Assassin’s Chronicle - Chapter 221

Violet City was less prosperous after the war. It used to be a busy commercial city, so it still had a business city feel to it. Anfey and Suzanna walked side by side on the street and checked out the stores.

Shopping with Suzanna was not tiring. She did not have strong desire to buy things. Even if she saw something interesting, she would just look at it and continue walking. If it had been Niya walking for so long with Anfey, she would have carried a lot of shopping bags with her and walk very slowly with those bags.

Anfey looked up at the sun to tell the time. He now had better understanding how big Violet City was. He had walked around the city with purpose and plans. He only walked half of the city so far in a half day. He wanted to see more but he needed to leave tomorrow.

“Master?” A surprised and excited call arose.

Anfey turned around to look. He asked in surprise, “Why are you here?”

“My family lives here.” A smiling girl walked over. “Master, Suzanna, why are you guys here?”

“Doris, don’t you know?” Suzanna asked.

“What don’t I know about?” Doris asked.

“This city is his estate now.” Suzanna glanced at Anfey. “Where could we go if we did not come here?”

“Oh, my god.” Doris stared, her eyes wide. “I only heard he became an earl of the empire. No one told me about his estate.”

“Everybody in the city knew Anfey had come. Didn’t your parents know about it? Didn’t they tell you?” Suzanna asked.

“Don’t’ even mention them,” Doris said bitterly. “I was so worried about them. That is why I rushed back to check on them. I already got into a fight with them after just talking to them for a little bit.”

“What did you argue about?” Suzanna asked.

“Nothing.” Doris did not want to talk about her family issues. She turned to look at Anfey. “Master, Congratulations. I did not know I would be your citizen so soon.”

“Call me by my name, okay, just as you did in the academy. ” Anfey could not help shaking his head.

“Call you by your name? I do not dare.” Doris smiled.

“It is not important whether you dare to call by name or not. You just made me so uncomfortable when you called me master,” Anfey said.

“There will be many people calling you master in the future. You need to get used to it. How about I help you out? I am going to call you master right now.” Doris joked about it, but she looked perplexed. Life was just so unexpected. The time she and Anfey chatted and laughed at the academy seemed like just yesterday. Time had past so fast. Anfey had developed with amazing speed. He now had become a big wig in the empire, while she was still no different than she had been. In fact, the title of “earl” was nothing fancy. There were a lot of earls in the empire. Some of them were even poor. Possessing the ownership of a city meant Anfey had a lot of real power. Power was way better than titles. There was a big difference between possessing a title and power.

“If you really want to help me, you gotta listen to me,” Anfey said. His eyes were innocent and warm. Maybe only when a person had endured a lot of lonely moments could he appreciate more the bonds between people. No matter how far Anfey travelled, how high a position he attained, he would never forget a nice girl who helped pick out the right magic book for him in that library. It was not a big deal for Doris, but Anfey felt Doris had helped him a lot.

“Stop! We are old friends. Calling him master just makes us feel weird,” Suzanna said.

Doris got caught by Anfey when she looked at him. She immediately looked away. “Ok, ok, my bad, ok? How about me taking you guys out for dinner to make it up to you. Suzanna, what do you want to have? Tell me, don’t try to save me money.”

“Where should we go?” Suzanna thought about it and said, “How about Garden Hotel? Urter said their chef is the best.”

“I cannot afford Garden Hotel.” Doris could not help sticking her tongue out.

“Hmm, it does not look like you really want to make up for it, does it?” Suzanna said.

“I am not like you, having a good man to rely on. I have to join a mercenary group to make money, otherwise I would be starving,” Doris said.

“What are you talking about?” Suzanna blushed and posed to hit Doris. Doris ran to the other side of Anfey with naughty smiles.

“Doris, if you still want to be a mercenary, why don’t you join my mercenary group?” Anfey asked quietly.

“Sure.” Doris nodded without any hesitation. Doris’s strength was that she was not pretentious. Her sincerity had caused her to fall into a wolfman’s traps. If Doris had pretentiously turned Anfey’s suggestion down, it would only make Anfey and Suzanna feel even more awkward about their relationship with Doris than calling Anfey master.

Anfey smiled. “Doris, did you tell Christian you left?”

“If I had told him I was leaving, he would not have let me go. He said he would have someone to escort me after we reached to Blackania City, but I could not wait that long. I ran away from him.”

“You got yourself in danger by being alone and you still have not learned from it. You cannot run around by yourself,” Anfey said.

Doris looked a little weird after Anfey gave her a lesson. She murmured after being quiet for a while, “I just became one of your people and you have already scolded me.”

“What do you mean by becoming one of my people?” Anfey did not know if he should laugh or cry.

Suzanna could not keep from laughing on the side. This time it was Doris’s turn to blush. “I mean to join your mercenary group. What are you laughing about? I hate you.”

“I cannot laugh? Mind your own business.” Suzanna laughed even harder.

“I have never seen a couple like you.” Doris looked upset.

The smile froze on Anfey’s face. He saw a few patrolmen rushing towards the street ahead of them. “What happened?” Anfey asked.

“Let’s go over there and check it out.” Suzanna saw those patrolmen too.

“Let’s go,” Anfey said.

“Should I come too?” Doris asked.

“Don’t come with us, just in case something happens. Hide somewhere so you can help us when we need it,” Anfey said.

“Got it,” Doris said.

Anfey and Suzanna walked fast to the street. They looked to the north, but there did not seem to be anything happening there. They could even see the city gate in the distance. The patrols were still running forward. They looked like they were running to the gate. Anfey heard more people running behind him. He saw a few more patrolmen running over. Anfey recognized the patrol running in the front. It was Iliverny.

“What happened up there?” Anfey asked worriedly. Violet City was his place. No matter what happened, Anfey felt it was his business. Anfey could not help but get worried.

“Master!” Iliverny looked happy to see him. “I finally found you. The mayor is going crazy looking for you.”

“What exactly happened?” Anfey asked.

“Master. There are troops coming to our city. They came from Blackania City.” Iliverny stopped next to Anfey. He turned around and yelled at the other officers: “You guys go back to tell the mayor we have found Anfey.”

“What happened?” Anfey asked.

Those patrolmen turned around and ran. Iliverny turned around and smiled bitterly. What could they do? They had to run with two legs when their boss gave an order with two lips.

“Master, should we go out to welcome them?” Iliverny asked.

“What did Urter say?” Anfey asked.

“I do not know. The mayor did not tell us,” Iliverny said.

“Maybe we can wait here for a little bit.” Anfey scanned around. Many civilians noticed something unusual as well. They gathered in front of their houses to watch. Doris hid one the corner of the street in a distance. She looked nervous. In fact, Anfey did not expect Doris to help if anything happened. He asked Doris to stay behind because he did not want her to get hurt. If there were something Suzanna could not handle, Doris definitely would not help either.

After waiting for a while, three horses ran over in a fast speed. They were Urter, Black Eleven and Apa. When they rushed close to Anfey, Urter jumped off the horse and waved the patrols nearby to move to the side. He walked up to Anfey and whispered, “Master, the troops from Blackania came this way, but we were not notified.”

“I already knew about,” Anfey said.

“I think the stuff I sent them has caught their attention, so they sent people to check it. Huh, I wanted to ask Aroben first, but he did not get to sleep until this morning. While this was going on, he was knocked out and could not wake up,” Iliverney said.

“Nothing big. We do not have to bother him.” Anfey smiled. “Urter, what do you mean? Having a welcome ceremony for them?”

“Master, even if it is superficial, we still have to do it in case they picked on us for that.” Urter thought a little bit and said, “But we do not know who are coming so it would be hard to plan ahead. Master, if you go out to welcome them while the person sent by Blackalair City was not someone important, you would become a joke.”

“Then let me be a joke,” Anfey said in a low voice. “Let’s go out to see.”

“Yes.” Urter turned around to look for a little while and frowned. “It’s weird.”

“Why?” Anfey said.

“After I knew troops from Blackania had come, I sent people to see how Marqius Djoser would respond. If Marquis Djoser was prepared, it meant this must have something to do with him. If Marquis Djoser did not know anything about it, then we have the advantage. It has been a long time, and they should be back to report to me.”

“Don’t worry,” Apa suddenly responded. “They should be fine.” Apa seemed to be always confident. That was because he had the supreme ruler of Maho Empire behind him. He also had a secret order from Yolanthe. If he showed his real identity, even the military general could not ignore his opinions.

Anfey stood on the outskirts of the city and watched the army approaching. The closer the army got, the more intimidating it was. It was a cavalry unit, and the riders all had the same armor and weapons. Even their horses appeared similar. The only man in different armor was the one in front, his silver gear a stark contrast with the black riders behind him.

An army was not a place to show off. Everyone knew that the fastest way to victory was to take down the head of the army. A leader would make himself a moving target if he dressed in such an eye-catching way. This man was either a fool or was powerful enough to know that no one would try to target him.

Anfey watched the army carefully. The general wore a silver mask and held a black lance in his hand. It was the only thing on him that was not silver. The stallion he rode, clad in silver chainmail, was taller than the other horses and wearing a mask like its rider. Its legs were thick and strong, but its steps were almost as light as the other ones.

