"I see." The young woman furrowed her brows ever so slightly, the sight of which made Weilin's heart soften with sympathy.
"Please pass along my regards to the master who forged these weapons! I would very much like to meet him, and the Augustus clan's doors will forever remain open to him!" the young woman said with measured elegance.
One of the guards behind her immediately stepped forward and presented Weilin with a small noble's badge, engraved with the very same crest that adorned his own shoulder.
"This one! This one! And these arrowheads — we'll take them all!"
The young woman pointed at the display case.
"Of course! Of course!" Weilin's face flushed crimson with excitement. Not even bothering to examine the badge in his hand, he hurried over to wrap up the longsword and other weapons, then handed them to the two guards standing behind the young woman.
"That comes to one thousand and fifty gold pfennigs total! Thank you for your patronage!"
Weilin watched the young woman nod, and the steward stepped forward to hand him a small pouch of gold coins and a purple-gold card. His face nearly went blank with shock, and his hands trembled slightly as he cradled the money pouch.
His reaction had not gone unnoticed — a glimmer of mischievous amusement passed through the young noblewoman's eyes.
"I'm heading for the Crowcry Wasteland! How about serving as my guide? Ten gold pfennigs a day..."
"T-ten gold pfennigs?" Weilin's breathing grew heavy all at once.
He had been working part-time at
Ten gold pfennigs a day? Weilin hadn't even dared to dream of such a thing!
"However!" Weilin glanced at Leylin, then clenched his teeth and turned down the offer. "I'm terribly sorry, my lady! I have to report here every day..."
As badly as Weilin wanted to earn that extra money, he could still tell the difference between the present and the future.
What Leylin was teaching him was the Knight's cultivation technique! In the entire Extreme Dark Region, only certain noble bloodlines possessed the complete heritage of such knowledge — it was something no amount of gold pfennigs could ever buy!
If he threw away his chance at a Knight's future over a few measly gold pfennigs now, Weilin knew he would regret it to the point of tears.
"How interesting! Truly interesting! I never imagined that a casual outing would lead me to such a delightful little shop!"
The young woman burst into laughter, bright and clear as a lark's song.
"My name is Jenny, and I stay at the largest inn in town. If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime…"
After the young woman and her party had left, Weilin carefully laid the gold coins and the violet-gold card out on the table.
"A violet-gold card worth a thousand gold pfennigs. This is the first time I've ever seen one — and so many gold coins too, my lord! We're rich!" Weilin's eyes were brimming with little stars.
"Mm! Mm!" Railing gave a somewhat absent-minded nod and tucked the violet-gold card into his robes.
"As for these remaining gold pfennigs, consider them your commission!"
"Oh! Boss, please let me praise you! You are truly the arbiter of fairness, the embodiment of mercy…" Weilin immediately burst into cheers.
He tossed the badge in his hand up and caught it, then frowned in puzzlement: "Why does this look so familiar? And… the August family — I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before…"
A moment later, he let out a blood-curdling shriek: "Damn it all! The Sunvine Augusts! That hereditary marquis family from the eastern capital!! What on earth did I just give up…"
Yet despite his wailing, Weilin did not chase after them.
After all, the young lady hadn't been recruiting him as a retainer — she only wanted a guide. Turning down Railing's instruction over something like that would be an incredibly foolish thing to do.
Still, the arrival of this marquis's daughter had clearly given Bott Town plenty of new gossip. Every day Railing could hear the latest news about the entourage straight from Weilin's mouth.
"My lord! My lord! It's said that Miss Jenny came here specifically to find a very special birthday gift for her mother. She plans to venture into the Wailing Wastes to search — what a devoted daughter!"
"Haha… I've found out that the thing Miss Jenny is looking for is a special plant — Dragon Blood Buds! They say it can preserve a woman's beauty for ten years without aging, and at the auction house in the eastern capital, they once sold for nearly a hundred thousand gold pfennigs! Ever since the bounty was posted, every adventurer, mercenary, and even ordinary resident in town has been pouring into the Wailing Wastes to search, dreaming of striking it rich overnight!"
"My lord! I just saw that Miss Jenny was led by the baron's Knight Captain. They've already entered the Wailing Wastes…"
…
Weilin was chirping away in front of Railing like an excited little sparrow, making Railing roll his eyes.
"Have you finished today's training?"
A single sentence was enough to silence Weilin completely. His head drooped.
"Not yet! But I will soon!" The moment the words left his mouth, Weilin darted off to the training grounds and grabbed a greatsword as tall as a person, swinging it with all his might.
"After putting in your daily training, you still have the energy to run all over town — you're quite the lively one!" A faint smile tugged at the corner of Railing's mouth. "Today's workload is doubled…"
"Oh! No!" Hearing Weilin's wailing, Railing suddenly felt his mood improve quite a bit.
"However, a Dragon Blood Flower Bud?" Railing stroked his chin and pulled up some ancient ruin records stored in the Chip.
