Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

After dinner, Rein, back in his room, checked the system prompts from the previous two battles:

....

[Your skill, Tokkal Hammer Technique, has been enhanced, Experience +112]

[Your skill, Giant Bear Sword Technique, has been enhanced, Experience +32]

[Your skill, High-Temperature Force Field, has been enhanced, Experience +11]

[You have gone through a battle, Knight (Transcendent) Experience +69, Wizard Apprentice (Transcendent) Experience +12]

Whether as a knight or as a wizard apprentice, he was steadily improving.

Rein thought carefully and felt that even though he was already a second-level wizard apprentice, since he had never found any wizard schools or organizations, his combat strength was still primarily that of a knight's path.

He tentatively estimated that the ratio was about sixty-forty, with the knight's combat strength accounting for about sixty percent of the overall strength, while the wizard's was about forty percent.

Of course, this did not mean that the wizard, accounting for only forty percent, could be taken lightly.

For example, during the battle with the Flesh Tree Spirit, if he did not have the wizard side's strength enhancement but replaced it entirely with knight strength, it was likely he would not have been able to win.

Next, Rein planned to go to Master Ganther's to study swordsmanship further, as part of advancing on the knight's path.

Once he passed the Sword Bearer's assessment, Rein had a premonition that he would likely be able to touch upon the empire's formal powers related to the mystical side.

...

Early the next morning, when it was barely light, Rein heard the barking of the Lintian dog 'Cookie' from the front yard.

"Woof woof!"

Rein stood up, looked out of the second-floor bedroom window, and saw a familiar carriage parked at the front door, with the slender noble girl Jenny stepping out of the carriage.

It seemed the Crowley family was more anxious than he had anticipated, Rein thought to himself.

He quickly donned a waistcoat and hurried downstairs.

"Lord Rein, you are finally back!" Jenny, who was about to knock on the door, saw it swing open, and a familiar figure appeared before her, exclaiming with surprise.

"Miss Jenny, good morning," Rein nodded and said.

"Lord Rein, my mother is also in the carriage. Could you now..." Jenny began to say something but hesitated, her slender fingers nervously pointing at the carriage.

"Of course, I can!"

Rein raised an eyebrow; he had not expected the Baroness of the Crowley family to come as well.

It seemed the matter was more serious than he had thought.

Upon entering the carriage, Rein smelled a rich scent of rose perfume. He looked up and saw the Baroness, as ravishing as ever, only with a hint more worry on her forehead, slightly furrowed brows.

Seeing Rein, her watery eyes were filled with anticipation.

"Lord Rein, I'm so relieved to see you!"

"Madam, good morning. Have you encountered some trouble?" Rein gently bowed in greeting.

Although Rein had a suspicion, the trouble that the Crowley family faced was likely related to the rebels.

Still, he wanted to hear the Baroness's account first, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation.

"Ah! The Crowley family has run into a big trouble... The loss of this batch of goods means we have to pay double the compensation, and I've calculated that to be about two thousand imperial gold coins..."

"This could nearly deplete the Crowley family's liquid assets... But the biggest issue is, the wine industry is fiercely competitive, and our rivals will kick us while we're down..."

Hearing this, Rein nodded slightly.

He virtually confirmed that the difficulties the Crowley family faced were due to the heist of the Bordeaux vintage.

How ironic!

The beautiful woman continued her story:

"So, I hope you, Lord Rein, can assemble a team to retrieve this batch of goods for the Crowley family. We will pay double for the recruitment of the personnel and your reward," she said, her eyes welling with tears, looking at Rein with hope.

At this moment, Jenny's eyes also reddened, as she had been accompanying her mother in reaching out in many directions these past days to no avail.

She deeply realized that if a family did not have strong military support, relying solely on wealth accumulated from business was like a fat cow waiting to be slaughtered.

She also understood why her mother had previously inquired about the newly risen commoner knight, hoping to find a commoner with a strong knightly talent to persuade him to marry into the Crowley family.

"Madam, there's no need to worry so much. Perhaps, we can go retrieve those goods right now."

"What?" Both women's eyes widened in astonishment, looking at Rein in disbelief.

"However... perhaps it would be more appropriate to arrange a flatbed truck for transporting the goods," Rein suggested, glancing at the luxurious carriage and smiling.

Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the two women, Rein did not keep them in suspense any longer.

He briefly recounted how he had been ambushed on the way, countered the attackers, and eventually made his way into their stronghold, where he happened to come across the lost Bordeaux vintage.

Rein did not conceal from the two women the behind-the-scenes black hand—Zaral's rebels.

Suddenly, Rein felt a fragrant, soft body throw itself into his arms.

It was the Baroness of the Crowley family, unable to contain her joy at recovering the loss, who hugged him, crying tears of happiness!

Rein suddenly stiffened!

At that moment, Rein really wanted to say, 'Madam, you might be underestimating your allure to the opposite sex!'