Anfey glanced at Urter, and the latter walked up, ready to greet the riders. The leader raised his hand, and the entire army halted. The lance in his hand pointed steadily at Anfey.

Anfey felt his body grow heavy, as if under great pressure. Next to him, Suzanna frowned. She handed the basket to Black Eleven and stepped forward, placing herself between Anfey and the rider, her hand gripping her sword.

They were originally intending to welcome the new arrivals, and it was inappropriate for her to act so hostile. She knew she did not have any other choice, however, because she could feel how powerful the rider was, even though he was still a hundred feet away. Except for her mentor, Suzanna had never met someone this powerful.

After a few moments of silence, the rider suddenly began charging towards the group. Blinding combat power obscured the man and his horse’s shape. Anfey summoned his bow quickly. He did not know what the man wanted to do or why, but there was no time to lose.

As the rider grew closer, Anfey suddenly saw a familiar face, grinning at him. He stopped his movements, and shook his head with a smile. Suzanna, however, did not notice. She was too focused on the rider, and did not notice anything else.

The rider was one man, but the way he charged felt like a thousand men. Suzanna felt as if the air around her had frozen and felt a strange fear awaken within her.

The crowd dispersed in fear, and Urter frowned. He turned to look at Anfey, who simply shook his head, then sighed and stared at the rider.

“Stop it!” Apa called. This sudden change in things caught him off guard. He only wanted to prevent the conflict. Black Eleven handed the basket to Iliverny and pulled out his sword, ready to join the fight. The rider had left all of his soldiers behind, so clearly he wanted to fight them himself. Black Eleven, however, did not plan to let Suzanna fight him by herself. The man was too powerful, and the only way they could possibly win was to attack him together.

Suzanna was even faster than he was. Before Black Eleven could do anything, she was already dashing towards the rider, her body enveloped in bright combat power. Suzanna knew that her opponent was much more powerful than she was, and she couldn’t take a blow from the rider if she was standing still.

Anfey wasn’t able to grab Suzanna before she dashed out, but he was able to stop Black Eleven. He wanted to call out to Suzanna, but he was too late, and Suzanna clashed with the rider.

Suzanna’s body was thrown back at the impact, and she fell to the ground with a thud. The tip of the lance was buried in the ground, and the shaft was bent. Clearly, the lance was well made, and the rider himself was powerful beyond imagination. His horse whinnied loudly.

“Suzanna,” Anfey called. “Are you alright?” He moved to help her up.

“I’ll be fine,” Suzanna said, standing up slowly. “He wasn’t using his full power.” Suzanna felt that the man was much more powerful than she was, and thought that she was as good as dead. Even though she was thrown back, she was not seriously injured.

The rider backed away a few steps and jumped off of his horse. He pulled his lance out of the ground and walked towards Anfey. He took off his mask and grinned widely.

“General Miorich!” Anfey called happily. He grabbed Suzanna and walked over to greet the man.

Miorich lifted a brow.

“Miorich,” Anfey said quickly.

Miorich smiled and nodded. He turned and looked at Suzanna, his eyes full of admiration.

Apa felt awkward, standing there holding his order and his relic. He had not thought about the possibility of Anfey knowing the rider. He returned the order and the relic to his pocket, glad no one had noticed.

The crowd was silent, staring at Miorich. They all heard Anfey. Miorich was one of the most powerful men in the entire empire. He played one of the most important roles in the recent war. Along with Saul, Baery, and Philip, he was one of the four most important men in the empire. His name was no stranger to anyone.

“What did I say? Suzanna is good!” Two carriages appeared behind Miorich, and Niya and Christian appeared.

Niya hurried over, took Suzanna’s hand into hers, and said, “Suzanna, you aren’t hurt, are you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Suzanna said, glancing at Miorich. Even though it was not clear who had won, she knew she was the loser. This was the first time she had lost to a stranger in a fair fight, and it felt strange.

“I told you Suzanna was good, but you didn’t believe me,” Niya said, pointing at Miorich. “This was all his idea.” She had wanted to talk to Anfey, but changed the topic when she realized he looked slightly angry.

Miorich frowned. He had never seen Niya explain anything to anyone before.

Urter glanced at Anfey and frowned. He did not know who this new girl was, but she must be important if she could be so casual when she talked with Miorich.

“Why are you guys here?” Anfey asked.

“We heard you got bullied and we came to help you,” Niya announced.

Niya’s voice was very loud, and everyone in the crowd looked at each other. Anfey killed the Marquis’s son, and everyone knew about it. Who would bully him? Did the Marquis begin his revenge already?

“My lord,” Urter said, walking over. The patrolmen behind him began waving their flowers. Miorich’s arrival came as a surprise, and there was no time or resources to prepare a welcome ceremony.

“I’m just here to check up on Anfey,” Miorich said. “This isn’t necessary.”

“Yes, my lord,” Urter said. He gestured his men to stop waving the flowers. Iliverny walked over and handed Suzanna the basket. Before she could take it, Niya jumped over and took it from him.

“It is you!” she chirped as she lifted the fabric. “I missed you, little guy,” she said, holding out her hand.

The unicorn looked at her, but did not move.

“This is the unicorn?” Miorich asked. Dragon riders were already things of legend, and a unicorn was the next best thing. If a rider could tame a unicorn, then the rider’s strength would increase by tenfold.

“Don’t you even think about it,” Niya said before Anfey could say anything. She hugged the unicorn and stared at Miorich, as if she was afraid he would try to take it from her.

Miorich smiled and shook his head. He waved his arm, and his men began marching forward.

Urter and his patrol crew directed the crowd to move to the side. Miorich led his people into Violet City. His bodyguard squad’s fighting ability was unknown, but they looked very powerful. They attracted many people who came out to the street to see them.

Urter in the back already had a headache. None of them thought Miorich would come to Violet City, so they were not prepared. The house of previous citymaster was burnt down, and city hall was half destroyed, so they could not take the guests there. Anfey’s house was still under construction; the police department was too worn; his house was not in good condition. Urter could not think of an appropriate place for Miorich to stay.

Iliverny reminded Urter of the garrison residence. As the highest ranking official of the local military garrison in Violet City, Master Sam had secretly left after he got the news that Shansa Empire was about to invade Violet City. He even took the time to take more than half of his wealth with him. The garrison residence was tall, big and clean, so it had became the command post of Shansa Empire. Compared with other government buildings, it was damaged the least.

Urter immediately asked Iliverny to take some patrols to the garrison residency through the back roads to tidy it up first. He also sent over a dozen patrolmen to go to the garrison residence to clear the traffic and lead the way for the guests. He also ordered two patrols to go to the Garden Hotel and few other larger-scale hotels and restaurants to recruit chefs, waitresses and maids in Anfey’s name. These chefs, waitresses and maids needed to go to the garrison residence as fast as they could. He also sent a few people to book all the rooms from the few large hotels in the city. They also needed to clear the hotels and make new arrangements for hotel guests to other hotels. Of course, Anfey was responsible for all the costs. Last but not least, he sent people to buy liquor, meat, fruits and vegetables, plates, bowls, kitchen utensils, seasonings and other stuff. The soldiers took Urter’s order and started to run to get so many things done in time. As they were already half a street away, Urter sent people to call them back and added six hundred blankets and two hundred tents to the list. This was his plan B. If the bodyguard squad of Miorich did not want to go to other places and insisted on staying in the garrison residence, blankets and tents would become handy. He could not buy them a minute before they needed them.

Violet City had been economically desolated after the war. This purchase was the biggest business for the business owners in the service industry.

Urter gave many different orders, while Anfey just stood by and watched Urter give out orders. He had to admit that the saying, “different professions specialize in different areas” was right. If Anfey gave orders as the citymaster, he would have forgotten many things. Maybe he would not know to shop for food until soldiers were hungry. Maybe he would not remember that there was no military inventory in Violet City until those bodyguard squads needed to sleep. It would not kill Anfey if he messed a few things up, but it would make everyone doubt Anfey’s ability.

A patrolman walked two horses out. Anfey jumped on one of them and gave an eye to Christian to signal him to come over and he had something to tell him. Niya in the back yelled, “There are still two ladies here. You are so rude.”

Suzanna nudged Niya with a smile. She held her hand out to try to help her get on the horse. Niya shook her head. “I can do it. I am just not happy that he never thinks of girls first.” When they were on the run, Anfey was the leader and Niya had to listen to him. She could not show her attitude, even she was mad at Anfey. Now she was back to her hometown. She felt she had people she could fall back on. Therefore, she dared to talk to Anfey that way.

Anfey smiled bitterly. He turned to Christian and asked, “Where are they? Are they waiting for us at Blackania City now?”

“They came too,” Christian answered.

“Did they all come?” Anfey asked.

“Of course, we will be your cheerleaders,” Niya said proudly.

“It must be your idea, right?” Anfey asked.

“Yes, right,” Niya said.

Anfey shrugged. Anfey actually felt relieved to see Niya act the way she did. Niya had been in low spirits when she was on the run. Anfey worried people would think he did not treat her well if her acquaintances saw her. Niya immediately acted the way she was before once they entered Maho Empire. It was actually really nice.

