the ¡®apprentice¡¯.

    A healer is a rare member to find, since everyone wants to be able to heal their injuries.

    Not many people have the talent to be one as well, hence even some stronger parties may not have a healer on their party.

    I recover from my surprise, gesturing him to continue.

    ¡°We went to find missions at an inn¡¯s notice board at the same time. It was a weird coincidence, but we decided to party together for our first mission. Since it went well, we partied together since.¡±

    ¡°However, there was a mission which deviated from the difficulty of our original missions. Someone had specially requested us for the mission, and we were prepared to decline, since it may be too dangerous for us.¡±

    ¡°However, at this time, the Knight spoke up resolutely, saying that we should aim to become stronger, and this mission¡¯s success could mean a whole new level of reputation for us. I didn¡¯t want to go through this mission, and expressed my disapproval.¡±

    ¡°The apprentice mage on our team disapproved as well, siding with me. However, the usually quiet healer expressed her desire to go on this mission, persuaded by the Knight.¡±

    He sighed.

    ¡°At this point, what other choice did we have? The main tank and the healer of the party wanted to do it. Unless we wanted the party to be disbanded, we had to do it.¡±

    ¡°It was an escort mission that would travel upon the outskirts of a volcano. The terrain was hardly the most dangerous part, but there were even Class 1 magical beasts and Class 2 magical beasts in the area.¡±

    ¡°With our party, we could have handled even a Class 2 magical beast. Thus, even when we were getting more tired in the middle of the journey, we continued forward. We had faced many Class magical beasts and even 2 Class 2 magical beasts by then.¡±

    ¡°At a certain point, we felt like the Class 2 magical beasts were appearing with more frequency. The mage wanted to turn back, since this may have been too dangerous for us. But the Knight wanted to continue, urging us, since if we did that, our reputation would hit rock bottom.¡±

    ¡°We couldn¡¯t argue against that, it was our livelihood!¡±

    ¡°And¡­¡±

    ¡°And then¡­¡±

    He seemed to have difficulty saying it out, eyes turning red.

    ¡°We met a Class 3 Magical beast.¡±, he said with a look of despair.

    ¡°The rest need not be mentioned, we were demolished. It was a poison type magical beast. The knight and I could still handle the poison, but the mage and the healer couldn¡¯t, with their weaker bodies.¡±

    ¡°They died. In her final act, the healer casted a healing spell on us, instead of herself, knowing it would only prolong her suffering.¡±

    ¡°She smiled at us, as she told us, ¡®go.¡¯.¡±

    ¡°We ran, we ran as fast as we could.¡±

    ¡°I cried while running.¡±

    ¡°But when we were at a far distance from the magical beast, I looked up at the knight.¡±

    ¡°He never shed a tear, he¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡­¡±

    ¡°He only showed a look of regret, almost as if lamenting the fact we couldn¡¯t accomplish the mission.¡±

    ¡°I was angry at his expression, I was enraged.¡±

    ¡°I punched him with all I had, merely grazing him.¡±

    ¡°He just looked at me, staring emotionlessly.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t take it. I walked away without saying anything.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t chase me, and we never talked after that.¡±

    ¡°I knew he took this mission, so I wanted to be in the same mission as him to have some respite for myself. Consider this as the closure I needed.¡±

    ¡°If he really came with the intention to rob my uncle¡­ I¡¯ll be the one to kill him.¡±, Zhe Yun said murderously, clenching his fist tightly. So tightly that his blood vessels could be seen.

 Chapter 48: Questions Left Unanswered

    It was a heavy story to digest.

    Having your perfect party formation ruined like that.

    I would like to accede to his request, but having someone who¡¯s emotionally unstable about this is always an uncertainty.

    He could help disguise my intentions better, but could also jeopardise everything.

    I think I¡¯ll have to decline his request, as sad as it may be, ¡°I-I¡¯m Sor-¡±.

    *Thump*

    He smacks his hand against the rock he was sitting on.

    Looking at me murderously, he scowls, ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking for your opinion. This is NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION.¡±

    His eyes showed so much hatred, and some remorse.

    Looking at the man in anger, I stood there stunned.

    His actions reaffirmed that I shouldn¡¯t acquiesce to his request.

    After a moment of silence, I sigh.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    He nods before standing up, turning around to walk away.

    He stops after taking 1 step, muttering under his breath, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    He then continues walking back to the camp as I look at his back with a complicated expression.

    I don¡¯t have a choice in the matter, we can¡¯t do this without him.

    The story does paint the Ogre man in a bad light, but ultimately, they were both not entirely to blame for the deaths of the other 2 members.

    I sigh at the tragedy, remembering the hatred in the eyes of Zhe Yun.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±, a sweet voice comes over.

    Sylvia, who¡¯s still seated munching on her bread, says comfortingly, ¡°He¡¯ll be fine.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    I turn away from the back figure of Zhe Yun, to look at Sylvia¡¯s smiling face.

    I can¡¯t help but smile upon seeing that cheerful expression.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    We journey quickly in the afternoon, at this rate, we¡¯ll be back on the main road in just 2 days time.

    We are assaulting the Ogre man the night after tonight, so we¡¯ll still be away from the main road.

    I am getting an uneasy feeling from this, even though we¡¯re doing this to avoid the potential Class 2 Magical beast pack.

    We¡¯ve been lucky so far, since nothing has appeared that¡¯s too hard for us to handle.

    However, we have no healer, so frankly if too many Class 1 Magical beasts attack in a day, we¡¯ll simply die after running out of stamina.

    Hopefully everything goes well.

    I confirm again with the merchant about the plan, as we sit in the carriage for the rest of the afternoon.

    I asked him if he knew about the past of the Ogre man and Zhe Yun.

    He sighed, saying that his brother had told him about it before he agreed.

    It was a difficult favour to ask, but he had to grant it because it was a rare request from his own brother.

    He says that Zhe Yun has spent much of the money he earned earlier in his mercenary party to hire people to search the area with him to find the corpses of his party members.

    Sadly, he hasn¡¯t been able to find them, which may be why he¡¯s tried to resolve his regrets in this weird manner.

    The afternoon was more peaceful, only a single pack of wild cats attacked us, and they were quickly fended off.

    I rest quietly after the talk with the merchant, before we rest again for dinner.

    I got my bread as usual and sat by the side as I waited for Sylvia.

    Before long, she arrives.

    I ask her if Wind was briefed properly, since she was the only one I haven''t spoken to.

    She reassured me that Wind was briefed properly, puffing out her chest in assurance.

    ¡°Well, I have no choice but to take your word for it!¡±, I laugh.

    ¡°Hmph, what¡¯s with that lack of trust, I did do it properly!¡±, she argues, defending herself.

    ¡°Alright, alright, it¡¯s just a joke. That reminds me though, you¡¯ve been sleeping in the same tent as Wind for a while, right?¡±, I try to ask as naturally as I can.

    ¡°Trying to probe for information?¡±, she says lightly, as if mocking me.

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly right.¡±, I say, shrugging my shoulders.

    ¡°How honest. Frankly speaking, we haven¡¯t spoken all too much, she keeps to herself almost all the time.¡±, Sylvia says, showing her palms out, in a ¡®that¡¯s all I know¡¯ gesture.

    ¡°Hmm, do you know where she¡¯s from?¡±, I try to ask.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s mentioned she¡¯s from a small elf village, but almost all elves are like that.¡±, she puts a finger on her chin, as she tries to recall.

    ¡°I see... ¡°

    ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t talk to her much. Why? Are you suspecting she¡¯s in cahoots with the Ogre?¡±, she asks quizzically.

    ¡°Not really, I was just curious. I know the least about her currently afterall. I even know more about our Ogre man thanks to Zhe Yun¡¯s story today.¡±, I reply truthfully.

    ¡°Hmmm~ Is that really so?¡±, she asks again.

    ¡°Well, I have some suspicions, but there¡¯s nothing concrete as of now.¡±, I add.

    ¡°If you ask me, I don¡¯t think Wind¡¯s a traitor, if she was in cahoots with Ogre man, they could have forcefully taken the goods and killed us all, especially if they managed to kill me or Zhe Yun at night.¡±, she suggests.

    I think the Ogre man is safe still, so it¡¯s ultimately still Wind that I¡¯m most suspicious of since I know so little. I guess that truth will be revealed after tomorrow''s night.

    ¡°I guess so, I¡¯ll put this matter to rest then.¡±, I reply Sylvia.

    "Now there''s a good boy. Want me to pat your head?", Sylvia says teasingly, gesturing with her small hands

    "Give me a break~", I laugh at this.

    She''s geting revenge for all the times I made fun of her height and stature.

    "Hmmm? You''re so short afterall. Look at Ogre man.", she says as a matter of fact.

    I smile wryly, "He''s half Ogre! How do you expect me to win that!"

    "Just admit you''re a short man, hmph!", she pouts.

    And thus we continue our light hearted banter into the night.

 Chapter 49: The Extent of his Resolution

    Day arrives, and I go through my usual morning routine.

    This environment was still much more peaceful when compared to my original life.

    Doing some light meditation in the morning, I feel that my mana has been increasing gradually each day.

    At this rate, I might just be able to fire ¡®Hidden Beam¡¯ twice.

    Well, that¡¯s not going to happen for a while though.

    The realisation does give me a faint smile on my face as I sit on the carriage as usual.

    I go through the plan with the merchant again, informing him.

    ¡°Is this going to be safe?¡±, he suddenly asks hesitantly.

    I look at him with raised eyebrows, not replying.

    ¡°I-It¡¯s not that I¡¯m doubting our previous conjecture, but¡­ his battle prowess might not lose to the other 3 mercenaries.¡±, Guan Tong says, clearly worried.

    I let out a sigh.

    Shrugging my shoulders, I tell him straightforwardly, ¡°It¡¯s not like we have much of a choice, are you going to let him leave with the merchandise in exchange for our safety?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s obviously out of the question.¡±, Guan Tong seems to have picked up a whole bunch of courage at once, stating firmly.

    Expecting an answer of the sort, I say helplessly, ¡°We don¡¯t have another choice then?¡±

    ¡°Haiz, you¡­ you¡¯re right. Please ignore what I said earlier.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m concerned about our lives if we fail too, how about I join in the battle for support.¡±

    ¡°Ah! No, you¡¯re the customer, how could we make you do that!¡±, he says boisterously. He obviously wanted me to do this from the start, how could I not see through his intentions?

    It fits in well with my plans, so I¡¯ll just go along with his charade.

    ¡°If we lose, none of us will survive in any case.¡±

    ¡°That is true, I¡¯ll have to trouble you with that then, esteemed sir.¡±, he says quickly, almost as if wanting to prevent me from rethinking y suggestion.

    Any fighting power he can gather now would help in the attack.

