Vichy Harbor

After changing carriages several times, the group finally reached Vichy Harbor at the northernmost tip of the Golden Sparrow Empire half a month later.

Traveling from the Old Earth Continent to the Prosperous Continent was no easy matter. Only at the beginning of each year would a trade freighter from the Prosperous Continent arrive at Vichy Harbor, and it would depart after staying there for merely two days. To avoid missing it, the group arrived at Vichy Harbor before the Month of Revival had begun.

"There are still eight days until the Month of Revival. The arrival time of the trade freighter from the Prosperous Continent is uncertain—it could come as early as eight days from now, or as late as thirty-eight. We'll stay in Sea Moon City for the time being, until we leave."

After saying this, Moro led everyone to the Bounty Guild established in the center of the city.

—The Bounty Guild was a shared functional association for all knights who abided by the kingdom's rules. The state issued missions, and knights could accept them at the guild in exchange for corresponding rewards.

Moro had not brought them to the Bounty Guild to accept missions. Rather, it was because the guild housed the most luxurious lodgings in all of Sea Moon City. So long as one had money, the services and accommodations available at the Bounty Guild far surpassed those of any other inn in the city. It had to be said: this was a guild where money reigned supreme.

As an elder of the Mone Family, Moro naturally carried no small number of gold coins. Nor did he care much for such currency. Upon arriving at the Bounty Guild, he paid all the expenses at once, including Angel's.

"You may move about freely for the next few days, but it's best to stay in the guild. Otherwise, when the ship arrives, we might not be able to find you." After giving this instruction, Moro returned to his room and seized every moment he could to meditate.

The moment they heard they could move about freely, Alan and Irene exchanged a glance, then burst into immense delight at the same time. The two little brats were like prisoners let out for fresh air, itching to rush out and embrace the air called "freedom." Alan's little eyes gleamed with excitement, while Irene could barely contain her joy. Still, her attention was focused more on Angel, who stood to one side.

"Brother Pat, let's go out for a stroll together! I heard Sea Moon City is the largest trade port in the country, gathering distinctive goods from every nation. There's even a street dedicated to selling foreign goods, and lots of people have found treasures there!" Irene said to Angel in a sweet, coquettish voice, just short of grabbing his arm and shaking it.

Angel looked at Irene with a slight headache.

Over the nearly month-long journey, everyone had grown much more familiar with one another, and Irene had become far bolder. The shyness she had shown upon their first meeting was gone. She still restrained herself from physical contact, but in every other regard, she acted cute and coquettish at every turn.

By now, no matter how slow-witted Angel was, he could see what Irene felt. He was also rather puzzled. They had only spent a few days together, yet she had developed feelings of affection for him. A maiden's heart truly was difficult to fathom.

But he was still young, and the sword of the "five-year promise" hung over his head, pressing down on him. He truly could not spare his thoughts for anything else. Thus, in response to Irene's admiration, he could only try his best to keep his distance. This was not only being responsible toward himself, but also showing respect for Irene.

"No. I promised my mentor that I would do mental exercises every day. I'm going back to my room first. We can go another time." Angel gently refused, then returned to his room.

Irene pouted unhappily. In the end, she stamped her foot and left the guild with the still-bewildered Alan.

After entering his room, Angel did not immediately take out the training exercises his mentor had assigned him. Instead, he leisurely examined the room.

His room faced the sea and had an exceptionally spacious terrace. Standing on it and looking into the distance, he could see bustling Vichy Harbor as well as the ocean, glittering with scattered waves of light.

Looking down from above at the countless people moving through Vichy Harbor like ants, Angel marveled at Sea Moon City's prosperity on one hand, while on the other, he felt somewhat unaccustomed to the sudden loneliness.

Looking southward, through the grasslands stretching for hundreds of miles, Angel seemed to see the mountains beyond them, and the peaceful little town hidden among those mountains—the place he had called home for the first fourteen years of his life, the place called "home."

"Brother, Mentor..." Angel murmured softly, his voice steeped in a lingering, inextricable melancholy.

In the blink of an eye, another ten-odd days passed.

With the arrival of the Month of Revival, the temperature began to rise noticeably. The waters along many essential sea routes had started to thaw, and great numbers of ocean-going vessels appeared at Vichy Harbor in wave after wave.

Moro hired a team of knights at the Bounty Guild to keep watch at the harbor every day for trade freighters coming from the Prosperous Continent. Meanwhile, Alan and Irene had gone wild with fun over the past few days, buying piles of this and that. They left early and returned late every day, never tiring of it even in the cold weather.

Angel, however, had not stepped outside at all these past few days. He remained at the inn sorting through what he had gained recently, especially studying the puzzles Jon had left for him.