In order to buy Anfey some more time, and also to showcase Anfey, a dozen patrolmen in the front leading the way had walked around the whole city with the instruction of Urter. When the guests entered the garrison residence, those patrolmen were exhausted. They had run around crazily. They had to clear up anything on the street, keep civilians off the streets, run to the front to remind civilians about safety. Others may only walk one lap around the city, but they had run around for a few rounds.

The Garrison residence used to be quiet, but it became hustle and bustle today. People were running around to take trash out, clean rooms, move liquor barrels in, organize the tables and chairs, talking here and there in small groups. While they saw the patrols who lead the way had already entered garrison residence, they suddenly became quiet. People were busy running around retreated to the back of the garrison residence.

There was one thing Urter missed. He asked those patrolmen to negotiate the prices with retail sellers on their own, and set the salaries for the chefs, waitresses, and maids. He did set a bottom line for the patrols to follow. If the retail sellers were across the bottom line, they could force those sellers to obey. Unexpectedly, the patrols did not run into any trouble. Even when they gave a very low price to start their bargaining, those sellers agreed with the prices right away.

The saying, “there must be benefits to waking up early” was right. Businesspeople were driven by profits. However, people could forget about making profits for a short time as the social environment or personal experiences changed. People in Violet City were still experiencing the aftermath of war. Those businesspeople definitely felt the pain without protection in the war. No one respected their ownership of personal property. On top of having meals without paying, even when they had their doors closed, those Shansa Empire soldiers still could break down the door to take anything they wanted. If they were caught by the supervisors on watch, all they got was being scolded. Anything taken from them were never returned. Sometimes, their supervisors lead those soldiers to rob them.

Even though they had heard of Anfey’s achievements and victories, personally, Anfey was still a far reach for them. They did know about General Miorich. If Miorich did not come to Blackania City with his bodyguard squad, Blackania City could have fallen. The problem of Blackania City was solved by General Miorich. If this had not happened, Shansa Empire would have had no problem with military supplies, which would have ensured they could attack more cities from different directions. If this was the case, their dream of going back to the empire would be hopeless.

Because of General Miorich, their long suffering was replaced with some short-term losses. The Shansa Empire military was defeated and retreated out of Blackania City. When they heard those patrols were buying stuff for General Miorich, those greedy businesspeople forgot about their profits for the moment and agreed on the lowest prices without any hesitation. Some of them even volunteered their maids to help.

Miorich made some hand gestures, and then about twenty of the knights followed him in. The rest of the knights stayed outside. As Miorich slowly walked to the living room, Niya walked in the front, followed by Anfey and his crew.

The tables and chairs in the living room had been cleaned. There was a chair at the center with over ten long tables put together on both sides. A few girls dressed in maid uniforms were setting the tables. Miorich suddenly frowned and turned around to scan the room. Urter hurried over and said, “General, is there anything wrong?”

“Find me a quiet place. I need to talk to them first,” Miorich said.

“Sure, sure, please follow me.” Urter walked to the side door.

Anfey was looking at the living room as Niya pushed hard on his back. Niya laughed and said loudly, “Uncle Miorich has many questions for you. Don’t you want to run away? Hurry up.”

Anfey stumbled. He should not make a fool of himself with his martial art skills, but he was helpless when he dealt with Niya. Miorich was here, Anfey dared not to use any strategies to ask Niya to behave.

Niya was the only one who dared to talk aloud and joke around in front of Miorich. Anfey believed that he would make fewer mistakes if he talked less. Suzanna had been quiet in front of the strangers. Others were even quieter, without a doubt. Niya just seemed normal to Miorich. Niya would act the same way no matter whether she was in front of Miorich or Yolanthe.

Yolanthe and Saul had the relationship as king and follower in public, but they were more like friends outside of public eyes. Yolanthe did not have a daughter and treated Niya as his own daughter. In addition, his third oldest son received an estate outside the capital, the oldest prince and second oldest prince of Maho Empire had treated Niya as their little sister. In other words, Niya was spoiled.

Miorich turned around with a smile and glanced at Anfey. He followed after Urter and walked straight ahead. Anfey walked behind them and felt a little nervous. He pulled Niya’s sleeves and asked in a low voice, “What questions will Miorich ask me?”

“The questions I have always wanted to ask.” Niya leaned her head back and smiled.

“Me too,” Black Eleven said.

“Do you know what Miorich will ask me?” Anfey could not help turning his eyes to Black Eleven. Black Eleven had been with Anfey for a quite period of time. When Miorich started the fight with Anfey, Black Eleven fought with him. A person who had been kept away from secrets would have no idea what questions Miorich would ask.

“Those few normal questions,” Black Eleven smiled. “Where is your family? Where did you learn martial art skills from?”

“I want to know the answers to those questions as well,” Suzanna said, smiling.

“These questions are nothing special. Why didn’t you guys ask me before?” Anfey said.

“You always act like…who would dare to ask you?” Niya suddenly realized that it was not too decent to say she did not dare. She immediately rephrased her comment: “I did not want to know before, but I want to know now. Is that ok?”

The group sat down in the study around a round table. This was requested by Miorich. He was an easygoing man, even though his soldiers may not have thought so. If he was sitting and Anfey was standing, it might have seemed like he was interrogating Anfey. He didn’t want to antagonize anyone. The story of the attack on the Griffin Aerial Squadron was borderline legendary now, with more than fifty different versions circulating. Miorich was a general on the eastern front, and all the information that reached him was the truth. Among the information were some rumors about Anfey as a person. He wanted to evaluate those rumors.

Miorich smiled and tapped lightly on the table. He was trying to find a topic to start a natural and appropriate conversation. Just then, Urter knocked on the door. He walked into the room, and looked troubled.

“What is it?”

“There is someone who wants to see you, sir.”

“Tell him I’m busy,” Miorich said. He was a general, and could not meet everyone that wanted to meet him. After the war, there were a lot of people who tried to meet with him, and Miorich did not agree to see any of them.

“But he…” Before Urter could finish, the door was pushed open again. A man in his fifties and wearing black armor walked into the room. Behind him were two other men wearing armor. All three suits of armor were identical, and the three men seemed to be friendly. It appeared that the two soldiers were escorting the first man.

“General!” the first man called.

“Sneferu?” Miorich said, shocked. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you say you were going home?”

“Do you not want to see me, general?” Sneferu asked with a smile.

“Never,” Miorich said with a smile. “What is it? Do you want to come back and work for me?”

“No, I can’t do that, general. I’m too old now. I should make way for the youngsters,” Sneferu said, still smiling.

“Bring another chair over,” Miorich ordered one of his men. “Why didn’t you go home?” he asked.

“The only thing I can do if I go back is farm,” Sneferu said with a shrug. “Farm for the rest of my life, then waiting for my death in a small room. I don’t want that life.” Sneferu leaned against the chair, but did not sit down. “I came here to visit an old friend and we were planning on going to the Country of Mercenaries together. But the Marquis had been very welcoming and he offered a position in his household. I didn’t want to be a farmer anyway, so I accepted his offer.”

“So, right now you’re here because…” Miorich was frowning now.

“The Marquis had already set up a feast,” Sneferu said. “He invited you, general. I’ve already talked to the men, and they are all excited for a feast.”

Miorich slapped the table. The wood breaking under his fingers sent splinters flying across the room. Anfey had a fast reflex, but it didn’t matter. Everyone in the room, including Suzanna, Niya, and Christian, were covered in broken bits of wood. Anfey winced: where the splinters hit him stung. He glanced around and saw that Niya was frowning, clearly in pain.

Miorich stood up, towering over everyone else in the room. The atmosphere in the room was very heavy, and it was as if the temperature had dropped. Niya was only observing, and even she felt immense pressure. Sneferu was sitting on the ground and shaking, unable to speak a word.

Miorich was an outgoing and cheerful man, but everyone had secrets. Yolanthe was willing to let Miorich defend the eastern front, meaning that he trusted Miorich enough.

“His Majesty had once said that everyone changes, and I have to admit he is not wrong,” Miorich said. “But don’t you think you’ve changed too fast? What do you take me for? A stepping stone to wealth and glory?”

“What?” Sneferu asked, his voice shaking.

“Get out,” Miorich turned and ordered the two soldiers that accompanied Sneferu. Miorich was able to become the highest commander of the palace guards at twenty-six for a reason. He knew that sending the soldiers out would create rumors. Sneferu could not match him in reputation, and he knew that the soldiers were more likely to believe him. There would be rumors circulating among his men before the day was over.

The soldiers left the room quickly. Miorich walked over to Sneferu and crouched down in front of him. He saw there was confusion and fear in the man’s eyes. After a few minutes, Miorich sighed. “Do you know why I wanted you go home and become a farmer?” he asked quietly. He now knew that Sneferu did not know what he was doing, and did not know what the Marquis was planning when he made the offer.

“Yes. You want me to live a peaceful life, general,” Sneferu said.

“That’s not the entire truth,” Miorich said, shaking his head. “You are a good soldier and a good commander, but you have a lot of problems. You are too trusting and you tend to see the good in people. You know how to fight, your scars can make the new recruits speechless. Fighting is your strong suit, but politics is not.” Miorich paused for a few moments before continuing, “That is why I wanted to you go home and become a farmer. If you did, even if someone tried to fool you, it won’t be some terrible betrayal that could cost you your life.”

