Blaze decided to hand the Killing Maniac on his shoulder over to the Knight Order of Balkan City; this was the safest way to handle it. It was said that Foreigners who harmed other Foreigners would have all their properties and half of their Power confiscated by the Knight Order, while also being saddled with massive debt. Because of this, many Foreigners had either learned to behave themselves or simply vanished altogether.
Upon arriving at the West Gate of Balkan City, Blaze stopped in his tracks. He saw a red-haired Female Knight standing majestically at the city gate, glaring at him with a gaze that could only be described as predatory.
"Blaze, why didn’t you come home last night!"
Without a doubt, the Royal Knight Order Leader [Red Dragon] Marika was interrogating the Blaze who idled his days away selling apples, not the Black Beast Knight Blaze.
There was a bit of history here—simply put, Blaze and Marika were childhood friends. Of course, because of her status as the Royal Knight Order Leader, she didn’t contact him often.
Whenever Foreigners discussed Marika with great relish in front of him, he would always hope they would strike up a conversation with him and let him join the discussion.
If any Foreigner asked about Marika, he would gladly share stories about her and tell them that the spear in her hand was one of the prototypes of the legendary Divine Spear [Gungnir]. He’d also reveal that the real reason she could wield this weapon was due to her Dwarf bloodline.
However, having Dwarf blood was Marika’s biggest secret. If Foreigners didn’t get on his good side, he absolutely wouldn’t breathe a word of it.
Unfortunately, because he shared the same name as the Black Beast Knight Blaze, Foreigners rarely paid him any mind.
But he was digressing. Marika standing at the city gate right now meant she had undoubtedly heard he hadn’t returned home all night, prompting her to hurriedly retreat from the front lines to look for him. Her prior worry and anxiety would surely transform into fury now that she had found him, so Blaze decided to exercise the right to remain silent that every culprit deserved.
Blaze tossed Old Man BIG from his shoulder to Marika’s feet. Marika raised her spear and slammed the butt down, pinning the struggling Old Man BIG in place.
[Honor Points: 58/1000]
[Apprehending a titled Murderer: +50]
[Saving a persecuted Foreigner: +3]
As expected, his Honor Points had increased. Catching twenty more Murderers would lift the Armor’s Curse, but things probably wouldn’t be that simple.
Blaze swayed backward, dodging a sudden thrust from Marika’s spear. Sure enough, she had taken his silence as him ignoring her and had gotten angry.
Perhaps due to being attacked, his Blessing automatically popped up and marked Marika.
[Marika / Red Dragon]
Level: 99+
Profession: ???
Power: 1500+
Agility: 560+
Intelligence: 0+
Faith: 145+
Skill: ???
Magic: ???
Equipment:
Weapon: This Shall Ignite the World’s Fire (Spear)
Head: Red Dragon Scale Crown
Upper Body: Red Dragon Scale Chest Armor
Waist: Red Dragon Scale Skirt Armor
Lower Body: Red Dragon Scale War Boots
Accessory: Floral Hairpin from a Nameless Youth
This was Marika’s intel. As expected of the Royal Knight Order Leader.
If they were to arm wrestle, this person could probably crush his hand along with his Armor, and then rip his arm clean out of its socket.
Suddenly, a burst of commotion echoed from within Balkan City. The Church, which housed the Teleportation Magic Array, was continuously receiving beams of light descending from the sky. Countless Foreigners were constantly being teleported to Balkan City, and mixed among them were those emitting a special red aura.
Those were Foreigners with the Murderer title. Meanwhile, the tragic screams of the old man from the fruit stall were already ringing out through the city.
Marika hesitated between maintaining order in Balkan City and capturing her childhood friend. This opening was instantly seized by Blaze.
Blaze abruptly turned and sprinted away. He had barely taken two steps when, almost on instinct, he tilted his head and caught an object thrown at him.
An apple.
Even without looking back, he knew Marika was fuming yet completely helpless. Once he finally took off this suit of Armor, he would honestly go back and apologize to her.
