Chapter 372: From the Perspective of Strength

Chapter 372: From the Perspective of Strength

As the steward of Duke Dramm, Owen had witnessed countless situations like this.

Including a significant portion of the White Gloves currently serving the Duke, who had joined the Dramm Family in this manner.

Compared to women, what was most important was the ladder of promotion and a continuous stream of resources.

With strength and status, what woman could you not have?

Any smart person would understand this.

Half an hour later.

In the inner ring of the Imperial Capital, near the grand entrance of a majestic building, a luxurious carriage adorned with the emblem of the Scorpion Lion Clan was parked.

Soon after, a young man wearing bright silver knight plate armor boarded the carriage.

"Young Master Greenwood," Steward Owen bowed slightly and said.

Greenwood was the nephew of Duke Dramm, but he possessed exceptional talent in the path of knighthood. Therefore, from a young age, he had been specially nurtured by the Dramm Family.

After spending a substantial amount of wealth, various rare potions, and hiring multiple renowned mentors, he finally, in his thirties, comprehended a trace of Will Radiance and was halfway to becoming a titled knight.

At the end of last year, he was further promoted to an Argent Swordmaster.

Looking across the entire Dragone Empire, Greenwood was among the very top of his peers.

"Steward Owen, thank you. If the family needs me, it's my duty to respond without hesitation."

"However, I'm currently in the process of comprehending a top-tier sword art secret technique. So, it would be best if we could make this trip as quick as possible." Greenwood, with his handsome features, smiled politely and said.

He had known Steward Owen, his uncle's steward, since he was young. At the same time, he was also aware that Owen was his uncle's confidant, handling many of the Dramm Family's affairs.

Otherwise, if anyone else had disturbed him while he was comprehending sword techniques, he would not have been so accommodating.

"Of course, I've already arranged for the fastest imperial airship to depart for Minster. Additionally, the main purpose of your trip, Young Master Greenwood, is to intimidate. In two or three days at most, you'll be able to return to the Imperial Capital."

"Hmm, that's good." Greenwood nodded in satisfaction.

Due to the turbulent situation in the Empire this year, the Swordmaster Headquarters had assigned more tasks than in previous years, and of course, the level of danger had also increased. However, he had already accumulated enough mission evaluation medals and merit points to be promoted to an Electrum Rank Swordsman.

This proved the saying, 'Opportunities and risks go hand in hand.

"Young Master Greenwood, here's the target's information."

Steward Owen handed over a thick stack of documents to Greenwood, which contained Li Ren's growth record, outstanding achievements, and other detailed information from Maister County to Minster.

Even Li Ren himself would likely be impressed by this report.

Almost everything, except for Li Ren's activities in the Frostwind Tundra, had been thoroughly investigated.

The reason they didn't investigate in the Frostwind Tundra was not because the investigators sent by Steward Owen were lazy.

Instead, from a normal investigation perspective, although the target had left for a few days and made a trip to the Frostwind Tundra, the focus of the investigation should be in Minster, where most of the target's growth trajectory had taken place. It wouldn't make sense to travel tens of thousands of miles to the northern borderlands to investigate what he had done in those two days.

This wouldn't align with the investigation logic and would also consume a significant amount of time.

"Oh? So, he's a Diamond Star Rank Swordsman. No wonder my uncle wanted me to go there in person." Greenwood glanced at the first page and nodded.

Immediately, he started flipping through the pages, and after a few minutes, he closed the file and said, "He's not even twenty years old, and with this talent and strength, it's already impressive for someone of common birth to have this level of skill.

"Haha, of course, it's possible. It's rare for Young Master Greenwood to take an interest in someone, and I believe the Duke will also agree." Steward Owen laughed.

"Hmm, Steward Owen, let's depart now."

"Yes, we'll head to the airship platform right away."

---

Meanwhile, in the Mint Trade District of Minster, inside Yulia's Tailor Shop.

With Yulia's guidance, it took Li Ren just over an hour to raise his tailoring profession level from lv1 to lv2 (17/300), earning him one attribute point and one skill point.

Beside him, a pile of forty to fifty linen outer garments, the fruits of Li Ren's labor.

However, Li Ren also realized that to quickly raise his tailoring profession level, he would need to choose components that were slightly more challenging to craft.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Yulia, teach me how to make shirts now."

"Oh, of course, Viscount. I'd be delighted to." Yulia respectfully replied.

