West District of Redwood City.
The "Red Salmon and Cherry Pie" tavern.
After leaving the alley, Roy thought for a moment and decided to check out the "Red Salmon and Cherry Pie" tavern Allen had mentioned.
Before he arrived, he had deliberately changed out of his Dark Night Knight Armor and mask, taking on a different appearance.
He didn’t plan on looking for Sandru using his real identity. Instead, he wanted to see what was so special about the "Red Salmon and Cherry Pie" tavern.
Although he had never been here before, he found the place quickly.
The tavern hall.
Roy, disguised as an ordinary Wandering Knight, sat at a table in the corner of the hall and took a sip from the cup before him.
On the surface, he looked no different from the other patrons, just another person killing time at the tavern.
But in reality, he was discreetly observing everyone inside.
Compared to the "Blood and Flames" tavern, the "Red Salmon and Cherry Pie" was much livelier.
This was normal.
After all, the main clientele of the "Blood and Flames" tavern were Bounty Hunters, Assassins, and Black Market Merchants.
The "Red Salmon and Cherry Pie," on the other hand, was just a regular tavern.
There were Official Knights in the tavern, but not many.
Time passed, bit by bit.
After spending over twenty minutes in the tavern and failing to spot anyone suspicious, Roy got up and left.
He could have just asked the bartender and waitresses if Sandru was there, but he didn’t.
He had no idea what kind of secret organization Allen had recommended.
He only knew that the organization Allen suggested was anything but simple.
If the Copper Coin Allen had given him was a token for an internal recommendation, then reaching the rank of High Tier Knight before the age of 22 was the basic requirement for joining this mysterious organization.
The threshold of High Tier Knight was already quite high.
Adding the condition of being under 22, not just in all of Yorkshire—no, in the entire Laine Kingdom—very few people could meet this requirement.
Nobles did indeed possess hereditary Breathing Techniques.
But advancing to High Tier Knight before the age of 22 was extraordinarily difficult.
「Ice Wolf Castle.」
After returning from Redwood City, Roy first rested in his bedroom for about ten minutes, then went to Chaos Square and began his Cultivation of the Purgatory Dragon Meditation Method.
...
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.
「That evening.」
「Chaos Square.」
[Black Crow Breathing Technique Skill Level +467]
[Black Crow Breathing Technique: Tier Five (2692/10000)]
After his Giant Elephant Breathing Technique also reached the Tier Five Limit, Roy’s efficiency in cultivating Breathing Techniques increased once again.
In just one week, his Skill Level in the Black Crow Breathing Technique had risen by more than 6,000 points.
At this rate, it would only take him three weeks to cultivate an Ordinary Level Breathing Technique from entry-level to the Tier Five Limit.
Closing the Skill Proficiency Panel, Roy left Chaos Square and returned to his bedroom.
After resting for a few minutes, he opened the door and headed toward the first-floor dining room.
Soon, he arrived at the dining room and saw Tony and Erin eating.
As soon as he sat down, Tony said to him, "You’ve been cultivating the Ice Wolf Breathing Technique for over a month now. Do you need me to help you with some Swordsmanship and Fighting training?"
Roy shook his head and said slowly, "Not right now. I don’t have much Fighting Qi yet. I should focus on increasing it first."
At this point, he didn’t need any training in Basic Swordsmanship or Basic Fighting at all.
He had already cultivated both Basic Swordsmanship and Basic Fighting to the Tier One Limit long ago.
Unless he could find Special Swordsmanship techniques and Secret Techniques that required Fighting Qi to use.
Otherwise, he had no interest in training them further.
"Fighting Qi is the foundation of a Knight. It’s right to focus on increasing it first."
"If you ever need a sparring partner, you can come find me anytime..."
Tony hadn’t finished speaking when a cavalryman in black armor, holding two letters, entered the dining room. He bowed respectfully to Tony and said, "My lord, messengers have delivered letters from Baron Red Eagle and Baron Giant Dog."
With that, he presented the letters to Tony with both hands.
Tony took the letters, set them aside, and replied, "You may go."
"Yes, my lord!"
The cavalryman in black armor immediately left the dining room.
Tony didn’t open the letters right away, instead continuing to enjoy his dinner.
After finishing his meal, he picked up the letters and said to Roy, "Come with me to the study."
Roy nodded.
Once in the study, Tony sat down in the high-backed chair behind his desk, handed the letters to Roy, and said with a smile, "Why don’t you see what these two old codgers have to say?"
"Alright!"
Roy took the letters, glanced at the emblems on the wax seals, broke them, and pulled out the paper inside, quickly scanning the contents.
Soon, he had finished reading the letters from Baron Red Eagle and Baron Giant Dog.
"What do they say?"
Tony asked, his expression calm.
"They claim Sir Adam borrowed several hundred Gold Coins from them and never paid it back. Now they can’t find Sir Adam and suspect you’re hiding him. They’re demanding you hand him over."
After speaking, Roy handed the letters back to Tony.
Tony took the letters, crumpled them into a ball, and tossed them into the wastebasket. "Compared to before, I suppose they’ve made some progress," he continued. "They’ve finally learned to make excuses."
Baron Red Eagle and Baron Giant Dog had always been eyeing the Ice Wolf Domain covetously.
Before driving Sir Adam away, Tony had guessed they would definitely make a move.
He just hadn’t expected them to use Sir Adam’s supposed debt as a pretext.
Seeing Tony’s confident expression, as if he had everything under control and was already prepared, Roy asked, "How are you planning to deal with them?"
Tony didn’t answer right away. He stood up, walked over to the liquor cabinet in the study, picked up a bottle of wine, uncorked it, and poured two glasses.
After handing one glass to Roy, he said unhurriedly, "Some time ago, I had someone gather intelligence on Baron Red Eagle and Baron Giant Dog. As it turns out, they both survived an assassination attempt six months ago."
"The one who tried to assassinate them was the ’Dark Night Knight’—Redwood City’s most famous and powerful Bounty Hunter of the last six months."
"Not only that, but I’ve heard he advanced to Peak Knight a few months ago."
"I plan to go to Redwood City tomorrow to hire him to assassinate Baron Red Eagle and Baron Giant Dog."
"As long as he’s willing to take the job, those two old codgers won’t survive."
’The Dark Night Knight you want to hire is standing right in front of you!’
Roy complained silently in his heart.
He had thought Tony was planning to ask Baron Giant Monster for help. He never expected Tony to want to hire his own alias.
After thinking for a moment, he said to Tony, "You rarely leave the Ice Wolf Domain. If you suddenly head to Redwood City, breaking your usual habit, they might guess that you’re going to hire help."
"Let me go instead. I already go to Redwood City occasionally to buy books."
"Even if they find out I went to Redwood City, they won’t guess that I’m there to hire the Dark Night Knight."
’Rather than let Tony go to Redwood City to look for my alias, I might as well just hire myself.’
...