    We are still away from the main road as well, so there¡¯ll be a lot of danger waiting for us even if we do subdue the Ogre man but leave the party saddled in injuries.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just use this if anything goes awry.¡±, I say cheekily, holding up the potion I took from him earlier.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±, he has an awkward expression on his face.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. One won¡¯t matter too much if compared to the safety of everyone.¡±, Xuan Tong promises.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be off then, I¡¯ll see you in a few hours.¡±, I say as I exit the carriage.

    We¡¯re preparing to set up the camp for the night.

    In about 4-5 hours, once the Ogre man has retreated to sleep, Zhe Yun would give us the signal, while we try to assassinate him in his sleep.

    The rest of us, besides Zhe Yun, are essentially on standby.

    If he were to succeed, we would all be useless here.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way he will though.¡±, I raise the corners of my lips slightly.

    We gather outside our tents, after we had all went in respectively and pretended to rest for a bit.

    Zhe Yun walks on tiptoes, trying to silence every trace of sound or movement.

    As I stand beside Sylvia, she gestures for me to bend my neck down.

    I do so, and she whispers in my ear while chuckling, ¡°Isn¡¯t his pose funny now?¡±, pointing at Zhe Yun.

    I take another look at him, and he does indeed look comedic.

    He¡¯s tipping on his toes, while his hands are facing the ground, leaning forward.

    He sort of looks like a cartoon image of a burglar.

    I chuckle softly, but quickly reprimanding her, ¡°Be serious!¡±

    Everyone watches cautiously at Zhe Yun, as he approaches the tent with his short sword unsheathed.

    A bead of sweat flows down from his forehead.

    He lifts the flap of the tent casually, as if he were simply returning to rest.

    We¡¯re all outside, filled with trepidation at the fact that we can¡¯t see anything that¡¯s going on inside the tent.

    Currently, Zhe Yun was approaching the Ogre man who was sleeping without a care in the world.

    He closes his eyes for a brief millisecond, as he stands over the Ogre man¡¯s helpless body, as if thinking of his departed party members.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±, he says softly, but clearly.

    He lunges right at the Ogre man¡¯s neck with the sword,and closes his eyes in a moment of respite, upon feeling that the sword had made contact with his skin.

    However, he quickly opens his eyes again, noticing that the stab has not went as deep as expected.

    He opens his eyes widely, only to see that the Ogre man had managed to block the sword with his hand, and the sword as simply lodged into that palm of his hand as it bled.

    The Ogre man looks at Zhe Yun, with a complicated expression.

    He quickly uses a basic skill, ¡®Pushback¡¯, to push Zhe Yun away from himself with his active left hand.

    Zhe Yun is pushed away, stumbling right outside the tent.

    Seeing this, all of us surround the tent more closely, staring at the entrance.

    The Ogre man punches out a hole in the side of the tent, before looking at Zhe Yun again.

    He still didn¡¯t say anything.

    However, at this second where he stopped moving, we took the chance to close the encirclement, and Wind and Sylvia rushed forward to join the fight.

    Zhe Yun regains his composure, dashing straight for the Ogre man using the advanced skill, ¡®Bloodrush¡¯. With this, he quickly shoots past the rushing Sylvia and Wind who had already rushed forward.

    The advanced skills of the adventurer class are all extremely strong, but they come with extreme drawbacks, usually featuring the permanent loss of a stat point. That¡¯s the same for this skill as well. It grants the user godly speed that few can match, at the cost of the permanent loss of certain stat points.

    The duration is long too, since as the name implies, it burns the blood of the user¡¯s body. If one were to not lose any blood during a fight, he could continue using this skill for a few days.

    His reaction speed has not increased, however, but he relied on the terrifying speed of ¡®Bloodrush¡¯ to strike with the other short sword he had equipped on his back.

    The Ogre man had already grabbed his weapon on his way out, and realising he couldn¡¯t escape this attack, he quickly swung his axe towards the sword.

    *CLANG*

    The 2 weapons clash against each other, with the Ogre man¡¯s hand left shaking from the intense recoil.

    The Ogre man looks shocked at the power behind that attack.

    He remained shocked, as Zhe Yun took a step back, preparing to lunge forward with that terrifying strike again.

    This time, he¡¯s more prepared, however, the Ogre man quickly uses the skill, ¡®Shield Domain¡¯, parrying the strike with more effectiveness.

    This all happened in the span of a few seconds.

    He realises that he can¡¯t continue in this way, since he¡¯ll be attacked by Sylvia and Wind soon enough.

    He looks around, before charging in the opposite direction as Sylvia and Wind, ignoring the incoming strike of Zhe Yun.

    Because of this, the fierce strike of Zhe Yun lands on his back, tearing apart a chuck of his flesh.

    ¡°ARGGHH!!¡±, he howls in pain.

 Chapter 50: Astonishing Abilities

    The Ogre man restrains himself from pausing due to the pain, only gritting his teeth quickly.

    He continues charging in the weakest part of the encirclement, me.

    Gathering my mana, I shout, ¡°Flame Lance!¡±.

    The lance of fire shoots towards him mercilessly, causing burn marks to appear on his skin.

    However, outside of the burn marks, the attack does little to stop his charge.

    I show a shocked expression, before returning to quickly fire more ¡®Flame Lance¡¯ spells.

    The lances pierce his tough skin unceasingly.

    However, at this moment, the Ogre man reaches me, and delivers a devastating strike on the abdomen to me.

    A huge impact was felt right after he delivered the blow to me, similar to the effect activating his ¡®Additional Impact¡¯.

    ¡°Urk!¡±, I let out, coughing out blood.

    I writhe in pain while collapsed on the grass floor.

    The impact also makes the small satchel I had near my waist break, scattering the contents of it all around.

    Luckily, the bottle of high level potion lands near me, and I quickly drink up the contents.

    Almost instantly, my pale face looks better, and I manage to get up again.

    However, the Ogre man manages to get away at this point, rushing towards the forest.

    Zhe Yun, now in hot pursuit, wasn¡¯t about to let him escape this easily, however.

    With his advanced skill still in effect, he was ahead of Sylvia and Wind in the pursuit.

    He was still a few metres short of reaching the Ogre man in time and once the Ogre man escapes into the deep recesses of the forest, we would be unable to pursue, unless we wanted to split up.

    Splitting up the group would only cause us to be picked off one by one by the many wandering Class 1 Magical beasts in this area of the forest.

    There¡¯s no point to pursuing the Ogre man at this point, with his injuries, he¡¯ll be killed very easily by any wandering magical beast before he even manages to escape to the main road.

    However, Zhe Yun wasn¡¯t going to leave it at that.

    Eyes flashing with a look of decisiveness, he grits his teeth.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    He holds his short sword more lightly, chanting quickly, ¡®Undaunted Pierce¡¯!

    It¡¯s not an advanced skill, but just a quaint skill used by some adventurers, mostly to make up for their lack of long range abilities.

    At the cost of throwing away his weapon, he launches the glowing short sword towards the Ogre man.

    Normally the skill wouldn¡¯t manage to inflict much damage to the Ogre man¡¯s tough skin at all. The skill¡¯s impressiveness lay in its ability to maintain the speed at which it was throw, and being able to follow the target until the weapon hit.

    However, with Zhe Yun¡¯s Advanced skill still being in effect, the speed of the strike was simply unparalleled.

    The sword flew quickly, reaching the Ogre man within the span of a second.

    The Ogre man, focused on running into the forest, didn¡¯t manage to see the strike.

    However, at the last moment before the sword was about to pierce straight for his heart, force created by the sword was felt, and he moved his body to the right, causing the sword to pierce the right side of his abdomen instead.

    He suppressed the pain, instead opting to run faster into the forest, before he¡¯s out of sight.

    After pursuing to a 10 metre radius of the camp, Zhe Yun finally stopped.

    Staring at the direction the Ogre man with a complicated expression, he looks vacantly.

    After staring for a while, he eventually looks down, turning around to return to the camp with a lonely aura. He also dissipates his advanced skill at this time, looking slightly paler due to the loss of blood.

    We all stare in our respective positions as well.

    This can be considered a victory, albeit barely.

    The Ogre man is not likely to survive in the forest in his current condition. However, Zhe Yun had to lose attributes in order to trigger his advanced skill, not to mention the loss of blood, making him not as reliable in battle than before.

    Zhe Yun continues walking slowly back to the camp, before retreating into his now 1 person tent.

    All the while, he said nothing.

    Meanwhile, Sylvia came over to show concern for my injuries.

    The merchant also came over, and I shook the now empty potion bottle with an awkward expression.

    The merchant looks at the empty bottle with a look of disappointment, however, reassures me that it¡¯s alright that we all got out of it safely.

    He throws a look at the tent of Zhe Yun¡¯s, instructing us to not disturb him.

    We then all slowly retreat into our own tents, preparing to finally get a good night¡¯s worth of sleep after this mess of a night.

    I sit in my tent, going through the events of just now.

    It was unexpected for Zhe Yun to possess a long ranged skill, but luckily things didn¡¯t differ that much from the plan.

    I squint slightly, muttering, ¡°Now, will we finally know the identity of the real perpetrator?¡±

    Chasing away the Ogre man, Ruk, was necessary for my plans to lure out the real traitor.

    As for why I believed in the Ogre man even though his character was called into question by Zhe Yun¡­ It¡¯s quite simple, he was the one who opposed that we take a detour when we found the magical beast corpse.

    If he wanted to steal the potions, or simply kill us all, it would be easier to do so in the deeper recesses of the forest rather than the main road.

    Of course, he could be trying to hide his intentions, but that¡¯s highly unlikely. His words held tremendous weight in the group, especially after his display of strength. If it wasn¡¯t for Wind speaking out strongly, he would have gotten his way easily.

    We would then travel on the main road, possibly encountering the Class 2 magical beast group, but also avoiding this in-fighting we have currently.

    It¡¯s due to this fact that I chose to trust him.

    My end of the deal to him was providing him with that potion, an assurance for his safety.

    I simply wasn¡¯t injured by his strike previously.

    I lift my robes, only to see a slight scratch on my fair skin.

    The ¡®Additional Impact¡¯ was just the effect of my ¡®Wind Impact¡¯ spell.

    At the moment of his strike, I positioned my satchel in front of my stomach, while he cooperated and hit it. At that point, I activated Wind Impact, right after dropping a piece of bread, with the potion stuck within in a smaller bottle.

    The Wind impact scattered the other contents of my satchel, masking my actions, and launching me away from Ruk.

    While everyone focused on that strike, he picked the bread up discreetly to turn to escape, while I drank the water that was in the bottle of the potion, pretending to ¡®recover¡¯.