In her eyes, Li Ren was a natural tailor. He had quickly mastered the linen outer garments, and practicing a few more wouldn't be necessary.

And the material and style of linen coats are only suitable for commoners to wear, so it's pointless for a noble to choose to wear it, no matter how proficient the Viscount learns it.

"My lord, I suggest you start with silk material to learn, or perhaps, you can make a shirt for yourself." Yulia suggested with a smile.

"That's a good idea." Rain nodded.

Although silk is much more expensive than linen, the loss of material was not a concern for Rain. Additionally, with more advanced materials, a successful creation might bring more experience rewards.

Next, under Yulia's dedicated guidance, ten minutes later, Rain noticed the system prompt:

【You have crafted a silk shirt, and your understanding has improved!】

【You have learned a new skill - Crafting Silk Shirts】

【Your skill in crafting silk shirts has improved, gaining +7 experience】

【You focused on crafting a silk shirt for ten minutes, gaining +4 experience in the Seamstress profession】

"As expected." Rain's eyes lit up.

Compared to the linen coat, the silk shirt with its more complex process and precious material offered several times the experience reward.

Immediately, Rain tried making a few more linen shirts for comparison.

He discovered that the experience reward for upgrading from linen to the more expensive silk was not very significant, only about two to three times more, which meant the system's experience reward was more heavily weighted towards the complexity of the crafting process.

The shirt required a collar, cuffs, and button installation, which seemed to be the key reason for the significant increase in experience reward compared to the linen coat.

"If that's the case..."

After making more than ten shirts, Rain felt he had initially mastered the art of ordinary silk shirts. He turned to Yulia beside him and said:

"Yulia, based on the ordinary shirt, can we add some difficulty or some variations?"

"Of course. Usually, for male noble shirts, we add silver and gold threads at the collar and cuffs. If we want to go further, we can embroider the family crest on the chest using gold and silver threads."

"Of course, although gold and silver are softer, they are quite difficult to sew. The difficulty is much higher than regular fine threads. Viscount, you can try it, but the first attempt often fails, which is normal."

Although Yulia didn't know why Rain suddenly wanted to challenge a higher difficulty, she was always ready to answer his questions.

Yulia also mentioned the difficulty of sewing with metal threads, so that Rain wouldn't blame her if he failed the first time.

"Silver and gold threads? That's just metal threads." Rain said with familiarity.

He was indeed very familiar and skilled with this.

One of the prerequisites for the Wizard spell combo 'Multi-Cut Net' was to instantly create fine metal threads.

Rain glanced at the neatly arranged gold and silver threads on the table, memorized their length and diameter, and instantly transformed a portion of Secret Silver in his hand into Secret Silver threads of the same specifications.

This scene stunned Yulia, leaving her speechless for a moment.

It was then that she realized that Rain was not only a noble but also a Wizard.

Rain skillfully began sewing Secret Silver threads onto the collar and cuffs of the shirt, and soon, a simple yet elegant Secret Silver embroidered shirt was completed.

After some thought, Rain embroidered the family crest, a crossed double-handed war hammer and sword, on the left chest of the shirt using Secret Silver threads.

The system prompt sounded again:

【You have crafted a Secret Silver embroidered shirt, and your understanding has improved!】

【You have learned a new skill - Crafting Secret Silver Embroidered Shirts】

【Your skill in crafting Secret Silver embroidered shirts has improved, gaining +24 experience】

【You have successfully crafted a Secret Silver embroidered shirt, gaining +19 experience in the Seamstress profession】

Compared to before, the speed of leveling up in the Seamstress profession was like upgrading from a pedal scooter to a Ferrari 458, four to five times faster!

Seeing this speed, Rain couldn't help but smile.

Hours later, Rain raised his Seamstress profession level from lv2 to lv4 (778/1000).

Thus far, including the level he just gained, he now had 4 remaining attribute points and 8 remaining skill points.

As for the Gold Skill Points, the 14 points obtained from killing 'Gutripper' Merik now totaled 54 points.

Just as Rain was about to level up his Seamstress profession to lv5 in one go, a woman in a body-hugging lace skirt and light pink lace shirt appeared at the door.

"Lady Olenna, it has been a while." Rain smiled and gestured for Olenna to enter the room for a chat.

In the morning, he sent Jennifer to the Swordmaster Headquarters to inform Olenna of his arrival in Minster.

"Yulia, I have some official business to discuss. We'll continue later."