“My life is not that bad right now, general,” Sneferu said slowly. “The Marquis respects me.” Miorich had tried to make things very clear, but Sneferu did not have the mind for riddles. He was more of a follower when he was in the army, and did not think about his orders much.

Once, Yolanthe sent Miorich to the northern border to harden him. That was when he encountered Sneferu and recruited him.

Miorich had always placed Sneferu in charge of simply things, because he knew what kind of man Sneferu was. Sneferu had never experienced any stumbles in his life because of Miorich’s protection. If Miorich had let Sneferu experience more hardship, he would not be as naive in politics as he was.

“Sneferu, listen to me. Leave the Marquis, go home. This is my last warning.”

“General, I have already pledged myself to the Marquis,” Sneferu said, shaking his head. “I cannot abandon my post. You taught me this, don’t you remember?”

“Then we are done here. Sneferu, you should go now.”

“Are you really not going to the feast, general?”

Miorich shook and his head and turned away.

Sneferu sighed and stood up. He glanced at Miorich and shook his head, then turned and left the study.

“Anfey,” Miorich said, “I have a request.”

“What is it?” Anfey asked.

“You are about to be the new city lord,” Miorich said hesitantly. “Sneferu was in my army, and I know he is a good man. I’m hoping that you won’t hurt him.”

“I will try the best I can,” Anfey said. He did not know what the Marquis did to recruit Miorich’s man, and he did not know what he would do with Sneferu. If it really came down to it, Anfey knew he would not hesitate.

“Ok, let’s get back to the topic.” Miorich’s eyes looked sophisticated, like the dark sky that had so many secrets to itself. “Anfey, where did you learn the martial arts skills?”

Niya and the other three people all looked at Anfey after Miorich’s question. They were as interested in those questions as Miorich. Miorich’s questioning was simple and direct. In fact, it would work the best in many cases, for example now. Miorich closely watched Anfey’s facial expressions to try to catch any change on his face.

Anfey looked hesitant. He knew criminal psychology well. He had studied it to counter questioning from the police and to understand his opponents and his peers. If he told them the answer right away, it would actually cause them to doubt whether he was telling the truth. It was better for Anfey to look hesitant. It would sound more convincing after being asked a couple times. If he could find some evidence to support what he said, it would be even better.

“Tell us,” Niya urged. “Anfey, why are you hesitating? You are not thinking of lying to us, are you?”

“I, I can not…” Anfey smiled bitterly.

“Actually, it is not a secret anymore,” Miorich said. “Master Saul has learned a lot about you from Ernest. Anfey, please don’t think Ernest was doing anything to hurt you. He had to speak up for you and explain what happened, since Master Saul was super angry with you.”

“So…you all know about it?” Anfey was actually quite happy about it inside. It sounded a lot better and more convincing if Ernest told them about it instead of himself.

“Yes, you learned the martial arts from an anonymous old man. The name of your village head is Ben Ladeng, but you could remember the name of your village. Am I right?” Miorich asked.

“Yes, I was too young when I was taken away by Yagor. I barely remember anything. All the memories seem blurry to me. It will be great if I could see the village again,” Anfey said.

“Our king has ordered the whole empire to look for your village head called Bin Laden. Unfortunately, we have not found him yet. The areas he could be should not be too large since the island Yagor hid himself on should not be too far from it. Bin Laden should not live beyond the territory of Tumen Commercial Union and Maho Empire. Yagor would not go beyond those territories to look for young kids to do experiments. Is my analysis right?” Miorich asked.

Anfey thought to himself, “It would be a miracle if you could find a village head called Ben Ladeng. People in my world have searched for him with hundreds of satellites, day and night, but still could not find him. The scale of your search was nothing.” Anfey looked like he was deep in thought. He slowly nodded, “It should be like that.”

“Anfey, do you remember how long it took for you to get back to that isolated island after Yagor caught you? Did Yagor used levitation magic to travel? Did you take any wagons?” Miorich was trying to figure out the time and speed they travelled. He could use the time and mode of transportation to do a rough calculation estimate where Bin Laden could be.

“I remember I was flying at the beginning, and then I was in the wagon later. There were a few other kids with me. After about two or three days, we reached the island,” Anfey said.

“Are you sure you are not remembering it wrong?” Miorich asked.

“I was really scared, so I remember it clearly,” Anfey said.

“Is Yagor that lonely and weird archmage? Anfey, what did he do to you after he caught you?” Niya asked in curiosity.

“An experiment,” Anfey said with a bitter smile.

“What kind of experiment?” Niya asked.

“Yagor started to study dark magic to break through the bottleneck. Anfey and many other innocent kids all became his lab subjects,” Miorich answered Niya.

“Oh my god, he is so devious,” Niya gasped. She felt bad for Anfey and looked to him with great kindness. “Anfey, poor guy.”

Suzanna felt worse than Niya. She wanted to hold Anfey’s hand to give him some courage when she saw Anfey was sad recalling his old memories. However, the round table in the center was ruined by Miorich. Without anything to cover Suzanna, she felt awkward and dared not to make any intimate movement towards Anfey.

“Our king has sent people to search every inch of that isolated island to seek any valuable information. We only found a few items and many magic crystals and magic tools buried underground.” Miorich looked up to watch Anfey.

“I buried them.” Anfey felt he was in trouble. As he got better with magic, he slowly came to understand the value of the stuff Yagor left after his death. The reason he led Suzanna away from the group was to get the coins in the magic beast forest and retrieve Yagor’s estate. No one would think Yagor’s estate would belong to Yolanthe now.

That island was quite large. He had hid Yagor’s belongings pretty well. It meant that Yolanthe had sent a lot of people and searched for a long time. This also showed what a powerful country could do. Anfey felt bad losing Yagor’s estate, but he could not show it on his face. He had to fake a normal face.

“Why did you bury them?” Miorich asked.

“I was left alone and scared on that isolated island. I learned a lot from the other kids and Yagor. If I had to make a conclusion, I would say people are harsh,” Anfey sighed. “Yagor is an archmage. His estate would definitely attract many people, so I tried to wipe out any trace that Yagor left. This way even when someone found the island, he would only see me. I am just a regular person so he would not have interest in me,” Anfey said.

“People are harsh?” Christian said in a low voice. “Anfey, weren’t you just a little kid?”

“Kids would change as their environments change. They could grow mature fast,” Anfey said slowly. “Christian, you would not understand the fear those kids had to face. Every time Yagor decided to do an experiment, he would take one kid from us. That kid never came back, and then there was a new anonymous tomb on the island. As time went by, we all got to know what Yagor’s magic experiments meant. We tried to please Yagor to live longer. We even learned to set up other kids to make Yagor get angry at them so Yagor would take them for the experiment. We would be living longer this way,” Anfey said.

“When we were sick, we could not let anyone know about it, otherwise Yagor would definitely take you away because he did not want you to get other kids sick. We could not eat too much either even when we were hungry. We could only have a few bites to stop the hunger. Yagor did not want others to know where he resided. Food was a big problem. He hated to go out to do grocery shopping, and hated any kid who ate a lot. He picked the kids who ate more first. We had to do a lot of chores. We had to find some chores to do if we finished our own assignments. Yagor would think the kids useful if they could do chores. Unless there were only a few kids left, he would not think of using the kids who liked to do chores as the experimental subjects.” Anfey’s smiles added more sadness at the right time. “We did these things to please Yagor. We also had to be alert about being set up by other kids. To survive, kids organized themselves into groups in different sizes to help each other. Of course, it was to counter other groups as well. They would cheer if the kids from other groups were taken away by Yagor. They also would feel sad and desperate when kids from the same group were taken away.”

When they heard what Anfey said, they all looked serious. The living conditions Anfey had described were hell, without doubt. What Anfey told them was true. It all came from the memory of the previous owner of this body.

“They learned to disclose others’ weaknesses in a secret way. They mastered the skills to tell when Yagor was happy and sad. They got used to provoking others on purpose and putting on a show as victims in front of Yagor. All of these were to help them live a few days longer and send other kids to be the experimental subjects before themselves,” Anfey said slowly. “Christian, it is not too much to describe it as harsh, is it?”

Miorich and others in the living room were all shocked to hear what kind of life Anfey had. They could imagine the desperate and sad group of little kids trying to survive under the threat of death. Suzanna and Niya had tears in their eyes. In their experience, Anfey was a sophisticated man, but they did not think Anfey grew up in such a hell. The fear he had could have made anyone crazy, but Anfey had survived.

Suzanna’s face has changed the most. She thought her experiences were too much. She had experienced many more dangers for her age than others. However, compared with Anfey, she definitely lived in a heaven.

“Were you the last survivor?” Miorich asked quietly.

“Yes. I would not have survived if Yagor had not made mistakes in the experiment,” Anfey said.

Miorich sighed. He was indeed touched by Anfey’s story, but he also thought deeper than Christian and others. There were 617 bodies of kids found on the island. What did it mean? It meant Anfey beat all of them and hung on there to the last. It also meant Anfey was the smartest, toughest, and the most observant and flexible, since those 617 dead bodies were the proof.