    If I truly wanted to stall him, I¡¯ll have used ¡®Ice Lance¡¯ instead of ¡®Flame Lance¡¯ afterall.

    I told him to follow the group, and only return once my signal is given, or when we discover the real traitor.

    Tonight¡¯s the best chance for the perpetrator to strike.

    It¡¯s right after a heated confrontation, no one¡¯s on lookout duty besides a single servant like before.

    Which is why I¡¯m keeping awake, to see if I¡¯m able to catch the person in the act if any commotion arises.

    I¡¯ll have to rely on the recovered Ruk to suppress that person after that.

    As I think to myself, a voice sounds from outside, ¡°May I come in?¡±

 Chapter 51: Convenience

    It was the voice of Sylvia. I¡¯m surprised, but answer, ¡°Please do.¡±

    She appears with her hammer beside her, as she puts it down to take a seat unreservedly.

    ¡°How¡¯s your injuries?¡±, she asks concernedly.

    ¡°Nothing much, I¡¯m almost perfectly healed by the potion.¡±, I reply in assurance.

    ¡°Hmm~ Is that so?¡±, she asks cheekily.

    ¡°What?¡±, I ask, in response to her eyeing me with a look of suspicion.

    ¡°Have you changed your clothes?¡±, she changes the topic suddenly.

    ¡°I just came back.¡±, I reply instinctually, shaking my head.

    She stares at me with a huge grin.

    I begin to feel uncomfortable at her gaze.

    Wait¡­

    My clothes?

    I look down.

    Only to see my clean and slightly ruffled clothes.

    Clean?

    How could I miss such a thing¡­

    I sigh in exasperation, ¡°You got me¡­¡±

    I say as I raise my hands in surrender.

    If I were struck by Ruk with full force, how could I get out of it with my clothes being intact?

    They would have simply broke apart by the effect of ¡®Additional Impact¡¯ triggering.

    This was really my mistake.

    ¡°Of course, who do you think I am?¡±, she says cockily.

    ¡°So? You can¡¯t have come by just to laugh at my foolishness, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s half the reason.¡±

    She pauses.

    ¡°The other half is to silence you.¡±, she says playfully.

    As I widen my eyes in shock, she laughs.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to see that you¡¯re surprised. Since you chose to bet on the innocence of the Ogre man, I would have thought that you were thinking I was the suspect.¡±

    I sigh in relief, ¡°Don¡¯t even joke about that¡­ my heart almost stopped¡­¡±

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ¡°That¡¯s your fault for hiding this from me.¡±, she replies nonchalantly, letting out a ¡®Hmph¡¯.

    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Since you don¡¯t think it¡¯s me, it¡¯s time to explain to me who you think it is.¡±, she says seriously.

    ¡°The strike was too telling, too clearly a setup for the Ogre man. If anything, I blocked off both you and the Ogre man as the suspects. My biggest suspect now is Wind, she may be an archer, but who¡¯s to say she doesn¡¯t have a magic item capable of dealing such a blow?¡±

    ¡°Furthermore, you¡¯ve said before that she¡¯s from a small elf village. I¡¯ll be honest, since you probably already guessed it, the potion is the main item we¡¯re transporting. The batch of potions isn¡¯t something one person would covet, they wouldn¡¯t be able to use it by themselves.¡±

    ¡°Selling stolen goods is obviously out of the question, since whoever wanted these would find out easily.That leaves someone with an organisation, like that village of hers.¡±, I explain, as Sylvia nods thoughtfully.

    ¡°That¡¯s impressive deduction there, Mr Detective.¡±, she compliments.

    ¡°I still failed and exposed my plan though.¡±, I laugh self-deprecatingly..

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think anyone else noticed, Wind didn¡¯t even come over afterall.¡±, she assures me.

    ¡°I do hope so.¡±

    ¡°It is so. You- You¡¯re really playing with fire though. With your level of power, any one of us could kill you... ¡°, she says concernedly, looking at me with complicated feelings, some of compliment and some of regretfulness.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice, if I didn¡¯t do so, and the perpetrator decided to silence all witnesses after getting what they wanted, we¡¯ll all be buried here. I¡¯m taking precaution exactly due to my weak self.¡±, As I say this, I think back to the peaceful bowl of soup I had on our first night of camping in the forest.

    Then I think of the stale and hard bread I ate earlier.

    I sigh.

    It¡¯s really a huge disparity.

    ¡°It¡¯s sometimes a burden to be able to do something, huh¡­¡±, she says, relating to my thoughts.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯ll protect you if anything happens!¡±, she says brightly after a moment, smiling.

    At this moment, we hear a soft muffled sound.

    The sound would most certainly be unnoticed if we were asleep, even if lightly.

    We react quickly, looking at each other.

    Sylvia grabs her hammer quickly, as we rush out of the tent.

    Heading straight for the cavern where the potions were stored, we see a servant lying on the ground, and a slim figure taking something off the caravan.

    As we reach within 1 metre, I quickly shout loudly, ¡°STOP!¡±

    The shout alarms the person, who drops a potion on the grass floor.

    Sounds of people waking up are heard.

    As we look more closely, we see distinct pointy ears of a certain species.

    It was Wind.

    Zhe Yun, having only just rested, quickly starts rushing over.

    Looking at all of us, Wind has a shocked expression.

    However, she quickly regains her composure.

    ¡°Why is it you?¡±, Sylvia asks, even though we had our guesses.

    Wind doesn¡¯t reply, keeping silent.

    After seconds pass, she lets out, ¡°If you just let me take the potions quietly, we could have stayed together safely till we reached¡­ but now¡­¡±

    She takes out a small chalice.

    Facing all of our staring, she seems casual.

    ¡°Our village needs this to improve our living conditions. I¡¯m sorry for all of you, but with this artifact, I¡¯ll have all of you buried here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s funny, isn¡¯t it. If the Ogre was here, he may have been able to block this strike, but with your classes, there¡¯s no way you can defend against this <Unholy Strike> Artifact.¡±

    As I furrow my brows, while preparing my <Hidden Beam> behind my back, I notice a silhouette approaching slowly from behind Wind.

    ¡°Do you really think a single Magic Artifact can bury all of us?¡±, I challenge her words.

    She raises her brow, ¡°It seems you¡¯re not familiar with this item. I don¡¯t like to speak much, but nonetheless, I¡¯ll answer your last question.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an artifact exclusive to elf villages, able to be used once to unleash an Area of Effect attack, similar to the power of a Class 2 Mage. The Ogre might have been able to tank it, but the strength heavy Berserker class most certainly can¡¯t.¡±, She says, while looking at Sylvia.

    Sylvia furrows her brows.

    ¡°Well, goodbye.¡±, she says, as the object in her hands starts to glow.

    Zhe Yun and Sylvia charge towards her actions, wanting to stop it, despite knowing they wouldn¡¯t reach in time.

    However, at this time, Wind feels a bad foreboding.

    As she continues to activate the artifact, she feels a weird wind behind her.

    She wants to turn around to check, but before she gets the chance to do so, she hears the muttering, ¡®Double Impact¡¯ from behind her.

    Before she reacted, the Ogre man launched a terrifying strike from behind her, striking her twice in her chest.

    She spurts a mouthful of blood out, as she lets go of the Chalice during the process.

    Having suffered fatal injuries with her weak constitution, she looks up at her assailant.

    ¡°Wha- How?!¡±, she says in disbelief.

    She then quickly realises something, turning to look at me.

    ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s the case.¡±

    The Ogre man, Ruk, towered over her, as Zhe Yun and Sylvia surround her as well.

    She stares at the gang.

    ¡°I guess the whole thing felt too convenient, haha.¡±, she says, laughing at her naive thoughts.

    Saying this, she grabs a short knife on her waist, quickly slitting her own throat, as we look in surprise.

    ¡°Convenient? Wait¡­¡±, I mutter, upon hearing her words.

    As I start to come to a realisation, events flashing back, a sound flashes.

    *Shing*

    The Ogre man Ruk, who relaxed slightly seeing the death of Wind, now had a gaping slit on his neck.

    ¡°Wha-¡±, he tries to say, before his head lands on the ground with a thud.

 Chapter 52: All that has happened (Part 1)

    The ambusher smiles.

    <Just Moments Before>

    ¡°Convenient? Wait¡­¡±

    My brain panics, as I think quickly.

    What does she mean convenient?

    Didn¡¯t she plan everything?

    Wait¡­

    Her artifact, it¡¯s just a magic artifact that could deal magic damage. Nothing surprising.

    Why would she be able to deal a chest strike of such power to the servant?

    She didn¡¯t explain anything regarding that before as well.

    Even though she explained the use of her artifact, she never explained why we suspected Ruk...

    Beads of sweat form on my forehead.

    She could have just missed it out, but that¡¯s unlikely.

    Wait, in the first place, if she didn¡¯t cause the strike, after I told her of the plan, she would have been informed of another person being involved¡­ she wouldn¡¯t do this so plainly then¡­ does she have a partner? No, if she had one, they would have helped her by now.

    With the artifact and someone helping her, she could have simply eliminated the rest of us from the get-go as well.

    WAIT¡­

    I didn¡¯t tell her.

    ¡°Sylvia did.¡±, I mumble to myself.

    I think back to the scene of Sylvia assuring me that she told wind.

    Why would she oppose the detour then?

    Wait, did she even object to the detour?

    She simply let it slide. Why?

    Her Dwarvenkind has many factions dwelling in forests. She could have very easily said something like Wind.

    Wind? Did she know of her goals from the start?

    Is that why? She knew that she¡¯ll support the detour to make her heist easier?

    Ruk took over the lookout after we decided to make the detour¡­ who was the lookout before that?

    It was Sylvia. Those scattered corpses¡­ Sylvia was gathering the corpses of the Wolves earlier¡­

    What if, those other corpses were simply normal magical beasts? Simply disfigured normal beast corpses, just to create the illusion of a destroyed horde.

    She wanted us to enter deep within the forest?

    Why didn¡¯t she just steal the goods before Wind did then?

    Instead she came to my tent.

    <¡±Since you chose to bet on the innocence of the Ogre man, I would have thought that you were thinking I was the suspect.¡±>

    She showed support for my actions, she even wanted to help me against Wind, with little hesitation.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    <¡±Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯ll protect you if anything happens!¡±>

    Why would she do this? She could have just pushed all the blame on Wind.

    I planned to get Ruk away from camp, to lure out the true perpetrator, to subdue the person.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA

    It¡¯s all coming to me now.

    <¡±If he wanted to steal the potions, or simply kill us all, it would be easier to do so in the deeper recesses of the forest rather than the main road.¡±>

    She¡­ never had any plans of letting anyone out of the forest alive.

    I was weakening the other mercenaries for her, one by one.

    Did she plan this from the beginning?

    I raise my head to look at her.

