Tony wasn’t joking. He was serious.
For other nobles, relinquishing their title to someone else was an absolutely impossible notion.
Forget giving it to a younger brother; even when it came to their own sons, they would have to wait until they were dead.
As long as they were alive, they would never yield their title to anyone.
But to Tony, as long as Roy was more outstanding than him, it didn’t matter if he gave the title of Baron Ice Wolf to Roy.
He had started his Cultivation of the Ice Wolf Breathing Technique at twelve, and twelve years had passed since then.
If Roy could defeat him after only half a year of Cultivation, it would prove that Roy’s talent far surpassed his own.
In that case, giving the title of Baron Ice Wolf to Roy would actually allow the Wesley Clan to develop even better.
It had to be said, the Wesley Clan’s family upbringing was quite good.
The fratricide and scheming so common in other noble families had never occurred within the Wesley Clan.
Of course, this was also related to the fact that the Wesley Clan’s family line had never been particularly large.
"Even if I beat you, I wouldn’t want the title of Baron Ice Wolf. I have no interest in managing a domain."
Roy said casually.
Forget a mere barony in the Laine Kingdom; he wouldn’t even be that interested in a dukedom in the Sal Empire.
The Sal Empire was the most powerful nation on the Eastern Continent.
The combined armies of the Laine Kingdom and the Kalin Kingdom might not even outnumber the forces under a single Duke of the Sal Empire.
"You used to have no interest in Cultivation either, yet now you’re cultivating the Ice Wolf Breathing Technique."
"Forget it. Let’s not talk about this."
"Aside from the matter of His Majesty possibly declaring war on the Kalin Empire in six months, Lord Charles also talked to me about the Personal Guard Captain."
"Although he was very tactful, I know what he wanted to say was that Sir Adam can’t be trusted and isn’t fit to continue as the Wesley Clan’s Personal Guard Captain."
Tony frowned, his expression complicated as he spoke.
He was conflicted. On one hand, he and Sir Adam were the only two Middle Tier Knights in the Ice Wolf Domain. On the other, Sir Adam had served the Wesley Clan loyally for over twenty years.
Seeing the conflicted look on Tony’s face, Roy said unhurriedly, "If you’re asking for my opinion, I only have one piece of advice: never trust a gambling addict!"
’Never trust a gambling addict?’
Tony was silent for a dozen seconds, then said slowly, "Alright, I know what to do. You should go back and rest."
Roy said nothing more and nodded.
Soon, he was back in his bedroom.
After resting in his room for about ten minutes, a thought crossed his mind. He vanished into thin air and appeared in Chaos Square.
Without any hesitation, he began cultivating the Giant Elephant Breathing Technique.
「The next day at noon.」
Sir Adam, who had served the Wesley Clan loyally for over twenty years, took the severance pay Tony gave him and left Ice Wolf Castle with a few of his trusted men.
Tony spared him some face and didn’t publicly disclose the real reason for his dismissal, only stating that he had chosen to leave for personal reasons.
Although Tony didn’t say it outright, everyone in the castle knew why Sir Adam had left.
Sir Adam’s gambling addiction was no secret within the castle.
Roy paid no mind to Sir Adam’s departure.
Even if Baron Giant Monster Charles hadn’t mentioned it, he would have found an opportunity to talk to Tony about it himself.
After staying at Ice Wolf Castle for four days, Baron Giant Monster Charles also left with Kidd, Allen, and the others.
The night they left, Roy made a trip to Redwood City and gave "Left Foot" Ticky a new purchase order for Potion ingredients.
Unlike last time, he didn’t add any other ingredients to the purchase order. He only listed the materials needed for the Basic Healing Potion and the Basic Vitality Potion.
He was no longer worried that Ticky would be able to reverse-engineer the formulas for the Basic Healing Potion and Basic Vitality Potion from the list.
The refining ingredients were only a small part of the formula.
Even if Ticky knew which ingredients the Basic Healing Potion and Basic Vitality Potion required, it would be impossible for him to know the precise ratios, let alone the specific refining process.
After meeting with Ticky, Roy resumed his hardcore routine of practicing Breathing Techniques during the day and Meditation Techniques at night.
...
「Time flew by.」
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
「Chaos Square.」
[Giant Elephant Breathing Technique has been upgraded!]
[Giant Elephant Breathing Technique: Tier Five (Limit), Special Effect: Basic Power]
’Finally, Tier Five Limit!’
Looking at the upgrade notification in front of him, Roy sighed with emotion inwardly.
