"My lord, we found these on him."
In the twilight, Macken held out several items with both hands, presenting them respectfully.
Ronin nodded slightly, taking them one by one to examine.
His attention first fell on a small black bag and four sheets of sheepskin.
The small black bag was obviously a money pouch. It jingled the moment he took it, filled with an unknown number of Gold Coins.
As for the four sheets of sheepskin...
When Ronin saw what was written on them, he couldn't help but reveal a look of pleasant surprise.
Three of the sheepskin sheets clearly recorded three Wind Attribute Magic spells: the First-level Magic Clear Wind Skill, and the Second-level Magic spells Light Body Skill and Wind Blade Skill.
'What a godsend!'
Ronin was ecstatic. He had just been wondering how he would ever learn Magic, and now, in the blink of an eye, he had obtained three spells at once.
'What's this?'
Ronin puzzlingly examined the fourth sheet of sheepskin. It was inscribed with red patterns, somewhat similar to the ones on the sheet that recorded the Clear Wind Skill.
'Was he trying to copy the Clear Wind Skill's magic description to sell it?' Ronin guessed.
He glanced at the three small vials and a quill pen in a Guard's hand, but he had little interest in them.
He tucked the money pouch and sheepskin sheets into his own pocket, then waved his hand. "Give the rest of the items to Chahar later and have him store them safely."
Ronin looked at the captured Mage. "Macken, find some rope and tie him up securely. I have questions for him later."
He planned to interrogate the man thoroughly later to extract more knowledge about Magic.
Mages were a rare find.
After dealing with the Mage, Ronin dismounted. It was now time to have a talk with the members of the Green Clan.
Seeing Ronin approach, the three from the Green Family hurriedly bowed.
Chahar made a timely introduction. "My lord, this is Young Master Malik and Miss Marina of the Green Clan, and their Knight, Kane."
Ronin placed his left hand over his chest, maintaining the etiquette of a nobleman. "My apologies for arriving late. How are your injuries?"
The boy, Malik, forced a smile. "Your Excellency Ronin, on behalf of the Green Clan, I offer you our sincerest gratitude. If you had not arrived in time today, I'm afraid our lives would have been lost."
The girl added, "You are truly worthy of being the finest of the Wushan Clan's bloodline. That battle just now was incredible!"
Ronin smiled faintly. 'Incredible, perhaps, but the part about being the finest of the Wushan Clan's bloodline wasn't quite accurate.'
His predecessor's reputation was likely known to all the nobles, great and small, in the Wushan Territory. The general consensus was that with an heir like Ronin, the Wushan Clan had no future.
As they spoke, he sized up the two from the Green Clan.
The girl's voice was rather soft, with a pleasant tone, but her appearance was exceedingly plain.
She was about five-foot-one, and although she wore a loose-fitting long dress, one could still tell she was a bit overweight. She also seemed to have quite a few freckles on her face.
As for the boy beside her, Malik, he seemed a bit younger. His face was pale, perhaps due to significant blood loss.
Although he tried his best to maintain his noble etiquette and avoid any faux pas, it was clear that he was utterly exhausted.
'I should let them rest and recover first.'
"Chahar, bring my carriage over. Let the brave young master and the beautiful young miss rest inside for a while."
"Yes, my lord!"
Chahar quickly turned and brought the carriage over.
Malik and his sister Marina stopped trying to put on a brave face. After thanking Ronin once more, they entered the carriage to rest with the help of Kane Knight.
"Your Excellency Kane, what exactly happened here?" Ronin finally asked about their ordeal.
It turned out that during the recent crusade launched by Earl Wiggin against the Black Gold Brotherhood, the Green Clan's patriarch, Baron German, had unfortunately been injured.
So, Lady Flavia had dispatched Noel Knight with his Knight Squad to the Wushan Extraordinary Academy to escort Malik and his sister Marina back home. Unexpectedly, this incident occurred on their journey.
"The Mage was hiding in the shadows. He attacked with two Wind Blades right away. Captain Noel barely managed to block the first one in his haste, but the second slit his throat!"
