Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“That’s weird, why is Sir Harvey here…” Johnathan muttered as he walked over with a few sleeping bags. While he said that, he turned to look at Harvey’s back. Earlier on, when Rina had her sword against Harvey’s neck, Johnathan went back to submit the forms and collect some sleeping bags for them. Hence, he did not see the conflict a few minutes ago.
Since Johnathan was not aware of it, Lin Li naturally did not mention it to him.
“Oh, yes. Brother Felic, I hope Sir Harvey did not create any trouble for you?” Johnathan said with concern as he handed the sleeping bags to them.
“Nope.” Lin Li shook his head and smiled. Then, he asked curiously, “Brother Johnathan, you mean that this Sir Harvey tends to stir up trouble?”
“Erm… Actually, he doesn’t do it frequently…” Johnathan smiled bitterly. “But, Sir Harvey is more… arrogant, and doesn’t think highly of us common people. People who offend him would be in trouble…”
Lin Li could tell that Johnathan was trying to phrase his words really carefully. How would he not know the idea that underlay them? To boil it down, Harvey was a rich and pampered man who had zero respect for the Adventurers. Hence, Johnathan feared that Lin Li’s language would offend Harvey, and cause the latter to seek revenge.
Lin Li smiled. With his status right now, he did not need to give Harvey any importance. So what if he were to offend the Malfa Family? Would they be heading to the Tower of Dusk for revenge? If so, the All-Kill Array might not be that kind to them, either…
Yet, Lin Li was really grateful to Johnathan. Although he was trying to rephrase the words, Lin Li could clearly tell that underlying Johnathan’s words was genuine worry and concern. When he looked at Johnathan again, Lin Li was determined to ensure the man’s safety when they journeyed to the Blackstone Mountains.
Johnathan was naturally unaware that his casual words earned himself a gold amulet against death.
At the same time, Harvey was fuming with anger in his tent.
“What’s the use of having you dumb*sses around me? My father invested so much in all of you, and this is how you protect me? You guys only know how to brag about being experts all day long. You must be bragging experts, eh? You actually allowed a random woman to hold her sword against my throat? If I were to meet a truly powerful beast, can I still count on you guys?”
“…” The attendants in the tent were all Warriors around level-14, and one of them had even reached level-15. In many other places, he could have been considered an expert Warrior, but now, he had to let the raging Harvey scold him, and even was afraid to lift up his head.
Honestly, these followers felt very wronged too.
They were not close enough to their master when the matter happened. Furthermore, who would expect that a small Adventurer would dare to challenge the second young master of the Malfa Family? When they finally reacted to the situation, a sword had already been pressed against Sir Harvey’s throat. What could they do? They surely did not want their reckless action to provoke the unhappy female Adventurer back then. If that woman felt threatened, she might’ve applied more force on the sword…
“Are you all mute?” After lashing out at his followers, the anger of the second young master of the Malfa Family did not seem to subside. “I will give you guys another chance to think of a way to bring that woman to me. If you succeed, I will let this matter pass. However, if you don’t, be prepared to explain yourselves to my father!” he said as he paced around the tent in frustration.
Upon hearing that, the attendants became pallid with fear. Sir Harvey’s scolding was nothing to them, but if their failure to protect Sir Harvey were to be known by the patriarch, there would be dire consequences.
At once, the attendants were all wrecking their brains for ideas.
“Sir Harvey, why don’t we spike that woman…?”
“Are you a f*cking idiot?” The lousy idea made Harvey even angrier. He raised his hand and gave the attendant a tight slap on his face. “How could you suggest that when my elder brother Hutton is here? If I f*ck that woman tonight, I’m going to be sent back to Aminya tomorrow!”
When that slap landed on his face, the attendant who gave the stupid idea was suddenly reminded that the eldest young master of the Malfa Family, Hutton, would be here too. Hutton was the real heir of the family, and was known to be cruel and inhumane when he got rid of people. If Hutton were to know that he was the mastermind behind that foolish suggestion, not only would he not be able to go back to Aminya, he would be hanged on the spot as well.
“Actually, Sir Harvey, it is not impossible to get that woman here. But, it would require some time…”
“Continue!”
“Although that woman is pretty, she is, after all, an ordinary Adventurer with neither status nor background. Now that she is in our territory, she is in our hands too. If you can’t bear it, why don’t you let her suffer a little first? It should let her understand that her life would be at stake without you, Sir Harvey. Then, she would be begging to meet you…”
“How are we going to make her life difficult?”
“Hehe, I asked Hahn about it just now. Her teammates and she are foreigners from Doland who do not have any close kin in Aminya. Even if anything were to happen to them, nobody would back them up…” That was a lean and short level-14 Warrior who resembled a mouse.
“We do not need to do it ourselves, either. Just get a few Aminya Adventurers to give her three male teammates a bashing, and that woman would naturally be scared. It would then seem like a conflict between the Adventurers, and none of our business…”
“Sounds good…” Harvey nodded, and became more resolved. “Go get Hahn here!” he added.
“Yes!”
At the same time, Johnathan prepared a place for Lin Li and his teammates to settle down. Rina frowned when she saw the four sleeping bags being placed in the middle of a spacious tent. She glanced at Norfeller, then at Ujfalusi, and shook her head. Then, Rina took her sleeping bag to the innermost corner of the tent.
