Chapter 131: Let Him Live a Little Longer! (Part 2)

Chapter 131: Let Him Live a Little Longer! (Part 2)



At this moment, inside Jennie's carriage...

With Rayn's limited Arcadian vocabulary, he could barely make out the blurred words on the book's cover, which seemed to say, "About...Forging."

Yes, these were the only two words Rayn could decipher.

But Rayn was already captivated!

It was impossible not to be drawn in.

This was a book written in Spirit Script (Arcadian) and related to blacksmithing.

Remember, Rayn had the Blacksmithing Profession Panel.

Therefore, any method or technique that could potentially boost his Blacksmithing Profession Level was of extraordinary significance to him, equivalent to possessing an Extraordinary Combat Technique.

Moreover, this was a book about blacksmithing written in Arcadian, and there might be hidden wonders within.

This stirred Rayn's emotions slightly.

So, inside the carriage, Rayn asked Jennie about the book's origin.

"Miss Jennie, did you find this book in your family's library?"

"Yes, Lord Rayn. I stumbled upon it while browsing through the library these past few days."

"It seems like this book hasn't been touched in a long time. When I found it, it was covered in dust and placed in the bottom corner of the shelf."

Jennie's sparkling eyes met Rayn's, and she could tell he was interested in the book. So, she elaborated a bit more.

Of course, she also exaggerated a little.

In reality, this book was kept on the most precious ancient bookshelf in the Crowley family.

When her father, Baron Crowley, was alive, he valued these rare ancient books, and Jennie had no access to them at the time.

Now, naturally, no one could stop her.

Additionally, this was the last book related to Spirit Script that she could find in the family library.

As for why she said that? It was to highlight the family's heritage and make Rayn, the guardian knight, value the Crowley family and her even more.

Rayn's eyes lit up slightly as he thought, "Could it be that easy to find?"

Tsk, tsk!

The heritage of hereditary nobles is truly impressive!

At that moment, a thought crossed Rayn's mind.

"Jennie, if you have the time, could you please organize the family library and let me borrow any similar books you find? I would greatly appreciate it."

Jennie was momentarily stunned. She had only slightly exaggerated to showcase her family's heritage and make Rayn, the guardian knight, value her and her family more.

She hadn't expected Lord Rayn to make such a request.

Was this request too much? Of course not!

Jennie's mind quickly went to work, and a light bulb lit up!

That's right! Even though her family was gone, she still had her best friends.

If all else failed, she could ask her friends for help. She refused to believe that they couldn't find a few Spirit Script books in the entire Myester County town.

So, Jennie confidently replied, "Of course, no problem!"

"Miss Jennie, I'm truly grateful!"

Soon, the group arrived at Rayn's home smoothly, riding in the carriage.

As Rayn helped his mother, Emma, down from the carriage, the front door suddenly opened, and Old Rayn and Mint rushed out, their faces filled with a mix of anxiety and joy.

"Lord Rayn, I won't disturb you then!" Seeing this, Jennie naturally didn't want to intrude.

Rayn guessed that the events at the church must have spread throughout Shiny Gold Town within the past half-hour.

The town wasn't big, so news traveled fast.

Even Old Rayn, who had gone to work early in the morning, had rushed back home.

"Emma, are you alright?"

"Mom!" Mint rushed into Emma's embrace.

After a round of sharing, the family's mood finally calmed down.

Rayn comforted his father and Mint before heading upstairs.

He removed his worn-out knight's plate armor and wiped his body before changing into a linen waistcoat.

Then, he began searching for the other two books and tried to decipher the meaning of the words on the book's cover.

After all, the feeling of knowing only half the story was the most irritating.

It was like a woman veiling her face with a pipa, leaving just enough exposed to tantalize.

After spending about ten minutes translating the book's title, Rayn felt a surge of joy.

The ancient book's title was: "Exploring the Application of Scorching Touch in the Field of Blacksmithing."

