York Town

The Great Axe Adventurer Group was clearly not a wealthy group, and they rarely had spare money to buy drinks. Charlotte treating them to drinks made not just the three male team members happy, but even the blonde Hannah and the short-haired Hermontha were delighted.

Old John also brought over a roasted wild boar knuckle, a bonus for Charlotte buying drinks. Everyone used small knives to slice off thin pieces to accompany the drinks, and the atmosphere quickly became lively.

About two hours after Charlotte entered the village, a team of seven also entered this small village. All of them wore the same black coats as Wells and Addison; this was the signature attire of the Fiery Steed Detective Agency. These black coats had extremely strong waterproof and windproof properties, could even withstand some knife and sword thrusts, and had multiple hidden pockets inside, making them very convenient for long journeys.

Winterburn said, "It's too late. We can't keep going. Let's stay in this village for the night."

"Addison, go ask around the village who can offer lodging."

Winterburn was the leader of this team, forty-eight years old this year, a Tier 4 extraordinary. He was a mid-level executive at the Fiery Steed Detective Agency and had a considerable reputation among his peers and significant prestige within the agency.

Addison hurried off and returned shortly, saying, "Old John's house at the head of the village can take us in."

This team quickly got moving. When they knocked on Old John's door, Charlotte, who had already gone to sleep, was startled awake by the sound. He immediately activated Insight, covering Old John's entire house.

"Fiery Steed Detective Agency? How did they catch up?"

Charlotte was shocked. He hesitated for a moment and didn't immediately run away. Any move he made now would be tantamount to admitting guilt.

This team from the Fiery Steed Detective Agency clearly didn't realize that the target they were chasing was right under their noses. Winterburn asked if the people who had checked in earlier were an adventurer group and didn't say anything more. He asked for some food, quickly ate with the detectives, and, arranged by Old John, slept in other rooms.

Charlotte didn't dare to sleep anymore. He closed his eyes and slowly circulated Bloody Glory, enduring the night with great difficulty until dawn.

The people from the Fiery Steed Detective Agency set off as soon as it was light.

This made Charlotte breathe a huge sigh of relief.

After a while longer, the members of the Great Axe Adventurer Group woke up one by one. As an adventurer group, they had basic vigilance and knew that another group had arrived last night, but since the other party hadn't done anything, they didn't react either.

Charlotte joined everyone, ate a simple breakfast, and set off towards York Town.

Charlotte felt quite unaccustomed. He rarely walked in Strasbourg and was used to taking public carriages. This time, he had to walk the entire way to York Town because the road was all mountain paths, and carriages couldn't travel on them at all. Even if they could, the Great Axe Adventurer Group wouldn't hire a carriage because it was too expensive to hire one for a long journey outside the city.

Although he had been promoted to Tier 3 extraordinary, Charlotte still felt very tired. He thought to himself, "I need to work harder on my cultivation, condense the Bloody Vortex in my right leg as well, and quickly cultivate the runes for Agility Technique and Spirit Spider Technique."

"Or maybe buy a carriage and drive it myself..."

The team led by Winterburn had already reached the manor Charlotte had specified yesterday. They stayed in the manor for over an hour, inquired around, confirmed that Charlotte wasn't there, and then continued their journey, chasing along a road.

Although the Fiery Steed Detective Agency had many detectives, there was only one extraordinary like Wells who followed the Diviner path. Before they set off, they had a Wizard attempt to track Charlotte. That Wizard had only given them a direction, without many details.

Charlotte still didn't know that he had temporarily escaped danger. While complaining to himself, he finally arrived at York Town.

It was a fairly large town with nearly a thousand residents. The famous Demon Hunter White Wolf had built a huge wooden house out of logs in the center of the town. There were already forty to fifty people in front of the wooden house, divided into more than a dozen small groups whispering and chatting among themselves.

The arrival of the Great Axe Adventurer Group was met with unanimous "hostility," as they were another group of competitors.

Charlotte had become quite familiar with his five teammates during the journey. He knew that it was the leader Mason who wanted to become a Demon Hunter, and the other four teammates were accompanying him.

As a low-level adventurer group, they had all learned some Breathing Techniques, but only Mason and Hermontha had condensed Seeds of Power. Hermontha was younger and still had a chance to break through, but Mason was already over forty and had little chance of breaking free to become a Knight with Battle Qi.

Hannah was very interested in Charlotte. Along the way, this blonde girl was the one who talked to him the most.

Charlotte knew why. He had, after all, shown that he had extraordinary cultivation and was a "Knight" with Battle Qi, which was a good potential partner for Hannah.

Of course, a higher priority was that Charlotte was quite handsome.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have won Anne Brittany's favor.

After all, the result of a hero saving a damsel in distress is sometimes pledging oneself in return, and sometimes it's being eternally grateful in the next life...

The Great Axe Adventurer Group took a spot in front of the giant wooden house. Mason went to find an acquaintance to inquire, and came back to tell everyone, "White Wolf won't show up tonight. He's still a day's journey away and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Most people have found lodging in town. These people are staying here because they couldn't find a place. We'll likely have to camp out here tonight too."

Except for Charlotte, the other five had experience living outdoors. Moreover, the open space in town was much safer than the real wilderness. The group quickly made a small bonfire, sitting or lying down to rest and relieve the fatigue of a day's journey.

Charlotte had no interest in becoming a Demon Hunter, and Hannah didn't think she had a chance either. When Hannah suggested they go find a place to have a drink, Charlotte readily agreed. What he didn't expect was that Hermontha also wanted to join.

Charlotte greeted the leader Mason, took the two girls, and walked away, causing the other two male teammates to grumble inwardly.

Although Charlotte had traveled for a day, he was a Tier 3 extraordinary. A slight circulation of Bloody Glory relieved most of his fatigue.

The two ladies clearly didn't have his ability, and the weariness on their faces was undeniable.

Charlotte checked two hotels in York Town, both of which were full with no vacancies. Too many adventurer teams had arrived in the past few days. He didn't bother looking for a third one and simply bought a pile of food and a large barrel of ale at the second hotel, took the two girls, and returned to the giant wooden house.

When Charlotte shared the food and ale with his teammates, the slight displeasure of the two men earlier vanished.

After Hannah returned, she ate a little, then used her backpack as a pillow and fell into a deep sleep.

Hermontha was a little better. She chatted with everyone for a while but also seemed unable to hold on. Mason and the two male teammates weren't much better. Charlotte simply suggested that he stand guard for the first half of the night, and then they could take turns for the second half.

Even in town, keeping watch was still necessary.