Chapter 332: A Practical Response to Detection, and The Banquet
Inside the Adventurer's Guild.
Guild Master Botejin took out an exquisite wooden box and opened it. On a red cushion inside, four metal plates with a strong metallic texture and a faint cyan luster lay quietly.
Adamantite Rank plates!
They were forged entirely from adamantite, a high-grade metal. It possessed an affinity for magic, and its hardness surpassed that of orichalcum and mithril. The value of the material itself was extremely high.
"I hope, Leader Tang, that you will leave the Gold Rank plates of Free Will with our Adventurer's Guild."
Guild Master Botejin held the wooden box with both hands, his expression a mixture of solemnity and excitement. He bowed deeply to Tang Zheng, his every move filled with a sense of ritual.
He did this under the eager, expectant gazes of countless adventurers.
"I understand."
Tang Zheng looked at Guild Master Botejin, who was over fifty with graying temples, and sighed softly.
He placed the two Gold Rank plates on the tray held by a female attendant from the Adventurer's Guild who stood to the side.
"Strange, the Lord Captain doesn't usually wear gloves." Enri stood to one side, looking with some confusion at Tang Zheng's hands, which were covered in light-colored gloves.
"To be able to keep the plates of Free Will is an honor for our Holy Kingdom's Adventurer's Guild."
Seeing this, Guild Master Botejin grew even more excited, a radiant smile spreading across his face.
According to the Adventurer's Guild's regulations, when adventurers leveled up and replaced their plates, they were not required to return the old ones to the Guild.
For adventurers, these plates also held a certain commemorative value.
"Are those the Adamantite Rank plates? This is the first time I've seen them."
"I heard that one small piece of that material is worth over 500 gold coins. So these four adamantite plates are... *hiss*... 2,000 gold coins."
"Hmph! How can such a thing be measured in money?"
"It's a pity. Free Will isn't an adventurer team from our Holy Kingdom, but an adventurer squad from the Kingdom."
"I heard they already have one Adamantite Rank adventurer squad, called Vermilion Drop."
"......!"
"Amazing! That means the Kingdom now has two Adamantite Rank teams."
Dense chatter and fervent emotions filled the Adventurer's Guild, as all the adventurers felt exhilarated to witness this scene.
To witness the birth of an Adamantite Rank adventurer squad with their own eyes was, for all adventurers, a stroke of good fortune!
Even more adventurer squads began to fantasize about becoming Adamantite Rank adventurers themselves, to be the center of everyone's attention just like Free Will was now.
Tang Zheng picked up the four adamantite plates from the red cushion in the wooden box. They had a slight weight to them, and the name of the squad, Free Will, was engraved on the front.
He didn't recognize the script, but that didn't stop him from guessing what it said.
"Four of them, huh."
"I thought there would only be two."
Tang Zheng muttered to himself.
The information he'd registered with the Adventurer's Guild was, in fact, for only two members—well, to be precise, one person and one dog.
Although Enri and the Green Leaf Witch were seen as members of Free Will in the eyes of outsiders, in truth, according to official procedure, Free Will had only two registered members: Tang Zheng and the Ghoul Dog.
"That's fine too."
Tang Zheng thought to himself, then turned to Guild Master Botejin and said:
"There's a banquet at the Guest Hall. It sounds like a victory celebration. I imagine you were invited as well, Guild Master Botejin?"
"Indeed. To be honest, I'm not very interested in such banquets." Guild Master Botejin reluctantly tore his eyes away from the Gold Rank plates, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to smooth out.
"Since Leader Tang and Miss Enri plan to attend, then as the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild, I naturally won't be absent either."
Guild Master Botejin spoke in a gentlemanly and respectful manner. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his eyes shifted.
"I hear that nobles of all ranks from Kalinxia will be attending, and perhaps even some foreign nobles."
As he spoke the words "foreign nobles," Guild Master Botejin's voice clearly became lower and more emphatic.
"Then I shall take my leave," Tang Zheng said, understanding the implication. He responded gently and led Enri out of the Adventurer's Guild.
The gazes of the adventurers on both sides grew more awestruck and fervent. Some even shouted, asking for an autograph.
Huh?
The corner of Tang Zheng's mouth twitched, and he quickened his pace.
As expected, he'd have to spend some time in the future learning the script of this world. Right now, he was completely relying on Decipher Magic, which effectively made him semi-illiterate.