Blaze ran all the way to a forest without stopping for breath, only halting when Balkan City had faded into a blurry background. This forest contained a trade route belonging to the [Hermes’ Travel Hat] merchant guild, which had a branch in Balkan City.
[Hermes’ Travel Hat] frequently commissioned Foreigners to clear out Wild Beasts or Monsters around their trade route. Sometimes, this clearing process would last for several days, so traces of campsites left by Foreigners or [Hermes’ Travel Hat] could be found scattered along the way.
Blaze found the remains of one such camp where the campfire still held some residual heat. After gathering a few dry branches and reigniting the fire, he finally sat down.
From encountering the Black Beast Knight yesterday, to waking up as the Black Beast Knight and being attacked by Foreigners, and then capturing a Foreigner to hand over to the Knight Order, he had barely had a chance to catch his breath.
Now, he finally had a moment to rest and eat something.
Blaze looked down at the apple in his hand.
[Unknown Seed]
[The fruit of a certain giant plant. Consuming it grants a massive amount of Intelligence, but will also incur a Curse.]
"I probably shouldn’t eat this." Blaze’s head drooped. Clearly, Marika, with her 0 Intelligence, couldn’t distinguish between what was edible and what wasn’t.
Fortunately, ever since he received the Blessing and put on the Armor, he hadn’t felt fatigue or hunger. He wasn’t desperate enough to risk getting a Curse just to eat this bizarre apple.
"Still, where should I put this..."
Before Blaze could finish his sentence, the apple in his hand turned into a string of fragmented numbers and vanished. The Blessing’s interface appeared once more, lighting up an icon that looked like a warehouse, and the apple materialized in a small slot beneath it.
No matter how many times he saw it, Blaze would always marvel at how magical the Blessing was.
Even for creatures he had never seen before, as long as he had the Blessing, he could see their details. Cumbersome cargo could also be safely stored away via the Blessing.
However, he had heard from Foreigners that if the Level gap was too large, a Special Skill was required to investigate a target’s details. Likewise, once the goods stored by the Blessing exceeded a certain limit, a corresponding Skill was needed to expand the capacity.
"Level and Skill, huh?" Blaze stared at the Blessing’s interface, muttering the words the Foreigners frequently mentioned. It was a universal standard used by the Blessed, or Foreigners, to describe combat power. He also remembered what the Foreigners had said about the Black Beast Knight’s level.
"Level 30."
But the Blessing didn’t display any related content. Aside from the newly added [Warehouse], there was only the Blessing’s guiding quest to lift the Armor’s Curse and the progress bar for [Honor Points: 58/1000]. All other information remained locked, as usual.
However, Blaze had figured out a small trick. Many spaces in the Blessing’s interface were blank, and the location where the [Warehouse] appeared was exactly one of those empty spots. In other words, the Blessing didn’t necessarily lock everything away; rather, he just hadn’t used certain functions yet, so they remained hidden.
So, if he wanted to use the functions related to Level and Skill, it was best to absorb the souls of other living creatures—or, in the words of Foreigners, to gain Experience Value and level up.
"It seems like there are a lot of Monsters along this trade route. If I follow it, I might encounter quite a few of them, and I might even be able to help Foreigners and earn Honor Points."
As Blaze pondered his strategy, he also felt a slight urge to complain. Were the people from [Hermes’ Travel Hat] running a charity? They were clearly suffering severe harassment from Monsters and Wild Beasts, yet they still refused to forge a different route.
He had never thought about this in the past, always too busy being grateful for the efforts the Foreigners put into protecting the cargo.
With the financial power of [Hermes’ Travel Hat], they could clear a new trade route in just a few days. It was just changing a fixed route—how complicated could it be? It would even help them avoid all those attacks from Wild Beasts and Monsters.
If he ever got the chance, he definitely had to go give the person in charge of [Hermes’ Travel Hat] a heads-up.