Among the old texts he had encountered, there happened to be accounts of this rare plant. It was said that its growing conditions were extremely harsh — it had to grow alongside a high-energy creature, and that creature's blood had to be irrigated onto it at regular intervals, or it would wither immediately.
"I recall that the high-energy creature symbiotic with the Dragon Blood Flower Bud is called the Horned Earth Dragon, isn't it? Supposedly a hybrid subspecies from an ancient dragon and a demon crossbreed, though there isn't much credibility to that claim…"
A glint of contemplation flashed through Railing's eyes. "And while the Dragon Blood Flower Bud's beautifying effects are merely a bonus, its greatest use is in alleviating certain specific toxins…"
"Interesting — I was just racking my brain for a good excuse to intervene in the Eastern Capital!" Railing watched Weilin, who was still wailing nonstop but didn't dare stop his training, and a sharp gleam appeared in his eyes.
Three days later, a battered and bruised squad returned to the small town of Bort, bringing back a terrifying piece of news.
The Marquis's daughter's expedition had encountered an unexpected danger while pursuing the Horned Earth Dragon and became trapped at a location. Even the Baron's Knight captain had sacrificed himself.
This squad was the one that had risked everything to come seeking reinforcements.
In an instant, the entire town was plunged into panic. A Marquis's fury was something the whole town of Bort could not bear, and the one most worried about that headstrong noble young lady was likely none other than the town's master, Baron Joseph.
"My lord! My lord! I heard that—"
Weilin burst into the courtyard like a gust of wind, only to see a massive, lavishly dressed fat man constantly dabbing sweat from his face with a golden handkerchief.
He immediately choked on his words as if someone had grabbed him by the throat, bowed, and saluted: "Greetings, my lord!"
This enormous fat man was none other than the master of the entire town of Bort, Baron Joseph. In fact, Weilin's current position had even been arranged through his introduction. For Weilin, a Baron who held territory and whose title could be inherited was a tremendously important figure. Terrified, he hastily bowed and buried his head deep into his chest.
"It's Weilin! Keep up the good work!"
Baron Joseph clearly had no desire to exchange a few more words with him. Instead, he turned and gave Railing a slight bow, an ingratiating smile on his face. "Then, I shall leave it in your capable hands, Master Railing!"
Previously, in order to secure a stable life, Railing had not only employed mental magic but had also left an impression of overwhelming and indelible power in Joseph's mind.
Therefore, now that an irretrievable crisis had arisen, Joseph's first instinct was to seek Railing's help.
"My lord! What's happened?"
Only after Baron Joseph had departed did Weilin ask Railing.
"Is there anything else? It's just going to rescue some willful little runaway girl, isn't it?" Railing said casually as he dragged a gleaming suit of armor out of the storeroom.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! My lord, are you finally setting out?"
As Railing's assistant and half-apprentice, Weilin had always been intensely curious about Railing's past and abilities, and his face was now filled with excitement.
"Take me along, my lord! In the Crowcry Wastes, you must still need someone to serve you, right?"
"Take me! You absolutely have to take me!"
*Bang!* The massive suit of Knight armor was tossed straight onto Weilin. "Try it on!"
"Oh! Sure!" Donning armor was naturally part of a Knight's training, and Weilin had practiced many times before, but this was his first time wearing a proper formal suit. His face flushed slightly with excitement.
The gleaming armor fit surprisingly well, and the edges were decorated with patterns and leather accents — both aesthetically pleasing and protective over several joint areas. Weilin was quite taken with it.
After all that time of training, Weilin had grown quite a bit taller and had developed a lean, smooth ring of muscle. Once he donned the armor, he cut an even more valiant figure.
"How is it? I look pretty cool, don't I?" Weilin said with a touch of vanity, thumping his chest, the two iron plates clanging together with a resounding crash.
"Here!" Railing then tossed a fine steel longsword to Weilin, and only after he was fully suited up did he nod with satisfaction.
"Now I can rest easy!"
"Of course! ...Huh? Rest easy? What do you mean, rest easy?" Weilin's face went blank with confusion.
"Kid! The mission of rescuing the princess is in your hands!" Railing struggled to suppress a laugh, patting Weilin's shoulder with an air of solemn gravity, leaving the young man standing there dumbstruck.
"Wait — what?! Me?! You want *me* to go to the Crowcry Wastes alone?!" Weilin finally caught on, pointing at his own nose.
"My lord! I'm not even a Knight yet! Are you trying to get me killed?!"
"Can't be helped!" Railing spread his hands. "Someone has to stay behind and watch the shop! A young fellow should have some spirit, shouldn't he?"
"My lord, if I may be blunt — this shop of yours doesn't make more than a handful of sales in a whole year. There's absolutely no difference between watching it and not watching it! And besides, having spirit and going off to throw your life away are two completely different things!"