If adding another comment about Anfey, it would be that Anfey was terrifying. Who would know how many of those kids died because of Anfey? Of course, Miorich did not want to continue on that issue. It had become past. What Anfey did was not totally unreasonable. He lived in conditions where either Anfey died or someone else died. Anfey had to live by sending other kids to be the experimental subjects.

Miorich had not thought too much about it when Yolanthe thought Anfey was important. Anfey had not left him much of a positive impression. He learned what Anfey had achieved later on and changed his impression of Anfey. Now he thought Anfey was extremely important. People like Anfey who got out of the hell must be very special. If Miorich had to experience the same thing as Anfey did, he did not think he would be the only survivor himself.

As he was speaking, Anfey’s expression changed as the story went on and was very convincing. After a few moments, however, all of his emotions disappeared, as if he was just telling someone else’s story. Anfey was very good at controlling himself; perhaps it was the reason why he was able to succeed time after time.

Suzanna, however, did not care for formality. She gripped Anfey’s hand tightly, as if she could transport her strength to him this way. Niya looked at Anfey with eyes filled with compassion. If he was closer to her in age, she would have hugged him tightly to comfort him.

Unlike Niya and Suzanna, Christian looked at Anfey with admiration. Anfey’s story finally answered his question of why Anfey could go from a kind youth to a coldblooded killer. Christian knew what Anfey did during the war, and he knew that they were able to go home because of what Anfey had done. He had never asked Anfey about anything, because he did not want to damage their relationship. He had trusted Anfey, and no one could change that. Anfey had more than enough skill to leave, but he brought everyone with him. That showed that Anfey was a trustworthy person.

Miorich nodded. “Yagor is an archmage, sure, but his poverty is notorious. I have no idea how he gathered all those things in the end.”

“What did he have?” Niya asked curiously.

“Can’t tell you,” Miorich said, smiling. “It’s a secret.” He brought Niya along today for a reason. Suzanna was Anfey’s lover and had the right to know everything. Christian was Anfey’s trusted right hand man and had the right know as well. In the past, Niya was very sheltered. The older generation didn’t want her to get hurt, and created an idle life for her. Now, Miorich knew that it was not the way to raise a child. Saul had regretted raising Niya in such a sheltered environment. Sooner or later she would grow up and weather the storm by herself. The older generation could not protect her forever. It was time she learn something about the world.

Niya cleared her eyes and turned to Anfey. “You were on that island for so long,” she said, “you must know something.”

“He was already dying when I became his student,” Anfey said. “I knew nothing of magic then, and did not know what those things were.” Seeing that Miorich did not answer Niya’s question, Anfey decide he would feign ignorance as well.

Niya looked at Miorich and sighed.

“You should know how rare the Vacuum Confinement Scroll is now, right?” Miorich asked.

“Yes,” Anfey said, nodding. His most prized possession was the scroll. He would return Saul’s scrolls, but Yagor’s was his trump card, even though all his plans had already gone to waste.

“Good. Don’t waste it.”

“Of course not.”

“Another thing. I would advise against reading the book about black magic. It’s not just me and His Majesty. Lord Saul agrees as well.”

Anfey frowned and lifted his head.

“We’re staying here for a few more days, then we will go to Blackania City. All your possessions are kept there.”

“What?” Anfey asked, staring at Miorich in shock.

“Did you think His Majesty just claimed everything?” Miorich asked with a laugh.

“No, I just…”

“Don’t worry. What was Yagor’s will be yours,” Miorich said with a smile. “You are still his last student, and you are the owner of his possessions. Although His Majesty wanted to destroy that black magic book, we needed to get your permission.”

“But I don’t even have the power to use the Vacuum Confinement Scroll yet.”

“That’s why you should work harder.”

“It’s impossible for me to get that powerful in a short amount of time,” Anfey said. “I want to give that scroll to His Majesty. Surely then it could be more useful with him than with me.” He had thought that what Yagor left belonged to Yolanthe, and it had made sense. Even if the real owners were still alive, it would still be hard to hold onto those relics. Anfey could not imagine giving away such valuable relics, even the legendary Vacuum Confinement Scroll. This showed Yolanthe’s generosity.

Miorich smiled. He took the sword from his belt and handed it to Suzanna. “You’re a swordsman,” he said. “You should know what it is.”

Suzanna accepted the sword gingerly and slowly began pulling it out of the sheath. A burst of blinding light filled the room. The light did not disperse like regular light, but instead lingered in the room like morning mist. “Is this the Wing of Light?” Suzanna asked hesitantly.

Miorich nodded.

“Really?” Suzanna asked incredulously.

Miorich took the sword and pulled the entire length of the blade out of the sheath. The light of the blade bloomed like flowers and filled with room. Miorich returned the sword to its sheath, and the light in the room disappeared.

Suzanna’s eyes widened. She was a swordsman, and she knew very well what the Wing of Light was.

“If you want, let’s trade swords. I am a knight, and this sword is no good to me.”

“No, no,” Suzanna said hurriedly, returning the sword.

“Do you want it?” Miorich turned and asked Anfey.

“Me?” Anfey asked. He knew that Miorich still wanted to give it to Suzanna.

“I won’t take back my gifts,” Miorich said seriously.

After a few moments of hesitation, Anfey took the sword from Suzanna’s hand. This sword was a gift to Suzanna from Yolanthe. It would be inappropriate if she did not accept it.

“A good weapon should be in the right hands,” Miorich said. “His Majesty taught me that. This sword was given to His Majesty by a merchant as a birthday gift. His Majesty gave it to Baery the next day, but Baery didn’t take it. Do you know what Baery said then?”

“What?”

“Baery said that His Majesty should keep it. Evil Mist had sent a dozen assassins after His Majesty, but they never succeeded. Baery said that a sword like this is more useful in the hands of a two-discipliner.”

“His Majesty was a swordsman?” Niya asked, surprised. Christian’s expression did not change, however, as if he had already known this.

Miorich nodded.

“What happened then?”

“Baery is a stubborn man, and it’s very hard to change his mind. A month later, when Baery was leaving the capital with his legion, His Majesty gifted the sword to him in front the entire legion and sent him away,” Miorich said with a smile. “His Majesty told me that his responsibility wasn’t to be a good swordsman, it was to be a good king.”

“What happened then?”

“A month after Baery left, there was another assassination attempt that left His Majesty injured. The first thing Baery did when he returned to Sacred City was go into the palace and throw this sword down in front of His Majesty. His Majesty grew angry as well and the two of them just stood in the throne room and stared at each other. I had to intervene to break it up. Then His Majesty gave the sword to me.”

“That’s very brave of him,” Niya said. She grinned, imagining Baery and Yolanthe standing in the throne room, staring at each other.

Anfey remained silent. Scenes like this were indeed very rare. He didn’t know Yolanthe very well in the past, but now he could feel how generous and open-minded Yolanthe was. He was indeed a good king.

Sneferu’s hands were shaking, and his steps were heavy. He slowly walked into a civilian’s house. The civilian’s house looked normal from the outside, but highly secured inside. Over a dozen swordsmen and four mages stood in formation in the living room to protect the old man sitting in the middle of the sofa.

“Sneferu, you are back.” That old man stood up with a smile. He was not tall and a little chubby. He wore a gold-colored gown. Royal families in different countries liked to pick a color to be their family color to show their royal family identity. It was interesting to see they all chose the shiny gold color. Regular people could not wear this kind of gown. They got serious punishment for that. The punishment could be as serious as the death penalty.

“Master, I…” Sneferu faltered. He had patted himself on the chest to show his commitment to invite General Miorich over. No one would think Miorich did not want to talk to him after he just retired from Miorich’s bodyguard squad a few days ago. What a world. Sneferu was angry and resentful about it. He was also sentimental about the world.

“Haha. General Miorich just came to Violet City and must feel tired. It made sense if he did not want to come to socialize. Sneferu, don’t make it too personal.” Sneferu smiled, but his smiles were forced.

Marquis Djoser had been to Sacred City when he was young. He never went back there again because he felt depressed over there. In terms of nobility titles, those government officials’ titles were a lot lower than his. The two prime ministers were only earls. Only a few people had the same title as he did, but he had to forget about his title and please people with smiles. That was because he had no power or influence in the Sacred City. Marquis Djoser went back to his hometown after his inheritance ceremony was over. He would rather be the head in a small place than at the bottom in a big city. No one would show any disrespect to him on this piece of land.

Obviously, he ran into the same problem this time. Miorich did not show any respect to him. If only Miorich had disrespected him, he could take it. He was not stupid. Miorich commanded a military of over one hundred thousand soldiers. He knew a marquis title could not compare with a general with the highest military power to constrain others. However, he could not take the challenge from a young man. Anfey had killed his son on the street the first time he came to Violet City. Anfey had proclaimed the cruel and bloody war against him. He had to make powerful strikes to counter Anfey.

“Master, I am going to see General Miorich tomorrow again. Don’t worry. I’ll handle it,” Sneferu said slowly.

Miorich knew his followers well. He had said it clearly, but Sneferu did not seem to get it.

“Don’t worry.” Marquis Djoser waved his hand with a smile. “Oh, right, Sneferu, did you invite your companions over. I just sent people out to check. Miorich’s bodyguard squad was still standing there on the street. They have travelled dozens of miles. They must be exhausted. I will ask my people to help them so they could take turns resting.”