After personally seeing Tang Zheng and Enri off, Guild Master Botejin immediately rushed back into the Adventurer's Guild, ignoring the puzzled gazes of the other adventurers.
"Place Free Will's original Gold Rank plates in the most conspicuous spot in the Guild!"
"Yes!"
"Put it on the central wall, right across from the main entrance! Hang it there, inside a transparent glass display case."
"What? We don't have one?"
"Then go buy one immediately! Have those artisans craft it!" Guild Master Botejin shouted, his voice filled with excitement.
With the plates left behind by the Adamantite Rank team Free Will hanging here, the Adventurer's Guild's low presence is sure to improve!
The carriage moved on—
The Ghoul Dog controlled the bone chain, pulling the carriage and heading towards the Guest Hall.
As for the so-called banquet.
Tang Zheng was equally uninterested. According to his usual way of doing things, once the incident in the hills was resolved, it would have been about time for him to leave the Holy Kingdom.
However, because of the "Blend Potion."
He needed to handle it properly. Moreover, during the incident in the hills, he had ultimately helped the Demi-human Faction and stopped Kelart, which was bound to have certain repercussions.
"Blend Potion, the Abelion Hills, the demi-humans." Tang Zheng's eyes flickered slightly.
Perhaps Free Will should fade from the public eye for a while. He needed to carry out some operations in secret, and most importantly, focus on raising his level.
As he pondered.
Tang Zheng casually raised his arm and took off the light-colored gloves he was wearing. Faint blue magical energy flowed from his hands and into the gloves.
Gloves made of ordinary material couldn't possibly withstand the force of his magical energy.
With a jolt of his palm.
The two gloves turned to dust in his palm!
Tang Zheng clenched his fist, extended his arm out the carriage window, and then opened his hand. The fine dust that was once the gloves drifted from his fingertips and dissipated into the air.
"Lord Captain?"
Enri's light brown eyes were filled with bewilderment.
Tang Zheng wiggled his fingertips slightly, feeling the cool evening breeze blow between them. A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips.
"In magic, there is a spell called Locate Object, as well as many similar types of detection magic. Through an object, one can lock onto the user's location."
As he spoke, Tang Zheng took out one of the adamantite plates he had received from Guild Master Botejin and handed it to Enri.
"Of course, certain conditions must be met. It requires an item that the target has carried on their person for an extended period."
"As an adventurer, if an enemy used an object on your person to pinpoint your location, set a trap without your knowledge, and launch a targeted attack, you would find yourself in an extremely dangerous situation."
How could Tang Zheng not take precautions against something so clearly tied to him, like an adventurer plate?
Upon hearing this, Enri's face grew tense. She immediately understood why the Lord Captain had worn gloves.
He wanted to completely sever any connection to the Gold Rank plates!
Huh?
But that didn't seem right either.
As if realizing something, Enri opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, wondering if she was just overthinking things.
"Are you thinking that temporarily using gloves as a barrier is meaningless?"
Tang Zheng saw the conflicted look on Enri's face, smiled, and pulled his hand back inside the carriage.
"Because those Gold Rank plates were fakes."
"Last night, I had an artisan forge them for me on short notice. Gold is a relatively soft material, much easier to work with than adamantite."
From beginning to end.
Tang Zheng had never actually touched the two Gold Rank plates that were handed over to the Adventurer's Guild. Even finding the artisan was accomplished through the use of Charm Species.
If, in the future, someone were to try and use the Gold Rank plates to locate him, they would only be led to an ordinary artisan in Kalinxia.
Detection and counter-detection are, at their core, a game of intelligence and information!
"If someone were to actually do that in the future, I could, in turn, obtain a certain amount of information."
The thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind.
Of course, normal detection magic couldn't be used to locate items that had been away from their original user for too long.
But that didn't stop Tang Zheng from taking precautions. After all, he was only aware of a fraction of all magic. Even if tier magic couldn't accomplish it, what about super-tier magic?
Especially that most unique spell, "Wish Upon a Star."
"I understand!" Enri nodded, her face serious. She clutched the adamantite plate tightly, her heart filled with excitement and happiness.
She had never encountered this kind of knowledge before. For the Lord Captain to tell her this... it meant he truly acknowledged her.
The Guest Hall.
It was located in the center of the city and built magnificently. Although this city was a fortress city, it was also the Holy Kingdom's only city that served as a necessary passage to the outside world.
