When the carriage passed through a village, Charlotte left the fare behind and quietly got off without alerting the driver.
Watching the carriage race away, Charlotte relaxed slightly. He had never intended to go to that manor. Having digested the life essence he had devoured, slipping away midway would make it harder for his pursuers to trace his movements.
The village was not very populous, with perhaps only a few dozen households. A single small street ran through the entire settlement.
Night had already fallen. Although Charlotte was a Transcendence, he still did not dare travel through the wilderness in the middle of the night. The wilds of this world were unsafe. Even near the capital, Strasbourg, there were man-eating demons, ferocious beasts, and all sorts of dangers that could not be clearly explained.
Charlotte tried knocking on the doors of two villagers. A rough voice came from the first house and refused his request for lodging. The second household was much friendlier. Though they also turned him down, they directed him to Old John's house at the village entrance.
Old John was a hunter who occasionally took in strangers for the night.
By the time Charlotte found the old hunter's home, it was completely dark. He knocked on the door and asked for a place to stay. A tall, powerfully built old man opened the door and said, "Come in!"
To Charlotte's surprise, the old hunter was not alone. There was also a small adventurer group in his house.
The group had five members, three men and two women. Their leader was a middle-aged warrior who wielded a great axe. He was very wary and did not speak to Charlotte.
The other two men were somewhat younger, though both were still in their thirties, with sabers at their waists. Rapiers were excellent weapons for duels in the streets, but in the wilderness and in the military, thick-backed sabers were the more common choice. These two were clearly experienced adventurers. Aside from their weapons, they carried plenty of miscellaneous gear, and they regarded Charlotte with equally cautious eyes.
The two women were both very young and of average appearance. One was a typical Farsian, with striking wavy blond hair. The other seemed to have some southern Old Continent blood, with short light-brown hair. Both were in their early twenties, only a few years older than Sylvie.
Public schools taught all kinds of martial skills, while the National Academy taught Breathing Techniques. Even women could develop considerable fighting ability.
For example, Charlotte's former fiancée, Miss Sylvie Martin, was better at swordsmanship than he was.
After graduation, many women chose not to enter government employment. With their practiced martial skills or knowledge gained through formal training, they became adventurers.
Because... the Empire really did discriminate somewhat by gender when assigning jobs. Sylvie being sent to the countryside as a registrar was not an isolated case. The other nations of the Old Continent were not much better.
The young blond woman was very interested in Charlotte. "Are you going to York Town for that White Wolf too?"
Charlotte smiled faintly. "I'm just passing through. I haven't heard about White Wolf. What kind of beast is he?"
Several adventurers laughed. The young blond woman said, "White Wolf isn't a beast. He's the finest Demon Hunter, especially skilled at slaying monsters. Recently, word has gotten out that he acquired a monster's heart core and wants to choose an heir."
Charlotte was slightly surprised. Demon Hunter was a Transcendence profession with extremely broad employment prospects. Whether one accepted government employment, worked for nobles or merchants, or even worked independently, all were good choices. It was highly profitable, an exceptionally well-paid profession.
He had two university classmates who had chosen the Demon Hunter profession. Before graduation, they successfully became Transcendence and became Demon Hunters. They now earned at least ten Flor a week, making them the envy of many.
However, despite the broad employment prospects of Demon Hunters, this Transcendence profession had two major flaws. Entering the profession required a monster's heart core, something extremely rare and outrageously expensive that ordinary people could not obtain. And one had to constantly fight monsters, so while the income was generous, it was also extraordinarily dangerous.
Charlotte had considered becoming a Demon Hunter himself, but in the end he chose Bloody Glory. He simply had no talent for combat.
After glancing over the five adventurers, Charlotte immediately judged that none of them had advanced to Transcendence. A thought came to him, and he said with a smile, "I have no interest in becoming a Demon Hunter, but I'm quite curious to see this for myself. Would it be possible for me to travel with you?"
"Don't worry. I won't compete with you for the chance to become a Demon Hunter, because..."
Charlotte lightly pinched his fingers together. The air gave a faint crackling pop as he said with a smile, "I've taken the Knight's Path. I'm already a Transcendence."
Of course, Charlotte could not use battle aura. His Seed of Power was still only a seed, but it was not difficult to use Bloody Glory to imitate battle aura. After all, Bloody Glory was similar to battle aura in nature.
The five adventurers were immediately moved. The middle-aged warrior with the great axe hesitated briefly before saying, "My name is Mason. Welcome to the Great Axe Adventurer Group."
The other two somewhat younger men also gave their names. The young blond woman was called Hannah, while the young woman with the short light-brown hair was called Hermontha. It was indeed a name with a touch of southern Old Continent custom, one that sounded rather strange to proper people of the Empire of Fars.
Charlotte could not possibly give his real name. Taking inspiration from Hermontha's name, he fabricated one with the same southern Old Continent flavor: Qian Nan.
Traveling alone was rather conspicuous and made it easy for pursuers to track him down. But moving with an adventurer group would attract far less attention and better conceal his identity.
Having joined the Great Axe Adventurer Group, Charlotte tossed out a Centime coin and called, "Old John, do you have any alcohol? I'll buy my teammates a drink."
Centime coins in the Empire of Fars were dark red and looked very much like copper coins, so everyone considered them copper coins. In truth, they were made of an alloy. Charlotte did not know the formula for this so-called copper, but it was highly resistant to wear and did not easily bend or fade.
Old John caught the coin and said blandly, "One Centime isn't enough."
Charlotte shrugged and tossed out two more Centime coins. Old John caught them, then finally turned to fetch the alcohol.
It was not that Charlotte did not know one Centime was insufficient to buy alcohol. He was deliberately creating the impression that he was not particularly wealthy, but was very generous.
Poor, yet generous—this would easily set him apart from the former First-Class Clerk, who had a good salary but few friends, as well as the former First-Rank Chief Clerk!
Old John soon brought over six large mugs of ale and handed one to each of them.
Mason took his ale and immediately felt immense goodwill toward Charlotte. He called out, "Qian Nan! You're the best new member I've ever seen."
He raised his mug and took a huge gulp, his face filled with indescribable satisfaction.
Charlotte clinked mugs with the other four members, then took a small sip as well.
Old John's ale was much worse than the sparkling apple wine Charlotte usually drank. It was slightly bitter and tasted more like beer, except its alcohol content was clearly far higher.
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