Snefuru’s face looked even worse when Marquis Djoser mentioned the bodyguard squad. The bodyguard squad had looked excited to see him when he showed up in front of them. They all surrounded him and joked and laughed with him. They looked weird after he was kicked out by Miorich. No one from the bodyguard squad led him out. They looked indifferent to him as well.

“Never mind, never mind.” Marquis Djoser knew his previous plan had failed when he saw Snefuru’s face. “Senefuru, you go upstairs to get some rest. I will call you when I need you.”

“Yes, Master.” Snefuru felt he had lost face and did not want to stay any longer. He turned half around and walked out from the side door.

Seeing Snerufu walking away, Marquis Djoser suddenly said, “Did you just say Anfey’s sword skill was very special?”

“Yes, master. I have collected information about Anfey, but no one could give a definite answer as to how powerful Anfey is because whoever has fought with Anfey has died,” the swordsman said in a low voice. “Anfey’s sword skill looked dreamy and not practical, but he could kill his opponent in a very short time. He is a Magic-Combat-Twin discipliner. Magic-Combat-Twin discipliners usually can master only one element, but he can control several elements. His practices have been kept secret. Evil Mist is interested in him as well. They have sent two people to catch Anfey, but both of them got killed by him. They sent a very powerful one to catch him for the third time, but Anfey has left with Saul’s students before Evil Mist people reached Sacred City.”

“Anfey also has a little unicorn. A maid in the Garden Hotel said Master Shamash wanted to take the little unicorn away in the name of the magic academy after he saw the little unicorn,” a mage said.

“Shut up!” Marquis Djoser said coldly. He only wanted to know how he could take revenge on Anfey right now instead of getting to know what happened the other day. For Marquis Djoser, it was not important who started the fight and whose fault was it at this point.

In the study of the garrison residence, the talk between Miorich and Anfey had approached the end. Miorich looked relaxed, but he suddenly talked about the birthplace of Anfey again. “Anfey, you have become so powerful with the memory left in you when you were young. Our king thinks that anonymous old man might be the only top power to go to Sacred State.”

“Really? Sacred State?” Niya opened her eyes wide. She thought her father was the most powerful person in the world. She did not believe anything to be real in the legends. She even thought the barns were made up and they never existed. She was startled to suddenly hear that there was a person in this world who had been to Sacred State.

Suzanna and Christian were startled as well. They looked at Anfey and then Miorich, waiting to know the answer.

“Well, I do not know about that, but I do know he is very powerful,” Anfey smiled.

“More than powerful!” Miorich let out a slight sigh. “Ernest told Master Saul that he has learned a lot from you. It is unbelievable to hear that a master swordsman had learned from a person with another kind of sword skill.”

“Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to learn more from him,” Anfey said.

“I was curious how Yagor could take you away from a person who has been to Sacred State.” Miorich asked.

“I was really unlucky. He was in the state of Samadhi, and did not know what happened around him,” Anfey said.

“Samadhi?” Miorich asked nervously. The face of Miorich changed. As a Gold Knight, he really hoped to learn more about Sacred State, anything could give him some inspiration.

“Is it the way you practice everyday?” Niya asked.

“Yes,” Anfey said.

“Niya, how did Anfey practice?” Miorich urged.

“Anfey sat in a weird way and he could sit for a whole day without moving.” Niya stood up and looked for an area to try to show it to Miorich. “People in Anfey’s legion were curious about Anfey’s practice and tried it on their own. They could only sit for a little while before their legs were getting sore, stiff and painful. They had to give it up.”

Niya walked next to a desk and took a seat cross-legged. She gritted her teeth. Her bones were already stiff at her age. Without training, it would definitely hurt to sit with legs crossed.

“What benefits do you get from this practice?” Miorich’s eyes brightened. He wanted to give a try right now, but he felt awkward to do it in front of these young people. He had to go back to his own room to try it.

“Enough, enough,” Niya complained. She used her hands to remove one leg off the other leg. Luckily, she did not wear a dress today.

“I do not know what benefits I could get. I am just used to this practice since I was little,” Anfey said bitterly.

“Anfey could sit like this for a long time. The longest record is two days. He could immediately walk after it. My God,” Niya spoke in exaggeration. Some people could not stay in that position for very long, even if they tried hard. They gritted their teeth to try staying longer in that position. They wobbled after they gave up that position. Niya thought it was a miracle that Anfey could walk after he finished his practice.

“It is nothing. That old man could sit for a month without food, drink or talk. I was too young back then. I even thought he died.”

Miorich looked startled this time. He was most surprised by the fact that an old man could live without food or drink for a month. “Is he a human?” He thought to himself.

“Anfey, why did he stay in that village?” Miorich asked.

“He said he wanted to challenge Tao,” Anfey said.

“What is Tao?” Miorich asked.

“I do not know. It seemed to be the next level he was going to advance to,” Anfey said.

Miorich almost went crazy. Sacred State was far out of his reach, while that old man wanted to advance to the next level. What would he be? God?

“Ok, let’s talk about something else.” Miorich lifelessly waved his hand. He laid his eyes on Christian, “Christian, can we…”

“Let’s talk here.” Christian woke up from the shock. He glanced at Anfey and smiled, “This guy has guessed who I am.”

“You? Who are you? Why does it sound so secretive?” Niya was about to go crazy. Suddenly many secrets came at once, and she did not seem to be able to handle it.

“Why did you disobey the king’s orders several times? Christian, it is not doing you any good to do that. I think you understand that too.” After Anfey got into big trouble, in order to ensure Christian and Niya’s safety, Yolanthe had sent Steger, the dean of the magic academy, to see them. Of course, Miorich moved away so he did not ask these questions in front of Anfey.

“It was too boring to study magic. I liked the adventurous life I had with Anfey,” Christian said casually. Christian actually did not tell the truth. Anfey was grateful for what Saul had done for him. He had to take everyone to run away to protect the students and family of Saul. Christian had stayed at Saul’s house for about ten years. He built relationships with Saul and his peers. He had an even stronger sense of responsibility than Anfey. He was afraid Steger would take him away for his own safety. He would never forgive himself if that happened. Therefore, he refused to see Steger and chose to be with his peers in that difficult time.

Miorich went quiet for a while. “Young people usually have their own opinions. It does not matter what I tell you. Ok. We should go out now.” Miorich slowly stood up.

Even though the feast at the manor of the city lord did not have enough preparation, there was still a lot of people present. The merchants were not as politically powerful as the nobles, but they were just as rich, if not more so. The cooks they brought were some of the best, and even the maids seemed more sophisticated. Urter knew that he wasn’t used to situations like this, so he invited some peddlers to lighten up the mood. It was a rare opportunity to sit down with the famous general Miorich for dinner, and for the merchants it was a great honor. All the merchants were trying to please Miorich as much as possible, hoping for some future benefits.

Halfway through the feast, Blavi and Riska arrived in the city as well. Riska asked Anfey about what had happened, and after learning everything that had taken place, Blavi wanted to go find the marquis and end the conflict once and for all. Blavi had matured a lot since they first left Sacred City, but he was still quick to anger. Back in the city, he was the only one that dared to speak against Zeda.

While everyone was enjoying the feast, Urter was very busy. He was walking around and making sure everything was running smoothly. When all the guests had returned to their chambers, Urter was too tired to do anything else. He was very happy, however, because this proved that everything he had done so far was right.

Anfey, like Urter, was tired as well. He began meditating after only a few hours of sleep. For some other people, this might have been overworking, but he enjoyed the process. Meditating had became part of his life. An artist may spend hours in front of a canvas, and a mathematician may spend months over a single equation. People may think they were overworking themselves, but for them it was enjoyment.

Anfey meditated until almost midnight when he heard commotion outside. He frowned and walked to the door. The door next to his opened as well, and Miorich walked out slowly. What was surprising was that when Miorich walked, he was limping slightly.

“What happened?” Anfey asked in shock. A master swordsman like Miorich was almost always healthy. The only thing that could affect him was aging.

“It’s alright,” Miorich said, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about me.” He had been meditating the entire night, trying to find the way into the Sacred State. It was his life goal to be able to leave behind mundane things like the squabbles between the merchants. However, he could not find the Sacred State, and his body was sore because of the prolonged meditation.

Before Anfey could say anything else, the noise outside got louder. The two men glanced at each other and headed outside.

The courtyard in front of the mansion was filled with people. Most of the people there were members of Miorich’s guards. Some of the guards looked terrified, some looked bewildered, some looked enraged. Most of them were arguing about something.

“What happened?” Miorich asked. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough to calm the crowd.

“There’s Anfey!” someone in the crowd suddenly called loudly. An old man in a yellow robe appeared. The muscle on his face was twitching due to rage, and he was pointing at Anfey with shaking fingers. There was a wound on his neck. The bandage was ripped off, and blood was seeping through the cut.

“You are such a vile man,” the old man said through clenched teeth. “Vile!” He wanted to lunge at Anfey, but was stopped by two swordsmasters behind him.

“Who is this?” Anfey asked, frowning.

“What are you doing here, Marquis Djoser?” Miorich asked.

“What am I doing here? Ask him!” the marquis spat angrily.