    So¡­ is she just going to destroy the rest of the part with brute force?

    She¡¯ll run out of stamina soon enough though.

    STAMINA? SHE RAN OUT OF STAMINA?

    <¡°Huff¡­ ah, finally some rest, even Berserkers don¡¯t have unlimited stamina¡­¡±>

    Berserkers are known for their outstanding stamina¡­ even if she¡¯s weaker in that aspect, she shouldn¡¯t be tired out if Ruk and Zhe Yun are fine.

    Berserker¡­ the only Berserker skill she used before was, ¡®Battlefield Arrival¡¯.

    She never actually used any other Berserker exclusive skills.

    Dual classes are extraordinarily rare, due the the high difficulty in training 2 classes at once.

    However, it¡¯s not hard to just learn 1 skill of another class.

    But if she¡¯s not of the Berserker class¡­ what¡¯s her real class, and where would she hide her real class weapon?

    A class without the weapon suited for them would only perform at 60% output afterall.

    Hidden weapon¡­ High strength¡­ She¡­

    She¡¯s an Assassin?

    Certainly¡­ with her size¡­

    Ah¡­ so she wanted to kill all of us from the beginning, huh¡­

    I still can¡¯t come to terms with it, but¡­ at this point¡­

    <Back to the Current Moment>

    Ruk¡¯s head fell on the ground helplessly.

    Like a casual pebble thrown from above.

    And from behind his large body, emerges the small figure of Sylvia, grinning.

    ¡°Heh, you never expected th-¡±, she starts to gloat.

    However, at this point where she was relishing in her victory¡­

    *Fsssh*

    A beam of light heads straight for her.

    *Sssss*

    It pierces her abdomen, carving a small hole on the ground behind her before dissipating.

    ¡°Wha-¡±, she cries out in astonishment.

    I look at her calmly, having unleashed the the <Hidden Beam> I had prepared for Wind originally.

    I needed to charge it up for fire without her realising¡­ so I shot it from behind me.

    I hid the charging beam, behind me, with the beam piercing the side of my abdomen before landing on her.

    She looks at the gaping hole in her stomach, frowning.

    She looks anguished, but as she turns to look up¡­ she grins like usual.

    ¡°When did you realise?¡±

    ¡°Just.¡±

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA!¡±, she laughs into the sky.

    I simply keep silent.

    ¡°I lost by seconds, huh¡­ after all that planning.¡±, she sighs to herself, still smiling.

    ¡°Tell me. What¡¯s the organisation behind you?¡±, I ask as if it was a natural question.

    We were talking about how Wind had her village behind her to utilise the potions¡­ then how about Sylvia?

    ¡°I¡¯m dying. Show some compassion.¡±, she retorts, as if joking with me as usual.

    Seeing I had no reaction, she then says softly but just loud enough for us to hear, ¡°The Assassin¡¯s Guild.¡±

    Hearing this, the previously silent Guan Tong spoke up, ¡°What?! How could it be¡­ even the underground forces know of this caravan¡­¡±

    It seems he understood his situation.

    If both Wind¡¯s Elven village and the Assassin¡¯s Guild got wind of this information, it¡¯s safe to say both the underground forces and the other Kingdoms are aware. This means that either his employer is compromised with a spy¡­ or his employer betrayed him.

    I simply glance over, looking at the despairing man with cold eyes.

    I turn back to Sylvia, smiling.

    Zhe Yun wants to finish Sylvia off, but I stop him, ¡°It¡¯s fine, she¡¯s already dying.¡±, I say firmly.

    He then acknowledges me, to take a step back.

    ¡°How nice of you, friend?¡±, she says with a cute face.

    ¡°Tell me, did you actually see me as a friend?¡±, I say with an awkward expression.

    ¡°Heh.¡±, she chuckles.

    ¡°Sentimental, aren¡¯t you? I wanted to kill you, you know?¡±. She replies evilly.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s all I wanted to know.¡±, I say, as if having come to terms with myself.

    I walk away from the Caravan, towards Sylvia.

    As I walk nearer and nearer, ¡°You were a friend to me, you know?¡±, I say casually.

    I walk pass Ruk¡¯s corpse, and Wind¡¯s.

    I close the wide open eyes of Ruk¡¯s head.

    She then makes a grin like she¡¯s never done before, ¡°You were a useful pawn, you would have been much greater if you didn¡¯t ruin my plans at the end though. Tsk.¡±, she says crudely.

    She then holds a knife up, almost trembling slightly due to the loss of blood.

    ¡°I¡¯ll end my life by my own hands.¡±, she says determinedly.

    My eyes blink twice on hearing this.

    I almost show shock, but I suppress it, saying, ¡°Wait, I have something to tell you.¡±

    She pauses, asking, ¡°What is-¡±

    Before she finishes her sentence, I turn around quickly, firing an ¡®Ice Lance¡¯ quickly at the heavily fatigued Zhe Yun. i

    Caught off guard, and weak from the loss of blood, the lance strikes through Zhe Yun in the mididle of his forehead.

    He still has a look of shock upon his death.

    Well, everyone around me is shocked.

    Even Sylvia has a look of disbelief.

    She quickly turns into a frown.

    ¡°Haha. It should be easy for you to understand, no?¡±, I chuckle provokingly at Sylvia.

    Before giving her time to think, however, I explain, ¡°It¡¯s simple? I would be provoking 2 groups if he were to escape safely with the groups.¡±, I look at the merchant.

    ¡°His backer might protect him¡­ but me? Of course not, your Assassin¡¯s Guild and Wind¡¯s village would most certainly be after my life. In that case, I might as well just follow your plan.¡±, I smile at Sylvia.

    ¡°I could just silence everyone here, and escape with the potions, since I¡¯m to be hunted, another group doesn¡¯t make much of a difference.¡±, I shrug my shoulders.

 Chapter 53: All that has happened (Part 2)

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!!¡±, Sylvia laughs out at this time with little restrain.

    ¡°As expected of my ¡®friend¡¯, your thought process is truly spectacular.¡±

    ¡°So? What now?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re eliminated Zhe Yun, making you the strongest person here. You¡¯re free to do as you please.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still alive now for a reason, right?¡±

    Sylvia mouths off relentlessly, seemingly ignoring the fact that she¡¯s barely a step away from death.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s because I like you.¡±, I say extremely casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

    Her grinning face freezes for a moment, before she turns the corners of her mouth up to a smile again.

    ¡°That¡¯s a joke in poor taste. You and I both know that you¡¯re detached from the world.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re unconcerned about the happenings about you truly. If anything, sometimes it seems like you¡¯re not concerned about your own life.¡±

    ¡°You remain apathetic towards things, always willing to throw something away.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t expect me to believe that you of all people are fond of me?¡±

    I take a step back.

    I crease my brows.

    ¡°It seems that I¡¯ve been a lot less self aware than I thought.¡±

    Having your true feelings that you only subconsciously knew yourself exposed so clearly¡­

    ¡­ isn¡¯t a good feeling.

    ¡°How about you? Your Dwarven village¡­ if you¡¯re in the Assassin¡¯s guild, you must have left behind that life of happiness for this too, right?¡±, I shoot back, having a slight sense of not wanting to lose out.

    ¡°Hah!¡±, she responds simply.

    ¡°If only it were that way¡­¡±, she says despondently.

    ¡°I killed all of them.¡±, she smiles wickedly.

    ¡°Slaughtered every single one of them in cold blood. It was truly a spectacle to behold.¡±

    She has a crazed expression, continuing.

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°They were just too fragile, so easily crushed.¡±

    ¡°I would have killed you like them too, what a pity.¡±

    Her face contorts to an ugly expression.

    One filled with bloodlust, coldness¡­ and sorrow.

    I don¡¯t know what happened, but I know¡­

    ¡°You can¡¯t have done it.¡±, I say, stating a fact.

    ¡°Huh? Are you going to say you believe in me or some sappy shit like that?¡±, she snaps back.

    ¡°HAHAHAHA!¡±, I laugh out.

    Suppressing my laughter, I continue, ¡°Of course not. It just sounds like a lot of effort. You just said I was apathetic, don¡¯t you know birds of a feather flock together?¡±

    She may have been happy-go-lucky¡­ or her facade may have been, but she most certainly didn¡¯t have much attachment to anything.

    She could change her temperament so fast likely because of that.

    It explains why I felt so close to her even though we¡¯ve only just met.

    Her look turns into a look of anger.

    ¡°And? Who are you to doubt my story!¡±, she shouts.

    ¡°Simply a friend.¡±

    I sigh.

    ¡°How about we make a deal?¡±

    ¡°You can have the potions, all I want is to enter the Assassin¡¯s guild as a logistics member.¡±

    She also gets to live.

    I point at the slave contracts in the caravan as I say so.

    Regaining some calmness, she seems to consider my proposal.

    Her eyes don¡¯t stop staring at me while she does so though.

    I¡¯m slightly amused by this.

    I am in an invincible position now after all.

    I pick up a contract and start injecting my intention and some mana into it

    ¡°Wh-¡±, she tried to ask, but stopped herself.

    ¡°Alright, I agree. But the contract can¡¯t be longer than a month.¡±, she says.

    ¡°A year.¡±

    Her eyes widen.

    ¡°2 months.¡±

    ¡°A year.¡±

    ¡°3 months, it¡¯s already a long time.¡±

    ¡°A year.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t push it¡­ half a year is the most I¡¯ll go, or you can simply collect my dead corpse.¡±, she says icily.

    She¡¯s figured out my intentions.

    I would be hunted by the Assassin¡¯s Guild and Wind¡¯s village if Guan Tong were to reach his destination safely. I could go under the employ of Guan Tong¡¯s backer by some miracle, but even then, as a Mage apprentice, my position certainly wouldn¡¯t be high.

    As for my protection, it depends on the amount of effort the 2 decide to spend on it. The Assassin¡¯s Guild may not care, but Sylvia¡¯s village is likely to. Just one skilled warrior acting on their emotions and wanting to take revenge, is likely to end my miserable existence.

    It¡¯s simple, if I allow Sylvia to get away with the potions, the organisations have a clear target. They would hardly stop to care about some bystander like me, especially if i¡¯ve joined as a low ranking member.

    If everyone were to be buried here, proper investigation would certainly be done to find the potions and I would be instantly found out. In that case, using the Assassin¡¯s guild as the target would make my position much safer.

    I could have cooperated with Wind, but¡­ she¡¯s dead.

    ¡°Half a year it is then.¡±, I throw over a contract.

    She catches it, knowing that I didn¡¯t plan on a year in the beginning now.

    With an irritated expression, she drops her blood on it, as the contract disappears into the air.

    Almost instantly, a black collar appears on her neck.

    The collar then dissolved, forming an odd tattoo on her neck.

