The Adventurer's Tavern "Stallion Banner"

Roland gazed at the room filled with loot, all snatched from the auction site. Everything that had been on offer today was here, including the Rose Knight's shield. It could be said that the haul was substantial.

Kriemhild sat on the floor, excitedly rummaging through the items. She appraised the antiques and equipment with her years of experience in high society, jotting down the values in her personal notebook.

The young woman's eyes grew brighter as she looked. This unexpected windfall would not only clear the village's debts but also allow their current team to rest and recuperate for a good while.

But Roland's mood was heavy, unable to find any joy in the situation.

He held a mug of celebratory ale, but the golden liquid within hadn't decreased by even a drop.

On the bed, two elven maidens with ice-blue hair huddled together, trembling.

Although they had left the auction house and the chains around their necks had been cut by Roland, the terror in their eyes showed no signs of abating.

Even with the language barrier causing some communication difficulties, Siegfried and his group were still their saviors. They shouldn't be this frightened.

The source of the problem was obvious.

"Siegfried Meilan... is he really a hero?"

Roland murmured this name, a question he had asked himself many times in his heart.

The image of that blood-soaked figure, laughing maniacally while holding a severed head, flashed in his mind.

Perhaps there were heroes who enjoyed killing, but they took pleasure in slaying evil. Heroes held an absolute respect for life itself; otherwise, they wouldn't become heroes.

But Siegfried...

Roland had a strange feeling. He felt as if, in that man's eyes, this world wasn't real.

That's why he could be so indifferent to life.

The moment those two guards showed signs of abnormality, Roland had shielded Kriemhild's eyes, preventing the princess from witnessing that horrifying scene.

If Roland hadn't fought against the Undead Court of the demon race on the frontlines before, able to sense the aura of death when life faded, he wouldn't have been able to detect the guards' abnormality so quickly.

At that moment, Roland hadn't sensed any fluctuations in magic or aura, meaning those two guards didn't die from magic or martial techniques, but from something more bizarre.

In the eyes of these two pairs of twins, our group probably seemed no kinder than the slave traders, perhaps even more terrifying.

At least the slave traders didn't laugh while holding severed heads.

As Roland was lost in worried thoughts, the princess's slightly puzzled voice came:

"Huh? What's this?"

Roland looked over in response.

Kriemhild, who had been tallying the loot, was pulling out a black tapestry embroidered with a strange skull from the pile.

One glance, and his pupils constricted sharply. The wooden mug slipped from his hand.

Clang!

"You fool! Can't you even manage a cup of tea?!"

Hot tea spilled all over the floor as Hilton Hoover glared angrily at his clumsy female secretary.

He was increasingly regretting his choice of this stupid woman as his secretary. Weren't there plenty of smart women who could perform well both in and out of bed? Why did he have to hire such an idiot?

"I deeply apologize, Lord Siegfried. Our staff is truly incompetent. I will make sure to discipline her thoroughly later!"

On the other hand, his attitude towards Siegfried was extremely respectful, as if he would get down on his knees and lick his shoes if he could.

Siegfried didn't even glance at the fawning Hilton, instead browsing through the Wanderer's Handbook in his hand.

Hilton's experiences from previous years were laid bare before Siegfried's eyes.

Unfortunately, the experiences of the last five years were blank. It seemed that no Wanderer had contacted him since the Rose Queen's death.

This phenomenon made Siegfried notice something: perhaps behind every major change on the Qilan Continent, there were Wanderers like him pulling strings behind the scenes.

He closed the handbook and said in a neutral tone:

"No need. I didn't come here for tea anyway."

"How can that be? A noble from the Meilan family gracing our humble establishment is an honor beyond measure. How could I not fulfill my duties as a host?"

Siegfried raised an eyebrow, giving Hilton an odd look.

"Hilton, if you're hoping Konstantin will send troops to save you, I advise you to give up that idea. He can barely save himself now."

Hilton's body suddenly stiffened, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Uh... Mr. Siegfried, what are you talking about? I don't understand your meaning."

"You don't understand?"

Siegfried sneered, picking up a cookie from the tea table and biting into it with a sharp crunch.

Snap!

Hilton's expensive fur coat, along with his belt and trousers, was split in half right down the middle.

The old man's withered body and limp member were instantly exposed to the air.

The clothing was shredded, but there wasn't a single scratch on his body.

A strike of godlike skill.

Hilton fell on his backside, his face pale, cold sweat pouring down his neck.

"Hilton, do you understand now?"

"I... I..."

This business tycoon who had dominated the kingdom's commerce despairingly realized one thing: probably all the guards in the entire earl's mansion combined wouldn't be enough for this monster to kill.

"Don't be so tense. I've already made it very clear, I really am just here to buy slaves."

"Yes! Yes! I understand."

"Good. Then take me to your market. I want to see your merchandise with my own eyes."

"Ah, yes, of course. Please follow me."

The female secretary took a brand new coat from the wardrobe and handed it to Hilton. Judging by her reddened face, she was clearly trying hard not to burst out laughing.