“I am asking you,” Miorich said calmly. He was a soldier, but he wasn’t unfamiliar with politics. If he had looked at Anfey at that moment, he would put him into a disadvantageous position. Other people may be fooled by the marquis’s words, but not Miorich.

The marquis grew angrier. Miorich had clearly picked a side in this conflict, and did not care if he was a marquis or not. He hadn’t lost his mind, however, and knew that he was no match for Miorich. He turned his gaze to Anfey and shook his head. “I told Sneferu to go invite the general to a feast yesterday. Did I mean harm? Did I? I invited him because I respected him. What did I do to prompt you to murder my men?”

Anfey stared at the old man, but did not say anything.

“Come on, come kill me. If you are brave enough to kill my soldiers, you should be brave enough to kill me right now,” the Marquis said with a hoarse voice. “If you can’t tolerate me, sure, kill me. Be my guest. But answer my question. Why kill so many innocent men?”

Miorich’s guards cleared a path for a group of swordsmen. They carried a dozen litters bearing dead bodies and set them down in front of Miorich and Anfey. The first body was Sneferu. He was half naked, his bare chest filled with scars.

What killed him was a large slash across his chest and abdomen. His entire chest was slashed open, and the wound was blackened. The other bodies all had similar injuries. All the wounds were blackened as if done with fire.

“Look at him,” the marquis said, crouching down next to Sneferu. “Look at him. Do you see his scars? He risked his life for the empire, but what did he get in the end? He didn’t die on the battlefield in glory. It was because of me…” the marquis’s voice broke, and he shook his head. The swordsmaster next to him whispered something into the marquis’s ear.

“How can you do this?” the marquis pushed the swordsmaster aside and asked loudly.

Anfey was still standing there quietly. Now was not the time to speak. He had to find a flaw in the marquis’s story before saying anything.

Miorich’s guards looked at Anfey. Their eyes were hostile. They knew why they were in Violet City. It was no longer a secret that Anfey had a feud with the marquis, and Anfey was the only person who could cause wounds like those. Urter was telling the merchants about the strange sword Anfey wielded, and it was no longer a secret.

The guards didn’t care if Anfey had a feud with the marquis. In fact, they would even help him. That was why Miorich led them to Violet City in the first place, but Anfey should not have touched Sneferu. The man had been their friend and companion until only a month ago. Having him killed by his supposed ally was too much for the guards to take.

“This is all my fault,” the marquis said, shaking his head. “I should have never asked Sneferu to join my guards. I wanted to help him, but I killed him.” The Marquis pounded the ground with his fist, leaving bloody smears on the dirt. The swordsmaster next to him had to restrain him.

“You have to give us an answer!” one of the marquis’s men demanded.

“Yes, an answer!” the other men called. Even a few of Miorich’s guards joined in.

It was easy to rile up people’s emotions. It was very hard to control a crowd. Anfey looked like a lone rock in the middle of the sea as the crowd surged and closed in on him.

With a flash of light, Suzanna appeared next to him. Christian, Riska, Blavi, and Niya all appeared as well. Even Hui Wei was standing behind them, clutching something in his hand. Hagan was distributing his potions.

“Be quiet!” Miorich called, his booming voice echoing in the night. The crowd stopped and stared at the general.

“You say these men were killed by Anfey,” Miorich said. “Do you have any proof?”

“Prove? Sneferu is the proof. These men are the proof. I am the proof,” the marquis called. He pointed to the wound on his neck and cried, “I saw him with my own eyes!”

“I was with him all night last night,” Miorich said calmly. “He couldn’t have done this.”

The marquis laughed. “General Miorich,” he said, “I know why you are providing an alibi for him. He is Lord Saul’s student, is he not? Lord Saul is your old friend. Compared to the court mage, which is a retired soldier? I am not surprised by your decision!”

Miorich’s guards froze, then turned to look at the general. They had all trusted Miorich, but nothing was absolute, and their trust in Miorich had just been shaken.

Anfey walked up and said calmly, “Don’t worry. Let me take care of this.”

Anfey slowly walked up with sincere and sweet smiles. His eyes looked calm and clear. Whenever Anfey was in danger, he would not lose himself in panic. The tenser the situation got, the calmer Anfey would become. He knew he had to save himself, because no one would suddenly come to help him. Enemies would not go easy on him either.

“Did you say I came to your house to kill you last night?” Anfey asked in a low voice.

Marquis Djoser spit on the floor with hatred. He answered Anfey with this gesture of contempt.

“Do you mind telling us what happened last night in detail?” Anfey kept his sincere and sweet smile on his face.

“There is nothing more I can tell you.” Marquis Djoser looked sad and resentful. “I am not here to cause you trouble. I know what I am doing now does not go in line with the laws in the empire. Anfey, I only want to ask you one thing. Who gave you the right to kill people?”

“You say I killed your people, but I say I did not. What is the point of this argument? If you could describe what happened last night in detail, everyone here could be our witness. I think they could give us a fair judgement.”

Marquis Djoser’s mouth twitched. The more a person talked, the higher the chance he could get caught lying. Marquis Djoser understood that too. Since Anfey had given his reasons to retell what happened, he could not refuse to talk about it any more. Refusing to tell what happened the previous day could make others doubt him and put him at a disadvantage. Marquis Djoser looked at his supporters out of the corner of his eye.

“Yesterday Marquis Djoser, Snefuru and other few people were still talking in the study after we all went to sleep.” A supporter answered for Marquis Djoser. He looked like he was trying to recall what happened yesterday. “We suddenly heard Marquis Djoser calling for help and screams from others. We immediately grabbed the weapons to run to the study. There was blood everywhere in the study, everywhere. Master Snefuru and other companions laid on the ground in blood. A few people were trying to protect Marquis Djoser.”

“What happened after that?” Anfey asked.

“After that? You ran away like a criminal. There was nothing after that,” the supporter answered in anger.

“Which floor was the study on?” Anfey asked calmly. He tried to hold in any curse words. Urter told Anfey before that Marquis Djoser’s four-story house sat on a large piece of land. It was famous around Violet City.

“Third floor,” the supporter said.

“Which floor was your room on?” Anfey asked.

“First floor,” the supporter answered.

“Ok. Did you say I was scared away by you? I got it,” Anfey said casually. He gathered his internal forces in the blink of an eye, and the force was covering his whole body. He had rarely fought with full force after he restarted practicing his internal force. There were two reasons for that. First of all, he did not want to act like he was so different than others. Second, he wanted to be more familiar with the magic and combat skills in this world and incorporate them into his own combat skills. Well, skills were acquired through practice. Now it was his time to fight and see.

“What do you mean?” the supporter asked loudly.

“You guys, be careful!” Anfey did not look any different. Only his eyes got brighter. “Let’s start.” Anfey suddenly ran out as fast as a flying arrow. He did not even need acceleration to reach that speed.

Marquis Djoser trusted the person most who had answered for him. He was also the marquis’s most powerful and loyal follower. He was still trying to think about the answers he gave about the locations of the study and his dorm. He worried there was some loophole in his story. They did not get a chance to talk about this question. He did not have time to think before he gave his answers either. It would make people doubt him if it took him too long to answer such a simple question.

In the blink of an eye, Anfey was within three yards of that follower. The guy had a pretty quick response. The light radiant from combat power had covered his whole body. He pushed Marquis Djoser behind him with his left hand as he pulled the sword out with his right hand. He swung down at Anfey’s head. Actually he looked down upon Anfey’s impulsive acts. There was no unarmed combat in this world. Combat power could counter the strikes in most cases. If this were unarmed combat, they would not know who would win without hundreds of strikes. If both parties had swords, the fight could end very soon. Anfey could not beat mages with bare hands since the mage’s shield was not just for decoration. The marquis’s supporter thought it was nothing different than committing suicide to run like Anfey. A Magic-Combat-Twin discipliner? He hoped Anfey could fight him with his flaming swords. The dead bodies on the ground were killed by a Magic-Combat-Twin discipliner. It would only help them to prove Anfey was the killer.

As the sword was about to hit Anfey’s head, Anfey suddenly slid away. His move was swift and elegant. Miorich and Suzanna stood in the back, watching him with eyes bright. They paid more attention to how Anfey fought.

That supporter put more force on his wrist to change the direction of the sword and tried to slay Anfey from the side. Anfey immediately hit his wrist. The guy snorted at Anfey even more. He did not think Anfey could make any damage with that strike. Even if he just let Anfey hit him without any counter strike, it would be hard to get hurt with the protection of combat power. He thought he was going to slice Anfey in half.

Anfey was a lot less powerful than he thought. Anfey’s strike could not even be described as a hit. It was more like laying a hand on his. The follower did not know that move was called “putting a hand on” in martial arts.

As there was no contact between the two hands, Anfey kicked his left leg into the follower’s elbow while his hand was holding onto his opponent’s wrist. Anfey did not have to use too much force to hold his opponent’s wrist. It was good enough as long as the opponent’s arm did not swing. That follower’s arm was bent inwards. There were cracking sounds and screaming right away.

Combat power could greatly increase people’s defensive power. Anfey had experienced it a long time ago when he fought hard with Suzanna under water. However, having combat power was not everything. If people could run and attack with combat power, it meant their joints were not protected by combat power. Anfey seemed to find the weak points of swordsmen.