    I throw out a potion to her, as the merchant, Guan Tong has a nasty expression.

    He seems to want to say something, but he knows whatever he says would be futile.

    That understanding of knowing that even as your death nears, you can¡¯t take any actions to prevent it¡­ must be excruciating.

    He understands that no proposal by him would move me.

    There¡¯s no credibility to his words, since his backer could easily kill me once we¡¯re in the city.

    He looks as Sylvia downs the potion with a complicated expression.

    He lets out a long sigh.

    Then he takes a short dagger from his pouch.

    He hands it to a servant, urging him with his despondent eyes.

    That servant was his most trusted aide.

    He had followed Guan Tong for many years, and he understood his master well.

    He quickly slashes Guan Tong¡¯s throat, before slitting his own.

    They both quickly fall on the ground lifelessly.

    The remaining surrounding servants finally understand their situations.

    They panic, and run towards the forest, noticing my gaze was on them.

    I look coldly, as I send several ¡®Ice Lance¡¯s towards them, ending their lives.

    I turn back to the almost recovered Sylvia.

    ¡°Shall we go?¡±

 Chapter 54: A Great Lesson Learnt

    ¡°Haahh.¡±, Sylvia lets out after finishing the potion.

    Looking at me with a complicated gaze, she then turns to look at Zhe Yun.

    She gets up, walking over to his lifeless body.

    As she stood over his motionless body, she turns to me, ¡°Now that you¡¯re to join the Assassin¡¯s Guild, even as a logistics member, you need to learn¡­¡±

    She reaches out into her clothes, before pulling out a shiny obsidian dagger.

    She twirls the dagger for a round, before suddenly thrusting it into the neck of Zhe Yun¡¯s body.

    ¡°Urk!¡±, Zhe Yun lets out a groan, his eyes open, before dilating.

    ¡°...to finish the job.¡±, she says resolutely.

    I look on, surprised.

    I guess I was too naive to believe that an adventurer, even a weakened and caught off guard, could be finished off by a simple ¡®Ice Lance¡¯ spell.

    I squint my eyes, nodding slightly.

    ¡°Ahhh.¡±, I let out my held in breath.

    ¡°It seems even towards the end I¡¯ve been led on by the string by you¡­¡±, I say in a tone of slight dejection.

    I don¡¯t feel too battered up over this though. She¡¯s been a step ahead of me for so long, it¡¯s only by a fluke that I realised her plan at the last moment. One step later, and I would have been just like Zhe Yun¡¯s lifeless body now.

    I look at Zhe Yun¡¯s body, imagining that it could have been my body lying over there.

    ¡°Hehe.¡±, she snickers, seemingly knowing my thoughts.

    Her casual smile seems different than it was before.

    ¡°Let¡¯s pack the potions up and get going then, master?¡±, she mocks.

    I guess, in a sense, the end result is all that matters. I¡¯m not the one with a slave collar on, so in a sense, I¡¯m the winner, by fluke or not.

    I start walking towards the caravan, to help her pack the potions.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    We have to bury the corpses well after this too.

    Ahh, it¡¯s so tiresome.

    Sylvia brings out a small rucksack, unexpectedly, it had traces of spatial magic on it, so it could fit all the potions within. It¡¯s still the size of a full grown dog though.

    Even a simple item like this is extremely expensive. In my past life, it seems the novels also describe spatial items as being expensive normally. The MC usually learns the elusive spatial magic with ease though.

    I look at my hands, thinking of my amazing magic aptitude.

    Resisting a sigh, I continue the work.

    Now, we¡¯re burying the bodies.

    I¡¯m handling the merchant¡¯s first, since he may have kept some important items on him.

    I scrummage through his robes, finding a ordinary looking jade ring, some banknotes and a potion.

    I toss the potion over to Sylvia, who catches it.

    ¡°Hey, Sylvia.¡±, I call out.

    ¡°Yea?¡±

    ¡°Remember when you came to my tent before Wind¡¯s attack?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I was so close to winning at that point.¡±

    ¡°You made me spill out my deductions too, must have been funny to you to see me explain my pitiful deduction, huh?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ you can¡¯t say that, you did get the layer involving Wind, you were just pinning quite a few observances on luck. There¡¯s a reason for everything after all.¡±, she cocks her head to the side, saying cheekily.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s so. There¡¯s a reason for everything, huh¡­¡±, I mutter.

    ¡°Yup, don¡¯t be too down, you¡¯re alive after all that¡¯s happened.¡±, she points at the barely visible tattoo on her neck.

    ¡°Did you know? You called me something then, I¡¯m not sure what it was.¡±

    She seems to have recalled something, jolting, ¡°A- Ah.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a phrase we used in village.¡±, she says unhurriedly.

    ¡°De- Deteective, was it? What does it mean?¡±, I ask in a curious manner.

    ¡°It means¡­¡±, she thinks for a bit.

    ¡°Ah right, I just remembered, it means a smart person.¡±, she says quickly.

    ¡°Is that so, what about Mister then? I don¡¯t know what that means.¡±

    ¡°Mister? ...I can¡¯t really remember.¡±, she says awkwardly.

    ¡°I thought you would know, Miss loli.¡±, I say casually.

    ¡°I AM NOT A LOLI!¡±, she says angrily, reacting quickly.

    ¡°Wait¡­ ¡®loli¡¯?¡±, she calms herself down, thinking.

    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ ¡®miss¡¯ isn¡¯t too¡­¡±, she mutters.

    ¡°YOU¡­ You¡¯re¡­¡±, she points her finger at me.

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!¡±, i finally let loose the laughter I¡¯ve been holding in.

    ¡°I can finally say I¡¯ve won, little loli.¡±, I reply, grinning from ear to ear.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m from Earth too.¡±, I say, affirming her thoughts.

    ¡°It¡­ it¡¯s really a small world, huh¡­¡±, she says in a defeated manner.

    ¡°It really is.¡±

    ¡°Wh- what age did you realise you were in a different world?¡±, she asks cautiously.

    ¡°I just transmigrated barely a year ago¡­ wait, it can¡¯t be¡­ you¡¯ve been inside since¡­¡±, I start to speculate.

    Her ears turn red to the tip, she covers her embarrassed face.

    She¡¯s been inside a body of a Dwarf since infancy, even if she only got her past memories later, she¡¯ll have lived through all of the things a Dwarf baby would have done, instead of simply viewing them as memories.

    Imagining that an adult woman had to go through all of the things a baby would have to go through¡­ not to mention possible ¡®rituals¡¯ a dwarf baby would go through¡­ I¡¯m so glad that I only came in when this kid was past all of that.

    ¡°I am so grateful now.¡±, I say, doing a quick prayer gesture.

    ¡°Thank you great god.¡±, I repeat, in a very solemn tone.

    I¡¯m sure I look like the model image of a devout believer now.

    ¡°Go to hell!¡±, she shouts, wanting to beat me up.

    The collar reacts and restrains her though.

    ¡°Urgh¡­¡±, she frowns, clearly discouraged.

    ¡°You can¡¯t say you¡¯re a loli until you¡¯ve lived the life of a loli.¡±, I nod my head in satisfaction.

    I¡¯m not sure why, but I feel a true sense of satisfaction from doing this.

    ...this is despite the troubles that¡¯ll inevitably come once I reach the Assassin¡¯s Guild.

 Arc 2: Chapter 55: A Months Time

    ¡°It¡¯s really been a long time, a month passed by so fast.¡±, I say as I look out of the carriage running fast, the hooves of the horse clopping on the grassy floor.

    The past month has been uneventful, nothing out of the ordinary happened for the rest of the journey. The route to the Assassin¡¯s guild headquarters was long, even by carriage it would take 3 months just to get there.

    It¡¯s no wonder that they had to be low key, opting to steal from the caravan with a single assassin.

    I let out a sigh, it¡¯s been quite boring to be honest.

    If my life were to be a story written by an author, the author must have slacked off for the month or something.

    Really, what a lazy author.

    You would think something out of the ordinary would happen once in a while.

    It¡¯s just been grassland followed after grassland over and over again.

    Sylvia and I packed up the items from the caravan, bringing with us only a single carriage and a horse.

    It wouldn¡¯t be funny if we ended up being discovered as the ones who robbed that caravan.

    We¡¯re carrying riches plentiful enough to even cause a Class 2 mage to take action personally.

    If we were found out, our bodies would be the ones scattered on the grasslands next.

    Our cover story is that I¡¯m a prodigal young master who sneaked out of his house in search of adventure, bringing along only one maidservant. That¡¯s a tall tale, since no aristocratic family would let their treasured offspring sneak out so easily.

    Hence, the story is a tragic one. I brought along my personal guard, and a squad of elite guards from the house followed my incognito as well. However, this was all for naught in front of true strength.

    One day, as we cooked on a bonfire in the middle of the forest, we attracted a Class 1 magical beast. The magical beast was a huge towering wolf, swiping at me the moment it arrived.

    My personal guard rushed into action, defending me with his sword.

    However, just parrying the attack he broke his sword. The strike also dislocated his sword wielding arm.

    Just when all hope seemed lost, the elite guard appeared, bravely fending off the magical beast.

    They were fighting on even ground with the beast, but just when they thought they had an advantage when they pushed back the beast, it let out a strong howl, echoing through the forest.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Hordes of wolfs came running from behind the wolf leader, as the elite guard was swamped.

    Knowing that they weren¡¯t likely to survive this, the leader shouted passionately for me to run away.

    Hearing this, I grabbed the hand of my maidservant and ran desperately in fear.

    A tear in his eye as he looked upon my retreating back, he shouted again, shouting, ¡°Take care of our families, young master!¡±

    And thus was the tragic backstory of Xue Zhou.

    I would have liked to use the same name as before, but simply swapping the characters of my name around has a lack of effort clearly seen. I¡¯m not asking to be found out.

    With the story prepared, we set off.

    Thus, we¡¯re here.

    I thought of such an exciting and tragic story of a young master learning about the reality of the world but there¡¯s no one else to share it to.

    We didn¡¯t even meet anyone on the way.

    I let out a disgruntled sigh in boredom again.

    ¡°Dear god, can you just stop sighing?!¡±, an irritated Sylvia pops in her head into the carriage, her right eyebrow twitching.

    ¡°It¡¯s super annoying.¡±, she says directly.

    ¡°I¡¯m just bored.¡±, I say, folding my arms with a defeated look.

    ¡°Yea, like I¡¯m not. If you¡¯re so bored go sleep or something, at least you¡¯re not the one that has to carry the reins of the horse in the hot sun.¡±, she grumbles.

    ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯ll stop. It¡¯s been hard on you¡­¡±, I look to the side and say weakly.

    Since we let go of all reservations when we found out we were both reincarnators, Sylvia has adopted this personality, completely giving up her earlier cute persona.