However, Rayn still had a question: what exactly was this 'Scorching Touch'? Was it a type of wizardry, a special artifact, or a unique technique?

Before Rayn could turn the page to continue his research, there was a knock on the door.

"Brother, there's someone downstairs looking for you," Mint's young voice called out.

"Alright, Mint. I'll be right there."

Obviously, with the recent attack on the town, Rayn, as the Deputy Sheriff, had many matters to attend to. This wasn't the best time for research.

When Rayn went downstairs, he saw a fellow night watchman who reported, "Lord Rayn, some noblemen have arrived from the church, including Knight Lloyd and Swordmaster Peres. They would like to invite you over."

"Alright, let's go."

However, Rayn decided to change his clothes first. He switched from the linen waistcoat to his previous plate armor.

Although he had the Extraordinary Ability 'Iron Skin', an extra layer of protection would undoubtedly be safer.

After all, whenever possible, it was best to 'Layered Armor'!

When Rayn returned to the church, he saw several people in knight armor, including the familiar faces of Knight Lloyd and Swordmaster Peres.

Lord Rayn was familiar with these two, but they did not know him. After all, Rayn's previous level was too low to even be considered.

The beautiful Baroness Crowley in the carriage lifted the curtain and nodded at Rayn as he approached, giving him a slight smile.

Among the crowd, the only person Rayn didn't recognize was a bearded middle-aged man.

"Knight Lloyd, Swordmaster Peres, I'm Rayn. May I ask who this is?"

"This is Baron Alonso," Knight Lloyd introduced.

Alonso? Rayn's pupils contracted sharply. Wasn't he the mastermind behind the previous attack on him?

According to Hamilton's earlier introduction, he was also Kyra's brother.

The eldest son of the Habsburg Count! If Rayn hadn't known about the previous incident, he would have been deceived by this 'actor' Baron.

At this moment, Alonso was also 'curiously' sizing up Rayn.

"Baron, good day!" Rayn bowed slightly and smiled.

This gesture fully demonstrated Rayn's self-discipline as an 'actor'.

After some small talk, Knight Lloyd immediately stated the reason for Rayn's presence.

After all, they all found this matter too absurd and bizarre!

So, Knight Lloyd directly asked, "Rayn, did you kill these heretics who have reached the extraordinary level?"

Just now, they had inspected the bodies on the cart and confirmed from the black robes and attire that they were indeed Black Flame Adepts.

Moreover, from the wounds on these bodies, it was clear that they had been cleanly and neatly cut in half with a single stroke!

However, the angles of the cuts varied; some were split right down the middle, while others were split diagonally.

But from any angle, the attacks they suffered were extremely fierce and ruthless.

Such sword skills and strength were beyond Knight Lloyd's abilities, let alone Rayn, who in his memory was only a Knight Cadet.

The same doubt lingered in the minds of Swordmaster Peres and Baron Alonso.

When they heard Knight Lloyd's question, they immediately focused their gaze on Rayn.

Rayn nodded and said, "Yes, Knight Lloyd."

Rayn had no intention of hiding it, as it was truly impossible to conceal.

With Hamilton absent, Rayn was the only extraordinary fighter in Flashgold Town.

Apart from the Night Watch colleagues who witnessed Rayn killing these Black Flame Adepts, many of the rescued residents of Flashgold Town had also seen the scene.

So, it wasn't that he didn't want to hide it, but that it was truly impossible!

"Rayn, you've entered knighthood," Swordmaster Peres said, unable to hold back his question.

Before Rayn could answer, Baron Alonso replied, "I do know this. Rayn entered the extraordinary level some time ago!"

A few days ago, he had sent his butler Michel to talk to Rayn, so he naturally knew that Rayn had already entered the extraordinary level.

"It seems that everyone has underestimated your strength this time." Baron Alonso examined Rayn with an inquisitive gaze, his mind filled with questions.

Even after entering the extraordinary level and becoming a full-fledged knight, the chances of defeating a Black Flame Adept were still very slim.

