A moment later.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The four members of the "Mithril-rank" adventurer party, who were down to their last breaths, were tossed in front of the carriage by the Emerald Leaf Witch and the Ghost Hound.
"Ah... cough..."
"No... no."
"Help, help me..."
"..."
The four of them twitched, letting out wails that sounded like groans.
Lyle shook his head in disappointment. "To think you're a 'Mithril-rank' party; your coordination was actually this poor."
"Did you think victory was assured? Your intelligence gathering really isn't up to much."
The large area of corrosive holes in the red-haired captain's chest caused intense pain that had long since gone numb in the cold weather, but his body still couldn't help but twitch.
His dim eyes trembled.
Using the little strength he had left, the red-haired captain looked toward Lyle, his gaze somewhat vacant. "In... intelligence... fake..."
Hm?
Lyle pondered for a moment, then gave a knowing chuckle.
As expected, a portion of the intelligence coming from the Baharuth Empire had clearly been redacted or even intentionally hidden.
Everyone suspected that the departure of the "Martial King" Gagaran was related to him, but they were completely unclear about the reason, aside from the Empire's intentional cover-up.
Most people were also completely attracted by the fifty-thousand gold coin bounty and overlooked some details.
Gagaran's departure was actually quite simple: the Empire's Colosseum could no longer allow the Martial King's strength to grow.
This was Gagaran's own will, but the Empire wouldn't reveal such a thing, especially considering the impact it would have on the front lines during the war between the Kingdom and the Empire.
With the Blood Emperor's wisdom, he could guess that the Martial King's departure was definitely related to him.
And so, the bounty appeared!
The most crucial part of this was that there were obvious signs of battle in the noble courtyard where Lyle and the "Martial King" Gagaran had conversed.
Such critical information had been completely hidden by the Empire.
"Don't make excuses for your failure, my Mithril-rank adventurer excellencies."
Lyle shrugged and said calmly, "Even if it was an intelligence issue, you didn't have the ability to force my hand, did you?"
"Enri."
"C-Captain!" Enri straightened her back and gripped the short sword in her hand, speaking nervously.
Were the Mithril-rank adventurers really dealt with just like that by Miss Emerald Leaf?
Enri's lips trembled, and she was still somewhat dazed. She knew Miss Emerald Leaf was a powerful Magic Caster.
However, she had no real concept of exactly how strong she was.
But Enri knew what kind of big figures "Mithril-rank" adventurers were.
"It might be a bit early for you, but you'll have to go through this sooner or later. Use the short sword in your hand to kill them," Lyle said.
"Ah!" The short sword in Enri's hand almost fell to the ground.
"What, can't you do it?"
"No, Captain, but, but..."
"Then forget it." Lyle didn't seem surprised by Enri's conflicted and fearful appearance and waved his hand.
"Magic Arrow"!
Four translucent Magic Arrows condensed and shot out, killing the four people who were already down to their last breaths.
"Momo, let's go."
Lyle didn't look at Enri, who was frozen in place. Instead, he sat back in the carriage, leaning against the railing and closing his eyes to rest.
In reality, he called up his Status Panel to check the information on the skills used by the four Mithril-rank adventurers during the battle.
As for Enri's problem?
He hadn't recruited Enri just to be her babysitter.
Although the future Enri had joined the Bone King's camp in a muddle-headed way, it was indeed the right choice for her.
Just like now.
Enri chose to accept his invitation and become his subordinate without hesitation because it was a rare, perhaps even unique, opportunity for both Carne Village and herself.
From the beginning, the only one who needed to grasp this opportunity tightly was Enri herself.
Whoosh!
The Ghost Hound shook its neck, and the bone chains on its body flew out, pulling the carriage once more as it continued along the road.
The Emerald Leaf Witch's bright yellow eyes glanced cautiously at Lyle, who was resting with his eyes closed, then shifted toward Enri, whose body was stiff and face pale.
"You look a bit scared, little girl."
The Emerald Leaf Witch crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her chin and speaking to Enri for the first time in a cold tone:
"Actually, whether you act or choose not to, the Master doesn't care."
Enri looked up in a daze, meeting the Emerald Leaf Witch's emotionless gaze. "Miss Emerald Leaf."
"Don't overthink it."
The Emerald Leaf Witch sneered, pointing a finger first at herself and then at Enri:
"Although I don't want to be compared to an inconspicuous brat like you at all, neither I nor you have the qualifications to be cared about by the Master yet."
"To put it in your terms, it's like a single ear of grain in a wheat field; one more or one less simply doesn't matter."
Their conversation.
Lyle could naturally hear it. After all, the carriage was only so big; even if they intentionally lowered their voices, it wouldn't make much difference.
What surprised him slightly wasn't the Emerald Leaf Witch's subtle flattery, but rather that her few months in the human border village hadn't been in vain.
"Lesser Strength Greater."
"Lesser Agility Greater."
Lyle's attention at this moment was on the two strengthening spells displayed on the Status Panel; both were second-Tier Magic.
