Isn't it an escape from prison?

Three people came out of the prison cells. Seeing Brando easily deal with the three guards patrolling this level, the entire process was silent and disturbingly proficient. Freya had always suspected if Brando had undergone special training before, but did high-land knights need such training?

The black prison under the barracks didn't hold many people to begin with, and the security was lax. Ridenburg had another dungeon for ordinary criminals; this black prison was mainly for deserters and bandits. However, the army usually executed these people on the spot, so it hadn't been used much since its construction, and the jailers were just going through the motions.

But in the game, this dungeon was specifically for detaining players, and the scene was completely different from here; it was overcrowded. If the White Mane Legion had any mortal enemies in the game besides Madara, it would definitely be a dungeon like this.

After dealing with the patrolling guards, the four of them made their way to the center of this level. The guard managing the keys was startled to see several people emerge from the darkness and instinctively drew the sword from the wall.

However, Brando immediately raised his protective gloves to block the guard's sword. A faint blue light emanated from the gloves, blocking the sharp sword. The blue light was about the size of a football, and it seemed to contain an outward force pushing away the sharp longsword.

The White Mane light infantryman was startled, and in his surprise, the sword in his hand was snatched by Brando. Then, the young man pushed him outwards, causing him to hit the wall and groan before passing out. However, in Brando's opinion, these were ordinary soldiers, and since he had the ability, he didn't kill them, only knocking them out with a single blow.

Freya, watching from behind as he took down the last enemy, couldn't help but exclaim, "So you're this powerful, Brando—if we hadn't come out this time, I would have been like a frog in a well."

"You're not bad either, no need to be self-deprecating. You're about average for a White-ranked Swordsman, more than enough to join the guard." Brando found the key to the next level from the guard while replying.

"White-ranked Swordsman?"

"That means no rank," the young man Sharr explained from the side. "The three ranks of Swordsman—Black Iron, Silver, and Gold—correspond to Squire, Knight, and High Knight respectively. Black Iron rank Swordsmen are also called reserve knights in Eluin, and noble children with any prospects are sent to prominent noble families to become retainers."

"According to tradition, swordsmen of this level have the right not to remove their hats when greeting lower nobles like squires or barons, but this tradition has almost fallen into disuse for half a century. Below Black Iron Swordsmen are those with no rank. Generally, your guard and militia are at this level, with differences in skill."

"I see." Freya suddenly understood. Her gaze had been confined to being the best swordsman in the militia, but at this moment, her perspective broadened.

However, Sharr wasn't finished. He probably saw his lord's intention to nurture this girl, so he continued, "Black Iron Swordsmen represent the first level of strength (3-20 'Oz), Silver Swordsmen represent the second level of strength (20-100 'Oz), and Gold Swordsmen represent the third level of strength (100-500 'Oz). Our wizards correspond to Intermediate Wizards, First Ring Wizards, and Second Ring Wizards. Priests and other professions have similar divisions. In fact, this classification is not based on any single country but is strictly set by the Temple of Flames."

Freya and Romane couldn't help but blink, not knowing there were so many underlying principles. However, this knowledge wasn't difficult to come by among commoners, but Bucci was simply too remote.

"You should know that in powerful empires like Gruz and Banse, the regular army soldiers are at least lower-tier Black Iron, and captains are almost never below Silver. But in our Eluin, even the frontline soldiers of the border legions, and even more than half of them, don't reach the level of Black Iron Swordsmen. Even the captain-level figures who serve as knights are only at the mid-tier Black Iron level," Sharr said meaningfully.

"Sharr, if word of this gets out, we'll be beheaded."

"If Lord doesn't fear beheading, then I, as his retainer, naturally won't fear it," the young man replied cleverly. He continued, "Lord should be at the Black Iron Swordsman level by now. For Lord's age, this is already very rare. Sharr is very honored to follow such an outstanding person."

Brando thought to himself that not to mention the Enlightened and the Chosen, even those born with knightly talent were nothing special. His achievement, considering it was completed within a few days, was indeed peculiar, but Sharr didn't know this. However, being flattered was quite pleasant, so he couldn't be bothered to expose it.

Besides, Freya and Romane's slightly surprised gazes made him quite pleased, didn't they?

Sharr looked at the unconscious soldier on the ground and quietly asked, "It seems there are other prisoners in cells 5, 17, and 22. Should we release them to help us escape, Lord? If the outside is the barracks, the more people, the greater the chance of success seems to be."

Freya immediately glared at this guy. What kind of terrible idea was this? Didn't Brando say that the people imprisoned here were truly heinous criminals?

"No need, more people will only disrupt my plan," Brando replied confidently.

"As you wish."

Brando turned back again. "Romane, do you know where your aunt lives?"

Romane shook her head. "I don't know either, but she said she'd be staying with a cousin?"

"Where does that cousin live?"

"I know, in Bonuan Market. I heard Aunt Jenny say that person seems to be a distant relative of Aunt Romane, a small wool merchant named Hood." Freya answered.

Brando looked at Romane. "Your family does have a tradition of merchants."

The merchant lady responded with a sweet smile.

Since the destination was confirmed, the next steps were easier. The first floor of the dungeon under the barracks was even smaller and had only one jailer. Brando then confirmed that the four jailers on the next level were added temporarily because of them. After clearing this level, they continued upwards, entering the barracks.