It was truly amusing to see the usually domineering and arrogant master behaving as meekly as a rabbit in front of this young gentleman.

"Kortman, clean this place up.

My lord, please come with me."

Hilton, having changed into new clothes, put on a fawning smile once again. He gestured politely to Siegfried, his form of address changing from "sir" to "my lord."

However, in his heart, Hilton had already cursed Siegfried's ancestors to the eighteenth generation.

(You Meilan family are all bastards, freaks, may you die a horrible death!)

The poor Meilan family was cursed for no reason because of this non-existent family member, Siegfried.

The two walked out of the commerce guild building one after the other, with Bobo waiting outside.

The short and chubby Bobo, upon seeing Siegfried emerge, immediately greeted him with a beaming smile, trotting over excitedly.

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However, when he clearly saw the person beside Siegfried, his body suddenly froze, the smile solidifying on his face.

Siegfried was waiting for Bobo to run over and say something ingratiating like "Is my lord well?", but he found that this usually cunning Garden Person with skin as thick as city walls was standing there dumbfounded, a look of terror on his face.

Siegfried was puzzled.

This guy had become quite familiar with him over the past couple of days. Although they weren't exactly on joking terms, he should at least have the guts to exchange a few pleasantries.

(What's wrong? I haven't bullied him recently, have I? Has he seen a ghost?)

Siegfried soon got the answer to this question.

"Oh? Isn't this Bobo?"

"Lord... Hilton."

Siegfried looked over in surprise.

He saw Hilton enthusiastically walking forward, as if reuniting with an old friend after a long separation. He skillfully squatted down and patted Bobo's head.

"Haha, it's been so long! Weren't you taken away by the Moen royal family? How did you end up here?"

"I... I was..."

Faced with Hilton's casual questioning, Bobo was behaving very abnormally.

This usually glib Garden Person was now so frightened he couldn't even form a complete sentence.

"Oh, I see. You were abandoned by the royal family, weren't you? So you decided to come back to me.

Hahaha, that's great, perfect timing! I'm short-handed right now."

Siegfried understood halfway through.

Bobo was a Garden Person slave sold to the Moen royal family. Before that, who was his slave master?

By the looks of it, this master and slave pair were meeting again after more than twenty years.

Judging from Bobo's behavior, the relationship between the two must have been very harmonious, harmonious enough to be etched in memory.

Siegfried looked at the triumphant Hilton, then at the terrified and trembling Bobo, and said in an odd tone:

"This is quite unexpected. You two know each other?"

Hilton's old face was beaming with joy. He wasn't a fool; he could guess why Bobo was here. It must be because he had become Lord Meilan's slave.

The old man's anxious heart finally settled. He had been worried that Siegfried might be here to do something like liberating slaves, after all, heroes always fight for justice.

But now it seemed that this Lord Meilan didn't oppose slavery at all, so what was he afraid of?

It should be said that birds of a feather flock together, and this saying was not wrong at all. Although Hilton and Kortman were about ten years apart in age, their thoughts at this moment were surprisingly consistent.

The moment they saw Bobo the slave, they both regarded Siegfried as one of their own.

Hilton now found Siegfried much more pleasing to the eye, even feeling a sense of kindred spirits meeting, regretting not having met earlier.

"My lord, you don't know, this Garden Person used to be mine.

His family was in dire straits and couldn't afford to raise him, so they entrusted him to me.

I took care of him for a while, and later he caught the eye of a lord in the palace and went to the court.

I never expected that after changing hands several times, he would end up with you, Lord Meilan. It seems we truly have a fateful connection.

Hahahahaha."

The old man was so enthusiastic he seemed ready to become sworn brothers with Siegfried on the spot, apparently having completely forgotten what had happened in the office earlier.

"However, this fellow is just a mediocre half-baked one among Garden People. He knows nothing about dark magic, and his stealth abilities are just so-so.

I have better goods than him. I'll introduce some to you later."

Garden People are a type of demi-human, classified along with dwarves, half-beasts, goblins, and others as demi-human races.

Garden People are short like dwarves, but unlike dwarves who are all barrel-shaped, Garden People's body types are not much different from ordinary humans.

They're just a bit shorter, actually quite similar to human children.

They have long lifespans and develop slowly. A 36-year-old male Garden Person like Bobo would look similar to a 15 or 16-year-old human boy in appearance.

The biggest difference between Garden People and humans is their grayish-white skin color and six symmetrical flesh whiskers on their faces.

These flesh whiskers help them accurately capture the flow of magic in the air, so even if they close their eyes while running, they won't bump into walls.

The most distinctive feature of Garden People is their very rare affinity for the dark element.

Apart from them, only the Dark Elves and the Fallen Angel Court of the demon race possess this special elemental affinity on the continent.

They can create shadows to hide in even on a clear, sunny day, and combined with their flesh whiskers, they can infiltrate any fortress without a trace.

It can be said that catching a Garden Person in stealth mode is almost impossible.

Unless you're one of those cheaters from the Meilan family using [Eagle Eye] to see the entire map;

Or...

