Chapter 113: Before the Autumn Hunt

“Climb the peak to see my hometown, the yellow sands stretch for ten thousand miles. Where does the camel bell sound, knocking on my heart with every ring…” George, in a rare moment of joy, hummed a song he loved before his transmigration while annotating the Martial Record.

Before his transmigration, George liked songs with a touch of ancient Chinese style due to his personality and hobbies. Unfortunately, although he was not tone-deaf, he had a rough and loud voice. Plus, he had never practiced singing properly, so singing rough songs like those by Hu Guang was passable. But for more delicate songs, they were quite torturous to the ears, which led to him being teased by friends often.

However, even though his singing voice now couldn’t match a real Bard, it was far better than before. With his skilled and precise muscle control, he could even perform mimicry, so singing was definitely no problem. If those guys from back then heard George’s singing now, they would surely drop their jaws in shock.

As for the reason why George was so happy, it started from a conversation between father and son during dinner a few days ago.

Although the House Bolerum was one of the most prominent families in Nohan, they mostly practiced thriftiness in enjoying life. In terms of diet, while they focused on nutrition and energy, there were no special ingredients involved.

But for someone like George who had transmigrated from a great empire of foodies, the food at home, while not as bizarre as the “stargazing” dish from the Dark Cuisine Country, was still very rough. George absolutely could not stand such a diet. Since he couldn’t spend a fortune buying so-called rare ingredients, he had to start with cooking techniques.

Over time, this formed the unique dietary style of the House Bolerum, which was more delicate than the delicacies from the wealthy South. No wonder the Viscount Bolerum arranged for George to attend a food salon. You see, salons are usually invited by the host, and as a Viscount, he could certainly pull some favors to let George join, but it would be best if he didn’t have to use any favors. Although George might not be fully aware of it yet, he had already gained some fame among foodies in Karada.

However, that night, just as George was about to cut into an onion box in front of him, Viscount Bolerum broke his habit of not speaking while eating and sighed, “These past two days have only brought bad news.”

Seeing his father intentionally say such things at the dinner table, George, as a filial son, understood he was speaking for his benefit. To satisfy the Viscount’s quirky sense of humor, George pretended to be very concerned and asked, “Father, has something terrible happened in Karada these days?”

After saying those words against his will, George couldn’t help but complain in his heart, ‘If it were really something big, Father, you wouldn’t say it in this environment! This must be some gossip among nobles.’

“To put it simply, the root cause of this situation is you. Since you pointed out the evidence that the Kingdom of Lucia was plotting against our Nohan, Karada has become a bit different. On the surface, it seems unchanged, but actually, it is now a place hiding turbulent undercurrents.” Stopping his words, Viscount Bolerum cut a small piece of the onion box with his knife and fork and put it in his mouth before continuing, “And those noble ladies are not like Squires who have enough self-defense ability. Plus, due to their gender, all the noble ladies who haven’t arrived in Karada yet have stopped their journeys, and those already here are forbidden from going out.”

George didn’t start eating, as it was better to maintain etiquette in front of elders. Although Viscount Bolerum would never get angry about this, George himself still followed such rules: “I think this is a normal reaction! Moreover, the situation will probably not be clear for a long time. Such a conservative approach is the safest. It is a good choice for both the Duchy and for them themselves.”

“Is that so? But the matchmaking opportunities I carefully arranged for you will have to be postponed.” Viscount Bolerum complained with great reluctance.

But for George, this was truly great news! Continuous matchmaking had made George, who was already tired of such things, even more resistant. Taking this chance to adjust his mindset to cope with the next two matchings was perfect. After all, Viscount Bolerum’s statement was just about postponing, not canceling.

George was very clear about his father’s hard work, so he spoke comfortingly, “It’s just a delay. Once the tense atmosphere of this period passes, it will be fine.”

“But my previous arrangements had already seized the initiative. With this, all the previous advantages are gone.” Viscount Bolerum’s words were still somewhat resentful, but one would feel depressed if their plans were suddenly interrupted by unexpected events.

In this situation, George had to use his advantages to encourage Viscount Bolerum: “Father, you must believe that my comprehensive abilities will never lose to others.”

“You yourself said it was comprehensive ability. Anyway, this matter absolutely cannot be delayed any longer. Once we return to the Bolerum Territory, I will arrange for you to go directly to those two territories to meet the girls.” Viscount Bolerum decided George’s schedule after returning to the territory without giving him a choice.