“Ujfalusi, you can wake the evil spirit up now,” Lin Li said as he glanced at Rina, who was already inside her sleeping bag. He took out a crystal pen from his pocket and used the star sand ink to construct a simple mageweath.
The mageweath had only one function—to cover the aura emitted by the Undead. That was the only thing Lin Li could do for Rina. That girl in the corner was a Paladin from the Brilliance Shrine, after all. It would be very unpleasant for her to be surrounded by the Undead aura.
“Alright, Master.” Ujfalusi nodded, and drew a weird picture with his bony finger in the air. A hoarse recitation sounded, and the Undead aura filled the tent.
As the sky darkened gradually, Ujfalusi started to describe Granger’s movements.
Now, Granger had returned to his tent. By his side was the same Archmage they’d seen in the morning.
“That Archmage told Granger to return to Black Clouds Town to open the basement of the cathedral after he finishes his task here…”
“Cathedral?” Lin Li scratched his head. He knew that there was a cathedral in Black Clouds Town. It was himself who ordered the Syer Bandits to strip in the Cathedral Square when they were there to collect protection fees. But, what could there be in the basement of the cathedral? Would there still be secrets there?
“Ujfalusi, did that Archmage mention what’s there at the basement of the cathedral?”
“No…” Ujfalusi replied while shaking his head before resuming his eavesdropping business.
“Granger agreed to do it, but he raised a condition. He wanted that Archmage to ensure the safety of his father.”
“Ensure Alexir’s safety?” Lin Li’s expression darkened. Although there seemed to be not much context in the exchange between the two men, Lin Li had a bad premonition—there had to be something dangerous inside that basement…
“Now, they are discussing the task tomorrow…
“Master, there’s people outside.”
“I got it. Let the evil spirit sleep first.” After instructing Ujfalusi, Lin Li let out the Warlock’s Eyes and controlled it with his mental strength. He let it glide on the ground and out of the tent. He was very curious to know who were the damn bastards who were trying to disrupt his rest.
With the Warlock’s Eyes, he saw a group five Adventurers walking towards his tent. They were all level-13 and level-14 Warriors, carrying weapons in their hands as though they were prepared to bash people up. Lin Li regained his composure very quickly after he realized that this group of people had to be acting for that Sir Harvey. It made sense too—how could the second young master of the Malfa Family let the matter rest after he got threatened by a woman with her sword? It was no wonder Johnathan was worried that that dude would not let people off easily…
Lin Li felt a bit of a headache when he saw the approaching Adventurers. He was a level-18 Archmage, whose ability was in stark contrast with those people’s. If he wanted, he could turn these five Adventurers into ashes with a wave of an arm.
But, it was not the time…
He had just sneaked into the Adventurer team of the Malfa Family, and only heard a part of a secret about Black Clouds Town. If he were to get rid of them now, wouldn’t his efforts be wasted?
Free meals are cool, but never free labor!
“Forget it, I shall be merciful and let you fall asleep for a while. It shall not be my problem if you get nightmares, though…” Lin Li muttered, and took out the Magic Lamp from his Ring of Endless Storm. He rubbed the lamp gently and called out a puff of black smoke. Under the dim light, the black smoke distorted, and gradually turned into a hideous face.
“Master, Iminia is here to serve you.”
Lin Li could tell that the hideous face seemed even mightier as compared to the time he saw it at the Tower of Dusk. Connoris was right. The phantom left behind by the Lord of Nightmares had grown to be more powerful after he instilled his mental strength into the seal every day. Perhaps one day, it would be strong enough to summon the real Lord of Nightmares…
“Go, Iminia, help me welcome the guests outside. Make them fall asleep, but be careful not to harm them.”
“Alright, Master. ”
Iminia dissipated in the air right after he answered Lin Li. His hideous face transformed into black smoke and left the tent through a small opening. In the twinkling of an eye, this black smoke surrounded the five Adventurers. Iminia was a phantom left behind from the Lord of Nightmares, who was skilled in using spiritual force to attack souls. A gust of mental strength entered the minds of the five people; Iminia did not even face any obstruction when he dealt with these low-level Warriors…
What followed was the sound of five level-13 or level-14 Adventurers falling to the ground, asleep in the blink of an eye.
“Not bad…” Lin Li smiled in satisfaction. The power of the Lord of Nightmares was stronger than he’d expected. He knew that the large amount of magical crystals did not go to waste.
After settling the meddlesome Adventurers, Lin Li could finally have a good night’s sleep. However, he woke up again in the early morning due to Johnathan.
“Brother Felic, brother Felic! Wake up, there’s trouble!
Lin Li was in deep slumber when Johnathan dashed into the tent. Although he finally woke up due to Johnathan, he did not manage to make clear of the situation.
“What happened, Brother Johnathan…?” asked Lin Li groggily.
“Last night, there were a few Adventurers who fell asleep outside, so everyone is suspecting that they got cursed. So, they are arguing over that now. Do you want to go and take a look?”
“…” Lin Li nearly went crazy. Johnathan was too nosy! Instead of waking him up to watch some commotion, why didn’t he do other things that would reap more benefits?
“I say, Brother Johnathan, I don’t think this matter is related to me. Why don’t you let me sleep a few more minutes?
“Nope, even if you’re not interested in the conflict, you are not to sleep already!”