"Of course, Viscount. Please go ahead." Yulia curtsied gracefully and, at the same time, curiously watched as the tailor and the shop assistants left with Jennifer.

Inside Yulia's shop.

Rain and Olenna sat down.

Although Olenna found it strange that Rain had come to the tailor shop as soon as he returned to Minster, she didn't inquire about the reason. Instead, she brought up a more important matter.

"Lord Rain, you should have received the notification, right?"

"Congratulations on your promotion to the highest rank of Imperial Swordmaster—the Golden Rank. And, you are also a Silver Swordmaster. This is a rare occurrence in the many years of the Swordmaster's history."

Olenna congratulated him with a smile.

"Thank you!"

"By the way, Lord Rain, it seems like your family doesn't know about your upcoming transfer to the headquarters?" Olenna looked at Rain with a hint of confusion.

She had arrived at the Li Ren Manor first and only then realized that Rain was at Yulia's tailor shop.

However, from the conversations of Rain's family members, she keenly noticed that neither Rain's sister Mint nor his mother Emma seemed to be aware of his imminent reassignment to the Imperial City.

"Yes, I just returned from Frostwind Tundra and plan to spend some time with my family. I'll tell them about it in ten days," Rain explained with a nod.

He had specifically instructed Emma about this on his way back.

"You are truly considerate," Olenna instantly understood Rain's intention and looked at him with even more respect.

Perhaps there were a few others in the Empire as young and talented as Rain, but one who was also so family-oriented was likely non-existent.

"Alas! It's a pity that Minster is too small. It has been my honor to work with you during this time." Olenna seemed to be feeling a bit sentimental, thinking about Rain's imminent departure.

"Lady Olenna's dedication to her work is also my good fortune," Rain replied with a slight smile.

"By the way, when will Admiral Edward be available? I'd like to pay him a visit."

Unfortunately, the Admiral had gone to Rossby County a few days ago and hadn't returned yet. However, I heard that he should be back soon, maybe today or tomorrow."

"Oh? Is there an emergency in Rossby County?" Rain asked with a raised eyebrow.

According to the previous task distribution, both Rossby County and his hometown of Minster County were under his jurisdiction.

"Yes, the Sea God Sect has been very active recently, and since you weren't here..."

"By the way, the other members of the squad also went on missions."

"No wonder, Jennifer mentioned that they all went on missions," Rain nodded.

"Lady Olenna, please contact Admiral Edward and inform him that I have returned to Minster. If there are any tasks, they can contact me."

"Until I leave the Minster branch, I am still a member of the Minster Swordmasters."

"Alright, Lord Rain. Admiral Edward will surely be moved to hear you say that."

---

A day and a half later.

Vieri, Neoroh, and Angus arrived at the Li Ren Manor.

"Neoroh, your promotion to a formal Wizard will surely surprise the captain," Vieri said to Neoroh with a smile.

"Yes! When the captain returns from the Tundra, he'll be shocked to find out you've been promoted to a formal Wizard," the red-haired beauty Evelyn added with a smile.

Previously, it was always their captain who surprised them, but this time, it was their turn.

"Lord Vieri, everyone, Viscount Li Ren returned yesterday," a guard said to Vieri.

"What? The captain is back?"

"Yes, Lord Vieri. Lord Li Ren went out with Baroness Crawley this morning, probably to a tailor shop. I'm not too sure about the details," the guard replied respectfully.

Rain had gone to Yulia's tailor shop early in the morning to diligently practice his tailoring skills and was, therefore, not present.

"Hmm, Vieri, don't worry. The captain should be back soon at this time," Neoroh said, looking at the sky.

"Indeed."

Just then, the sound of horse hooves could be heard at the mansion's gate.

A luxurious carriage stopped at the mansion's entrance.

"Excuse me, who is this guest here to see?" the guard asked.

Upon seeing this, Owen, the Drakum family's steward, was about to take out the family's emblem, but Greenwood stopped him.

"The Drakum family's emblem might not be recognized by them."

Greenwood didn't get off the carriage but instead, handed out his Silver Swordmaster emblem through the carriage window, saying, "Tell your master, Li Ren, to come over."

Such a gesture, not getting off the carriage at the host's door, was naturally quite rude.

The guard captain was about to reprimand them for their arrogance, but he froze when he saw the Swordmaster emblem that Greenwood handed over, which was similar to Lord Vieri's.

As they approached, Vieri and the others noticed that although the emblem on the carriage resembled Vieri's (silver), it was clearly larger in diameter.

