By the campfire, Luo Ning took stock of the mage Pedro's belongings.
Aside from four sheets of Parchment, the small black pouch contained 3 gold coins, 57 silver coins, and 256 Copper Coins. Added to the 2 gold coins, 18 silver coins, and 153 Copper Coins taken from the other two slain knights, Luo Ning had made quite a decent haul in cash.
Oh, right—the armor on those two knights had also been stripped off and claimed by Luo Ning. The two sets of full plate armor were not top-quality, but they were far from poor. They were probably worth no less than 30 gold coins each, making 60 gold coins for both sets.
Unfortunately, Luo Ning's build was not quite suitable for them. He could only give one set to Macken and keep the other as a spare.
When he had put away that armor, Green Family's knight Cain had been so envious he had nearly drooled.
Unfortunately, Luo Ning had saved their lives and was also a member of the Wushan Family, so Cain could only stare helplessly.
In fact, Luo Ning had considered taking the Intermediate Knight equipment from Green Family's warrior as well, but after some thought, he decided against it.
He was a kind-hearted man and could not bring himself to do something so excessive.
Aside from these obvious spoils of war, Pedro also had a fine Quill Pen—though Luo Ning had no idea whether it was actually made from a goose feather—three small Crystal Bottles, and a thumb-sized Purple Crystal.
Luo Ning opened a bottle, and a fishy stench wafted out. Looking closely, he saw what seemed to be tiny glittering particles within the liquid.
"Could these three bottles contain the Monster Heartblood Pedro used to make Spell Scrolls?"
Pedro had mentioned before that making Spell Scrolls required Monster Heartblood mixed with Magic Core Powder or Magic Crystal Powder.
Even such a tiny bottle of material was probably quite valuable.
Finally, Luo Ning looked at the Purple Crystal, and his emotions surged.
"Th-this couldn't be a Magic Crystal Stone, could it??"
A single Magic Crystal Stone was worth over a hundred gold coins. If this really was one, Luo Ning had struck it rich.
Unfortunately, he could not find any image or information about Magic Crystal Stones in his previous self's memories, so he could not make a judgment.
As for asking the Green Siblings...
Luo Ning would never do something so stupid. What if they asked him to share some of it with them?
"I'll keep it for now. Sooner or later, I'll figure it out."
Luo Ning stored all the spoils of war in his Spatial Ring. This time, saving people had brought him a bountiful harvest.
Extraordinary people really were wealthy. One robbery—no, one rescue—and he had gained so much. It was truly delightful in both body and mind.
So sometimes, people really needed to have a little sense of justice, just like Luo Ning.
He grinned to himself for a while, then composed himself and got down to business, carefully studying the Parchment for the Clear Wind Spell.
It clearly depicted the Spell Pattern of the spell and marked the order of each Spell Node when using Mental Power to draw the pattern.
"I understand!"
Luo Ning memorized the Clear Wind Spell's Spell Pattern, then put the Parchment into his Spatial Ring.
"You can think of a Spell Pattern as the Big Dipper connected by lines. What I need to do is start from the first star of the Big Dipper, use Mental Power to guide Magic Power into forming the stars, and then connect them."
"If the starting position is wrong, it won't form the shape of a ladle. A Spell Pattern like that will collapse."
"If the mental-power-and-magic-power line connecting the nodes bends and does not match the straight lines in the Clear Wind Spell's Spell Pattern, that won't work either."
"Only by drawing it in one go, with the node sequence, lines, and everything else completely correct, can the spell be cast."
Having figured that out, Luo Ning spread out his hand and, for the first time, attempted to use Mental Power to guide Magic Power in carving the Clear Wind Spell's Spell Pattern into his palm.
He considered himself quite talented, but after several attempts, he still could not smoothly condense the Spell Nodes with Magic Power, causing the pattern to collapse repeatedly.