Then, his gaze fell on the special effect: Basic Power.
[Basic Power: Your Strength Attribute is permanently increased by 20%.]
Just like Basic Speed, which permanently increased the Agility Attribute by 20%, Basic Power also only provided a 20% boost to the Strength Attribute.
Looking at the number alone, the increase didn’t seem that high.
But that was not the case.
Roy had cultivated a total of four Breathing Techniques, and both the Ice Wolf and Giant Elephant Breathing Techniques had reached the Tier Five Limit.
Whether it was his Agility Attribute, Strength Attribute, or the intensity and total amount of his Fighting Qi, he was a cut above other Peak Knights.
Although he had yet to break through to become a Black Iron Great Knight, the only gap between him and one was his inability to condense Fighting Qi into weapons and armor.
Looking at his physical attributes and Fighting Qi alone, he was even slightly stronger than Black Iron Great Knights like Count Rock Lion, who were long past their prime.
’I need to get my hands on an Excellent Level Breathing Technique as soon as possible!’
’I’ll make a trip to Redwood City tonight!’
Having made his decision, Roy’s gaze fell on his Black Crow Breathing Technique and Shadow Leopard Breathing Technique.
[Black Crow Breathing Technique: Tier Four (1654/5000)]
[Shadow Leopard Breathing Technique: Tier Three (2587/3000)]
The next second, he closed the Skill Proficiency Panel and began his Cultivation of the Black Crow Breathing Technique.
「Late at night.」
Roy, who had been in Meditation for several hours in Chaos Square, ended his nightly Meditation Technique practice early, returned to his bedroom, changed into a suit of black Hunter’s Clothing, opened the window, and jumped out without a second thought.
「Two hours later.」
「Redwood City, the "Blood and Flames" tavern.」
Roy, clad in the Dark Night Knight Armor, walked straight to the bar, took out a Silver Coin, placed it on the counter, and asked the bartender, "Has ’Left Foot’ Ticky arrived?"
"No."
"To be precise, he won’t be coming anymore."
The bartender pocketed the Silver Coin and replied quickly.
’He won’t be coming anymore?’
Roy frowned slightly and continued to ask, "What happened to him?"
"He’s dead!"
"A week ago, he did something to offend Count Rock Lion and was killed by the Count’s Captain of the Personal Guard, Knight Robinson. His body was hung up at the execution ground in the West District."
"If you had come a few days earlier, you would have seen his corpse with all four limbs chopped off."
The bartender said this with a deadpan expression, as if the one killed wasn’t a regular at the tavern, but a complete stranger.
"Who took over his business?"
After a few seconds of silent mourning for Ticky, Roy asked again.
Although he and Ticky only had a relationship of black market merchant and customer, his impression of Ticky was quite good.
He had no intention of avenging Ticky. He just wanted to know if Ticky had a successor.
"There’s a woman named Sonia. She claims to be Ticky’s partner and says she’ll take over his previous business."
"But no one believes her, because she can’t produce any evidence to prove her claims."
"If it’s like the past few days, she should still be in the backyard right now."
The bartender shrugged and said slowly.
Roy asked nothing more. He walked to the wooden door leading to the backyard and handed a Silver Coin to the large man standing in front of it.
Taking the Silver Coin, the large man opened the wooden door to the backyard.
Upon entering the backyard, Roy immediately spotted the Sonia the bartender had mentioned.
The first moment he saw her, he knew why no one else believed Sonia was Ticky’s partner.
First, she was too young.
From her appearance, she couldn’t have turned twenty that long ago.
Second, whether it was her dress, appearance, or figure, she was completely out of place for the profession of a black market merchant.
Fair skin, long, flowing wine-red hair, large emerald-green eyes, and a high-bridged nose.
This was on top of her curvaceous figure that even her robe couldn’t fully conceal, and the look of pure foolishness in her eyes.
Forget being a black market merchant; based on her appearance and attire, she didn’t even look capable of being an ordinary merchant.
She gave off the same vibe as one of those noble ladies.
If the "Blood and Flames" tavern didn’t protect the safety of its backyard patrons, Roy could guarantee that on her very first night at the tavern, Sonia would have been captured and turned into a plaything by some unscrupulous Bounty Hunter or Assassin.
At this moment, Sonia was dressed in a red robe, holding a wine cup in both hands, standing awkwardly beneath a pillar in the backyard.
’Could she be Ticky’s daughter?’
’Not likely. The plain-looking Ticky couldn’t possibly have such a beautiful daughter.’
...