Great Axe Adventurer Group

As the carriage passed through a village, Charlotte paid the fare and quietly got off without alarming the driver.

Watching the carriage speed away, Charlotte relaxed slightly. He hadn't intended to go to that estate anyway. After digesting the life essence he had absorbed, slipping away midway would make it harder for any pursuers to track him.

This village was small, with only a few dozen households, and a single street ran through it.

It was already getting dark, and although Charlotte was a Transcendent, he didn't dare travel through the wilderness at night. The wilds in this world weren't safe; even near the capital, Strasbourg, there were man-eating demons, fierce beasts, and various other unexplainable dangers.

Charlotte tried knocking on the doors of two villagers. The first house responded with a rude voice and refused his request for lodging. The second was much more accommodating; although they also refused him, they directed him to Old John's house at the head of the village.

Old John was a hunter who occasionally took in strangers for lodging.

By the time Charlotte found the old hunter's house, it was completely dark. He knocked on the door and asked for a place to stay. A tall, sturdy old man opened the door and said, "Come in!"

To Charlotte's surprise, the old hunter wasn't alone. There was a small adventurer team in his room.

The team consisted of five people, three men and two women. The leader was a middle-aged warrior who used a great axe; he was very wary and didn't speak to Charlotte.

The other two men were slightly younger, in their thirties, and wore sabers at their waists. Rapiers were excellent weapons for duels in the streets, but in the wilderness and the army, sabers with thick spines were the common weapon. These two were clearly experienced adventurers; besides their weapons, they had a lot of gear, and their gazes as they looked at Charlotte were somewhat cautious.

The two ladies were both very young, of average appearance. One was a typical Fars person with excellent wavy blonde hair. The other likely had some Old Continent southern blood, with short, slightly brown hair. Both women were in their early twenties, not much older than Sylvie.

The Public Society taught various martial arts, and the National Academy taught breathing techniques. Even women could develop considerable skill.

For example, Charlotte's former fiancée, Miss Sylvie Martin, was better at swordsmanship than he was.

Many women chose not to enter government work after graduation, becoming adventurers instead, relying on their skilled martial arts or knowledge gained from formal training.

Because... the Empire did have some gender discrimination in job assignments. Sylvie being assigned to the countryside as a Registrar wasn't an isolated case; other countries on the Old Continent weren't much better.

The young blonde woman was very interested in Charlotte and asked, "Are you also going to York Town for that White Wolf?"

Charlotte smiled slightly and said, "I'm just passing through. I haven't heard about the White Wolf. What kind of beast is that?"

The adventurers all laughed. The young blonde woman said, "The White Wolf isn't a beast; he's the best Demon Hunter, very skilled at killing Monsters. Recently, he let it be known that he obtained a Monster's Core and wants to choose an inheritor."

Charlotte was slightly surprised. Demon Hunter was a widely employed Transcendent profession. Whether hired by the government, nobles, or merchants, or even working alone, it was a good choice and very lucrative, a super high-paying industry.

He had two university classmates who chose the Demon Hunter profession and successfully became Transcendent Demon Hunters before graduation. Their weekly income was now at least ten Foer, which was very enviable.

However, while Demon Hunters had broad career prospects, this Transcendent profession had two major drawbacks: becoming one required a Monster's Core, which was extremely rare and super expensive, impossible for ordinary people to find; and they constantly had to fight Monsters, making it extremely dangerous despite the high income.

Charlotte had considered choosing the Demon Hunter path back then but ultimately chose Bloody Glory. He truly had no talent for combat.

Glancing at the five adventurers, Charlotte immediately determined that none of them had advanced to Transcendent. An idea suddenly came to him, and he smiled, "I'm not interested in becoming a Demon Hunter, but I'm very curious about witnessing it. I wonder if I could travel with you?"

"Don't worry, I won't compete with you for the chance to become a Demon Hunter, because..."

Charlotte lightly squeezed his fingers, and the air crackled softly. He said with a smile, "I've taken the Knight's Path and am already a Transcendent."

Of course, Charlotte didn't have Battle Qi; his Seed of Power was still just a seed. But simulating Battle Qi with Bloody Glory wasn't difficult, as Bloody Glory was similar to the Battle Qi path.

The five adventurers were immediately moved. The middle-aged warrior with the great axe hesitated slightly and said, "My name is Mason. Welcome to the Great Axe Adventurer Group."

The other two slightly younger men also introduced themselves. The young blonde woman was Hannah, and the young woman with short, slightly brown hair was Hermontha, a name that indeed had a bit of an Old Continent southern flavor. This name was a little unusual for a true Empire of Fars person.

Charlotte couldn't give his real name. Inspired by Hermontha's name, he fabricated a name with an Old Continent southern flavor as well: Qian Nan.

Being alone was quite conspicuous and made it easy for pursuers to track him, but traveling with an adventurer team would draw less attention and help him hide his identity better.

Having joined the Great Axe Adventurer Group, Charlotte tossed out a Centime copper coin and called out, "Mr. Old John, do you have any wine? I'll treat my teammates."

The Centime coins of the Empire of Fars were dark red and looked very much like copper coins, and were considered copper coins by everyone, but they were actually an alloy. Charlotte didn't know the formula for this copper coin, but it was very wear-resistant and not easily deformed or discolored.

Old John caught the coin and said flatly, "One Centime isn't enough."

Charlotte shrugged and tossed out two more Centimes. Old John caught the coins and then turned to get the wine.

It wasn't that Charlotte didn't know one Centime wasn't enough to buy wine; he was deliberately creating an image of someone not very wealthy but very generous.

Poor but generous – this made it easy to distinguish him from that former First-Rank Chief Clerk who had a decent salary but few friends, and that former First-Rank Chief Clerk!

Old John quickly brought over six large mugs of ale and handed them to the six people.

Mason took the ale and immediately felt immense goodwill towards Charlotte, calling out, "Qian Nan! You're the best new team member I've ever seen."

He raised his mug and took a long gulp, his face showing indescribable satisfaction.

Charlotte raised his mug and clinked it with the other four team members, then took a small sip.

Old John's ale was much worse than the sparkling cider he usually drank, slightly bitter and closer to beer in taste, but the alcohol content was significantly higher than beer.