Where are the injured?

Focusing on visualizing the first copper coin concentrated his mental strength, but visualizing the second required splitting that strength into two parts. That was difficult. Throughout the night, Dole had to maintain the first copper coin while visualizing the second, and it left him feeling utterly exhausted.

It was equivalent to forcibly dividing his mental strength in two.

But Dole knew the idea was right, because he had already visualized one corner of the second coin.

Soon, mental fatigue overwhelmed him, and he sank quickly into a deep sleep.

Dog Aoduo's ears suddenly pricked up as he looked in Dole's direction. This kid Dole was spending longer and longer in visualization. His talent really was far stronger than that of a warrior. It looked like he could develop toward becoming a wizard in the future. Wizards were far, far stronger than warriors—at least when it came to staying alive, they were pretty reliable.

As a member of the Hellhound race, Dog Aoduo had an exceptionally clear understanding of the abilities of human mages.

He quietly slipped away, swiftly leaving the city and heading into the mountains. He was more than twice as fast as before, like a phantom.

His strength was slowly recovering, and that put him in high spirits.

Dole really was a lucky star...

"Is there someone here named Dole?"

At the entrance to Old Ke Smithy, several city guards stood menacingly at the door. Fele was among them.

The one handling customers was Harley's confidant, Firi, who was responsible for selling goods. Frowning, he said, "There is. What do you want with him?"

Fele stepped forward directly and said arrogantly, "We suspect he is connected to an assault case. Bring him out for questioning." Standing at the entrance, he released his aura, his gaze sweeping across the entire smithy.

Through a gap, Dole had already spotted Fele at the entrance, as well as Aoduo standing behind him. They were looking for him—and they had found him. He stood behind Verek without coming forward, his heart turning cold.

This guy was fast. He had only found me yesterday, and he's already come knocking today?

Overwhelmed by Fele's aura, Firi retreated several steps. Knowing the background of his own smithy, he asked in confusion, "May I ask what happened? If it's a public order case or an assault case, that's the watch's business. What does it have to do with the city guard?"

Having been contradicted, Fele immediately grew impatient. He grabbed Firi and dragged him aside. "Do we city guards need to report to the watch before making an arrest? Get lost. Can you bear the responsibility for obstructing law enforcement?"

Dragged aside, Firi lost his footing and crashed into a nearby shelf. Strings of items fell down, clattering loudly.

At such a huge disturbance, every blacksmith stopped what he was doing and looked over.

Someone had already hurried inside to find Manager Harley.

The blacksmiths around them gathered over, more than a dozen people standing nearby.

Fele was merely a mid-level warrior. Against second-rank blacksmiths, he could not gain any advantage at all. Seeing the people around him closing in, he no longer dared act recklessly.

Yet his tone did not change as he continued shouting, "I'm only looking for Dole. Hand him over and there'll be no problem. If you refuse, then even if you outnumber us, we're not afraid."

Behind him, all the city guards stepped forward to support their captain.

Firi climbed up from the floor. He was not angry. He was just an ordinary person, and his bearing was somewhat weaker, but he was not afraid of Fele. Who among the smithies around here did not know this was Link Family property? For Fele to cause trouble on his own turf was simply not knowing what was good for him.

Just as he was about to speak, a deep, resonant voice came from behind him.

"What are you all doing? Get back to work."

Hearing this, Santis, Molai, and the others all left the entrance and returned to their posts.

Harley came from the back, giving Fele only a single glance.

Fele saw Harley as well, and his expression immediately changed.

"Why is it you?"

Harley did not look at him. Instead, he beckoned to Dole, who was hiding behind Verek. "Dole, come here."

Seeing Manager Harley emerge, Dole let out a breath of relief. He stepped out from behind Verek, glanced at Fele, then looked at Aoduo behind him and narrowed his eyes.

This guy really was like a lingering ghost.

He walked to Harley's side and said, "Ha."

Harley nodded. His round face lifted slightly as he looked down at Fele with an arrogant air, as though from on high. "Fele, does the Link Family know you came here?"

Fele's expression became somewhat uglier. "I only came to verify a few things with Dole. I had no other intentions." He did not dare look at Harley, instead turning his gaze toward Dole.

Harley was with the Link Family, from the City Lord's Manor. Fele himself was also from the City Lord's Manor. Coming here to stir up trouble was simply making trouble for himself. He was now somewhat regretful. He had rushed over without getting the facts straight. If he had thought things over even a little, he would not be in such an awkward position now.

He no longer knew how to step down gracefully. If Harley mentioned this to a few higher-ups afterward, he would certainly not escape a reprimand.

Harley snorted and glanced at Aoduo behind him. "I knew your purpose yesterday. They're just a few street punks, yet you, Captain Fele, don't even have that much breadth of vision?"

Fele's face darkened. What do you mean, street punks? Street punks can give me money—can you? But he did not dare say that aloud. Besides, the surrounding blacksmiths placed tremendous pressure on him. The surging vitality in their bodies warned him at every moment not to make any rash moves.

After weighing his words, he said righteously, "No matter who it is, hurting someone means violating imperial law. I only came to ask a question. Which imperial law have I violated?"

Hearing this, Harley knew Fele was determined to persist to the bitter end.

He stepped aside, his face mocking. "Then ask. Once you're done, get out."

For the first time, Fele looked directly at Harley, his eyes full of wariness. He drew a deep breath and turned to Dole.

This was a very green young man. His gaze appeared calm, but he was actually frightened. Fele glared fiercely at him and said with a savage expression, "Did you beat someone up?"

Dole glanced at Manager Harley. The blacksmiths around him also gave him ample support. In a low voice, he said, "No."

Behind Fele, Aoduo's expression turned exceedingly ugly. That damned Dole—how dare he say that? What a true mud-legged peasant.

Fele snorted. "I have a witness here. He saw you injure someone. And you still refuse to admit it?"

After saying his piece, Dole had already calmed down. He spoke easily, "Since I was the one who beat someone up, there should be injured people, right? Where are the injured? Why should I admit anything when there are no injured people? Who is this person? I don't know him."

Aoduo was so upset he nearly spat blood. He immediately said, "How are there none? You injured two of my men!"

Dole snorted coldly and looked at Aoduo, his eyes narrowing into slits as he shot back, "Then if I beat them, why didn't I beat you too?"

Aoduo froze instantly. He had already abandoned those two subordinates, and he had no idea whether they had starved to death over the past few days. If only he had brought them along!

He had also seen Manager Harley's forcefulness. Fele clearly knew the man, yet his own momentum was somewhat lacking. He had long since been trembling with fear.

Now, he didn't know what to say.

Fele stared at Dole with a gloomy expression. He had not expected this fellow to dare speak like that in front of them. This was sophistry. He immediately fixed his gaze on Dole and said, "Kid, you'd better watch your words. Be careful not to say the wrong thing and lose your head." This was an outright threat.

Dole's face immediately turned pale.

Harley's expression darkened slightly. Threatening my people in front of me? He immediately said, "All right, all right. Go back where you came from. When the higher-ups hold you accountable later, don't blame me for not warning you. Spring has arrived."

At the words "spring has arrived," Fele's expression immediately turned solemn. Naturally, he knew what those words meant. He suddenly smiled and said, "Then I'll take my leave." With that, he turned and left without the slightest hesitation, not even sparing Dole a glance.