Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

Seeing Magis rise to his feet, Ville couldn't help but show anxiety and said, "Sir, you haven't said whether you can release me yet?"

At Ville's words, Magis's motion to turn around slowed and he turned his head back to his trusted collaborator and said, "Then as he wishes, release his soul."

Huh?

Release the soul?

While Ville was still pondering the meaning of this sentence, suddenly there was a 'crack' sound, a sharp pain transmitted from his neck, and then, he found himself able to see the white wall behind him...

Back in the office, Magis naturally was not going to honestly share information with Alonso. Just now in the corridor, he had thought of how to maximize his benefits.

Upon entering the door, Magis feigned an angry demeanor and interrogated:

"Lord Alonso, the newly promoted Baron Rein whom you asked us to kill last time, is probably not that simple, right?"

"Due to your concealment, the organization has lost a Peak Knight and several senior knights."

"Oh? So, you've already made your move? Was the loss caused by Rein alone, or were there others?" Alonso hesitated, speaking somewhat unnaturally.

He, of course, had concealed something—the fact that the 'Beast Knight' Giovanni was wounded by a strange Druid was left unsaid.

It wasn't that he truly hoped the rebel forces wouldn't succeed, only that Alonso didn't want the other party to hike up the price.

Moreover, he had warned Magis to be cautious before the action commenced, so naturally, it couldn't be blamed on him.

Magis observed Alonso for a while, not seeing the expression he anticipated, then he swiftly changed the topic, saying, "Whether Rein was alone or had help, the organization can handle it."

"However, Lord Alonso, given that Rein's strengths far exceeded expectations, the contents of our deal naturally need to be adjusted as well."

...

Still in Meister County.

The underground hall.

Giovanni, wearing a 'scythe'-shaped weapon on his back, bowed slightly to the corpulent high priest, saying, "High Priest, my body has fully recovered, I heard from Maral that the appearance of that Druid in Flashgold Town last time was an accident, is that correct?"

"Yes, Maral has rechecked multiple times. The Druid's trace has never appeared again; it must have been a coincidence passing through," the corpulent high priest nodded.

"If that's the case, then let me take the task of killing the newly promoted knight, Rein!" Giovanni

"Giovanni, are you sure your body has completely recovered? Also, according to the latest news from Alonso, this Rein has been promoted not just to a knight but to a newly appointed Imperial Baron!"

"What!" Giovanni exclaimed in surprise.

"Doesn't that sound incredible? At first, I didn't quite believe it either, but this information has been confirmed through multiple sources to be true! Including Count Habbs, who has already met with this Rein."

"Actually, continuing to go after this Rein now doesn't quite align with our interests," continued the high priest gravely.

Hearing the high priest's words implying giving up, Giovanni's eyebrows arched, and he solemnly said, "High Priest, the dignity of the Black Flame Church cannot be challenged! Please let me handle this matter."

"This..." The high priest was suddenly silent.

Although continuing to eliminate Rein now doesn't align with the church's interests, the emotions of a capable subordinate also needed to be considered, putting the high priest in a tricky position.

At this moment, the voice of Maral came from the big gates of the underground hall, saying:

"High Priest, Rein's whereabouts have been discovered, he seems to be headed to Rosby County."

"Moreover, according to reliable information, the appointment signed by Count Habbs just today shows that Rein should be returning to Meister County within five days, to take up the position of Governor and Sheriff of Fishing Port Town."

After a long pause, the high priest's deep voice resonated again: "Giovanni, then this matter is still yours to handle! However, I hope you can minimize the impact of this affair."

"As you command, High Priest! I will try to act on Rein's return journey and clean up any traces thoroughly so that it won't implicate the church," Giovanni replied, smirking slightly as he bowed.

He knew the High Priest had been persuaded by him.

Indeed, killing a newly appointed Imperial Baron could cause a severe backlash, possibly prompting an in-depth investigation by the imperial authorities.

However...