    ¡°I liked you better when you acted cute¡­¡±, I muttered softly to myself.

    ¡°Huh?!¡±, she caught it, letting out a dissatisfied tone.

    ¡°Leave your dreams for when you¡¯re sleeping, Mister Xue!¡±, she says without restrain, chuckling, throwing a small rock at me.

    I resign myself to my fate and simply start meditating for the day to pass time as usual.

    Luckily, for the sake of my boredom (and story progression), we finally meet another group of people in a few days.

    As we leisurely drive the carriage, we spot a row of carriages and caravans in the distance.

    As we reach closer, the simple gold adornments of the few carriages in front catch our eye.

    Gold is a rare resource even here, and using it for nothing but the purpose of ¡®fancying¡¯ your carriage¡­ is really a luxury.

    Royals have embellished crests on their carriages, which are absent here¡­

    A merchant group, I assume?

    I peek out of the carriage as I look ponderingly.

    As we near, I disembark from my carriage to greet them.

    It¡¯s courtesy to greet fellow travellers if you meet on the road.

    I look anticipatedly at the front carriage for the first person other than Sylvia I¡¯ve seen in a month.

    Contrary to my expectations, a butler steps out of the carriage first, followed by a lady dressed in a flamboyant-looking dress. The lady looks about 30 or so.

    It doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out she¡¯s in charge here.

    She looks at me, scanning my simple clothes with her piercing gaze.

    Noticing something, her eyes show some surprise, but she quickly hides it.

    Her stern face relaxes slightly, as she expresses, ¡°I greet you, fellow traveller. ¡°, giving a light curtsy.

    ¡°Likewise, Ma¡¯m. I¡¯m Xue Zhou, from the Xue Family, a Baron family in the east. May i have the pleasure of knowing you?¡±, I bow lightly, introducing myself.

    She relaxes her expression again, saying confidently, ¡°We¡¯re from Si Trading House, in the Shui Kingdom. We¡¯re en-route on some urgent matters, so you¡¯ll have to pardon my discourtesy.¡±

    She seems to have lost her interest after knowing I¡¯m a mere Baron¡¯s child. From another nation, nonetheless.

    She turns to the butler, snappily saying, ¡°Set off!¡±

    I smile wryly, as I look at Sylvia, to continue our journey.

    We still continue to travel the same way, however, hence we decided to follow behind their caravan.

    This may be slower, but at least they¡¯ll deal with any bandits or wild animals that show up.

    We¡¯re quite a way from the forest, so there shouldn¡¯t be any magical beasts.

    Here, humans are the ones you should be wary of.

    If we didn¡¯t carry only a single simple carriage, looking like we have nothing of value, we would likely have gotten robbed on our journey here.

 Arc 2: Chapter 56: Trapped

    ¡°Tsk, how anticlimactic.¡±, Sylvia utters under her breath.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it better that there¡¯s no conflict?¡±, I say after a sigh.

    She turns to stare at me, raising her right eyebrow.

    ¡°I¡¯m bored too, but we are supposed to be discreet, no?¡±, I reply lightly.

    She turns her back, saying, ¡°The worst way to die is one from boredom.¡±

    I shrug my shoulders, without saying anything.

    I can¡¯t say I disagree, but agreeing would leave a sour taste in my mouth.

    It can¡¯t be helped that we had some expectations for our first encounter in a month.

    Suddenly, Sylvia pulls the carriage to a quick stop, pulling on the reins.

    The horse neighs.

    I look out of the carriage to look at Sylvia, who was looking into the distance.

    Looking towards where she was looking at, we see some guards fighting off a gang of bandits.

    We look on with leisurely expressions.

    It¡¯s like viewing television; it¡¯s interesting, but it shows so often you¡¯re not too amused by it.

    I¡¯m not good at fighting, but the lack of any action does bore me.

    I¡¯ve hardly gotten any exercise, besides my daily meditation.

    After the guards beat the bandits into retreat, they don¡¯t pursue, returning to the carriages to check on them.

    ¡°Men, we¡¯ll stop here for the night, ready the tents!¡±, the commander of the guards shouts loudly.

    The guards reply energetically, clearly happy to get some rest after the fight.

    As the guards set up the tents, the Ma¡¯am from Si Trading House, I¡¯ll call her Lady Si since she hasn¡¯t given her name, whispers something to her butler.

    Her butler then beckons the guard commander over.

    A small figure peeks out of the side of Lady Si¡¯s dress.

    It¡¯s a young looking boy, even shorter than Sylvia, seemingly the age of 8 - 10.

    He looks curiously around, before catching us in his eyes.

    We¡¯ve set up camp right behind them, with a small tent barely able to fit 2 people.

    On the first night we ¡®followed¡¯ them, Lady Si showed us a slight gaze of contempt but otherwise didn¡¯t say anything of us trailing behind.

    It would make sense for 2 weak travellers to want to travel with a stronger party for protection.

    We weren¡¯t particularly inconveniencing them too, so she left us alone.

    The young boy¡¯s eyes lit up when he noticed us.

    ¡­looking at us pitifully eating stale hard bread over a small bonfire.

    It can¡¯t be helped. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The stale and hard bread was the only thing we could carry on a single carriage that would last our long journey.

    I feel slightly awkward at his heated gaze, since he noticed I was staring at them.

    I look back at him and smile awkwardly.

    He seems to have thought of something, grabbing something from a servant, before dashing off.

    He seems to be heading in our direction¡­ wonder where he¡¯s going¡­

    Wait, he¡¯s coming for us?!

    As this thought came up in my mind, we was already less than a metre away.

    ¡°Do brother and sister want some food?¡±, he asks with an innocent expression.

    He raises his hands to reveal a bunch of dried fruits.

    At this moment, Sylvia¡¯s eyes lit up, as she says cutely, ¡°You¡¯re so nice, little boy!¡±

    ...as she proceeds to swipe the dried fruits in front of her.

    However, he quickly pulls back his hands, saying, ¡°I can give them to you, but you must do me one favour!¡±

    Sylvia wanted the fruits but wasn¡¯t about to agree thoughtlessly.

    ...and that was what I thought before she agreed.

    ¡°Of course! Anything!¡±, she said as she patted her little chest, reaching out again for the fruits.

    She¡¯s prepared to cheat a little kid for food¡­

    The little boy, hearing that his request was accepted, was slightly shocked at the fast acceptance.

    Seeing this, Sylvia took the fruits away with ease.

    Not to mention him, I¡¯m slightly stunned too.

    I quickly regain my composure, saying, ¡°I¡¯m Xue Zhou, and this is Sylvia. Nice to meet you.¡±

    Regaining his composure, he responds cheerily, ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Brent. Now that you¡¯ve accepted the payment, you¡¯ll heed my request, right?¡±

    Looking at his expectant look, I nod.

    ¡°You¡¯re from the east, right? I want to hear about your country! Mother told me that knowledge is important for a merchant!¡±, his eyes sparkle.

    My face relaxes slightly, it¡¯s good that there wasn¡¯t going to be some huge trouble that we¡¯ll be dragged into.

    If it were so, we would stop following them without hesitation.

    Hearing this, Sylvia¡¯s eyes flash as she eats the dried fruits, beckoning me to continue.

    Understanding her meaning, I agree, talking about some things I¡¯ve learnt about the eastern countries from books.

    As I mix half truth and reality, blending in some things I¡¯ve seen in the Lei Kingdom for more realism, I encouraged young Brent to speak more on himself.

    Lady Si might not be willing to talk, but young Brent seemed more than happy to share.

    He said that they are a prominent merchant family in the Shui Kingdom, but his father had a lot of enemies. Due to one of these enemies attempting a kidnapping on him and his mother, his father decided to secretly let them leave the country to seek refuge in a hidden location before this storm brewed over.

    As such, they were secretly sent out to escape to a hidden location before the crisis was over.

    His mother, Lady Si, was also on tenterhooks because of this, and was thus quite rude to us, he explained.

    He said he didn¡¯t know where they were heading towards, only his mother knew.

    Before we hear more however, some guards came to fetch young Brent.

    Some guards noticed Brent heading for us some time ago, however, they saw us simply talking hence didn¡¯t give much importance to the matter. They were close enough to act if we tried anything in any case.

    They waited till Lady Si was done talking to the commander before telling her.

    Upon which, they came to fetch him.

    We wave smilingly as he¡¯s dragged away.

    As soon as he¡¯s out of sight, Sylvia and I turn to each other.

    We stare at the other seriously.

    I let out a sigh.

    ¡°Who would have thought this would be so complicated.¡±, I say.

    ¡°This matter isn¡¯t simple.¡±, Sylvia answers in a serious tone.

    ¡°A simple kidnapping can¡¯t have prompted the man to let his wife and child out to escape.¡±

    ¡°Treason? That¡¯s the most likely one.¡±, Sylvia suggests.

    ¡°Debt?¡±

    ¡°They have enough left to have someone want to kidnap them.¡±, she rejects.

    ¡°Treason, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see through that woman.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t guess her intentions too.¡±, I shake my head.

    ¡°It could be backup. A single young man and woman coming from the direction of a dangerous forest must have some abilities...¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t particularly friendly to us for that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. She doesn¡¯t sound like she usually so standoffish from Brent¡¯s description.¡±

    ¡°He is her son.¡±

    Sylvia and I keep silent, thinking.

    ¡°Wait.¡±, I speak up.

    ¡°Did you figure something out?¡±, she looks up.

    ¡°What you said earlier¡­¡±, I say slowly.

    ¡°She isn¡¯t standoffish usually?¡±

    ¡°No, before that. ...A single young man and woman¡­¡±

    She looks at me, with a threatening expression.

    ¡°Not that.¡±

    ¡°What then?¡±, she asks snappily.

    ¡°Think about it, if you put aside our genders, we¡¯re two cloaked people travelling. One tall, one short.¡±

    ¡°Bait!¡±, Sylvia says out in realisation.

    ¡°It¡¯s slightly far-fetched, but it''s the only way to explain her cold attitude yet her willingness to meet us.¡±

    ¡°She probably intended for us to follow her.¡±

    ¡°A caravan led by a woman would seem less dangerous.¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re attacked, and we split up¡­¡±

    Sylvia squints her eyes.

    After a moment of silence, I speak up, ¡°We should leave them while we have the chance.¡±

    ¡°We no longer have that chance.¡±, she says self-mockingly.

    I think for a moment, before realising her words were true.

    If I was Lady Si, and I¡¯ve found such a convenient scapegoat, I would most certainly not let them leave.

    If we left, simply sending a few guards to follow us would make it seem like there were 2 caravans with possible targets.

    What¡¯s more, we¡¯ve followed after them for so long, if we split up, the tracks formed by the carriages would show our differing paths. Pursuers would likely pursue both.

