Resting Dragon Nest Tavern Hall.
In a corner with a broad view, at a table that could see both the inn's front door and the stairs to the second floor.
"Creak."
As if unable to bear the weight of the metal plate armor, the four chair legs trembled slightly where they braced against the floor, letting out a shrill groan.
Terry William leaned back, resting lightly against the chair.
A natural, amiable smile still lingered on his handsome face.
Behind him, the table where Xia Nan and his group had been sitting was now empty save for a few plates, and the tavern server was briskly clearing it.
From the stairwell leading to the second floor on the other side, the sound of footsteps gradually fading into the distance could be faintly heard.
"Captain, what do you think?"
Beside his ear, one of his subordinates leaned in and asked in a lowered voice.
"Probably not." The smile on his face gradually vanished as his fingertips lightly tapped the tabletop. In its place came a deeper look of contemplation.
Terry William shook his head almost imperceptibly.
"Perhaps he was only passing through by coincidence."
"Can it really be that much of a coincidence?" Across the table, a knight likewise dressed in standard equipment, though of slightly inferior quality, said in surprise. "At this exact time, the second son of a city lord from faraway Newm suddenly appears in Molten Scale Town?"
"Captain, I don't think it's that simple."
Terry William did not reply to that. He merely poured himself a glass of ice water.
He drained it in one gulp, then wiped the water from the corner of his mouth.
Those eyes, which had never shown anything but goodwill in front of Hai An and the others, now held only a