Having been severely injured because of this Rein, he had to let out this bad blood no matter what.

-----------------

On a beach not far from Richmond Fishing Port, a huge scale-whiskered ironback turtle lay in a pool of blood.

Meanwhile, a man was using a dual-handed greatsword to cut open the corpse of a giant turtle, seemingly trying to extract something.

At that moment, a cylindrical object suddenly rolled out from within the scaly-backed iron turtle.

Huh?

What's this?

A message-in-a-bottle?

Rein eyed a brown bottle that had fallen out of the scaly-backed iron turtle. The material, judging by its appearance, seemed to be the rarely seen glass, which piqued his curiosity.

Holding it up to the sunlight, Rein examined it carefully and noticed it appeared to have something similar to paper inside.

After a moment's thought, Rein carefully opened the stopper, and indeed, it was a message-in-a-bottle!

The contents weren't paper but seemed to be a piece of parchment.

Huh, why does this feel so familiar, this texture...

In an instant, a flash of insight crossed Rein's mind. He quickly pulled out a small iron box from his bosom and compared them!

Incredibly, this was a quarter of Pirate King Vincent Sanborn's treasure map, the one linked to the Fireball Technique

Could it be that this scaly-backed iron turtle had some connection with the Pirate King?

This was indeed a possibility, considering turtles are renowned for their longevity!
Enjoy new stories from empire

But this was still a highly improbable event, and Rein felt he definitely had to thank the goddess of fortune!

However, this made him feel both anxious and excited.

Previously having only half was still manageable, but now he had three-quarters...

This made Rein's desire to find the remaining quarter of the treasure map even more intense.

But such things were somewhat serendipitous, and after some thought, Rein couldn't help but sigh!

Rein built up a bonfire and began to simply process the materials from the scaly-backed iron turtle while contemplating the prerequisites for the "Weapon Master" job change.

The second, third, and fourth prerequisites—"Two, Physical Breakthrough Limit Reached 100%; Three, any breathing technique lv9 or higher; Four, Strength 20 points or higher, Agility 20 points or higher, Constitution 20 points or higher;"

For him, these were almost fully completed or already done, presenting no difficulty whatsoever.

As for the fifth prerequisite, "High-Level Magic Potion 'Giant Beast Essence'," though slightly troublesome, he already had the hearts of two giant beasts as raw materials. Once back in County Town through the military supply department, this issue should not be difficult to resolve.

If all else failed, contacting the empire's military through Hamilton should also not be a big problem.

The real trouble now was in the first prerequisite, "One, any three different weapon category transcendent combat skills lv10 or above."

This meant that before sorting out the high-level magic potion 'Giant Beast Essence', it would be best if he could gather enough skill points to raise three transcendent combat skills to lv10, which was of the utmost urgency.

Rein glanced at his attribute panel; he currently had one remaining skill point while both Giant Bear Sword Technique and Tokkal Hammer Technique were at lv7, leaving a gap of five skill points.

This five-point gap should not be too big of an issue.

Rein glanced at 'Armorsmith lv1 (17/100)'; with the Crowley family helping him gather materials, raising it should take no time at all, achieving 4-5 points of skills shouldn't be too difficult.

The key was the third combat skill...

The empire's military swordsmanship was only at lv3 (122/500), and shield defense and archery were also at lv3...

Even if he practiced day and night after returning, due to time constraints, he could at most push it to lv5, which meant there was still a five-point skill point gap waiting for him.

Seemingly unable to think of a good solution, Rein couldn't help but furrow his brow.

Just then, the fluttering sound of wings filled the air!

A pigeon with a blue crest suddenly descended from the sky, landing next to the small pigeon cage on the brown horse, beginning to intimately mesh with another blue-helmeted pigeon.

Blue-helmeted pigeon!

Rein's pupils contracted, and he immediately got up and walked over!

Before departing, Rein had told the beautiful woman that if he encountered any trouble, she should contact him using the blue-helmeted pigeon...