Chapter 34: Preparation

Twenty points of experience were enough to prove this Tax Officer’s Strength. Compared to a true Knight, he was not far behind; perhaps he only lacked one ‘Baptism’.

This was also the reason Dean chose to end the other’s life in this manner.

Obviously, if he fought him head-on, even though the opponent only had a strong body and lacked skills, at Dean’s current level, it would have taken considerable effort. Once he attracted the attention of the Spy Master in the distance, all his planning would have been in vain.

However, some things made Dean cautious again.

“Having a strong body but no corresponding experience or skills, losing his life to just one careless sneak attack…” Dean thought silently as he looked at the Tax Officer’s Corpse, and once again took it as a warning—he absolutely did not want to experience everything in his memories again.

That kind of helplessness and frustration was only needed once.

Therefore, he had to gain progress in skills at the same time as his body became stronger.

As for experience?

Everything in his memories was enough for Dean now to maintain a considerable advantage.

Huh!

Letting out a long breath, Dean quickly adjusted his mindset—now, another big obstacle to taking over the Knight Order was cleared.

The rest would proceed smoothly, as long as there were no unexpected incidents.

Of course, he still needed the help of that Spy Master.

That was right. After contacting that Spy Master again, the man had become a part of Dean’s plan—if he hadn’t, Dean would have definitely killed him to keep things secret.

Dead men tell no secrets!

Dean believed this sentence very much.

But now—

“Pine No. 1!!”

With a shout of suppressed pain, it appeared.

“My Lord? What happened? My Lord!!”

The Spy Master quickly appeared in front of Dean, but the moment he saw Dean, he froze—although his hand covered the wound, the Blood seeping between his fingers and the scratches on his clothes proved that this Big Shot had suffered significant injuries.

On the other side, Mold, whom he had brought, lay on his back on the ground, a Dagger stuck in his abdomen, and he had long stopped breathing.

Of course, even if he were breathing, he was beyond saving.

His kidneys were completely destroyed; even if a Priest from the Divine Church came, he could only pray for ‘the dead’s peace’.

However, none of this was important to this Spy Master!

What was important was what had happened!

“He… he attacked me! He is… he is…”

Dean spoke intermittently, and later, it seemed that due to the pain, he could not even speak a complete sentence. However, these deliberately spoken, highly suggestive, yet fragmented words were enough for the Spy Master in front of him to fill in the blanks automatically.

Undoubtedly, Spies were the most suspicious people.

Especially when conflicts arose within their ranks, except for themselves, they would absolutely not believe anyone else.

The Spy Master in front of Dean was no exception.

Could it be that the ‘Silver Goose’ made a move?!

Almost at the first moment, this Spy Master thought of the ruler of Vauban County.

And just at this time, Dean, who had been watching the other’s expression all along, instantly grasped the other’s suspicion and worry. He immediately said: “Hang this Corpse outside Tier Town. I want to tell him that I am not so easily defeated! After that… I will disappear for a while. Before I contact you actively, do not look for me!”

From beginning to end, Dean never clearly pointed out who that ‘he’ was.

This was naturally something Dean did on purpose because he did not know who was going to target his identity as a ‘Goth Spy’. Initially, due to City’s sudden attack, not only had the Emerald Kingdom fallen into a difficult situation, but Goth was the same; almost the entire Northland was intact, including the Spy network, which had been destroyed overnight.

Therefore, even with memories of the future, Dean did not know exactly who it was.

However, this did not stop Dean from giving vague instructions using the existing intelligence.

In these ambiguous instructions, Dean naturally occupied the absolute initiative. If questioned, he could even say that Baron Tier planned everything, and he was just giving the other side a hard time.

Given Mold’s identity, this explanation was clearly reasonable.

“Yes, My Lord!”

After hearing Dean’s words, the Spy Master did not probe further. He had already completely filled in the whole process: everything was planned by that Big Shot of Vauban County, and the Big Shot in front of him was absolutely unwilling to sit and wait for death. So, this Spy Master nodded almost immediately, and with the Tax Officer’s Corpse, he quickly disappeared—in fact, looking at Dean with Blood flowing everywhere on his abdomen, he did not want to stay for a moment.

Previously, he had already decided not to participate in the struggle between the two Big Shots.

Therefore, now he absolutely could not stay long. If the Big Shot opposite him spoke to ask for help, he would undoubtedly fall into a difficult dilemma.