But for George, this felt like winning the jackpot. Matchmaking was something George couldn’t escape, so getting a chance to buffer was like a pie falling from the sky. And this time, he got a chance for public travel. You know, due to his identity and strength, George’s travel was strictly limited. He had been transmigrated for over ten years, and except for coming to Karada, he had never been anywhere outside the Bolerum Territory!

With this chance to go out and see the world, it was no wonder George was humming while annotating the Martial Record. As the saying goes, “Good news makes a man happy,” and George, in a good mood, even translated the boring work faster. In just a few days, this job was almost finished.

He could be seen humming a tune that almost no one in this world could understand while scribbling on the parchment with a Quill Pen. As the Quill Pen flowed smoothly across the paper, a series of words with hard strokes appeared one after another under his pen. Then, as if something had blocked him, he stuck the Quill Pen back into the ink bottle. He took a book from the side of the table and started flipping through it, finding the relevant content based on his previous memory. After several comparisons, he selected the appropriate parts to copy.

After repeating this action several times, the only changes were probably the different reference books and the ink bottle with a dropping liquid level. When George finished writing the annotation for the last character on the last page, having completed a heavy burden, he let out a long sigh of relief.

“Finally, the first step is done. Now let me see the results of these past few days!” Saying this, George reached out to collect the seven or eight pages of scattered copies one by one, arranged them in order, and began his first formal reading.

After barely reading through the annotated content once, George leaned back in his chair, tilted his head, and started staring blankly. During this time, his thoughts wandered like free birds across his face, soared in his eyes, perched on his slightly open lips, and hid in the furrowed brows on his forehead. One interpretation method after another flashed through George’s mind, but he could never find a truly understandable one. Just at this moment, the System prompt that had been silent for a long time interrupted George’s thoughts.

“Tactical records detected. Knowledge identification starting…”

“Preliminary identification passed… Beep! Beep! Beep! Detected text understanding errors. Starting audit…”

“Audit complete. Error rate is 12.343%. Starting content correction…”

But after waiting a while longer, George didn’t hear any further System sounds. So, not wanting to waste time, he started organizing his desk. Since the task was done, of course, he had to clean up the place. Although this could be left to the servants, a habit formed over a long time is not easy to change.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The sound of knocking on the door came just as George was sorting the items on his desk.

George had to put down the book in his hand and said, “Come in.”

As for not asking the identity of the knocker? This was the Manor of the House Bolerum, and security was basically no problem. Plus, George wasn’t doing anything shady, so even if someone came, they would help cover for him. If there were really any existence that could threaten George’s life and had reached the door of his bedroom, that small wooden door would be of no use anyway.

“Creak,” the door opened, and in walked Knight Val in casual clothes.

“Oh! Is it Mr. Val? What brings you to find me at this time?” George asked with some confusion.

You see, Knight Val was also a very busy man. Apart from the training time he was responsible for these days, even at night, if one didn’t make an appointment in advance, trying to find him on a whim would likely fail. He had quite a few friends in Karada over the years, and most of the time since arriving in Karada had been spent with them. Judging by the examples from the past few days, Knight Val should have been in a bar making friends with someone. Why was he appearing in his room? This really left George scratching his head.

Knight Val casually pulled a chair from the door, sat down with a big smile, and said, “The matter you asked me about before is done.”

“What matter is done?” George was even more confused now. He really couldn’t remember what matter could make Knight Val so happy to come and tell him good news.

“Of course, it’s the matter of exchanging the Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation for the Secret Art of Spirit Surpassing Flesh.” Knight Val showed an expression as if to say, “You actually forgot? I’m so hurt.”

Seeing Knight Val’s intentionally made expression, George had to respond. So, George patted his forehead and shouted, “Oh my! Look at my brain. I really didn’t think it would be this matter!”

“I thought it would take a relatively long time to get a response from the other party, after all, anyone would value their family’s Secret Art highly. No wonder you have the title of Sword of Dawn, Mr. Val, to get this done so quickly.” Then, George thought of a reason to speak first, slightly praising the other party while preventing possible questions from Knight Val, ‘I couldn’t possibly say that I was so busy these days that I forgot this matter completely, could I?’