Brando was very familiar with this place. He first went to the temporary storage and retrieved Freya's Empress of Wind Half-Plate, then searched everyone for swords to arm themselves. It was a shame that knocking out soldiers didn't give experience, otherwise, Brando wouldn't have minded waking them up and knocking them out a few more times.

During this time, Sharr had suggested more than once to incite the prisoners in the cells to help them escape amidst the riot. The reason was simple: they could easily deal with one or two White Mane light infantrymen with a surprise attack. But once they got to the courtyard outside, it would be very difficult for the four of them to break out.

However, Brando rejected all suggestions.

As they talked, they had already stealthily infiltrated the top floor of the barracks. Brando opened the wooden door to the top of the tower and walked out. Outside was an open-air walkway with parapets for temporary defense on both sides. Brando knew without looking that below it was a tributary of the Yusong River within the city, and from here, they could roughly see a fifth of the city.

But he wasn't here to sightsee. They had knocked out seven guards on the way up. Given the training level of the White Mane Legion, they would discover the anomaly in about ten minutes. Brando looked up at the sky. The moonlight tonight was beautiful; even the thick cloud layer couldn't obscure the silver disk in the night sky.

"What are you doing, Brando?" Freya couldn't help but poke him from behind. She wondered if this guy had escaped just to look at the moon. Although it seemed unlikely, given his notorious past, it wasn't entirely impossible.

She glanced at Sharr, who was also standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky with his master, silent. The master and servant were quite in sync.

"The moonlight tonight is nice," Brando replied casually.

"You—" Freya gritted her teeth in anger, wanting to punch him in the face to see if he could still smile.

"Aunt said the moon's name is Luca. Luca was born because of Eileen, and Eileen is Alice's sister—twin goddesses. Because of the moon, there is mystery in this world," Romane said, looking up at the moon with her small face.

"Your aunt knows a lot," Sharr replied from the side. "This is a secret passed down among wizards in this world. There's a book called 'Dark Epic' that recounts events from countless past ages."

"You mean Romane's aunt is a wizard?" Freya was stunned for a moment.

"Not necessarily, someone related to magic. Some village witches also know some of these rumors," Sharr replied.

The girl with the long ponytail couldn't help but glance at Romane, who seemed not to hear these words and was staring blankly at the moon, lost in thought. However, Freya thought that Aunt Jenny was indeed a bit mysterious; she often brought back strange things from outside. The villagers said she was a witch and didn't interact much with their family.

But as Brando listened to the three of them talking, a strange sentence surfaced in his mind:

XVI: THE TOWER—

The lost 'Moon' stole the light.

He was stunned for a moment, thinking he was hallucinating. He quickly shook his head, but he couldn't help but recall the dream he had when he was unconscious that night.

In a quiet and dark environment, everything in the dream seemed bizarre. However, only a black moon and a silently standing tall tower in the center of a dark lake ran through the entire dream.

After that, he met Freya. But just as he thought of this, he heard the merchant lady say while staring at the moon, "Something is coming, Brando."

The remaining three people all looked up.

After about twenty seconds, everyone present heard a low flapping sound from the sky. Freya was confused and uneasy, but Brando and Sharr remained calm. Brando, in particular, looked up.

The next moment, a gargoyle with spread wings leaped out from the clouds under the moonlight. The stone demon, with its wings spread, formed a mysterious composition in the bright moonlight, above the clouds, and in the eyes of the three—

"Brando, that's your gargoyle!" Romane recognized it immediately.

"En, are you afraid of heights?"

The merchant lady quickly shook her head.

"W-what do you want to do, Brando?" Freya thought of something, and her face turned pale.

Lord Goldenfruit stormed into Burnley's house with a grim expression. The honorary noble, who called himself a master craftsman and industrialist, was examining a delicate brass armor with a magnifying glass. After all, armor in the style of the Year of the Returning Radiance was priceless in the hands of any collector.

Burnley slowly put away his magnifying glass, glanced at his companion, and said somewhat teasingly, "What, did that guy take people out of the city overnight?"

"It's not that serious. Those prisoners from tonight escaped!" Seber couldn't help but get angry when he mentioned this. What really angered him was that the madman actually came to his mansion and yelled at him.

"That's just a minor issue. How did they escape?"

"That's not what I'm angry about," Lord Goldenfruit shook his head and took a deep breath. "I'm angry that the 'Tiger' Luc Besson from the White Mane Legion came to yell at me, saying I locked the descendant of a Highland Knight in his dungeon, and that I was trying to cause trouble for him!"

"Highland Knight?" Burnley was taken aback.

"En, he said one of those three people was a Highland Knight. And he had his mage escort with him. God, he actually came to demand the person, saying that I couldn't touch that person and that he absolutely had to have him in his unit." Lord Goldenfruit was about to fly into a rage when he mentioned this.

"And the result?"

"The result, the result is that I have to take people to settle this matter. In the middle of the night, that guy is simply going too far!" he replied irritably.

"Don't be impulsive. Let Granson handle this. I'll send some people from my private army to help you," Burnley replied with a smile.

Lord Goldenfruit gave him a grateful look, feeling for the first time that his round face wasn't so annoying. However, he thought for a moment and reminded him, "Actually, I came for another reason. I heard you recently transported a batch of armor into the city? You should be careful. Although cultivating your own influence is not a big deal now, be careful not to give anyone an excuse."

He couldn't help but glance inside the room.

"Just a personal hobby," the industrialist replied with a smile.