Anfey kept moving forward. He ran to the next swordsman. That swordsman thrust his sword at Anfey’s chest like a vapor. As the sword was only one yard away from Anfey, Anfey suddenly flew into the sky like a flying butterfly among the flowers. In the blink of an eye, he lined up with that swordsman, vertically. The swordsman was on the ground while Anfey was upside down in the air. The swordsman had never seen any skill like this. He immediately swung his sword up to counter Anfey. As the sword was above him, Anfey grabbed his wrist. This time, Anfey put a lot more strength on the grip.

Anfey flipped over and landed behind the swordsman. He had calculated their height difference before he made the attack. He chose to squat a little to put his back tightly against that swordsman’s lower back. He pulled the swordsman’s wrist hard. Everyone at the scene saw clearly that swordsman’s arm swung backwards like a windmill’s blade. It swung more than half circle. That swordsman started to scream loudly in pain. He sounded more like an animal howling than a human screaming.

It only took Anfey a very short time to beat the two swordsmen. It startled the onlookers. Most people thought in a certain way. If there were no other references to help them think in a different way, most people rather believed in themselves. People tried to imagine how much fighting ability they could have if they had to fight with bare hands and what would happen if they fought with weapons. It was undeniable there was a big difference in between fighting with bare hands and with weapons. Anfey was able to beat two swordsmen with bare hands in the blink of an eye. One of them was even an intermediate swordsman. Anfey would be unbelievably powerful if Anfey fought with weapons.

Only Miorich and Suzanna could tell Anfey did not attack with much power, but they were still startled by Anfey’s fighting ability, because they saw some fighting skills they had never seen or imagined before. They both were masters on how to control and use powers, but they were not as good as Anfey in terms of skill. They both got to see a totally different and new area by watching Anfey fighting.

Marquis Djoser was shocked and kept stepping back. A junior swordsman would never understand how powerful Anfey could be. He thought his peers were beaten because Anfey attacked them with surprise. The swordsman had gathered his combat power and stepped out. He thrust his sword at Anfey’s throat. Marquis Djoser had told them to try to kill Anfey. He thought he could make it happen and get rewards from Marquis Djoser.

Anfey moved his body sideways to dodge. He timed it perfectly. If he was a little too fast, the junior swordsman could change his moves. If he was a little too slow, he could get hurt.

At the moment they passed each other, Anfey held his right foot out and kicked backwards like a little kid playing a game. The swordsman got kicked on his right ankle. It did not seem Anfey kicked that hard, but that swordsman’s right foot was kicked into the air. Almost at the same time, Anfey stepped forward with the momentum and stepped on that swordsman’s left foot.

That swordsman’s body continued to move forward with the momentum while his left foot was held by Anfey’s foot. The swordsman fell on his face while his right foot was still moving forward. He did not know how dangerous a position he was in.

Anfey put his hands on the swordsman’s shoulders and pressed down hard as he flipped from the right side of him to the left. That swordsman smashed hard onto the ground with his hip. The quality of combat power was important to swordsmen. There were no contortion skills in this world. People’s bodies got stiff and muscles got tight as soon as they turned twenty. The swordsman was over forty years old. It was easy to imagine what happened to that swordsman. He rolled his eyes as he gasped. He opened his mouth and was ready to scream when Anfey held his neck as if holding his lover. He pulled backwards. That swordsman felt the back of his head touch his left leg. He could not stand the pain and passed out. He did not even have the time to scream before he passed out.

There were very few men who would dare to tempt a lion. After seeing Anfey defeat three men so easily, the marquis’s men split into two halves. One half did not want to keep fighting, and was backing away from the fight slowly. The other half charged at Anfey, waving their weapons.

Anfey twisted his body and avoided a swordsman’s attack. He kicked the man in the knee, and the swordsman fell to the ground with a scream.

A swordsmaster jumped into the air, his sword was covered in combat power and pointing at Anfey. Anfey did not have enough time to lower his leg, and it was difficult for him to change his position. He turned around and made his body parallel to the ground. He let himself fall, and right before his body hit the ground, he pushed himself up with his arms.

The swordsmaster passed over Anfey, who hit the man with his shoulder. The swordsmaster crashed into the ground. He had combat power, and the fall would not harm him much, but it was very embarrassing for him.

Another swordsmaster charged. Anfey grabbed his wrist and threw the man away from him. The swordsmaster crashed into the ground and tumbled into the crowd.

The only thing Marquis Djoser wanted was to accuse Anfey of murder and ruin his reputation. He did not want to have a physical conflict with him. Except for the two swordsmasters, he left the other more powerful men behind. He was a poor old man in distress, not someone seeking vengeance. The only reason he brought the swordsmasters was because of the slim chance there may be a possibility they could take Anfey down. However, he knew it was almost impossible because of Miorich’s presence. Now, the two swordsmasters were defeated, and the only ones remaining were the swordsmen. If the swordsmen had the advantage, they would not lose. Now, however, the swordsmen had no chance of winning.

The marquis began backing away, cursing Anfey and regretting his decisions. He knew that he was the target, and he had hoped his men could stall a little longer so he could get away.

The marquis was right, because Anfey’s target was him. The marquis was only a few steps away from disappearing into Miorich’s guards, and he had to catch the marquis before he disappeared. If he hadn’t been fighting the marquis’s men in front of a crowd, they would have been dead already. Now, however, Anfey needed to get the trust of the guards. He knew that if he killed the marquis’s men, he would put him and Miorich into an even more difficult situation.

Anfey knew he could match Miorich or Suzanna in speed, but he was faster when he was not going in a straight line.

Miorich smiled as he watched Anfey jump through the crowd.

A few moments later, Anfey appeared in front of the marquis, avoiding every attack.

“Stop!” one of the swordsmen bellowed. He did not want to fight, but he couldn’t just let Anfey hurt the marquis. He would never find another employer then.

Anfey did not look at the man. He kicked the swordsman and the man’s body flew back, crashing into the crowd.

Anfey turned to the marquis and grabbed the old man’s shirt, lifting the man into the air. The marquis’s face flushed, but he did not say anything. He kicked at Anfey, but his feeble attacks did not affect Anfey at all. Anfey’s hand on the marquis’s neck tightened.

“You’re scaring me?” Anfey asked, smiling. He looked at the marquis and frowned. “If I wanted to kill you, none of these men can stop me.”

The men around the Marquis did not say anything. One of the swordsmasters was trying to pull his sword out of the ground, but his right arm was broken. When he finally pulled the sword out, he tried to charge at Anfey with the sword in his left hand, only to be stopped by two nearby servants. If he could not defeat Anfey using his dominant hand, what more could he do using his non-dominant hand?

Anfey loosened his grip and the Marquis fall to the ground. The servants gathered around the old man. Some were helping him up while the others dusted off his clothes. A few others approached Anfey with swords in hand.

“What more do you want? Where do you think you are?” Miorich bellowed suddenly. He walked forward slowly, looking at the crowd.

After seeing Anfey defeating the marquis’s men so easily, Miorich’s guards remained silent. If Anfey could defeat so many men so easily, the marquis’s accusation could not stand. In order to become a knight, a man must undergo intense training. He must be educated on not only combat skills, but also on how to speak and act. Knights were all very knowledgeable and experienced. The knights in Miorich’s team were even more so. There might be a few reckless ones, but most of them knew how to distinguish right from wrong.

“I think you must be mistaken, marquis,” Miorich said. “If Anfey wanted to kill you yesterday, I don’t think you would be alive to today.”

The Marquis frowned and stood still, but did not say anything. He did not respond to Miorich, but did not claim Anfey committed those murders, either.

“I assure you, marquis,” Anfey said with a smile. “I will investigate and give you an answer. Your men’s deaths will not be unanswered.” Anfey could tell that Miorich did not want to touch the marquis, at least not yet.

The marquis glanced at Anfey, but did not say anything. He tried hard to plant the murders on Anfey. He bribed two patrol guards and found a few bodies where the last fight happened. Then he hired a two-disciplined swordsmaster and instructed him to leave suspicious but distinct wounds on bodies of Sneferu and a few other men he had killed. He had ordered the swordsmaster be executed in order to hide all evidence. He never imagined that the swordsmaster would turn himself into an element bomb like a dying mage. The swordsmaster blew himself up, but injured several of the marquis’s men in the process. The marquis only had a few swordsmasters working for him, and the explosion injured three of them.

Usually, hard work was rewarded with a good result. The marquis had hoped that he could find a balance, but the information he gathered and the reality were completely different. The marquis just wanted to find the man who told him that Anfey was a two-discipliner with fire magic and strangle the man. His mind was too clouded now, however, to remember anything.

“Urter,” Anfey called.

“Yes, my lord?” Urter said as he jogged over.

“Inspect the bodies.”

“Yes, my lord,” Urter said. He glanced at the marquis before walking over to the bodies and began inspecting them. He was the sheriff of the city, and had seen plenty of murders. He wasn’t a stranger to bodies.

After inspecting a few bodies, Urter frowned. These bodies were almost identical to the one in the city morgue. The body was sliced open with a flame sword, and the wound was cauterized without leaving a drop of blood. The muscles along the cut were burnt and blackened. If Anfey did not seize the marquis, it would be very hard for him to prove his innocence.