Hearing George’s words, Knight Val, contrary to his usual behavior, reached out and touched the back of his head, showing an embarrassed expression. Then he said somewhat shamefully, “Actually, my role in this was not very big. The one that really worked was the Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation you provided. Although its effect on people like us is just average, it seems very important to that family. After some haggling, they agreed to exchange the full set of Secret Arts of Spirit Surpassing Flesh for the Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation in your possession.”

But just then, that mysterious System spoke again: “Content correction complete. Interpretation starting…”

Immediately, several word explanations that George had previously chosen incorrectly appeared in his mind.

At the same time, the System transmitted further information, “Interpretation required time: 14 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 13 seconds…”

This series of changes made George freeze for no reason in such a short time, delaying the conversation with Knight Val.

Seeing George’s blank stare, Knight Val thought he was so happy about this good news that he hadn’t reacted yet. Knight Val stood up, walked to George’s side, and patted his shoulder, saying, “Don’t just stand there smiling like a fool. The other party not only exchanged Secret Arts with you but also sent a bonus to show their goodwill for good cooperation.”

Being patted by Knight Val, George finally came to his senses. Lying had become one of his instincts during this period, so his mouth started running again: “I really like that set of Secret Arts, so I was just too happy for a moment. Also, what is this bonus you mentioned? Didn’t they know I had already learned that Secret Art before?”

At the same time, George cursed in his heart, “Why did this System prompt come now and not earlier? It appeared just when I was talking to Mr. Val. It forces me to come up with an excuse on the spot. If Mr. Val hadn’t had his preconceived notion, this would really be a troublesome matter!”

“That is natural. I just told them that you wanted to learn this set of Secret Arts. As for whether you had already learned part of it before, since they didn’t ask, I didn’t need to answer. Otherwise, the initiative wouldn’t be on our side. You know, before this, I didn’t have a complete guarantee either. Who knew that family would value your Secret Art of Qi and Blood Separation so much, digging a hole for themselves and jumping in. So I kindly filled some dirt to bury the hole.” Knight Val said this casually, showing no sign of inconsistency at all. It was as if he were just talking about what he had eaten for dinner today.

‘No wonder he has such a gentlemanly style!’ George thought, and since he didn’t hide his curiosity about the bonus, he asked directly, “Mr. Val, so what exactly is the bonus?”

“Since it’s a bonus, it won’t be anything particularly valuable, of course, this is relative to the Secret Arts. They thought that since you like that Secret Art, you must be more inclined towards cultivation methods like meditation. So they sent a Meditation Crystal. However, judging by speed and distance, it will take about two months to arrive.” Knight Val didn’t hold back any secrets at all, and in just a few sentences, he explained everything George wanted to know.

‘Meditation Crystal! This is really great. The consumption of Concentration Ointment these days has been very fast. I was thinking about how to get more after that jar was used up. I didn’t expect someone to bring a pillow just as I was about to fall asleep!’ George, whose heart was bursting with joy, naturally started flattering the great hero before him: “No wonder you are Mr. Val, there is nothing you cannot solve…”

Knight Val waved his hand and said, “Okay, stop putting me on a pedestal. I still have to remind you that in a few days, the Autumn Hunt will be here. Although there are basically no ladies attending this time, you still need to get a good ranking. Otherwise, we will lose face for the Bolerum Territory.”

Hunting is one of the earliest survival skills mastered by Human. With the development of human civilization, hunting gradually acquired multiple natures of entertainment, military, and sports, becoming a collective comprehensive sport for practicing martial arts, strengthening the body, boosting spirits, and seeking harvest. In Karada, hunting is a military grand ceremony and a comprehensive exercise for training troops. It is a place for noble offspring from various families to show their excellent riding and archery skills, bond with each other, and also a large-scale matchmaking event as mentioned before. But this time, the matchmaking function seems to be gone.

As for why choose autumn: First, prey needs to store fat and energy in autumn and winter, and their activity frequency is higher. Also, prey moves slowly to conserve energy, making them easier to hunt. Second, in spring and summer, most animals have already reproduced their next generation. For the sake of environmental harmony, autumn and winter are also good seasons for hunting. Third, the Autumn Hunt is generally held after the autumn harvest to reduce the impact on agricultural production.

Knowing the significance and having performed poorly in previous times, George hurriedly patted his chest and promised in front of Knight Val, “I will go all out.”

Knight Val could only give a bitter smile for such an answer.