For Rayn to have killed four Black Flame Adepts, it was unlikely that anyone present could guarantee they could do the same!

"Baron, thank you for your praise," Rayn said with a slight smile, maintaining the demeanor of an 'actor'.

After all, there were times when one had to be tactful.

At this moment, the sound of galloping hooves approached from not too far away, as if a large group of riders was rushing towards them from the west side of Flashgold Town.

Rayn looked up and saw a team of cavalry suddenly appear, led by a worried-looking Hamilton.

It seemed that the messenger sent by the short Matteo had finally arrived.

But the timing seemed a bit late!

The battle had already ended nearly an hour ago! Rayn thought.

"That guy, Matteo, finally managed to send word," Matteo muttered beside him.

No wonder Matteo was complaining; with the battle being a matter of minutes, it was already considered a delay for the messenger to arrive.

Knight Lloyd glanced at the cavalryman beside Hamilton and said, "The previous messenger was probably killed. This one was sent by me."

"Hmm?"

Rayn scanned the area and, as expected, didn't see the Night Watchman named Dor but instead saw Lagra, who looked anxious.

The morning investigation team had now returned with the same members.

After dismounting, Hamilton, with a somber expression, greeted Rayn and the others before examining the scene.

As the sheriff of Flashgold Town, he was the first to return upon hearing that the town was under attack by heretics.

Rayn exchanged a few words with Lagra before being called aside by Hamilton.

Upon learning that the attackers were heretics, Dean Rudolph and the four Temple Knights from the church immediately decided to join Hamilton.

After all, the Demon Knight was deep within the Nocturne Forest and wouldn't pose an immediate threat."

Recently, the restless cult had been causing headaches for the Wind and Sea Goddess Church.

So, Dean Rudolph and the Temple Knights followed Hamilton, surrounding the cart and examining the bodies of the Black Flame Adepts.

"What a fierce sword skill!" exclaimed one of the Temple Knights.

The others nodded in agreement, well aware of the difficulty of splitting a Black Flame Adept in half, having fought them before.

"This is Matri," Dean Rudolph exclaimed, his eyes narrowing.

Despite his expressionless face, his mind was filled with surprise.

Although he didn't recognize the other two, he had crossed paths with Matri several times, only for him to slip away each time.

The deceased was once an apprentice wizard, but for reasons unknown, he had gotten entangled with the Flame Black Church. Rumor has it that he was particularly skilled in a certain ritual, which caught the attention of the church's upper echelons.

It was hard to believe that this boy, who still looked slightly immature, could be responsible for the deaths of these three Flame Black Adepts.

However, the facts seemed to repeatedly remind him that this was the only plausible explanation, especially with so many witnesses around. Logic dictated that this incident couldn't be faked.

For the Wind and Sea Goddess Church, this was undoubtedly good news. Whether or not Rain was responsible didn't matter; what mattered was that the Flame Black Church had lost four Extraordinary individuals in Flashgold Town, a significant blow to their forces.

"Wait! Dean Rudolph, something's not right here. There are one, two, six...six and a half corpses in total, which means three Flame Black Adepts. But where's the other half a corpse?" One of the Temple Knights, being particularly observant, pointed out.

Matteo, standing nearby, immediately pointed to a pile of black ash outside the church, "There! The other one is over there."

The group followed Matteo's gaze to the ground, where a large heap of black ash lay.

Dean Rudolph and the Temple Knights quickly approached the pile, and despite the body being reduced to ash, they could still discern some clues.

"Dean Rudolph, it's Human Skin Armor," said one of the Temple Knights, poking at the ash with his longsword and picking up a small fragment, which he examined before looking up with a shocked expression.

"What? Say that again!" Dean Rudolph exclaimed, his face showing his surprise.

"Dean Rudolph, it's an Apostle Token," another Temple Knight exclaimed, his longsword seemingly touching a hard object as he cleaned it.

A rhombus-shaped black flame token appeared before everyone's eyes.

"This is an Apostle!" Dean Rudolph couldn't maintain his composure, his face showing disbelief as he stared at the token.