    Our safest choice is to simply keep following them.

    We have the option of leave the carriage, but that means losing our only means of transport. We can¡¯t possibly walk to the Assassin¡¯s guild on foot.

    Killing all of them may be possible with Sylvia¡¯s strength, but for now¡­ conflict is probably not a good idea.

 Arc 2: Chapter 57: A Side Story of a Young Beggar

    <At a Certain Building in the Shui Kingdom>

    A panicked young man dressed in simple commoner clothes was running down a corridor.

    Grabbing an envelope tightly, beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

    He panted heavily as he ran, before finally stopping before a large door.

    The door was simple, but had a golden embossment, with a discrete rectangular tag placed right at eye level.

    The door was clean, exceptionally so since no one ever exerted much force when opening it.

    However, at this moment the young man pushed open the door harshly, creating a loud bang.

    He caught his breath, before saying to the man inside, ¡°S-Sir, another 4 of our branches have been closed!¡±, as he passed the envelope to the man inside respectfully.

    The man inside was not well built. In fact, it seemed like a gust of wind would blow him away. However, few within the Kingdom would dare to underestimate him.

    When he was young, he was but a cobbler¡¯s son. He lost his mother to disease from a young age and lived with only his cobbler father ever since. While he was only 6, he remembered his mother¡¯s last words.

    ¡°Live well, my son¡­I would have loved to see you grow up to greatness.¡±

    She said it, while digging her nails into her skin, as if lamenting her fate.

    He understood, that she felt regret, endless regret at her fate, her powerlessness, and their circumstances.

    She died to disease at the age of 36.

    Not an incurable one.

    It wasn¡¯t even a hard disease to cure.

    They just couldn¡¯t afford it.

    Her disease required the use of a precious herb, regulated by the government due to its scarcity. As a poor family barely getting by, even if he sold himself, he would never get it.

    Nevertheless, the young boy tried. He went out to the most influential noble street, and begged. He begged with all he could, his eyes watery but filled with determination.

    He didn¡¯t mind getting chased and beaten by the guards. He didn¡¯t mind that he had to purposely fracture his leg to garner more sympathy. He didn¡¯t mind the scornful gazes he got form the passing nobles.

    What he minded¡­ was that no one helped him.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    He even offered to sell himself, but no one helped. It only ended with him getting kidnapped by a small slave merchant, only to escape due to his negligence.

    He lost precious time with his mother thanks to the kidnapping.

    When he came back to see the assortment of emotions within his mother¡¯s eyes before she died, his heart wrenched.

    It was like someone took a knife and stabbed it, then twisted it over and over and over again.

    His childhood flashed before his eyes when she died, of her taking care of him, while he happily proclaimed that he would buy his mother that huge building across the street when he grow up and she would never have to worry about money ever again.

    The young boy used every ounce of effort and time he had, doing odd jobs and studying, before one day, he got his break, a mysterious man came to his part of town, and needed a guide.

    He did the job well, and was given a gold coin.

    That gold coin started it all.

    He would never have been able to gain it even with his stacks of odd jobs in his lifetime.

    He used it carefully, investing in certain goods and selling them.

    He predicted a drought, and bought bulks of water stones.

    He slowly grinded his way to the top.

    His business stabilised, he got married, he had a son.

    He was sitting on the top floor of the building that he had promised to buy for his mother.

    However, at this time, his mother was not here.

    Neither was his father.

    His father died a few years after his mother while he was out selling goods,  leaving only a letter for him, telling him not to blame himself, that he would be watching over his road to success from heaven.

    All this happened in the span of 20 years, and he now had astounding wealth, and the influence to match it.

    His parents were no longer with him, but he completed his vow to himself.

    That he would never be poor again.

    This time he offended a Marquis¡¯s son. The man had strutted arrogantly into his shops, and demanded compensation after claiming he was scammed.

    He naturally knew this wasn¡¯t the case, he always upheld strict standards for his shops.

    However, only he knew this.

    The Marquis¡¯s son sent a messenger the following day, demanding 60% of his business and his support for his succession.

    He would use his own influence to cripple his business otherwise.

    Naturally he didn¡¯t agree.

    However, after repeated attempts at coercion didn¡¯t work, a kidnapping attempt happened.

    Luckily, he had a group of highly trained guards to guard his wife and child, which barely prevented the attempt.

    He immediately made the decision following the incident, asking his wife and child to hide out secretly for a while, without leaving room for any further talk.

    As such, under the commotion, they quickly left the city unnoticed.

    This had touched his bottomline, and for the first time in years, the man showed anger.

    The same anger that he showed when he faced his parents deaths.

    He sent several letters, using his influence to damage the Marquis¡¯s son¡¯s businesses, without caring for the consequences.

    As for the Marquis¡¯s son closing down his branches through the local city lord, he simply ignored them.

    This was an act of mutual harm.

    He was aware of that.

    It wouldn¡¯t gain him any money.

    However, he could not afford to lose anyone anymore.

    And anyone that tried¡­

    He would destroy even if the cost was his life.

    Merchant Si took the letter from the young man¡¯s hands.

    He ripped it open and read it quickly.

    It was a letter from the wife of the Marquis, saying that there was no need to continue this conflict, they would still win in the end, just at a cost. She wanted to put an end to this, and as long as he compensated for the losses he caused, they would step back.

    He merely smiled, before tossing the letter into the furnace.

    The young man, shivered at the sight of the Merchant¡¯s expression.

    He passed a prepared letter to the young man, saying, ¡°Send this to the Left Duke¡¯s house now.¡±

    The young man widened his eyes, before agreeing with serious eyes.

    As the young man left the room, the Merchant thought to himself.

    For the sake of money, he had bent over so many times, even grovelling at times, he was known to never get angry. His friends were always amazed at his lack of temper, and his consistent light smile.

    They even attributed his success to that smile at times.

    At this moment, he thought he was going crazy to do this. The wise business decision would be to simply back down now. However, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of joy coming up from the deepest recesses of his heart.

    That young beggar from years ago, could finally protect his family.

 Arc 2: Chapter 58: A Fierce Attack

    All these events happened unbeknownst to our travelling duo.

    Qiu Xue and Sylvia simply continued to follow the group nonchalantly, pretending as if they haven¡¯t noticed anything.

    Since their talk with the madam¡¯s son, Lady Si seems to be more vigilant towards the duo, casting glances on them from time to time.

    ¡°Hey. She just glanced at us again.¡±

    ¡°Well, duh.¡±, Sylvia replied me with an expression that showed ¡®are you retarded¡¯.

    It¡¯s been 2 days since then, and we¡¯re still following along.

    There¡¯s the chance that nothing happens on the way, and they reach their destination safely, but even then, you wouldn¡¯t let go of the people who knew your secret hiding place, would you?

    We¡¯ll need to find an appropriate timing to leave.

    The best would be when they¡¯re caught up in an attack, or well, we could help their enemies.

    As I ponder this, someone shouts out loudly, ¡°Enemy!¡±.

    I tense up my body, and try to look out the carriage to see what¡¯s going on.

    Outside, Sylvia had already gripped her small dagger from within her clothes and was calmly staring at the caravan ahead.

    Looking ahead, I spot several men dressed in black among the caravan members.

    The guards were fending them off.

    As they were in deep conflict, however, another masked man suddenly springs out from the side, lunging straight for Lady Si.

    Lady Si steps back in terror.

    The cold blade lunged straight for Lady Si mercilessly.

    The masked man¡¯s eyes lit up, as the blade reaches less than a metre away from Lady Si, and he throws the blade unhesitantly.

    However¡­

    ¡°TING!*

    The blade is deflected by the guard captain who was on standby to assist instead of jumping in immediately to help.

    His main role is to protect the mother and child after all.

    The masked man, whose first strike failed didn¡¯t hesitate in drawing another sword he had on his waist, getting into a battle stance.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    The guard captain does the same, as they prepare to fight.

    The masked man chants a few words, then a red aura starts exuding out from within his body.

    The guard captain¡¯s eyes show shock, as he muttered under his breath, ¡°Battle Aura.¡±

    As he said this, he took his sword and drew out a slash, slashing a cut on his arm.

    He doesn¡¯t flinch as the blood drips out slowly.

    As he does this, a dense blue aura emerges from him, seemingly oppressing the masked man¡¯s.

    The masked man tenses his body more, but wasn¡¯t going to wait until the guard captain had unleashed his aura fully.

    Taking advantage of this moment, the masked man runs in a straight line at the guard captain.

    Before long, a ¡®Clang¡¯ sound is heard as the masked man¡¯s blade is blocked.

    The blade falls on the ground, as the guard captain suddenly notices the masked man was not holding the sword.

    He turns back quickly to look at Lady Si, only to see her unharmed.

    He lets out a sigh of relief.

    However, suddenly realising something looking at Lady Si, he hurriedly turns around.

    Only to see that the masked man had not escaped, but was dashing at the young master.

    It was too late, the masked man would reach the young master within seconds.

    As we gaze at the scene, Sylvia and I remain unfazed as we stare at the scene.

    Sylvia seems to have thought of something, turning around to stare at me, saying, ¡°Go.¡±

    As her eyes pointed at the scene.

    I looked back at the scene, noticing something as well.

    Quickly, I cast an ¡®Ice Lance¡¯ spell at the masked man, hitting him on his left leg.

    The spell didn¡¯t put the masked man in severe danger, but weakened him just enough so the guard captain would catch up with him.

    Not surprisingly, the guard captain caught up swiftly with a movement technique.

    Irritated that he let the masked man get that far in the first place, he shouted, ¡°Critical Slash!¡±, revealing the veins on his arms as he paused for a moment before his muscles seemed to burst, exploding his arm into a downward motion.

    The simple motion launched a quick slash, which quickly took the head of the masked man who was focusing on running straight for the boy.

    The slash struck the neck of the man cleanly, as his body took 2 more steps before collapsing and the head was lopped off,  landing just inches away from the boy.

    ¡°NOOOOOOO!!!!!¡±, the young boy screamed in horror.

    Lady Si wanted to go over to concern the boy, but suddenly seems to realise something and stops.

    The guard captain protects the boy as several guards guard Lady Si.

    The masked men engaging with the other guards seemed to have realised that their ambush had failed, and look towards each other.

    They nod, and they quickly retreat decisively.

    The guards start to pursue the masked men who were previously engaged with them, however, even in spite of wounds, the masked men didn¡¯t flinch and continued to retreat.

    The guards start to pursue, and the guard captain seems eager to catch the men as well, impressed by their techniques.

    He heads towards the Lady with her son, and orders the remaining guards to join the pursuit, and he would protect the mother and son.

    However, Lady Si shakes her head, and whispers something into the captain¡¯s ear.

