Panasolei?
Hearing this name, Lyle couldn't recall who it was for a moment. He took the wooden box handed over by the guard before the man could even speak.
The guard, clad in armor, bowed once more and quickly turned to leave.
Seeing this scene...
Lyle's eyes flickered as he stared at the exquisite wooden box in his hand, which was inlaid with a thumb-sized ruby. His heart stirred as he remembered who "Panasolei" was.
Panasolei Gruze Dayle Rettenmeier!
The Mayor of the fortress city, E-Rantel.
"Interesting." Lyle said thoughtfully, not even looking up as he added, "Little Black, let's keep going."
"Awoo."
The bone chains on the Ghost Hound tightened again, pulling the carriage forward along the road out of the city.
Emerald Leaf Witch and Enri both looked at the ruby-inlaid wooden box with curiosity, but seeing Lyle lost in thought, neither spoke to disturb him.
Lyle remembered that he had no interaction with this mayor whatsoever. For him to suddenly send a gift was quite puzzling.
Mayor Panasolei's background was anything but simple. Most importantly, leaving E-Rantel today was a completely spontaneous move on Lyle's part.
In other words, that guard had been waiting at the city gate for them to leave from the very beginning, rather than being sent on short notice.
Creak~
The wooden box opened with a light sound.
An inconspicuous grayish-black dagger appeared inside the box, with a slip of paper pressed beneath it.
Lyle picked up the dagger casually; it felt slightly heavy and was unsharpened. Without even needing to use Item Appraisal, he could sense that it was just an ordinary dagger.
"Made of lead?"
"That's not a good omen."
Lyle gave a low chuckle.
In this other world, lead items generally symbolized pain, death, and misfortune. Some items in graveyard structures were made of lead.
He picked up the slip of paper, which had four characters written on it that looked like a name.
"Decipher Magic."
A flash of magical light crossed Lyle's eyes, and the meaning of the text surfaced, causing him to pause:
"Ijaniya."
This name is...
Lyle's expression grew more serious. If he remembered correctly, this name represented one of the legendary Thirteen Heroes, the hero known as the "Assassin."
Their ability to hide their presence and conceal themselves could even bypass the senses of the Platinum Dragon Lord.
Looking at the lead dagger and the name on the paper, Lyle naturally didn't think Mayor Panasolei was just telling him this bit of lore.
Because this name didn't just represent that member of the Thirteen Heroes; it also represented an organization.
Legend had it that the Disciples who inherited the skills and techniques of the "Assassin" Ijaniya formed a mysterious assassination group—[Ijaniya].
The organization was named after that hero.
To most commoners, this was indeed just a legend, but for the high-ranking nobles of various nations, it was no mere storybook tale.
This organization not only exists to this day but is also active in the northeastern part of the Baharuth Empire and the city-state regions.
Tia and Tina, members of [Blue Rose], came from the assassination group [Ijaniya], and their elder sister is the leader of that organization.
"Haha, even this organization has been drawn in? It doesn't seem like the Blood Emperor's handiwork."
Lyle threw the paper and lead dagger back into the wooden box, snapped it shut, and tossed it onto the carriage with a few laughs.
"Captain, is there something happy?" Enri blinked her light brown eyes and looked at Lyle curiously.
"The upcoming journey is going to be much more interesting."
Lyle turned his head and smiled at Enri.
Lyle couldn't be certain if the gift from Mayor Panasolei was a personal friendly reminder or a message from the "Royalist Faction" behind him.
However!
To Lyle, these were just trivial matters. He was building his reputation, not to participate in the boring power games of noble factions.
Enri was a bit confused, but seeing Lyle so happy, she flipped her light blonde hair and a happy smile appeared on her face as well.
So far, although she hadn't known Lyle for long, Enri felt that the Captain was not only generous but also a very good person.
Emerald Leaf Witch gave the giggling Enri a faint glance.
Rumble~
Thump!
After the Ghost Hound-drawn carriage left E-Rantel, it followed a wide dirt road heading west.
The uneven terrain of the small hills caused the wheels of the fast-moving carriage to vibrate and make light clattering sounds.
The wild trees and weeds on both sides of the road were very dense and unmanaged, but because it was winter, the leaves had long since fallen, which reduced the obstruction to their vision.
Along the way.
Besides Lyle's group, they occasionally encountered other carriages and merchant caravans. Facing a terrifying monster like the Ghost Hound pulling a carriage, there was no shortage of commotion.
Night gradually fell.
The carriage stopped at a relatively wide and level spot to rest.
A day of travel wasn't a serious drain on the Ghost Hound's stamina, but for Enri, an ordinary person, it was quite exhausting.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"