Siegfried looked at Bobo's face, completely devoid of flesh whiskers, with only six scars so faint they were almost invisible.

Or, this Garden Person had been mutilated, cruelly deprived of the flesh whiskers used to sense magic on his face.

"My lord, let me tell you, this guy used to always want to be some kind of minstrel when he was young. He would sing all day long for no reason. Just look at that voice of his, what could he possibly sing?"

Hilton was still chattering away. Siegfried bent down, his tone unusually gentle:

"Bobo, you can still sing?"

"This lowly one... used to be able to..."

"Hahaha, my lord, you jest. How could a dwarf like him sing anything? I found him noisy back then, so I scalded his throat with boiling water.

From that day on, the guild became much quieter. To be honest, I think his current voice, which sounds like a pig squealing, is much more pleasant to hear."

"Is that so, Bobo?"

Siegfried's tone was very gentle and calm. He had never spoken to this Garden Person in such a gentle tone before. He hoped to get an answer from the Garden Person's own mouth now.

Bobo's face turned pale. He lowered his head, clenching his fists uncontrollably, shaking. Siegfried could even hear the grinding of his tightly clenched teeth.

Finally, he raised his face, wearing a distorted smile that looked worse than crying.

"That's right, that's right. This lowly one's voice indeed sounds like a pig squealing. It's dirtying the ears of you two great lords, ahahaha."

Siegfried frowned in displeasure. He didn't get the answer he wanted.

He had been prepared. If Bobo had given the answer he wanted, Siegfried would have unhesitatingly ended the plan early and killed Hilton on the spot.

(I see, so this is your shackle?)

Siegfried pointed his chin towards the front and said:

"That's enough catching up. Let's get moving."

"Of course, please come this way."

Hilton led Siegfried around to the warehouse in the backyard.

The guards at the warehouse door, seeing the boss personally escorting a customer, hurriedly opened the door. From inside, a wide passage leading underground was revealed.

Siegfried didn't even blink before preparing to go down. He wasn't worried at all about these people setting up an ambush to kill him underground or anything like that.

The reliable intelligence director, Comrade Yang Jing, was always secretly protecting the major shareholder's safety, and incidentally helping Siegfried show off a bit.

Siegfried thought Yang Jing's psychic abilities were truly miraculous, making him drool with envy.

Now that's living the isekai life, drawing your sword to fight injustice wherever you see it. Unlike himself, who could only bluff with words to intimidate people.

Just as Siegfried was about to follow Hilton down, he noticed that directly opposite this warehouse was another similar warehouse.

But that warehouse had no guards, and for some reason, Siegfried felt there was something indescribably strange about it.

He looked closely and saw that the door of that warehouse was sealed with "No Entry" tape.

These seals emitted strong magical fluctuations, but it was a type of magical fluctuation Siegfried had never felt before. It didn't belong to any of the elements like earth, fire, wind, water, light, or darkness.

Siegfried also noticed that these seals had a strange symbol on them,

It was a skull with an odd expression, as if crying, with a crescent scythe piercing through the top of the skull.

Curiosity piqued, he pointed towards that warehouse and asked:

"What's that warehouse used for?"

However,

Hilton's answer,

Made his hair stand on end.

"My lord, what are you talking about?

There's no warehouse there."

The confusion on Hilton's face wasn't fake; Siegfried, who was proficient in cold reading, could guarantee that.

(There are only three explanations for this situation: either there's something wrong with me, or there's something wrong with him, or there's something wrong with this world.)

Siegfried's eyes narrowed. He decided to probe further:

"I'm talking about that warehouse right there, the one sealed with 'No Entry' tape."

Hilton's expression grew even more confused:

"My lord, I truly don't understand what you're referring to. There's nothing there but an empty lot. We've been planning to build another warehouse there, but construction hasn't started yet."

Siegfried fell silent. He looked at Bobo, who was standing nearby, and asked:

"Bobo, can you see that warehouse?"

Bobo looked in the direction Siegfried was pointing, his expression puzzled:

"This lowly one apologizes, but I don't see any warehouse there, my lord."

Siegfried's expression turned grave. He walked towards the empty lot, ignoring Hilton's calls behind him.

As he approached, he could feel an increasingly strong, bizarre energy emanating from that space. It was unlike any magic he had encountered before.

When he was about ten steps away from the warehouse, Siegfried suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. An inexplicable fear gripped his heart, as if some primal instinct was warning him not to go any closer.

He stopped in his tracks, staring intently at the warehouse that only he could see.

(What exactly is this place? Why can only I see it?)

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Siegfried made a decision. He turned back to Hilton and said:

"Let's continue with our business. Show me your merchandise."

Hilton, who had been anxiously waiting, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly led Siegfried towards the underground passage.

As they descended, Siegfried cast one last glance at the mysterious warehouse. The skull symbol on the seal seemed to grin at him mockingly.

(I'll definitely uncover your secrets,) Siegfried thought to himself as he disappeared into the underground passage.

Little did he know, this encounter would mark the beginning of a journey that would shake the very foundations of the Qilan Continent.

"""