    His face pales slightly, and he roared, ¡°Return and stop the pursuit!¡±.

    As he used the full strength of his lungs in this roar, even the guards who pursued initially heard it.

    They were hesitant in abandoning the victory chase, but orders were orders.

    They returned as they saw the masked men make their getaway.

    The captain came over to offer his thanks for our help solemnly.

    He showed a higher degree of respect than before, possibly owing to my quick execution of the ¡°?ce Lance¡± spell. Only regular mages would have such fluency in these, since they gain a deeper understanding of all spells once they reach Class 1.

    Even apprentice mages wouldn¡¯t spend so much time on one spell¡­

    I found myself fond of all the ¡®lance¡¯ series spells, and found myself practicing them constantly with the help of the higher concentration provided by my meditation technique.

    In addition to the recent incidents which put my close to death, having some proficiency in this area is really to be expected.

    He gave a bow, and his regards before leaving to join back.

    We watched as they dealt with the aftermath of the attack, as the guards continued to stay vigil and formed a perimeter around the servants who were cleaning up and the Lady.

    As night fell, they chose to set up camp early.

    Since we were following them, we naturally did the same.

    We chaddle idly about the past over the fresh scent of brea- Oh, who am I kidding¡­

    I struggle to chew the bread, which feels tougher by the day.

    I could probably use it to block a bullet soon enough.

    As I think ridiculous thoughts, Lady Si approaches us, accompanied by the guard captain,

    She curtseyed, asking with a light smile, ¡°Would you mind if I came inside for a talk?¡±

 Arc 2: Chapter 59: Night Visit!

    It¡¯s a huge change in attitude compared to when we first met.

    I¡¯m in no position to be disrespecting her¡­ in her face.

    Even considering there being some danger, it¡¯s weird for the husband of Lady Si to simply ask them to escape though.

    Is the situation that dire that he can¡¯t even protect them himself?

    As I think these thoughts, Sylvia pinches me on my arm.

    ¡°Ah! L-Lady Si! Please, come in!¡±, I responded, surprised.

    She sat inside, with the guard captain still standing beside her.

    I can more or less guess what¡¯s coming next.

    A potential ally with strong capabilities just appeared. What¡¯s more, I could possibly be a genius young noble mage. If she played her cards right, she could escape this crisis and even build a strong connection with the family behind me.

    A Baron family is the lowest in stature amongst the nobles. While they are still nobles, the amount of resources it takes to raise a fully fledged mage is certainly not bearable by a mere Baron family.

    So her guesses should be:

    A) My family was made bankrupt to raise me.

    B) I¡¯m lying to avoid being conspicuous, and the true status of my family is much higher.

    C) I¡¯m not a noble¡¯s child at all, and I belong to a certain organisation.

    D) I¡¯m not a Class 1 Mage, and it was by chance that I fired that spell.

    Option A is possible, however, even if that were so, such a family who successfully raised a young genius would certainly be well regarded by the king.

    Option B is the most believable, since if I were to have revealed that I was, say a Duke¡¯s son, I would certainly have been taken advantage of.

    Option C is likely as well, since if I were supported by such an organisation, my achievements would be understandable. However, I don¡¯t have any crest of the sort on me showing that. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    As for Option D, people aren¡¯t likely to believe that something so odd like an apprentice mastering so many ¡®lance¡¯ series spells would happen. Sometimes, the truth is the hardest to believe.

    ¡°Young Master Xue, I would like to thank you for saving my child¡¯s life earlier, if there¡¯s anything we can do to pay back the favour, please let me know.¡±, she bowed.

    As she looked down in her bow, she seemed to be waiting for my response.

    I¡¯ll just play along for now.

    ¡°Please, raise your head. There¡¯s no need to be so courteous, I merely did what anyone in my position would have done.¡±, I help her up, saying in a perfunctory tone.

    ¡°Thank you for your kindness.¡±, she expressed sincerely.

    ¡°Nonetheless, I would like to show something to express my gratitude.¡±, she says as she beckons to her maidservant who was behind her.

    The maid servant bows, then beckons to another maid, who was outside.

    The maid then brought in a package wrapped in paper and tied by rough rope.

    The maid did a bow towards me, before placing the package in front of me.

    Lady Si explains, ¡°These are nothing of value, just some rations. However, I hope you¡¯ll accept them.¡±

    She bows again.

    It¡¯s really a complete turn from how she was when we first met.

    ¡°Thank you for your gift. I appreciate it greatly.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m honoured.¡±, she smiles.

    Suddenly, another servant comes near, passing a message to the maidservant next to Lady Si.

    She passes the message to Lady Si, whose face pales.

    She has a difficult expression on her, seemingly struggling internally.

    I know where she¡¯s going with this, but if I don¡¯t play along it¡¯ll just waste more time.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, is there something troubling you?¡±

    Her expression seems to falter slightly, as if disappointed.

    However, it quickly recovers as she explains, ¡°We searched the body of the masked man who was killed here. He has the token of one of our business rivals, the Mu Family, I¡¯m afraid they¡¯re still targeting us to use as threats against my husband¡­¡±

    She pauses.

    ¡°We¡¯ll p-pay you, so could you protect us for the journey?¡±, she finally reveals her true purpose.

    If it was truly only a mere rival family, how could they have been so fierce?

    With how fast they retreated, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were just the advance party.

    Not to mention¡­

    Right before I fired the spell, I noticed a shadowy figure near the masked man.

    That¡¯s why I fired the spell. It wouldn¡¯t have changed a thing.

    If they were about to get killed, we¡¯ll just escape during the crossfire.

    That would have been the best case scenario for us.

    But, even Sylvia can¡¯t tell how strong that shadowy figure is.

    If it was just a conflict between merchants, I doubt such an unfathomable person would be reduced to a secret guard.

    Nobility? A mighty Organisation?

    It¡¯ll be either of those.

    Either way, it all sounds complicated.

    I don¡¯t want to have to stick my hands into the matter.

    We¡¯re really stuck between a rock and a hard place though.

    If I rejected her, I¡¯ll still have to continue assuming the role of bait for her.

    And noting what she estimates of my strength, she won¡¯t spare any effort to use this strong bait.

    She might even lead the head carriages in our direction.

    I start to think, showing a difficult expression.

    Sylvia, who¡¯s beside me, suddenly bends over to whisper something in my ear.

    ¡°The shadowy figure is one of us.¡±, she whispers.

 Arc 2: Chapter 60: Reality

    ¡°The shadowy figure is one of us.¡±

    I smile wryly hearing Sylvia¡¯s words.

    ¡°We¡¯re on the same boat, I¡¯ll be glad to help, Lady Si.¡±, I said as I reached out my hand for a handshake.

    She smiles gently, saying, ¡°We¡¯ll be in your care, Sir Xue. I will be sure to compensate you for your kindness when we arrive.¡±

    Saying this, she departs.

    Right after I see her off, I go back into the tent intending to question Sylvia of the authenticity of her words.

    ¡°He¡¯s a member too? Does he know about us?¡±, I ask.

    Sylvia shakes her head, ¡°He most likely doesn¡¯t. For the sake of secrecy, only the Organisation¡¯s higher-ups are aware of the details of the missions and even then, they are only aware of the ones within their jurisdiction.¡±

    ¡°Only the Boss is entitled to know everything. Secrecy is what we pride ourselves on after all.¡±

    I nod, ¡°How did you recognise him then?¡±

    ¡°He was trailing behind the Lady when she came in. I couldn¡¯t get a proper view during the attack since we were so far, but at this distance¡­there¡¯s no mistaking it, it¡¯s a stealth technique exclusive to the Guild.¡±

    ¡°No other possibilities?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Should we join up with him?¡±, I ask.

    ¡°Not a good idea. We don¡¯t know what his mission is, if we turn out to be inconvenient for him, he could just-¡± Sylvia gestures her finger across her throat.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°But..¡±, she continues.

    ¡°But?¡±

    ¡°We rarely have protections missions.¡±, she says seriously.

    If it turns out the man¡¯s mission was to kill everyone in the caravan without the knowledge of a third party, for insurance he could very well just kill us too.

    However, if that were so, why hasn¡¯t he acted yet?

    Maybe his mission is the rare protection mission?

    I ponder over it through the night, having a rather bad night¡¯s sleep.

    I ask Sylvia more about the Assassin''s Guild in the morning.

    She¡¯s adverse to the idea of use revealing ourselves since there¡¯s no way to prove our identity.

    For secrecy fellow members who go out for missions are left with no way to prove their identity. This is so outsiders don¡¯t easily catch them if they¡¯re on espionage missions, since it would be rather easy to reveal someone if they carried something like a token of proof with them.

    Only admin and logistic members have such proof of identity, in order to have the protection of the Guild.

    The Guild has various techniques left behind, and many of which are exclusive to the Guild, since they conducted a region wide ¡°Collection¡± in the past, where they demanded, stole and killed to obtain as many Assassin related techniques around the region.

    The most famous one is the one that even I¡¯m aware of. The Kingdom of Shui was thriving with Assassins in the past, but now you¡¯ll struggle to find any, since the Assassin¡¯s guild sent a letter to the king, demanding the nationwide collection of the books.

    Normally, a king would never bow down to such a threat.

    However, the letter appeared tucked within the Emperor¡¯s blanket when he was asleep.

    And the Emperor didn¡¯t even sense it. What¡¯s more, no one saw or heard anything on that night.

    Meaning that it would have been a walk in the park to take his head.

    Begrudgingly, the Emperor complied.

    As for why the Organisation didn¡¯t go after the rest of the countries, maybe it was because they didn¡¯t have that many. Maybe they wanted to leave some behind so normal people could train in the techniques and join them in the future. Maybe the Emperor offended their leader unknowingly.

    There have been many speculations, but no one knows for sure.

    Sylvia explained further that the guild technique she recognised was one that was hard to exchange for, so the man must have sizable power, or completed many missions at the very least.

    As for how she recognised it, she wasn¡¯t willing to say so I left it at that.

    We continue to follow the group casually, with frequent visits from Lady Si¡¯s son at night.

    The group moved faster than they did before, as the horrible attack still lingered in everyone¡¯s minds.

    Surprisingly, since the first attack, there haven¡¯t been any subsequent ones for 2 days so far.

    Well, with the shadowy figure here, we should be safe regardless of the attacks.

    From the looks of it at least, he was trying to protect Lady Si¡¯s son before I acted.

    So we should be on the same side at least on this.

    As for escaping, sadly that¡¯s impossible already.

    If we were to escape, we¡¯ll simply be asking to get silenced if the shadowy figure didn¡¯t want to leave any traces.

    Following the group at least keeps our options open.

    We¡¯re in a weird stalemate. Of course, only we feel the pressure.