"An Apostle??" The other two Temple Knights' eyes widened, and their mouths hung open in shock.

The church members' screams, especially the usually calm Dean Rudolph's, immediately drew the attention of the others nearby.

Lloyd Knight, Swordmaster Perese, and Hamilton all turned to look.

Baron Alonso, however, stood frozen, as if struck by lightning, his face showing utter shock.

"What? A Flame Black Apostle was killed too?" He thought to himself.

"This is a Flame Black Apostle, for crying out loud!"

"An Apostle, whose strength surpasses even Senior Knights!"

Generally, only Peak Knights could rival Apostles, and there had been no records of Apostles being killed, except in rare cases where several Senior Knights combined their strength.

Although he had a mutually beneficial relationship with the Flame Black Church, he wasn't privy to the details of their operations.

When he first heard that Rain had killed four Flame Black Adepts, he was shocked. But to discover that one of them was an Apostle...this was beyond shocking!"

Compared to the others, Dean Rudolph and the four Temple Knights, as fellow believers of the divine, understood the significance of this and the difficulty involved."

At that moment, Hamilton was pulling Rain aside for a private conversation.

"Rain, did you single-handedly kill these four Extraordinary members of the Flame Black Church?" Hamilton, equally astonished, scrutinized his 'trusted aide' as he asked.

Although he had already overestimated Rain's combat prowess, the current situation still shocked him.

After receiving the news from Lloyd Knight's messenger, Hamilton's vision darkened. He was concerned about Rain's safety and the potential fallout from such a significant security incident in Flashgold Town. He knew he would be held accountable, and might even lose his noble title.

At that moment, he glanced at County City Sheriff, Viscount Hamadi. But from the latter's shocked expression, Hamilton couldn't discern whether the sheriff was genuinely unaware or feigning ignorance.

However, when Hamilton arrived in Flashgold Town, the situation took an unexpected turn.

What was supposed to be a liability might now become a blessing in disguise.

'Under Sheriff Hamilton's command, Flashgold Town feigned weakness to lure in a large group of heretics led by four Extraordinary members. Although there were casualties, the heretics' arrogance was severely dealt with!'

The difference in official statements was significant, and Rain was the key figure in this turnaround.

"Yes, Sheriff Hamilton, I did kill them. Of course, I had the assistance of my fellow Night Watchmen," Rain acknowledged, pointing to Matteo and the others.

This made Matteo and the Night Watchmen feel incredibly grateful, like they were tasting honey.

"Look! This is what a true noble of the Dragon Empire is like! He never takes credit for himself!"

Instead, he shared the credit with them.

"Also, my Bear Sword Technique suddenly reached a new level of understanding," Rain added, revealing only what he could without exposing his true strength.

But Rain wasn't lying; he was being completely honest.

Since the Bear Sword Technique reached Level 6, Rain has felt a noticeable difference compared to before.

Upon hearing this, Hamilton had a hunch and couldn't help but wonder, "Could it be...?"

This caused his eyebrows to twitch slightly, and he said curiously, "Oh? Rain, why don't you show us your skills right now?"

"Sure!"

Rain also wanted to demonstrate the improvement in his swordsmanship.

As for whether he could convince everyone that he relied on his swordsmanship to defeat the four Extraordinary Cultists, that was another matter.

But at least, he could give them a reason, a lead, to believe that he had the potential to defeat those four.

Otherwise, letting them speculate wildly or even sending people to secretly observe or monitor him afterward would make him passive!

When Rain mentioned demonstrating his swordsmanship, all the nobles, including Viscount Hamadi, Alonso Baron, Lloyd, and Peres, turned their attention towards him.

Even Dean Rudolph and the Temple Knights, who were about to enter the church to check the situation, stopped in their tracks and turned to watch.

After learning that three Flame Black Cultists and one Flame Black Apostle had been killed by this young knight, almost everyone present was filled with curiosity!