These puzzles required extensive calculations and combined problems from multiple disciplines. If scholars from Earth had seen them, they too would have marveled at the breadth of subjects involved and their sheer difficulty. Though none of the individual subjects required profound specialization, without the far-reaching vision that came from wide learning, it would still be difficult to make any breakthrough.

The fact that Jon had given Angel such questions also showed his confidence in and regard for him.

Angel had begun calculating them when he left Pat Manor. More than a month had now passed, yet he had barely solved one quarter of the puzzles. This left him feeling deeply frustrated.

But no matter how frustrated he was, he had to solve them. For these puzzles concerned something his mentor had left behind for him. Only by solving every question and obtaining the final answer could he learn what his mentor had left him.

The second weekend of the Month of Revival brought rare clear weather. Perhaps stirred by the joy of melting ice, the harbor was even livelier than it had been days before. Angel thought that since he had been cooped up for so long, it would do no harm to go out for a walk today.

Thus, after all these days, Angel finally changed into casual clothes for going out, tidied his appearance, put on his gentle smile for the outside world, and stepped out of his room.

The Bounty Guild's main hall was as busy as ever. The moment he entered, waves of heavy sweat stench washed over him. Most of those who lingered here were knights living each day with their lives balanced on a blade's edge. Even the valiant female knights generally only cleaned the exposed parts of their faces; as for the smell on their bodies... they had no time to care much about it.

Angel unconsciously frowned, but quickly remembered that this was no longer Gelu Town. Without his brother's shelter, he was not even a noble outside—at most, he counted as a noble's family member. With that thought, his brow relaxed once more, and he continued wearing his harmless smile.

At a small tavern to one side of the hall, Angel ordered a cup of bin-grass rum and some roasted meat. He only took a small taste of the alcohol. It was not as good as the manor's milk wine, possessing only a pungent fermented flavor.

As Angel ate the roasted meat, he pricked up his ears and listened to the adventurers around him boasting and chatting.

—In a tavern where dragons and snakes mingled, it was easiest to hear unique bits of information. This was a lesson Angel had drawn from the martial arts novels Jon used to tell him about from Earth.

He had too little experience traveling outside, so he did not know whether many of the lessons he had drawn from books were actually correct. Still, that did not stop him from happily eavesdropping on the adventurers' conversations. Even though many of them were simply bragging, he listened with great interest.

"Hehe, have you heard? Something big happened recently in the Hailan Kingdom, which is currently at war with the Empire! Many grand dukes died for no apparent reason, and their deaths were so gruesome that even the knights assigned to guard them were left trembling with fear in the middle of the night..."

"Our guild's number-one hired knight order—the Radiant Golden Sparrow Knights—hasn't shown itself for months. Tell me, could the tragedy in the Hailan Kingdom have been their doing?" At the table beside Angel, several adventurers gossiped about the war on the faraway front. "Do you remember? Half a year ago, the lord of the Imperial capital personally came to the Bounty Guild to issue a mission to assassinate the commander of the Hailan Kingdom. I'd say these two matters must be connected!"

The adventurers' voices were all loud, and some deliberately raised theirs further to flaunt their own exploits. As a result, nearly everyone in the tavern heard the man's words.

Everyone voiced their agreement. One side was an enemy nation, while the other was a hired order from their own guild. Their bias was unquestionably one-sided.

Amid the flushed, drunken discussion, an icy voice cut in like a wedge. "The Radiant Golden Sparrow Knights? Hmph. Your knowledge is far too shallow. Let me tell you—the Hailan tragedy was definitely not their work. They are not that powerful!"

The speaker wore a long robe of watery blue, its hems embroidered with silver patterns. At a glance, it was clear that it was worth a great deal.

"How dare you talk like that!"

"Who are you? You dare speak of the Radiant Golden Sparrow Knights this way—do you know what the consequences will be?"

Everyone turned toward the speaker, their eyes filled with fierce hostility.

"Eh? You again! Don't think that just because you hold credentials from the Hailan Chamber of Commerce, you can run rampant in the Golden Sparrow Empire! You're a Hailan man. Instead of keeping your tail tucked between your legs while doing business in our country, you dare interrupt us? Looks like you don't want to live anymore!" A burly, rough-looking man rose at the sound!

The Hailan merchant merely cast him a cold glance. More than ten fully armed knights at his side immediately surrounded him protectively.

The burly man alone naturally could not contend against more than ten knight guards. But this was Golden Sparrow Empire territory. Seeing the situation, numerous knights immediately stood beside the burly man. No matter how reckless he was, he was still a man of the Golden Sparrow Empire. It was not the place of people from the Hailan Kingdom to teach him a lesson!

Both sides had around ten vigorous, armored men. As they faced off against each other, the atmosphere in the tavern seemed to freeze for a moment.