This sudden realization made the captain of the guard hesitate for a moment, then he turned and quickly walked towards the manor.

Since Li Ren was often absent, they usually reported any unfamiliar noble visitors directly to the lady of the house, Jennifer, who was the nominal housekeeper, or Vieri.

At this moment, Lady Jennifer was not around, so the captain of the guard naturally headed straight for Vieri.

Vieri was currently sparring with Angus in the training room.

"Vieri, there's a visitor outside. He seems to be a Swordsman, but he's rather arrogant. He didn't get off the carriage and instead gave us this emblem, and he said to tell Li Ren to meet him by the carriage."

"Hmm?" Hearing this, Vieri and Angus, who were in the midst of their sparring, suddenly stopped.

Even Neoro, who was watching from the side, and the red-haired beauty, Evelyn, looked at the guard with surprise.

A Swordsman?

They're asking our captain to go?

Even Admiral Edward himself probably wouldn't have such audacity.

"A Swordsman's emblem? Let me see." Neoro seemed to have an idea, his expression turned solemn, and he walked towards the guard.

"Hmm? This is Secret Silver material." Neoro instantly recognized the material of the emblem the guard handed over. It wasn't silver, but Secret Silver. As a wizard, he couldn't possibly mistake the two.

"Secret Silver? How is that possible!" Neoro's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's a Secret Silver rank Swordsman from the Imperial Capital, second only to the Golden Rank!" Neoro said solemnly.

Generally speaking, the strength of a Secret Silver rank Swordsman was between quasi-legendary and the initial legendary level. Of course, if it was a Swordsman captain, then they would be even stronger.

"What? But from his attitude, it seems he's looking for trouble with the captain." Evelyn couldn't help but speak.

"Let's go and see."

A few minutes later, Vieri and the others quickly arrived at the entrance of the manor.

"Sir, Captain Li Ren is not at the manor. If you have any business, please wait in the reception room." Vieri stepped forward and spoke calmly.

At this moment, Anna also noticed the commotion at the entrance and came out of the villa.

"You're Li Ren's team, and in the branch, your strength is not bad." Greenwood looked at Vieri and the others with disdain.

In his eyes, these young people from a 'small town' were not worth his attention.

"Huh?" But when Steward Owen saw Anna, his eyes lit up and he whispered something to Greenwood.

"Hmm! I see, this is simple."

The next second, the carriage door opened and Greenwood's figure flashed as he appeared beside Anna, startling her.

"Stop! What are you doing!" Vieri shouted angrily.

As a follower of Li Ren, he was well aware of Anna's status in Li Ren's heart.

"Noise!"

"Slap! Slap!"

With just two moves, Vieri was sent flying at high speed and crashed heavily to the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Greenwood, on the other hand, calmly took out a white handkerchief and wiped his hands. "Didn't your captain teach you to show proper respect to the strong?"

Angus glared at Greenwood.

"Don't be impulsive, quickly contact the captain!" Neoro's expression also turned grim. After becoming an official wizard, his perception had greatly improved.

Neoro could clearly sense that the light on the man's fist was not just primal force, but a strand of Will Radiance, which meant the man was at least a quasi-legendary level.

At this moment, Anna quickly walked to Vieri's side and cast a healing spell on him.

As the green light flickered, Vieri's injuries quickly improved.

But Greenwood clearly saw this and his eyes narrowed, "Miss, I think you need to come back to the Imperial Capital with me."

"That's impossible!" Vieri struggled to stand, blocking Anna.

Neoro, Angus, and Evelyn did the same.

"Oh? Interesting. But from a strength perspective, you don't have the qualifications to refuse my proposal." Greenwood smiled slightly.

But the next second, his expression suddenly changed, and a figure appeared abruptly in front of him, punching him like lightning.

"Hah!"

Greenwood's eyes widened in shock and he roared, crossing his arms to block the punch.

"Bang!!!

He was knocked back over a dozen steps, finally stopping at the carriage he had just arrived in, barely managing to block the punch. Even now, his hands continued to tremble uncontrollably.

"Crash!"

The luxurious carriage also collapsed from the impact, and Steward Owen scrambled out of the carriage's wreckage.

"Captain!" Vieri exclaimed.

"Captain!" Neoro and the others' hearts settled.

Li Ren first quickly checked Vieri's injuries, then looked up at Greenwood, his eyes narrowing. "You dare to hurt my man and arrogantly say that from a strength perspective, who gave you the courage?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end