Among the skills used by the four Mithril-rank adventurers, only these two strengthening spells interested him.
Lyle had encountered Magic Casters using this series of magic before, but he hadn't wasted skill points to learn them.
Once strengthening magic is cast, only the highest-Rank strengthening magic will take effect.
Now.
Having mastered the "Maximize Magic" skill, he could completely upgrade low-tier strengthening magic to high-tier, but...
Lyle remembered that among the strengthening magic mastered by the Bone King, the top ones should be the seventh-tier "Greater Full Potential" and "Greater Resistance."
These two strengthening skills completely covered the lower-level series of strengthening methods.
If he were to learn these two lower-tier strengthening spells and upgrade them to high-tier, it would cost at least four skill points.
"'Lesser' Rank corresponds to second-Tier Magic, while those with the 'Greater' prefix generally correspond to seventh-Tier Magic."
This thought flashed through Lyle's mind, and he became pensive.
For example, spells of these Ranks like "Greater Item Appraisal," "Greater Item Destruction," "Greater Magic Seal," "Greater Magic Shield," "Greater Item Creation," "Greater Teleportation," "Greater Luck," and so on, all belong to the seventh tier.
"So, the three levels of magic—Lesser, Middle, and Greater—don't just increase by one tier as originally expected."
"No wonder there are many Magic Casters in this other world who use 'Lesser' strengthening magic, but I've never seen anyone use the 'Middle' level."
"'Middle' magic is at least at the fourth-tier level."
"Hmm... 'Greater' magic might also have differences in Rank. 'Greater Strength Greater' and 'Greater Full Potential' shouldn't be at the same level."
"Just like the first-tier 'Light Heal' and the second-tier 'Mass Light Heal'."
Lyle analyzed and speculated inwardly that ordinary Greater strengthening magic should be at the sixth-tier level.
Something like "Full Potential" would inevitably be one tier higher than a single attribute boost.
After thinking for a short while.
Lyle once again abandoned the idea of learning these two low-tier strengthening spells. He wouldn't need them to deal with ordinary enemies.
And to deal with the Bone King's group, he would need at least seventh-tier strengthening magic.
Whoosh!
The cold wind swept up the fine snow on both sides of the street, and the figures of Lyle's party gradually disappeared at the end of the road.
About half an hour later.
Figures dressed in black tight-fitting suits and wearing Camouflage-patterned capes appeared before the corpses of the four dead Mithril-rank adventurers, as silent as cats.
These black figures were not only wrapped tightly from head to toe, but even their faces were covered with black cloth, revealing only a pair of dull eyes.
It was a gaze of pure indifference and coldness.
Whoosh!
These figures suddenly dispersed, revealing a path, yet there was still no sound throughout the process.
Crunch—
A person completely different from the surrounding black figures walked forward slowly and stood before the corpses of the four adventurers, giving them a brief glance.
This figure's attire was truly quite unconventional, especially compared to the others around her; she was dressed in a maid outfit.
"Hmm, I slightly underestimated the prey's strength. True, someone who can trade blows with the 'Martial King' must be at least at the 'orichalcum' adventurer level."
"You all might even die at the prey's hands."
"It's merely a matter of life and death."
...
Over the next few days.
Lyle's party didn't encounter any more attacks. The death of a "Mithril-rank" adventurer party had clearly intimidated many adventurers and mercenaries who wanted that fifty-thousand gold bounty.
Every time they passed a village, Lyle would take the initiative to stay for a night, letting Enri and the Emerald Leaf Witch sell "regeneration potions."
Besides these villages, Lyle also passed through two ordinary cities, where they also sold alchemical potions.
In poor villages, they sold diluted ordinary "regeneration potions," while in wealthy villages and cities, they sold high-grade "regeneration potions" worth ten gold coins.
Refining these "regeneration potions" was very simple for Lyle, and the issue of raw materials could be resolved at any time by using Teleportation magic to go to the Tob Forest.
Gu the Troll and those ordinary Trolls were always kept under the watch of the Demon Snake Naga, ready to provide Troll blood at any time.
During this process.
The excellent healing effects of the "regeneration potion" gradually spread, and along with it, Lyle's reputation as the "Black-Haired Genius Alchemist" also spread within the Kingdom's borders, no longer limited to just a few nobles.
Naturally, they encountered many merchant caravans and travelers along the way. These people, besides buying alchemical potions, also became a part of the transmission network.
Night.
The night sky, like a black curtain, was dotted with a vast number of stars, with rarely a cloud in sight.
Aside from the air being somewhat dry and cold, the chilly wind had also died down.
"Tomorrow should be good weather."
A man with messy, fluffy blue hair glanced at the figures moving around him. Feeling somewhat bored, he rested his head on his hands and lay on the cold slope.
Under the reflection of the moonlight.
The man wore a chainmail shirt. His physique was slender yet very robust; even through the cover of his clothes, one could feel his bulging muscles.
He faintly emitted a terrifying and powerful aura to his surroundings.
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