Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
If Baron Talomb were given another chance, he certainly wouldn’ta babbled so much.
But there’s no such thing as regret in this world.
Talomb’s death was very discreet. By the time Xi Wei’s knights had control of Black River Castle, Talomb’s subordinates only then realized what had happened. However, they surrendered readily, not a single one daring to avenge Talomb.
The knights under Xi Wei escorted all of them to an open space outside the castle. When Xi Wei left Black River Territory, they would be loaded into carriages and transported back to Eagle Territory, after which they would be arranged as free citizens or laborers, depending on circumstances.
After a battle that could be described as having a winding process, the players quickly became friendly with the soldiers under Xi Wei and the honest and kind-hearted Minotaurs. They were together, gawking at the captives and chattering as they discussed.
One player pointed at the naked Doug and whispered to a soldier, “Who is that? Why is he only wearing a loincloth?”
“He’s Baron Talomb’s butler, Doug. We found him when he was about to take a bath.”
“His pants are so dirty, don’t they wash them?”
“Actually, it’s not bad. We usually wash once every six days. His can still be worn.”
“Ah, this… Wow, from light armor to anti-armor…”
…
“Brother Bull, with all that meat on you, in my hometown you’d be a solid 5A!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re awesome!”
“Thank you for the compliment. You have a good eye, brother from another land!” a Minotaur said, flexing his muscles, making the surrounding players drool.
…
In the council hall of Black River Castle, the knight who killed Talomb removed his helmet.
It was a handsome young man with flaxen hair who looked somewhat effeminate, with a few cute freckles on his face.
“Young Master Xi Wei, long time no see. I saved your life this time.”
“Alence, I know it’s you. I recognized you when you were telling me about the map.”
Xi Wei smiled and shook Alence’s hand. They were childhood friends and hadn’t seen each other for one or two years, so he was surprised to meet him here.
“Why did you come to Black River Territory? And why haven’t you come to my Eagle Territory to visit?” Xi Wei gestured to a chair, indicating for Alence to sit down and talk.
“I didn’t want to stay here. You have no idea how Talomb sang all day long and forced us to listen. And he sang terribly… Ugh, I can’t think about it, my head starts to hurt just thinking about it…”
“I was here on the Duke’s orders, as a hidden asset to be activated when needed. But now this hidden asset of mine is useless.”
Alence sat casually on the chair, shrugging helplessly.
“Hidden asset? What is Father trying to do?” Xi Wei asked with a bewildered expression.
“Young Master Xi Wei, the King is old.”
When speaking of the King, Alence’s gentle gaze sharpened.
Xi Wei looked at Alence and fell silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully, “No matter how old the King is, he’s still a Legendary Knight. Father… preparing now might be a bit hasty.”
“Young Master Xi Wei, you don’t know because you’re not in the Royal Capital. All the Dukes are making choices. If Lord Manhattan continues to waver…” Alence didn’t finish his sentence, but he believed Xi Wei would understand his meaning.
Xi Wei sighed helplessly. This was precisely why he insisted on coming to this remote border territory in this life.
The water in the Royal Capital was truly too deep. One wrong step would lead to an abyss, and sometimes people would push you forward.
He could only hope his cheapskate father, Duke Manhattan, wouldn’t mess things up. After all, his father had treated him quite well, not favoring his elder brother just because he was the second son.
“Since that’s the case, I also have an important piece of intelligence to tell you. Please convey it to my father. He should know what to guard against.” At this point, Xi Wei’s expression turned solemn.
He paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts, and then recounted to Alence what he had seen and heard in the church’s basement some time ago.
“How is that possible?”
It wasn’t that Alence didn’t believe Xi Wei, but rather that the content of his description was too absurd.
The blood of demi-human girls was used as a medium to cultivate Templar Knights!?
Alence still found it hard to believe, but looking at Xi Wei’s serious and earnest expression, without any hint of joking, he said cautiously,
“Young master, your intelligence is extremely important. I will return to the Royal Capital immediately to report to the Duke. What about you? How will you handle the matters here in Black River Castle?”
“Logically, in my situation, Black River Territory would be handed over to the King, who would then appoint another lord to take over and give me some compensation.”
Xi Wei paused, thought for a moment, and then added, “Of course, there’s another possibility. Given the Orc leader’s head, the King might directly bestow this not-so-large Black River Territory upon me.”
“Your Eagle Territory is already almost as large as a Marquis’s territory… But the Orcs aren’t entirely peaceful right now. Behemoth only appeared in the northern lands before.” Alence was somewhat speechless to Xi Wei, and quickly reminded him not to get too carried away, but Xi Wei clearly didn’t grasp his meaning.
“What’s there to fear? Don’t you see the ten Minotaurs under my command? They can beat Behemoth like a doll!”
“Although I don’t know where you got your Minotaurs from, Young Master Xi Wei, it’s good that you have a plan.”
Alence knew Xi Wei wasn’t blindly arrogant, so he stopped trying to persuade him.
He glanced at the night sky outside the window, stood up, donned his armor, and bid farewell to Xi Wei.
“In that case, I won’t linger here any longer. When I return to the Royal Capital, I will present Biden Bloodfang’s head to the King on your behalf.”
…
Alence left. Xi Wei watched him and his horse disappear into the night, silently wishing his old friend a safe journey.
And now, Xi Wei had to tally his true gains from this expedition.
First, Talomb’s property. That scoundrel had pretended to be poor.
While Black River Territory was indeed a small place, the black spot fish tasted delicious and sold well nationwide. The entire Black Water River was within Black River Territory. How could Talomb possibly lack money?
Just in gold coins, they found over twelve thousand. In addition, there were over three hundred sets of armor, various gemstones, and famous paintings.
These items filled seven or eight carts, making Xi Wei cluck his tongue in amazement. It just went to show, one can’t get rich without ill-gotten gains.
In the future, he would have to rob more of the surrounding lords. His Eagle Territory was so poor, and his townsfolk so miserable. It was only reasonable for them to spare some for him, right?
The matters in Black River Territory had come to an end. Xi Wei then prepared to return with his army and supplies.
The players’ eyes followed the carriages filled with gold coins, gemstones, and armor, their mouths watering. This was the first time they had seen so much money since the first beta test, and many players had never even seen gold coins before.
“I think we’re the most pathetic players in game history. I’m actually not as rich as an NPC…”
“What’s this? If you’re really struggling to cope, just think of Seria, the gacha pool of your ‘Yangyangshu,’ or your poorly rolled Teyvat Continent.”
“…Stop talking, it hurts my heart.”
“Do you think Lord of Eagle Territory would know if I took just one?”
…
Xi Wei glanced amusingly at the players whose eyes were gleaming with greed. If it were someone else, they might have distributed some gold coins to the players, as they had contributed quite a bit.
But Xi Wei wouldn’t. He knew that these players were typical of those who would take an inch and try to take a mile. If they were given gold coins, they would immediately try to find ways to overthrow you.
Xi Wei sat on his horse, shook his head, and stopped thinking about these trivial matters. In his mind, he summoned the system.
“System, perform a lottery draw!”
“Ding! Detected that the host has completed the daily Villain Mission. Do you wish to claim your reward now?”
“Don’t confirm with me next time. Just do it directly.”
The system didn’t respond but directly brought out the down-to-earth, big red prize wheel.
Without waiting for Xi Wei to speak, it automatically began drawing.
Finally, the pointer slowly stopped at ‘Curio.’
“Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Curio: Breath of the Wilds… Ding! This reward triggered a lucky critical hit. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Source of the Wilds! The reward has been automatically integrated into the host’s body. Please feel it yourself.”
