After dinner.
Su Li pushed his bowl and chopsticks forward and rose to his feet.
"Saina, go bolt the courtyard gate. Elena, shut every window on the second floor tight."
Saina obediently ran off to secure the gate, even wedging a thick wooden pole behind it.
"I'm going into seclusion in the woodshed. No matter what you hear, don't come in and disturb me."
After giving his instructions, Su Li headed straight for the woodshed in the back courtyard.
"Wait!"
Elena hurried after him a couple of steps.
"Do you need me to keep watch outside?"
Su Li waved a hand.
"No. No one in Silver Crown City has the spare time to investigate our rundown courtyard now. You two should get some sleep."
The wooden door of the woodshed shut with a creak, and the bolt slid into place.
The courtyard fell silent.
Saina walked over to Elena, twisting the ties of her apron between both hands as she stared nervously at the tightly shut wooden door.
"He'll be all right, won't he? I heard an old elf in the black market say that if a knight fails a breakthrough, people can die."
For once, Elena did not mock her.
"Don't be such a crow's beak."
She paced two laps around the courtyard in agitation.
"That's for ordinary people. Your man's a monster. Reaching the second tier was as easy as drinking water for him—what the hell is the third tier?"
Though she said that, Elena honestly dragged over a chair and sat directly on the bluestone path opposite the woodshed.
Seeing this, Saina brought over a small stool and sat beside Elena.
The two women, who normally seemed ready to claw each other to death, had unprecedentedly formed a united front. One on each side, they silently took