Furthermore, since Kalinxia was a directly controlled territory of the Holy King's Family, the Guest Hall naturally became the place for receiving nobles and other important figures from foreign nations.
At this moment!
It was already evening.
The Guest Hall was brightly lit. The Everlights hanging on the walls and from the ceiling cast a soft glow, illuminating the entire Great Hall.
Lines of neatly dressed attendants moved back and forth through the Great Hall, carrying trays of food and wine.
Men and women in formal attire were present; some danced in the center of the Great Hall, some conversed in low voices, and others simply drank in silence.
There were also people clad in armor, their weaponry clanking with every step.
This was no ordinary banquet. It was more of a "victory feast," celebrating the resolution of the crisis caused by the undead in the hills.
That's right!
Most of the people present were surviving members of the Holy Knight Order and the Cleric Corps, along with some of Kalinxia's nobles and other important figures.
Having faced a calamity that cost the lives of so many comrades, the mood and spirits of those at the banquet were not particularly high.
The banquet had been arranged rather suddenly.
Enri sat in a corner, her gaze sweeping over the crowd. She picked up a piece of fruit and took a bite; she was, in fact, quite hungry.
Delicious!
The Lord Captain was not at the banquet; he had left with Captain Remedios.
Just as she finished a bite of fruit, someone else approached, and Enri could only rise with a weary sigh to greet them.
And she'd even hidden in a corner…
"Enri, are you bored? How about the two of us have a match?" a rough, excited voice boomed from in front of her.
"Mr. Orland."
Enri saw the well-built, messily-bearded man walking toward her.
"Red" Orland raised a sturdy arm and gave it a swing, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Um, I can't use that kind of power right now, Mr. Orland."
Enri refused. Many people at the banquet had been prying, and just as her Lord Captain had instructed, she told everyone it was due to an innate ability.
"What a pity."
"Red" Orland stared intently at Enri, who had no visible muscle and showed no signs of training, and shook his head in disappointment.
"Is Mr. Pavel doing alright?" Enri asked in a low voice.
"Don't worry, he's a strong man."
"Red" Orland grinned, but a hint of seriousness remained in his eyes.
"Oh."
Enri thought Mr. Pavel must be very sad.
After all, his wife had died on the battlefield. This reminded her that the Lord Captain had mentioned something about "fate" before.
Meanwhile.
On the upper floor of the Great Hall, inside a luxuriously decorated room.
Kelart and Remedios, one curious and the other expressionless, stared at the six vials of potion on the table.
"So this is the 'Blend Potion' you mentioned." Kelart's eyes glinted sharply.
She had returned to Kalinxia this time with the permission of Her Majesty, the Holy Queen, who had granted her significant authority regarding this matter.
"These three are the 'Blend Potions.' I've already described their general effect, and they do carry a certain amount of risk."
Tang Zheng spoke calmly, then gestured to the other three transparent red potion vials.
"And these three contain demi-human blood, which is also one of the materials for crafting the 'Blend Potion.'"
As soon as he said this.
A look of astonishment appeared in Kelart's eyes.
He was actually revealing the crafting materials for such a precious potion?
She had been planning how to discover the potion's materials and was prepared to pay a hefty price to do so.
"It's not hard to guess that you would try to research any potion you receive. That's a given."
Tang Zheng chuckled and spread his hands, his gaze meeting Kelart's in mid-air.
"I'm giving you the materials directly. Feel free to try and produce the 'Blend Potion.' If you can, then congratulations."
"If you can't, then we can talk further, instead of wasting time with these useless probes."
The surprise on Kelart's face vanished in an instant. The corners of her narrow eyes lifted as she gave a sly smile. "Heh, heh."
"You're very confident, Leader Tang. It seems you're certain that our Holy Kingdom is incapable of producing it."
Tang Zheng didn't speak, which was an answer in itself.
Bang!
"Hey! Are we just going to forget about you stopping the extermination of the demi-humans?!" Remedios shouted, slamming her hand on the table as she watched Tang Zheng and Kelart converse amiably.
Kelart remained silent, her gaze falling on the three potion vials containing the demi-human blood, seemingly lost in thought.
"It seems Captain Remedios doesn't understand," Tang Zheng said faintly.
"What do you mean?" Remedios said angrily.
"I am an alchemist. An alchemist who specializes in crafting potions using the blood of demi-humans."
As he finished speaking, his gentle expression disappeared, replaced by a cold one. "That is my motive and my reason!"
(end of chapter)