Additionally, the beautiful Crowley Baroness, accompanied by Miss Jenny, gracefully descended from their carriage.

The crowd formed a large circle, intently watching Rain as he drew his Radiant Greatsword.

"Oh! It's a Radiant Stone Weapon!" Dean Rudolph exclaimed softly.

He hadn't expected this young man to surprise him one after another.

Radiant Stone Weapons were not easy to come by; one had to either pay a high price at auctions or rely on personal opportunities.

Of course, the church had Holy Power Weapons that could achieve the same effect as Radiant Stone Weapons, so there was no need to spend money on them.

Seeing so many people gathering to watch, Rain didn't feel nervous.

After all, he was about to demonstrate his skills, and exposing just a glimpse of his abilities at this moment was perfect!

The Bear Sword Technique was an excellent choice for this.

Rain stood in the center of the field, assuming the starting pose of the Bear Sword Technique.

One hour ago.

East of Flashgold Town.

Among the Black Sails Pirates, Phil Kraz, carrying an oversized bow, thought for a moment and then turned to a bearded pirate beside him, saying, "Andre, send two clever ones to scout the town!"

"Yes, boss!" The bearded man replied in a deep voice.

It was evident that having seventy to eighty bloodthirsty ruffians turn around and leave without firing a single shot was a decision made by Phil Kraz, the deputy leader of the Black Sails Pirates, which would significantly affect the morale of the crew.

Therefore, Phil decided to send a few people to scout the town first and assess the situation.

If Flashgold Town's defenses were weak, he planned to attack without waiting for any signals.

Otherwise, his men would likely grumble, and leading the crew would become challenging in the future.

After all, most pirates had their brains in their pants, and they followed whoever could make them rich.

Using brute force to suppress them was the worst strategy, as they might turn to other pirate fleets at the drop of a hat.

Soon, two relatively short pirates, who looked more like civilians after a quick disguise, were chosen by the bearded man.

The two pirates hurried towards Flashgold Town to carry out their reconnaissance mission.

At first, the wailing sounds coming from Flashgold Town delighted the two pirates, and their hearts rejoiced.

Huh!

It seemed like the town had just been attacked!

Moreover, there didn't seem to be many law enforcers on the streets, at least not within their line of sight.

So, after a quick tour, the two pirates were ready to return and report.

However, just as they turned to leave, they heard the sound of galloping hooves and felt the ground tremble slightly beneath their feet.

They immediately turned back and saw a large cavalry squad rushing towards the town from the west.

The sharp-eyed pair immediately noticed several fully armored knights and even the distinctively styled Temple Knights among the group.

Instantly, cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

Damn, if the cavalry had arrived just a minute later, they would have reported that the town's defenses were weak and could be attacked!

After that, they weren't sure how many of their fellow pirates would survive, but they knew for sure that they wouldn't make it out alive!

Because even if they did survive, Phil would probably kill them!

"Let's go! We must report this! It's a trap!"

"Damn it! No wonder those bastards didn't give any signals; they had already fled!"

The two pirate scouts grumbled as they hurried back to their hidden location.

After hearing the scouts' report, the Black Sails Pirates felt their hearts skip a beat, realizing it was a trap!

At the same time, they understood that today's raid was unlikely to succeed.

Although they were fearless, they weren't brainless, and it was clear that the enemy had set up a trap, waiting for them.

Those foolish pirates who would blindly charge in were long gone!

"Retreat!" Phil's eyes flashed, and he quickly waved his arm, signaling his men to withdraw.

His thoughts differed from those of the two scouts he had sent.

Phil felt that the Flame Black Church was quite reliable, as they hadn't set them up! Even after realizing the situation was unfavorable, they hadn't recklessly fired signal rockets, forcing the Black Sails Pirates to face the storm.

Hmm, they could continue collaborating with the Flame Black Church in the future.

However,

He couldn't fulfill the promise he had made to Baron Norman.

Oh well, let that Squire-level knight-in-training live a little longer.

What a lucky guy!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end