Kane was still lost in grief over his captain's death. "The young master and young miss's carriage was also sliced open by the aftershock of that Wind Blade, which is how they were injured."
Only then did Ronin understand why the convoy escorting the Green Clan's heirs was being led by a Basic Level Knight. The captain had been killed instantly at the start of the fight.
Hearing Kane's account, Ronin grew more wary of Magic.
The scene of the Mage using Wind Blade was still fresh in his mind. It was thanks to Macken's quick reaction that he had managed to dodge it safely.
"The Skull Society?"
Ronin looked at the bodies of the fallen assassins. They did indeed have white skull patterns on the chests of their clothes. "Is it an organization of assassins?"
Kane sniffled and wiped away his tears. "I don't know much. It's said that the Skull Society appeared around the same time as the Black Gold Brotherhood and the Polante Thief Gang."
"But while the latter two have bases of operation, the Skull Society doesn't. Its members are scattered, and they are involved in many assassination missions."
Ronin committed the name to memory. He had no idea if these organizations active in the Wushan Territory would one day come looking for trouble with him.
'Hopefully, the remoteness of Mountain Forest Town will keep me from attracting too much attention.'
"I'm sorry to hear about your perilous experience. I'll have my Guards help you prepare the bodies and bury them by the roadside."
"Thank you, Lord Ronin!" Kane bowed in gratitude.
Watching Kane bury his teammates with the help of the Guards, Ronin couldn't help but feel a stir of emotion.
He wondered what kind of person this pair of siblings had offended to bring such a deadly disaster upon themselves. It was truly a senseless calamity.
'The Green Clan...'
Ronin sorted through what he knew about the family.
The Green Clan's domain was in Lake Town. As the name suggested, their territory was dotted with numerous lakes of all sizes. Consequently, the family was rich in aquatic products, and their freshwater fish and shrimp were very popular throughout the Wushan Territory.
Ronin remembered that the most delicious Horned Whisker Fish came from Lake Town.
'Could this assassination have been triggered by an economic dispute?'
Ronin thought about it for a moment before deciding not to dwell on it. The affairs of nobility were intricate and complex; how could an outsider like him possibly figure them out?
'In any case, I've just saved the Green Clan's heir and his daughter. Baron German will have to show his gratitude, right?'
'Thinking about what to ask for from them—that's what I should be focusing on.'
'Right, killing that Basic Level Knight just now completed an achievement.'
Leading his horse, Ronin returned to the Guards' convoy and called up his system interface.
At that moment, his Attribute Points and Energy Essence had reached 30 and 140, respectively. This was not only enough to max out his Knight Level progress bar but also to advance his upcoming Light Attribute Mage's level progress to the late Basic Level stage.
Before long, he would have an Intermediate Mage.
After witnessing the power of an Intermediate Wind Attribute Mage, Ronin was now very much looking forward to his Light Mage.
'As I thought, it was the right decision to save my Energy Essence instead of dumping it all into Macken's stats.'
Of course, once his Light Mage also reached the Intermediate Level and saw a significant increase in power, Ronin still planned to have Macken break through to Advanced Level Knight first.
After all, a team needed a powerhouse. Spreading the upgrades evenly wasn't always the optimal choice.
Ronin spent all 30 of his Attribute Points. As his stamina increased, he felt his Spiritual Power rapidly growing stronger as well.
[Level]: 1 - Basic Level Knight (100/100); 1 - Basic Level Mage (25/150)
With the growth of his Spiritual Power, Ronin felt his Mana Space expand slightly, allowing him to refine more Mana.
Thinking of the three Magic spells he had just obtained, Ronin decided to try them out later.
He turned his attention to the achievement interface, guessing that the [King of Slaughter] achievement should have advanced.
He took a look, and it was just as he'd expected. The new description read:
[King of Slaughter]: Kill any Second-level Extraordinary Unit. Reward: Attribute Points +50, Energy Essence +100
Ronin's eyes lit up. He just so happened to have a Second-level Extraordinary Unit on his hands.