Helping would mean offending the ‘Silver Goose’ of Vauban County!

Not helping would directly offend the person in front of him!

No one could be sure if the person in front of him had a direct channel to Goth. If he did, just a few words, and he would be dead for sure. After all, he was not a Big Shot like the ‘Silver Goose’—although he looked good, the actual difficulties were only clear to himself!

At this moment of life and death, he naturally exerted unprecedented Strength.

Almost within a few breaths of Dean, the other disappeared. And after confirming that the other had truly disappeared, Dean directly let go of his hand covering his abdomen, tore off the Bandaging cloth, wiped his hand, and threw these bandages into the satchel that had to be destroyed—this contained the items of that Mr. ‘Substitute’, of course, including the Blood from Dean’s body before.

“When Mold’s Corpse is discovered, given Baron Tier’s temper, he will definitely fly into a rage. Plus, the Thief’s Corpse appeared in Mold’s home before, so everything will naturally become the Thieves Guild’s revenge—even though the Thieves Guild in Tier Town had been almost completely destroyed. But those bandits attracted by my dead ‘identity’ were enough to keep this Baron Tier busy for a day or two, leaving him no time to attend to other things!”

“Then… this is the best time for me to take over the Ferrchelen Knight Order!”

Dean narrowed his eyes, picked up the satchel of necessary consumables and the ‘Substitute’s’ Corpse, and quickly disappeared from the spot—this place was definitely not suitable for dumping a body; even that Spy Master would have suspected.

Therefore, Dean needed another location.

Fortunately, Dean had found quite a few such seemingly secret locations before entering Tier Town.

…

Late last night, Tier Territory snowed again, and it was windy—With the arrival of winter, such weather in Tier Territory would inevitably become more frequent, but there was still some time before the heavy snow blocked the mountains. In fact, in the first month of entering winter, the hunters in Tier Territory were the busiest.

Because at this time, the last batch of merchants buying furs and medicinal herbs would arrive at Tier Town and leave in mid-November, and then they would come again at the end of May the following year. During this half-year period, Tier Town, and even Tier Territory as a whole, were self-sufficient.

So, men in every household needed to prepare enough food for their parents, wives, and children for the entire winter.

However, this had nothing to do with the young Militia serving in the Ferrchelen Knight Order—because they needed to serve the Knight Order for a year, and the Silver Horns and Copper Coins they earned would bring another income to their families, enough to share the burden of their Fathers and younger brothers.

That was right. The Militia serving in the Knight Order were almost all the eldest sons from various families in Tier Territory.

This naturally had reasons—

First, the weakness of younger brothers prevented them from truly fulfilling the duties of Militia.

Second, the Father as the pillar of the family, once leaving, would cause the collapse of the entire family.

So, the eldest son, in this awkward position, naturally needed to step forward.

Young men who could no longer hunt and collect herbs like their Fathers but were stronger than their younger brothers finding it a good choice to serve in the Knight Order.

Of course, this was also because the annual service brought benefits to the family.

Even if it was only a few Silver Horns.

This was a necessary obligation after the Nobles exercised their rights—in simple terms, the one paying the salary was that Baron Tier, not the Knight Order Regiment Commander.

Of course, that Regiment Commander whom Dean had killed naturally did not mind taking a cut for himself.

And the young Militia had long understood the ‘rules’ here. Therefore, although angry, they could not say anything.

As for resisting?

There were resisters, but the final fate of these resisters was ‘accidental falling out’. After one year of Militia service, not a single one was able to return home.

After several consecutive incidents, all the Militia from Tier Territory knew what they should do.

Be beaten or scolded, do their own work, let their families collect salaries from the Baron, and do not ask about other things—they absolutely did not want to face death, nor did they want to see sorrow on their parents’ faces.

Even the latter far exceeded the former; after all, in Tier Territory, the eldest son of the family was the pillar after the Father grew old and needed to carry the family.

And once this person passed away, the future of this family would undoubtedly be worrying.

However, even though they knew they should not ask about what the Knight Order Regiment Commander and his subordinates did, when these Militia saw Dean appearing at the entrance of the Military Camp, they all hesitated for a moment.

And the young man guarding the entrance of the Military Camp, who had met Dean a few days ago, even subconsciously said: “Knight Lord?”