However, he was not in a hurry. Learning magic was unlike learning swordsmanship from Macken; this was a field he had never touched before. Failure was understandable and acceptable.
"The reason for this failure was that the first node was drawn too hastily. I didn't use enough Magic Power to sustain it."
"This failure was because I wasn't focused enough, causing a break in the Spell Pattern between the second and third nodes."
"This failure..."
Luo Ning failed again and again, and tried again and again. Finally, after more than a dozen failures, a complete Clear Wind Spell Pattern appeared above his palm.
Then the Spell Pattern flashed, and a clear breeze rose from Luo Ning's palm and blew forward.
At that instant, Luo Ning noticed that the consumption of Magic Power was several times greater than when drawing the Spell Pattern.
But he had finally succeeded.
A delighted smile appeared on Luo Ning's face.
"Ah~"
A soft cry interrupted Luo Ning's attention. He looked up and saw Miss Marina of the Green Family pressing both hands against her skirt, avoiding the embarrassment of having it blown up by the wind.
"G-good evening, Lord Luo Ning!"
Marina's face turned even redder in the firelight. "The wind is a little strong..."
Luo Ning touched his nose. It seemed she had not realized he had used magic.
And indeed, the Clear Wind Spell was not as conspicuous as the Wind Blade Spell.
"Good evening, Miss Marina. Why did you come out?"
During dinner just now, Luo Ning had briefly gathered with the Green Siblings and had some short interactions with them.
"I couldn't sleep." Marina lifted her skirt and walked over, sitting down beside Luo Ning.
The clear breeze drifted past, and Luo Ning caught a faint scent of perfume.
He sniffed lightly twice, but could not tell what materials the perfume had been made from.
"After the danger you went through this afternoon, it's perfectly normal not to be able to sleep."
Luo Ning comforted her. "But it's all over now. Tomorrow, I'll have my men escort you to Lakeside Town."
"Thank you so much, Lord Luo Ning!"
Whether from excitement or something else, Marina suddenly grabbed Luo Ning's arm and pressed half her body against him. Luo Ning felt a soft mass against his arm.
"Do you know? From this afternoon until now, all I can think about is the sight of you riding on horseback and killing those assassins. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it for the rest of my life!"
Luo Ning: "..."
Were girls in this other world all so direct?
He was certain that even if he pulled Marina into his arms and kissed her, or even took her into his tent for the night, she would not resist. She might even become more proactive.
But, well, Luo Ning admitted that he still cared somewhat about appearances. He was not particularly interested in Marina.
Besides, after midnight, he still had to welcome his Light Attribute Magic mage. That was far more important than fooling around with a woman.
Most importantly, Luo Ning was going to become a Major Lord. How could he start getting involved in such things before he had even begun?
"Cough, cough..."
Luo Ning discreetly withdrew his arm, then stood up. "Miss Marina, the wind is strong outside. You should go back and rest. I still need to practice my sword, so I won't keep you company."
With that, he walked to the side and began swinging his longsword.
Marina was not angry at being rejected. Instead, she watched the man practicing his sword with a smile.
She had heard about Luo Ning before, and none of it had been good. It was even said that the young lady of the Heide Family had killed herself after accidentally sleeping with Luo Ning.
But after meeting him today, not only she but also her younger brother Malik and Cain all felt that Luo Ning was completely different from the rumors.
He was clearly a courageous, capable, and handsome man.
The face beneath that silver hair became increasingly captivating beneath the firelight.
It would be wonderful if I could sleep in Luo Ning's arms, Marina thought.
Knight Cain, meanwhile, watched Macken and the others train from not far away.
He did not sense the meaning or value behind this training. He merely instinctively wondered whether this was some new dance invented by the Marquis's fun-loving grandson.
A dance performance made entirely of men was truly rare. Could this be the legendary unique hobby of Baron Luo Ning?
Still, when those guards shouted slogans together, they did look rather imposing—and quite eye-catching.
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